"I’m so bored."

The empty voice echoed through the living room.

Siwoo, who heard it, responded absentmindedly while watching TV.

"Why don’t you surf the internet or something?"

"It’s not fun."

"Hmm..."

Siwoo began to ponder deeply about something.

He was probably thinking about what I could enjoy.

Being pregnant, I hadn’t been going out much lately.

Before falling into this world, I didn’t particularly like going out... but people can change.

I had spent so little time at home over the past year that now it felt excruciatingly boring just to stay inside.

"What about the book I gave you last time?"

"I finished it a long time ago."

"What about the game you bought a few days ago?"

I nodded slightly.

At first glance, the game seemed perfect.

New storylines, new series.

Suddenly, there were dozens of AAA games I had never heard of.

Naturally, I bought a few and played them while waiting for Siwoo.

But seeing as I’m complaining about being bored now, you can guess how it turned out.

They all became useless heaps of junk.

"I told you they’d be pointless."

"I didn’t think they’d be that easy..."

"Games aren’t made for people like us."

That’s right.

Games turned out to be incredibly boring for supers.

No matter how amazing or influential their abilities were, games were still just games.

Since they don’t require repurchasing once bought, the primary consumers were ordinary people.

For supers, they were just too dull.

No matter how high the difficulty was, it felt like playing a child’s level.

Only simple puzzle games were enjoyable.

Anything involving physical activity quickly became boring.

"If you’re so bored, why not go for a walk outside?"

"That’s not an option."

"You’re such a worrywart."

The hospital said I could live normally for now.

But even while complaining about boredom, I chose to stay inside as much as possible.

If anything happened and the baby was in danger, it would be a disaster.

Unless it was really important, I wanted to stay at home.

Siwoo sighed softly and caressed my noticeably swollen belly.

"Your mom is bored, Irene."

"What are you doing?"

"Talking to your daughter."

"...."

That wasn’t what I meant.

Siwoo kept touching my belly, ignoring my baffled look.

"If only our niece would be born, then her mom wouldn’t be bored, right?"

"Who’s your niece?"

"Your daughter, of course. I think I’d make a good aunt."

So shameless.

I had a lot to say but didn’t speak out.

Where did the person who used to be afraid of me go?

Even if it was a good change, it still felt awkward, remembering the past.

Whether he knew this or not, Siwoo suddenly got excited, pressing his ear to my belly.

"Hey, hey! The baby kicked! The baby kicked!"

"What? Out of nowhere, what are you talking about?"

"Irene kicked! Didn’t you feel it?!"

...A kick?

I didn’t feel anything.

Siwoo’s serious face staring at my belly was comical, but I didn’t mention it.

I focused all my attention on my belly.

But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel any movement.

"Siwoo, it’s probably just a mistake..."

"Wait a bit longer. She’s probably being still because she doesn’t want to hurt her mom."

"No baby would be that considerate before they’re even born..."

Then suddenly, a soft thump echoed from inside my belly.

"Did you hear it this time?!"

"...Unbelievable."

"It’s amazing. Does she know we’re talking about her?"

Both of us knew that wasn’t possible.

But we didn’t care about such details, enjoying our talk about the baby.

I forgot all about my boredom for a while.

After some time, Siwoo asked me a question, as if he had just remembered it.

"Hey, boss."

"Yeah?"

"How do you want your daughter to grow up?"

"Out of the blue?"

"I’m just curious."

How do I want her to grow up?

I never thought about it.

I only thought about the fact that I had a child with Siwoo in my belly.

"How do I want her to grow up..."

"Just say it lightly. Kids never grow up exactly the way we want them to."

I knew that better than anyone.

Seeing Amelia and her father’s relationship, who wouldn’t think that?

Lionel probably didn’t want Amelia to grow up exploiting him...

Maybe because of our bond from the frontline incident and being one of his daughter’s few friends.

He always contacted me just when I was about to forget about him.

Mostly to vent, though.

Amelia should respect her parents more.

Her attitude, more relaxed than with her closest friends, was troubling.

Listening to her father read light novels was a bit...

"Artemis?"

"Oh, sorry."

What were we talking about again?

Oh, how I wanted my child to grow up.

"A free-spirited child."

"...Free?"

"Yes. A child who’s not bound by anyone."

Sometimes I think about it.

If I didn’t have Siwoo, would I have lived my whole life as the creator’s puppet?

Whenever I think about that, I hope our child won’t be like that.

"A child who can think and act on their own, not someone else’s puppet."

"It sounds easy but is quite hard to achieve, boss."

"Is it?"

I smiled awkwardly and stroked my belly.

...It might be tough, but I hope she grows up like that.

Siwoo and I talked until he returned from the academy.

"Daughter, when are you going to give me a grandchild?"

"Ugh, Dad, I’m still an academy student."

"Being an academy student doesn’t mean you can’t marry. You’re an adult now; you can date and get married."

I wanted to punch that smirking face but held back.

I couldn’t hit him anyway with my current skills.

He’d dodge and mock me for such a weak attempt.

"Look, your friend already has a child. You should get a boyfriend and..."

"Arrgh!"

"Hahaha."

I tried to ignore him, but it was unbearable.

Attacking me mentally like this...

"That’s just them being weird! How could they get pregnant without even using protection..."

"Daughter, I’m sad. It feels like I’ll die without seeing my grandchild..."

"Why are you doing this to me!"

"...Why?"

Dad’s face, which had been laughing while teasing me, turned serious.

Like he had something important to say.

"I haven’t forgotten about the embarrassing photo you secretly posted on my SNS a few days ago..."

"For just that..."

"Just that? Just that?"

"...."

"You know it’s not just that."

"Uh, well..."

I had nothing to say.

I’ve been teasing Dad a lot lately.

But as the eldest daughter of the Lindbergh family, I decided to be shameless.

"That’s because you set up weird traps in my room last time!"

"That’s because you read my book in front of me."

"That’s because you sprinkled water on my bed while I was sleeping and teased me for wetting it at your age!"

"Remember that your actions triggered mine, daughter."

Dad and I realized that arguing about who started it would be endless.

We’d been like this since I was very young.

Neither of us knew who started it.

We just retaliated when teased.

That was the only reason for our relationship.

We had no intention of stopping now.

Stopping first would mean losing.

No one ever said it, but we’d made that an unspoken rule.

"If that’s how you want to play... Just wait. You might cry like a baby next time!"

"Haha, my dear. I might wet myself from fear..."

Dad sniffled with a face that didn’t look scared at all.

Damn, he’s teasing me again.

"Just wait... I swear by Grandpa’s name, I’ll make you cry..."

"Then I swear by my father’s name that I won’t cry."

"Arrgh!"

I’ll never forgive him.

I started thinking hard about how to tease Dad back.