#9

Leonia, upon returning to the mansion, immediately threw herself into Varia’s arms. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“Wash up before you hug her.”

She completely ignored Ferio’s nagging voice from behind. She could feel his gaze piercing the back of her head, but to Leonia, that was irrelevant.

“Wow, Mom, your belly got so big!”

Leonia looked at Varia in surprise. Her stomach was now so large that Leonia couldn’t even wrap both arms around it.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable? Are you okay?”

“This one’s already taking after her dad, exaggerating so much.”

“And Mom, you’ve gotten better at swearing since I last saw you.”

“You little—”

Ferio clicked his tongue as he washed his hands in the basin the servant brought.

“It really doesn’t look comfortable...”

Leonia stared at the belly with concern. As spring approached, Varia’s due date was getting closer.

“I’ve been doing really well,”

Varia said while gently rubbing her belly.

“Everyone’s been taking such good care of me. Especially Lady Skan—she’s kept me company, and when I was bored, she’d walk with me or play games.”

“Lucky!”

Leonia was genuinely envious. If it weren’t for the monster hunts and capital affairs, she could’ve spent this winter having fun with Scandia.

“It’s a relief that everything’s been fine.”

Ferio had quietly approached and now wrapped an arm around Varia’s waist—subtly pushing Scandia aside in the process.

“But I do feel a little left out. You seem to have gotten along just fine without me.”

He spoke with a slight sulk. Behind him, Leonia mimed gagging.

“No way!”

Varia shook her head fervently, then flung herself into Ferio’s arms, her pent-up longing finally released.

Once embraced, Varia let out a deep sigh without realizing it. She didn’t know how much she’d missed this big, solid chest. No matter how swollen her body became or how large her belly grew, her husband always embraced her completely.

“I missed you so much.”

Her murmured words tickled Ferio’s chest.

“...I’m going first.”

Leonia, who had been watching, raised her arms in mock surrender.

“Skan, let’s go up first.”

“Um, is that really okay?”

Scandia glanced toward the Duke and Duchess of Voreoti, who were still wrapped in each other’s arms and whispering sweet nothings. When Ferio and Varia began to kiss, Scandia quickly turned her gaze away.

Leonia clicked her tongue lightly at the sight.

“Didn’t I say we should go up first?”

Ferio and Varia had already drastically toned down their public displays of affection out of consideration for guests.

But even so, to Scandia, they still seemed like an incredibly affectionate couple.

And now, after nearly three weeks apart due to monster hunts and capital duties, they were finally reunited today.

Leonia could sense it.

“They won’t come out of their room for at least five days.”

“...Pardon?”

Scandia looked at her in surprise.

“She’s pregnant though?”

“So what.”

Leonia revised her prediction.

“Maybe three days? But definitely no more than four.”

She had already resigned herself. No one could stop her parents’ sticky honeymoon phase. Not even the black-bellied baby god of the Northern Mountains.

The only smart move was to vacate the area. Even the servants had already vanished.

“Leo.”

Just then, Ferio called out to the two as they were heading up the stairs.

“Keep an appropriate distance.”

“Say that after taking your lips off Mom!”

Stop mumbling and smacking your lips!

Leonia couldn’t take it anymore and finally snapped.

***

Ferio and Varia didn’t show themselves again until exactly three and a half days later.

Even then, they were still drenched in the sweet and sticky atmosphere they’d built.

No one dared step into the sitting room where they were. Just setting foot inside felt like it would suffocate you with syrupy air.

That went for Leonia and Scandia as well.

They were loitering near the door, unable to bring themselves to enter.

“Young Lady’s prediction was accurate.”

Scandia admired Leonia’s foresight.

“It’s just years of experience,”

Leonia shrugged nonchalantly. Considering their first night together lasted five whole days, guessing the timing now was easier than cursing the late emperor.

“Um...”

Scandia asked carefully.

“Are you... all right, Young Lady?”

“Hmm? Me?”

“Being left alone like this...”

“...Huh?”

For a moment, Leonia thought she misheard.

But soon she realized Scandia was genuinely concerned—and it deeply moved her.

Even when her parents first consummated their relationship, no one had worried about her like this.

Around Leonia, there were adults like Kara, Madam Felica, Connie, and Mia who took care of her. But those adults, no matter how kind, never truly treated her as a child—always seeing her through the lens of her Voreoti status and future duchess title.

Still, touching as it was—

‘I actually had a lot of fun.’

While Ferio and Varia holed up in their room, Leonia enjoyed complete freedom.

She went out alone with Scandia, sneakily transferred some Voreoti estate assets under her name, tweaked the accounting books to evade taxes on her watch business profits, and even resumed drawing the picture book she never got to finish before dying in her previous life.

It had been one of the most productive times in her life.

“I did feel a little lonely.”

But Leonia, as if none of that happened, nestled into Scandia’s arms. Scandia looked at her pitifully, then wrapped her up tightly.

“You shouldn’t hide it if you feel hurt.”

“But...”

Leonia murmured.

“It just means my parents are that much in love. That’s a good thing.”

“But still, for you to be left all alone...”

“I’m not alone, though?”

Leonia tilted her head, resting her chin against Scandia’s chest.

“I’m with Skan—the person I like most. So I’m not lonely at all.”

“...”

“So it’s okay, right?”

“Uh... um...”

Faced with this intense affection, Scandia blushed furiously. Leonia, for the first time, saw someone’s ears heat up like that in an instant.

“Should we kiss too?”

“K-K-Kiss...”

Scandia stuttered.

But soon, she began nodding vigorously. Leonia felt like the wind from those nods nearly knocked her over. Every one of Scandia’s actions was just too cute and lovable.

“Then who should do it?”

Leonia asked with great patience. Deep down, she wanted to pin her against the wall and shower her with praise, but checking for consent came first.

“Could we... do it together?”

Scandia asked.

“Hooohh...”

Leonia let out a long sigh to suppress the rising desire. This person was too adorable—it made her worry about letting her out in public. Now she understood why Ferio tried to keep Varia to himself.

Eventually, their hands met. Their eyes naturally locked, and the two shared a deeply affectionate, bashful gaze.

“So pretty.”

Leonia saw pure and sticky affection in Scandia’s gray eyes. It was the most beautiful, clingy love in the world.

And Leonia felt it too.

“You’re even prettier, Young Lady.”

“Tch. I told you to call me by my name when we kiss.”

“Leonia Voreoti.”

“Nooo, I mean the cute nickname...”

She had one picked out.

“Leonia Voreoti.”

It vanished just like that.

That monstrous full-name invocation struck terror into the spine of the baby beast standing on the edge of adulthood.

Leonia’s half-lidded eyes flew wide open. Scandia stood frozen in place. But their hands remained clasped. In fact, they only tightened.

Leonia, like a broken doll, slowly turned her head.

“...Oh, oh my!”

The baby beast tried to butter him up.

“Our handsome Daddy’s here!”

Unfortunately, handsome Ferio was nowhere to be found.

Instead, a black beast stood there—one that looked like it could fold a hundred people into toys without breaking a sweat. Far scarier than the monsters of the Northern Mountains.

“I gave you a warning, didn’t I?”

Ferio growled, glaring at their intertwined hands.

“Maintain appropriate distance and keep things wholesome.”

Just days before departing for monster hunting, Ferio had reluctantly given his blessing for Leonia and Scandia’s relationship—practically coughing up blood to do so.

He had to admit no one else suited his daughter as well as Scandia.

But in return, he imposed several strict conditions.

One of them: physical contact must not go beyond a handshake.

“A kiss is fine though, right?”

Leonia shielded Scandia behind her.

“And you kissed Mom even when you weren’t dating!”

“Adults are allowed.”

“Wow. That’s such a cheap excuse...”

Leonia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Ferio might have a scary face and a nasty temper, but he was one of the most understanding and open-minded fathers in the world. That’s how he could embrace her secrets with fatherly love.

But when it came to her love life, he was unreasonably conservative.

“...Where’s Mom?”

Leonia looked around for Varia.

Surely her only supporter in this romance would show up now. But there wasn’t a single strand of pink hair in sight.

“She’s sleeping.”

“Oh, come on...”

Leonia muttered a short curse. She had a good idea why Varia was asleep.

She’d been worn out by Ferio for three and a half days straight—while pregnant no less—so she was probably out cold from sheer exhaustion.

‘This is a real problem.’

She might be fine knowing everything already, but what if their unborn baby, Muscley, picked up the wrong ideas while she was °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° away at the academy?

What if her precious little sibling got corrupted and turned into a mess?

“Um.”

At that moment—

“May I cut in?”

Scandia timidly raised her hand and asked. The beastly father and daughter turned to her with bewildered eyes.

Ferio reluctantly nodded. He had a weakness for polite people, mostly because he had so few of them around.

Before speaking, Scandia took a short breath. Her nervous expression was no joke.

“I know how much Your Grace treasures the Young Lady...”