Chapter 1 - My Childhood Friend Ran Away After I Impregnated Her

What is the most important moment in life?

While our lives were filled with countless events, I thought most people would say marriage was the most important moment. After all, it was when one pledged one’s love to their life partner. Marriage should be the most significant moment in our lives.

Naturally, choosing who to marry required careful consideration. Otherwise, one might end up living an unhappy life forever.

Haa... How did it come to this?

In that sense, I probably wouldn't be living a very happy life. Because I seemed to have chosen the wrong person to marry.

"The bride is entering."

The greatest villainess.

Kailyn Dwenbell—that was who I was marrying.

Marrying a villainess...

The bride was walking toward me in her wedding dress from afar. With sky-blue hair and emerald eyes, she had looks that could easily be called otherworldly beautiful. But looks weren't everything.

As someone who had been transported into this world, I knew this was actually inside a novel. Therefore, I knew her true nature better than she knew herself.

Kailyn, the Jealous Mage.

She was a character who consistently interfered with the hero's party throughout the story. She couldn't stand seeing the hero's party succeed when she wasn't allowed to join them. She would do anything and everything to sabotage them, hoping they would fail.

But as they said, one couldn't hide one’s tracks forever. Though it took some time, all her evil deeds were eventually exposed. Everything came to light—from her various acts of sabotage to her collusion with demon forces.

There was no room for redemption. She ultimately met her end at the guillotine. It was a clean end that served as karma for all her misdeeds.

How did I end up in this mess?

Yet here I was, about to marry that same Kailyn. I couldn't help but sigh even on my wedding day.

So why was I marrying her? Why marry someone I disliked so much? Simply put, I had no choice.

Getting her pregnant... how did this happen…?

Because I had gotten her pregnant.

I just wanted to live a normal life...

I never dreamed something like this would happen when I first arrived in this world. I had been transported into the body of Davian, a baron's son—just an ordinary noble extra whose only notable trait was being Kailyn's childhood friend.

When I first possessed this body, my thoughts were simple. I just wanted to live an easy, comfortable life. After all, this world had its protagonist. Following the novel's plot, the hero would definitely save the world. I didn't need to do anything.

So I thought I could just enjoy my new life peacefully, while occasionally humoring the villainess as her childhood friend.

Drinking was my mistake.

That was why I only intended to humor her that night too, as I recall. As usual, we were having dinner together, with me listening to her various complaints. But there was one thing different from usual.

That was alcohol.

I didn't think much of it at the time. We had both just come of age, so having a drink shouldn't be a big deal, right? We started sipping sweet wine, one glass after another.

And then we got completely wasted.

Unfortunately, Kailyn seemed to have very low alcohol tolerance as a first-time drinker. She passed out after just a few glasses. And I wasn't much better.

Though I fared slightly better than Kailyn, my body apparently had no tolerance for alcohol either. I could barely stay upright. In the end, I somehow managed to get a room at an inn with Kailyn, and that was where the trouble started.

To think I'd end up sleeping with the villainess there.

By the time I came to my senses, it had already happened. Kailyn and I were both naked—it wasn't hard to guess what had transpired that night. That one incident caused everything to spiral out of control.

Really... how did it come to this?

No matter how I looked at it, I should have resisted.

No matter how beautiful Kailyn was. No matter how she seduced me in her drunken state. I should have controlled myself somehow.

But the reason I couldn't resist was probably because she was just too beautiful.

Despite constantly interfering with the protagonist's party and acting terribly, she consistently ranked high in popularity polls simply because of her looks. Any man would find her appearance irresistible.

That was why I couldn't control myself in that moment of poor judgment. How could I resist? Unless I was impotent, which unfortunately I wasn't.

One mistake ruined my life.

The price for doing what I shouldn't have was steep. She soon announced her pregnancy. And that was how I ended up marrying her.

That was how this whole situation came about.

I have no choice. I'll just have to do my best...

At least I came to terms with it quickly.

What else could I do? Marrying a villainess was hard to accept, but I had no intention of running away or avoiding responsibility. I didn't want to be the kind of man who wouldn't take responsibility.

For the child's sake, if nothing else.

Even if married life with a villainess wouldn't be easy, I was determined to do my best. I'd have to work hard somehow. I had made up my mind.

"..."

But it seemed Kailyn hadn't come to terms with it yet. Throughout the wedding ceremony, she wore a gloomy expression while touching her slightly swollen belly.

***

"Phew..."

At least the wedding ceremony ended well. We successfully completed our wedding amidst the blessings of many people. Only after all the guests had left did I finally let out a sigh of relief.

Weddings were quite tiring, weren’t they? Having never experienced one in my previous life, I was thoroughly exhausted.

"That was tough... Kailyn, let's head back."

Anyway, it was time for us to leave, too. I took the hand of Kailyn, who was staring blankly out the window at the sky, intending for us to leave the venue.

"Don't touch me."

But Kailyn rejected my gesture. She shook off my hand with an expression of clear displeasure.

"What's wrong? Are you still unhappy?"

Here we go again? 

This had become all too familiar by now. I wasn't the only one dissatisfied with our marriage.

She, too, was unhappy about everything from the pregnancy to the marriage. That was why she often lashed out at me hysterically.

"Just forget about it already..."

"..."

"Forget about your dream of becoming an archmage, and let's try to live well together. How can you pursue your dream with a child?"

I knew why she was acting this way. She had a dream, after all.

Kailyn's dream was to become the greatest mage of all. She wanted to join the hero's party as their mage and achieve historic feats worthy of being recorded in history. That was her dream.

But that dream had essentially become impossible due to her pregnancy. She couldn't pursue such things with a child. That was why she was so irritated now, having decided not to enter the magic tower as originally planned at this point.

"I'll do my best too, okay?"

But what could we do? It wasn’t like I was happy about this situation either. Taking responsibility meant doing things one didn't want to do sometimes.

I hoped she would give up on her dream, just as I had. I wanted her to raise our child with me, laughing and crying and fighting together in an ordinary life. That might lead to a happier life for her than in the original story.

"...How can I give up?"

But Kailyn seemed unable to let go. Despite my attempts to console her, her eyes began to well up with tears. She glared at me as if to say she absolutely couldn't give up.

"I can't live a married life with a man like you, after all. Someone like you will never understand me."

She looked at me with eyes full of resentment, or perhaps self-pity. But there was also a glint of determination in her gaze.

"I can't rot away in a life like this. I'll never be satisfied. I can't give up on my dream."

She told me she wouldn't give up, even if she was pregnant.

"Davian. Don't try to find me."

"Hey, Kailyn!"

And so, after the wedding ceremony ended, my pregnant childhood friend ran away.