"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The lady screamed on the bed while lying there.
"Please bear it a little longer." The doctor said cautiously.
"Huff… Huff… Aaaa… Aaaarrrgghhh!" The lady tried to suppress her scream by clutching her pillow.
"Slowly, slowly. Please don't make any unnecessary movements." The doctor said as she carefully took out the child from the woman's womb.
Now that her work was over, the doctor put the child beside her mother and removed all the unnecessary equipments.
The mother looked at the child with a natural smile on her face. But something was not right.
"Why is he not making any sound, ma?" She asked from the doctor.
"Oh, don't worry about it. The child is healthy. Also, you need some rest right now so let me take care of the sanitation of the child." The doctor said as she held the child in her hands.
"I understand but be careful with my child." The lady said.
"What do you take me for? I have been a doctor from when you were a child. Don't underestimate my experience. Just leave it to me." The doctor said as she put the kid on a pillowed table.
"Fufu. I will leave it to you then." The lady chuckled.
"Aw, my little imp. Are you able to see anything with your face covered with these tissues and vernixes?" The doctor said as she started removing the wastes from the baby's body.
"Weather is quite unpredictable these days, isn't it? The sun was so bright in the morning, and now it's raining for ages." The lady said while looking out the window.
"Mmm, it's like the gods are getting anxious. Who knows what-"
"What happened, ma?" The lady asked as she looked at the shocked face of the doctor.
"T-This child is yours, right?"
"What are you talking about? Whose else could it be?" The lady denied her remark with a shrug.
"Yes, you are right, but this is not a good sign." The doctor said as she placed the cleaned up child beside her mother.
"This is…" The lady's wavering voice paused as she looked at the baby.
"Ma, please call the Duke inside and don't let anyone else know about the current situation."
"As you say, my lady." The doctor said as she went out of the room.
-LINE BREAK-
As the doctor opened the gate, people waiting outside stopped their activities and surrounded the doctor.
"How is her condition? Is she alright?" The duke asked with a worried face.
The duke was a fair skinned man with a condensed body build and somewhat small turquoise eyes. He had mid-length, graying bright orange hair.
"No need to get anxious, my lord. My lady is fine now." The doctor answered.
"But she was screaming so much back then. Are you sure she is alright? What about the child?" The duke asked.
"Don't worry. The kid and the mother both are alright."
The Duke sighed in relief, and so did the other workers present there.
"Also, my lord, please come inside. The lady has called for you."
"Yeah, I know. I would've entered without you telling me." The Duke said as he started moving inside the gate.
Several maids and a butler started following their lord, but were interrupted by the doctor midway.
"What are you doing? We also want to see the young Lord." The butler said.
"I am sorry, but I can't let you in. My lady has specifically called for my Lord and no one else." The doctor said.
"Is there some problem? If so, tell me, I will help you with it." The butler insisted.
"Sorry, Alfred." The doctor said as she moved inside the room and closed the door.
-LINE BREAK-
The duke slid the curtains and saw her wife lying on the bed with a small baby beside her.
"H-He is my child." He said with a big smile on his face.
"Yes, he is our child, dear." the lady answered.
The duke started looking at the kid but paused as he saw something bulging out of the child's forehead. The Duke was delighted after hearing about the newborn, but it didn't last long as he looked at the infant, agape in shock.
The kid had a little horn bulging out at the left side of his forehead.
"What is this?" The Duke asked.
"I-It's an h-horn, my Lord." The nurse answered.
The Duke sat down on his knees and started checking the newborn's body.
"This is not good." The Duke said as he looked at the right shoulder of the infant.
It was an unusual birthmark. He had the letter A engraved on his shoulder, with some pentagonal star-shaped embodiments.
"He is a demon child," The Duke said.
"But that's not possible, dear. Both of us are humans and the demons have already been sealed away from our realm." The duchess said while lying on the bed.
"Yeah, I know. But what do you think this horn depicts?" The duke said.
"Hmm, I need to check something. I will be back in a minute." He said as he ran outside through the door.
"What will happen now, my lady?" The doctor asked.
"What do you mean? He is my child. Nothing will change. God has blessed me with a child after long ten years. I wouldn't let my kid go through any danger." She said while holding the kid's hands warmly.
-LINE BREAK-
As the duke opened the door and ran towards the office in a hurry, Alfred followed him from behind. The maids looked at each other, confused.
The duke entered his office area and started searching for something in his bookshelf. Alfred, who was chasing him, also entered the office and reached out to the worried duke.
"What is going on, my lord? Is everything alright?" He asked..
"Hmm? Ah, Alfred. No, nothing unusual so don't worry." The duke cut the remark and continued with his searching.
"My lord, if it is related to the young master or my lady, please don't hide it from me. This old body can't take too much stress. Please tell me about it if you trust me." He said.
"(*sigh) It's not like that. It's just that, this is not something that one can digest that easily. Anyway, I will tell you about it but it's not fair for you to use the word trust in these places." The duke said as he explained everything important that happened inside the room.
Alfred was in shock as he heard about the story but calmed down soon after to help the duke.
"I know what you are searching for, my lord." Alfred said as he went towards the wall. He started feeling the wall and after moving his hands in every direction, he pressed a specific brick inside. Suddenly, the wall started rotating and in front of them was a brown closet.
"Ah, right? How did I forget about this thing?" The duke said as he opened the closet. The smoke spread from the door, as it seemed to have been kept untouched for decades.
"(*cough) (*cough) Here it is." The duke said as he took out an old, dusty book from the closet.
A large horn was printed on the front cover of the book, which had a deep red color.