Simon's face turned as white as a corpse. He stood there in a daze, not even thinking of approaching Kalia. He was numb as if a huge hammer had smashed the back of his head.
"….Ah."
All that could come out from between his stiff lips was the smallest 'ah'. Simon eventually closed his mouth. finally kept his mouth shut.
"….."
"..."
So, the two kept quiet for a while. In fact, they were so surprised that they were both at a loss for words. Kalia, who was moaning, bit her lower lip to see if her lips were bleeding. He could feel her holding back the pain from her grimace, but Simon was still lost in his daze.
Simon's trembling eyes instinctively looked at Kalia's face. His starving gaze clung to her and hungrily took in his fill of her. Kalia has gained a little weight and her cheeks that had grown rounder than before did not escape his greedy eyes. Wearing a fluttering, floaty thing of a nightgown, she looked pure and elegant. Holding her round stomach as if she was embracing something precious, she made for an unfamiliar, almost strange, yet beautiful sight.
"You…..your belly." Throat dry, Simon gulped and barely managed to keep his voice from shaking. "…What's with you?"
Kalia laughed as if the question was amusing. "What do you mean, it's exactly what it looks like."
It was nice to hear her voice after so long. The familiar voice from his memories now in front of him touched his heart and set his heart racing.
"...I mean, what I'm looking at right now... no, how, no, more than that, who.... When…" A thought flashed through Simon's head. His eyes on Kalia widened. In return, Kalia's gaze became somewhat uneasy as she read his expression.
Simon, who had been faltering, took a step toward her. "You, don't tell me, at the time…"1
Before he could finish speaking, Kalia cut him off with a cold voice.
"No."
"….Kalia!"
"I said no….. Hhhnnn." Kalia's face, which she carefully kept neutral, contorted again in an instant.
Grasping her stomach, she staggered for a moment before sinking to the floor. Simon, who had been frozen like an idiot, finally came to his senses and ran to Kalia. He hugged her stiff shoulders and stroked them as if to calm her down.
'Kalia, Kalia. Oh, god. Kalia….!' .
"Now, ha, wait…."
Kalia's breathing grew more laboured than it was just a moment ago. With clenched teeth, she hurriedly grabbed onto Simon's arm. Her knuckles turned white with how hard she grabbed him by the hem of his clothes.
"Heuu, heuuu.. oh! Allen…Call Allen."
Hearing another man's name come from her mouth, Simon's face paled and crumpled2. When Kalia asked for another man, his heart felt as if it had been pierced by thorns, throbbing in pain. 3
"You, why are you….!" 4
Seuu. Heuuu. Kalia could barely gasp out words in her pain.
Taking a deep breath, she mustered enough strength to shout out between clenched teeth, her voice harsh. "Shut up and call Allen, Simon….. Hurry!"
At her roar, Simon came to his senses.
'You idiot…. This isn't the time to be jealous.'
With clenched teeth, he gently lifted Kalia's trembling body. A teleportation gate was opened with a few simple words of incantation. Simon ran into it without hesitation. 5
***
The teleportation gate immediately spit the two out into the room Allen and Humming were in. The two were currently pacing nervously back and forth. Their anxiety seemed to fill the room. Caught unaware at Simon appearing from thin air, they could only gap for a second, their eyes popping out in surprise. However, what made the two of them even more bewildered was the appearance of Kalia moaning in his arms.
"Oh, my god! Miss!" Humming's voice rose in both pitch and volume as if it could tear the air.
The dazed Allen shook off his stupor and also hurriedly rushed to Kalia's side. "Kalia! Are you experiencing labour pains?"
"Yes, uh…something like that, it's like….ugh!"
"Does it hurt a lot? What about the interval between the contractions?"
"Two minutes… No, I don't know. Just… it hurts, it hurts."
"Take a deep breath. As long as you breathe well, the pain will go away. Breathe. Pay attention to your breathing!"
"Ugh…."
She gritted her teeth and groaned, grasping onto Simon's in pain.6
Simon has never seen Kalia in so much pain. Even when her arm fell off or when her stomach was pierced, she didn't suffer like this…. She was sweating excessively and her whole face was as white as a sheet, like she was going to die at any moment.
"Kalia, Kalia! It hurts? Does it hurt a lot? Do you want me to cast a spell on you? I, what should I do? " Shocked and terrified, Simon grabbed her hand and spoke urgently.
He wanted to make Kalia okay. He wanted to relieve the pain somehow. But it was Allen who stopped Simon.
His next words were firm. "No magic! The mother has to push the child out naturally, but if she's under the influence of magic, the force of her pushes diminishes. This- this is a pain that a mother has to endure on her own. Kalia will be fine. She's a strong person." Allen clenched his teeth, almost as if to convince himself too.
No one could help. That's what giving birth was like. Moments of pain that only a mother can handle.
Feeling the pain disappearing again, Kalia let out a shaky breath from between her clenched teeth. Very much out of breath, she seemed to be having a hard time breathing.
Simon's face twisted in worry and clasped Kalia's pale hands in his own. It felt like his heart was being repeatedly cut open with shards of glass.
"The interval between the labour pains is less than three minutes. The child may come out very soon. The delivery bag, ha. I should have my delivery bag… " Allen chewed on his lower lip nervously.
He never imagined that he would have to help Kalia deliver the baby at an unexpected place, with unexpected people too. Ironically, it was Simon who calmed down the flustered Allen.
Face as pale as a corpse, Simon grabbed Allen. "If there's anything you need, I'll bring it. Where is your bag?"
"It's in the closet in my room. On the second floor."
Anticipating that her due date was not far off, Allen had prepared all the necessary things and was ready for Kalia to go into labour anytime. Simon immediately moved to retrieve Allen's bag. With a short spell, his body disappeared from the room.
In the meantime, Humming had prepared several sheets of clean towels and buckets of hot water without delay. This was also something Allen had taught and familiarized Humming with in advance. The lord's castle fell into panic again because Simon had suddenly brought a pregnant woman who was about to give birth.
Why is dawn so long today?
The people of the castle who couldn't sleep were all shaken up and down.
"Who the hell is she?" The tired-looking lord's wife took a break from tending to her husband and came to see what was happening.
"She's important. So please help her safely deliver her child now. Do you have a clean room we can use for her delivery?"
Spurned by Allen's urgent face and desperate tone, the lord's wife shook off her tiredness and led them straight to a clean room.
"This is my bedroom. It's okay to throw away the bed, so let the mother rest there."
"Thank you."
"There are some maids who used to help deliver to the castle. I'll summon them here."
Soon Simon returned with the bag Allen had specified.
Though still pale in complexion, his golden eyes glistened as if they had recovered some life back. He looked at Kalia laying on the bed, and his jaw clenched again. All he could do was optimize the condition of this room. He disinfected everything in the room with simple magic even though Allen didn't ask. Allen let him do what he wished without complaint, and led the two maids brought by the lord's wife into the room.
After a while, Allen emerged from inside and said, biting his lips, "We still have to wait. As time goes by, the labor pains will get worse but we have to wait for her water to break.
Simon stared at Allen with a grimace.
Allen frowned at Simon's fierce scowl but all he could offer was, "As I said, giving birth is a pain that only the mother can endure."
Allen's black eyes directly met Simon's golden ones. "The pain of childbirth cannot be shared, but at the very least, it is up to the spouse to endure it together with them. I think the partner should watch to see how difficult it is to give birth to a child."
What did he mean…
Allen's eyes were calm. But he felt as if there were a lot of words in those calm eyes.
After a quick glance down at the watch on his wrist, Allen looked back at Humming.
He spoke with fatigue, his tired complexion matching his voice. "Humming, call me when the water bursts or she reaches 100 contractions. I'll be next door for a while."
"Where are you going with a patient in pain like that?" Simon grabbed him, but Allen just stared at him without saying a word.
He hesitated, pursing his lips.
"Because I'm not Shasha's father." Though his voice was bitter, he was also firm.
'Allen's not a father.'
As Kalia once said, Allen was not the father of the baby. But this man in front of him…
'I'm sure it's right. He's the only one close enough to her for her to confuse his love for friendship.' Allen contemplated.
Simon raised his eyebrows as if asking what that meant.
"It means that the person who should be holding her hand now is not a doctor."
If he still doesn't understand after he said this much…
Allen turned coldly, pushing down his innermost thoughts and feelings.