“Congratulations! You are a very handsome Prince!”
Hearing the words coming from inside the delivery room, Roderick looked up at the sky and burst into laughter. He was simply happy. He knew his wife and baby were safe.
“Your Excellency, may you come in?”
The midwife came out, asking, and Roderick entered the room without hesitation. Ophelia lay drenched in sweat, looking haggard on the bed.
“...Roderick.”
“Ophelia.”
Roderick approached Ophelia and held her hand tightly. He was grateful for everything.
“Thank you, Ophelia. Just... everything.”
He opened his mouth in a booming voice, as if he were on the verge of tears.
“Hey, Roderick. I’m going to cry.”
Candice, who had followed Roderick in, opened her mouth teasingly, and as if that were a signal, he really did burst into tears.
And the one who was taken aback by this sight was Candice. She had never expected that her friend's husband, a quiet and blunt man, would burst into tears.
“...Why are you crying, Roderick? It’s a nice day.”
And at that sight, Ophelia too shed a tear. To Candice, it was a truly rare sight: a couple laughing and crying together.
But the midwives, with familiar expressions as if they had seen this sight many times, placed the baby, who looked like a small loaf of bread, in Ophelia's arms.
“The baby looks like you, Roderick.”
Unlike Aila, who was a good baby, the baby was born two weeks early and was so small that it was difficult to tell who he resembled.
But, Ophelia said, looking at his black hair, “I wonder if his parents can see it.”
“...Is that so? In my opinion... he seems to resemble Ophelia.”
Roderick continued, sobbing and struggling to speak.
The head of the Duke of Weishaffen, known as the protector of the Peles Empire, was crying and even hiccuping. Candice felt it was a shame to be the only one to witness this spectacle.
“Have you thought of a name for the child?”
Candice leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and asked. If she hadn't asked something like this, the couple would have spent the whole night staring at each other in tears.
“...Noah. Baby, your name is Noah.”
And Ophelia opened her mouth, looking at her newborn son with longing eyes.
Noah Abner Weishaffen. His middle name was taken from Abner Hailing, Ophelia's father and the child's maternal grandfather.
That was the baby's name.
And the news of the Duke's son's birth quickly reached the royal family. This was because Roderick and Hiram were close friends.
“Already? Didn’t you say there were about two weeks left?”
Winfred's eyes widened at the news of the baby's birth.
"It seems the baby wanted to see the world quickly. Just like you. Win, you were born ten days early, too."
"That's right, that's right. Do you know how much your mother suffered because of that? Whenever I think about that time, I..."
Winfred simply asked, surprised that the baby was born so far before the due date, but was met with a rebuke from his parents, or rather, from his father.
Winfred, who felt embarrassed because of that, fiddled with the back of his head.
He had already heard well that Empress Selene, who was already in poor health, had suffered even more while giving birth to him, and he always felt sorry and grateful to his mother.
Even so, it was a little unfair to be scolded for something from a time he couldn't even remember, especially since the speaker was his father, Hiram.
It was more likely that his father was simply trying to tease his son rather than genuinely reprimanding him. He seemed to be thinking about how to tease Winfred even more.
Selene, too, must have read the playfulness in her husband's face, and her expression became stern as if to tell him not to do that.
“Anyway, it’s something to celebrate. I want to go play and see the baby soon...”
Winfred asked, his hips bucking as if he wanted to storm into the Duke's mansion right away.
But despite his yearning, Winfred already knew that this wouldn't be possible. He knew that there was a custom that prohibited outside guests for a month after a baby was born.
Even if he was the Crown Prince, he was no exception.
"You know I won't be able to see you for another month, right? That's why I'm only sending you gifts. Winfred, do you have any gifts you'd like to send along?"
The Empress asked her son in a gentle tone, trying to comfort him.
At that question, Winfred suddenly got up from his seat, as a sudden thought occurred to him.
“Yes, just a moment! I’ll get it right now!”
Winfred, who had rushed out of the Empress's palace, ignored Joseph's cries for him to stop running, lest he stumble, and sprinted to the Crown Prince's palace. He had personally prepared a gift for the baby, hidden in a secret safe in his bedroom.
Winfred burst open the bedroom door and entered, pulling out the freshly finished mobile from the safe the night before. It was something Winfred, with his dexterity and exquisite aesthetic sense, had made by hand, folding and pasting paper.
He thought he had quite a bit of time left, so he was planning to take his time preparing, but yesterday, for some reason, he suddenly felt a strong desire to finish it. It was so amazing, as if he knew the baby was coming today.
Worried that it might be damaged during shipping, Winfred carefully packed his mobile, placing it in a sturdy box and filling it with soft cotton for cushioning.
It was at that time.
There was a knock on the bedroom door, and before Winfred could even answer, the door burst open and someone came in. It was Binka, the maid in charge of cleaning the bedroom.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Your Highness. I didn’t know you were here.”
Binka looked around, fearful that another scolding might come. It seemed she was worried because she had previously been scolded by the chamberlain for opening the door without knocking.
This time, fortunately, she knocked, but she opened the door right away without waiting, so if Joseph had been there, she would have definitely been scolded.
But fortunately, Winfred was alone in the room, so Binka felt relieved and sighed.
“Oh, hello, Binka.”
Winfred, who had been greeting Binka with his usual bright smile, remembered Joseph's warning and greeted her stiffly, like a broken ventriloquist dummy.
After his warning to be careful not to be misunderstood as seeing Binka as a woman, he always tried to keep his distance from Binka, as he did now.
“Oh, hello.”
When the usually gentle Crown Prince became stiff, Binka looked at him with a dejected expression. Winfred's heart almost softened at the sight, but the thought of a possible misunderstanding made him steel his resolve.
"Then I'll go. Please clean up well."
Winfred woke up, clutching the gift box. Looking at the floor around his desk, where last night's paper crafts had left their mark, he felt a little sorry for Binka, who would have to work hard to clean it up.
But he closed his eyes tightly and tried to leave the bedroom, thinking he should hurry and send a gift for the new Duke's baby.
But that couldn't be the case. Binka, with a face as if on the verge of tears, asked Winfred.
"Your Highness... Did I make a mistake? Please let me know, and I'll fix it. Oh, and I'll knock more carefully from now on."
It was a pitiful sight that even the weak-hearted Winfred could not pass by.
Although he was still worried that people might misunderstand him as someone who liked Binka as a woman, he felt that it was not moral to just watch her tremble with the misunderstanding that she had incurred the hatred of the Crown Prince.
In the end, he summoned another servant and asked her to deliver the gift box to the Empress's Palace on his behalf, leaving Binka behind. He felt he needed to have a brief conversation and clear up any misunderstandings she might have had.
"You see, you didn't do anything wrong. I just kept my distance because I was afraid others might misunderstand. I'm sorry for worrying you. I should've told you why first."
Winfred spoke honestly, watching Binka's expression. At his words, Binka's eyes widened, and she asked.
“A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”
“That’s because I thought people might misunderstand that I like you... So there might be people who look down on you and curse at you, so...”
In response to Winfred's subsequent reply, Binka waved her hand, saying it was nonsense.
“Yes? That can’t be true! How dare I do something like that to someone like you...! I’m not even of noble birth!”
"No, of course I also think that misunderstanding is ridiculous. But it's not because you're a commoner! What's wrong with your subject that makes you say such things?"
Winfred strongly protested Binka's self-deprecating words. As the Crown Prince of a nation, it would have been a cause for uproar if he had thought like that, but that was his thought anyway.
Whether commoner or noble, we're all human. If people love each other, what does social status have to do with it?
And most importantly, Winfred never liked Binka as a woman.
“I just like you because you’re really like my older sister.”
Winfred grumbled, his mouth pouting. It would have been better if Binka had been his real sister. Or at least his cousin.
"Your Highness..."
And Binka's expression was moved by the Prince's kind words. It was a strange expression, almost like smiling, but also like crying.
“I don’t know if it’s okay for a lowly person like me to say this, but I wish I had a younger brother like Your Highness.”
Hearing the words coming from inside the delivery room, Roderick looked up at the sky and burst into laughter. He was simply happy. He knew his wife and baby were safe.
“Your Excellency, may you come in?”
The midwife came out, asking, and Roderick entered the room without hesitation. Ophelia lay drenched in sweat, looking haggard on the bed.
“...Roderick.”
“Ophelia.”
Roderick approached Ophelia and held her hand tightly. He was grateful for everything.
“Thank you, Ophelia. Just... everything.”
He opened his mouth in a booming voice, as if he were on the verge of tears.
“Hey, Roderick. I’m going to cry.”
Candice, who had followed Roderick in, opened her mouth teasingly, and as if that were a signal, he really did burst into tears.
And the one who was taken aback by this sight was Candice. She had never expected that her friend's husband, a quiet and blunt man, would burst into tears.
“...Why are you crying, Roderick? It’s a nice day.”
And at that sight, Ophelia too shed a tear. To Candice, it was a truly rare sight: a couple laughing and crying together.
But the midwives, with familiar expressions as if they had seen this sight many times, placed the baby, who looked like a small loaf of bread, in Ophelia's arms.
“The baby looks like you, Roderick.”
Unlike Aila, who was a good baby, the baby was born two weeks early and was so small that it was difficult to tell who he resembled.
But, Ophelia said, looking at his black hair, “I wonder if his parents can see it.”
“...Is that so? In my opinion... he seems to resemble Ophelia.”
Roderick continued, sobbing and struggling to speak.
The head of the Duke of Weishaffen, known as the protector of the Peles Empire, was crying and even hiccuping. Candice felt it was a shame to be the only one to witness this spectacle.
“Have you thought of a name for the child?”
Candice leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and asked. If she hadn't asked something like this, the couple would have spent the whole night staring at each other in tears.
“...Noah. Baby, your name is Noah.”
And Ophelia opened her mouth, looking at her newborn son with longing eyes.
Noah Abner Weishaffen. His middle name was taken from Abner Hailing, Ophelia's father and the child's maternal grandfather.
That was the baby's name.
***
And the news of the Duke's son's birth quickly reached the royal family. This was because Roderick and Hiram were close friends.
“Already? Didn’t you say there were about two weeks left?”
Winfred's eyes widened at the news of the baby's birth.
"It seems the baby wanted to see the world quickly. Just like you. Win, you were born ten days early, too."
"That's right, that's right. Do you know how much your mother suffered because of that? Whenever I think about that time, I..."
Winfred simply asked, surprised that the baby was born so far before the due date, but was met with a rebuke from his parents, or rather, from his father.
Winfred, who felt embarrassed because of that, fiddled with the back of his head.
He had already heard well that Empress Selene, who was already in poor health, had suffered even more while giving birth to him, and he always felt sorry and grateful to his mother.
Even so, it was a little unfair to be scolded for something from a time he couldn't even remember, especially since the speaker was his father, Hiram.
It was more likely that his father was simply trying to tease his son rather than genuinely reprimanding him. He seemed to be thinking about how to tease Winfred even more.
Selene, too, must have read the playfulness in her husband's face, and her expression became stern as if to tell him not to do that.
“Anyway, it’s something to celebrate. I want to go play and see the baby soon...”
Winfred asked, his hips bucking as if he wanted to storm into the Duke's mansion right away.
But despite his yearning, Winfred already knew that this wouldn't be possible. He knew that there was a custom that prohibited outside guests for a month after a baby was born.
Even if he was the Crown Prince, he was no exception.
"You know I won't be able to see you for another month, right? That's why I'm only sending you gifts. Winfred, do you have any gifts you'd like to send along?"
The Empress asked her son in a gentle tone, trying to comfort him.
At that question, Winfred suddenly got up from his seat, as a sudden thought occurred to him.
“Yes, just a moment! I’ll get it right now!”
Winfred, who had rushed out of the Empress's palace, ignored Joseph's cries for him to stop running, lest he stumble, and sprinted to the Crown Prince's palace. He had personally prepared a gift for the baby, hidden in a secret safe in his bedroom.
Winfred burst open the bedroom door and entered, pulling out the freshly finished mobile from the safe the night before. It was something Winfred, with his dexterity and exquisite aesthetic sense, had made by hand, folding and pasting paper.
He thought he had quite a bit of time left, so he was planning to take his time preparing, but yesterday, for some reason, he suddenly felt a strong desire to finish it. It was so amazing, as if he knew the baby was coming today.
Worried that it might be damaged during shipping, Winfred carefully packed his mobile, placing it in a sturdy box and filling it with soft cotton for cushioning.
It was at that time.
There was a knock on the bedroom door, and before Winfred could even answer, the door burst open and someone came in. It was Binka, the maid in charge of cleaning the bedroom.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Your Highness. I didn’t know you were here.”
Binka looked around, fearful that another scolding might come. It seemed she was worried because she had previously been scolded by the chamberlain for opening the door without knocking.
This time, fortunately, she knocked, but she opened the door right away without waiting, so if Joseph had been there, she would have definitely been scolded.
But fortunately, Winfred was alone in the room, so Binka felt relieved and sighed.
“Oh, hello, Binka.”
Winfred, who had been greeting Binka with his usual bright smile, remembered Joseph's warning and greeted her stiffly, like a broken ventriloquist dummy.
After his warning to be careful not to be misunderstood as seeing Binka as a woman, he always tried to keep his distance from Binka, as he did now.
“Oh, hello.”
When the usually gentle Crown Prince became stiff, Binka looked at him with a dejected expression. Winfred's heart almost softened at the sight, but the thought of a possible misunderstanding made him steel his resolve.
"Then I'll go. Please clean up well."
Winfred woke up, clutching the gift box. Looking at the floor around his desk, where last night's paper crafts had left their mark, he felt a little sorry for Binka, who would have to work hard to clean it up.
But he closed his eyes tightly and tried to leave the bedroom, thinking he should hurry and send a gift for the new Duke's baby.
But that couldn't be the case. Binka, with a face as if on the verge of tears, asked Winfred.
"Your Highness... Did I make a mistake? Please let me know, and I'll fix it. Oh, and I'll knock more carefully from now on."
It was a pitiful sight that even the weak-hearted Winfred could not pass by.
Although he was still worried that people might misunderstand him as someone who liked Binka as a woman, he felt that it was not moral to just watch her tremble with the misunderstanding that she had incurred the hatred of the Crown Prince.
In the end, he summoned another servant and asked her to deliver the gift box to the Empress's Palace on his behalf, leaving Binka behind. He felt he needed to have a brief conversation and clear up any misunderstandings she might have had.
"You see, you didn't do anything wrong. I just kept my distance because I was afraid others might misunderstand. I'm sorry for worrying you. I should've told you why first."
Winfred spoke honestly, watching Binka's expression. At his words, Binka's eyes widened, and she asked.
“A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”
“That’s because I thought people might misunderstand that I like you... So there might be people who look down on you and curse at you, so...”
In response to Winfred's subsequent reply, Binka waved her hand, saying it was nonsense.
“Yes? That can’t be true! How dare I do something like that to someone like you...! I’m not even of noble birth!”
"No, of course I also think that misunderstanding is ridiculous. But it's not because you're a commoner! What's wrong with your subject that makes you say such things?"
Winfred strongly protested Binka's self-deprecating words. As the Crown Prince of a nation, it would have been a cause for uproar if he had thought like that, but that was his thought anyway.
Whether commoner or noble, we're all human. If people love each other, what does social status have to do with it?
And most importantly, Winfred never liked Binka as a woman.
“I just like you because you’re really like my older sister.”
Winfred grumbled, his mouth pouting. It would have been better if Binka had been his real sister. Or at least his cousin.
"Your Highness..."
And Binka's expression was moved by the Prince's kind words. It was a strange expression, almost like smiling, but also like crying.
“I don’t know if it’s okay for a lowly person like me to say this, but I wish I had a younger brother like Your Highness.”
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