Zenith got pregnant.
Apparently, I'm going to have another brother or sister. I thought my mother was already happy just having us, but considering how much time those two spend together at night, the odds were through the roof.
She started showing symptoms a month ago, making it pretty obvious what was going on, and a doctor confirmed she was undoubtedly pregnant.
When the news broke, joy erupted in the Greyrat household.
"What if it's a boy? What should we name him?"
"What if it's a girl? What would be a good name?"
"We still have spare rooms, right?"
"We can reuse Rudy and Dai's old baby clothes."
The conversations were endless. That day was pure joy from beginning to end.
Daiki, for his part, simply nodded in approval when asked about it. But I noticed something else in his eyes. A warm gleam... something he almost never showed so openly.
Before coming to this world, I always believed that siblings tended to destroy everything I held dear... that, somehow, it was written into everyone's destiny and you just had to accept it. However, Daiki proved to be the exact opposite, and now with this news, I wouldn't have to hold onto that misguided belief anymore.
Yes, I also deserved everything my brothers did to me, but now it felt different. I had come to think that if I became a better person in this world but still had a brother who took everything from me, it would mean siblings were inherently bad, and my mindset would never change.
Luckily, that didn't happen.
What did happen was Lilia dropping her cloth and delivering what was, without a doubt, the worst news anyone could receive in a moment of such happiness.
"I sincerely apologize. I am pregnant."
In front of the entire gathered family, a month after Zenith's announcement, Lilia calmly revealed her own.
Who is the father...?
No one in the room dared to ask that question.
The atmosphere went from joyful and positive to heavy and bleak in a matter of seconds. It wasn't that we didn't know who the father was, but rather that it was so sudden it felt unreal.
Lilia was fiercely dedicated. Her incredible cleaning skills actually scared me sometimes. Because of that, she earned a good salary, and working for the Greyrats was considered a great privilege. However, she sent almost all of her money back to her family. Unlike Paul, who usually went out to handle village affairs, or Zenith, who regularly helped at the local clinic, Lilia rarely left the house except for work. There were no rumors of her having a close relationship with anyone.
Was it just a passing fling with a stranger...?
I, however, knew.
I knew that ever since Zenith got pregnant, Paul had been forced to adopt a strict regimen of abstinence. I knew that, unable to contain his urges, he had snuck into Lilia's room in the middle of the night. If I were truly just a child, I might have thought they were playing cards.
"I-I'm sorry. I-It's probably mine..."
That fast?
It takes guts to admit it instantly and take responsibility. Though, considering all the lectures he gave me about being "honest," "manly," "protecting girls," and "not cheating," he probably just couldn't bring himself to lie.
I suppose that's fine. I can't hate him for it.
Paul, I don't dislike that side of you. It's just that this situation is a complete disaster.
I thought this as I watched Zenith stand up, looking like a furious goddess, and raise her hand in the air.
And that was how an emergency family meeting began.
---
"So, what do you plan to do?"
From my point of view, Zenith seemed serene. She didn't make a hysterical scene in front of her terrible, cheating husband, although Paul's cheek was sporting a bright red handprint.
"After assisting with my lady's delivery, I plan to leave this house," Lilia replied just as calmly.
Maybe these kinds of things were common in this world. A maid becomes her employer's mistress. The matter turns into a problem, and she is forced to leave.
Yes. Normally, that kind of pitiful story would turn me on. But in this atmosphere, I feel nothing. I have principles too, you know? Unlike Paul.
"And what about the baby?"
"After giving birth within the Fittoa region, I plan to return to my hometown and raise the baby there."
"Your hometown is in the south, right?"
"Yes."
"You won't be able to endure such a long journey in your weakened state after childbirth."
"... That may be, but I have nowhere else to turn."
The Fittoa region is in the northeast of the Asura Kingdom.
According to my knowledge, a journey from there to the south of the kingdom would take almost a month, even using carriages. Still, the Asura Kingdom is a safe place with good weather. It wouldn't be an extremely harsh trip... under normal conditions. But Lilia has no money. She can't afford a carriage and would have to go on foot.
"Uh, Zenith, surely she..."
"YOU SHUT UP!!!"
Paul opened his mouth timidly, but at Zenith's harsh reprimand, he shrank back like a scolded child.
Paul, you are completely useless.
"Mother," I tried to say. "We're going to have two siblings at the same time, why is the atmosphere so tense?"
"Because your father and Lilia did something they shouldn't have."
"I see. But could Lilia really say no to Father?"
"What do you mean?"
I'm sorry, Paul. Even though I don't hate you, this time you'll have to take all the blame. You deserve it. Besides, Lilia kept the secret of my holy relic. I can't betray her like that.
I'll try to make up for it later.
Daiki Greyrat
My brother was lying to change the narrative. Every word he said, every accusation, was designed to pin all the blame on Paul, who objectively held the most responsibility anyway, and thereby exonerate Lilia.
Even so, I knew this wasn't going to be that easy... or at least, that those lies might not work. Considering Paul had doubted my mother when I was born, there was a good chance she wouldn't forgive him this time.
"Mother, Rudeus is right."
Everyone turned toward me.
"Lilia is at fault. But Father even more so. She could die, Mother."
"Die? Daiki, that's..."
"She has no money for a carriage, so she'll have to walk south... with a newborn. Even if the weather is pleasant, that means nothing if it requires a long journey with no chance to stop. There will be no doctor... no one."
My mother stared at me in disbelief. Rudeus's lie had swayed her a little, but her hardened expression made it clear that this time would end differently if I didn't intervene. I didn't think I would succeed, but I had to try.
"They could cross paths with bad people on the road. Too many. A lone woman carrying a baby is an easy target. What if she gets sick? No one will be able to help her..."
I swallowed hard.
"Realistically... there is a seventy or eighty percent chance that one of them won't make it to the end of the journey alive." I lowered my hand. "And there is a very real chance that both of them will die."
"Dai... You don't have to..."
Paul, from his corner, tried to say something, but Zenith glared at him and he shrank back again.
I looked back at my mother, completely ignoring what my father was saying.
"Will they arrive alive? Even if they survive the trip, they'll arrive with no money or supplies. They'll have to rely entirely on the goodwill of a family that is likely already stretched to its limit. She'd just be dragging them down with her."
Rudeus watched me with something akin to astonishment.
"But... but she and Paul... they did something bad, and..."
"Yes. It's not a good thing. My father took advantage of that, and it's unforgivable." Paul lowered his head even more when I said that. "But punishing Lilia with expulsion isn't justice. It's excessive, and it drags the baby down with her."
I stepped closer and gently took my mother's hand.
"That baby... is my sibling. Rudy's sibling. We share a father. We can't... I can't allow my younger sibling to die before even being born... And if you still decide she has to leave... then I will go with her."
"WHAT?!" they all said in unison.
Paul jumped up, nearly knocking his chair backward.
"Son, you aren't...!"
"Silence, Father. This is all your fault. I will go with her. I don't care how long it takes. I will protect her from bandits. I will hunt to provide her with food myself. I will use healing magic if she gets sick or has complications... and above all, I will carry my younger sibling when she's tired."
I looked at my mother.
"Daiki, that is... you are six years old!" Zenith practically shouted. "You can't...!"
"I can."
Paul stared at me with an expression of absolute horror.
"Daiki... you can't be serious..."
"Completely serious." I looked directly at him. "You created this situation... I will not allow the consequences of your actions to kill two innocent people."
Zenith tried to open her mouth, but not knowing what to say, she closed it again.
"You... you would go... would you really go?"
"I'm sorry, Mother... but it is my duty as an older brother to protect my younger siblings. Including the one who hasn't been born yet."
Rudeus stepped up beside me.
"I would go too."
This time, I was the one surprised.
"Brother, you don't..."
"I'm going. If my older brother goes, I go."
"Rudy..." Zenith sobbed.
Paul had been left completely speechless, looking at his two sons with an expression of absolute devastation. We were two six-year-old boys, willing to risk everything to protect a sibling who hadn't even been born yet.
"You... you two... I suppose I can't win against you."
Zenith looked at Lilia, who was now crying. After that, she let out a long sigh.
"Lilia, stay here with us. You are family now!!! I won't allow you to leave on your own!!!"
She paused and looked directly at me through her tears.
"And I am definitely not going to lose my two sons just because I'm angry with my husband."
She stepped forward and hugged us tightly.
"You two... how did we raise such incredible children? So noble?"
We didn't answer. We just hugged her back. Over Zenith's shoulder, I saw Lilia looking at me with an expression I would never forget. A six-year-old boy had just declared that he would abandon everything to protect her and her baby, and was fully prepared to do it.
Lilia
The pregnancy is my fault. I was the one who seduced Paul.
When I first arrived at this house, I had no such intentions. But night after night, listening to their moans and cleaning a room thick with the scent of a man and a woman... I am a woman too, and the sexual tension built up.
So yes, it was my fault. I thought the pregnancy was a punishment. A punishment for giving in to my desires and betraying Zenith. But... I was forgiven. Daiki-sama forgave me. With a calmness belonging to someone who had lived through something similar in the past. That terrifying calm. That understanding, devoid of a single shred of emotion.
Creepy... no, I must never call him that again. I avoided him all this time because I found him unsettling. That cold child. Precise. Almost inhuman in his calculated logic. He must have noticed me avoiding him. And yet... he offered himself without hesitation.
The child I looked down on.
That unsettling child.
That inhuman child.
He is my savior.
I am ashamed to have belittled him for years.
He is a man worthy of respect. I should revere him. I should serve him with the utmost respect until the day I die.
If this child in my womb is born healthy and grows up...
I will make this baby serve Daiki…
I will make them serve Daiki-sama.
...
Zenith Greyrat
That night, after my sons went to sleep, I was alone in my room.
I felt very small as I rested my hands on my belly. When the door slowly opened and Paul cautiously walked in, I ordered him to close it and sit down.
I reminded him of the day Daiki was born. I explained the immense pain of being treated like a liar right after giving birth, and how he only decided to trust me when Rudeus was born.
I confessed to him that I had forgiven him because I saw genuine remorse, and I loved him. But the irony of the current situation was agonizing. The man who had confronted me so unjustly was now the one breaking his own vows of honor to sleep with another woman. I admitted I wasn't surprised, Elinalise had warned me about his weakness before we got married.
With a lump in my throat, I told him how much it hurt to admit that I still loved him, feeling stupid and pathetic for it. Finally, I set the record straight: Lilia would stay in this house, not for him, but because our beautiful sons had been willing to throw their lives away over his mistake.
Paul stood up.
He walked toward the door like a defeated man.
When he reached the threshold, he stopped without turning around.
"Zenith... it was never that I didn't love you enough. You always were... you have always been everything to me. I just... I am weak. Pathetically weak."
"Yes. You are. And that is what hurts the most."
"I will be better... I swear to you. I will be the man you deserve."
"I hope so. Because... this is your last chance. There won't be a second one. 'I'll do better next time' won't cut it anymore. This is it. I hope you don't waste it."
He nodded, stepped out, and closed the door behind him.
I rested my hands on my belly once more.
"That will have to be enough. You're going to have spectacular brothers."