Chapter 343: Baby Bumps Everywhere!
One Month Later..
It was a beautiful day. The kind of day where the sunlight dripped through the canopy like warm honey, and the forest hummed with the lazy contentment of early summer.
Leona walked down the forest path, and in that golden light, she looked almost otherworldly.
Her skin glowed with that infuriating, effortless radiance that made mirrors weep with joy.
Her blue eyes carried a spark, a mischievous, lively spark that had not been there a month ago.
Her long, straight hair shimmered like spun gold in the sun.
She was, by any measure, even more beautiful than when Luca had first laid eyes on her.
But there was one very, very noticeable difference.
Her belly, which had once been flat and perfectly toned, now bulged forward with unmistakable pride!
She couldn’t help but smile and caress it from time to time, her fingers tracing gentle circles over the swell.
This was Leona’s baby bump. And shockingly, it did not look like the modest one-month bump of a human pregnancy.
It was much larger, closer to three months.
Elves, after all, only carried for six months. Everything was accelerated.
The rapid growth was shocking to Luca but welcome.
She could already feel the faint stirrings of life within her, a connection to the future that made her heart sing.
The bump also added something to her appearance that she hadn’t anticipated.
Where once she had carried herself with the proud bearing of a queen, she now exuded a gentle, motherly aura that was both refined and deeply alluring.
Any man who saw her would likely find himself struck dumb, unable to tear his gaze away from this vision of maternal beauty.
There was one more change, of course, one that made her blush furiously every time she thought about it.
Her breasts had grown significantly larger, swelling to proportions that made her feel rather self-conscious.
But that was a different matter entirely, and Leona was determined not to dwell on it as she hurried through the forest.
She was searching for Luca.
When she finally found him, however, she stopped dead in her tracks, her expression shifting to one of utter bewilderment.
—
Luca stood in a clearing, a massive grin plastered across his face.
"Haha! You can’t get me! You can’t get me!"
His body contorted into ridiculous poses as he leaped, twisted, and dodged through the air.
Arrows whistled past him. A lot of arrows.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
And they were not being fired by enemies, invaders, or monsters.
They were being fired by his wives!
About a dozen of them, including Nyx, Luna, and Lulu, all armed with compound bows, all with their own gorgeous baby bumps on full display.
Nyx had even chosen a dress that proudly framed her stretched, beautiful waist, as if daring the world to comment.
But Leona did not have time to admire how beautiful her daughters looked as expectant mothers.
She was too busy watching her Luca dodge projectiles while taunting them.
"Is this the best you can do?" He called out, his voice dripping with mock disappointment. "You’re supposed to be elves! The legendary archers of the forest!"
"And yet you can’t hit a single target that’s standing right in front of you?"
The elves faces reddened with fury.
"Nyx..." He called out, dodging a particularly close shot by leaning back at an impossible angle.
"You’re sister is literally the best archer in the village. But you on the other hand can’t shoot to save your own life. What a joke!"
Nyx’s eye twitched. "I am going to kill him. I am going to kill him and then bring him back to life just so I can kill him again!"
"And Luna!" Luca pointed, laughing. "You practice every single day! Every. Single. Day. And this is what it amounts to?"
"Honestly, a little embarrassing. Your child is going to come out and the first thing she’ll do is look at you with disdain. She’ll be a newborn and she’ll just tut at you."
Luna’s face burned. "You—!"
He turned his back on them, bent over slightly, and started smacking his rear with both hands.
"Lulu! Lulu, right here! Big target! Come on, chicken queen! Show me what you’ve got! Bok bok, little elf! Bok. Bok."
Lulu shrieked. "Lucaaaaa!"
Nyx had reached her limit.
"Listen to me, all of you!" She shouted, her voice carrying across the clearing. "I don’t care if this child grows up without a father! Kill him! Kill the Hero!"
"Full draw, everyone! Fire until I see feathers sticking out of his smug face!"
A storm of arrows ripped through the air. Luca did something that looked a triple backflip and caught two of them mid-flight, then used one to scratch his back lazily.
"Oh, that’s better. Almost felt a breeze that time."
Leona watched the circus for one more beat.
She saw her daughters, her own sister, all heavily pregnant, shrieking with fury and loosing arrows at a man who was literally twirling like a carnival performer.
She felt a vein in her temple begin to pulse.
Then she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and unleashed the voice that had commanded generations of elves.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT FOREST DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ALL DOING?"
The scene froze instantly.
Luca was caught in an awkward mid-dodge pose, one leg in the air, his face frozen in a rictus of surprise.
The elves had arrows notched and bows drawn, but none of them dared to release as they saw Leona’s cold, disapproving gaze sweep across them.
Slowly, guiltily, they lowered their weapons.
Leona let out a long, weary sigh and fixed her glare on Nyx.
"Nyx." She said, her tone that of a mother addressing a particularly wayward child. "You are supposed to be leading the younger generation. Setting an example. Teaching them proper values."
"And yet here you are—taking them on a hunt! Not for any animal, mind you, but for the very man who is going to be the father of your child!"
She jabbed a finger at Luca. "What if an arrow had landed? What then?"
Nyx scoffed, crossing her arms over her bump.
"If it’s like that, I’ll raise the child on my own, Leona. The things he said—I absolutely have to put at least a couple of arrows in him to make him take it back."
"It’s a matter of honor. And spite. Mostly spite."
Leona’s eye twitched. She rounded on Luna.
"And you! I thought you were the responsible one. The sensible one. Unlike your sister and your auntie Nyx, I expected better."
"But no, here you are, shooting at your husband too."
Luna’s face contorted with frustration.
"But Mother!" She pointed accusingly at Luca like a child tattling on a sibling. "He’s the one who kept taunting me! He said the baby in my belly would be embarrassed by how bad I am at archery!"
"How could I possibly hold myself back after hearing something like that?"
She just shook her head and turned to Lulu next.
But the moment she saw her youngest daughter with her cheeks puffed out in adorable indignation and those big innocent eyes blinking...
...her heart softened.
Lulu, who used to be the baby of the family chasing chickens around the yard, now looked every bit the mother-to-be with that gentle swell beneath her dress.
Leona couldn’t bring herself to scold her.
Lulu, noticing her mother’s silence, misinterpreted it entirely.
She straightened her back, puffed out her chest as much as the bump would allow, and thought,
’Ah, the title of Queen of Chickens truly carries prestige. Even my Mother, the Matriarch can’t scold me.’
A small, smug smile crept onto her face.
Leona finally snapped out of it, rubbed her forehead, and groaned.
"Anyway. Leaving aside all your silly antics—what about the baby?"
She pointed at their bellies one by one.
"What do you think happens if you’re prancing around like this and you trip? Do you understand the consequences?"
"Are any of you taking this seriously?"
The reaction was not what she hoped for. There was no fear. No guilt.
Nyx actually smiled, a serene, infuriating smile.
"Oh, Leona, there’s really no need to worry about that." Nyx said sweetly. "After all, even if I were to fall, like this—"
And then, To Leona’s absolute horror, Nyx let herself fall backward.
Leona’s hand flew to her mouth. "Nyx, what are you—!"
But before she could finish the sentence, a projection of Luca appeared behind Nyx, catching her in a perfectly safe, gentle embrace.
Nyx finished her thought with a triumphant smile.
"—the hero will save me just like this. So there’s no need to worry at all."
As if on cue, the other elves started tipping over too.
Luna went sideways. Lulu wobbled precariously.
A cascade of pregnant elves toppled like dominoes, and one after another.
And just like they all expected, Luca’s projections flickered into existence, catching each one, lowering them gently to their feet, and then vanishing with an expression somewhere between irritated and deeply, deeply amused.
Leona’s ears were twitching so hard they could have generated a breeze.
"Still—! Still—! Just because Luca is always by your side doesn’t mean you can do dumb things like this!"
"I want all of you to go back right now! Immediately!"
Her gaze fell on a familiar face trying to hide at the back.
"Esme. You too."
Esme let out a tiny squeak and ducked behind another elf. Leona’s smile turned icy.
"I thought you’d be more docile after your illness, but it seems you’re just as mischievous as the rest."
Esme blushed crimson and tried to shrink into nonexistence.
Nyx opened her mouth, clearly ready to argue further. She wanted at least one arrow. Just one!
That would be enough to satisfy her wounded pride.
But one look at her sister’s face told her that continuing this fight would be a losing battle.
She sighed dramatically.
"Fine." She said, turning around with a theatrical flourish. "Let’s go, girls. Even though we couldn’t shoot down our dear husband today, I know something else we can shoot."
Lulu perked up. "What? What is it, Auntie Nyx? After not shooting Luca, my hands are dying. Tell us!"
Nyx smirked. "Those chickens around my house."
Lulu’s face went white. ".. What."
"They’ve completely surrounded my house again." Nyx said casually. "Covered it in poop. It’s a disaster. They’ll be perfect target practice."
"And the best part? We can just cook them afterward. Turn them into a nice, big chicken curry."
The elves erupted into cheers.
"Nice idea!"
"Why didn’t we think of that!"
"Let’s go, let’s go!" Luna clapped her hands, her previous anger forgotten.
"I found a new chicken recipe! I’ll make it tonight!"
Meanwhile, Lulu looked like someone had just announced the apocalypse.
"No! Please, have some mercy on them! They don’t know what they’re doing! Stop! Auntie Nyx, you monster, stop!"
She chased after them, waddling as fast as her bump would allow, screaming about chicken rights.
Leona watched them go, her initial irritation slowly melting away.
She had to admit—life in the village had never been more lively.
Everywhere she looked, she saw laughter, play, and the kind of unbridled joy that had been absent for so many generations.
The elves were finally free, finally happy, and finally able to express themselves without fear of retribution.
Then she turned. And her face immediately soured.
Luca was tiptoeing away, one exaggerated step at a time, like a thief.
"Luca!" She barked.
He froze, then slowly turned with a guilty expression plastered across his face.
"Don’t blame me, Leona! They started it! He approached her like a child pleading with his mother.
"They were boasting about how they’re the best archers ever, how they could hit anything in the forest!’
"I just challenged them! I said if they could shoot me, they’d prove it!"
He gestured emphatically.
"And look—they shot so many arrows! But not a single one hit!"
"They’re still the same elves I met back then, who can’t shoot to save their lives!"
"They most definitely have improved, Luca"
Leona interrupted before adding,
"You just have superhuman speed. Even if they shot bullets at you, you’d probably dodge them."
Luca’s grin turned awkward. He scratched his cheek and said nothing.
Leona shook her head. "Anyway. That’s not why I came here."
She fixed him with a stern gaze.
"The village has a lot of complaints about you and I’m here to inform you about all of them."
Luca’s smile vanished. "What?"
"Specifically." Leona continued. "All the mothers who bore children have come to me."
"They’ve asked me to speak with you about the problems in your relationships with them and told me to fix it."
