Chapter 3 Part 4: The Last Sound of Sand

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?

The symptoms are so obvious.”

“Hah…….”

I felt dizzy, as if my blood pressure was rising.

Stumbling toward the sofa, I flopped down onto it, and his gaze followed me.

In hindsight, it was only natural.

When I first brought the kid to the castle, I’d dry-heaved at the first meal he prepared.

If he’d suspected it back then, we’d spent enough time together to reach certainty.

“Keep it to yourself.”

“You want me to keep a secret from Abaddon?”

“Yeah, make one.”

“Not very appealing…….”

From his sullen smile, it didn’t seem like loyalty to his superior.

There was clearly an ulterior motive.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing much…… could I listen to the fetal movement?”

The fact that someone recognized I was pregnant, and that I was having this conversation, gave me an unbearable feeling—but it wasn’t a difficult request to grant.

I nodded casually, and Ezekiel came closer and sat down on the floor.

“It doesn’t always move, you know.”

“Still, you might hear something.”

His arms reached up from below and wrapped around my waist, and his face gently pressed against my belly.

Burying one cheek and pressing his ear against it, he closed his eyes with a very satisfied expression.

“It’s warm…….”

Well, of course it is—Rudan’s body runs hot.

Apparently intending to stay like that until he felt the baby move, Ezekiel remained still and breathed calmly.

Since I was already half-sprawled out, it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to stay like this all day.

“How long are you going to be there?”

“Until the baby kicks me?”

Interesting taste.

“Just joking.

I feel like I might be sensing tiny movements, but I’m not a sensory-enhancement type wizard.

It could just be my imagination.”

After clinging for quite a while, Ezekiel’s face had warmed up and become toasty.

Even after pulling away, he stared blankly into space for a moment, as if waking from sleep.

His disheveled hair was an added bonus.

“I already know, so I’m asking.”

“Yeees.”

“Normally, if there’s a baby inside, wouldn’t it show?

It wasn’t just that the belly wasn’t showing—it was sunken in.

Could it be that it’s not a pregnancy at all?”

“Ah…….”

His hazy golden eyes sharpened.

“If the baby in your belly is a wizard, the current state is normal.

It can suddenly grow larger around full term.”

“Really?”

“Yes, that’s why the pregnancy is often discovered through pain rather than a growing belly.

The stronger the baby’s magical power, the more rejection the mother’s body experiences.”

He said that, in the old days, there were cases where people mistook it for carrying a demon—and he told it like it was quite an amusing joke.

“These days, it’s actually welcomed as a chance for social advancement.

The one giving birth might feel differently, but the families do.

Gideon was one such case…….”

Three hundred years being “these days.”

Wizards’ sense of time was still hard to grasp.

“You seemed to know Gideon quite well.”

“We were academy alumni.”

Hmm.

Ezekiel let out a meaningless syllable, averted his gaze for a moment, and then spoke.

It seemed like a habit when an unwanted topic came up.

“So why are you hiding it from Abaddon?

Is it his child?”

“……Mm.”

It looked that way from the outside too.

“At least I know it’s not mine.”

“Of course.

When would Rudan have ever slept with me?”

Even if not now, if I hadn’t been possessed, they probably would have later.

No need to say such useless things.

“Ah, no way.”

Ezekiel seemed to have immediately caught the small clue I’d let slip.

“You don’t know who it is?”

“Right.”

“……What a headache.”

Running a hand through his hair, Ezekiel rose and sidled over, plopping down beside me.

“I was in a cold war with Abaddon until recently because of your issues, so I don’t know much about that period.

About five months—no, six months ago, maybe.”

I filed away the valuable information and counted the dates—then realized something.

“Then the baby will come out soon…….”

“In a month or two, the belly will start swelling suddenly.”

“I’m losing my mind.”

“Anyway, if Rudan wants, I can look into what happened around that time with Abaddon.

Should I do that?”

Part of me wanted to nod immediately and say yes, but sudden favors always came with a price.

That damn old woman came to mind.

“Why are you doing that?

You must want something.”

He tilted his head slightly, then answered lightly.

“Hmm, as a filial gesture?”

What the hell was that supposed to mean.

***

“Rudan.”

Abaddon appeared around early afternoon.

I left the door slightly ajar, just enough to show my face, and stared at him expressionlessly.

“Let’s go to the temple.”

It was an utterly unappealing proposal.

His chiseled face was still as handsome as ever, but he looked somewhat haggard, a bit pale.

And in that condition, he spoke as if I’d naturally be pleased—to the temple?

“Why would I go there?”

“……You like it.”

That was news to me.

“You used to go there often on your own to spend time there.

It’s been a while since you’ve been back, so I thought we could go together.”

Ezekiel shuffled over from inside and added from the side.

Right.

Thanks for the info.

It made sense that Rudan, called Secreta’s favored one, would like temples.

He’d probably be treated well there too.

Then what about that auditory hallucination I’d heard before— ‘Young wizard, the era of upheaval that will pass in the blink of an eye holds no more weight in your long life than a single grain of sand.’

Had that been Secreta’s voice?

An era of upheaval.

Perhaps it wasn’t something that had passed, but something yet to come.

Imera and Nieta had clashed frequently, but considering what Gideon had said, the present seemed closer to an era of peace.

“Ezekiel, why are you here?”

“I always go where I want to be.”

While I was lost in thought, the atmosphere between the two had grown somewhat hostile.

“I called him because I had questions.

As for the temple—are we going right now?”

“……Yes.”

Though he must have clearly felt my cold treatment, Abaddon showed no sign of displeasure and nodded with a softened expression.
“Fine.

Let’s go.”

As I stepped outside, Ezekiel tapped my shoulder and whispered quietly.

“Want me to come?”

“No.”

At my firm refusal, his face fell and he went back inside.

Wait, that’s not even your room—what are you going to do there alone?

***

‘Oh.’

I’d imagined a Parthenon-style temple, but what lay before me was closer to a cathedral.

A white-robed old man in a strange hat greeted us with a benevolent face.

“You’ve finally returned.”

He seemed to welcome me more than Abaddon.

Gripping my hand with a face full of emotion, like an old man seeing his grandchild after a long holiday—it was quite taxing, not being able to show displeasure to an elder.

“Were there any new oracles?”

Perhaps because the other party was a priest, Abaddon’s tone was extremely polite.

The old man nodded and guided us inside.

“No oracles, but…….”

A wide space with long chairs divided neatly on both sides—probably a place of worship.

Stepping on the red carpet between them and walking forward led to a dais.

“Look.”

Further above, an ornate mural was painted, giving me a vague sense of what the statue at the academy had been modeled after.

“How did this happen?”

“The god no longer answers us, so we simply…….”

I shifted my gaze from admiring the mural to the two having an uninteresting conversation.

They stood on either side of an ornate water basin, the kind used for baptisms, with grave expressions.

In the basin, black water, as if mixed with ink, rippled.

“This is undoubtedly an ill omen.”

“How long has it been like this?”

“Since about four months ago…….”

The old man’s trailing gaze turned toward me.

He seemed unable to speak properly, worried about offending me.

In his stead, Abaddon spoke.

“Since word came that Rudan had disappeared.”

The old man nodded nervously.

If this were Rudan, this situation would have been like sitting on pins and needles, but I didn’t particularly care whether they thought this omen or whatever was my fault.

Still, hearing it did make me think.

‘Four months ago.’

That was about when I had been possessed.

“Rudan.”

“Yes?”

“Put your hand in.”

So saying, Abaddon grabbed my wrist.

If he was going to act so arbitrarily, why even bother asking?

I shook off his hand as if shooing away a bug and dipped my hand into the basin.

It felt unpleasant, but avoiding it would look odd.

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