Became Pregnant With the Demon King’s Child

The servants gathered slowly and reluctantly. Among them, those who had been hired during Felix’s generation were originally hesitant to work in the “cursed Grand Duke’s” castle. But to their surprise, working here turned out to be easy. Felix was not a demanding master, and he spent most of his time either on the battlefield or shut away in his study.
As a result, most had grown complacent, even lazy. A few servants who had worked in the Grand Duke’s estate for years or who had personally benefited from Felix’s fair treatment held a degree of loyalty—but they were the exception.
“What the hell, is he already acting like the Grand Duchess even though they’re just engaged?”

“I heard he’s pregnant with His Grace’s child. He’s flaunting it, obviously.”
“How do we know that’s even true?”
Lowell’s presence, disrupting their long-held comfort, naturally became a target of discontent. Even as they responded to the butler’s summons, they whispered complaints and suspicion about the Grand Duke’s new fiancé.

“Maybe he’s trying to splurge on luxury before giving birth?”
“Exactly. Why else would he be rushing like this?”
Their grumbling sharpened into open hostility once they grouped together. And just as the atmosphere soured, Lowell appeared.

“Is that him?”
“Damn… he’s actually really pretty.”
“To be honest, he’s pretty handsome, too.”

“So that’s probably how he tricked the Duke—just relying on his face.”
With Felix absent, no one restrained themselves. Even though there had been rumors yesterday that the infamous Grand Duke Felix was supposedly flustered over the Omega carrying his child, most dismissed it as nonsense. Surely that Felix would never coddle a mere fiancé.
“Hello. I should’ve greeted you all yesterday, but I didn’t have the chance.”

The young man from the Count’s house was nothing like the negative assumptions. His voice was gentle but confident. Anyone could see he came from warm, elegant Phoebos—there was no gloom about him. He didn’t seem greedy at all.
“I’m Lowell Clarke. I asked you all here because I need your help.”
He was polite, but not excessively deferential. That subtle balance helped ease the quiet hostility in the room. One of the servants, surprised by the thought “Maybe he’s not so bad?”, quickly shook their head.

No, that’s how they get you. You can’t trust people from Phoebos. Behind their smiles, there’s always some scheme.
The servant scolded themselves for being momentarily swayed by a pretty face.
He’s probably going to ask us to fill the place with expensive junk.
Lowell scanned the group once. The negativity in their eyes pierced him like spears—but this was something he would have to overcome at least once. He already knew exactly what they thought of him.

They probably think I’m a foolish Omega who tricked the cruel Grand Duke just to secure a title or fortune.
So he already knew what his first order had to be—something that cost absolutely nothing.
“Today, we’re going to remove all the blackout curtains in the castle.”

Silence followed. Even the hushed murmurs stopped. They were too busy trying to figure out why he was making such a request to keep gossiping. The most rational among them, Hamilton, raised his hand. Lowell gestured for him to speak freely.
“Master Lowell, the blackout curtains were installed under His Grace’s explicit orders. If it’s only for aesthetics, I would advise against removing them.”
Lowell had expected that response.

“I already have His Grace’s permission.”
He borrowed Felix’s name, knowing it was a cowardly move—but it was the most effective one right now.
“If we let the sunlight in, I’m sure the entire castle will feel more alive. Please treat today’s request as if it came directly from His Grace.”

A wave of noise spread across the hall. They had all expected to be ordered to purchase expensive furnishings, yet here he was, asking them to remove curtains. A new suspicion took root—that maybe he just wanted to assert control over the castle by issuing pointless orders.
Still, none of them could openly oppose something the Grand Duke had supposedly approved. That would be the same as defying him. And Lowell had phrased it cleverly—his own words were a “request,” while Felix’s approval was a “command.”
“Let’s get started, shall we?”

The servants, scattered throughout the castle, planned to make only a halfhearted effort. If they removed a curtain here and there, they figured the young master would be satisfied. But Lowell wasn’t so easy to fool.
“Yes! That spot gets great sunlight—let’s start there.”
He didn’t just issue commands—he dashed from room to room, checking their work and giving orders about the order of removal. He even spotted idle workers like a hawk and tapped them on the back to put them to use. It made people wonder: Who exactly is this person?

“Oh, let’s take down the sheer curtains too. There’s mold in the corners because no light gets in. We should remove those at the far end as well.”
Lowell firmly believed that staying in the dark too long made the heart moldy too. He wanted to clean every last speck of that rot from this castle.
“Are you seriously going to keep doing this?”

Tony, who had been silently trailing him, finally asked with a hint of exasperation.
“Sir Tony, instead of just following me around doing nothing, why don’t you help out? Look at that person struggling to take down a curtain all alone—don’t they look like they could use a hand?”
Tony almost blurted out Then why don’t you do it yourself?, but he held his tongue. Right now, Lowell was technically his superior—and besides, Lowell wasn’t exactly slacking off. He was darting around so fast his eyebrows practically flew off.

And the results ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) were undeniable. Just removing the blackout curtains brightened the whole castle. The place had been stifling before, but now it looked lighter, warmer. Even a few servants who had been muttering complaints earlier let out quiet murmurs of awe.
“…Understood.”
Tony finally admitted that Lowell had made the right call, and rolled up his sleeves.

“I’ll leave the ballroom to you. I’m heading to the study.”
Naturally, not everyone’s hostile gaze had disappeared. And the study, of all places, had drawn the worst of them.
“Nothing’s been touched here?”

The servants stationed there had been lazing around on the floor, and only scrambled to their feet when Lowell entered. Even then, their sluggish movements and sulky expressions made it clear they didn’t want to be working—they were only pretending because he was watching. With Tony gone, their attitude had worsened.
This is why giving orders isn’t enough.
Lowell reminded himself, pressing them harder.

“We should leave that curtain alone—it’s blocking direct sunlight from hitting the books. But the one behind His Grace’s desk must be removed.”
The best way to deal with reluctant workers was to leave them no room to wiggle out.
“Please climb up the ladder and take it down. And the person below—hold it steady so no one gets hurt.”

The maid muttered under her breath but climbed up the ladder anyway. The servant below, also grumbling, held the ladder with one hand and started chatting with someone across the room.
Then it happened. The maid tugged too hard on the curtain, lost her balance, and wobbled. The servant below was distracted—he hadn’t noticed.
The ladder began to tilt.

“W-Whoa—”
The servant reached for it too late. His panicked grip came too late to help—the maid lost her balance completely. Lowell, who had been glancing around the room, saw it happen.
His heart dropped. A smaller woman falling from above—his body moved before he could think.

It was a habit ingrained from helping others in danger back in his old world.
Damn it. I’m supposed to be careful with my body now…
The thought came too late.

Crash!
“Oh no!”
Lowell caught the falling maid with his own body. But his body—unlike the one he’d had in his previous life—wasn’t strong enough to absorb that kind of shock. Pain flooded through him as he cushioned her fall.

“I-I’m sorry…”
The pale maid tried to apologize, but Lowell didn’t respond. The first pain he registered was in his arm. That was fine. But then—then came the second pain.
And it was in his abdomen.

The maid’s elbow had struck him directly in the belly as she fell.
Lowell forced himself to sit up, jaw clenched to contain the pain. He wanted to reassure the panicking maid, but the pain didn’t fade.
It’ll be fine. It’ll pass.

That optimistic thought betrayed him almost immediately. As he sat there in silence, he felt something wet trickle down his thigh.
No. No, no, no.
A faint stain was blooming on the front of his trousers—red.

Please no. Is this… am I bleeding?
His heart dropped like a stone.