Chapter 77: Making a Child (2)

To understand how the situation reached this point, we must turn back the clock to a time long before the present.

About eight years ago, before Sion had even entered the royal palace, on the day Isabella and Martin, still very young, received their first proper sex education.

“Did you call for me, Father?”

“Yes, I did.”

That night, for some reason, Martin was summoned by the king, Gasantius, right before going to bed.

And it was only him, without his younger sister.

At first, he wondered if it was to reprimand him for his sluggish academic progress (this was before he met Sion and awakened), but surprisingly, that wasn’t the purpose.

“I heard you had your first lesson on union between men and women today. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“How was it?”

“Well…”

Recalling the lesson, Martin blushed at Gasantius’s question.

Until just yesterday, Martin had no concrete understanding of how babies were made.

He knew the famous urban legend about the stork bringing babies was just a joke, but that was it.

He had no idea about when, what, or how one could make a child.

In truth, he wasn’t very interested in such matters anyway.

But now that he knew the answer, he felt a certain embarrassment.

After all, he was, at his core, an innocent boy.

The notion of men and women exposing their most private parts and moving their bodies like animals gave him an understandable discomfort.

Thinking about having to perform such acts one day made his face heat up and his head spin.

Eventually, he lowered his eyes, mumbling awkwardly.

“Um… It was a bit embarrassing. I felt as if I had glimpsed some forbidden knowledge that I shouldn’t have known.”

“And nothing else?”

“Huh? Not really…”

“……”

Gasantius fell silent for a moment at Martin’s answer.

A heavy silence followed.

‘W-what is it? Was my answer wrong? Should I have said something else?’

Caught in the suffocating atmosphere, Martin grew more anxious inside.

Why call him before bed just to ask such questions?

If he just wanted to hear Martin’s thoughts, he could’ve casually brought it up during the day with his sister around.

Was there something else he wanted to bring up through this?

Could it be he’d say something like, “Just knowing the theory isn’t enough” and make a servant help him experience it for real…!?

“Martin.”

“Y-Yes?!”

Startled by his unnecessary speculations, Martin responded with a slight stammer.

Moments later, he felt endless embarrassment for that reaction.

Looking down at his son, who seemed to be harboring strange, murky thoughts, Gasantius spoke.

“The reason I called you tonight is because I have something important to say about the lesson content.”

“Something important…?”

“Yes. Specifically, it’s related to your younger sister.”

Sister? Why his sister?

Martin tilted his head in confusion.

 Although she was a bit of a troublemaker, she was smarter and had a sharper personality than him.

She was even regarded as a prodigy in magic by the instructor dispatched from the Mage Tower.

Though she disliked studying and often tried to escape, today’s lesson was about romance, a topic she liked, so there was no reason for her to skip it.

As Martin looked up at him in puzzlement, Gasantius cleared his throat and continued.

“Let’s skip the unnecessary introductions and get straight to the point.

Simply put, what you learned today and what Isabella learned are completely different.”

“Huh? Different?”

“Look at this.”

With that, Gasantius gestured to his aide, who handed a booklet to Martin.

Its title was ‘Understanding the Differences Between Men and Women at a Glance’.

It was the very textbook Martin had used for today’s education.

Filled with curiosity, Martin opened the book, wondering what his father meant.

And then—

“What?!”

Martin’s eyes widened as he read.

The core content of the sex education he received, the essential explanation about union, was entirely different from what was written in this booklet.

Completely different, literally.

[For a woman to conceive during her fertile period, symbolized by her menstrual cycle, she must receive the energy of a man into her body.

For this, a pair of a man and woman must hold hands and sleep together in one place.

Specific hormones circulate within the body only while asleep, traveling to the fingertips and merging with the female’s egg to create a child.

This energy from the man, called life energy or yang energy, appears in a white and cloudy liquid form known as semen.

Although semen is naturally expelled from the male organ when sexually aroused, if it accidentally enters a female’s body, it can cause difficult births or deformities, so it must be handled with care.]

“What… what is this?!”

Martin shouted in shock.

No matter what, there are limits.

This was way too different—it felt almost like something from another world.

In his book, it stated that conception occurs when the male’s semen enters the female’s womb, yet here it says the opposite, that it causes harm.

Which one is correct?

His own knowledge?

Or Isabella’s?

He couldn’t confidently say, “I’m right” because he himself didn’t know much about it…

Looking at Martin, who was bewildered by the conflicting information, Gasantius faintly smiled.

“Don’t worry. What you learned is absolutely correct.

What Isabella was taught, on the other hand, is, so to speak, a kind of fake.”

“A fake…?”

Why would they do that? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of education?

Martin looked up at him in confusion, to which Gasantius closed his eyes for a moment before answering.

“Suppose we told Isabella the correct method of union.

Afterward, do you think she wouldn’t try to ‘experiment’ with it at least once? That curious little troublemaker?”

“Uh…”

Faced with the question, Martin couldn’t deny it.

Isabella, for better or worse, was a free spirit—a complete, untamable mischief-maker.

No rule or restriction could bind her.

Not to mention, she was exceptionally talented in magic, already reaching towards the third circle at only eight years old.

If she decided to run away, catching her would be no small task.

For now, they managed to bring her back because she was young, but as her skills matured, controlling her would only get harder.

If Isabella fell head over heels for some guy in the future, the consequences would be…

“Isabella doesn’t deliberately cause trouble out of malice. Her nature is fundamentally kind.

But her standards for distinguishing what she should and shouldn’t do are incredibly subjective, leaving little room for others to correct her.”

“If things continue like this, she’ll end up involved with some loafer and secretly causing trouble before she even becomes an adult.”

Gasantius spoke with his eyes still closed.

“I can’t allow such a future. The dignity of the Salem royal family must be upheld, even if it means deceiving Isabella herself.”

“So that’s what this booklet is for…”

Martin looked down at the booklet with a peculiar expression.

Indeed, with this method, it could prevent Isabella’s immature adventures….

“But won’t she figure out the truth before long? Isabella has a strong sense of curiosity. She reads many books, so it’s only a matter of time before she uncovers it, isn’t it…”

Yes, that was the biggest issue. Isabella was no fool.

While they might deceive her for now, eventually, she would catch on.

And once knowledge enters the brain, there’s no way to take it back.

Thinking about that, it didn’t seem like a very effective plan…

But in response to Martin’s concern, Gasantius looked at him and said in a low voice.

“Of course, if it were simply about switching out booklets, she would soon discover it, as you said. That’s why I called you.

This scheme requires the cooperation of you and the other people around her.”

“Cooperation?”

“Yes. Simply put, from now on, none of you are to ever reveal any actual knowledge about sex to Isabella.”

“!”

Gasantius clasped his hands together and made a serious declaration.

“I’ve already informed the attendants, advisors, and other people coming and going in the royal palace to absolutely avoid revealing anything related to sexual intercourse.

I’ve also warned that anyone who dares defy this order will face beheading for violating royal command.

I trust that none among them are foolish enough to toy with their own lives.”

“……”

Martin secretly broke into a cold sweat.

This was no joke.

His father was 100% serious.

He wasn’t one to casually speak of such grim punishments.

If he said he would do it, he would.

“The library, another of Isabella’s information sources, has also been handled.

Every book in the collection was reviewed, and those containing explicit scenes were moved to the farthest storage corner, replaced with altered books devoid of any sexual content.

If things go as planned, these books will only reinforce Isabella’s misconception.

After all, a child’s sphere of activity is limited. By controlling the people and the library, the two biggest sources of information, she will be unable to learn the truth.

As time passes, she’ll come to accept it as naturally as leaves falling in autumn without a hint of doubt.”

“……”

Indeed, the recent reorganization of the library was for this reason.

He hadn’t known at all.

But it wasn’t his fault—who would have guessed that the library would be reorganized for such a reason?

“…….”

“You’ve been awfully quiet for a while. Why, do you have any objections?”

“No, not at all.”

At Gasantius’s question, Martin quickly bowed his head.

Despite the absurdity of the plan, Martin didn’t criticize it.

He could feel the king’s determination behind it.

The king himself was entirely earnest, willing to risk a slight loss of dignity for the sake of his daughter’s chastity.

“Of course, there’s one more thing. This won’t work when she’s away at the academy, so you’ll need to keep a close watch on her there.

Make sure she doesn’t fall into bad company and lose her way. Understand?”

“…Yes.”

Martin quietly agreed.

Well, who knew how far this would actually go, but they would give it a try.

After all, he didn’t need to do anything special—just keep his mouth shut.

And passivity was Martin’s specialty.

“I’ll say it again—under no circumstances, even by accident, should you reveal the truth. Do you understand?”

“Rest assured.”

Seeing a hint of nervousness in Gasantius’s tone, Martin replied with a gentle smile, willing to play along with this fumbling father’s deep affection for his daughter.

“I’ll make sure, no matter what, to preserve Isabella’s innocence.”

Thus, the lie began, continuing for nearly ten years.

Naturally, no matter how brilliant Isabella was, there was no way to get water from a faucet with no plumbing.

If all sources of information close to her were blocked, there was nothing she could do but continue in her misconception.

When all the acquaintances around her said in unison, “A child is born when a man and woman hold hands and sleep together,” even the cleverest would eventually believe it.

In a way, her strong curiosity was more of a disadvantage.

Because once she received proper sexual education, she began sneaking into the library at night to read novels marked for adults, filled with passages about scandalous “hand-holding” that left her blushing.

Gasantius hadn’t erased the concept of sexual relations entirely from her education, since words like “rape” would still need explaining.

However, the booklet described rough intercourse as “unbelievably barbaric and violent,” endangering the health of both mother and child due to an excess of male energy.

She was even advised that if anyone secretly encouraged her to partake in such things, they were a pervert and hypocrite, and she should feel free to kick them between the legs.

Thus, Isabella grew up thinking “sex” meant simply holding hands in bed.

It didn’t feel particularly unnatural.

Ordinary people don’t learn about conception by directly observing the union of sperm and egg, after all—they just believe what those around them say.

In this sense, Isabella wasn’t so different from many naive young people in the world, learning only from what they’re told.

The only difference was that Isabella had been deliberately misinformed.

Nonetheless, she still harbored a curiosity about the topic.

Although her love eventually shifted toward Sion, a woman, her latent desire to experience what she’d read about lingered in her heart.

When the opportunity finally arose, it burst forth with force, proving Gasantius’s concerns somewhat accurate.

Strong sexual desire, overtly seductive behavior toward her chosen partner… and yet, nearly zero actual knowledge.

Such a surreal combination, indeed, had its own unique term among those familiar with the industry Sanchi and the twins were involved in: the birth of an unprecedented “virgin temptress” in the continent’s history.