Chapter 298

And the moment I saw that, something choked up.

“Why… are you just got here?”

Tears flowed without stopping.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Perez, who was soaked with rainwater and soil, repeatedly apologized without even entering the maternity room.

But I think that was enough.

As if the tension was relieved, the strength in my body was lost, and my hands began to tremble.

Only then did I realize the meaning of what Shananet said.

Oh, I wasn’t okay.

I was just holding on until Perez came.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Perez.”

Every time I looked out the window saying I was okay, I was waiting for this person to come.

Estira blocked the gap between me, who was crying so much, and Perez, who was looking at me, standing like a nail.

“The door cannot be left open for long, so get ready, Your Majesty.”

“…I’ll be right back, Tia.”

Perez kept that promise.

In such a rush, his new shirt had the hem stitched in a mess, and he was barefoot because he couldn’t even wear shoes.

“Pfft.”

I laughed even when I barely stopped crying.

“You can go and wear your shoes.”

“No. I won’t leave you anymore.”

Perez said and quickly held my hand.

Whether he was washed with hot water as soon as it was urgent, his body that touched my skin was hot.

I was worried that his skin might get damaged, but I was relieved by the warmth.

“I feel really good now. Because you are by my side.”

Perez kissed the back of my hand instead of answering.

His eyes were full of worry and anxiety towards me.

I smiled brightly at such Perez.

“I think I can do it really well.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

Soon after that, the labor pains began.

No, it seemed that way.

My memory was sparsely cut off, so I couldn’t remember it well, so I was just guessing.

But what’s left in my head.

“Matriarch, a little more!”

Estira, who has been shouting like that over and over again.

“Ugh!”

Me, who couldn’t even groan properly because of the pain.

“Tia, please. Tia.”

There was only the presence of Perez, who never left my side for a moment.

And I think I heard a baby cry from a distance.

It was when I was thinking so dazedly between consciousness that came and went like a flickering light bulb.

“Tia.”

With a voice calling me from Perez, something was placed in my arms.

I pushed up my eyelids, which were heavier than when I had been working all night, and managed to open my eyes.

“Ah…”

I couldn’t speak.

There was a child in my arms.

Every time the little limbs moved, it was hard to breathe.

When I carefully swept her hair, the soft curly hair that touches my fingertips was softer than a feather.

“Oh, hello. Hi, baby.”

When I greeted her with such a trembling voice, her round eyes looked up at me.

She had green eyes that resembled me.

Perez kissed my hair and whispered.

“My daughter is so pretty. Tia, she looks just like you.”

“…Daughter?”

“Yes, she’s our daughter.”

Drip.

Tears flowed down.

I quickly wiped my tears off in case if it might fall on the child, and asked.

“She has ten fingers and toes, right?” She’s healthy, right?”

“Yes, she’s very healthy.”

“Thank God. That’s a relief…”

As long as she’s healthy.

There was nothing more to wish for.

“Great job. You worked hard, Tia.”

The voice of saying that was also trembling.

When I barely took my eyes off my daughter and looked at him, Perez’s eyes were wet.

I tilted my head to kiss his red eyes, and gently pressed my forehead to his.

“Perez, I made a name.”

After decided that the child’s name was decided by me and the middle name was decided by Perez, I came up with numerous names.

I made a large vote for boys and girls, but I couldn’t summarize the candidate easily.

“I was worried about what to do if I couldn’t give her a name for a few days.”

Overshadowing the concern, the name was decided the moment I saw the baby’s face.

I looked at her, who was still looking up at me, and pronounced it carefully.

“Merdin.”

Do you know it’s your name?

Merdin blinked her eyes once.

“Merdin.”

Perez put a soft smile on his lips and stroked the tiny Merdin’s hair with his large hand.

And he spoke in a low voice.

“Merdin, I will give you the land of Tigria.”

Tigria.

It was the widest and most fertile meadow among the imperial lands located in the South.

I kissed her soft forehead and tried to call my daughter’s full name one by one.

“Merdin Tigria Lombardi-Durelli”

So that you can be healthy and happy.

To be welcomed in this world.

“Mom and Dad will work hard.”

On my daughter’s name, I promised quietly.

***

“As the days go by, I think she is becoming more and more like you, Perez.”

A week after Merdin was born, I looked into the cradle and said.

“Well.”

That’s his answer, but Perez was already shaking his head.

“In my eyes, I think she’s becoming more and more like Tia.”

“No, look. Look at her mouth, she looks more like you than me.”

I heard that newborns at this time of year have different faces every day.

I guess that’s true.

“Because I can’t take my eyes off you.”

Not because Merdin is my daughter, but objectively, she was so pretty.

She had a pretty smile, and she didn’t cry because of her curiosity, and her round eyes looking around were pretty.

“Haa~m.”

However, apart from that, yawning leaked.

It was inevitable because I had to get up every few hours to breastfeed.

“Get some rest, Tia.”

Perez said, stroking my cheek as I lay on the bed.

“Perez, what about you?”

“It’s Merdin bath time.”

“Ah. Yes, go ahead.”

After taking lessons from Estira like that throughout my pregnancy, he didn’t let go of the parenting books.

Perez was doing most of the parenting by himself.

He didn’t even hire a nanny, which the imperial family and noble families take for granted.

He barely even borrowed my hand.

All I was doing was breastfeeding and loving full Merdin.

When I asked if there was anything I could do because I wanted to do something, the only answer that came back was, ‘You gave birth to Merdin.’

Perez, who cherished Merdin, who is growing day by day but still too small, disappeared into the bathroom.

I listened for a moment, and noticed that Perez had completely moved away.

And I didn’t forget to raise my voice a little on purpose and talk to myself.

“Then shall I rest a little?”

Fortunately, he didn’t feel like I was going to cross the middle room and he went completely into the bathroom.

At last.

“Fufu.”

I smiled and approached the desk on one side of the bedroom.

“Where is the document that I secretly took from Clarivan…”

The maternity leave of lying down doing nothing and recuperating was hard work for me.

That’s why I called Creney to bring only a package of documents from Clarivan’s office.

I had been looking for a chance to read the documents all day, but now, when Perez went to bathe Merdin, was the perfect moment.

If I can’t stand it for a week and start working again, I don’t know what kind of nagging I will hear from Perez.

I carefully opened the drawer so as not to make a sound, and I saw a familiar note.

It was my mother’s diary.

“Oh, this was here.”

After giving birth to Merdin, I was so distracted that I forgot the existence of the diary for a while.

I put off looking for documents for a while and took the diary.

“How far have I read…”

I opened the bookshelf, following my memory.

Coincidentally, it seemed that only the last diary was left behind.

「 The 256th year of the imperial calendar, March 3rd

Today is the last day to write a diary in this notebook.

Starting tomorrow, I plan to focus on preparing for childbirth.

I had a dream last night.

A dream that I can’t last more than a month after giving birth to the child.

It can’t be. I want to welcome summer with my child who will be born in spring and enjoy the cool breeze of autumn.

And if possible, I want to be by her side until the first snow and the next spring.

Just in time, a doctor sent by Lord Lulac came today.

He asked the man for medicine and food to help recover after childbirth.

Prophetic dreams do not indicate an unavoidable fate.

It just shows the results of some decisions I’ve made.

The future is not set.

It may depend on my choice and effort.

So I will fight.

Take care of my body somehow after childbirth so that I can stay with my child for a day longer. 」

My mother kept the words written in her diary.

Because she stayed by my side for almost a year, not a month.

She fought fiercely for me.

“Thank you, mother.” (TN: Oh, tears…)

Inevitably, my throat was choked.

“Hmm.”

I’m going to cry again.

After giving birth to Merdin, I shed more tears.

I tried to cover the diary in a hurry, but accidentally the front page of the note unfolded.

It was a place I hadn’t thought of taking a look at when I first got it.

And there was a short note left.

「Congratulations on the brilliant life of my daughter, Florentia Lombardi and the birth of Merdin.

– Mom. 」

“……”

I’ve been stroking the phrase for a while.

Brilliant lives.

My mother called my previous life ‘a brilliant life’.

The life, which I did not want to recall because it was hard and painful, was also brilliant.

It wasn’t a failed life.

“Tia?”

I heard Perez’s voice as he approached to me.

I raised my face that was buried in the diary.

I could see Perez and Merdin sleeping soundly in his arms.

I didn’t cry.

Instead, I smiled brightly at the most valuable beings obtained at the end of my brilliant lives.