Six months.

Six months until Gadiel becomes half-spirit.

Not much time left, so I decided to include Elen in Gadiel’s dream, just in case.

On the day the Dual Goddesses are coming, I asked Driltra to let us wait together.

Sitting on the sofa, the three of us chatting, Driltra suddenly snapped her head up.

“Hehe! Master’s coming!”

As Driltra said that, the whole space flared bright—four chairs and a table materialized out of nowhere.

Standing beside Gadiel, who bowed politely to the Dual Goddesses arriving in his dream, Elen waved and chirped, “Hello!”

“Ah, hello.”

“Ahaha, hello. Did we interrupt something?”

“No, no! Not at all!”

Elen flailed her hands wildly, flustered, and the Dual Goddesses giggled.

“Fufu, we heard from Driltra. You don’t want to hear your little brother’s thoughts anymore, do you?”

“Fufu, did someone pull a prank on you?”

Guess I was teased. And, as always, completely predictable.

Elen, her cheeks tinged faintly pink, said, “That’s right…” and made a request to the Dual Goddesses. Next to her, Gadiel suddenly looked downcast.

“You’re fine just as you are, you know?”

“Ugh—!”

Elen turned bright red and smacked Gadiel lightly on the shoulder.

Gadiel, grinning like a fool despite the smack, and Elen, face blazing red—watching their playful scuffle, the Dual Goddesses smiled fondly.

“But Elen-chan, I think you’ll forget it all in a flash.”

Elen froze mid-slap, startled by Vol’s words.

“Huh? W-why?”

“Aw, Elen-chan. You know, once your little brother becomes half-spirit, you’ll be able to communicate telepathically with him.”

“Ah—!”

“Could you please explain that in more detail, Goddess-sama?”

"Gadiel doesn’t need to know yet!"

I’d thought it was worth it—just for a little while, Gadiel’s pranks would calm down—but I’d completely forgotten about the telepathy thing.

Gadiel’s now thoroughly intrigued, wondering if there’s another way.

She puffed out her cheeks slightly, trying to scowl at Gadiel with a “No way” expression.

Then, from behind her, the Dual Goddesses each jabbed one of Elen’s cheeks—Voorl and Vaar, one on each side.

"Elen-chan, your cheeks are like a little squirrel’s!"

"Really, they totally are!"

The poking from both sides made Elen’s face twist into a pouty, little-rodent grimace.

Gadiel saw it and let out a soft “Huh,” which made Elen flush crimson—so she smacked him again, *pat pat*.

＊＊＊

Six months into that kind of back-and-forth in a dream, Origin finally went into labor, and Elen and Lovell were pacing back and forth in separate rooms.

Lovell had been through it with Elen before, but Elen was experiencing it for the first time.

She’d attended several workshops at the newly established midwifery clinic in Vanclift’s healing house, but now that it was actually happening, she couldn’t calm down.

“Huh… even though it’s the second time, I still can’t get used to this…”

Lovell sat on the sofa, hunched forward, hands clasped, forehead resting on them. Elen, on the other hand, was glued to the table, muttering to herself as she scribbled something furiously onto paper.

A pile of dictionaries lay scattered across the table, and she kept flipping through them, muttering “no, not this one, not that one…” as if searching for something.

“Elen, what are you doing?”

Finally, curious enough to peek over her shoulder, Lovell leaned in from behind.

The paper listed instructions on changing baby diapers,注意事项 about feeding, and how to prepare bathwater for childbirth.

"...Probably something handed out at the clinic?"

"Exactly!"

"...This is really hard to say, but, Elen, that’s a wet nurse’s job, you know?"

Instantly, Elen’s face went *Gah!*—a full-blown shock.

"Wha—? Wait, you’re not going to do it!?!"

"I get it. I tried doing it for you once and got *so* yelled at. I doubt I’ll get to this time around..."

"Whaaaat!?!"

Even in the Spirit World, it seemed, the queen’s child was treated no differently than a noble’s in the human realm.

Elen had volunteered at the midwifery station in Vanclift territory, practicing ahead of time.

Lovell had noticed her doing it—had known all along that she’d probably wanted to do it when her brothers were born, but had never had the guts to say so.

"In this day and age, men should be involved in childcare too!"

"Wait? Yeah, I heard that at the clinic too."

"It's got nothing to do with a wet nurse! I'm doing it because I want to! That's the point!"

"Hah! Yeah, you're right, Elen! I think so too!"

Despite how much Elen had begged Lovell to stop clinging to her child, seeing Elen herself now acting just like Lovell made the maids waiting in the room pale with shock.

"Ahh... I just want to stay by Orie's side forever..."

"Me too..."

Both of them had been worrying nonstop about Origin. This state had lasted nearly ten hours.

"Hope the castle doesn’t collapse..."

"Wha—?!"

Elen gasped at Lovell’s quiet mutter.

Spirit births didn’t allow the father to be present.

Apparently, at the moment of birth, the clash of magic between parent and child was said to be extremely dangerous—prone to accidents.

I remember being utterly shocked when I heard that a newborn might kill its parent on the moment of birth.

And because of Origin’s immense power, the same strict security measures were in place as during Elen’s time.

Lovell was reinforcing the castle’s barrier alongside the spirits entrusted with guarding other castles—was he planning to break through it or something?

(Wait, Father, saying that right now? That’s a flag if I’ve ever seen one!)

Elen broke out in a cold sweat.

Knowing that Elen and Lovell’s waiting spot was the farthest from where Origin was located made her go pale.

“Back then, the castle was almost destroyed…”

“Sorry!! Sorry!!”

They were still talking about how bad it had been during Elen’s time.

Dooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn……

The castle trembled, shaking with a deep rumble from the direction of Origin.

“Is it happening?!”

“Whaaaaat?!”

The newborn’s cry and the rumble of the earth were way too loud.

Elen, still reeling from the cultural shock, scrambled to her feet alongside Lovell, who was already rushing up.

Then, in an instant—

Dooooooonnnnnnnnnn!

The second wave hit, and Elen and Lovell staggered.

“Huh?”

“Again?”

Elen and Lovell exchanged glances, then bolted toward Origin, hearts pounding.

***

On the other side of the layered magic circles, the Great Spirit, having noticed them, beamed with joy.

“Lord Lovell, Lady Elen, congratulations! You have twins—boy and girl!”

“Waaahhh, twins?!?”

“Nice going, Orl!”

A boy and a girl.

A new family had been born into this world.

Lovell and Elen embraced, eyes glistening, overwhelmed with joy.