Your Regrets Are Late

In the early stages of pregnancy, Charelize had severe morning sickness and had difficulty gaining weight. Sometimes, she couldn’t even drink water, so she replaced her meals with small berries. Fortunately, her morning sickness subsided significantly over the next few weeks. Perhaps because it was twin, she felt full. Her children were growing well.

Charelize announced the news of her pregnancy during the stable period. There was a lot of talk about her when it was announced that she was pregnant with twins. However, they couldn’t say it out loud because they value their own lives.

Knowing such a thing, Charelize received her children’s second surname in advance from High Priest Lucion. Both names had the meaning of ‘star.’ The first surname, showing the succession rights of Duke Marsetta, was decided through a vassal meeting.  

“You know that the 8

th

head of the family won a great victory in the war against the Kingdom of Sonia, right?”

“How could we forget that?”

“Yes, thanks to him, we’re still ahead of Duke Porte and Duke Halloten, so the babies’ first surname is of course…”

“Rather, what about the title of Her Majesty Elizabeth I?”

The vassals expressed various opinions, saying that each great achievement should be in keeping with the name of the person who gave it or the dignity of the imperial family.

“Oho. You don’t know. It refers to the succession rights to Duke Marsetta, so it’s right to use something appropriate.”

“Are you saying that the title of Her Majesty Elizabeth I is not appropriate now?”

“Count Perin! There’s a limit to how much you can push people around!”

Charelize was quietly watching as the vassals, who seemed to increasingly fight over their pride, went on. Because of that, Viscount Blanche, ‘Elze,’ the first surname of Charelize, was the name of the first matriarch. He motioned for her to choose among her children’s names and urgently winked her to look at the situation. The vassals belatedly looked into the names of Duchess Hwillin and Marchioness Laresa, the daughters of the first family head.

After thinking for a while, Charelize gave her first child the nickname of the predecessor duchess. She decided that for her second child, she would name Marchioness Laresa as their first surname.

Everyone was shocked that she would use the predecessor duchess’s name, who gave birth to the former duke who is imprisoned in Helsen Prison. Perhaps mistakenly meaning that she would now forgive him, little Count Royan proposed the release of the former duke.

“…Are you telling me to release the heinous person who killed my mother?”

“Th-that’s… I mean…”

“Y-Your Majesty! My son is still young and doesn’t know what he said.” Count Royan, who covered his son’s mouth, immediately bowed.

“I asked the little count. You, get out of the way.”

Nevertheless, Charelize didn’t let go of her anger. She didn’t say anything, but little Count Royan and some others who were thinking similar things silently avoided her gaze.

“Please forgive him for this one time because I taught him wrong. Your Majesty, please…” Count Royal, who always valued his reputation, knelt down to ask for her forgiveness.

“…For the time being, little Count Royan should remain disciplined and not attend the vassal meeting.”

In the end, Charelize gave a light punishment and returned to the imperial palace.

“You’re crazy!”

“Fa-Father…”

“You should be glad that it ended like this! If not for me, Her Majesty would have killed you.”

The vassals passed by, pretending not to see Count Royan slapping his son.

* * *

The name was discussed carefully with Arensis, referring to ancient books. As they waited, the day to meet their children came closer.

A few days later, while she was sleeping, Charelize felt moisture. In the early morning, contractions began, and Arensis paced nervously in front of the birthing room. It was her first time to become a mother, and she had twins, so there was no sign of birth.

Arensis went inside before the midwife had finished telling him that he had to choose between Charelize and the children. Charelize seemed to be so tired that she didn’t even have the energy to breathe. He held Charelize’s hand and cried. It must have been hard for her already, but he didn’t want to be a burden, so he held back, but tears came out on their own.

“A, ren…”

“Lize… I-I’m sorry about everything. What should I do? No. No, Lize, don’t die.”

He had already experienced a world without her. It was such a terrible memory, enough for him just to experience once.

“D-don’t leave me alone again…”

Charelize, who could barely breathe shallowly as her strength was almost completely exhausted, suddenly came to her senses.

Thinking of her mother, she gave her last strength. She didn’t want to leave him alone in the world.

“Your Majesty! Baby, I see their head!”

When Charelize opened her eyes again, Arensis was kicked out by the midwife. He continued to shed tears without caring about the gazes of the people around him.

At that time, heavy rain fell. The servants whispered, wondering why it was raining in such hot and sunny weather. Arensis knew intuitively. The rain was telling him that new life had been born.

After a while, Hailey came out and announced the news of the children’s birth. “On June 8, 1552, Verzina, in the summer of the Elioter Empire Calendar, First Prince Luensir Lino Aster von Elioter and First Princess Charteron Laressa Astra von Elioter were born!”

Finally, two jasmine buds appeared.

Arensis met Charelize and the children. The eldest child, a boy, looked exactly like Charelize’s hair color. The only thing that resembled Arensis was the blue eyes mixed with light purple, which gave a mysterious feeling. Rather than being disappointed by the appearance of his firstborn child, who bore little resemblance to him, Arensis was happy that there was another person who looked exactly like Charelize.

The second child, a girl, had the hair color of Arensis. Fortunately, her eyes resembled Charelize’s, but what struck him was her hair color, which resembled his.

Arensis was anxious that the rain that had fallen when they were born hadn’t stopped yet. It was proof that their Edelise’s blood was thick.

Seeing the rain through the window, Charelize knew what Arensis was worried about. His face, which had been fine when he saw Luensir, became rigid as soon as he saw Charteron. He decided it would be better to bring up the topic of his mother another time.

“…Luen also has a mole here.”

She was amazed when she saw the star-shaped dot on the foot of Luensir.

“Lize.”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re alright.”

Arensis briefly kissed Charelize’s forehead. Charelize responded with a small smile and soon fell asleep soundly.

* * *

Born a few minutes apart, Luensir and Charteron had very different personalities. Unlike Luensir, who had a lot of trouble sleeping, Charteron was gentle. She ate well without any hesitation, and even when strangers came, she smiled brightly. On the other hand, the sensitive Luensir was slightly reluctant to embrace Arensis and only embraced Charelize. The advanced selection of a nanny also proved futile.

Several months have already passed since the children were born. After confirming that Charelize was asleep, Arensis approached the cradle.

“Luensir.”

He called his name softly, almost feeling unjust about waking the baby who had just fallen asleep with difficulty. Yet, Luensir’s eyes flickered open.

“…Are you awake?”

He poked Luensir in the cheek. It was so cute that Luensir was looking at him with puffy cheeks as if he was so dissatisfied.

“Little Lize, why weren’t you sleeping?”

“…”

It felt good to see Charelize’s babies, something he had never seen before. In the case of Charteron, she would have cried out for a hug as soon as she saw Arensis, but Luensir just stared quietly. 

He tried to pick up Luensir, but after struggling so much, surprised and afraid of dropping him made a sound, Charteron, who was next to them, woke up. She kept whining, eventually bursting into tears. It seemed like she was upset because he was holding Luensir instead of her. Arensis quickly and carefully put Luensir down, covering his head so as not to hurt him.

“Charon, good girl.”

He hugged Charteron and patted her on the back at a steady pace. Charteron was so sad that she buried her face in Arensis’s shoulder and shook her head.

“Yes. Yes. Dad is sorry.”

Arensis soothed his upset daughter with a kind voice. As he stroked Charteron’s hair, he suddenly remembered a few days ago incident.

Arensis laughed bitterly at Charteron a few times. Knowing it wasn’t because he had no affection for her daughter, Charelize approached him carefully.

It was that moment. Charteron, who had been whimpering slightly, burst into tears. Hastening to comfort Charteron, she stopped crying when Luensir called her ‘Ao’ a few times.

As if he understood what she said, Luensir moved around.

Thanks to those words, Arensis gradually erased his concerns about Charteron’s hair color.

Charteron that dug into his arms was really small. He also lifted up and hugged Luensir, who was growing all by himself. As the warm warmth of the babies was transmitted, the thought that came to him was ‘lovely.’

Even though Arensis saw all kinds of beautiful flowers, he always thought they were annoying and didn’t use the flower’s blessing. But not it changed. When he used magic to levitate two jasmine flowers in the air, he immediately heard Charteron laughing so brightly. On the other hand, although he didn’t smile, Luensir was seen stretching out his small hand and looking curious.

“Babies.”

When Arensis called, Luensir also turned his head to follow Charteron, who responded first.

“I will protect you no matter what happens.”

His worries about whether he could love his children were meaningless.

“Dad loves you so much. Thanks for being born.”

Arensis had been in love for a long time.