When You Turned Your Back On Me, We Became Strangers [EN]: Chapter 108

Aside From Us (107)(108/111)

Extra Story 7

“It’s higher than I thought!”

Riding it was much scarier than just looking at it. A handsome black horse with a glossy mane stood obediently before Railey.

“Don’t worry, he’s gentle and won’t act up.”

“……Really?”

“He’s my favorite.”

Kaver stroked the horse’s neck as it shook its head.

“Nox. You have to behave.”

Railey approached slowly, watching the horse that suited the name Nox well. Following Kaver, she reached out her hand, and Nox brought his face to her.

He seemed to have more charm than he looked.

“Good boy. Please take care of me today.”

Nox snorted at Railey’s voice. Kaver smiled and looked at Nox.

“He seems to like you.”

“Really?”

“His eyes have softened.”

As Kaver said, Nox’s eyes looked calmer somehow. Railey was relieved and climbed onto the horse with Kaver’s help.

“D-don’t let go!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll hold on until you get used to it. Or should we ride together?”

“Um… no.”

Somehow, she felt like she shouldn’t ride with him. It was as if there was another intention hidden in his eyes.

“That’s too bad.”

“Don’t be disappointed about things like this.”

Railey slowly learned how to ride a horse. Perhaps because of her excellent athletic sense, she looked quite good on horseback. Holding the reins and moving slowly, Nox began to walk forward slowly at her signal.

“Wow!”

She exclaimed. As she ran a little faster, a cool breeze swept past her body. Kaver, who was running quickly beside her, kept a close watch on Railey with a worried look.

“Be careful!”

“Don’t worry! I’m used to it now.”

Was this what it felt like to run? She could see why Ren was so into it. The feeling of becoming one with the horse in rhythm wasn’t bad at all.

Railey enjoyed her freedom as she galloped across the prairie.

* * *

Perhaps because she had overdone it yesterday, her body felt heavy. It felt a little different than usual…

Railey raised her stiff body and tilted her head. Her lower abdomen felt tight and painful, which made her feel down.

“You don’t look good today.”

Kaver hugged her from behind and kissed her neck. It was quite intense for a morning greeting, but Railey stroked Kaver’s hair as if she was used to it.

“Umm, my body feels a bit heavy.”

“I told you to run moderately yesterday. Nox seemed excited too, though.”

Railey nodded at his words. She seemed to have overdone it a bit. She had no regrets since she had a great time running, but she shifted her gaze to the luggage piled up on one side.

“I have to leave this afternoon.”

“……Where to?”

Kaver looked at Railey with a bewildered expression. Only then did he see the luggage she had packed and fell silent.

“You seem to have done something behind my back.”

“But I couldn’t ignore the people’s affairs. It seems there’s a problem with the water supply.”

“I was going to take care of it, but you must have seen it in the meantime.”

“It would be nice if we could help each other.”

At Railey’s words, Kaver reluctantly got up. It seemed like she was pushing herself too hard, but since she had already committed, he couldn’t just stay still.

“Instead, stay still today. I’ll do the work.”

“Can I at least watch?”

“……Go with Ren.”

Kaver hugged Railey tightly and kissed her. He had to hurry to prepare. The road was long, so moving slowly wouldn’t be bad.

“Don’t even think about going on horseback. I’ll call a carriage.”

“But, I like riding horses better?”

“It’s because you don’t look good.”

“Umm… okay.”

Railey couldn’t bring herself to tell Kaver.

She lacked confidence because of a bad memory in the past.

If she was happy to have a child again, only to miscarry… she probably wouldn’t be able to bear it.

‘But it’s already been two months since I’ve had any news [missed her period].’

Counting the days in her head, the timing was about right. She had thought she would never have children again.

‘Maybe not.’

She wasn’t even sure if he would be happy or not. She had already experienced painful things.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t talked about this before accepting the position of Empress. Kaver carefully brought up the topic to Railey first.

『Don’t worry about the issue of succession. If you don’t want it, neither do I.』

『But, for the Emperor not to think about succession…….』

『Railey, you are important to me. There’s no need to rush, so it’s not too late to think about it when you’re ready. No one will be able to talk to you about succession.』

And indeed, she never heard anything about succession.

Thanks to Kaver’s consideration, Railey felt a little less burdened.

‘I should check just in case.’

She was planning to secretly meet a doctor when she arrived in another country to find out. Railey put her hand on her stomach and closed her eyes.

If it’s really true… to someone as flawed as me…

‘You’ve come to me again.’

It would be so nice if that were the case. Her eyes turned to sadness.

Kaver got up and moved busily. He wanted to do whatever Railey wanted to do, so it wouldn’t be bad to go to another country and patrol.

“Then Railey, get some sleep for a while. I’ll wake you up when the carriage comes.”

Railey nodded obediently at Kaver’s words for some reason. Lying in bed, she tried to hide her pounding heart and hugged her stomach.

She desperately hoped that a miracle would bring her a child.

* * *

“Ren, are you there?”

Railey, who had gotten up while Kaver was busy, looked for Ren. He hadn’t responded to her calls, but as if he knew she would move, he returned to the mansion just in time.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… it’s just that, I’m not sure.”

Ren looked at Railey and widened his eyes.

His gaze turned towards Railey’s stomach. She hadn’t even said anything yet, but he seemed to have noticed right away.

Perhaps he had quickly realized it because he was communicating with Railey to some extent.

“You!”

At his shout, Railey hurriedly covered his mouth. She put her index finger to her lips and quietly silenced Ren.

She didn’t expect him to get excited and shout, and Kaver almost heard him.

“Is that why you called me?”

“I’m not sure. I thought Ren would be able to see it…”

“What are you worried about?”

Ren looked at Railey and asked. Seeing the worry in her eyes, it seemed like she was full of unnecessary worries again.

“You don’t have to worry. Kaver will be happy.”

“Really. Is it really true?”

Only then did Railey cover her stomach and lower her eyes. Has a blessing really come to me again, to someone as flawed as me?

She couldn’t believe it. No, she couldn’t believe it.

“In the past, pregnancy was impossible because you didn’t have a contract with me and your body’s mana was unstable, but now that your body has fully recovered, it’s not strange.”

“So it would have been impossible if I hadn’t completed the contract.”

“It’s not like you didn’t know your body’s condition before. Back in the Duke’s mansion, no, back then, it was even amazing that your body could even grow a child.”

Railey nodded at Ren’s words. She also knew that her body was not healthy.

It was only when she broke the contract tied to the Imperial family and made a contract with Ren that her body became stable.

“So really…”

“Yes, really. Congratulations.”

“……Ren, I…….”

Tears flowed from Railey’s eyes. Ren pointed towards Kaver with a deep smile.

“Go on. If he finds out I knew first, he’ll be quite upset, you know?”

“Hic, I can’t… believe it.”

Tears streamed down her face endlessly. Ren stopped reaching out to wipe them away and pushed Railey’s back.

“Go on.”

Now there was someone to wipe away her tears. It wasn’t his place to step in. It was enough for Railey to accept and be happy.

Wasn’t it time to forget the past? Enough time had passed for her to be given happy things.

She still didn’t seem to believe that she was pregnant again, but Ren realized that Railey’s tears were of joy.

“Railey, those are tears filled with happiness, so you can cry as much as you want.”

At Ren’s words, Railey’s tears, which she had been holding back, poured out. The emotions that had been locked in a corner of her heart seemed to overflow and spill over the dam.

She slowly wiped away her blurred vision with the back of her hand and approached Kaver. When she saw his broad back, she hugged him as he was and buried her face in it.

“……Kaver.”

“What’s wrong? What’s the matter?”

Kaver was surprised by the wet sensation on his back and tried to turn around.

Railey was crying. She had been smiling just a moment ago, and he had even checked that she had fallen asleep. Did she have a nightmare?

“Just stay like that, just for a moment…”

“Okay. Okay, so don’t cry.”

Kaver patted Railey’s hand that was hugging him. He waited for her to speak without saying anything. Something must have happened.

‘Who made her cry again? Was it me……?’

He went back over what he had done wrong, but there was nothing. No, even if he thought there was nothing, there might be something that Railey was upset about.

He pondered over what to do and looked back on his actions.

‘Nothing. There’s nothing no matter how much I think about it!’

Kaver was frustrated for a moment and apologized to her out of the blue.

“Railey, I’m sorry.”

“……About what?”

Railey was puzzled by Kaver’s apology.

Did he know what she was going to say and draw a line in advance? Perhaps, he really didn’t want a child.

A shadow fell over her face. What should she do if Kaver didn’t welcome the child? Railey’s face quickly turned pale.

“I’m sorry no matter what. So don’t cry. It’s all my fault. I won’t make bad food anymore, and I won’t bother you too much at night. I’ll work hard too…”

Kaver trailed off, rambling. It would be nice if Ren appeared at times like this and gave him a hint.

He was nowhere to be seen when he was needed. He was no help at all. He hung his head in frustration.

“What are you talking about.”

“No, it’s because I must be the reason why you’re crying.”

Railey finally understood Kaver’s words and shrugged her shoulders as she laughed.

“That’s not it.”

“……Then? Can I look at your face?”

He asked carefully, fiddling with Railey’s hand. Only then did Railey feel like a fool for worrying about what she had been worrying about.

“Kaver, it seems like we’re going to have a baby.”

“……What?”

Kaver was startled and turned to look at Railey. Her cheeks were stained with tears. Kaver wiped her cheeks with the back of his hand and smiled brightly.

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

He said, stroking Railey’s back. No words would be enough. He had thought that he would not be able to hold her and the child she carried in his arms.

The pain was so great that he thought he couldn’t even ask Railey. It would be the greatest blessing if she came to him, but if it was a burden to her, he was willing to be satisfied with just Railey.

Kaver’s eyes turned red. He was so grateful for the blessing that had come to him, and he was so grateful for Railey’s courage in telling him that tears welled up.

“I’ll protect you no matter what. This time, I’ll protect you and the baby.”

“……Kaver.”

“So Railey, you can be happy as much as you want.”

No one would be able to harm them. Kaver was prepared to give his life to protect the two of them. Above all, nothing would be able to take the child away from Railey.

“That won’t do. Even when we go to another country, absolute stability is necessary.”

“……But.”

“Accompany Ren no matter what.”

Kaver said to Railey in a firm voice. From now on, her stability was absolute.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of her.”

Ren appeared and smiled at the two of them. He felt a lump in his throat at the sight of Railey, who had found stability.

“Oh, is that guy crying now?”

Surprisingly, Ren, who didn’t even know human emotions properly, shed tears. Kaver, who was startled, pointed at him as if teasing him.

“You’ve become human?”

“The nuance of the words is a bit strange.”

Ren sniffled and turned his head. He hurriedly wiped away his tears and composed himself as if nothing had happened. However, Kaver laughed, as if he had caught something.

“Railey, did you see that? That guy is crying like he’s seen his grandson, even though he’s not even a mother-in-law.”

“Kaver, stop teasing him. It’s a good thing that Ren is learning emotions.”

“But, he always made fun of me whenever I cried.”

It was extremely childish. At times like this, the two seemed like very good friends. Railey looked at the two of them alternately and smiled brightly.

“Really, I can’t live because of you two.”

“Stop teasing me. You seem to have forgotten that you were always crying?”

“Well, you’re a sword pretending to be human.”

Sparks flew between the two. Railey shook her head and sat on the bed.

“Hurry up and pack your bags!”

At Railey’s command, the two quickly began to move.