Became Pregnant With the Demon King’s Child

“But still, I can’t just name the baby all by myself, can I?”
Contained within those words was the unspoken: Because you haven’t woken up yet. Lowell squeezed his eyes shut.

He always leaves me speechless.
He was well aware that his inability to wake up had worried Felix to no end. And when he thought of how anxious Felix must have been while waiting, Lowell found he couldn’t bring himself to scold him anymore. On top of that, a faint sense of guilt crept in for having raised his voice at all.
“You’re right. It would’ve been nice if we’d picked out a name before the baby was born.”

“I prefer thinking it over with you right now.”
Felix instinctively noticed Lowell’s mood sink and leaned in even closer. They were already sitting flush together with not an inch of space between them, yet it was obvious even to distant onlookers that Felix wanted to be even closer.
The people in the room watched and thought, How could anyone be that happy? Still, they were relieved to see the chilly atmosphere in the guest chamber finally melt into something warm. Just yesterday, they’d been praying to the god of death not to take the Duchess away, even if it meant sparing them instead. Compared to that terrifying memory, this level of excessive affection was easy to endure.

“What kind of name would be good? Can you tell me how babies are usually named in Nyx?”
“In Nyx, it’s customary for the father to give the name.”
“Is that so?”

Lowell whispered the question as he gently stroked Little Bean’s floppy ear. It was hard to focus on conversation while looking at the baby.
He has nothing to do, so why’s he struggling to stay awake? Just go to sleep.
Felix glanced over at Lowell’s arm, then pulled the baby toward himself. He had noticed Lowell’s arm starting to go numb. Lowell was a little reluctant to let go—he’d only just started holding the baby—but knowing how fussy Felix could be about his health, he didn’t bother stopping him.

The baby let out a soft whimper and reached his hands back toward Lowell, clearly wanting to stay with him. Fortunately, the fuss didn’t last long. He soon lost the battle against sleep and drifted off. Lowell, curious at how quickly the baby had nodded off, watched him for a long moment before shaking his head and pulling himself back together.
“Then why don’t you name Little Bean, Felix?”
But Felix shook his head firmly, surprisingly so.

“That custom in Nyx started because of the constant wars. Knights heading to battle while their partner was pregnant would leave behind a name for the baby, just in case they didn’t return.”
As he absently played with Lowell’s fingers, Felix continued in a gentle, storytelling tone. Wherever his touch landed, a soft warmth followed. Lowell had to fight hard to keep his focus from being pulled away.
“No one going to war knows whether they’ll survive. In fact, in Nyx’s past, it wasn’t uncommon for fathers to die before their child was grown. So they tried to leave behind a trace of themselves, at least through a name.”

“Then we really should name the baby together. You’ll always be here with us, Felix—you don’t need to leave behind traces.”
Lowell realized that the custom of fathers naming their children in Nyx was, in a way, a form of leaving a will. And he didn’t want Felix to have to leave behind any wills. It was a contradiction, considering Lowell himself had once imagined writing a letter that could serve as a will, but the emotion was genuine.
“You’re right. Nyx is finally becoming stable, so it’s time for those kinds of customs to fade.”
Felix easily read Lowell’s heart.

Before, he would’ve had no idea what Lowell was thinking. But now, when it came to things like this, it felt like he could read Lowell’s thoughts as if they were sitting in the palm of his hand. Not because he’d gotten better at reading people, but because he knew—he would’ve thought the same.
“Then what kind of meaning should we include in the name?”
“It should be a name fit for a wise ruler.”

Felix spoke as if it were a given that the child would succeed him, even though the baby hadn’t even presented yet. Lowell had also assumed that Little Bean, being the firstborn, would naturally become the heir—but just then, he remembered something about traits.
In this world, the firstborn typically inherited regardless of gender. However, if a child presented as an alpha, things changed. The moment a child presented as an alpha, their place in the line of succession usually rose.
“The baby might not become a ruler, you know.”

“We’re not having a second child, Lowell. So of course Little Bean will be the ruler.”
Lowell hadn’t particularly been thinking about having a second child either, but he hadn’t expected Felix to be this firm about it. On top of that, the word ruler felt absurdly mismatched with the image of Little Bean, making the whole idea seem unreal.
“Still, just in case, I don’t want to put something like ‘ruler’ in the name. It feels too heavy.”
“Being a ruler is a heavy burden by nature.”

Lowell stared intently at Felix, who was gently patting the baby to help him sleep. His hands were unbelievably gentle—such a contrast to his stern words.
“Even so. A name is usually called by the people closest to you, right? I want the baby to be able to set aside the burden of being a ruler, at least when surrounded by people who love him.”
Felix paused in thought, then nodded.

“You’re right. You always are, Lowell.”
Truthfully, even if Lowell had suggested just naming the baby Little Bean, Felix would’ve nodded and said it was perfect.
It wasn’t a matter of practicality—Felix simply wanted to agree with whatever Lowell wanted, as long as it didn’t concern safety. And besides, whenever Lowell looked at him with those shining blue eyes and spoke honestly, every word sounded perfectly reasonable. Felix never found any reason to disagree.

He’s definitely seducing me on purpose.
Lowell hadn’t done anything, but Felix—already thoroughly enchanted—just kept nodding and smirking.
“Then how about giving the name a meaning like love or happiness? So every time someone who loves him says his name, it’ll be like they’re wishing happiness upon him.”

“Good. Let’s look for names with that meaning.”
And with that, today’s name discussion came to a close.
The tension drained out of Lowell, and he leaned his head on Felix’s shoulder. Then he gripped the large hand that had been gently stroking his own to the point of wear. As their fingers interlaced perfectly, a deep sense of contentment filled Lowell’s chest.

Hmm?
But instead of smiling back, Felix’s lips had gone stiff.
“What is it?”

Lowell tilted his eyes upward, puzzled, and asked softly.
“Don’t seduce me.”
“Me?”

The words were so absurd that Lowell burst into laughter.
He’s the one who was just teasing me with his hands, and now I give one little squeeze and I’m the one seducing him?
Felix was dead serious. Which only made it more ridiculous for Lowell.

“Yeah. And if you’re really not trying to seduce me, then stop laughing like a skylark.”
“A skylark?”
“Yeah. You make sounds like a skylark when you laugh. It’s so clear and bright that it clears the air around you.”

Lowell felt more awake than ever at Felix’s explanation.
There’s a limit to how blinded by love someone can be!
He ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ wished—pointlessly—that no one else in the room had heard that. But judging from how the knights all had their heads bowed in unison, that wish was unlikely to be granted.

“It’s just a normal laugh. It only sounds that way to you.”
Lowell had thought he’d built up a decent tolerance for embarrassment—but clearly, he’d been overconfident. His neck was now burning red.
“That can’t be. Everyone thinks that, they just don’t say it. So if you’re not trying to seduce anyone, don’t laugh out loud like that in front of others.”

“Excuse me? Why would I seduce anyone else?”
“You may not be thinking about it, but other people get seduced anyway.”
Lowell decided to give up on this conversation entirely. If it kept going, his shame would only deepen.

“I’ve been so out of it I didn’t notice… but this is the capital, right?”
As far as abrupt topic changes go, it was a smooth one. Felix wanted to keep insisting that Lowell needed to be careful because his charms exceeded imagination—but he held himself back.
“Yeah. Since you fell into that deep sleep for unknown reasons, we couldn’t move you far. And the capital made it easier to summon priests.”

“I see. Then are we going back to Nyx soon?”
At the word back, Felix froze mid-motion. For the first time, it hit him: Lowell was truly awake again. Everything was back where it should be. The ordinary future, the one he’d once only dreamed of, had returned—and it was so blissful it almost hurt.
“There’s still something I need to take care of. Once that’s done, we’ll go back to Nyx.”

“Okay. The Ducal Castle in Nyx is our home. We have to show it to Little Bean, too.”
Sunlight streamed through the window and lit Felix’s face. There wasn’t a single shadow left there anymore.
“Lowell… when we get back, let’s have the wedding.”

The long night had come to an end. And beside him now stood a sun that would never set.
“Yes.”