The Monster Knight Wants Maternity Leave (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“I’ll go now. The child looks tired.”
“Huh? But we still need to tidy up the gifts….”
When Gilliana replied with an awkward expression, Heath, sensing the mood, quickly used magic to stack the boxes all the way to the ceiling, clearing a path to move through.
“…Then let’s finish the rest tomorrow. Gilliana, let’s go.”
Vernon, who had been watching, swiftly pulled the oblivious Gilliana out of the quarters.
Once they left, Lucia looked at the child, who was desperately clutching her own clothes with an anxious gaze, and spoke.
“Nia. Everything becomes dirty eventually.”
“…No. It’s not that. When I touch it, it breaks.”
Lucia felt both flustered and amused—amused that a child destined to become a saint would say such a thing.
“That’s not true. Nothing in this world becomes unusable just because you’ve touched it.”
‘If anything, you might even bring it back to life.’
At Lucia’s words, Nia, who had been avoiding eye contact, finally lifted her head.
But then, as if remembering something, she muttered very softly.
“…Gloves. Gloves are dirty.”
“Gloves?”
“They’re dirty… so I can’t wear them….”
At Nia’s inexplicable words, Lucia raised an eyebrow.
The child before her once again wore a gloomy expression, as if she’d committed some grave mistake.
Staring at that face for a long while, Lucia suddenly recalled the day they’d first arrived here—how the child had looked at those gloves.
‘…Ah, that’s it.’
First the bathroom and floor, now the gloves.
Just how much does this little head hold? And what wounds are etched inside it?
Unconsciously, she gently stroked the child’s head—the same child who, in her previous life, had died filled with even deeper wounds.
Startled even by Lucia’s touch now, Nia quickly stepped backward.
Seeing the child’s rejection, Lucia slowly withdrew her hand with a blank expression.
Then she thought.
Lucia had no idea exactly how to stop the child from believing herself unclean.
But one thing was certain: if she continued handling the child like this, as if it were all just a game, the outcome was painfully clear.
Right now it only seemed like self-blame, but if that feeling grew, it would inevitably turn into distrust toward everyone—and end in utter loneliness.
Just like Lucia herself.
Because she had walked that path, she knew better than anyone that such a life brought no happiness. So she made a decision.
Even if her forceful attitude drove the child back to the orphanage, there was something she absolutely had to say.
“Nia. Bring me the gloves.”
Startled by Lucia’s firm tone, Nia flinched, her small shoulders trembling.
Then, with listless steps, she searched for the gloves—whose owner couldn’t even be remembered—and carefully handed them to Lucia.
The gloves were caked with hardened bird droppings and tangled feathers, instantly bringing back the memory of Nia’s earlier state.
Lucia first went to the bathroom and filled the sink with warm water.
Then she tossed an entire bar of high-quality soap into the water and stirred vigorously.
But the water only grew murky; no bubbles formed—not like the foamy laundry piles she’d seen maids create elsewhere.
‘Is it a different kind of soap…? Or do I need more people?’
“Come here and lend me your hands.”
Nia, standing far away, hesitated at her request but slowly approached.
“Get up here and stir a bit. No matter how much I stir, no bubbles come out.”
Perhaps feeling she owed Lucia a favor, or moved by her troubled tone, Nia squeezed her eyes shut and inched closer, finally dipping her hands into the sink.
Together, they stirred the soapy water in the sink.
Though not as much as she remembered, tiny bubbles began to form in the basin.
“…Bubbles!”
“Yes. Shall we try washing together now?”
Lucia held out the gloves, and Nia blinked her round eyes before accepting them.
She then mimicked Lucia’s actions, placing the gloves into the soapy water and wiggling her fingers.
After rubbing them a few times, the grime quickly fell away from the stained gloves.
‘…Not bad.’
Though she’d never done housework in her life, Lucia was surprised to find it gave her a sense of satisfaction.
As she straightened her back, proud of the gloves regaining their original color, her eyes fell on Nia’s gloves.
‘…What?’
She was taken aback.
Nia, lips tightly pursed in concentration, had scrubbed so diligently that her gloves already gleamed pristine.
Lucia, unexpectedly competitive against a mere five-year-old, began scrubbing with the same seriousness she used when wielding her sword.
After their passionate cleaning session,
“…Look! Look!”
Nia, cheeks flushed with joy, proudly held out her spotless gloves to Lucia.
“…”
She’d lost.
Lucia nodded encouragingly at the delighted child, though she felt slightly defeated seeing Nia’s gloves cleaner than her own.
But that wasn’t important now.
Gathering her thoughts, she remembered her true purpose.
“Smell them, Nia.”
Nia tilted her head in confusion but cautiously brought the damp gloves to her nose.
“What do they smell like?”
“Like water… and flowers! I like it…!”
Of course she did—it was imperial-grade soap.
Unbeknownst to them, they’d just washed away the cost of a commoner’s weekly meals.
Oblivious to that fact, Lucia leaned close to Nia’s bright face.
Startled by her sudden closeness, Nia nearly slipped off the step—but Lucia caught her and said,
“You smell nice too.”
Even at those words, the child tucked her captured wrist behind her back and shook her head, as if it couldn’t possibly be true.
Lucia turned her gaze away from the child and calmly finished removing the last stain from the gloves as she continued.
“If it were me… even if I smelled bad, I’d want you not to avoid me.”
Lucia wrung out the gloves, fluffed them, and held them out before Nia’s eyes.
The child blinked her wide eyes, staring at the gloves now held close to her face.
“As long as we wash like this, it’s fine.”
Her nature wouldn’t allow her to simply say comforting words like “You’re fine just as you are—even if you’re dirty” to a child who believed herself unclean.
Thus, this was the best comfort—and the furthest she could go.
When Lucia pulled the gloves away from Nia’s astonished eyes, the child stared down at them in her hands for a long while before her small lips moved.
“…Then… since Nia washed today, it’s okay not to avoid me.”
Perhaps sincerity truly resonates.
Nia’s quiet murmur echoed softly through the bathroom.
Then, as if hoping the person beside her would understand, she peeked up at Lucia with clear golden eyes.
Their eyes met—Lucia nodded—and Nia, embarrassed, fidgeted her lips, her shy cheeks twitching.
Watching the child, Lucia was suddenly struck by a warm, heavy feeling, as if her heart had sunk gently into her chest.
It was an awkward warmth—fluffy and ticklish—a feeling too tender to call pain.
Perhaps, for Lucia, this was the first moment she truly understood what it meant to be with someone, rather than merely guarding the saint from afar.
Beyond them, Heath had been silently watching it all.
With a subtle expression, he turned and slipped unnoticed out of the quarters.
*
-Chirp chirp—
Dawn had broken, and the mountain birds’ clear songs filled the air.
Lucia stirred awake early, her eyebrows twitching at the morning light.
The familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling mural—depicting the goddess Ashir in all her beauty—still reminded her this was the training facility’s quarters.
The crack caused by her thrown sword still bothered her slightly, but the scenery remained unchanged for days.
‘So it really wasn’t a dream.’
Out of habit, Lucia reached out while still lying down.
But her sword wasn’t there.
‘Ah, right.’
Her sword should have been there, but since the child shared the only bedroom, she’d placed it far away.
Though now she had the inconvenience of going to the training grounds just to warm up, she suddenly wondered—wasn’t this what an ordinary life truly felt like?
Perhaps just by having the child here, this place had ceased to be a training facility and become an ordinary home.
And though her goal had been simply to raise the young saint as an ordinary child, she realized that to truly be with her, Lucia herself had to become ordinary too.
But only for a moment—
‘Me, ordinary? How laughable.’
Lucia recalled the word her father had called her when they first met as an adult.
Monster.
Though decades had passed and the memory had faded, that single word remained etched into her bones.
Sighing flatly, she started to sit up—then suddenly turned her head at an unfamiliar warmth on her shoulder.
“…?”
She saw a clump of black fur.
‘Her hair’s too long….’
As before, the child’s face was always buried under her long hair, too much for her small frame to handle.
Just then, Nia stirred in her sleep at Lucia’s slight movement.
Through the parted strands, a fair, white cheek rubbed against Lucia’s shoulder, tickling her.
Instantly, Lucia froze.
Lucia—the master swordsman who never flinched, no matter how many enemies faced her.
Yet now, she carefully rolled only her eyes, afraid even the slightest movement might wake the child.
Trapped unintentionally in this embrace, Lucia lay there, recalling last night’s laundry session.
‘Housework really isn’t for just anyone. I thought kids this age never slept.’
It was still quite early to assume the child didn’t sleep in.
But it wasn’t entirely unreasonable—
because usually, the child was already awake before Lucia even stirred.
Curled up with her back turned, sometimes whimpering—
though she occasionally smiled, she always kept her head bowed, as if hiding her emotions.
But now, sleeping so peacefully, she truly looked like the angel people claimed children to be.
‘Saints really are close to angels—she might be the closest among her peers.’
Just as Lucia began feeling oddly soft-hearted,
-Tap tap—
Someone knocked on the bedroom door.
“Captain. Are you awake?”
It was Vernon.
She’d wanted to see the child wake up, but reluctantly, she rose quietly and opened the door.
“Quiet. Nia hasn’t woken yet.”
“My apologies. There’s an undelivered message—I had no choice but to bring it.”
Vernon handed her a silver envelope, whispering.
Lately, ever since she’d taken what amounted to parental leave, countless invitations and letters had flooded the quarters—likely meant to pester her—but Lucia, who’d never cared for such things and hadn’t paid attention to them in ages, remained indifferent.
But if Vernon himself had brought it, expecting a reply, it must be quite important.
Lucia opened the message.
Inside the elegant envelope was the elite seal of the Fourfold Order, symbolizing black, white, gold, and crimson.
“Oh dear—it seems to be the Knights’ Grand Council. You’ll have to attend in person this year.”
Vernon clasped his hands together with a smug look, as if offering blessings.
The Black Knights were a unique order that loathed revealing their presence at any event.
And among them, none embodied that trait more strongly than their captain, Lucia.
Thus, for five years, Deputy Captain Berel had attended the meetings in her stead—but this year, she couldn’t use training as an excuse.
“…Damn it.”
Lucia finally cursed aloud and roughly signed the letter.
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
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they’re so cute i’m gonna cry 😭😭 i adore them sm