Free and Unfettered 105 The Real Reason Why There's Four

Nocturne raised an eyebrow at his brother-in-law. What was this all about? "Why have you come to find me?"

Deltan shrugged. "There is a child on the way," he said simply.

"Yours?"

"Who else?" Deltan said, raising his eyebrow back.

Nocturne nodded, a genuine smile breaking out on his lips. "Congratulations. So, who's the mother?"

Deltan's raised eyebrow was joined by the other. He silently pointed at himself.

Nocturne, "???"

"Male Vampires can get pregnant??" Nocturne questioned, feeling like his worldview had shifted dramatically.

Deltan rolled his eyes, having already received this reaction several times. "No. I got a spell from Imperial Father that will allow a method of reproduction."

Nocturne instantly felt chaos run amok in his brain. If this was true, then –

"Then, the father?" Nocturne questioned, hiding his thoughts that were running wild.

"Aciel, Lucien, Eden, Brooke," Deltan listed, bored. Having already run through various of the same questions, he had already long grown immune to the earlier embarrassment with his brother and father.

Usually, this was where people curbed their curiosity or politely changed the topic, but evidently, Nocturne, running along the same vein as Nine, was one of those, as other people described it, 'mad scientist' types through and through.

"Huh! How does that work specifically?"

Deltan paused, since he fully expected the conversation to end there once. "Ah. Well, I just had the four of them donate some blood as replacement. The main person carrying over the genes is still me, so the child will mostly look alike to me. The blood being used is just there on the side-line… like toppings on ice-cream. I don't need them, but it's generally more pleasant with them."

"Any reason why four people and not just one?"

There was a long pause of silence, and before Nocturne could take back his question, he saw a pained expression on Deltan's face, so he kept quiet, leaving the decision whether or not to answer to the other.

"Don't tell Nine," was the first thing that came out of his mouth. "I know Fourth Brother thinks that this upcoming catastrophe shouldn't be that big of a deal, but in the case where I really do end up dying, I'd like to have some insurance, if you please. So I included the blood of the people I trust the most outside of family. They can take my heir and flee - "

Nocturne cut him off right there. "You must be joking if you think that Nine, or myself in fact, won't go on a warpath if anyone ever *dares* think that they can lay a hand on a child and survive. But I suppose that fears aren't so easily extinguished, so I won't say anything to Nine. For now, at least."

Deltan heaved a sigh of relief. While he did know that many others thought he was acting rather unconventionally, it didn't matter to him. As long as he could ensure the safety of his child, then it was all worth it. Anyway, his child would mostly take after himself in looks, so it didn't matter who else had added their blood into the mix, just that they would be able to identify themselves as another 'father' or 'mother' should anything happen to him.

Nocturne's thoughts were racing for a completely different reason now. This was all so fascinating. Could he and Nine also…? "So, where exactly is the baby being stored? Since you evidently don't have the equipment required to give birth."

Deltan sighed loudly. "Of course I don't," he said, giving the other a disdainful glance. "To put it simply, there's somewhat of a hidden space on my body now, which contains the baby. He's getting all the nutrients that he needs, and after roughly nine months, I'll be able to bring him out."

"So, you definitely didn't have s*x with four other people at the same time?" Nocturne said crudely, smirking at the eldest prince.

Deltan snorted. "Hardly. I can barely even stand people touching me 'intimately' after - " he cut himself off. "Regardless, I doubt I will ever experience any lust for body, male or female. The most I want are cuddles."

Nocturne hid the mischievous glint in his eye. "I see. What you crave are cuddles."

The prince blanched. "Wait, no!" he said hastily, but Nocturne was already out of his seat and out of the room's doors.

Hastily, Deltan chased after the other with his full speed, but frustratingly, he still couldn't catch up.

"Husband!" he heard Nocturne cry out. "Husband, brother-in-law admitted to me that he wants more cuddles! He said he isn't getting enough!"

Deltan cursed and wondered whether he should flee in the other direction now, before his Fourth Brother got a hold of him.

Just as he stopped to make a run for it in a different direction, Nine appeared in front of him, causing his already pale face to pale further.

"Wait! I'm carrying a child!"

Nine scoffed, grabbing her fleeing brother and smothering him in a hug using her taller frame. She trapped his arms at his sides, not giving him any chance to struggle or flee.

Deltan let out a whine, but reluctantly melted into the hug, accepting the squeezes on his body from his younger but freakishly strong brother.

He cracked an eye open when he felt hands pat his head, glaring at his brother's 'wife'. This was all his fault! Though… it did feel rather good.

"Don't worry," Nine said, her voice taking on a slight mocking undertone. Even if someone stabbed you, the baby wouldn't be harmed, let alone a little cuddle from your darling younger brother?

Deltan glared harder at Nocturne, who had broken out into laughs. Seriously! This wasn't what he meant when he said at most, he wanted cuddles! He bared his teeth to the laughing man, feeling sulky when he other only laughed harder.

"Haven't you laughed enough already!"

Nocturne, who was about to stop, immediately collapsed and clutched onto Nine's back, shaking with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Relax, brother-in-law. I'll make sure that everyone knows you're craving cuddles."

Deltan struggled to break free from Nine's hold, reaching out to claw at the shameless idiot. "Don't you dare!"

Nocturne dodged him laughingly, disappearing into the distance again. Deltan watched him disappear with horrified eyes. He could already picture the amount of people randomly stopping to give him hugs…

Chapter end