Became Pregnant With the Demon King’s Child

“Oh, that part can’t be helped. Robin’s always an exception to me.”

The knight no longer seemed interested in hiding anything—even his tone had changed. The way he naturally slipped into informal speech made it obvious to anyone: This is who he really is. Lowell rubbed his throbbing temple.
Now it makes sense. I was too focused on my own work to account for what kind of person he is.
Lowell bent one knee slightly and offered an awkward bow. His body remembered how to greet nobility, but he’d rarely done it himself, so the gesture came off clumsy.

“I greet the Crown Prince of the Empire.”
Tia and Caris trembled hard enough for even Lowell to feel it. Their eyes darted around, glancing at each other, as if checking whether anyone else had figured it out. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Lowell was the only one who’d recognized the knight’s identity.
“You figured me out just by the way I treated Robin? You’re not as stupid as I thought. Though the Clark family openly says they tossed you out because you’re too dumb.”

Crimson energy unfurled from the Crown Prince’s body like unraveling threads. He emerged from the red cocoon, regaining his original appearance. Only then did Lowell realize why he hadn’t been able to recall the man’s face until now.
If Felix used magic to change his whole appearance, this one made everyone around him see illusions. I never thought I’d witness the Crown Prince’s specialty firsthand.
Just standing next to him, the oppressive pressure was overwhelming. Where Felix’s gaze forced pressure directly onto others, the Crown Prince’s eyes felt like they slowly tightened around your throat, pulling you under like drowning. The Crown Prince ignored the knights still paralyzed in shock and continued speaking.

“Didn’t you say you only realized it because of Felix? That you’d completely forgotten I even existed?”
He tossed out cutting remarks with a smiling face, as if hurting Lowell were his sole purpose.
Too bad, I’m not even slightly affected.

Lowell briefly considered pretending to be hurt—but gave up. It might’ve improved the Crown Prince’s mood for a moment, but since they were on the same boat now, there was no need to leave anything weighing on his mind.
“I’ll personally apologize for putting Robin in danger. Your Highness, I hope you’ll let go of your anger.”
At Lowell’s words, the Crown Prince dropped even the twisted smile. As his expression flattened, the atmosphere around them shifted in an instant. The knights instinctively entered a defensive stance, but they couldn’t distinguish illusion from reality under the new hallucination cast by the Crown Prince.

That spell was only cast on the knights, right?
Lowell broke into a cold sweat as he watched the knights square off against something invisible. He’d known the Crown Prince would test him, but experiencing it firsthand was unavoidably terrifying.
“Let go of my anger? Someone who can’t even take care of himself sure demands a lot.”

The Crown Prince’s large hand moved toward Lowell’s neck. Even in the moment it seemed he might actually be strangled, Lowell didn’t blink once—he stared straight at the Crown Prince.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
The suffocating tension broke at last when Felix—unable to bear it—rushed in to fetch Lowell himself. His dark magic knocked away the Crown Prince’s hand and wrapped protectively around Lowell’s faintly trembling body.
“H-Huh?”

As Felix’s powerful magic rattled the air, the knights suddenly realized the enemies they’d been fighting were illusions. They stood frozen with their mouths agape. Too much had happened all at once—it was overwhelming just to process it.
“Felix, are you seriously using magic on me right now?”
The Crown Prince spoke casually, like he was talking to an old friend. But Felix, who had seen Lowell being threatened, had no room for such niceties.

“Weren’t you about to hurt Lowell, Your Highness?”
“I only °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° reached out my hand, that’s all.”
“And you think I’d believe that?”

The tension between the two was impossible to believe came from supposed allies.
They’re going to end up fighting at this rate.
Lowell judged that the best course was to de-escalate the one he could influence.

“Felix-nim, I’m fine. His Highness was just trying to see how I’d react—he never actually meant to harm me.”
Felix knew that in his head. The Crown Prince had a twisted streak and the power to act on it. But he wasn’t someone who betrayed those he truly trusted. That’s the only reason Felix had chosen to work with him. Even so, the mere thought that Lowell could’ve gotten hurt was enough to make his blood boil.
“Hah, so you saw through even that? There’s no way Felix went blabbing about me, but you speak as if you’re sure what I’m thinking. Rumors really aren’t worth trusting, huh.”

The Crown Prince let out a loud laugh, completely ignoring the fact that Felix still had his guard up. As soon as one person stopped bristling with killing intent, the icy tension in the air softened a little.
“Stand down.”
Even then, Felix didn’t relax and issued a cold warning. The Crown Prince gave a light shrug and took two steps away from Lowell.

“I’d heard you hovered over him like a bodyguard, but not to this extent. Did you actually imprint on him or something? You don’t strike me as the type to display that kind of irrational behavior.”
Lowell nearly sighed. The Crown Prince still didn’t recognize his own arrogance. That kind of hubris had to be broken before he’d ever admit he was being conceited.
“Huh? Why’s everyone gathered here?”

Dripping wet from his hair, Robin had just finished washing up. Lowell turned to look at him. The one who’d humble the Crown Prince’s arrogance—was him. And frankly, it wasn’t Lowell’s problem to deal with.
“I came to deliver your medicine, but a bit of a misunderstanding arose with His Highness.”
“Oh, I see… Wait, did you just say His Highness?”

Robin, who had answered casually, suddenly went pale and whipped his head toward the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness! Didn’t you promise not to lift the illusion?”
“He figured it out first—I had no choice.”

Despite never having much intent to hide it, the Crown Prince responded shamelessly.
He was the one dangling clues on purpose, trying to see when someone would catch on, and now he talks like it was inevitable. What a mouth.
Lowell felt a pang of sympathy for Robin, whose brows drooped like a big dog’s. Poor guy, ending up with a man like that. The thought rose unconsciously, and Lowell forcibly shoved it back down.

“Shall we move to the study to talk? Felix-nim seems to have something to say too, and it wouldn’t do for the staff to see us like this in the hallways.”
The Crown Prince clearly wouldn’t have cared either way, but it looked like Robin didn’t want to keep being flustered in public.
“Fine.”

Crimson energy once again swirled around the Crown Prince. The spell no longer worked on those who recognized it for what it was, so Lowell saw through it clearly—but others would now see the Crown Prince as the knight from before.
“Come here, Lowell.”
Felix didn’t just stand by Lowell—he practically pulled him into a half-embrace. Even though he’d only just woken up earlier, Lowell felt like he’d been running around all day and leaned his weight against Felix in exhaustion.

I already miss the peaceful Grand Duchy.
There was a mountain of trouble ahead, but Lowell found himself longing for the days when he and Felix would read books together in the study, nap in the afternoon, and split apple pie. Satisfied to just close his eyes and lean on Felix, she didn’t notice the Crown Prince’s expression twisting in disgust behind them.
“Go on in.”

Felix opened the door, gesturing for the Crown Prince and Robin to enter first.
“Make sure no one else is allowed in.”
Felix left the knights stationed outside and entered the study last. As Lowell had suggested, they all took seats. Robin wore an expression full of guilt, while the Crown Prince looked thoroughly entertained.

“So, I thought all the talking between us was done. Aren’t you worried the Imperial Palace will get suspicious if you don’t return soon?”
“I’ve set things up, so you don’t need to worry. Besides, you must have more questions.”
The Crown Prince idly ran his fingers through Robin’s damp hair, completely unaware he was even doing it. Felix looked like he was resisting the urge to scowl, but before he could speak, Lowell beat him to it.

“Why did you come to the Grand Duchy while deceiving Felix-nim?”
Lowell dropped all formality and asked the question directly.