For You In The Cage

Episode 128: A Harmonious Family (I)

A cheerful song flowed from the statue erected in the center of Pionia, spreading all over the place. It was the sound that signaled the beginning of a new day.

From five years since the statue was first built until now, the statue had been singing every day, wishing for the happy life of the countless people living in Peonia.

In fact, the singing had a kind of uplifting, blessing-like effect. It was an effect created by the combination of the magical skills of Duke Rubius, the lord of Pionia, and the special abilities of the duchess.

The singing statue has become a specialty and pride of Pionia.

“Aaa…”

Canaren let out a faint groan and turned her body over. But because of her bulging belly, she couldn’t move freely. The belly that was like a mountain was less swollen than the previous two times, but Canaren’s body was so small that it seemed precarious.

“Are you awake?”

Yulif, who had been up since dawn and was massaging Canaren’s arms and legs, asked affectionately. Canaren only nodded, unable to open her eyes. Yulif’s hand, which gently rubbed her furrowed forehead with his thumb, was warm.

“Shall we have breakfast?”

“Yes… no, I don’t want to. Sleep, better…”

“Eat and sleep while you slowly wake up.”

“I hate it because I can’t digest it…”

Canaren whined as if she hadn’t woken up from sleep. The times she didn’t use honorifics to Yulif were very rare and few. It was three years ago, when she was pregnant with their second baby, that he discovered that he could only see this when she was carrying a baby inside her belly.

At that time, Canaren was having a hard time. They spent each day feeling like walking on thin ice. Fortunately, their second child had a conscience, and the process of being born was as easy as it could possibly be. If she had been in labor pains for over 10 hours, as she was when she gave birth to their first child, Yulif would have gone mad.

“Canaren.”

Yulif called her quietly. Canaren responded by wiggling her fingers. It meant that even opening her mouth was annoying, but to Yulif, she was unbearably lovely even in this way. He laughed slowly and dropped his lips on her forehead and then on her cheeks, and Canaren whimpered her again.

“I feel sleepy… don’t do it.”

“You should eat something.”

“The baby doesn’t want to eat. Yulif should eat my share instead.”

“I could eat it instead, but it doesn’t do anything.”

“Yulif is a wizard. Let’s see…”

Canaren reached out, persisting in nonsense and stubbornness. Yulif meekly allowed her hands to cup his face. Her slender fingers carefully traced his face. His face, which had been frowning in anger, gradually relaxed.

One of her favorite pastimes was to touch and feel Yulif’s face with her fingertips, while she was barely awake. She liked what she saw when she slowly opened her eyes after tracing his handsome face.

“Yulif.”

“Yes?”

Canaren loved the moment when Yulif, who smiled kindly with her eyes closed and happily accepted her touch, entered her field of vision. She liked that the Duke of Rubius, respected by so many people, was kneeling by her bed just for her, and that he was ready to drop everything in his handswhenever he spoke.

Canaren brushed his black hair up and gently rubbed his straight forehead before touching the tip of his tall nose

“I want to eat cake with you.”

It was only for a moment, but there was a slight wrinkle between Yulif’s forehead. Yulif didn’t like sweets, he didn’t eat them very well. He couldn’t eat half a cake without bitter tea. Even so, when Canaren asked to eat together, no matter how sweet it was, he sat across from her and ate it.

It was so strange and fun that Canaren, who was not afraid of anything, became weak when Yulif put sweet food in front of her. She liked the occasional dessert, and white cream would smear on her mouth like a child.

“Will you eat with me?”

“…Okay. Tell George to get ready.”

Yulif wondered if making a cake would be a bit burdensome in the morning. But he could only nod his head. Swallowing the sickly sweet dessert was nothing compared to having to watch Canaren quickly dry out due to severe morning sickness early in the pregnancy.

Yulif rang the bell on the wall. It was a magic bell that Roana devised for Canaren when she had the first child, Rapheon.

Within a minute of ringing the bell, someone knocked on the door. Yulif replied after almost wrapping Canaren in a blanket.

“Come in.”

The door opened without a sound. But it wasn’t a maid or a servant who came through the opening. It also wasn’t Roana or Derek.

“Father, Mother. Good morning.”

Rapheon, folding his hands forward and bowing respectfully, showed off a poise and grace that was hardly seen in a five-year-old. Yulif noticed the golden hair protruding from the back of Rapeon. Canaren, who had only her head sticking out of the blanket, asked,

“Did Eusis come too?”

“Yes! Mom!”

As if he was waiting for this, the child who jumped out from behind Rapheon laughed. Rapheon held the hand of his younger brother, who had completely forgotten about his promise to him. Eusis pointed at Rapheon with an innocent expression.

“Brother saw Mom and Dad start talking. That’s why Eusis is here.”

“Oh, no. When did I do that?”

“Brother wanted to be here.”

“Eusis was the one who wanted to see Mother and Father.”

“Um… did you get it?”

Eusis tilted his head. Rapheon looked at Eusis, Yulif, and Canaren in turn. A look of bewilderment, which was rare to see, was evident on his neat face that resembled Yulif and did not show emotions well.

Canaren smiled brightly and pushed Yulif away. Yulif nodded and went over to his two sons and knelt down.

Rapheon and Eusis were as different in personality as they were in appearance. Rapheon, with his black hair and golden eyes, seemed to have taken mainly from Yulif, and Eusis, who was born with golden hair and purple eyes, was kind and friendly. The two children were cute no matter what they did.

“How did you get here? Are you alone? Who else?”

“Eusis…”

“Brother came to pick me up.”

“Oh, no. When I woke up, Eusis was alone in the hallway!”

Rapheon, who made a loud noise without even realizing it, lowered his head in surprise.

Rapeon was very mature and intelligent for his age. He was not taught by anyone, but he had the idea that he should act dignifiedly as the eldest son of the Duke of Rubius. Roana, who taught Rapheon magic, often shook her head, asking if the lord’s childhood was like this.

Yulif gently stroked Rapeon’s head. No matter how grown up he was, he was only a five-year-old. A cute kid coming to visit his parents while using the excuse of his younger brother because he was shy.After stroking him for a while, Rapeon’s ears turned red.

“You took good care of your brother. Well done, Rapheon.”

“…Thank you, Father.”

“Please take care of Eusis too, Dad.”

Eusis’s small, chubby hands grabbed Yulif’s large hands. Yulif laughed and just watched Eusis, who was trying to move his hand. It was cute. Hmph! Eusis made a strange noise when the hand was not moving as he wished. More laughter erupted from Yulif’s lips.

“Eusis, you must say thank you to your brother, hmm?”

“Yes! Okay, I’ll do it again. Thank you, Brother.”

“…It’s okay. I did what I had to do.”

“Why do you talk like Father?”

This time, Canaren couldn’t hold back and laughed. “Yulif, help me.” Yulif, who was patting the heads of his two sons, quickly moved to support Canaren. Rapheon and Eusis sprinted and circled around their mother.

“Mom, mom.”

“Yes?”

“Does the baby come out on a hot day?”

“Do you want to see the baby soon?”

“Um… I don’t know.”

Eusis tilted his head. Canaren mirrored Eusis. The sight of a bright wife and a son who looked just like her, tilting their heads side by side, was fatal to Yulif. Rapheon was also staring at Canaren and Eusis as if fixated.

“Mom must be having a hard time. Your stomach has already come out like this? So, the baby has to come out quickly.”

“Are you worried about your mother? You are so nice.”

Canaren wanted to kiss Eusis’s full cheek, but she couldn’t bend down. As she stroked his head with regret, Eusis laughed. Rapheon, who was standing next to Yulif, cautiously intervened.

“Mother, I…”

“Huh?”

“I too… I hope Mother is not sick.”

After he finished speaking, Rapheon hid behind Yulif’s back as if he was embarrassed. Canaren laughed softly and glanced at Yulif with narrow eyes.

“On the outside, Rapheon looks just like you. Why is he so shy?”

“Because he looks like me, he has a lot of shyness.”

“Really? Do you seriously think so?”

“I’m serious.”

Even as he answered that, he wasn’t shy at all when he kissed her lips. Yulif’s expressions of affection became more blatant and bold as the days went by. The people of the dukedom used to look at Yulif, who clung to Canaren’s side like a shadow, as if they were seeing him for the first time.

But that was all a long time ago. There were few people in the empire who didn’t know that Yulif was a loving husband to the point of being led by the nose. Of course, that was also what Yulif wanted. Lest there be anyone who dared covet Canaren.