Rudeus Greyrat
Zenith is pregnant. Apparently, I'm going to have a brother or a sister.
Zenith had been worried about this for a few years now. It distressed her that she hadn't been able to conceive another child after us. several times I heard her sigh, wondering if perhaps she was no longer capable of having children.
But about a month ago, she started showing some symptoms: changes in her sense of taste, nausea, vomiting, and constant fatigue. What are commonly known as pregnancy symptoms. Since she already knew the feeling, she decided to consult a doctor. The diagnosis was clear: apparently, there was no doubt about it.
The Greyrat family exploded with joy at the news.
"What if it's a boy? What name should we give him?"
"And if it's a girl? Which one would fit well?"
"We still have rooms available, right?"
"We can reuse the clothes Rudy and Daiki wore when they were babies."
The conversation was endless. That day was joyful from start to finish, and laughter was never in short supply. I was honestly happy too.
Daiki, for his part, simply nodded in approval when they asked him. But I noticed something else in his eyes. A warm glint... something he almost never showed so openly.
Siblings tend to destroy everything I hold dear...
And then...
The problem arrived a month after that celebration.
The news of Lilia's pregnancy shook the entire house.
"Excuse me... I am pregnant," Lilia announced with absolute serenity, just when the whole family was gathered.
In that precise instant, the Greyrat household froze over completely.
Who is the father...?
No one dared to voice that question. The atmosphere didn't allow for it. But everyone sensed it.
Lilia was a very dedicated maid. She sent almost her entire salary to her family in the capital. Unlike Paul, who frequently left the village to resolve some local issue, or Zenith, who regularly assisted at the clinic, Lilia barely left the house except for strictly work-related reasons. Nor was she known to have close friends, much less anyone with whom she had an intimate relationship.
Was it perhaps a fling with some stranger...?
I, however, knew.
I knew that Paul, ever since Zenith got pregnant, had been forced to adopt a regimen of abstinence. I knew that, unable to contain his urges, he had stealthily gone to Lilia's room in the middle of the night.
And they certainly weren't playing cards.
"I-I'm sorry... It's p-probably mine," Paul confessed, without any resistance.
No, actually, that's worth acknowledging. Perhaps I should praise his honesty. Although, thinking about it, maybe it wasn't out of virtue but out of shame: he couldn't lie after all the sermons he used to give me in front of the whole family... Be honest. Act like a man. Protect the girls. Never act with deceit... Yes, surely that's why he was unable to hide it.
And that's fine. I don't hate you for that, Paul. That side of you... doesn't displease me.
Of course, the situation is an absolute disaster...
I thought this as I watched Zenith stand up abruptly, her face hardened like a statue, and raise her hand in fury.
And that was how, with Lilia seated at the table, an emergency family meeting began.
"So, what do you plan to do?"
From my point of view, Zenith appeared extremely serene. She didn't cause a hysterical scene before her unfaithful husband; she simply slapped him. A red maple leaf mark was left on Paul's cheek.
"After helping with the Madam's delivery, I intended to take the liberty of leaving this house," Lilia replied.
"And the child?"
"After giving birth in the Fittoa region, I intended to raise it in my homeland."
"Your homeland was to the south, right?"
"Yes."
"After giving birth, with your body weakened, you won't withstand such a long journey."
"...That may be, but I have no one else to turn to."
The Fittoa region is in the northeast of the Asura Kingdom. According to my knowledge, a trip from there to the "south" of the kingdom would take almost a month, even using shared carriages. Even so, the Asura Kingdom is a safe place with a good climate. It wouldn't be an extremely hard journey... under normal conditions. But Lilia has no money. She cannot afford a carriage and would have to go on foot.
That was when I intervened.
"Mother... if I now have two new siblings, why is the mood so heavy?"
I tried to sound as childish as possible.
"Because your father did something he shouldn't have."
"I understand... but, could Lilia really refuse Father?"
Good. Sorry, Paul, but this time you're taking the fall for everything. You deserve it.
And so, I began my elaborate lie about Paul blackmailing Lilia. A strategic lie. Necessary.
...
Daiki Greyrat
My brother was telling lies to change the narrative. That is to say, every word he spoke, every accusation, was designed to shift all the blame onto Paul, who, objectively, bore the greatest responsibility, and thereby exonerate Lilia.
Even so, I knew this situation wasn't going to be that easy... or, at least, that those lies might not work. Considering that Paul had doubted my mother when I was born, it was possible that, in this case, she wouldn't forgive him.
"Mother. Rudy is right."
Everyone turned toward me.
"Lilia-san is at fault. And to expel her would be..." I paused. "...sentencing her to death."
Zenith blinked.
"Death? Daiki, that is..."
"A month walking south," I interrupted her. "With a newborn. In the dead of winter. Without money for decent inns. Without a doctor... without anyone."
I raised a finger for each point.
"Along the way, there will be bandits. Too many. In this context, a lone woman carrying a baby is an easy target. The cold is capable of killing in a single night. And if she falls ill after childbirth... without anyone to help her... that is, in fact, a sentence."
I swallowed hard.
"Realistically... there is a seventy or eighty percent chance that one of the two will not reach the end of the journey alive." I lowered my hand. "And there is a very serious probability that both will die."
Zenith covered her mouth with both hands, perhaps surprised by my cold analysis, something a child my age shouldn't be saying. Rudeus had acted with innocence to exonerate Lilia, but I knew that wouldn't be enough.
"Daiki..." Paul murmured from his corner.
I looked back at my mother, completely ignoring what my father was saying.
"Even if they managed to arrive alive... they would do so without money, without provisions, and depending entirely on the goodwill of a family that, in all likelihood, is already at its limit."
I looked toward Lilia, who remained standing in the back, hands clasped together, on the verge of tears.
"She sends almost all her salary home. That can only mean there is nothing to spare there. That they are barely holding on. And if they are like that now... adding a daughter returning with no income and a baby that needs food, clothing, and care..."
I lowered my gaze.
"It is asking them to sink with her."
Rudeus was watching me with something akin to astonishment.
"But... but she and Paul... betrayed my trust..." Zenith said, head bowed.
"Yes. Father betrayed your trust. And that is... unforgivable."
Paul hung his head.
"But punishing Lilia with expulsion..." I looked directly at her. "...is not justice. It is excess. And it drags the baby down with her."
I walked over and took my mother's hand carefully.
"Mother. You taught me that family protects the weak. That we care for those who cannot care for themselves."
I paused.
"Expelling her would be... contradicting everything you told us. Everything you say we are as a family."
Zenith looked at me, her eyes threatening to fill with tears, though she still held them back.
"That baby... is my sibling. Rudy's too. We share a father. We cannot... I cannot allow my younger sibling to die before they are even born."
Then I said the words I knew would change everything.
"And if you still decide to expel her... then I will go with her."
"WHAT!?" everyone said in unison.
Paul shot up; his chair nearly fell backward.
"Son, you wouldn't...!"
"Silence, Father. This is all your fault. I will go with her. I don't care how long it takes. I will protect her from bandits. I will hunt to provide her food myself. I will use healing magic if she gets sick or has complications... and, above all, I will carry my younger sibling when she is tired."
I looked at my mother.
"Because that baby is my sister or brother. They share my blood. And I am not going to allow my younger sibling to die in the snow before having the chance to live."
"Daiki, that is... you are six years old!" Zenith almost screamed. "You can't...!"
"Yes, I can... I am more competent than most mid-level adult adventurers. You know I have Advanced level in the Sword God Style. Advanced level in the Water God Style. Intermediate level in the North God Style. I also have Advanced healing magic, voiceless."
I raised my hand. A green light sprang from my palm.
"I can hunt. I can fight. I can heal. I can protect... and I will use every single one of those skills to ensure Lilia and my younger sibling arrive safe and sound at their destination."
Paul looked at me with an expression of absolute horror.
"Daiki... you can't be serious..."
"Completely serious." I looked him straight in the eye. "You created this situation... I will not allow the consequences of your actions to kill two innocent people."
Zenith tried to open her mouth, but not knowing what to say, she closed it again.
"You... you would go... would you really go?"
"I'm sorry, Mother... but it is my duty as a big brother to protect my younger siblings. Including the one who hasn't been born yet."
Without hesitation.
"It is my duty as a big brother to protect my younger siblings. All of them. Including the one who hasn't been born yet."
Rudeus stood beside me.
"I would go too."
This time, I was the one surprised.
"Brother, you wouldn't..."
"Yes, I would. If my big brother goes, I go. We're a team, remember? And that baby is my younger sibling too. So if Daiki is going to protect them, I will too."
"Rudeus..." Zenith sobbed.
"I'm sorry, Mother."
Paul had been left completely speechless, looking at his two sons with an expression of absolute devastation.
We were two six-year-old children, willing to risk everything to protect a sibling who hadn't even been born yet.
"You... you two..."
He looked then at Lilia, who was now weeping inconsolably.
Finally, Zenith covered her face with both hands and broke down in tears.
"Lilia... stay. Stay with us. You are already part of the family! I won't allow you to leave just like that!"
She paused and looked directly at me through her tears.
"And I am definitely not going to lose my two sons just because I am angry at my husband."
She came over and hugged us tightly.
"You two... how did we raise such incredible children? So noble?"
We didn't answer. We just hugged her back.
Over Zenith's shoulder, I saw Lilia looking at me with an expression I would never forget.
A six-year-old boy had just declared he would abandon everything to protect her and her baby.
And he was willing to do it.
...
Lilia
I will be clear: the pregnancy is my fault. It was I who seduced Paul. When I arrived at this house, I didn't have that intention. But night after night, listening to the moans of them both and cleaning a room impregnated with the scent of a man and a woman—I am a woman too, and the sexual tension built up.
That time, when we were both much younger and slept in the kendo dojo. The man was Paul, and it was a night of forced intimacy. It didn't displease me, but we weren't in love either. I couldn't say it was romantic, and at first, I even cried. But the next one who tried to court me was a greasy minister. Compared to that, Paul didn't seem so bad to me, and I stopped giving it importance. When I learned that Paul was looking for a maid, I thought I could use that episode as a bargaining chip.
So yes, it was my fault. I thought the pregnancy was a punishment. A punishment for giving in to my desires and betraying Zenith. But... I was forgiven. Daiki-sama forgave me. That boy, so intelligent, perfectly understood what had happened, guided the conversation with surgical precision, and managed to make everything end in the cleanest way possible. With a calm that seemed like that of someone who had already lived through something similar in the past. That terrible calm. That understanding without a shred of emotion.
Unsettling... no, I must never call him that again. I have avoided him all this time because I considered him unsettling. That cold boy. Precise. Almost inhuman in his calculated logic. He must have noticed that I avoided him. And yet, when everything was collapsing, when my life was falling apart, when my baby was in danger of death in the snow... he offered himself without hesitation.
He didn't save me with strategic lies like Rudeus-sama. He didn't look for an elegant solution that would leave me in peace. Daiki-sama walked into that room and presented the brutal reality: my expulsion would mean death. Pure and simple. And when that wasn't enough, when he saw that it still wasn't enough, he offered himself as a sacrifice. "If she goes, I go."
That boy I have looked down upon. That unsettling boy. That inhuman boy.
He is my savior.
I am ashamed to have underestimated him for years. He is a man worthy of absolute respect. A man I must serve with the utmost loyalty, until the day I die. No... I have ignored and despised him so much that my gratitude alone will not be enough to compensate him. It will never be enough.
Yes... if this child in my womb is born healthy and grows up... I will make them serve Daiki-sama. With all my being. With every fiber of my existence. Because I owe him everything.
...
Zenith Greyrat
That night, after my children had fallen asleep, I found myself alone in my room. The bed was large, and yet, right now I felt very small. I had already accepted it a while ago. With my hands on my growing belly, I let myself be dragged down by the weight of everything that had happened.
Just as I was about to lose myself in my thoughts, the door opened slowly. Paul appeared on the other side, entering cautiously, as if expecting me to throw something at him. Perhaps I should have.
He approached just a little.
"Zenith..."
"Close the door."
He obeyed. He closed it with the same softness with which he had entered and stood there, rigid, like a child waiting for punishment.
I pointed to the chair by the window.
"Sit."
Paul did so without saying anything. And even if he had tried to speak, I wouldn't have allowed it. What was coming now was too important.
"Do you remember the day Daiki was born?"
"Of course I remember..."
"Do you remember the first thing you did when you saw him?"
Paul winced in pain. "Zenith, please, I already apologized for that..."
"You doubted me." I ignored him. "You saw our son with black hair and red eyes, features neither of us has, and your first reaction was to accuse me of infidelity."
"I know. I know, and I regret it every day that—"
"You confronted me. In front of Lilia. In front of our newborn son. You asked me how it was possible for that child to be yours."
I emphasized every word.
"You have no idea how that felt. I had just given birth to our son. I was exhausted, in pain, and completely vulnerable. My body was wrecked and my mind could barely process that I had become a mother... and the man I loved, the one I decided to trust, the one I gave myself to, looked at me as if I were a lying whore. Just because Daiki was different." I sighed. "You only decided to trust when Rudy was born. Only then, when you saw that your second son looked like you, did you stop doubting me."
I needed to release energy, so I stood up and looked away.
After a few minutes, letting my words land with all their weight on Paul, I decided to look at him.
"I ended up forgiving you... because I loved you. I knew about your doubts; even though they were hurtful, they came from insecurity and not from malice. I saw your repentance, a genuine one. Paul, you were the man to whom I had given my heart."
I was about to break, but I maintained my composure.
"And... and now... now it turns out it was you who was unfaithful to me. How long did you plan to hide it? How could you speak to your sons about honor when you were sleeping with another woman who wasn't your wife?"
Paul slumped in the chair, completely defeated by the weight of the truth.
"The irony is almost comic." I looked toward the ceiling. "If it weren't so painful."
Before continuing, I stood thinking for a moment, until I decided to speak.
"...You know what? I'm not surprised. Not at all." I sighed. "It was Elinalise who warned me. Do you know what she said? 'Zenith, Paul is weak with women. If you marry him, this will happen eventually. Prepare yourself for it or don't do it.'"
"Zenith..."
"I chose to marry you even knowing that... Because I loved you. Because I saw the man you could be when you really tried. Because I believed, naively, that my love would be enough."
I walked back toward the bed, looking down at him.
"But deep down, I always knew. I always knew that sooner or later your weakness would win. I just hoped... I hoped it would take longer. That you would give me more years of peace. More happy memories before breaking my heart... And I still love you... Damn it, I still love you. And that makes me feel stupid, weak, and pathetic."
These words hurt me greatly. I never thought I would say them; even if I was prepared, I didn't expect it to hurt this much. I explained to him that Lilia will stay, not for him, but because our children... our beautiful children were capable of leaving the house for their father's mistake.
Paul stood up, walking toward the door like a defeated man, dragging his feet. When he reached the threshold, he stopped without turning around.
"Zenith... it was never that I didn't love you enough. You were always... you have always been everything to me. I just... I am weak. Pathetically weak."
"Yes. You are. And that is what hurts the most."
"I will be better... I swear to you. I will be the man you deserve."
"I hope so. Because... this is your last chance. There won't be a second one. That nonsense about 'next time I'll understand' doesn't apply. This was it. I hope you know how to make good use of it."
He nodded, went out, and closed the door behind him.
I placed my hands on my belly again.
"Son..." I whispered. "Daughter..."
"You are going to be born into a complicated family. With a father who made terrible mistakes. With a mother who forgave them, yes... With older brothers who understand things no child should understand. But you are also going to be born into a family full of love. With brothers who would give everything to protect you. With parents who, despite their devastating flaws, will do the be
st they can."
I took a deep breath.
"That will have to be enough."
And so, clinging to the decision that my children would stay, I allowed myself to cry it all out at once.