You’re The Baby’s Father ?

Chapter 3

At that moment, near the burning mansion of Enria, a blue teleportation stone activated.

As Caldeon emerged from it, his eyes widened at the sight of the blazing mansion.

“Eva!”

He sprinted toward the mansion, summoning his water spirit.

A massive droplet of water instantly formed beside him, quickly merging into the shape of a transparent blue dolphin. It was the summoning of his water spirit.

As the spirit, Eva, unleashed a powerful surge of water toward the burning mansion, the flames were extinguished in an instant.

Caldeon rushed inside, his face filled with urgency as he frantically searched the surroundings, calling out.

“Enria!”

He had dropped everything and come running as soon as he received her sudden letter about going on a trip—only to find her mansion engulfed in flames before his eyes.

His face turned pale’ unable to grasp what was happening.

Floating in midair, Eva briefly gazed out the window before speaking to Caldeon, who was still searching for Enria.

[She’s over there, the woman you’re looking for.]

Caldeon immediately turned his head in the direction Eva was looking.

In the distance, a white carriage was racing through the sky. But just as it entered his sight, it disappeared.

[She’s with a man. He’s got his arm around her shoulders.]

Caldeon’s face twisted in an instant.

“What?”

[She’s in his arms, your woman. What are you going to do now?]

Caldeon, who had been frozen like ice at Eva’s question, suddenly turned his body and spoke.

“I have to find her.”

“And how do you plan to figure out who took the human you’re looking for?”

Eva, who had instantly transformed into a beautiful woman, ran her fingers through her long blue hair as she asked.

Caldeon barely spared her a glance as he took out a teleportation stone and threw it onto the ground.

“I’ll find out somehow and kill him. He dared to take my woman.”

With that, he disappeared using the teleportation stone.

Even after being helped into the carriage by Rahar, Enria couldn’t bring herself to sit properly. She hovered awkwardly, bending slightly at the waist, until Rahar—growing impatient—grabbed her arm and made her sit. Only then did she snap back to reality.

Sitting inside the carriage, she stared out the window, trying to process the absurd and bewildering situation she had just been thrown into.

She hadn’t even done anything to Roseanne yet—hadn’t even seen his face—and yet she had been kidnapped by Rahar.

‘What in the world…?’

The confusion made her feel dizzy, so she pressed her fingers against her temples, gazing blankly outside.

‘Could it be that he’s trying to get rid of his sister’s husband’s mistress before his sister gets married?’

After racking her brain, that was the only conclusion she could come up with.

Rahar was an infamous sister-con, so it wasn’t impossible.

However, unlike in the original story, she had left the grand duchy before Roseanne became the Grand Duchess. She had never tormented Roseanne’s as she did in the original.

‘Then why on earth…? Wait! No way!’

Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.

‘Could he have already found out about the child?!’

She had made sure to keep Dale and Shabel quiet, but there was no telling if a servant had overheard something when the physician visited.

Rumors, once set loose, could never be kept secret forever, no matter how tightly controlled.

Instinctively, Enria wrapped both hands around her abdomen. A suffocating sense of unease washed over her entire body.

Sensing her distress, Rahar spoke in his characteristically polite tone.

“There is no need to be anxious. I do not intend to harm you.”

The overwhelming fear that had surged through her subsided just a little.

If he truly meant to kill her, he wouldn’t have bothered lying to put her at ease.

Of course, since he was the very one who had killed her in the original story, she had no intention of lowering her guard even a little.

“Then why are you…?”

“Your life is currently in danger.”

“…What?”

Enria’s eyes widened.

“Growen Marson. He is after your life.”

At Rahar’s words, Enria’s brows furrowed slightly.

‘Grow… who?’

She was bewildered as to why a man whose name she had never even heard before would be targeting her.

But then, a memory flashed through her mind, and her eyes slowly widened.

“…You mean the Tower Master’s son?!”

She shouted, her face turning deathly pale.

Growen Marson.

The son of the Tower Master and the next in line for the position—a mid-level villain who appeared early in the original novel to torment the protagonist and the male lead.

He was a pawn of the Tower Master, who harbored ambitions of ruling the world through magic.

“No, why on earth would he be after me?!”

Enria’s expression hardened at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

She had no connection to him whatsoever.

In fact, in the original story, they had never even crossed paths—not even in passing.

‘Why on earth…?’

“It’s a long story. For now, you need to stay hidden. They will undoubtedly try to kill you.”

“And what exactly is the reason?”

She couldn’t understand why a villain from the novel would be after her so early, right after the story had begun.

‘Could it be… that they’ve figured out I’m the one who stabilizes Caldeon’s magical outbursts?!’

“The Grand Duke’s magical outbursts.”

As if reading her thoughts, Rahar spoke.

Enria turned to him in shock, and his mysterious golden eyes gleamed as he continued.

“They know that you are the one calming him.”

Her face went completely pale.

That was supposed to be a secret known to no one.

Even among the high priests in the Great Sanctuary, only one—who had received the divine oracle directly—was aware of it.

The Great Sanctuary classified the Grand Duke’s black magic, which only the head of the northern ducal house could possess, as a divine power akin to holy energy. Given how many enemies the ducal house had, Enria’s oracle had been designated a secret revelation.

That secrecy allowed her to hide her identity as a saintess and enter Caldeon’s household as his mistress.

‘But how…?’

The situation had deviated far too much from the original story. Enria pressed her fingers against her temples, trying to make sense of it.

Watching her, Rahar continued speaking.

“A new oracle was recently delivered to the Great Sanctuary.”

‘An oracle?’

“It stated that among those with holy power, someone with the ability of Absolution would soon appear.”

‘Absolution? What’s that supposed to mean?’

Seeing her furrow her brows in confusion, Rahar elaborated.

“The Tower believes that you are the one from the oracle.”

“…What?!”

Enria’s eyes widened.

She had no idea what was going on anymore.

Being the subject of an oracle? Having the ability of Absolution? None of this had existed in the original story.

She didn’t know how things had ended up like this, but if what Rahar was saying was true, then this was all based on a misunderstanding.

And if it was a misunderstanding, all she had to do was clear it up.

There was no way she was the one from the oracle, nor did she have any sort of Absolution ability. Once they realized the truth, surely even those trying to kill her would change their minds.

But—

“Well, even if that’s not the case, you do have the ability to calm the Grand Duke’s magical outbursts, so they will still want you dead.”

With a single sentence, Rahar crushed Enria’s fleeting hope into despair.

“So, you will have to stay in hiding for the time being.”

At his words, Enria frowned.

‘For the time being? No, more importantly, where am I supposed to hide?’

Seeing her troubled expression, Rahar hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking,

“This is just my curiosity, but… are you sure you don’t have the ability of Absolution?”

“What even is that, exactly?”

She had no idea what kind of ability he was talking about, yet he was asking if she had it. It was beyond frustrating.

Seeing her irritation, Rahar finally explained what the ability entailed.

It was a long and elaborate explanation, but in short—

“So, you’re saying it can nullify the Tower’s magic and, under unknown conditions, it can even resurrect the dead? Sounds completely overpowered.”

“A brilliant summary, madam.”

Rahar nodded once, his golden eyes gleaming.

“But you’re saying I have that ability? I don’t.”

“You don’t?”

“I don’t.”

“Even if you don’t, they will still try to kill you. After all, Growen and the Tower Master intend to exterminate all saintesses in the empire.”

“What?!”

Enria’s eyes widened so much they nearly popped out.

But then, memories of the original story resurfaced, and Enria realized that they had long dreamed of ruling the empire.

With their ambitions blocked by Caldeon’s uncontrollable magic, and now having discovered a saintess capable of calming his rampages, it was no surprise that they saw all saintesses as a threat.

And now that someone with Absolution had supposedly appeared, they must have decided it would be easier to just eliminate all saintesses altogether…

‘This is getting dangerous.’

“In any case, I will protect you from them, so you needn’t worry too much.”

At those words, Enria’s eyes widened.

“Wait, why would you do that?”

At her question, Rahar let out a bitter smile, as if he wasn’t too pleased about it himself.

“It’s my sister’s request.”

‘His sister? Roseanne?’

“But, madam.”

Hearing Rahar call for her, Enria, who had been lost in thought while staring at the carriage floor, turned her gaze back to him.

‘By the way, why does this man keep calling me madam?’

The word was grating enough to snap her out of her complicated thoughts, and her brows furrowed slightly.

“Have you separated from the Grand Duke?”

At Rahar’s sudden question, Enria let out a short sigh before answering.

“Well, I was kicked out of the Grand Duke’s estate, so I suppose you could say that.”

“Then you were definitely his mistress.”

Rahar murmured as he nodded to himself a couple of times.

Enria’s heart sank.

Now that he knew she was the saintess who could calm Caldeon’s magic outbursts, he must have been questioning whether her role as his mistress was just a cover.

Realizing she had carelessly confirmed it herself, Enria bit down on her lower lip, berating herself for possibly throwing away her last chance at survival.

“Hmm, this is quite troublesome in many ways. Just what was Roseanne thinking…?”

“I-It’s all over now, as you can see!”

Enria shouted urgently.

“If our relationship wasn’t over, would Lord Caldeon have cast me aside just because the Grand Duchess was entering the Grand Duke’s estate?”

Right now, the most important thing was to ensure that Rahar had no reason to consider killing her.

So she did her best to emphasize that she and Caldeon had absolutely nothing to do with each other anymore.

“Then how does the Grand Duke plan to control his rampages in the future?”

“Huh? Well, I don’t really…”

As Enria trailed off in confusion, Rahar began to ponder the matter with a rather serious expression.

Feeling uneasy, Enria stole nervous glances at him.

After a moment, Rahar seemed to have figured something out, murmuring to himself.

“Ah… So that’s why my sister…”

At his words, Enria recalled the events of the original story.

After Rahar killed Enria, Roseanne, distressed by Caldeon’s suffering due to his uncontrollable power, developed a spell to suppress his rampages.

Since Caldeon had abandoned her even before meeting the heroine, it was entirely possible that Roseanne had already completed that spell.

In the original, Roseanne and Caldeon’s marriage was a proposal made by the Emperor and Count Kaznaren to bring Caldeon fully to their side while keeping the Magic Tower in check.

However, if Roseanne had already finished the spell, then rather than the Emperor or the Count, Caldeon himself might now be the one most eager for the marriage.

But that assumption only held true if Caldeon didn’t care about Enria at all.

‘He treated me like a lover. There’s no way he would abandon me just for that reason and choose Roseanne instead… Then what is it? Could it be…?’

The saying “A quiet cat climbs onto the stove first” crossed her mind.

For the first time, the thought occurred to her that maybe Caldeon, having just discovered what it meant to be with a woman, simply wasn’t satisfied with her and had gone looking for another.

‘Ah… He never really loved me, did he?’

Enria’s face hardened like stone.