NOVEL NEXT Side Story - 1
Oscar’s expression was serious. He was thinking deeply about how to get himself to speak to Lelia.
Lelia was in her early pregnancy.
During this time, he should be very careful of her body and mind, as advised by the doctor.
It reminded him of what the doctor had told him several times with a serious expression on his face – ‘She should never be surprised or shocked.’
Therefore… he procrastinated. Because he feared that Lelia would be surprised, and he would lose her.
He actually thought he was mistaken at first. But…
So, he couldn’t get his words out of his mouth and pondered for a while. He had no choice left but to ask Griffith.
“It feels like two.”
Griffith’s answer was as expected.
Oscar wiped his face with his palm.
‘What should I say?’
‘Lelia, there are two babies in your womb…’
She would be shocked, for sure. For better or for worse.
Oscar decided he had to tell her before it was too late and headed to Lelia’s room.
***
Meanwhile, Lelia, who was reading a book in her room, was staring blankly at her front.
In front of her was a small screen that her eyes could only see.
[Alchemy Lottery Season 2!]
On the screen, cute characters and alchemy tools flashed and moved.
After all the files were downloaded, the game started automatically. Lelia completed her tutorial to get used to it.
[(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و New recipes have been added to suit your environment, so please check it out!°˖◝(⁰▿⁰)◜˖°]
[Do you want to use Alchemy’s help mode?]
When she clicked the ‘Yes’ button, a familiar shape of speech bubble appeared.
[Nice to see you again!✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡ Would you like to restore your inventory from season 1?]
‘Is this possible?’
She, sometimes, would shed tears thinking about the inventory she had filled to the brim.
Lelia immediately pressed the ‘Yes’ button.
Her heart was beating at an insane rate. She instinctively placed her hand on her stomach.
‘What if I am so startled that my baby is shocked?’
She wanted to rejoice and shout loudly right away. She wanted to run through the entire castle, jumping and screaming.
But if she did, several people would feel scared and offended by it, as they were the ones who took care of her, who overprotected her.
Lelia bit her lip and checked every corner of the game screen.
She was happy to see her old friend again, whom she thought she would never see again.
She was as happy and full of joy as she was when she met her friends again long ago after parting from the temple.
“I missed you so much, Alchemy.”
[Me too, my master!٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶]
*(Charge it when you’re happy.)*
“…”
‘It’s still the same.’
Lelia looked at the list of added recipes with a slightly bitter smile.
Something stood out among all of the collected recipes.
[Rainbow diagnostic kit to confirm the gender of a baby]
‘I heard that the recipe was added according to the environment, is it for me?’
First, she checked the necessary ingredients. Fortunately, she had the materials in the inventory that was needed.
When she pressed on the ‘Craft’ button, a new item was created and stored in her inventory.
When she took out the item from the inventory and placed it carefully on the table, she saw a small rainbow shaped box.
Lelia carefully opened the lid.
There was a small heart-shaped sticker inside, along with a manual which had the instructions written on it.
The use of this item seemed simple.
It was mentioned to put the sticker on her belly button, and wait for five minutes.
Recently, Lelia’s greatest interest and curiosity has been about babies. Babies and babies only.
Among the many questions she had, she was most curious about the gender of the baby.
Oscar said it didn’t matter if it was a girl or a boy, but Lelia thought differently.
Lelia wanted to have a lovely girl who resembled Oscar.
It didn’t mean she didn’t like boys.
Five minutes later, Lelia took the sticker off her and checked. But she found it strange.
In the manual, it was written that if it was a girl, the heart would turn blue, and if it’s a boy, it would turn yellow.
However, Lelia’s sticker was divided exactly in two halves; yellow and blue together.
“Is this a bug?”
As if arguing, she asked Alchemy.
[Forbes’ most bug-free game, ‘Alchemy Lottery Season 2′ ᕦ(ò_ó²)ᕤ!!]
“No. Don’t say weird things. This came out in halves.”
It’s been a long time since they met, and she didn’t want to make a noise.
Lelia started explaining out of joy of having a new conversation partner. She quietly spoke, as she wanted to solve this as quickly as possible.
She told Alchemy that she is now pregnant and that she is trying to know the gender of the child in her womb.
She felt refreshed after talking about it to someone.
Oscar listened to her patiently, but he was a little…
Every time Lelia said something, Oscar would get fidgety and look at Lelia’s face.
He treated her as a fragile woman as if she would break at any moment…
To be honest, she wasn’t the only one who felt uncomfortable.
But it didn’t mean she couldn’t express her displeasure to Oscar.
Recently, Oscar was even getting morning sickness on behalf of Lelia. In a way, he was suffering more than her, so it was embarrassing to criticize him, saying, “Stop being overprotective.”
After she finished her ramble, a message from Alchemy appeared on the screen.
[Congratulations. You are pregnant with twins.(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧₊˚]
“Huh?”
‘Huh…? What did I see now?’
[As a result of the diagnosis, it’s one boy and one girl. Appears that you are pregnant with twins.( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ̑̑]
“Huh…”
Lelia was fiddling with her still flat stomach with a bewildered expression.
‘Twins?’
***
That night.
Lelia pulled Oscar as soon as he lay on the bed next to her, she said.
“Oscar, I have something to tell you.”
“What?”
Oscar looked at Lelia with a nervous expression. Lelia said as she patted his cheek, pitying Oscar, who looked a little lean.
“It’s about our baby.”
“…Yes…”
“I think they are twins. No, they are twins.”
As she said that, Oscar’s eyebrows wrinkled. Lelia quickly noticed this.
“Did you know?”
“…Uh, um.”
“What, why didn’t you tell me? So do you know the gender, too?”
“That… I do not know.”
Lelia was puffy with steam, and then she rolled her eyes.
She wanted to surprise him…
But he seemed to have known this already!
She should have known sooner, since he said he could feel the life force of a child with his magical powers.
But he doesn’t know the gender?
Lelia raised the corner of her lips and smiled.
“It’s a boy and a girl.”
“…”
At those words, Oscar bowed his head seriously, as if he had heard something terrible.
“Why are you reacting?”
“I… I’m so afraid. Can you stand it?”
Oscar’s face turned pale.
It was difficult for him to imagine just how great the pain of childbirth was.
He searched for a way he could replace her pain with magical powers, but to no avail. Oscar felt that his blood was drying out day by day.
Of course, whenever Lelia talked of giving birth, she would swallow her dry saliva with tension.
But she didn’t worry about it anymore. Because she had Alchemy by her side now.
“Don’t worry, Oscar.”
“…”
Lelia smiled and handed over a bottle of medicine.
“You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you? Eat this. It’s a cure for morning sickness”.
It was a treatment for morning sickness that she made through Alchemy. Oscar had a bewildered expression when he was handed the vial.
“A cure for morning sickness?”
“Yes. The Alchemy Lottery I used to know… remember I told you it had disappeared? It’s back. Thanks to Alchemy, I was able to make this.”
Lelia explained, but Oscar gently placed the vial on the tabletop.
“I won’t drink it.”
He adamantly refused.
Lelia’s expression turned to embarrassment.
“What… why? Are you afraid I’ll give you some weird medicine?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then why?”
“It’s not hard at all. I can’t say this is a struggle.”
“What? What’s the trouble? You don’t even eat properly!”
“…You’re the one who’s going through all the trouble. And I have to take this?”
Oscar firmly closed his lips, saying he would never drink the medicine.
“Okay, well….”
Lelia did not force any more because of his decisive attitude.
She wanted to force him to eat, feed him, but she couldn’t even do that when he said that.
If he accepts that that is also the process of becoming a father, it is a good experience…
Lelia looked at Oscar with a shy expression on her face and then lay down on the bed.
“Ah!! I’m really happy today!’
Lelia smiled and fumbled for the necklace around her neck.
Each time she pressed and released the jewel, the screen appeared and disappeared.
Oscar glanced at Lelia with a subtle expression, then stared into the air.
A small mana of light appeared and disappeared like fog in the air.
It seemed that the existence of Lelia’s unknown power had returned.
It’s called an alchemy spirit… Strictly speaking, it didn’t seem to feel like that.
He was a little suspicious about it, but it didn’t matter as long as Lelia was happy.
Oscar pulled Lelia into his arms as if trying to steal her attention.
As he gently hugged her Lelia, her warm, sweet scent filled his lungs. Oscar ruffled her hair and whispered softly into her ear.
“Lelia, are you happy about the twins? Are you not afraid…?”
“It’s scary, but… At first, I wanted to have two or so. I think it would be more convenient to give birth at once.”
Lelia spoke carefreely as if she were talking to someone else. She felt a little nervous up until yesterday, but now she seems okay.
Oscar said with a stiff expression as if he had brought all of Lelia’s tension.
“…I’m so scared of you being sick.”
As he rubbed his cheek against the nape of Lelia’s neck and muttered a little, a small laugh could be heard above his head.
It was nice to hear her laugh. Like a bird chirping.
Lelia hugged Oscar, tickled by the touch she felt on the nape of her neck.