The Baby Isn't Yours

Drop, drop.

Tears rolled uncontrollably and ran down Sasha’s cheeks and forehead.

The baby rolled his eyelids, his beautiful eyes trembling with mother’s tears falling on his face.

Kalia was puzzled.

She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t even think of wiping away her tears rolling down Sasha’s cheeks.

‘Oh, what’s wrong with me?’

She wasn’t sad, but felt strange, the tears didn’t want to stop.

Family? Family…

She found her family. Her family, her blood ties.

That one thought that crossed Kalia’s mind set her on fire.

In this whirlwind of unknown emotions, Kalia shed tears of helplessness.

“Oh my God.”

Kalexia wiped Kalia’s tears in embarrassment.

Kalia, with her eyes wide open and with tears in her eyes, looked very confused.

Looking at that figure in front of him, Kalexia’s heart sank. It was as if a sharp awl left by Gaia was scratching his chest.

It was too late. He found her too late.

“I’m very glad to see my blood.”

The heart of the old man, who forgot time, sank.

With guilt and remorse, he wiped away the tears of his granddaughter, whom he find about so late.

‘What makes me cry like that?’

Kalia looked at Kalexia with a strangely contorted face that couldn’t even frown properly.

It was strange to see her trembling with growing, shocked passion. Kalia didn’t know what face to make and how she would look.

The two feet that were firmly planted on the ground at any other time were wobbly. They seemed to be trembling. Even the hand holding Sasha seemed to have lost strength. It felt like her whole body was out of her control.

Kalia sighed and froze.

However, she was afraid that her body would collapse to the floor at any moment.

Until she felt a hand gently grab her shoulder.

“It’s okay, Kalia.”

A large and beautiful hand hugged Sasha, who was held by Kalia, and her at the same time.

Were his arms so big and wide?

Were they so warm?

“You can cry. Crying is okay.”

“…Simon.”

“Yes, Kalia,” he hugged her tightly and said quietly, pressing his lips to her forehead, “These are tears of happiness. Don’t be shy, don’t be afraid, just cry.”

His words comforted her.

His comfort caressed her.

Kalia closed her eyes tightly and rested her forehead against his shoulder.

“I will hug you, I will support you.”

“…Yes.”

Simon’s words turned into a spell, and Kalia sobbed heartily.

The tears that she had held back for over 20 years burst out and flowed nonstop.

She thought she wasn’t alone, but she always thought she was in fact alone.

She thought it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t have a family, but Kalia seemed to have a desire to have her family anyway.

“Ah, ah-ah. Hoo. Ah, hoo.”

Kalexia and siblings silently watched as Kalia wept softly, hugging the child and the magician.

* * *

After a while, the chaos and tears passed, and Kalia calmed down.

The siblings, who until then had remained silent, approached Kalia.

Hoa first said hello.

“Hi? I am Hoa. Well, it turns out… I’m your aunt,” she hugged Kalia, smiling shyly at the word ‘aunt’, “Nice to meet you, baby. Have you grown so strong and energetic? Whatever happens in the future, I will protect you and your baby.”

Kalia smiled silently and looked at her.

She wasn’t weak enough to be protected by anyone, anywhere, but she was pleased to hear it from Hoa.

“I’m Furiosa.”

Next up was a brash elf with long black hair hanging to one side.

He smiled sweetly and looked at Kalia and the child, then hugged them both together and whispered:

“Furiosa trees will be your friends. You can talk to me if you call me uncle wherever there are these trees.”

“Haha.”

Shouting ‘uncle’ would be a little embarrassing.

Kalia laughed in excitement.

Furiosa smiled knowingly and handed the line to his older brother.

The man who most closely resembled Kalexia stood in front of Kalia. He was much quieter than the others and had a grim expression on his face.

“Ganini,” He barely said his name after hesitating.

However, after a long time, he couldn’t find other words.

Kalia waited, but this time she spoke first.

“Nice to meet you, Ganini…”

‘Well, I suppose it’s better to start first?’

“Uncle?”

With trembling eyes, he looked at Kalia with a strange look.

His gaze darted between Kalia and her child.

Kalia saw his fingers tighten and thought he wanted to hold her baby.

“Do you want to hug him?”

When Kalia held out Sasha, she was embarrassed.

But he didn’t refuse.

Ganini silently embraced Sasha.

“I feel strange.”

“Because the baby is too small, isn’t he?”

Ganini smiled and looked back at Kalia.

“I think you were the same when Gaia gave birth to you,” he whispered with a sadder face. “We should have taken care of you then, but unfortunately we couldn’t.”

“It’s nobody’s fault.”

“No, it’s our fault. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here for so long.”

The man, who seemed more outspoken than anyone else, extended his other hand and hugged Kalia.

“It’s getting late, but will you accept us? As your family.”

In response to the hesitant mumbling near the end, Kalia hugged Ganini’s back.

* * *

“Can I talk to you for a minute? I want you to hear something.”

Before Kalexia and his children returned to the forest, Simon stopped them.

Kalexia looked at his children for a moment and nodded.

Kalia went inside to calm the hungry Sasha while Simon discreetly ushered them into a small living room on the fourth floor.

The fourth floor was already completely taken by Kalia, Simon and Derek. As a sign of gratitude and regret, he gave the lord’s family enough magic stones to protect not only Simon, but the whole castle. It was a gift that couldn’t be measured in money, so the lord’s family even expressed a desire to let them stay in the castle as much as they wanted.

However, because of this, Simon and Kalia’s group was able to fully use one floor of the lord’s castle without any burden.

“Yes, do you have something to say?”

“I hope you listen to this first.”

He got straight to the point.

Simon scattered the magic beads collected from the sound.

Soon, the sound coming from them unfolded with mana dispersed like mist.

The only parts leaked were those he wanted to show, and which would have made sense to listen to first for Kalexia, Gannini, Hoa and Furiosa.

<Aahhhhhh!>

<Help me!>

Violent cries of spirits.

At that moment, the faces of the fairies distorted at the same time. Even in the eyes of Kalexia, who usually kept his composure, a flame of bitter anger flared up.

“…What is that?”

Simon summarized the story.

How he was able to gather those voices and the tail of darkness he missed that day.

“Fortunately, I managed to save the squire and Kalia’s doctor, but I couldn’t catch the darkness, I quickly cut off its tail, but it ran away. In fact, I was careless, considering it as not the most important.”

Simon bluntly admitted his mistake and ruffled his hair with dry hands as if upset.

Hoa, Furiosa and Ganini followed Simon’s every move obsessively.

Simon, who glanced at the three fairies, said again as if it didn’t matter much:

“I tried to track the shadow, but it was already gone, so it was hard to find it.”

At that moment, Kalexia raised his hand.

“You don’t have to worry about the shadow.”

At that moment, Kalexia’s hand, which no one had seen before, appeared. Surprisingly, half of the last finger of the king’s left hand was missing.

Most of all, his children were surprised.

“Father!”

“Why is your finger…”

“What happened?”

“I gave it to the darkness… And I got this,” Kalexia said with a smirk, as if nothing had happened.

When he extended his hand and waved his palm, a black and blurry image appeared in the air.

“Dark vision.”

As the light gradually became brighter, black and white images began to appear.

They were the figures of a man and a woman, loosely intertwined, as if they didn’t care if the darkness saw them. A man with blood-red hair and a woman with black skin, as if burned by fire, were entangled in the primary colors.

<Oh yeah. Good!>

<Damon, Damon. You always make me happy.>

It wasn’t clearly visible, but until the field of view became blurred.

Simon squinted, trying to make out the faces of the woman and man.

The sinister red hair was oddly familiar.

Where ominous red hair was common…

The wizard’s heart sank rapidly.

At that moment, an excited female voice rang out.

<You make me too, Buford. My prince! And for me you are the best.>

Hearing this, Simon’s face turned cold.

‘That red hair. Yes, I’ve seen it before.’

The name is neither familiar nor unfamiliar.

Buford Adio.

The only enemy of the Akana Kingdom.

It was impossible to forget that man who brazenly tried to rip Kalia’s hat off.