Chapter 225: Early Signs
When Qiong Xing suggested he would wait in the room instead, Elias quickly carried him back.
Only after Qiong Xing promised he wouldn’t leave the room did Elias finally go to eat breakfast, though he still looked worried.
"...I didn’t expect it to come this early... Maybe bear ears aren’t just a dream after all."
If the child was a beastkin like Joa, then maybe they would have those adorable ears too.
The thought made him smile.
"But the morning sickness is worse than last time... that’s tough."
As Qiong Xing wondered what to do, hurried footsteps echoed and Joa came rushing in.
"...Are you alright?"
Seeing Joa breathing heavily, Qiong Xing tried to get up and approach him.
"Don’t move! Ah, no, you’re feeling sick, right? Don’t move. Just stay sitting."
It seemed he had worried him quite a bit.
Thinking it would be best not to agitate him further, Qiong Xing sat back down. Then, patting the spot beside him, he invited Joa to sit.
Joa did so without hesitation.
"...Ah, sorry. It’s just... when I think it’s my child, I can’t stay calm. I heard your morning sickness is bad and panicked."
Joa said it awkwardly and Qiong Xing couldn’t help but laugh.
Still, it made him genuinely happy that Joa was looking forward to it that much.
"It surprised me too that it’s worse than when I had Lian, but everyone is different. It can’t be helped."
If anything, his time with Lian had been unusually easy.
His appetite was there, but with this level of nausea, eating was difficult.
"I’ll bring you some fruit or something again, so try to eat as much as you can. Otherwise, the kid in your belly won’t grow."
"Yes, yes. You’re such a worrier, Papa."
"I told you to call it caring about family."
...
"Ah—ah—ma... ma—manma!"
"Yes, yes. I’m watching, so eat plenty."
As Lian calling out to Qiong Xing, she eagerly ate the food placed before her.
"...Alright, all done. Good job, you ate well."
Handing the now-empty bowl to Qiong Xing, Raon patted Lian’s head in praise.
Lian laughed happily and seeing that, Qiong Xing thought how much Raon had gotten used to it.
Surprisingly, it was Raon who had taken the initiative to care for Lian while Qiong Xing struggled with morning sickness.
Perhaps it was because he was used to looking after his younger brother or maybe he was just naturally good at it, but he handled Lian who had started babbling and even trying to stand very well.
"Nura, you should learn from Raon."
"Ehh, I just wanna be spoiled by you."
Iseul who is resting his head on Qiong Xing’s lap took the opportunity to cling to him.
"...For now, that’s fine. But when the time comes, you’ll be the one in trouble, you know?"
"Why?"
To not understand even after that Qiong Xing immediately took a sigh and glanced at Raon who was holding Lian.
He must have been listening as he too looked at Iseul with exasperation.
"With that personality, you’re unbelievably lazy for a dragon."
"I thought you’d improved a little... Maybe I shouldn’t become mates with someone who might not even dote on their own child."
"No, no! I’ll try, I will!"
Startled by Qiong Xing’s words, Iseul jumped up and reached for Lian.
But the sudden movement frightened her as she clung to Raon and began to cry.
"Don’t make hrr cry, idiot!"
"I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Little Lian!"
Iseul desperately apologized, but once Lian started crying she wouldn’t stop.
In the end, Qiong Xing had no choice but to pick her up and gently soothe her.
"Do you understand now? If you don’t want your own child to cry like that, start learning from Raon now."
"...Yes."
Perhaps Iseul had truly reflected this time since he was unusually serious as he learned various things from Raon.
Qiong Xing didn’t expect them to forcefully help with childcare since they had their own responsibilities, but if it was their own child, he believed they should at least take part.
From how Iseul had been earlier, it seemed like he would have left everything to Raon.
If that happened, it would be unclear who the real father was and there would be no point in it being Iseul’s child at all.
"Lian, let’s get used to things little by little, alright?"
Qiong Xing gently patted Lian’s back as the child who is tired from crying began to doze off.
"Maybe it’d be better to start with Cari so you can get used to it... though their mental ages are about the same, so maybe it won’t be much help."
He was saying something rather rude, but it seemed Iseul who were seriously learning from Raon didn’t hear him.
"...What are you doing?"
"Joa."
Joa approached Qiong Xing who had been watching Iseul learn how to change diapers while holding Lian from Raon.
"He’s practicing for the future. It seems he was pretty shocked after making Lian cry."
"Just how bad do you have to be to make Lian cry?"
As he sitting down beside him, Joa took Lian into his arms.
When he asked about Qiong Xing’s condition, Qiong Xing replied that he was fine and Joa visibly let out a sigh of relief.
Lately, it felt like Joa had become even more overprotective than before.
"I wonder if it’s soon? Compared to when I had Lian, my stomach hasn’t grown as much... but for beastkin, this is normal, right?"
Now six months has passed and his stomach had grown to a certain extent, but compared to when he had given birth to Lian who was human it wasn’t that large.
For beastkin who give birth to smaller babies and raise them bigger afterward, the belly doesn’t grow as much even right before birth, which made things easier in one sense.
But in exchange perhaps the morning sickness was much harsher.
Qiong Xing was doing his best for the child, but it felt like the nutrients were being taken away as soon as he ate.