The Baby Isn’t Yours

She wasn’t sure what’s gotten into her, but perhaps it’s Sasha inside her belly that was urging her to feel that way.

Regardless, Kalia wanted to save it now.

One of the king’s eyebrows twitched. It was the gaze of a cruel ruler.

“You strange child. Step back. You can’t handle such a being. It’s an egg destined to die anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to let it die in peace?”

“This egg wants to live.”

Kalia said firmly.

“You are foolish. Are you implying that you feel for that thing?”

“Can’t the king see this hatchling’s struggling?”

“Everything alive struggles.”

“Everything alive struggles to survive.”

Their wordplay continued.

The Fairy King’s gaze grew colder, but Kalia didn’t back down.

“A baby dragon without a mother is bound to die.”

“Just because it lacks a mother doesn’t mean all will die. You, who understand the greatness of life, why are you saying such things?”

As she did, this dragon, too, would survive.

“If it has no magic, it will die.”

“Then we can provide it with magic.”

Kalia’s retort without backing down caused a subtle glint in the king’s eyes.

With a tone that seemed amused, he said:

“Who is going to provide the magic? Perhaps you mean your king? Or those pitiful magicians? That would make it even more troublesome.”

He raised his spear as if to say he didn’t want to hear anymore.

Kalia bit her lip. She wasn’t a match for him.

A difference in dignity that was on a completely different plane than lower demons.

If the king decided, even if her name was Kalia, opposing him was futile.

Above all, she was helpless at the moment.

However, at that moment, there was once again a presence blocking her way.

“…Gaia.”

The king’s daughter stood in front of him, blocking his way once more.

As if expressing a firm determination, a transparent barrier formed in front of Gaia.

At that point, Kalia couldn’t help but feel really strange.

Why was this fairy so desperately trying to protect her?

She had never seen this fairy before in her life.

Though their hair color was similar, but that alone didn’t warrant her to protect Kalia from her father’s wrath.

She wasn’t the only one who felt that strange.

The Fairy King also looked down at his daughter with complicated eyes.

Even though it was only a fragment left, the figure in front of him was still his daughter. Except for her last moments, she was a gentle child who had never disobeyed her father.

His daughter looked up at him with teary eyes and squeezed out a little more strength to solidify the shield.

In a state where only fragments of the soul remained, such a display of force would make the form of the soul waver.

Inevitably, the ends of her flowing golden hair became indistinct.

It was as if the tips of her hair, which had been fluttering in the air, were becoming blurry and disappearing.

Likewise, the shape of her feet and fingertips also faded.

The king heaved a sigh and eventually lowered his spear.

Could he wield his spear in front of his daughter, who had already died once?

Especially over an insignificant dragon egg.

“It seems… there’s something about you.”

He looked at the human woman before him. And the child writhing in her belly.

“…The color of your child’s soul is also peculiar.”

The king’s hand gently stroked his daughter’s hair.

With a touch that seemed to convey gentleness, the defensive barrier created by exerting her entire power disappeared.

Gaia looked up at him with a wronged face and pouted.

The king’s hand, which had faintly smiled, still reached out to the unyielding Kalia.

A momentary, gentle touch passed by.

It was like the wind, like rain, like the midday sun.

That hand touched her cheek and when it did, a drop of blood clung to the king’s fingertips.

It was a wound caused by a leaf that brushed against her cheek as she rushed toward Hemmie.

In the raised blood, moisture disappeared and soon, only the color of the soul remained, shimmering like a firefly.

White, purple, and red. These three colors intricately fused into one hue.

Kalia felt a peculiar sensation when she looked at it.

The Fairy King also stared at the child’s fingertips with an expression that seemed thoughtful.

The color of the child’s soul, which was just a little fingernail-sized, was wrapped in his hand.

When he grasped it tightly, the light disappeared.

The king enveloped his daughter’s shoulders as if nothing had happened.

Then he looked at Kalia, Hemmie, and the children behind her, and finally the dragon egg.

“It is time for all of you to return.”

Now the fairy forest was deep in the midst of the night. It was the time for the dark fairies to come out and be active.

With a single gesture of the king, a faint protective barrier appeared around Kalia and her group.

[Riella.]

In response to the king’s call, a space, no larger than a fist, blurred, and someone suddenly emerged.

A fairy with flowing jet-black hair where starlight flowed, black eyes without whites.

A fairy with a delicate, ethereal appearance circled around the king.

“Please lead these children safely out of the forest.”

Riella, the intermediate fairy of night and starlight.

As if she understood, she fluttered her beautiful wings and flew into the forest.

Following the fairy, a sprinkle of light dust scattered behind her, beckoning Kalia and her group to come closer.

“Oh.”

At that moment, Gaia, who had managed to escape her father’s grasp, grabbed Kalia’s wrist.

Her mumbling consisted of only three words.

-Come with me.-

Kalia’s bewildered eyes met the king standing behind Gaia.

* * *

‘…Fairies… Wealth… Foreign… Nobility… Gold…’

‘Disappeared… Without anyone… Knowing…’

‘Potion… Ingredients… Mysterious power… Healing all diseases…’

‘…The Ten Fairies…the Forest…the Fairy King…don’t know… the Crown Prince…the Duke of Magic… arrogant… General… Kalia missing.’

As Simon heard up to that point, his eyes suddenly widened.

The golden light in the darkness sparkled mysteriously.

Heaved a sigh that seemed to boil with a wrinkled face.

“…Phew.”

When he opened his eyes, it was still pitch black, and a momentary headache echoed through his head.

Each time he blinked his blurry eyes, his vision gradually recovered.

Breathing slowly and blinking several times.

The headache subsided, and his vision cleared completely. Simon stood before the paper spread out on the table.

When he extended his hand over the paper, all the voices that had been occupying Simon’s mind a while ago were laid out on the paper.

[If you sell fairies, you’ll make a fortune. An insane foreign nobleman is willing to pay a high price for fairies. Is it really the golden goose?]

[Even if he disappears, no one will look for him. You can proceed without anyone knowing.]

[They say it’s going to be an ingredient for a potion. A mysterious power that can cure all diseases!]

[How vast is the fairy forest? You only need to search ten on the outskirts. You can keep it a secret from the Fairy King.]

[Crown Prince? How powerful can a guy who’s not even an Emperor be? As long as it’s not for that damn bastard, the Duke of Magic. Rumor has it that even General Kalia is missing… Is it a threat?]

The black letters spread and moved on their own, forming words. Surprisingly, there was only one author behind all these words.

‘Marquis Aonti.’

The owner of the Aonti Marquisate, who had a vast expanse of wheat and corn fields, was an immigrant nobleman living in the Rojas Empire for four generations.

The last time Simon saw him, he glared at him as if he were going to kill him, as if he were dying from illness.

Simon had the power to cure his illness, but he refused to help him.

As his condition worsened, Simon grew resentful of the ailing nobleman and turned cold-blooded, heartless, and didn’t help him.

Simon wasn’t the only thing the Marquis hated.

The priests of God Argar, who were supposed to alleviate the suffering of the common people through the protection of divine power, were another group he hated.

The reason was similar. They didn’t put him first before taking care of the common people.

His disease was called ‘Tartacan’, which caused his hands and feet to rot, and it was not an easy disease to treat.

However, it wasn’t impossible.

But was there any reason why Simon should step forward and help a stranger?

While pouring in his magic for days and days.

The same was true for the priests of God Argar.

Argar God was the guardian deity of wanderers and mortals.

They put the poor and grieving first. It’s not like divine power was in overflowing abundance.

After treating the Marquis Aonti, they would be unable to care for the sick for ten days. 

Nonetheless, the Marquis Aonti hated Simon and the priests for all the reasons.

This happened about a year ago.

About a year ago, he had become noticeably healthier, Simon heard. His personality seemed to have changed somewhat, and he was busy moving about in social gatherings of the nobility.

At first, he seemed to act suspiciously by visiting only local nobles outside the Empire, and it seemed like he was involved in something not good.

Simon read the black letters wriggling on the paper with a calm expression.

The magic he was currently using was a magic called ‘informatization’ created by Simon alone.

It was a magic that lightly scattered magical power in a desired place to collect specific words, syllables, or waves.

Although it was more complex work than offensive or curative magic, the yield was good.

And it didn’t require a lot of magic power, so he could use it several times a day.

As long as there was no headache as if his brain were about to burst.

“Iru, Tierra.”

Simon called the fairy names in the fairy language with a low voice.