Chapter 290
"Pregnant...?"
Someone"s muttered words echoed in the quiet dining room.
Uhmm.
I thought everyone would be surprised, but the atmosphere was more serious than I expected.
As expected, they"re people from my family.
Looking to the side, Perez was sitting there with a very nervous face.
He told to let my family know first.
When the conference was held, the young emperor, who skillfully led hundreds of n.o.bles to his own will, was now in a honeyed silence.
"Yeah, it"s been about 8 weeks."
I deliberately nodded my head with a light tone.
Clang-grang.
There was the sound of heavy dishes falling on the plate.
It was a sound made by my grandfather who got up from his seat so much that the chair was about to fall backwards.
After handing over the t.i.tle of the head of family to me, the eyes of my grandfather, who had been enjoying his retirement life and seemed to be at peace, were burning for a long time.
"Hey, you!"
My grandfather pointed at Perez with his trembling fingers and shouted.
"You"re not even married yet! You, you!"
The fact that Perez was already the emperor of the empire seemed to have been completely erased from my grandfather"s mind.
No matter how much he is called a grandson-in-law, isn"t it too much for Perez, the emperor?
Shouldn"t we stop him?
I thought so for a moment, but unexpectedly, Perez sat still.
No, he just lowered his eyes and said with a sweet face.
"...That"s what happened, Grandpa."
"What? How can you do that?"
However, Perez"s att.i.tude seemed to have fueled my grandfather"s anger.
"I knew it from the beginning! I"ve known it from the moment he wandered next to Tia! Such a wolf!"
We"ll be in big trouble if we do this.
I slowly moved the wine gla.s.s placed in front of my grandfather toward me.
I was worried that he might even pour wine on Perez"s face, out of anger.
Sure enough.
My grandfather"s eyes quickly scanned the table.
There was still a half-full gla.s.s of water in front of him, but it didn"t seem to be enough.
It was then that my grandfather"s eyes caught on to his dog, Ralph, playing alone behind the table.
Although it has not yet become an adult dog, he was a dog whose name is specialized in hunting and security.
My grandfather pointed to Perez, and gave an order to Ralph who was lying down comfortably but woke up in surprise at the sudden loud noise.
"Bite him!"
However, there is no way that a naturally timid dog can do that, regardless of its pedigree.
Ralph, who was looking at my grandfather and Perez alternately with its round eyes, made a squeaking sound and instead hid behind my grandfather"s legs.
"Gosh." (Aigo)
In the end, my grandfather, who touched his forehead, sat down to make a thud sound.
However, his anger is still there, he was about to scream again while glaring at Peres.
"You...!"
"Father, stop it."
It was Shananet"s calm voice.
"The child must be surprised."
"Oh, child?"
With his embarra.s.sing face, my grandfather"s momentum subsided in an instant.
Then, with one hand on the chin, he carefully asked me as I watched the situation.
"Were you surprised, Tia?"
"It"s okay, Grandpa."
Honestly, I wasn"t surprised.
My grandfather"s fierce reaction was somewhat expected.
Looking at my grandfather like that, Shananet shook her head once.
"Tia is Tia, but father also have to think about your great-grandchildren in Tia"s womb."
"Huh? Oh, that"s right..."
Even though he answered like that, my grandfather was still stunned.
He reacted like a thunderbolt to the word "pregnant", but it didn"t seem to reach the fact that his great-grandchildren was growing inside of me.
"Ho, hoho. My great-grandchildren..."
A smile crept into my grandfather"s face.
"Yeah, our Tia... Hoho."
It was good.
One hurdle has been pa.s.sed.
"There is a two happy occasions in Lombardi. Congratulations, Tia."
Lombardi"s last reason, Shananet, smiled and congratulated me and Perez.
"Your Majesty must be very happy."
"Thank you, Shananet. Still... I can"t believe it either."
"That"s how it is. It"s because there"s still no change on the outside. Please help Tia a lot by her side, Your Majesty."
"Yes, I will."
Beyond the place where friendly conversations came and went, the twins seemed to have yet to get out of shock.
"Pregnant...."
"...nephew?"
Hmmm.
This will still take some time. In fact, there was another place that I had always been concerned about.
I pretended to rinse my mouth lightly with water and looked into my father"s eyes, who hadn"t said a word yet.
Fortunately, he was sitting with his hands together calmly, wondering if he had any intention of throwing tableware at Perez.
Will you be angry?
He"s not the type to shout like my grandfather, so is he going to stare at Perez?
But my prediction was wrong in a good way.
My father, who slowly took his eyes off the table, looked at me.
He had a smile on his face that made people feel at ease.
"Congratulations, Tia."
It wasn"t a fake smile.
It was such a pure joy that small wrinkles appeared around the eyes.
"Th- thank you, Dad."
"I"m a little worried that you won"t have time to enjoy your newlyweds. But, as always, my daughter will be brave and do well."
My father trusted me.
Then, it was rather my side that came to my senses.
I answered right away with a relaxed posture.
"Yes, I will. Don"t worry."
As expected, it was my father.
He has some weaknesses, but at important moments he is stronger than anyone else.
I too have to be that kind of guardian for my children.
It"s like he"s looking into all my thoughts.
My father smiled again.
"Yes, yes. I"m done eating, so I"ll have to get up first."
"Oh, already?
"See you tomorrow morning, Tia."
"Yes. Good night, Dad."
Did it end like this?
As if I had done a big homework, my heart felt lighter.
Look, it"s all over well. I was going to whisper to Perez like that.
Along with the sound of a chair being pulled lightly, I heard my father"s low voice.
"Your Majesty, please talk to me separately for a moment."
Oh, it was over only for me.
***
Perez followed Gallahan into the dimly lit drawing room.
Unlike Gallahan"s usual gentle and friendly personality, it was a strict s.p.a.ce with no unnecessary items.
"Would you like a drink?"
Gallahan asked, picking up the bottle on the table.
The liquor, which was fluttering in amber color under dim light, was a solo drink that Perez sometimes drank.
Do you drink this kind of alcohol when you are alone?
Because it was Gallahan who was always looking for sweet and light wine at the dinner party, Perez shook his head in surprise.
Pour—.
Without a word, alcohol filled the crystal gla.s.s.
Perez quietly received and drank the alcohol given by Gallahan.
There was no way to know whether the burning sensation was due to strong alcohol or tension.
"First of all, congratulations, Your Majesty."
"Oh, yes. Thank you, Lord Gallahan."
However, the suffocation that seemed to tighten his neck did not go away.
It was because there was no reason to call him in this separate way just to celebrate.
Sure enough.
Gallahan, who swallowed all the alcohol at once, rolled an empty gla.s.s in his hand and calmly opened his mouth.
"I hope the child is not a daughter."
"Yes...?"
Perez"s head became blank this time.
What do you mean you don"t want the child to be a daughter?
It was a word that was not Gallahan-like that valued his daughter more than anything else in the world.
"What do you mean, Lord Gallahan?"
"Don"t you think so? Think about it."
Gallahan put the gla.s.s down on the table.
"A daughter, who resembles Tia, met a little boy, or boy, before she turned ten years old and became friends, and the boy wandered around her all the time, and as soon as the daughter came of age, she became engaged to a thief without asking her father"s permission."
Gulp.
The sound of Perez swallowing dry saliva was particularly loud.
"After all the trouble, it"s time to establish the foundation and go further, so if you suddenly let them have children before the wedding... Wouldn"t such an unfortunate incident be inevitable?"
"Lord- Lord Gallahan."
"Don"t you think so, Your Majesty?"
Perez had nothing to say.
"I"m sorry."
All he could do was bow his head heavily and apologize.
Gallahan looked at Perez with a calm eye.
But the heavy silence did not last long.
Pour—.
After refilling his gla.s.s, Gallahan poured more alcohol into Perez"s, which was not yet empty.
"Your Majesty."
"Yes, Lord Gallahan."
"Tia was born after a very difficult childbirth."
Perez"s red eyes, who had been wandering somewhere on the table all the time, turned to Gallahan.
The eyes looking down at the amber liquor were reflecting on the memories farther away.
"My wife, Shan, gave birth after more than two full days of labor. And I couldn"t do anything."
Gallahan"s mouth caught a vain smile.
"My wife screams in pain and risks her life to give birth, where I, her husband, are of no use other than to hold her hand."
A short sigh pa.s.sed between the words.
"And Shan could not bear the aftereffects of labor and she pa.s.sed away before Tia"s first birthday."
"Ah..."
Perez"s face turned pale.
He put himself and Tia in the place of Gallahan and Shan.
What if Tia struggles in pain and there"s nothing he can do about it.
And if she doesn"t exist in this world.
"It"s terrible."
Even with Gallahan"s words, who was calm, Perez did not answer.
He just clenched his chin with his big hand and covered his mouth.
That was the best he could do.
"I trust my daughter."
After emptying the gla.s.s one more time, Gallahan said.
"I believe that my daughter, who has never been upset with me since she was born, will do well this time too. And that"s what I have to be."
Gallahan"s voice at the end of his speech was particularly strong.
Perez realized that the words were not directed towards Tia, but rather towards himself.
"Yes, I see. Lord Gallahan."
The eyes of the two, who were second to none in the world for their feelings for Tia, finally met each other.
After a silent conversation, Gallahan finally loosened his hardened face.
"Can you now understand how I feel that I can"t just be happy with good news, Your Majesty?"
"I don"t have any face."
"You don"t have to apologize to me. Your Majesty"s feelings for Tia are well known to me. Besides."
Gallahan suddenly grinned.
"If it"s a child who resembles Tia and Your Majesty, wouldn"t it be a lot of trouble in the future?"
"Ugh."
Perez eventually drank the alcohol he was holding at once.
Gallahan is right.
The desire for the child to be born to resemble Tia was everywhere, but the child would have half of his blood.
So if the child has no choice but to resemble himself, or if the child has no choice but to resemble Tia. (TN: If he knows his two daughters will really look just like him or Tia...)
Perez"s face slowly hardened.
It was because he suddenly realized a very, very important fact at the end of his thoughts.
"I want to be a good father."
And he willingly bowed his head and asked for a favor.
"Teach me, Father."