Looking through the rain-streaked window of his isolation ward, he longed to throw it open and feel the storm outside. But with a compromised immune system, stepping into the rain was a fast track to the ICU. Instead, he rested his palm against the chilled glass, letting the damp weather soothe his feverish skin.
Maybe it was the cold weather, a sudden, violent spasm racked his chest.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Desperately, his hand scrambled across the hospital mattress for his inhaler, but his fingers hit empty air—it had already slipped off the edge and clattered onto the linoleum floor. Reaching blindly down while fighting for a breath he couldn't catch, his center of gravity shifted. He slipped from the bed, his head hitting the floor first.
While the fall itself wasn't enough to cause fatal trauma, his lungs were already completely starved of oxygen.
'Am I... actually dying?' he thought, his vision bleeding into blackness.
In truth, his body had finally given out; ten years of fighting a chronic, incurable illness on temporary treatments had reached its hard stop. 'I wasn't expected to live long anyway,' he thought with a shrug of mental resignation. So dying right now doesn't make any real difference.
Not yet.
'Huh? Whose voice is that?' The whisper was so faint he figured it was just his oxygen-deprived brain glitching out. But the voice persisted, clear and distinct.
For now, enjoy your new life. Then you must come back.
'Wait, what? Isn't this the end? What do you mean, "new life"? And why do I have to come back later?'
Before his thoughts could spiral further, a massive gravitational undertow yanked at his soul. It felt like being sucked into a vacuum—absolute, pitch-black nothingness. Yet, stripped of a physical nervous system, he didn't feel any vertigo or physical nausea, only the dizzying sensation of being hurled through a void at terminal velocity.
After what felt like an eternity, the motion stopped.
A fresh wave of sensory input flooded his awareness. 'Wait... I'm registering physical coordinates again?'
It was a primitive, muffled sensation, completely different from the sterile hospital bed, but unmistakably corporeal.
Thump!
He caught a dull, rhythmic frequency.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
'What is that bassline? Why am I hearing a pulse?'
He tried to open his eyes, finding only total darkness.
Then came a shifting sound, accompanied by a wet, gelatinous friction. Along with it came a sudden range of movement. Oh, I can move!
When he shifted again, a muffled, fluid-filled slosh echoed around him. He tried to reposition himself, only to find his movement severely restricted by organic boundaries.
'Wait... don't tell me.'
He concentrated his senses on the steady rhythm echoing through the enclosure.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It matched the exact tempo of a biological heartbeat. Coupled with the zero-light environment and the fluid-filled sac he was suspended in, the conclusion hit him like a freight train.
'I'm currently inside someone's womb?!'
This was absolute insanity! In every light novel and reincarnation story he had ever read, protagonists always opened their eyes to find themselves already a newborn baby crying under those ceilings you only found in isekai! There was zero preparation for this tedious, multi-month compilation phase!
'Though, thinking about it logically, it makes sense', he rationalized, his webnovel-addicted brain kicking into gear. A soul has to sync with the host chassis the moment the heart starts beating. But if the soul enters right at the start, does that mean those other reincarnators were just asleep the whole time?
'Then why am I fully awake right now?! Does that really mean I have to idle in this state for months?!'
Ugh...
All that heavy thinking and mental panic quickly burned through his energy. Fortunately, an umbilical cord was right there to automatically supply every nutrient he needed.
Soon, a heavy wave of drowsiness rolled over him.
'I guess I'll just go into hibernation mode.'
Perhaps due to an infant's underdeveloped brain and body, falling into a deep, uninterrupted sleep required zero effort. Immune to hunger and completely detached from a passage of time, he drifted in a coma-like peace.
Every once in a while, he would awaken from his deep slumber. Whenever he did, a gentle, ambient warmth would stroke the outer barrier of his shell—a subtle, wordless pulse of affection from a mother he had yet to meet.
In quiet synchronization, he would nudge his tiny feet toward the warmth, a silent way of letting her know he felt her love, and that her little tenant was wide awake and listening. His little act of acknowledgment earned a soft chuckle from her.
A few months later.
"I don't need this." A woman sat on the bed with her beautiful face showing displeasure. Beside her is a handsome man sitting on a chair.
"No. I don't want you to feel even a little bit of pain, darling." He gently stroke her head in an effort to soothe her.
"But I already said that I want to go through the traditional labor this time. We already decided this is going to be our last child. You always put me in those simulations whenever it's delivery time. So let me have this just once."
"I know it's no longer risky since long ago but it'll be really painful, you know? What if you were to shed tears? I can't let that happen to your beautiful face." His fierce protectiveness as a husband shone through.
Everyone knew him as a stoic man with no feelings but when it comes to his wife, such description was like a lie. He loves her very much that he was actually against it when she asked for another child as he's worried about her health.
"Ahem. Lord Eden, Matriach Arluna, it's time." An old man with a butler attire informed the couple. It's a scheduled time for the delivery. Before she could get up herself to walk, her husband picked her up and carry her like a bridal style.
"Honey! We're too old for this!" She cried out in embarrassment. It's not like they are a newlywed anymore. They already have seven children with an eighth one being on the way!
"Put me down!"
"If you keep insisting on having a labor the traditional way, I will be carrying you until we arrive there," his voice was firm. It means he won't change his mind.
"Fine." She stopped struggling to get down. A clear answer of her firm determination on having a traditional labor this time. Eden could only shook his head in silence.
As all of this was happening, the butler was walking behind them with his eyes closed. He's already tired of seeing this couple acting like a love bird. It's not the first time something like this happened. One simply couldn't tell if they're arguing or flirting.
They eventually arrived in front of a room. The door automatically opened and he stepped inside while still carrying his wife. Several people wearing a white coat and a mask were already waiting.
"Lord Eden and Matriach." They greeted the couple with a slight bow. Arluna wave her hand to dismiss them.
"We heard you wish to have a traditional labor. Is that correct?" One of the doctors asked. She nodded.
"Yes."
"We don't recommend it. Although there's no risk, the pain will be very intense. We can't provide any pain killers since you need to push the baby out yourself."
"I'm very aware of that. My husband read me every step of the process months ago. But that's why I want to do it. I want to know what my ancestors felt like when they gave birth." She rubbed her round belly with love.
"Since you already made up your mind, let's begin."
....
"Urgh!" A screaming can be heard in the room. It sounds painful even to the people who never experienced it in their life.
"You need to push harder!"
"Follow me. One, two... You need to umph!"
"Umph!!" In the mouth of the woman is a cloth. She bite it down to not let out a scream. Besides her is her husband. She's clamping down on his hands so hard that her knuckles turned white.
An hour after her water broke down, she felt her baby making his way out. It's also been an hour since she pushed. She's someone who has been to a battlefield before but this is an entirely different war.
"Hah! His head has come out! You need to push a little harder!" The doctors keep on urging her.
"I'M TRYING!" She shouted as she couldn't take it anymore. She's already aware that this type of labor is painful but never knew it was this stressful!
"Just give me the anesthetic! Please!"
"We can't. It's already too late for that. It can be dangerous for the baby."
"One, two!"
"Umph!"
"It's out! The baby's out!" The doctor swiftly cut off the umbilical cord and record the time of birth. They wrapped it in a towel and handed it to the father after he's checking on his wife.
The baby was crying but he turn silent the moment he was in his father's arm. He opened his eyes, revealing blue eyes on the right and golden on the left. He showed it to his wife.
"It seems he has heterochromia," the doctor informed. "What would you name him?"
Arluna stared at her baby. The moment their eyes met, the baby smiled. It looks like he was in pure joy to meet her. It made her felt like all her fatigue were wash away with holy water. She smiled back and took the baby into her arms.
"Orion. His name will be Orion," she said softly.
"That's a good name." Eden smiled and caress his baby's head. "Welcome to House Valerie, Orion."
Although the baby couldn't understand the language yet, he could already guessed the meaning.