I’m Not Doing This With A Friend Chapter 174 - Side Story 13

“My wife doesn’t seem to have much energy at night.”

 

Phew!

 

At Carson’s sudden confession, Fjord gulped down his tea.

 

But Carson ignored him and continued with a serious expression.

 

“Not so long ago, she was more loyal than anyone else. Has that love grown cold?”

 

Fjord rolled his eyes in annoyance.

 

“Why should I listen to your worries? It’s none of my business what happens in the bedroom.”

 

“Well, who do you want me to talk to, Dad?”

 

“…”

 

‘Is Carson talking to that fearsome Duke?’

 

I couldn’t imagine it at all.

 

Aside from being unimaginable, it must be quite humiliating for Leen.

 

Maybe they’d fight, and he’d come looking for her…

 

Fjord sighed heavily, realizing that he would have to deal with this eventually.

 

“Carson, do you ever think you’re being too hard on yourself at night?”

 

“I have to work hard to have children.”

 

Fjord felt a knot in his stomach as he listened to Carson’s obvious answer.

 

He couldn’t tell the number of times Carson had come to him while he and Leen were in their rooms and whined.

 

Caught between a couple of friends, Fjord was the victim, as always.

 

“…For a man who, not so long ago, insisted he would never have children.”

 

“When I do, I’ll have a daughter just like Leen and live happily ever after.”

 

Fjord calmly brought his teacup to his mouth, wanting to punch Carson in the face.

 

The warmth of the tea seemed to calm his anger.

 

“What made you change your mind so suddenly? You’ve been holding out on each side for two weeks, and I thought this time you really meant it.”

 

Then Carson’s eyes lowered in a reminiscent look of ecstasy.

 

“Well, Leen accidentally turned into a child the other day when she was practicing alchemy… and she called me ‘Daddy’ in that form, so I couldn’t resist.”

 

“Aha.”

 

Sharp-eyed, Fjord immediately realized that even that had been Leen’s plan.

 

So it was…

 

“Carson, you are indeed in the palm of Leen’s hand.”

 

“Thank you for the compliment.”

 

“It’s not a compliment.”

 

“It’s a compliment to me.”

 

“Yeah, well, who’s to stop you.”

 

Fjord stuck out his tongue in disgust at how sincere he seemed to be.

 

“Besides, how cute was little Leen when she was younger, and how much you detested her?”

 

“But not when she was younger. I’m going to have a daughter who looks like her.”

 

Here he was, already deciding on the gender of a child that hadn’t even been born yet. Fjord raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

 

“Does that matter? You could have a son who looks like you.”

 

“No. I firmly believe that Leen will give birth to Little Leen.”

 

“You realize that was a warning flag.”

 

Fjord lifted his teacup to his lips, realizing that what Carson wanted probably wasn’t going to happen.

 

Well, any child born of the two of them, whether it looked like Carson or Leen, would be a complete package.

 

He’d just have to make himself comfortable and coddle them.

 

💍

 

Carson stood nervously in the crowded square.

 

“I wonder why I’m here…”

 

Carson muttered to himself, then suddenly remembered that he had a date with Leen tonight and looked around.

 

He didn’t know why, but he felt certain that Leen would be around.

 

The feeling was accurate.

 

Spotting Leen not long afterward, Carson smiled brightly and tried to run toward her.

 

But Carson was frozen in place.

 

Leen was walking arm-in-arm with a young man.

 

The way she was smiling happily seemed unreal.

 

Leen was smiling like that when the person next to her wasn’t him.

 

The young man was even extremely handsome. So much so that he could never be compared to himself.

 

Staring at the two of them blankly, Carson shook his head fiercely.

 

No, it wasn’t…

 

‘There was no way Leen would cheat on me.’ 

 

The person holding her arm right now was either a woman with short hair… or…

 

Or a cousin he didn’t know, like Luca.

 

It had to be.

 

As if to betray Carson’s beliefs, Leen pressed a quick kiss to the man’s cheek.

 

“Caon would be jealous if he saw you.”

 

“Yeah, well, he’s a jealous man, so we’d be in trouble if he found out.”

 

With that, they both let out a small laugh.

 

Ah… Carson had never once thought that Leen would cheat on him.

 

He knew better than anyone that Leen was in love with him.

 

Which made it all the more unbelievable now, at this moment.

 

His eyes rolling back in his head, Carson quickly walked over to Leen and the man and grabbed him by the shoulders.

 

“You, who are you?”

 

Carson was so furious that he didn’t even know what kind of expression he was showing.

 

The man’s gaze fell on Carson. He didn’t seem surprised, and he spoke in a laid-back voice.

 

“What, you were watching?”

 

He looked at Carson, tilting his head at an odd angle.

 

“What’s with the look on your face, you’re not genuinely jealous, are you?”

 

The moment he heard those words, Carson felt the urge to kill, and his right hand generated mana.

 

Leen, who was next to the man, shoved him away in horror.

 

“Are you insane, what are you going to do to… us!”

 

Carson’s entire body shook as Leen, who was supposed to be denying the affair, stood over the man.

 

He shook his head and grabbed Leen by the sleeve, pleading.

 

“Leen, are you sick of me? I’m sorry, I’ll do better. I’ll do anything, just don’t do this….”

 

Leen let out a small sigh and dismissed Carson’s words with a look of incredulity.

 

“You’re jealous of this for nothing, and you’re throwing a cute little tantrum, but you don’t have to be this angry.”

 

With each word Leen spat out, Carson’s heart sank.

 

“It’s a dream, isn’t it? There’s no way Leen would leave me for another man, right?”

 

The man, who had been staring at Carson in disbelief, smiled sheepishly as if he finally understood what was going on.

 

“That’s right, dream.”

 

“…What?”

 

“So wake up.”

 

Father…

 

The man added a small, inscrutable word and snapped his fingers. It was the same habit Carson had when he cast a spell without a starter word.

 

Flick–!

 

“Hmph, ugh!”

 

Carson breathed hard as he jumped up from his seat at the same time he saw the flick of the finger.

 

“Hah.”

 

Quickly looking around, Carson spotted Leen sleeping soundly beside him and patted her chest.

 

“…It was a dream.”

 

He should have noticed something strange.

 

Standing in the plaza for no reason, flirting with Leen so openly.

 

Back in the academy, when things were at their peak, I used to dream about Leen often.

 

But I hadn’t had them since then, which made me even more puzzled.

 

“Leen cheating on me, how could I have such a terrible nightmare…”

 

Why did I have this dream, have I been under a lot of stress lately?

 

…No, this couldn’t be a premonition, surely?

 

Carson shuddered slightly at the eerie thought.

 

Suddenly, he felt something in the room that wasn’t his or Leen’s mana, and it was coming from…

 

Inside Leen’s sleeping belly.

 

All life has mana.

 

The mana in Leen’s belly was tiny and insignificant, but it was there.

 

He remembered that the man with her had called him father before he snapped his fingers.

 

The dream he’d been having was no nightmare. This was… this was…

 

It was a vision. Carson’s eyes flushed as he realized that Leen was pregnant.

 

He wrapped his arms around the sleeping Leen and began to sob.

 

“Leen, I’m sorry for being so jealous without knowing, I know I scared you so much…?”

 

Leen, who had suddenly been baptized by Carson’s tears in her sleep, blurted out in a half-asleep voice, confused.

 

“…Caon?”

 

“I was wrong, I didn’t even recognize what happened, I was just angry. I feel sorry for myself for not trusting you.”

 

“Caon. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m okay, so just stop crying. Don’t cry.”

 

Carson thought as he watched Leen gently wipe away his tears, oblivious to everything.

 

Perhaps I should give Leen a surprise and tell her about the pregnancy.