Became Pregnant With the Demon King’s Child

For a moment, Lowell felt like he had an overprotective husband, but since it was more or less true, he decided to just accept it.
“Oh dear, could there have been something wrong with the food I ate today?”

“You did eat more than usual.”
The priest guided Lowell to the bed and asked. Lowell tried to frame it as simple indigestion from overeating.
“Ah, if your meal size changes suddenly, that can definitely happen. First, I’ll check to see if there’s anything wrong.”

Taishi glanced at Felix for permission, and he waved his hand as if to say, Don’t mind me, go ahead. A soft blue light wrapped around Taishi’s hands, and she soon placed them over Lowell’s stomach. As the warmth spread, his insides began to feel better.
So a warm compress really does help when your stomach’s upset.
While Lowell was zoning out with that thought, Taishi tilted her head and swept over his stomach once more. But even then, she made a puzzled humming sound, as if something still didn’t sit right. Felix, standing beside them, was biting his lip—a look that didn’t suit him at all.

“Is something wrong? If it’s something serious, please tell me.”
“No, actually… the opposite. There’s absolutely nothing wrong. Both Young Lord and the baby inside are perfectly healthy.”
Lowell felt both relief and embarrassment at those words. He’d made quite a fuss, and yet the conclusion was that it was nothing serious—so of course he felt that way.

Still, I’ve gotten confirmation that everything’s okay, so that should be enough. A little embarrassment’s no big deal, right?
With his usual optimistic framing, Lowell quickly recovered his mental balance and slowly rose from his seat. Felix, however, didn’t seem okay at all.
“Lowell said he felt uncomfortable. Isn’t it possible there’s some deeper illness too subtle for the priest to detect?”

Lowell felt a little—just a little—embarrassed by how serious Felix looked while saying something so ridiculous.
“Your Grace, if I may be so bold, unless the priest is grossly incompetent, that would be impossible.”
Taishi was a highly skilled priestess, and Felix knew that. Realizing that pressing any further would be tantamount to doubting her ability, Felix chose not to add anything more.

“Maybe it was just in my head. I feel fine now. I think I confused the feeling of being full after eating a lot with something worse. I only mentioned it just in case, so you really don’t need to worry.”
Felix still didn’t relax his expression.
“If anything at all feels off, you need to tell me.”

And so, the next day—and the day after that—Felix kept checking in, asking if Lowell’s stomach felt alright. Occasionally, Lowell did feel a little bloated, but it was faint enough to wonder Am I imagining this?—so most of the time, he answered that he was fine. However, Felix was more persistent than Lowell had expected.
“How about today?”
Lowell hadn’t expected this question to drag on for so long, and he had to make a conscious effort not to answer in a snippy tone.
“I’m obviously fi—”

Lowell cut himself off mid-sentence. For something that was supposedly just digestion, his stomach seemed to squirm around quite loudly. On top of that, he felt a strange, queasy fluttering in his gut that made him pause. Felix immediately noticed, his eyebrows lifting as he stepped in closer.
“You felt something weird, didn’t you?”
“Ah, it’s not serious, it’s just that…”

Lowell thought, Of all times, why now? Because if they went to Taishi again, she’d probably just say he was fine. But then, Felix did something unexpected. He leaned in and pressed his ear to Lowell’s stomach.
“It feels like fetal movement.”
“What?”

Lowell instinctively started to count how far along he was in the pregnancy, then gave up.
Is this about the time you’re supposed to feel it? I think it is, but… Is this what fetal movement feels like? I thought it would be more like knocking or thumping from inside. This just feels like indigestion…
A thousand doubts floated around in his head. It was nothing like what he’d imagined, so he couldn’t quite believe it.

“Apparently, when it’s your first pregnancy, it’s common not to realize fetal movement when it happens. People often confuse it with strange gurgling or bloating.”
Lowell glanced at Felix with a sideways look—at the man who had more knowledge than some pregnant women. Lowell had tried to study a bit after getting pregnant, but it was no use. He just couldn’t keep up with Felix.
“Another book?”

“Books, yes, and I also consulted with Taishi. At first, she wasn’t confident either, since she hasn’t handled many pregnancies. But after thinking it over, she said it’s likely.”
Felix now brought his face even closer, practically burying it into Lowell’s belly. The vibration of his voice made Lowell’s stomach buzz faintly. It tickled, and Lowell squirmed like someone sensitive to touch.
“Strange. I thought I had good hearing, but I can’t really hear it.”

“It settled down again.”
Lowell answered, still looking a bit dazed. When he placed his hand on his stomach and rubbed it, he felt something similar to that earlier rumble. Felix, who still had his ear pressed there, flinched slightly. He had clearly felt the same thing.
Both of them burst out laughing at the same time.

“Sounds like a water droplet.”
Now that he thought of it as fetal movement, the once uncomfortable sensation somehow felt adorable.
It really is all about mindset, huh?

Looking down at Felix, who was leaning in, straining to hear more, Lowell held back the urge to laugh loudly. The squirming sensation was cute, but so was the fully grown man keeping his lips tightly pressed together as he concentrated on the sounds of the fetus.
So this is what they mean by seeing someone through rose-colored glasses.
Lowell thought it was ridiculous that he could see this large, intimidatingly handsome man as childlike, and gently stroked Felix’s head. The tips of Felix’s ears turned red. Whatever had been on his mind a second ago—whether fetal movement or not—was clearly pushed aside by that one small touch.

“I’m thinking of holding a banquet.”
Just when it seemed like he would stay there forever, Felix suddenly sat up and said something out of the blue.
“A banquet?”

Lowell blinked wide and tilted his head at the unexpected word.
Doesn’t really fit Felix’s personality. Why a banquet all of a sudden?
Then he remembered what had just happened.

Wait, don’t tell me… he’s throwing a banquet because of the fetal movement? No way. It’s probably something he was planning anyway.
A small drop of sweat slid down his neck. Felix, seemingly oblivious to Lowell’s fluster, calmly continued explaining his thoughts.
“Originally, we should have held one as soon as we returned to Nyx, but things were hectic.”

More truthfully, Felix just didn’t enjoy banquets, and had silently chosen to skip it again. But he didn’t mention that.
“We’ve put it off long enough. Now seems like a good time. Since the tailor has already visited, we can ask them for something suitable to wear.”
Lowell thought back to the tailor who had come by recently. He’d expected the clothes to arrive quickly, but it was taking longer than expected. He had a feeling the outfits would turn out more extravagant than planned.

A banquet, huh…
After pondering for a while, Lowell came to a decision.
“Alright. A banquet sounds good.”

The last banquet they’d attended hadn’t ended well. This seemed like a good opportunity to cleanse that unpleasant memory from the capital.
And maybe it’ll also help clear up some of the bad rumors about me and Felix.
Aside from the pressure, it was actually a beneficial event in many ways. Naturally, Felix hadn’t thought that far ahead. He just wanted everyone to celebrate Lowell’s arrival at the Ducal Castle, and he wanted to give him something good. Deep down, he also wanted to commemorate the first signs of the baby—but he wasn’t even aware of that himself.

“Preparing for a banquet will keep us busy.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s keep the guest list small. Unless they’re from the territory and very close, it’s ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) best not to invite them.”

“We’ll do it your way.”
The two of them whispered back and forth, planning their first joint-hosted banquet. Mostly, Lowell suggested things and Felix agreed.
“Then how about we also use the banquet as a chance to gift wheat to the people in the territory? They said it’s getting very cold, so I think it’s about time.”

“We do it every year anyway, so there’s no harm in expanding it a little.”
For the first time in a long while, the Ducal Castle was preparing for a banquet. Those who heard the news quietly assumed it was a banquet to announce Lowell as the Duchess—but that, Lowell had no idea about.