The Extra is a Genius!?-Chapter 593: The Name

For several seconds after speaking, Noel didn’t move. He remained leaning slightly over the bed, his eyes still fixed on the small face wrapped in white cloth. The baby had already settled again, eyelids drifting closed as if the brief effort of opening them had been enough for now. Elena adjusted the bundle gently in her arms, careful with every movement. Only then did Noel finally sit down on the chair beside the bed.

"Are you alright, Elena?" He leaned forward slightly, studying her face with concern. "Is the baby okay? Wasn’t it too early?" A brief pause, and then the last question slipped out almost automatically. "Are you sure everything went well?"

Elena let out a soft, tired laugh. Selene shook her head slightly from where she stood nearby, the corner of her mouth lifting with faint amusement. "Stop panicking," she said calmly.

Before Noel could respond, one of the elven healers stepped forward. She had finished cleaning her hands and approached the bed with the composed confidence of someone who had overseen births many times before. "Everything went very well," she said. "Elena is strong. The birth was relatively smooth and there were no complications." She gestured gently toward the sleeping baby. "The child is perfectly healthy. It was earlier than expected, yes, but there was no danger. What Elena needs now is rest."

Noel listened carefully, his shoulders relaxing slightly as the tension he hadn’t realized he was carrying began to ease. He lowered his gaze. "I’m sorry I wasn’t here."

Elena shook her head immediately. "Noel... it’s alright. We didn’t know it would happen today." She shifted slightly against the pillows. "And we all understand what you’ve been doing. Your training, your preparations, those things matter too." Selene nodded quietly in agreement.

The room settled into a calmer silence. After a moment Noel looked toward the healer again. "Could you give us a few minutes?" The elf inclined her head politely, motioned to the others, and the healers quietly gathered their tools before stepping out. The door closed softly behind them.

Now only the three of them remained in the room.

Noel remained seated for a moment after the door closed, listening to the quiet that settled over the room. The sounds of movement in the corridor faded gradually, leaving only the soft breathing of Elena and the faint rustle of cloth as the baby shifted slightly in her arms. He took a slow breath.

"I know this isn’t the best moment," Noel began quietly, his eyes lowering for a second before lifting again. "And I could wait until Elyra and Charlotte are here. But this is important." Elena’s attention sharpened slightly, and Selene straightened where she stood behind him. "I met Roberto in the mountains."

The room fell silent. The warmth in Elena’s expression faded into a more serious focus, and Selene’s arms folded slowly across her chest as she listened. "He appeared behind me without warning," Noel continued. "Even Noir didn’t detect him. We talked. He didn’t seem angry." He paused briefly. "But he was disappointed. And he told me something else. He said he has allies now, and that he won’t be alone when the day comes."

Selene stepped closer and placed her arms around Noel from behind, her hands resting lightly across his chest. "Don’t worry," she said softly. "It sounds like he still wants the duel. A final fight. Not a war." She rested her chin lightly against his shoulder. "And even if he has allies... so do you." Her eyes shifted briefly toward the bed, toward the small bundle resting in Elena’s arms. "Our family is growing." A faint smile appeared on her face. "I just hope one day I can give you a son or daughter too."

Noel reached up and gently took hold of Selene’s hands where they rested across his chest. They had tried more than once, and nothing had come of it yet. Selene didn’t show the disappointment she sometimes carried quietly, but Noel knew it was there. She still held onto it, that quiet belief that someday it would happen, and for now she simply held him while the small sleeping child beside Elena breathed softly in the quiet room.

"Have you decided his name?" Elena lifted her gaze toward Noel, the question carrying no pressure, only curiosity. They had spoken about it many times over the past months, names coming and going during those conversations, some suggested jokingly, others considered seriously for a while before being set aside. In the end none of them had ever settled on one. "Do you have one in mind?"

Noel lowered his eyes to the baby. The child was small, barely moving beneath the cloth except for the slow rhythm of his breathing. The newborn stirred again, his eyelids fluttering slightly before opening just enough to reveal the same bright emerald color Noel had already noticed earlier. "I would like to call him... Nicolas."

Selene’s hands loosened slightly where they rested around him. Both women looked at Noel for a brief moment, surprise giving way to understanding almost immediately. Nicolas. The director. A man who had guided Noel during some of the most important moments of his life in this world, who had believed in him when very few others had reason to, and who would never know this child carried his name.

Elena’s tired expression softened. She leaned slightly forward and looked down at the small face in her arms. "Hello, Nicolas," she whispered gently, repeating the name once more as if testing how it sounded in the quiet room. "That will be your name." The baby made a small noise in response, his fingers curling briefly as if reacting to the sound of her voice. Selene smiled faintly, and so did Noel.

After another moment Noel slowly stood from the chair. "I’ll call the healers back in." Elena nodded softly, still holding the child carefully against her chest, and Noel stepped toward the door. Behind him, the name settled into the room alongside everything else that had changed that day.