Ch.BONUS389. The Second Child

‘My goodness…’

After checking Blea’s condition, Dalia couldn’t hide her astonishment.

It was a series of surprising events.

Not only had a child who was barely born awakened to magic, but she had even engraved intricate writing on the desk with magical power as if it were nothing.

Before being a doctor, she was a wife with a husband and a mother with a child in a family, so she understood.

This wasn’t simply something to be amazed at.

Was it even possible for a child this young to not only handle magical power to write letters but also to have learned a language?

One might accept it because she was the daughter of Junon and Renias, but it was impossible to deny the conclusion that she was an unprecedented genius.

“Auntie. Is Blea…”

Renias asked with an anxious look.

It was a mother’s concern that her daughter might have developed some physical issue from awakening to magic so quickly.

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing seriously wrong with Blea. Her magic levels are normal, and there don’t seem to be any side effects.”

“Phew…”

Blea had inherited her mother Renias’s talent completely, and judging by her writing, she might also possess her father Junon’s excellent learning ability and analytical skills.

If one had to add something, it could be said this was all unnecessary fuss.

But still, that behavior was hard to get used to.

‘How could a child who loved her father so much suddenly cling to her mother and refuse to let go?’

No matter how she looked at it, there was no connection.

Even if the child had witnessed her parents’ intimate relationship, she would have no knowledge of such things, and as long as she didn’t develop bad habits, it would soon be erased from her mind.

Even considering this, it seemed difficult for such a change to occur in Blea, who was still an infant.

After all, that behavior resembled someone cherishing and protecting a specific target.

‘Huh? Wait a minute.’

Dalia, who had been questioning in her mind, realized something and approached Blea.

No, more precisely, she approached Renias, whom Blea was hugging.

“Reni. When exactly did Blea start showing this behavior?”

“Huh? Well, that…”

Feeling embarrassed at mentioning it was two weeks ago, the silver rabbit’s face turned bright red, and she stammered, unable to answer properly. In her place, Junon answered.

“About two… weeks ago.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Renias’s thoughts were completely transparent, and Junon was sweating nervously beside her.

Unlike the two of them, Dalia wore a rather serious expression.

After careful consideration, the doctor’s answer was,

“Reni. Let’s do a few tests right now.”

“…Again?”

“Not again. What I want to examine isn’t Blea, but you, Reni.”

She needed to diagnose Renias, not Blea.

***

Meanwhile, this news was about to reach the Tembris members.

“Re-Renias?! Don’t tell me she’s c-coming… here?”

Someone immediately asked if she was here upon hearing Renias’s name.

“Elvin? Ah, I was going to mention it this morning! Come bring me that report for a moment…!”

Someone tried to create nonexistent work for an innocent guild member to avoid the situation.

“You two… just try running away this time, okay?!”

Someone gave the two a warning look with trembling pupils, as if telling them not to escape this time.

It was understandable that they reacted this way. The members who had suffered every time Renias visited now recognized her name as a strange object of fear when heard in an ordinary social setting.

“Sigh. None of what you’re all thinking is going to happen.”

Calming the members who were making a fuss, Lumia, who was senior to the Junon-Reni couple in dating but junior in marriage, told everyone to sit back at the table.

“It’s about Senior Renias’s daughter, Blea.”

“Ah…”

The tense members finally let out sighs of relief.

Now, to the main point.

The matter that Renias had recently asked Lumia about was conveyed to the members’ ears.

Their reactions weren’t much different.

“That’s strange. Blea, who loved her father so much, suddenly clings to her mother?”

“I know. Until they came to visit us, she seemed to be in Junon’s arms all day long.”

It did feel odd.

Even though children can be capricious, it seemed too sudden a change, and when asked if there was some trigger, outwardly the couple didn’t seem any different.

Aris and Charlotte could only guess that it was because Blea was just an infant.

But Michelle didn’t let this oddity pass.

“Hmm… my thoughts are a bit different. Rather than a whim, I think there must be a reason.”

“Instinct?”

“Yes. Children are immature not only physically but mentally, so their thinking is completely different from ours. But even such children don’t act without reason.”

She had often seen children at the orphanage managed by the Granodia family.

Among them were quite a few infants, and she had realized through long observation that there was always a reason behind puzzling behaviors.

“I think there must be a clear reason why Blea is clinging to Renias. Was there any noticeable behavior?”

“Noticeable behavior… hmm…”

After thinking for a moment, Lumia recalled what Renias had added.

“Senior Renias said that rather than just hugging, how should I put it… Blea seemed to be embracing her stomach.”

“Stomach?”

“Yes. She said Blea particularly hugged her abdomen rather than her upper body.”

“Hugging the stomach… the abdomen… hmm. If that’s the case.”

No matter how young children are, they still have instincts.

Also, what they see from their perspective is completely different. The untainted purity sometimes leads to fresh shocks and surprises.

“I once practiced magic too much and ruined my condition. I still went to the orphanage, but I got dizzy in front of one child because my physical state suddenly deteriorated. And you know what? That child waddled over to me and gave me a hug.”

“Wow…”

The members, who had visited the orphanage Michelle frequently visited at least once, found this fascinating.

No matter how bad her condition was, she never showed signs of illness. Whether she had menstrual cramps, caught a cold with chills and fever, or felt dizzy due to magic use.

Even if she didn’t feel well inside, she had to maintain her appearance. Because she needed to be remembered by those children as a strong mother figure or a healthy older sister.

“Children who could walk or talk didn’t notice. But that child did. That child, who was barely born, accurately detected that my body was in pain.”

“How? Even Senia couldn’t tell that.”

“True. My expression might have wavered subtly, but the child was too young to judge that visually.”

But what was certain was:

“Just like the child who detected my poor condition, Blea must have had a reason for tightly hugging Renias’s stomach.”

Blea, too, definitely hadn’t acted without purpose.

“But Senior Renias hasn’t been in poor health, has she?”

“Right. She was walking around just fine yesterday.”

“Yes. I don’t think there’s a problem with Renias or Junon either. But… we could consider this possibility.”

Yes, for example.

“What if Renias is pregnant with a second child?”

“Whaaaat?!”

She might have sensed the life in the womb.

After all, she was the daughter of none other than Junon and Renias.

***

“W-What? What are you saying…?”

Renias asked Dalia with an expression of disbelief.

“I’m just as surprised. It’s almost unbelievable that this could happen.”

But it was true.

“It seems you were born with innate magical power thanks to you, Renias, but I never expected this. To think she could detect such subtle changes in magical wavelengths. That’s why she wrote it in magic. There, the word ‘sibling.'”

The tests revealed that Renias was pregnant with her second child.

And the first to discover this was…

None other than Blea.

“Well. It varies from family to family, but Blea seems to have a deep sense of family love. Look how she cherishes her sibling already.”

“Darling…”

“Yes, Reni.”

The female doctor who conducted the examination concluded this matter with a warm smile.

“Your second child. Congratulations, Junon, Reni.”

It was the birth of a new family member.