Special Story 10

After returning from the market, the three women rested at the villa.

Feifrea was a place of beautiful scenery. That afternoon, they had planned to stroll along the white sand beach that stretched just beyond the estate and dip their feet in the sea.

But Florin and Vivian seemed completely out of it, their minds clearly elsewhere. As they walked along the shore, Michelle eventually let out a heavy sigh and raised both hands dramatically.

“Let’s just go back to the villa.”

Only then did Vivian snap out of her daze, frantically waving her hands.

“What? Why, Michelle? I’m having such a great time right now.”

Florin, her large eyes blinking, quickly nodded.

“Y-yes! The weather is wonderful, and the scenery is just lovely.”

“Hmph. So you’re saying… you want to continue the walk?”

Michelle gave them a sideways glance, her expression turning sly.

“Sandra.”

Flinch.

“Margaretta.”

Flinch.

“Elena, Hazel, Nora, Freya, Matilda.”

With arms crossed and a victorious look, Michelle asked sweetly,

“Shall I keep going? Or shall we head back to the cool, breezy estate and sit down together to pick out baby names?”

Their decision needed no words.

***

All that had happened was that one of the fruits had an unusually high number of seeds, and an elderly woman had said a few things. Objectively speaking, whether they were pregnant or not was something only a doctor could determine.

Yet even these coincidences were enough to bring the three women immense joy. With sparkling eyes, they gathered in one room and chatted the night away, unaware of how late it had gotten.

“If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve stocked the villa with more novels,” Florin said with genuine regret. She had always been a daughter who read novels constantly back at the palace, so her parents had hoped she would spend her holiday at the villa doing something more active outdoors. Naturally, there were no novels here—hardly even a single history book.

“Which is exactly why this is more fun,” Michelle replied. “Hmm, as for me, I like the name Anna.”

“Oh! Like the protagonist in <Anna, the Child Blessed by God>, the one that’s being serialized now?”

“That too, but… there was this older novel among the books you once gave me, Vivian. The main character’s name in that story was also Anna.”

“Wait—hold on. The title was…”

“Oh, the title was—”

“No! Don’t say it! I want to guess it myself!”

Vivian cut her off, warning Michelle not to say a word. Her competitive streak had been sparked. After several tries, it was Florin who finally guessed the title correctly.

“All right, now let’s think of a name for a boy.”

“I like the name Adrian.”

“Adrian?”

“Yes,” Vivian said, nodding proudly with a satisfied smile.

“It hasn’t been published yet, but I recently found a really interesting novel. The male lead’s name in it is Adrian,” Vivian said with a smile.

She liked the character’s upright personality and his unique pink hair. At the time, she couldn’t have imagined just how deeply a boy named Adrian would become entangled in her life in the future.

“I see,” Florin nodded thoughtfully. But it seemed she already had a name in mind.

“What? You’ve already thought of something, haven’t you?”

“Well, not exactly thought of, but…”

“Ah! I know! You’ve talked about this kind of thing with Lord Alessandro before, haven’t you?” Michelle said, her intuition hitting the mark.

Florin gave a bashful smile instead of answering outright.

“Wow… You talk about things like that?” Vivian said in wonder.

Although she spent passionate nights with Armin, her days were mostly filled with reading, snacking, and lazing about. Armin usually just watched her fondly, read with her, or played chess and card games. They had never discussed anything like baby names. At that moment, her twin brother, born the same day as her, suddenly felt much more mature.

Looking at Florin with admiration, Vivian asked, “So, what names did you two come up with?”

“If it’s a boy, we’ll name him Jace. If it’s a girl, Jenna.”

“Oh my goodness.”

Vivian clapped her hands in delight. Jace and Jenna—there couldn’t have been more perfect names for her future niece or nephew.

“Vivian’s right. They suit so well,” Michelle agreed.

Their gazes naturally turned toward Vivian.

“What?”

“Haven’t you thought of any names yourself?”

“I… haven’t talked about anything like that with Armin yet,” Vivian said, scratching her head.

Reading novels was her favorite pastime—she could easily name a hundred beautiful or dashing protagonist names. She even helped name characters for serialized stories when visiting the newspaper office. But naming her own child felt like an entirely different matter.

“But you know, Vivian,” Florin said gently, “when do you plan to tell Armin?”

“Tell Armin?”

“Yes. I’m sure he’d be delighted to hear it.”

Vivian wondered how Armin would react if she told him she might be pregnant. Just like Michelle had said—he would probably be overjoyed.

But she and Armin had only just begun their married life. Even if she visited a doctor now, it wasn’t certain they could confirm anything yet.

“I think… I’ll wait a little longer before I say anything. What if I’m wrong?” Vivian said softly.

The excitement bubbling in her heart was now tinged with the slightest hint of worry.

***

After returning from their trip, Vivian began acting a little strangely.

She still lazed around the house as usual, but there was something different about her—something secretive. No, she definitely had a secret now.

Every time he entered the room, she would flinch and hurriedly hide something. The awkwardness was obvious. Armin had noticed a note tucked between the pages of one of her books, and though it bothered him, he had pretended not to see it for several days.

But when this behavior continued for over a week, his patience began to wear thin.

The best course of action would’ve been to ask her directly, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t tell him the truth so easily. Vivian wasn’t good at hiding things, but she was incredibly stubborn.

“Let’s sleep early tonight,” she said cheerfully, as if nothing were wrong.

She quickly built a mountain of pillows between them on the bed like a barrier and pretended to fall asleep, complete with exaggerated snoring sounds—“Hooo, hooo.”

Armin was left speechless and, admittedly, a little hurt by her blatant attempt to push him away.

His disappointment, mixed with his growing suspicion, cast a stormy shadow over his heart.

Should I just go check real quick?

After making sure Vivian was asleep, Armin quietly slipped out of bed.

He headed for the room his mother had decorated for Vivian.

She usually loved spending time there, but Vivian was clever.

Worried that she might get caught, she had apparently chosen to hide the note somewhere other than her usual spot. But there was no fooling Armin—he had already figured it out.

Click. The door creaked open.

He easily found the novel Vivian had been carrying around lately. The dark blue cover with gold trimming had become a familiar sight.

Lighting a small lamp on the table, Armin carefully opened the book.

“…What is this?”

His face twisted in confusion and disbelief as he pulled out the note.

It had clearly been folded and unfolded many times—the creases were worn and wrinkled, as if Vivian had looked at it repeatedly.

There wasn’t much written on it.

The word Feifrea at the top, followed by a long list of names.

All male names.

[Andrew, Dominic, Frederick. Ivan, Jeremy, Luciano.]

The list continued down the page, written in increasingly smaller handwriting as if she had added to it whenever she had a spare moment.

“What the hell is this?”

Why in the world had she written down so many male names?

Even worse, next to each name were little notes describing each man’s traits:

One had red hair, was brave, and an excellent swordsman.

Another was a handsome aide known for his gentle smile.

Yet another was a man who couldn’t be honest with the woman he loved, but deep down had a warm heart.

From Armin’s perspective, it was incomprehensible—worse, it was infuriating.

He shot up from his seat, his face pale as a sheet.

Has he ever been this shocked in his life?

Should he have insisted she not go on that trip after all?

Or maybe the real mistake was pestering her so much before she left?

A dangerous glint flickered in Armin’s eyes.

Whether it was the red-haired swordsman, the capable advisor, or the emotionally inarticulate but kindhearted man—it didn’t matter.

Anyone trying to take Vivian from him would have to risk their life.

***

At the loud swing of the door, Vivian blinked her eyes open groggily. She winced against the glow of the lamplight and slowly pushed herself up.

“What’s going on, Armin?”

“Vivian.”

“Yes?”

“What is all this?”

“What do you mean, this? What are you talking about?”

“Andrew, Dominic, Frederick.”

Vivian was instantly wide awake.

“Ivan, Jeremy, Luciano. Who the hell are these bastards?”

Her husband stood before her, looking down with a grim expression.