You’re The Baby’s Father ?

Chapter 2 

“What… did you just say?”

“You’re pregnant. Congratulations.”

She hadn’t misheard.

When Enria asked again, the physician once more spoke of her pregnancy.

“Oh my goodness!”

Before the stunned Enria could react, Shabel covered her mouth with both hands and began to make a fuss.

“My goodness, my goodness! Is this a dream or reality? Lady Enria is pregnant!”

I heard it.

Feeling a headache coming on, Enria pressed her temples with her fingers and furrowed her brows.

Instead of addressing Enria, the physician turned to Shabel and began explaining further.

“At this stage, it’s common to become sensitive to all kinds of smells, and naturally, appetite tends to decrease. Most of the time, you may feel nauseous, and in severe cases, frequent vomiting can occur.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, she has been feeling unwell for the past few days. She hasn’t been able to sleep properly either.”

“It would be best to seek a specialist.”

At the physician’s words, Dale, who had been standing near the door, spoke up.

“This area is too rural. It took us a whole day just to bring you here. If we were to summon a childbirth specialist, it would take several days.”

“There are plenty of midwives in the village.”

“We cannot entrust my lady to someone who isn’t a specialist.”

At Dale’s firm words, in which he addressed Enria as “my lady,” the physician let out a short sigh and said he would explain what precautions needed to be taken and what preparations should be made until a specialist could arrive.

Enria had no way to process this absurd situation. She simply stared blankly at the blanket covering her.

Her mind felt numb, as If the shock of this completely unexpected news had rendered her incapable of thought.

Pregnant…?

This wasn’t in the original story.

Of course, the fact that Caldeon had abandoned her, or that they had shared a bed, wasn’t in the original story either, so perhaps it was inevitable.

Maybe she should have anticipated this outcome after spending countless nights with him.

But to find out only now that I’m pregnant… This is just…

It was a situation she couldn’t handle.

Even if her relationship with the original male lead had strayed far from the original plot, the way reality was diverging so drastically from the novel was overwhelming.

She even began to wonder if she had confused the plot with another story.

Pressing her throbbing temples, Enria pondered what to do.

But any serious contemplation was soon pushed aside by the growing nausea and the weakness spreading through her body.

— Why are you here?

— Huh? Why? I just wanted to read…

— Stay by my side until I wake up. Never leave me alone in bed again.

Resting her chin on her hand, Enria gazed out the window, recalling the moments she had shared with Caldeon since possessing this body.

Ever since she had started feeling better, those memories had been circling in her mind nonstop.

Especially the days when Caldeon refused to let her go.

The pregnancy must have happened that night.

That night, after Caldeon had fallen into a deep sleep, Enria had left the bedroom and headed to the library.

She had woken up earlier than usual that day, and since Caldeon had collapsed into sleep after returning from subjugating monsters in the northern outskirts, she had wanted to let him rest more comfortably.

Of course, her growing feelings for him played a role as well—she wanted to take better care of him. That was why she had gone to the library to study her abilities.

But before she could even turn a few pages of the book she had chosen, Caldeon had woken up, found her, and pulled her back to the bedroom. After that, she had been completely overwhelmed by him.

As she accepted his relentless advances, she had, for the first time, mistakenly believed that maybe he loved her.

And that illusion had solidified with each passing day, strengthened by Caldeon’s growing obsession with her.

— Wait, again…?

— It’s not enough yet.

— Huh? But the magic rampage has already been suppressed…

Caldeon had swallowed her words with a kiss and told her that she was still not enough—despite her confusion over the fact that this was no longer about suppressing his magical outbursts.

No matter how she thought about it, it had felt like love.

Even though she later realized it was all a delusion—after he had abandoned her—back then, the way he had focused entirely on her in bed had made it seem like he truly loved her.

Now that I think about it… we never used any contraception.

Through all the nights they had spent together, not once did she recall taking precautions.

Enria’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Why was that? Surely he should have been aware that sleeping together could result in a child.

That part hadn’t been mentioned in the original novel at all, so she had no way of knowing what Caldeon had been thinking—or why he hadn’t used any form of contraception.

After all, in the original story, Caldeon had neither loved Enria nor been intimate with her before she was beheaded by Roseannes’s brother. There had been no information about this aspect of their relationship.

“Haah.”

Lost in her tangled thoughts, Enria let out a long sigh without realizing it and slumped over the table. Resting her cheek against the cool surface, she blinked slowly and gazed out the window.

Should I have the baby?

This was already a second life she had stumbled into—a world from a book she had read.

Having a child wouldn’t ruin her life or make it unbearably difficult.

If things got tough, she could always sell all the jewels she had, buy land, and start farming.

After all, in her original world, she had been the daughter of a farming family that cultivated various crops. She had a solid understanding of the basics of agriculture.

Yeah, I can’t get rid of it.

Enria gently placed a hand on her stomach.

The realization that a living being was growing inside her was both astonishing and surreal.

She was carrying Caldeon’s child.

The baby will be precious.

That thought alone erased all her previous doubts in an instant.

Raising a child without a father made her anxious about the future, but then again, she had already possessed a body that was supposed to die soon—what else was there to fear?

Slowly, Enria pushed herself upright from the table and made up her mind.

I’m going to have this baby.

After deciding to keep and raise the child, her once-clouded thoughts became clear.

She asked Dale and Shabel—who knew about her pregnancy—to keep it a secret from Caldeon.

Dale seemed troubled by the request, but Enria firmly insisted that such an important revelation should come from her directly. That was enough to silence him.

However, Enria wasn’t sure how long she could keep Dale quiet, so she started brainstorming with Shabel, who was more on her side.

“So, you don’t want His Grace to find out about your pregnancy?”

“That’s right.”

“But is that even possible? Everything that happens here is reported to His Grace through Sir Dale.”

“Then what should I do?”

Letting out a deep sigh, Enria frowned with worry.

Shabel fell into deep thought for a moment before suddenly clapping her hands as if she had come up with a brilliant idea.

“What if you leave this place until after the baby is born?”

“Leave?”

“Yes! I’ll go on a trip with you, and we’ll send a letter to His Grace through Sir Dale, telling him not to look for us. In the meantime, we’ll move to another territory until you give birth. Besides, you can’t have a baby here anyway. This is a rural area, and finding a trustworthy midwife would be difficult.”

Enria looked at Shabel with a troubled expression. She wasn’t sure if this plan would actually work on Caldeon.

Sensing her hesitation, Shabel continued.

“First, write a letter saying you’ll be traveling for a while and don’t want to be found. Give it to Sir Dale. Once he heads north, I’ll search for a suitable estate where you can give birth comfortably. With the gold coins you have, you should be able to secure a mansion in a large estate. As soon as I find one, I’ll contact you again.”

Enria nodded at Shabel’s words.

It was a plan full of holes, but given that it came from a mere servant, it was likely the best she could come up with. And even when Enria considered it herself, there weren’t many other options that she could realistically carry out in her condition.

It was true—she needed to be in a place with a skilled midwife for a safe delivery.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

With no better alternative, Enria hurried to write the letter to Caldeon.

It was a simple message, stating that she would be traveling with Shabel for a while.

After handing the letter to Dale, Enria firmly instructed him to deliver only the letter and not to mention anything about her pregnancy before returning immediately.

Since Dale was someone who followed orders without fail, she had no concerns about him disobeying.

Once Dale departed for the North, Shabel also left for another territory using a teleportation stone to find a suitable mansion for them.

Teleportation stones were extremely expensive, so while Dale traveled to the North the conventional way, Shabel would arrive at her destination much faster.

With no reason to worry, Enria waited patiently for her return, spending her time reading books on pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare.

Then, one day—

An explosion rocked the mansion.

Before she could even react to the deafening blast, a man swiftly appeared, rescuing her from the collapsing building with ease.

Why is he here…?

Enria stared at the man in front of her with a bewildered expression.

With a simple flick of his finger, producing a sharp clack sound, he summoned an enormous carriage.

“Get in,” he ordered.

“…What?!”

“Growen will be here soon. We don’t have time—get in.”

The man opened the carriage door and gestured for her to board.

Growen? He’s coming?

Frozen with shock, Enria couldn’t even blink as she stared at the man.

Seeing her hesitation, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pushed her inside.

His actions weren’t particularly forceful, yet an overwhelming sense of fear crashed over her.

Because she knew exactly who he was.

Enria had just been kidnapped—by none other than Rahar, the older brother of the novel’s heroine.

The very man who had beheaded her in the original story.