Chapter 207 – Baby
Not too long afterwards, due to everyone’s enthusiasm and contribution, Osamu and Fideline’s wedding was held. Though not as grand and proper compared to their original world’s standard, both Osamu and Fideline looked blissful. Both of them had nothing but gratitude towards everyone who had helped them hold this simple yet meaningful wedding.
The mixed wedding combined both Onis and elves’ traditional wedding elements, making it unique and everyone that saw it felt as if this wedding was not only an union between Osamu and Fideline, but also their union.
The elves that liked light had the tradition of wearing white during wedding, symbolizing purity.
Meanwhile, the Onis that liked darkness had the tradition of wearing black during their wedding, symbolizing conviction and belief.
The wedding combined both black and white element as the bride and the groom wore black and white outfit.
The Onis wore red outfit as their tradition dictated them to wear red for joyous occasions.
The elves wore green outfit as their tradition told them to wear green in events that celebrated life.
In the place of the groom and the bride’s family, Oriel and Nagare stood.
The two races had discussed stuff about this wedding—what ought to be there and what shouldn’t be there—and formed an unique wedding ceremony that left a strong impression in their hearts.
Many were feeling encouraged to follow in Fideline and Osamu’s example, but many were still fearful for what the future might hold for them. Even if they couldn’t return to their original world to be worried about their future there, what if a fall out were to happen in the marriage and it’d sour everything? There were still differences between friendships, non-serious dating or ‘messing around’, and marriage, after all.
And there was no telling what would happen to this child Fideline was carrying?
More were leaning towards ‘wait and see’ attitude.
During the whole pregnancy, not only Osamu, Oriel, and Nagare were showing concerns to Fideline, the whole alliance members were expressing their concerns and care—so much that Fideline was almost brought to tears, begging that they would let her work or do anything instead of treating her like a porcelain doll that could break with the slightest touch.
Everyone tried to stop being too overprotective to Fideline after that, out of concern that the stress would cause a harm to the baby.
Surprisingly and fortunately, the pregnancy went smoothly and the baby was born healthily. There was no out-of-normal concern happening throughout the health check ups and the birth of the baby, much to the medical team’s delight.
“Congratulations, it’s a baby boy!” The medical team member that suddenly became the head midwife said with a face of relief after seeing that both the mother and baby were alright.
Obviously, the medical personnel in a military weren’t really proficient in things like aiding pregnant mothers, so they were all nervous and had lots of studying and practices. Never in their wildest dream they’d have to take care of a pregnancy and birth.
The baby boy was being brought to Fideline’s side. Fideline calmed down her rough breathing and the pain and fatigue were being converted into enthusiasm to see her baby.
“This… Pointy ears… No horn…? He takes after me, then?” Fideline commented upon inspecting the baby.
Osamu, who was right by her side, also took a look at his son and commented, “His eyebrow is similar to me, right? And we don’t know yet how his ears will develop in the future. Oh, and Onis aren’t born with horns or any horn-like bulges showing. We usually grow them over time. So, we will see later.”
“What if he turns out to inherit only elf genetics from me? I mean, we’ve discussed before that with the opposite characteristics of Onis and elves, the dominant gene would win over the recessive, and the baby might only show one genetics’ characteristic instead of expressing a combined one…”
“That is also fine. I know you, and no matter what, he is still my son. He definitely has some resemblances with me,” Osamu said.
“Mhm, indeed,” Fideline was satisfied with Osamu’s answer.
After that, Fideline and the baby had an undisturbed rest while Osamu went to announce it to everyone who was also nervous about the birth.
And as expected, the question he got the most was: “Is the baby half elf and half Oni, or…?”
So, Osamu had to explain to everyone how the signs wouldn’t be showing right away and it’d take time.
Then, when Nagare and Oriel visited Fideline, Osamu, and the baby in their room…
“So, what’s the baby’s name?” Oriel asked as she looked at the baby with a gentle gaze.
Osamu and Nagare were talking up until now, but the moment Oriel asked, they quickly stopped talking and turned their attention to Oriel and the baby.
Fideline and Osamu responded exactly at the same time.
“Oliver.”
“Sen.”
However, what came out of their mouths were two completely different names.
Fideline turned to look at Osamu, who then shifted his line of sight to Fideline.
Meanwhile, Nagare and Oriel looked at each other with the same expression that seemed to say, ‘Oh well, here we go again…’
“Hey, I already said that Sen is not so traditional Oni name, unlike my and the great general’s name!”
“It’s still obviously a name with the Oni naming system. If this child were to grow up to be fully elf, then him having an Oni-ish name… Won’t it be…?”
“But what if he turns out to be fully Oni instead? Won’t having Oliver as his name be odd?”
“Let’s pick a more neutral name!”
“I told you, Sen is a neutral name.”
The couple quarrelled again, as usual.
“You dislike this, you dislike that. Are we going to wait until this child grows up and shows his Oni or elf characteristic to name him? How are we going to call him, then? Or are we going to use a placeholder name and then change it if it doesn’t suit him later?” Osamu said in frustration.
“No, changing the name will make him confused. And we have to name him as giving a baby name is important for them to develop a sense of identity…,” Fideline said.
“……What if this child grows up with both Oni and elf’s characteristic, then?” Nagare had to interject the couple’s quarrel.
Fideline and Osamu turned to Nagare with a blank face that seemed to say ‘Right’.
Oriel then sighed as she muttered, “You guys haven’t thought ahead of his name, but I hope you guys are settled about his surname…”
Then, Fideline and Osamu turned to look at each other again with an expression that told Oriel they hadn’t really reached a conclusion about it.
Oriel regretted her casual comment.
When Fideline and Osamu were about to argue about the surname, Oriel quickly said, “Hold up, please discuss one thing at a time. I have an idea! Why don’t you name him Oliver Sen, then? There’s really no rule about him having to have only one name, anyway… Just give him first and middle name, one from Fideline’s suggestion, the other from Osamu.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right,” Fideline nodded.
“Well… While Oni naming system doesn’t have that kind of first and middle name stuff… I guess that’s actually a nice idea,” Osamu agreed.
“Then, now… About the surname,” Nagare said without much thoughts, prompting Oriel to turn at him with a look of disapproval. But it had been done, and there was no way to retract what had been said.
“Kisaragi Oliver Sen,” Osamu quickly answered.
“Hey, isn’t that weird? Surnames are to be placed last,” Fideline said.
“But in our culture, surname is put first…,” Osamu said.
“Yeah, but is there any occurrence of first name and middle name for your naming system?”
“No, but still—”
Oriel sighed, and Nagare felt guilty enough so he cleared his throat and said, “Let’s just go with Oliver Sen Kisaragi as it’s also more common to have this common naming format rather than ours. It makes more sense since his name has a middle name, too.”
“…Fine,” Osamu said.
“I told you! So, you won’t listen to your wife but your superior?!” Fideline looked upset.
Before Fideline could finish the sentence with, ‘Why don’t you just marry him, then?!’, Oriel asked, “Fideline, are you not going to add your family name? We can put it in parenthesis, right?”
Hearing that, Fideline went silent instead.
Looking at her thoughtful expression, Oriel knew that Fideline still had a mixed feelings towards her family.
Her family, the Xyrfiel family was a formerly prestigious noble family in Cielle. They had a blood relation to the blood family, making them respected in the kingdom.
However… when Fideline and Oriel were still children, the Xyrfiel family had committed a grave act of treason, leading the entire family to extinction.
Oriel had always seen Fideline as more of a sister than a cousin, so she had pleaded for Fideline to keep her life during that time. And luckily, Fideline was spared. But her status was stripped away, and that was how she had become a fallen noble.
Therefore, she was actually on the edge about using her surname or not.
Before Fideline could answer, Osamu quickly said, “His name is Oliver Sen Kisaragi-Xyrfiel, then.”
“Isn’t it too long?” Fideline asked as she reflexively turned to look at Osamu in disbelief.
“Look, my Kisaragi clan has so many members so it doesn’t matter if there’s one more addition to the clan, but your family… Isn’t it nice to finally have someone with the same family name as you?”
Hearing that, Fideline was touched.
Yes, she was the only Xyrfiel left in this world. And though there was a feeling of hatred towards her family for trying to usurp the throne from her dearest friend’s family and caused this tragedy to happen, they were after all her family who had always pampered her.
Even if the whole world were to scold her family for being treasonous, to her, they were kind and loving.
Looking at the improving mood between Fideline and Osamu as well as the baby’s name being decided, Oriel and Nagare left the room to give the family some privacy and bonding time.