IYAMD 156

IYAMD 156

How much time had passed?

Marsilia felt like every second was dragging on as he rubbed his clasped hands together. In the sitting room, Ashton, Serez, and a few others were seated, but the place was filled with a suffocating silence.

Malek was walking around, pouring tea into the waiting cups, when he suddenly dropped the teapot lid in surprise at the sound of the door opening. He froze in place.

But no one paid attention to this small incident, instead turning their gaze toward the door that had cracked open and then closed again.

“Your Majesty, I believe you should come in for a moment,” said the elderly maid, who had been summoned to assist with the delivery. She had a clear look of panic on her face. Marsilia stood up abruptly before she even finished speaking.

Once inside the room, Marsilia felt the overwhelming presence of divine energy.

He didn’t have the time to focus on the unfamiliar energy—it wasn’t his own. Turning his attention to where Jaha was lying, Marsilia frowned.

The bed was surrounded by thick curtains, and the room was filled with the smell of blood. Inside the curtains, it seemed like the court physician was still busy with some last procedures.

The maid, seeing Marsilia halt in his tracks, cautiously urged him forward.

“Your Majesty… this way.”

Only then did he turn his head to see a small table near the bed, surrounded by others.

As soon as he stepped inside, Marsilia felt the divine energy emanating from that spot.

He walked briskly towards it, and the people gathered around the table parted to make way. Upon reaching the table, Marsilia saw two newborns lying there. They had not yet been cleaned, and their bodies were soaked through.

Covered in amniotic fluid and blood, the two babies lay curled up in each other’s direction. The baby girl, with black hair, was as pale as death, lying motionless next to the boy with red skin. The boy, with blonde hair, was still unable to open his eyes, but his divine power seemed to be reaching out toward his twin.

“Explain the situation.”

“The princess… had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. We untangled it quickly, but the prognosis is not good, Your Majesty.”

The maid hesitated before swallowing dryly and then spoke carefully.

“The prince has been using his divine power, causing the Empress’s body to continuously regenerate, so much time has passed.”

Marsilia’s eyes filled with tears. The baby, who didn’t even have the awareness to understand, was already trying so hard to protect his sister with his little body.

“Well done, Heli. Now, Papa is here.”

Marsilia gently stroked the wet blonde hair of the boy, then lifted the black-haired girl into his arms. Cradling her like a precious treasure, he whispered to her.

“Lotis, wake up. Daddy’s here.”

Soft divine energy swirled around Marsilia’s body. He carefully controlled the energy, being cautious not to let it affect Jaha, whose procedure had yet to be completed.

Having learned how to manipulate energy from Jaha, he applied that knowledge to create a spherical barrier around himself using divine power. He then allowed just enough of it to circulate inside, making sure not to use too much of it.

The baby would likely have divine energy as well. Marsilia carefully adjusted his power, making sure it wouldn’t clash with the child’s, especially given the fragile state of the newborn.

The boy, who had been silent until now, suddenly burst into tears, as if unable to bear the loneliness any longer.

Marsilia, hearing the sound, lifted the girl toward his face, then listened intently, calling out her name.

“Come back, darling. Heli is crying like that. So don’t go too far, come back.”

The names for the children had already been decided long ago. The moment they found out Jaha was having twins, Marsilia and Jaha had put their heads together and chosen names.

If a baby girl was born, they would name her Lotis, meaning lotus, and if a baby boy was born, he would be named Helios, meaning sun.

They had considered giving them middle names in the Eastern style, but Jaha opposed it. He said their connection to the East had ended, so there was no need to give them names no one would understand.

Marsilia, happy with his decision, didn’t argue. However, he had wanted two names, one for each gender, just in case. They had no way of knowing the children’s genders beforehand, so there was a possibility they might both be the same. But Jaha firmly declared that no other names were needed, dismissing any further suggestions.

Since he had so strongly asserted they would have one boy and one girl, Marsilia had only chosen two names.

At that time, neither of them had expected they would be calling out their names in this situation. As Marsilia gently rubbed his cheek against the girl’s head, swaying her body slowly, he called out to Lotis with a burning desire in his heart.

“Come here, Lotis. My lovely little one. Come back to Daddy. I’ve prepared so much for you. So come back, my dear.”

The concentration of divine power inside the barrier increased. It was difficult to generate enough output to wrap around the child’s body, but Marsilia had come up with this desperate measure to make it work.

In a brief moment, cold sweat broke out. The child was still breathing. However, despite pouring all the divine power needed to heal the body’s abnormalities, there was no reaction at all.

Marsilia gently rubbed the body of the child, who was gasping for breath. He touched from the chest to the stomach, occasionally channeling divine power along his fingers.

After whispering the child’s name several dozen times, a faint cry reached his ears.

“Ugh.”

Then, the child’s limbs weakly twitched.

Marsilia closed his blurry eyes tightly, then kissed the child’s forehead.

“Welcome, little one.”

The child then began to cry loudly. Just then, Helios’s Read on cry, who had been washed by the handmaids, stopped abruptly before growing louder than before.

The cries continued, almost like a conversation between the children who had been close and then separated, and sighs of relief echoed from all around.

Marsilia handed Lotis to the approaching maid. The child had to be bathed quickly to prevent further temperature loss.

As she immersed the child in the warm water in the basin, the child, who had been crying so loudly, smiled.

“She’s smiling.”

At the same time, Helios, who had been bathed first, stopped crying.

“The Prince is smiling as well, Your Majesty.”

The children, who could not even open their eyes, were smiling continuously, as if they found something delightful. Even after being wrapped in cloth and turning into a cocoon, they smiled quietly without making a sound.

Marsilia was about to watch a little longer, but soon the children left to be fed by their respective nurses. Left alone, Marsilia waited nearby for Jaha’s treatment to finish.

It was a long wait, and after a while, the thick curtains that had blocked the view finally opened, not allowing any light to pass through.

Inside, Jaha lay with a pale face, and a palace physician, whose forehead and temples were soaked in sweat, was gazing down at him.

Feeling Marsilia’s gaze, the servant turned his head and bowed.

“I’ve finished my work, Your Majesty.”

It was clear what he had done, but it looked as if nothing had happened. The bed where Jaha was lying was unusually clean.

Though the strong scent of blood still lingered in the air, there was not a trace of blood or any tools used for treatment.

As Marsilia surveyed the area, the servant carefully spoke up.

“The Empress had given prior instructions to tidy everything up before you saw, Your Majesty.”

Marsilia smiled with a frown. Was the one who had his body cut open worrying about someone who only had to see blood? The sentiment was so tender it nearly choked him.

“Trust in my power. One day, I shall make history and grant you a miracle.”

As Marsilia recited a passage from the scriptures, a deep green light erupted beneath his feet.

The light, which had exploded strongly from the start, not only bathed the bed where Jaha was lying, but it also colored the entire room, the entire palace, and soon shot up to the sky.

…

Jaha regained consciousness after nightfall. What time could it have been? It was dark outside the window, and the sky had long since turned [Read on]black, leaving only the guess that the sun had set some time ago.

Jaha, who had been looking around, spotted the man who had been waiting for his gaze all this time and smiled widely.

“Did you wait long?”

“Yes.”

Marsilia took Jaha’s hand and gently rubbed his face against it. His once smooth skin seemed to be getting a little damp.

“Are you… crying, Mar?”

As Jaha sat up, the trembling shoulders of the man who had been waiting quietly were visible. He pulled his hand out and roughly tugged on his cheeks, revealing eyes brimming with tears.

Marsilia blinked slowly, hid sparkling eyelashes fluttering, and sniffled softly.

“You woke up so late…”

Oh, how indescribable the feeling was. Marsilia seemed genuinely scared, almost like a child, his long, thick eyelashes trembling.

It was so wistful, so loving, and so tender that even though he was frustrated by the excessive worry of this foolish man, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m sorry for making you worry. I guess I slept deeply for the first time in a while.”

Was it because the children who had been squirming in his stomach were no longer there? He felt completely refreshed after a peaceful, uninterrupted sleep.

As he gently wiped his damp cheeks with his hand, he planted a soft kiss on them, causing Marsilia to scowl.

It seemed like he was about to burst into tears. Jaha, in an attempt to divert his attention to himself, cupped his cheeks in his hands and kissed him repeatedly.

On his cheeks, lips, the bridge of his nose, and forehead. After kissing his face for a while, he finally relaxed and smiled. Marsilia, who had been kissed so many times, sighed deeply.

“You’re so hard to comfort.”

It was cute, but he didn’t want to say that. If he did, he would only get even more cocky.