The Monster Knight Wants Maternity Leave (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
“……Then, if there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“…….”
Lucia, upon hearing his words, remained silent as ever and climbed into the carriage.
And in the carriage mirror, as it pulled away from him, she saw his suspicious figure staring fixedly after her, despite his earlier claim of being busy.
She had immediately gotten in without hesitation, recalling the child who would surely worry if she stayed away from their lodgings too long—after all, he’d said he’d called the carriage simply because he suddenly wanted to see her off on her way back.
Seeing someone off was understandable enough—after all, he was famously courteous—but the mystery of that day still remained unsolved.
She understood now why he, who rarely mingled with others yet shone like light itself, enjoyed such a good reputation.
Perhaps, then, those gifts truly were just simple gifts after all.
But what about the note? And that utterly absurd threat?
Lost in thoughts about his inexplicable behavior, she noticed the book he’d been staring at.
Its title read:
[Parenting Methods Proven by Results.]Apparently, the librarians—shivering uncontrollably, perhaps from lowered immunity due to lack of sunlight—had highly recommended it as their absolute bestseller.
She briefly examined the book, then turned it around to see the cover after Leon gave a startled look.
There, printed in near-portrait quality, was a silver-haired boy who bore an uncanny resemblance to a beautiful woman.
‘……This boy… I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.’
Just as she leaned in for a closer look at that strangely familiar face, the comfortably smooth ride of the Luwins Marquis’s carriage suddenly slowed.
“Lady Lucia, would you mind waiting a moment?”
The coachman bowed politely outside the window.
Looking out, she saw they were on the bridge spanning the river that divided the Imperial Palace from the hillside.
She stepped out of the carriage to assess the situation and found herself facing a line of carriages densely packed across the bridge.
Peering downward toward the commotion below, she saw someone in the distance enjoying a leisurely boat ride.
She briefly considered walking, but since she’d already told the coachman she’d wait, she had no choice but to lean against the bridge railing and turn her gaze toward the river.
The water shimmered brightly—it truly was perfect weather for boating.
As she relaxed, savoring the rare moment of leisure and taking in the scenery, her eyes suddenly locked onto something appearing in her field of vision.
The ornate prow of the elegant pleasure boat she’d spotted earlier was now slowly emerging beneath the bridge where she stood.
A serene boat drifting gently down the river, accompanied by melodious laughter.
Once the entire vessel came into view, she saw a single man surrounded by young noble ladies adorned like blossoms.
Lucia, standing on the bridge, made direct eye contact with him as he slowly raised his head from below.
Seeing Lucia, the man broke into a radiant smile as if he’d been waiting for her and waved.
He was undeniably handsome—a young man whose beauty anyone would find captivating.
Lucia began searching her memory, trying to place this man who acted as if they knew each other.
“Oh my, Your Highness! Are you disembarking already?”
“Your Highness, you’ve only just arrived—stay and play a little longer! Please?”
‘Your Highness…?’
The noble ladies’ lips had uttered those words.
In Lucia’s memory, there was only one person addressed as “Your Highness.”
If that memory was correct, then he must be the Crown Prince of this empire.
*
As he stepped off the lavishly decorated boat, the blossom-like noble ladies followed him like falling petals.
Soon, the group ascended onto the bridge and encountered Lucia.
“Well now, how unfortunate to meet you on your way. Captain Lucia.”
“The Black Sun greets you, Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
When Lucia lifted her head after bowing respectfully, she found a youth whose smile resembled a freshly bloomed flower—far too youthful to be the son of that rather uncle-like Emperor—gazing intently at her.
Crown Prince Airen Ashir Eldarion.
His soft pink hair matched the spring sunshine, and his golden eyes gleamed as richly as dripping honey.
Beneath those mesmerizing eyes lay dark circles—the sole flaw hinting at his frail constitution—but according to the young noble ladies who followed him everywhere, this very imperfection radiated a decadent charm that drove them wild.
Indeed, his ability to transform even flaws into allure clearly revealed the deep inheritance of blood from the legendary Empress, once hailed as the continent’s most beautiful woman.
“I’d planned to enjoy myself alone, but I never expected to run into so many people here.”
He shrugged his shoulders with an easygoing laugh, as if he couldn’t help it.
“Oh dear! Your Highness, this is fate!”
“Then this fate belongs to me, doesn’t it? After all, I arrived first.”
“Oh my, my lady, you’re always chasing after clouds again. Hehe.”
“And you’re no different, my lady. Hehe.”
If Leon enjoyed popularity regardless of gender or age, this man received overwhelming adoration especially from young noble ladies.
Perhaps it was because those girls, dreaming of dangerous men, saw their fantasies reflected in him.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lucia, having already decided to walk, took a step forward.
“Oh, wait. Congratulations on reaching the peak, Captain.”
Suddenly, he hurried after her and thrust something into her hands.
‘……A rattle?’
A golden rattle adorned with a tiny bell.
It certainly didn’t seem like a gift suited for a Sword Master.
“Oh, surely you’re past the age for playing with this?”
He shook the rattle playfully, grinning—he must have heard about her parental leave.
“…….”
…Was he mocking her?
“Oh my! Is that the captain of the Black Knights?”
“So she’s the one… on parental leave?”
A few young noble ladies, seemingly aware of Lucia’s situation, began whispering among themselves.
‘How tiresome.’
Nobles deeply involved in wartime affairs would have known Lucia’s temperament and left immediately, but these immature girls were different.
Some, trusting in their family names, even dared to show off their boldness—just like certain nobles present now.
“I never imagined you’d have a child, Captain.”
Airen spoke, his sparkling eyes half-lidded with a mischievous glint.
Despite the many eyes watching, he clearly intended to continue.
“One never knows. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Noticing her attempt to brush him off with a vague reply and leave, the Crown Prince grabbed hold of Lucia’s collar.
He immediately let go, then—uncharacteristically hesitant—glanced around nervously before speaking with a slightly flushed face.
“Wait, just a moment. There’s something I want to say… The truth is… I’ve been watching over you for a very long time.”
“What!?”
“Good heavens!”
“Huh…!”
Instead of Lucia—the actual subject of his bombshell declaration—the nearby noble ladies cried out in shock.
Among them, a flustered maid even rushed to support another young lady who looked ready to faint, pressing her forehead.
Though embarrassed, Airen smiled contentedly—it had been a long time since he’d felt this satisfied.
He knew exactly how people would react to the words he’d just spoken.
Ever since childhood, he’d never known true satisfaction.
His poor health meant the only indulgences he could afford came from his position as Crown Prince—a role that also revealed just how cruel a child could become.
It was Lucia who had shaken him out of that state.
Lucia had been sixteen when they first met.
Freshly enlisted into the Knights, she’d been assigned as the Crown Prince’s bodyguard—and treated him with the same unchanging, straightforward demeanor she always had.
Needless to say, his life—nurtured like a greenhouse flower—had undergone a complete 180-degree transformation under her relentless, unyielding care.
Now, five years older than Lucia had been back then, Airen still found himself smiling at her consistent indifference.
And at his own heart, which still fluttered just as much.
“Captain, you still haven’t said who the child’s father is, have you?”
“…….”
‘This is the second time he’s asked. Even with the Emperor himself as guarantor, is that still not enough for him?’
Even with his directness, Lucia remained preoccupied with other concerns.
“Your Highness…! You’re merely offering comfort, aren’t you?”
“Yes! You’re joking, right? She’s a knight! A fierce woman who does men’s work!”
The shocked noble ladies began barking like sensitive Chihuahuas.
But as one by one they noticed the Crown Prince’s increasingly serious expression, they gradually fell silent.
Then, the platinum-haired noble lady—who had remained quietly observant—covered her mouth with her fan as if uttering something unseemly and spoke.
“Hmm. Considering the timing… the war was just ending then. Could something have happened there? For instance… spending the night with a man before marriage, as a woman?”
“Oh my goodness! Good heavens…!”
“How scandalous!”
The girls reacted as if it were their own affair.
Lucia simply watched the ever-shifting drama of youth before her.
A truly composed adult wouldn’t genuinely anger at insults from children young enough to be their grandchildren.
Thus, Lucia wasn’t angry.
But she recalled a line from the book she’d skimmed earlier: if one fails to explain things properly to even the youngest child and simply lets matters slide, that child may grow into an adult who lashes out without reason.
Concerned, the elder Lucia stepped closer to the half-grown foxes.
The noble ladies, who had been giggling moments before, blinked their eyes like startled rabbits under the shadow of a predator.
“W-what do you intend to do?”
“If you come any closer, I’ll tell my father about this situation!”
Lucia looked down at the frightened girls for a long moment before answering the Crown Prince’s question.
“I have no intention of ever revealing it. There were simply too many people with whom I shared that night to single out just one.”
The innocent young ladies, imagining who-knew-what, stood frozen with flushed faces and gaping mouths.
Truthfully, it could cause a huge misunderstanding—but it was partly true.
After all, during four years on the battlefield, she’d spent countless nights alongside others, regardless of gender.
The platinum-haired noble lady, clearly unprepared for such a response, stepped backward in anger as Lucia approached.
But just then—
“Your Highness!! Are you alright!?”
A royal guard rushed over and quickly supported Airen.
The Crown Prince, face deeply flushed, was trying to stanch the nosebleed gushing from his nostrils.
Noticing blood splatter onto Lucia standing nearby, he pushed the soldier aside and stepped closer to her despite still holding his nose.
“Oh dear. I’m so sorry. Your collar’s stained with blood…”
Watching him fret over the blood on her clothes, Lucia silently wished he’d just wipe his own blood first.
Whether he noticed her discomfort or not, she blocked his hand as he tried to dab at the stain with his bloodied handkerchief.
But was that clumsy gesture part of his plan all along?
In an instant, the Crown Prince seized her wrist.
Lucia hesitated—she couldn’t just brush aside a royal’s touch—and in that moment of hesitation, he drew close.
“Do you know what’s the closest place to the training camp where you once were?”
A low whisper brushed against her ear.
Remembering him mostly as a twelve-year-old boy, Lucia was flustered to find herself now overwhelmed by his unexpectedly tall frame.
“It’s my Crown Prince’s Palace, right next door. Watching over you wasn’t a lie—I made it a secret part of my daily routine to look toward your training grounds each morning.”
As Lucia listened to his whispered words, she grew increasingly uneasy with every sentence he added.
“But your child doesn’t seem to have been born small at all. I’ve never once seen you with a swollen belly, so… Ah, I suppose this is now a secret between just you and me?”
“……!!”
Airen smiled sweetly enough to close his eyes in delight, then slowly stepped back from the stunned Lucia.
“You see… I’d like to get to know you first.”
With those words—and his unstoppable nosebleed—the Crown Prince collapsed.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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they’re so cute i’m gonna cry 😭😭 i adore them sm