Raiden didn’t respond.
He just looked at me with a firm expression.
At first, I met his red eyes to gauge his reaction, but as time passed, I felt uncomfortable and lowered my eyes.
Raiden, who had been sitting across from me, moved closer.
He wasn’t the burly type typically associated with knights, but he was still more solidly built than me.
I instinctively moved back, and my chair hit the desk behind me.
“Me, with you?”
“Could you move back a bit? It’s a bit stifling.”
Raiden stood still for a moment, then quietly stepped back and sat down.
“Why do you think that? Is something troubling you?”
He didn’t seem like the Raiden I knew. His voice, which had been low and rough when he first answered, returned to normal.
“Because, no matter how much I think about it, you’re the only guy I could have slept with.”
“Really?”
“Whenever I went home late, you were always with me. And at company dinners, you picked me up. You were asked by the seniors, right? I know it was a hassle, and I feel bad.”
“That was part of it, but still. So why did you suddenly start thinking about who you might have slept with?”
Raiden seemed determined to hear what I was hiding. I hesitated a few times, then spoke while glaring at Raiden’s clenched fist.
“I’ve been feeling off lately. My stamina has been erratic, and my food preferences were like pregnancy symptoms. At first I thought it was just a simple sickness, but I finally got tested yesterday.”
I paused and then delivered the news with a trembling voice.
“I’m pregnant.”
Once I said it, the rest came easier.
“I tested three times. The hospital also confirmed it with medical-grade equipment.”
Raiden was silent for a while. He eventually sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his head.
“No one else you could have slept with?”
“Absolutely not. You know I only go between school and home.”
“What about that forum you mentioned?”
“Definitely not.”
The only time I could suspect was when I stayed up three nights for research, and Raiden accompanied me home, where I slept for two days.
“There’s really no one but you. I couldn’t have gotten pregnant on my own. And… and…”
I recalled a dream I had before the morning sickness started. It was an embarrassing dream.
“I had a weird dream. You were saying you were uhm.”
“Me what?”
“You were pregnant.”
“…What?”
Raiden looked utterly bewildered. I felt embarrassed and played with my hair, tapping my thigh with my glasses.
“Anyway, because of that dream, it made me think of you.”
I coughed a few times, trying to lighten the mood. Raiden lowered his head, thinking deeply, then looked up at me.
“When’s the due date?”
“That’s the strange part. They said I’m just over three months pregnant. So it’s definitely not the forum day. But the machine showed due dates five years and ten months from now.”
I tested four more times because it was so unbelievable. Every time, the results were the same.
So, I skipped work this morning and went to the hospital, wrapped up tightly.
The specialized magical equipment there also gave due dates five years and ten months from now.
I told them not to bother calling a mage to check the machine and quickly left the hospital. With results like these, it could only be Raiden. He’s a hero, so it must be something special.
“So you’re sure it’s me? Even though I’m a hero, I’m still human.”
His answer seemed to read my mind, and I gave an awkward laugh. Raiden, looking like he had cleared his complicated thoughts, ran his hand through his hair and sighed briefly.
“No one else knows, right?”
“You’re the first one I’ve told about it. Some might suspect, but…”
That worried me a bit. Before Raiden helped with my meals, a few people saw my morning sickness, and I asked about pregnancy symptoms.
“Do you want to tell your family?”
“What?”
“About the pregnancy. You’re going to keep it, right?”
Of course, I was going to keep it. But I didn’t want to tell my family.
If I did, I’d have to give up my new life as Elly Hale and go back to being Elly Gingerbell, living under horrible pressure. Raiden didn’t seem to be the father, either.
So I’d be a single mother who didn’t even know the father’s identity, living under the family’s scrutiny for the rest of my life.
Anxious, I bit my lip. I didn’t want that life. I had worked hard to escape it.
“Do you want to stay as Elly Hale?”
“I know I’ll have to go back eventually. But I want to delay that as much as possible. I like being Elly Hale.”
My firm answer made Raiden smile.
“Then stay as Elly Hale. I’ll help you. Even if the due date is in five or ten months, your belly will show by the fifth month. There’s a risk of getting caught. Take a long leave of absence in two months, as you would need to anyway. Don’t worry about a new job or the baby. Think of it as an extended break. I’ll divert the Gingerbells’ attention.”
Tears welled up, and my nose tingled. I rubbed my eyes roughly with my hand.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll make sure the worst-case scenario is you becoming Elly Rensher.”
It was probably a joke, but it was a comforting one. Overwhelmed with emotion, I hugged Raiden’s neck.
After staying up all night and worrying all morning, his simple words made me feel like everything would be okay.
The problems weren’t all solved, and there was still a long way to go, but I was grateful that Raiden was still on my side.
Raiden hugged me back, patting my back. I rubbed my face against his reliable shoulder and muttered.
“I want cheesecake.”
