The Baby Isn’t Yours

“Ugh, hnn…”

Kalia’s labor pains had already been going on for six hours. The darkness of the early morning had receded, and the red sun had fully risen on the horizon.

The rain had stopped somewhere along the way, but the cold air had come with the early morning’s chill.

The contractions were extending so long that anyone watching was growing more anxious.

Hemmie and Allen were waiting in the adjacent room, while only Simon stayed by Kalia’s side, never leaving her.

“The time for experiencing contractions varies for everyone. Severe labor pains can last up to 12 hours. We can’t call it desperate just after six hours. However… Kalia’s contractions seem to be more intense than average…”

They had mentioned that there was a method to take a knife and directly pull out the baby from Kalia’s belly. But that was not the preferred method, and it had severe side effects.

They said that it was left as a last resort when both the mother and the baby were in danger.

Simon raised the room’s temperature.

“There’s nothing more to do at this point but wait. Hold her hand to make her feel less alone.”

He adjusted the temperature to be neither too hot nor too cold, and even took care of the humidity.

Despite all this, Kalia’s pain didn’t diminish. She had bitten her lower lip so much that it had completely chapped.

Blood had welled up, and her face was as pale as if she might die at any moment. But she didn’t utter a word that she was in pain.

The intensity of the pain, rising and falling every minute, did make Kalia moan, but she never said it hurt.

“Kalia, Kalia…”

Simon fervently held one of Kalia’s pale hands and prayed to the God he had never seen before.

He even murmured apologies without hesitation. He prayed for anything to make Kalia hurt a little less.

“Damn.”

Could childbirth be this agonizing? This life-draining?

Children playing outside were not just born.

They were born with a miraculous cry, after struggling to come into the world from within this stifling agony.

All mothers in this world seemed truly amazing.

He was just a regular magician. In front of the mother who held life in her womb and tore it out with her flesh and blood, he was just a ‘regular magician.’

Kalia couldn’t even breathe properly.

“Ugh, uh… Ah!”

How painful must it be, how agonizing, how exhausting? He just wanted to take her pain upon himself.

It didn’t matter whose child it was, or why she had hidden like this. All that mattered was her safety. If only she could look at him again with those calm eyes, if only she could call his name, Simon had nothing more to wish for.

If by any chance she were to die, Simon couldn’t imagine living properly.

‘I must be out of my mind.’

Attempting a forbidden spell to cross the river of death and bring Kalia back was possible. He was willing to become a demon and go find her.

Kalia was his salvation, his friend, his everything.

Simon closed his eyes and remembered the young Kalia.

* * *

“I’m Kalia. Starting today I will be in charge of the little Duke’s protection.”

He had persuaded the Duke to let her attend the Academy with him.

When she raised her head and greeted him, bowing slightly with her tightly tied lemon-colored hair swaying, Simon found himself smiling involuntarily.

“Nice to meet you. It’s been quite a while.”

He tried to sound gruff to calm his racing heart.

“When did you see me that you’re saying such a thing?”

“Um, it’s been a long time. It’s been three years.”

“…Do you remember that time?”

He was referring to when he had been kidnapped.

The ten-year-old Kalia smiled.

“I remember because you were so pretty. I had never seen someone as pretty as the little Duek. That’s why I followed you like I was possessed.”

Were those words so stirring, claiming someone was pretty?

Simon, who had heard all kinds of words like handsome, pretty, cute, and lovely, had never heard such words as a compliment before, until Kalia.

The ten-year-old Simon felt one side of his chest itching.

“Don’t smile.”

“What?”

“Don’t smile so casually.”

…Because her smile made him too excited every time.

He couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

At this, Kalia awkwardly scratched the back of her head, feeling a little embarrassed, and after that she began to laugh less.

…At least in front of Simon.

So when he saw her chatting and laughing with other people, he became very angry.

“I told you not to smile, Kalia. Why are you cavorting so much with these bastards?”

“He’s crazy, I’ll kill him. Why are you smiling at him?”

“Kalia. Are you going to keep flirting like this?”

In the end, exactly 37 days later, Kalia became angry with Simon, who scolded her for laughing and the right to smile.

“Listen carefully. The Duke entrusted you to me, but I am not a member of your family. I saved you and got what I deserve in return, but who are you to tell me whether to laugh or not? What nonsense!”

At that time, Kalia was more energetic than the current Kalia.

Unlike the present Simon, the Simon of that time was more like a kid.

“What? Nonsense? Are you saying this to me?”

“Yes, to you. Are you going to kill me? Do as you please, but from today, I’ll be outside here. Even if I’m a commoner, I don’t think I’ll continue to die of hunger on the street. Goodbye.”

Kalia back then had rebuked Simon exactly 37 days after he had saved her.

Well, they were just immature children, so it was quite normal.

Simon, in particular, had never really had any friends until then, making him even more vulnerable in his relationships with peers. But when Kalia mentioned leaving him, he strangely felt a sense of despair.

The memory of his chest tightening back then was still vivid.

He grabbed Kalia’s wrist as she tried to turn away and blurted out, ‘I’m sorry.’

A phrase he had never spoken before emerged more easily than he had expected.

Even to himself, the words of apology came out much more casually than he had anticipated.

“I’m sorry. I mean, can’t we just stay as friends?”

“…What’s wrong with you? Why are you like this?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I thought we were friends, and it made me mad to see you getting close to someone else, besides me.”

Confused, Kalia looked at Simon as if he was acting strange.

He intentionally mimicked the expression his mother often made when she wanted something from his father.

He raised the corners of his eyes and looked into the other’s eyes with an innocent gaze, and even imitated biting his lips hesitantly.

“…Did you think of me as a friend?”

“Yes. I still think of us as friends. Aren’t we… friends?”

Kalia seemed confused by Simon’s pitiful voice.

Taking advantage of the situation, he took one step closer and brought his face closer to hers.

This was also a method Helena used often with the Duke. The more it was disadvantageous, the closer she would get to him and whisper. And every time, the Duke would forgive her with a red face.

He didn’t know it, but he resembled Helena.

Well, he often heard that he resembles his mother a lot.

“Friend. Will you be my friend?”

“No, if you say so, I…”

“…No? You don’t want to?”

Mumbling, Kalia reddened.

After scratching her cheek, she finally sighed as if to say she understood and nodded.

“All right. Let’s be friends. Just don’t argue with me like that from now on. If you have something to say to me, tell me directly instead of chewing it yourself.”

“Sure, I’ll do that. Kalia.”

“Hm… Well, I should be going now.”

Kalia’s excited tone was back to being polite. Simon was somewhat disappointed.

Though he had lashed out in anger, it was still good that she was treating him with ease. It felt like something special.

“Kalia.”

“Yes?”

“Because we’re friends, you don’t have to talk to me like that anymore. You can speak comfortably.”

Kalia looked embarrassed.

“But I’m a commoner, and you’re a noble.”

“Shall I become a commoner then?”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s not impossible.”

“No, it’s impossible, Simon. Besides, there’s no need for that.”

The petulant look on Simon’s face made Kalia add.

“I’ll just become someone who can talk comfortably to Simon.”

Smiling Kalia calmly nodded and continued:

“That will be faster.”

Surprisingly, Kalia really became that person. Of course, she didn’t need to know that it was Simon who had pulled the invisible strings from behind.

* * *

“…If you’re going to captivate someone like this and then pretend you don’t know me, what should I do with you, Kalia?”

As he wiped the sweat from Kalia’s forehead, she looked fatigued. She stared at Simon with wide, helpless eyes.

“Simon.”

With a hoarse voice, Kalia called out his name.

Even in the middle of all this, he couldn’t help but feel like a madman, finding her voice so nice.

‘Kalia, when did I become so obsessed with you?’

“Kalia. Are you okay?”

“Why… are you… here?”

“Because you’re here.”

Athis nonchalant response, Kalia looked at him as if she were hearing the word ‘friend’ for the first time, just like back then.

Simon simply smiled at her puzzled expression, and again, he gently kissed the back of her hand, as if she were a precious person.

Startled, Kalia stared at him in surprise.

Lovingly caressing the soft skin he held tenderly in his hands, Simon whispered to her in the sweetest voice in the world:

“I’m not going to ask or let you ask anything right now, so just focus on yourself.”

A slight blush appeared on her cheeks, making her pale face more lively, but it soon disappeared.

The pain returned, which was evident from her instantly frowning face. A groan escaped through clenched teeth.

“Ah, uh… Ugh…!”

She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to hold back the sound she wanted to make.

Seeing that she was in more pain than ever, Simon bit his lip. And suddenly his attention was drawn to the bracelet on the wrist of her other hand.

‘This…’

In the chaotic situation, he didn’t pay attention to her wrist, which was hidden from his eyes by her stomach. However, upon closer inspection, he saw that it was no ordinary bracelet.

But how did such a bracelet end up in Kalia’s hands?

Simon reached over to examine the mysterious spirit bracelet wrapped around her wrist. At his touch, Kalia opened her eyes wide and stared at the bracelet.

“…ia.”

“What is it, Kalia?

Kalia, who was already clenching her teeth, clenched the fist of her hand with the bracelet, as if gaining strength.

“When the baby is about to be born, call me. Don’t forget my name.”

Another moan escaped her trembling lips.

“…ia.”

“Say my name.”

“Gaia!