The Devilish Duke Can't Sleep

“Uhh-umm…….”

“Kahel! Again?”

“It’s not too bad now. Don’t worry too much. I will be fine after a while.”

“But…….”

Lena lowered her eyebrows as she watched Kahel turn his head away in front of food.

A lot of strange things happen in the world, but she didn’t know that Kahel would have morning sickness instead of her. Even until the end of pregnancy!

Others say they can’t even smell food because of morning sickness when they are pregnant, but Lena ate deliciously for nine months during pregnancy, while Kahel often puts down his cutlery during a meal and won’t eat. Although the morning sickness was the worst in the early pregnancy, the morning sickness didn’t last beyond the second trimester, so Kahel was still occasionally covering his nose and mouth with a handkerchief to keep the nausea from coming up.

“Why on earth are you having morning sickness? I’d much rather have it myself. That’s normal, too.”

“No, no. Rather, I think I’m glad that I can do it for you. Because it is more important for you to eat well if you are pregnant. I am glad.”

Damien and Evelyn said that Kahel did it because he resembled Damien, the wife-fool, and the doctors of the Royal Family said that the fetus and Kahel seem to have a strong connection because she conceived the child who probably inherited Kahel’s strong magical powers. Neither of them could be understood by Lena, though.

“It would be better if the baby came out sooner.”

“It will come when the time comes.”

“Then, when is that? It’s already been three days past the due date…….”

“I think it’s so comfortable and nice that she doesn’t want to come out of your arms.”

“Since she’s in my stomach, I can’t even touch her or hug her and kiss her. When she comes out, I can love her even more, ah!”

“…… Lena?”

Lena, who suddenly shouted briefly, looked at Kahel and the handmaids standing next to her in surprise.

“No, nothing. I felt a little sick for a moment, but now I’m fine, aahh!”

Kahel jumped up following her second scream.

“Call the doctor!”

Still, because she had passed her due date, Lena’s surroundings were on standby 24 hours, and at Kahel’s command, the birthing room was ready in an instant. About halfway through the pregnancy, they were told by a priest that it was her daughter, so everyone was on the lookout for the Princess, who would become the next queen.

And from then on, Lena began to suffer while surrounded by the doctors, and Kahel waited impatiently outside the door. Occasionally, Lena’s painful groans could be heard outside the door, showing that even the Queen, protected by her powers, could not be freed from labor pains.

“Kahel!”

“You’re here.”

“How is Her Majesty?”

Upon hearing the news, Damien and Evelyn ran and took Kahel’s hand who had a pale complexion, and asked about Lena’s condition.

“The intervals between the labor pains are getting shorter and shorter, and we never know when the baby will come out. I wish I could go through this instead…….”

“Don’t worry too much, Kahel. Her Majesty is a strong person.”

“I know. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel pain.”

He had known since she was his close maid that she’s a much stronger person than him. Still, to Kahel, Lena was just like a small, fragile rabbit, so he didn’t want Lena to get hurt at all. She doesn’t know how happy he was when he could suffer the morning sickness in her stead. In fact, he even imagined that he might be able to take her place for the labor pains, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

He was even more concerned because, according to the chief handmaid, labor pains often exceed a day. It’s been two hours already, and his inside was burning at how much more pain Lena would have.

‘If she was a child who was like me, she wouldn’t try to bother her mother for long.’

As if the baby suddenly felt uncomfortable, suddenly the birthing room became noisy.

“Prepare hot water!”

“Your Majesty, do you remember the breathing technique I taught you last time? Heehee, hoohoo! Heehee, hoohoo!”

Like Kahel, the handmaids who were anxiously waiting busily carried hot water to and fro, and the voices of the doctor and the chief handmaid could be heard urgently through the cracks in the door that opened briefly.

“It looks like the child is about to come out.”

Evelyn held her two hands tightly and prayed for a safe delivery, and Kahel and Damien used magic to stabilize the energy around them.

“By the way, it must be the first time a child is born with both magic and innate power.”

“So I am more concerned. The strength that neutralizes magic is the innate power, but it is doubtful whether she really has both, and if she has both magic and power, it is impossible to know how she will come out.”

And while he was sharing the story while trying to calm his pounding chest, he suddenly heard Lena’s scream. And at the same time, Kahel’s shoulders flinched.

“Catherine. Please, please, come out quickly.”

The one and only Kahel Luave trembled. Cold sweat was welling up on his forehead and back, and he was so anxious that it was a bigger task to press his own energy than to press the energy around him.

However, as if the father’s wish had been delivered, he soon heard a baby’s loud cry from the birthing room.

“Oh, thank Lana!”

As soon as Evelyn’s exclamation came out, a doctor from the room came out and smiled brightly.

“The Princess was born safely! The Queen is also in good condition.”

Only then did Kahel slumped down and sighed in relief. And the sudden news announcing the Princess’ birth spread throughout the capital, and soon the whole country fell into a festive mood.

* * *

5 years later.

Kahel often had sigh-inducing conversations with Catherine.

“Today, Mother is busy taking care of Arman as well. Arman is already three years old, but he’s too childish.”

“I know. I agree that Arman seems to have a monopoly on my wife.”

“…… She is my mother.”

“Yes, and my wife.”

“She’s my mom!”

“Yes, yes. And she is my wife.”

Kahel made no leeway to his five-year-old daughter. Because even now he still thought that he was the only person who could attach the possessive title of ‘my’ to Lena.

After the birth of the children, Kahel was also quite dissatisfied that he had less time with Lena. He had always felt sorry for Lena, and he knew that a time with their mother was important to young children, but it suddenly occurred to him that he had lost his Lena.

“You are still a child, so you can be with your mother three hours a day. It’s hard for me to see her for even an hour a day.”

“Still, Father sleeps with Mother.”

“If you regret that, why didn’t you be born earlier and marry your mother? Of course, I wouldn’t have left it that way.”

Lena, who had put Arman to sleep next to her, shed a ridiculous laugh. If anyone heard it, it would have sounded like the father-and-daughter had been kicked out of Lena’s room, but they had been sitting next to her chatting since the beginning.

The two people with the same black, fine-grained hair and bright, clear red eyes sat at the table with their chins resting and chatted about Lena every day.

But she also felt sorry for Catherine. Unlike Catherine, who was so docile and intelligent since she was a baby, she still had to pay close attention to Arman, and because of that, she spent less time with Catherine.

Arman, a son born two years after Catherine, was weak because he was born with only magic and no innate powers. Lena’s power had weakened Arman while he was in the womb. After his birth, he gradually regained his health, but Lena treated Arman like delicate pottery because of the guilt that she nearly killed her son. Perhaps, because of that, Arman was a little bit spoiled.

“Anyway, Arman must stop obsessing over Mother.”

“Where did a five-year-old learn such a word?”

“From Uncle Gerard.”

“Did Gerard say that?”

“He said that Father had to let go of his obsession with Mother. He even said that it was making his eyes sore, but he didn’t tell me what that meant.”

Kahel quietly vowed to find time to scold Gerard.

“Even when I was born, I rushed hard for Mother.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course. My father told me to come out quickly.”

“I couldn’t even get into the room. Seeing that you remember my voice, it seems like you have mistaken it for a dream.”

“No. Dad really did. ‘Please come out quickly.’”

Kahel and Lena exchanged puzzled glances. Catherine was too precocious to be childish, and she wouldn’t make a fuss over what might have been a dream.

“Actually, when I was in Mother’s womb, it was so warm and nice that I wanted to stay longer, but I came out sooner rather than later, because you said you would love me more.”

Lena’s eyes widened at those words. Obviously, she remembered saying that.

“Oh my God, do you remember when you were in my stomach?”

“Yes. Will Arman remember? I don’t remember everything, but I do remember quite a few things around the time I was born.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“Ummm…… Mother’s stomach was dark and warm, I swam and played, and I remember how hard it was to curl up like this when I was born.”

Lena and Kahel, who had heard that there were children who remember what happened in the womb, but did not know that it would be Catherine, were curious and asked more and more questions. However, during the ten months Catherine was in the stomach, she didn’t say anything special, probably because she had nothing much to say about Lena. However, after hesitating, the words she added were about Kahel.

“In fact…… I love Mother so much that I did something a little guilty to Father.”

“Guilty to me?”

“Yes. I didn’t want Mother to be sick, so I made Father sick instead of her.”

Then, the two remembered that Kahel had Lena’s morning sickness instead. She had no morning sickness during Arman’s time as well, so she had forgotten about it.

“That’s your doing?”

“Yes. I could always feel Father. So, I was able to pass some of those things to Father instead of Mother. I’m sorry.”

At that, Kahel rather hugged Catherine tightly.

“No, you did a good job. You did really well. Why don’t you pass the labor pains to me, if that was possible?”

“At that time, I had a hard time coming out, so there was nothing I could do. However, I came out as quickly as possible!”

“Haha! That’s right, I’m proud of you, my daughter. You don’t know how grateful I was to have the morning sickness for your mother. It was thanks to you.”

Lena shook her head and laughed as the father and daughter hugged her. Gerard was not in the least wrong when he said, ‘daughters are the same as their father’ every time. Catherine was dazzlingly beautiful, thorough in her own duties and responsibilities, and above all she always gave Lena great love.

“I have to thank you two. Thanks to you, I feel like I’m the only one living a good life.”

When she expressed her heartfelt gratitude, the two of them looked equally passionate.

“Because you are my mother, I am so very grateful!”

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been alive.”

Arman, who had just fallen asleep, woke up to the voice and babbled,

“Mooomm, love you…….”

Lena recalled the lonely past, when she had no blood relatives, but she soon smiled happily. Her small and precious wish came true so heartily.