The Monster Knight Wants Maternity Leave (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
Until she, flustered, had brought the child in and taken off her outer coat and set down her gloves, the child had simply stood on the small mat at the entrance of the training grounds without moving a single step.
Even Lucia, who was usually oblivious, could clearly tell why the child was acting so strangely.
‘…It wasn’t this bad before, was it?’
The child before her eyes looked as if they’d fallen into a dung heap—filth clung to them from head to toe, and the only clean things were the child’s two watchful eyes.
“…”
Those clear eyes were fixed on the white gloves Lucia had just set down.
The black clothes were fine, but the gloves were smeared with all sorts of indeterminate black and brown substances.
Seeing this, the child, startled by the mess they’d left behind, quickly lowered their head.
Lucia roughly guessed the situation but felt slightly awkward.
Soon she would have to go to the imperial palace to attend an audience with His Majesty the Emperor, and even that time was barely enough for her to change clothes.
“Shall I show you where to wash up?”
As if waiting for those very words, the child nodded vigorously.
Lucia went to the bathroom and drew warm water for them.
The child, who had stood motionless until then, shrank their body tightly the moment Lucia stepped out of the bathroom, tiptoed carefully into the bathroom on their small feet, and closed the door.
‘At that age… did I bathe alone?’
Trying to recall such a distant childhood memory suddenly made Lucia’s head spin.
She quickly changed into her uniform in the dressing room to deal with today’s matters.
Just then, a voice came from the bathroom.
“…Over there….”
The child seemed to have finished washing.
The child peeked out from the bathroom door, face pale and slick like tofu draped in seaweed, completely drenched.
“What is it?”
“…”
When there was no reply, Lucia approached to check on the child.
-Tap tap.
“Commander. Are you awake? It’s time to head to the imperial palace.”
It was Deputy Commander Berel.
The child, startled like a wary cat, quickly slammed the bathroom door shut.
“Yes. Understood.”
Though worried about the child, she knew Berel wouldn’t have come at this exact moment unless departure was urgent—there was no time to delay.
“Child, I won’t be long. Stay right here without moving. Do you understand?”
Lucia whispered toward the bathroom door, and the child inside gave a small reply.
After confirming the response, she let out a quiet sigh, opened the front door, and addressed Berel, who stood waiting respectfully.
“Let’s go.”
*
Inside the swaying carriage.
It was close enough to the imperial palace to walk, but since Berel had already prepared the carriage, she had no choice but to get in.
Thus, Lucia found herself seated opposite Berel.
She watched him, who had been fidgeting restlessly across from her since they’d left.
Questions about whose funeral he’d attended kept flooding his mind, yet he dared not ask his commander about her whereabouts.
‘Berel… was he in his thirties?’
Not at all.
Lucia, for some reason, confidently believed she knew her squad members well.
But that was merely wishful thinking—she wasn’t particularly perceptive about others.
Berel, with his deep brown hair neatly parted at the forehead.
Contrary to his appearance, the Black Knights’ image in the imperial court was considered exceedingly arrogant.
Thus, he always dressed immaculately to avoid causing any trouble to his commander.
And that was precisely the problem.
His tidy, chairman-like hairstyle often led to misunderstandings, despite him being only in his twenties.
“Berel.”
“Yes, y-yes! Commander!”
Startled by his commander addressing him, the flustered Berel responded sharply.
“How old is the child?”
‘He definitely said he had the child before joining the training grounds.’
Lucia was certain—but Berel wasn’t even married yet.
Yet, amusingly, Berel seemed deeply moved by her question and clasped his large hands together.
“Commander! You remembered…! Caesar is five years old this year!”
‘As expected. Named Caesar—so it’s a son. Pity it’s not a daughter, but at least I’ve got someone to ask now.’
“Berel, when you were raising the child…”
Just as Lucia was about to speak, Berel suddenly bowed deeply.
“Commander! Thank you once again! Thanks to your concern, my sister was able to take maternity leave and has now returned to duty!”
She nearly choked, though she hadn’t even eaten anything.
Hearing him, she realized the story she’d remembered was actually about his sister—five years ago from now.
“…I see. Is she doing well?”
“Yes! Absolutely! Thanks to you, she’s proudly returned as an administrator in the White Knights’ Order!”
Though her face showed nothing, Lucia was quite flustered inside.
Berel looked at her with glistening eyes.
‘Geez… What kind of grueling training was it that even your speech carries the dignity of a veteran? I could barely handle standing in as commander and counted the days until your return… I still have so far to go. So very far.’
Though he’d always been quiet, he now pitied her immensely—the atmosphere around her had changed so drastically since five years ago.
Despite not knowing his deputy’s age or anything else about him, Berel gazed at his commander with pure admiration.
Once again deeply moved, he silently renewed his vow of loyalty from the depths of his heart.
Watching Berel’s strange expression, Lucia suddenly recalled something odd.
“…Wait, did you just say maternity leave?”
“Oh, yes, Commander. Didn’t you reach an agreement with the White Order’s commander? Thanks to that, my sister was able to spend good time with her child.”
White Order’s commander?
‘Ah, Leon Luwins?’
Lucia remembered the time she’d faced off against the White Order’s commander, once considered her rival.
It must have been the day they’d dueled, each staking a wish.
Back then, bored, she’d accepted and won—but having no wish of her own at the time, she’d granted the other a temporary leave upon hearing of her pregnancy.
“…That was a good solution.”
Lucia’s lips, usually set in a firm line, curved slightly as if recalling something.
*
Maternity leave.
It had been the most powerful move in recent years.
Because of it, the Emperor, utterly dumbfounded, seemed to need quite a while before sensation returned to his numb scalp.
Her reason for requesting maternity leave was simple.
It was absurd to think she could stay glued to the child’s side for decades.
Doing so would not only distance the child from an ordinary life but might even drive them to run away once they hit adolescence.
Thus, to create an environment where the child could live freely—even without her beside them—she needed to eliminate those involved in the Holy Maiden’s sealing scheme. And for that, staying as an imperial knight gave her the best access to information.
And then, there was the control stone.
The holy power the child possessed was immense.
She estimated that even at such a young age, the child’s power rivaled that of a high-ranking priest.
It would be ideal if the child could hide their power like those others, but expecting that from a young child was unrealistic.
Though she’d already stolen a control stone from the temple, even the genius Heath would need at least half a year to craft it properly.
This dilemma was unexpectedly solved by Berel.
Half a year of maternity leave.
While Lucia organized her thoughts, the Emperor stared blankly, as if he’d been struck.
But she’d already stated her position—she had no time to wait for him.
Because the Holy Maiden was alone at the training grounds.
Just as she bowed slightly to the Emperor and turned to leave,
“W-wait! Hold on! Stop right there!”
The Emperor, snapping out of his daze at the sight of her smooth crown, panicked.
“You—you’re joking, right? Maternity leave? For a five-year-old child? What kind of nonsense is this…?”
“No, no—that’s not it! So you’ve been raising a child for five years? Up there at that training grounds on the hill?”
The Emperor rambled on, pointing toward the small training grounds visible from the terrace.
Every morning, he’d gazed fondly at that very spot, dreaming of its future Sword Masters.
Lucia, following his finger, gave a light nod in confirmation.
“…Impossible. Then who’s the husband?! Speak up this instant!”
Still clinging to a sliver of hope, the Emperor waited half-believingly for her answer.
But—
“Yes. He was a herbalist who came to gather herbs. But while collecting herbs on a cliff, he fell, failed to obtain the herbs, and ultimately died. I heard… that in his final moments, he clutched not the herb, but a clump of grass that merely resembled one.”
It was utterly absurd.
Having lived a life where she’d never needed to lie, she brazenly recited the excuse she’d briefly concocted in the carriage.
And she did so without the slightest trace of sorrow—certainly not how a widow should appear.
A brief silence fell between them.
Then—
“Are you kidding me right now?! Do you even realize how many damn herbs there are in this world?!”
Furious and incredulous, the Emperor stomped his feet in frustration.
Then, as if calming himself, he sighed deeply, ran a hand over his face, leaned close to Lucia, and hardened his expression.
“You’d better be joking. If that’s truly the case—if you really had a child—you couldn’t have reached Sword Master. And if that’s so…”
The Emperor turned his face away from Lucia, coldly.
Then, gazing into the distance with hands clasped behind his back, he picked up his crystal wine glass.
To any observer, it would have seemed the sorrowful back of a stern, cold-hearted sovereign—ready to cast aside a cherished subordinate in an instant.
But she saw it.
The three fingers gripping the top of that heavy crystal glass were trembling violently.
Though highest in rank, he was the most pitiful of all.
She knew well how hard he pushed himself as the Empire’s first Emperor.
A man so recklessly affectionate that he’d accompany her into battle despite having no combat strength.
It was precisely because she’d saved his life countless times—and personally endured his tiresome, pitiful ways—that she understood him so well.
“I am guilty of abandoning my duties and living privately in an imperial-owned training grounds.”
Trying—and failing—to strike a solemn mood, he awkwardly continued, mimicking a lonely silhouette he’d probably seen somewhere before.
He clearly wanted to imitate a charismatic monarch.
‘Tch. No wonder he died young—must’ve been the alcohol.’
Though reluctant to indulge his dramatic performance, Lucia finally gave in, picking up the large feather quill beside the approval documents.
Then, she infused her dark energy into the quill in her hand.
Not long after the red aura made the feather dance delicately, she swiftly slashed it toward the Emperor’s glass.
-Scritch.
“What—what was that?! You! What have you done? Have you finally gone mad?!”
Feeling something zip past instantly, the Emperor shrieked, convinced she’d attacked him.
Lucia then showed him the crystal glass now in her hand—smaller, but filled to the brim with whiskey, rippling gently.
It was strange.
This was clearly the glass he’d been holding…
“…?!”
The Emperor looked down at his fingertips—only the transparent, circular top portion of the heavy crystal glass remained, the part he’d strained to hold with just three fingers for show.
And what had sliced it… wasn’t a blade, but a feather.
Red energy rippled around the feather in Lucia’s hand.
The Emperor was utterly astounded.
Even a Sword Master couldn’t stabilize fluctuating energy on anything less solid than mithril.
That was basic knowledge—even the Emperor, who knew nothing of swordsmanship, understood that.
Yet—a feather?
The sound of the quick-witted Emperor’s mind racing echoed through the grand hall.
The thought must have circled his head—that Lucia might have transcended even Sword Master.
The legendary Grand Sword Master, whose strength alone surpassed all knights of an entire kingdom.
If Lucia, at merely twenty-five, had neared that level…
The Emperor’s face instantly bloomed brighter than all the flowers scattered throughout the palace.
“…Of course I understand! I knew it! You truly are…”
“100% paid maternity leave. Continued residence in the training grounds’ quarters. And,”
She quickly thrust his glass right before the nose of the Emperor, who was cheerfully raising both hands to approach her,
“Here. I’ve reduced the glass size to match your age. How could you possibly be a proper sovereign if you can’t even lift your drink, Your Majesty?”
Hearing her remark about matching his age, the Emperor checked the glass’s size.
It was nearly halved.
“…You really… today you’ve gone and—!”
A subordinate who openly mocked the Emperor’s lifespan—once again fooled by her, he sputtered indignantly.
Yet, knowing she’d meant it as concern for his health, he merely snorted shortly after, gazing toward the door through which she’d left.
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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they’re so cute i’m gonna cry 😭😭 i adore them sm