The Princeliest Prince of All - Chapter 33
Side Story
Spring has arrived, the season of full-blooming flowers and swirling pollen. The Crown Prince, who was pristine only in appearance, suffered from severe headaches every year around this time.
However, the usual complaints and grumbles that he habitually voiced every spring were nowhere to be heard this year. In truth, the pollen outside his window was the least of his concerns at the moment. Leonard pleaded in the most pitiful voice imaginable.
“Ah, please, no more…”
“Just a little longer.”
Even his desperate, dignity-abandoning plea had no effect on Sera. To her, this was nothing more than an act of exaggeration. And she had no intention of indulging him. Determined to prove her resolve, she firmly crossed her arms.
Faced with her unprecedentedly stern attitude, Leonard was at a complete loss. This was torture. Anxiety and dread gnawed at him, making his head spin and even his stomach churn. Nervously, he checked the clock once more.
“Hasn’t it been five minutes yet?”
“Only two minutes have passed.”
“Ah, I can’t take it anymore. Please…!”
He had truly reached his limit. As if to prove it, his hands trembled violently like a quaking aspen. His complexion turned ghostly pale, and Sera quickly reached out her hands. Leonard hurriedly handed over the baby he had been holding unsteadily.
Back in his mother’s embrace, Adrian beamed brightly. The young imperial grandson was the spitting image of the Crown Prince, as if cast from the same mold. However, the contents were as different as red bean and custard cream.
Unlike Leonard, who had been the most finicky baby in the empire, Adrian was gentle and easygoing. He would let anyone hold him, had no preferences between b****t or bottle, and never fussed over his sleeping arrangements. He rarely cried and constantly smiled, earning him the nickname ‘baby angel’ from everyone.
In contrast, the side-character-tier Crown Prince showed no signs of improvement. Look at him—he couldn’t even properly hold his own son. Even as a father, he remained utterly pathetic.
He hadn’t even lasted three minutes today.
Disappointed, Sera shot him a piercing glare. Leonard shrank back, mumbling excuses.
“I… I told you it’s still too much for me.”
“And you’re proud of that?”
Instead of encouragement, he was met with scolding. Leonard’s expression drooped so much that his eyes seemed to be touching the floor.
Perhaps if the child had been a daughter, or even if a son who resembled Sera, things would have been different. If he could think of Adrian as a tiny Sera, maybe the aversion wouldn’t be as strong? Such absurd thoughts crossed his mind from time to time.
His young son was undeniably his mirror image. Yet, he couldn’t attach the comforting label of ‘mini-me’ to him. To Leonard, Adrian wasn’t a second version of himself—he was a completely foreign entity. A presence that triggered all sorts of symptoms whenever he got too close.
His instincts betrayed him, and it was driving him insane. Sera, displeased with his lack of confidence, gave him a sharp look.
“So? Are you giving up?”
“No.”
Leonard shook his head without hesitation. No matter how miserable and painful it was, the thought of giving up never crossed his mind. He knew. This was nothing more than a privileged, happy kind of suffering. Had it not been for Sera, he never would have had the chance to dream of having a family or holding a child in his arms.
Sera let out a deep sigh. Seriously, if not for her, who else would take care of this useless man? Besides, even his pathetic, shrunken figure was kind of… a little cute.
Standing on her tiptoes, she placed a quick peck on the corner of Leonard’s lips—a small act of encouragement.
His golden eyes rippled like a pond struck by an earthquake. Embarrassed, Sera shifted awkwardly. Honestly, why was he still getting flustered over something like this?
But her idle thoughts didn’t last long.
Before she knew it, Leonard’s complexion had turned not just pale, but deathly blue. Shaky, shaky—his barely contained limit finally burst.
“Urrrrrp…!”
***
“So that’s why you ran away?”
At Leticia’s question, Sera nodded weakly. Of course, she hadn’t stormed out immediately. First, she had kicked him in the shin—hard. Then, she had returned to their room, fumed for a while, and only then did she stomp out in frustration.
Not knowing the full extent of the story, Leticia simply felt sorry to see Sera looking so unusually dejected.
“I thought my brother had gotten a lot better…”
“I thought so too!”
Fury surged again, and Sera slammed the table with a loud bang. She couldn’t help it—if this world had cars, she would have long since run Leonard over with one.
Ever since their wedding, Sera had been enjoying her newlywed life, convinced that Leonard’s extreme mysophobia had mostly been cured. Being the person closest to him, she had absolute confidence in her belief. No, he wasn’t at the level of a normal person, but wasn’t he just… a little, okay, maybe a lot overly clean? That should count as fully recovered, right?
But everything changed when Adrian, a.k.a. ‘Mola Mola #2’ had settled into her womb.
Adrian, who now looked like the very image of a baby angel, had been anything but easy during pregnancy. For nearly half a year, Sera had suffered from relentless morning sickness so severe that she couldn’t even stand the smell of food.
And every time she dry-heaved, Leonard would clamp his mouth shut and gag along with her. Urk—blech—urk—blech—The Imperial Palace’s beatbox duo had been born.
At the rate they were going, they’d have both died of dehydration before the baby was even born. In the end, the only solution had been for them to eat separately until the morning sickness subsided. Given the circumstances, Sera couldn’t help but worry that their future second child might inherit Leonard’s mysophobia.
