ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 198: He will accept his son

The aurora moved slowly above them. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Ethan stepped closer. "Are you serious?"

Valerie gave a faint smile, though weariness lingered in her eyes.

"What else can I do?"

She turned back to the sky.

"If he is born... and I am no longer here... there will be no one who can truly protect him."

Ethan opened his mouth, but no words came at first.

"Especially," Valerie continued softly, "because he is a Morvex child."

The name sounded like an echo from another world.

Far across the mainland, Demian was still moving like a storm searching for its center.

"And as Lena said," Valerie went on, "Demian will know."

Ethan stiffened. "Know what?"

"That this is his child."

Silence fell between them.

Ethan slowly shook his head. "Valerie... the Duke is married."

Valerie met his gaze without hesitation.

"He would never abandon his own blood."

"You’re that certain?"

"I know him."

The answer was simple, yet heavy with meaning.

"Even if you tried to hide the child," she continued, "sooner or later Demian would find him."

Ethan fell silent.

He knew that was true.

If the Morvex blood truly awakened within the child, its trace could not be concealed forever.

That blood would call.

And the man who carried it would hear.

"I don’t want him to grow up hunted," Valerie whispered. "I don’t want him to live in the shadow of escape like I did."

The aurora shifted, its light growing brighter.

Ethan studied Valerie for a long moment.

"And what about me?" he asked quietly.

Valerie smiled gently.

"You will live."

The answer drew a humorless laugh from him.

"You sacrifice everything and tell me to live as if nothing happened?"

"I am not sacrificing everything," Valerie replied calmly. "I am choosing."

She took Ethan’s hand and placed it over her belly.

"If I die, don’t let him hate me."

Ethan felt a small movement beneath his palm.

Life.

Real.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"And you truly believe," he murmured, "that Demian will accept him?"

Valerie turned her gaze back to the aurora.

"He may not have loved me the way I once hoped."

There was no bitterness in her tone only honesty.

"But he will not reject his child."

Outside, the wind eased.

The light in the sky slowly began to fade.

And between the two figures standing beneath the dancing aurora a decision had been made.

If fate demanded a mother’s life,

then a father far across the world

would one day receive a legacy he never knew was growing.

Snow fell silently over the small village far in the northern reaches. The night was so quiet that the wind sweeping through the trees sounded long and cold.

Inside the simple wooden house standing at the edge of the village, however, the atmosphere was very different.

Warm from the fire in the hearth yet filled with tension.

On the modest bed, Valerie gripped the bedsheet tightly beneath her. Her breathing came in ragged gasps, and strands of her long hair clung to her forehead, damp with sweat.

Her swollen belly moved sharply.

Pain came like waves.

One after another.

Stronger each time.

"Ah—!"

Valerie’s cry broke through the room.

Beside the bed, Lena stood with a grave expression. Her hands moved swiftly as she prepared cloths and warm herbal mixtures, but the look in her eyes could not hide her worry.

"Calm yourself, Valerie... breathe... slowly," she said gently.

But Valerie shook her head weakly. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I... can’t... it hurts too much..."

Her body curled as the next contraction struck harder than the last.

Lena immediately took her hand.

"This is only the beginning," she said in a low but firm voice."You must endure."

Valerie squeezed her eyes shut.

She knew.

She had known from the very beginning.

The baby she carried was no ordinary child.

It was Demian’s child descended from the Morvex family, whose blood was far stronger than that of ordinary humans.

And her body... might not be strong enough to bear it.

Another contraction came.

Sharper.

"Ah—!"

Valerie cried out again.

Outside the house, Ethan stood in front of the door, his face pale. The night air was so cold that his breath turned into white mist every time he exhaled.

He paced back and forth in the snow.

His fists clenched.

Every time Valerie’s screams echoed from inside the house, it felt as if his heart were being squeezed.

"Why is it taking so long..." he muttered quietly.

One of the witches who had traveled with their caravan stood not far from him.

The woman slowly shook her head.

"This is not an ordinary birth."

Ethan looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

The witch gazed at the wooden house with a serious expression.

"A Morvex child does not enter the world like a human child."

The wind blew harder.

Inside the house Valerie could barely breathe.

Her body trembled.

"Lena..."

Her voice was faint.

"I... feel like... my body is going to break..."

Lena wiped her forehead with a warm cloth.

"That is because this child is strong."

Her eyes moved to Valerie’s belly, which shifted violently.

"He is searching for his way out."

Valerie bit her lip.

Her tears continued to fall.

"I’m afraid..."

Lena looked at her for a long moment.

Then she said gently,

"That fear is natural."

Her hand tightened around Valerie’s.

"But now you cannot give up."

The next contraction came faster.

Valerie screamed again, her voice echoing through the small room.

Outside, Ethan froze.

He turned toward the house, his face tense.

Snow continued to fall softly.

The night sky was dark and endless.

And far away from that village thousands of kilometers away inside the vast and cold Morvex Castle...

Demian suddenly stopped walking.

His hand gripped his chest. Something felt strange. Very strange. As if some unseen force were pulling at his soul from afar. He took a deep breath.

His brows furrowed.

"What is this...?"

For the first time in months his sharp instincts trembled without any clear reason. As though something connected to his blood... was happening.

But he did not know what.

Meanwhile in the small house within the snow-covered village Valerie cried out once more as another wave of pain tore through her body.

And that night... the birth had only just begun.