In the room, where the light of the streetlamp softly seeped in,

Tie’s sleeping back rose and fell evenly.

Leaning against the wall, Theseos silently watched the child’s face.

“Papa! Papa—!!”

The moment he first saw Astie surfaced in his memory.

A bluish, shimmering sea.

Astie, standing unsteadily on the pier, calling out to him.

The words the child had sobbed out before falling asleep still echoed in his head.

“I want to keep living with Grandma and Auntie......”

‘......Actually, that’s only natural.’

Astie had not yet even turned five.

And four of those years she had spent entirely here, with these people.

‘Even if I’m included in that, since she doesn’t remember me, I’m the exception.’

White cheeks. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Eyelashes trembling faintly at the edges of her closed eyes, as if she were dreaming.

“Why......”

Theseos murmured.

“...then why does everything inside twist like this.”

“Tallocium is good too, but Tie likes this place.”

Why did those words make his heart feel like it was dropping.

Theseos closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall.

His head throbbed with pain.

“I want to eat kimchi......”

The child’s complaints at the base during meals came back to him.

“Kimchi! Rinse it with water! Cut it! Put it on rice with odeng!”

“What even is odeng!”

“Eomuk!”

“What?”

“With seaweed, kimchi, and odeng! Hiiing......”

At first, he hadn’t paid it much attention.

For a four-year-old child, being picky about food was normal.

But what Astie wanted to eat couldn’t be found not only in the Empire—but anywhere on the entire continent.

“Tie. Then at least explain how it’s made.”

“How it’s made?”

“Yes. If you tell me the exact recipe, I’ll try. What ingredients are needed?”

“Ingredients... mm, cabbage......?”

“Cabbage? It’s not grown on this continent.”

“No, normal cabbage. Long and big. You bathe it first.”

“You bathe cabbage?”

“Yes! Then you sprinkle spicy powder, really spicy! Then mix it and pour fish-smelling soy sauce!”

“.......”

“And you put the vegetables in a jar, a lot, and give one to the neighbors.”

At the time, he didn’t understand.

But now, looking back, he realized.

In Tallocium, Astie had missed this place.

More precisely—the entire life she had lived here.

“...There’s no forsythia here?”

“Forsythia?”

“There are no yellow flowers at all. And no hibiscus. This garden is stupid!”

“Hey, kid! I spent all day flying around making you this flower garden, and this is how you act?!”

“...Hiiing......”

“W-what is it? Why are you suddenly crying?”

Even just looking at an ordinary garden, she would suddenly start sniffling.

“I’ll erase all the fairy drawings from the ceiling in Tie’s room.”

“Squad Leader! You like those, don’t you? Why erase them? They’re even on our uniforms.”

“...I’ll erase them from the uniforms too.”

“Why......?”

“Because they don’t move!”

“What?”

“They don’t move at all! Motionless fairies aren’t cute! Not pretty!”

Sometimes she would suddenly get angry even at the fairy drawings she loved.

And now the reason had become clear on its own.

[Shine, shine! Let’s gather glowing hearts! Sparkle~ Beam!]

[I won’t forgive those who make friends cry! Disappear, dark shadow! Bloom attack!]

On the television screen, they moved.

They laughed exaggeratedly, cried.

Sometimes they collapsed from exhaustion after fighting villains.

“Tonapang is the best! [N O V E L I G H T] Transformation pyra, strike!”

And then Tie laughed and cried along with them.

She spoke, she moved.

As if the fairies beyond the screen were greeting her.

“Having two homes is sad.”

The child’s sleepy murmur echoed in his head.

“And it’s sad that Papa forgot Tie.”

“......”

“For Tie, every day is only sad things.”

His chest tightened.

Theseos clenched his fist.

And at that moment—

“...?”

Something faintly glimmered in the chest of the child lying on her side.

Theseos quietly approached Astie.

And carefully lifted the blanket covering her neck.

“What is this?”

He wasn’t mistaken.

Beneath the child’s pajamas,

a dim yellowish light was seeping through.

“Marbas.”

Theseos called him immediately.

Marbas, who had been waiting in the corner, jumped and flew over.

“Check it.”

Marbas tilted his head.

[Check it? I don’t know either.]

Theseos frowned.

After a moment’s thought, he reached out and slightly pulled down the child’s collar.

Beneath the exposed collarbone,

something was moving inside her skin.

[There’s something under her skin!]

Marbas jumped.

Theseos silently stared at the pulsing light.

After a while, he frowned, recalling something.

‘Come to think of it.’

He remembered the moment they had been dragged into this world.

The battle at the clock tower.

The heart of the plant-type magic crystal hidden in the underground passage of the old palace.

When their group met Ardianna’s group again, she had already driven her sword into the heart of the magic crystal.

‘She was badly injured.’

And completely consumed by magical energy.

At that time, he had felt conflicted emotions.

Concern for Ardianna.

And at the same time, relief—the crystal’s power had run out, the battle would soon end, at least Astie would be safe.

But in the next moment, something unexpected happened.

‘Light.’

From the heart of the magic crystal, which should have been drained of power, something unknown burst out.

It shone like the sun.

It rose upward, almost touching the ceiling of the tunnel—

“...No way.”

—and then plunged straight into Tie’s chest.

Theseos swallowed.

‘Why did I forget this?’

The moment they arrived in this world, this should have been the first thing to check.

But they had been thrown into a place he had never been before.

And Tie had looked completely healthy, so he forgot.

After the light entered Tie’s heart, the space around them distorted.

A passage suddenly opened, and it was what pulled Astie and Theseos into this place.

“We need to check it.”

Theseos gathered holy power in his right hand.

“I can’t control magic because of the seal. But this......”

Cold sweat formed on his forehead.

Ever since a seal had been placed on his heart in childhood, using holy power outside of his sword always brought pain.

But now was not the time to fear pain.

Theseos placed his palm on Astie’s chest.

And carefully directed his power toward the pulsing light beneath her skin.

But—

“...Ha?”

What was inside the child’s chest violently repelled him.

With such force that a heavy pressure traveled from his palm, through his arm, all the way to his head.

[Do you feel something?! Don’t tell me this is a new type of magical beast! Something like a parasite living inside a host......!]

Marbas turned pale and began jumping.

Resisting the force pushing him back, Theseos dropped to one knee.

Between Astie’s body and his palm, two energies clashed.

What was strange was that the child continued to sleep peacefully the entire time.

“...Damn.”

Theseos bit the inside of his cheek.

Realizing he couldn’t back down, he gathered his strength and increased the pressure.

And at that moment—

“Do not push it away.”

The back of his neck stiffened, and a voice thundered in his ears.

“Do not intrude.”

Theseos froze.

And slowly raised his head.

The dark room suddenly filled with light.

“From the moment I planted the sprout, this place became mine.”

The floor was instantly covered in green moss.

Stems crept along the walls, and hundreds of leaves bloomed.

A golden eye opened in the air, staring at Theseos.

“This life is my next root.”