More murmurs of shock went around, as Luca continued, his voice filled with excitement.

"The Goddess of Fertility had apparently already predicted such a problem would occur. She knew that I would have my own worries regarding this."

"And that’s why she created a solution on her own."

His eyes sparkled. "And that solution is right here!"

Without warning, he strode to Leona and to her startled squeak, lifted the hem of her dress and pointed at her belly, where the sacred mark over there was shining brightly.

"This mark right here is exactly the gift that she has given all of you!"

The revelation hit the assembled elves like a wave of warmth and wonder.

One by one, they lifted their dresses, peering down at their own bellies.

To their utter surprise, the marks were shining, a soft, gentle glimmer that pulsed like a second heartbeat.

Luca watched their reactions with a satisfied smile, his hands resting on his hips.

"Like I mentioned before, this is called a Sacred Mark."

He explained, his voice carrying across the now-silent crowd.

"But of course, before you didn’t know anything about it. You all had your own doubts regarding its meaning."

"You simply thought it was a mark that signified you belonged to me, that you were all pregnant right now."

He shook his head, a grin spreading across his face.

"But it’s not as simple as that."

The elves leaned forward, their curiosity piqued.

Luca continued, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

"This mark is actually the physical manifestation of the intimate connection between me and every single one of you."

He pointed at each of them in turn.

"The love we shared..."

"The words we spoke to one another, no matter how short they may be..."

"And especially the intimate moments we had together..."

He paused, and a few of the elves blushed at the implication.

"All of that..." Luca went on. "...is the very sacred manifestation of the divine connection that is settled right over your womb."

"Its purpose is to hold that connection and link you and me together all the time by—"

"Allowing you to conjure a projection of me anytime you want."

For a moment, no one moved. No one spoke.

The information was too massive, too incredible to process all at once.

Then, the dam broke.

"What?! We can call Luca whenever we want?!"

"My one personal Luca!"

"Am I dreaming?! Someone pinch me to see if I’m dreaming or not?!"

"That’s...That’s incredible! I’ve been caressing my belly all this time without even knowing I had such an ability!"

The elves were all pleasantly surprised. They all wondered if they would get to spend time with the father of their child.

More then that, they worried that the Luca would be absent in their children’s life and they’d grow up without a father’s love.

But this...This would solve all those problems!

But while most of the village was excited beyond belief, Luna and Leona exchanged glances, their minds racing with the possibilities.

Finally, Leona couldn’t contain herself any longer.

She grabbed onto the Luca beside her and held up his hand.

"This Luca over here..."

She said slowly, her eyes searching the main Luca’s face.

"Is he actually a clone? Does he have his own thoughts and mind?"

That was the question on everyone’s mind.

Even though they were pleasantly surprised to see so many Lucas, there was a nagging fear that perhaps these were just empty shells wearing his appearance.

That there was someone else underneath the familiar face.

Luca immediately shook his head, looking completely affronted.

"Of course not, Leona! Do you really think I’d let my beautiful wives hang out with some empty puppet that just looks like me?"

He clicked his tongue in mock disgust.

His expression then softened, and he chuckled.

"Look, I don’t know the exact magical science behind it. That’s a question for the Goddess of Fertility. But what I do know is that every single Luca you see standing here right now...is me."

He pointed at them one by one.

"There’s no separate consciousness."

"There’s no separate thoughts."

"Every single one of them is me and me only."

"What I see, is what they see. And what they see is what I see."

He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

"We’re all basically the same. We all share the same one consciousness."

To prove his point, he gestured to the Luca standing nearest to him.

That Luca spoke first, his voice identical to the original:

"Like how..."

Then another Luca across the clearing picked up seamlessly:

"...we can trade off sentences..."

A third Luca chimed in down the line: "...to explain things to you guys..."

A fourth Luca added right on beat: "...without any lag or hesitation..."

And then, in perfect, booming unison, every single Luca in the courtyard spoke together:

"...because every single one of us is thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time."

The effect was astonishing. The elves gasped, their eyes wide with amazement.

The coordination was flawless, each Luca picking up exactly where the other left off, as if they were all reading from the same script. Which, in a way, they were—the script of a single consciousness.

Luna couldn’t contain her excitement any longer.

She raised her hand like a schoolgirl eager to be called upon.

"Can I test it? Can I please test what you’ve said right now?"

Luca chuckled warmly. "Of course, Luna. Go ahead."

Luna immediately grabbed the Luca by her side and spun him around so that he was facing away from the main Luca.

She made sure the Luca who was speaking couldn’t see what she was doing.

Then, she held up four fingers and looked over at the main Luca with anticipation.

"How many fingers did I show, Luca?" She asked, her voice filled with excitement. "If you truly have the same consciousness, then you would have no need to look, right?"

Luca didn’t hesitate. "It’s four fingers, right?"

Luna jumped up in astonishment, her eyes wide as saucers.

"It’s true! I really showed four fingers! He could see what the other Luca saw!"

Lulu, never one to be left out, immediately wanted to try her own test.

She pulled the Luca in front of her down to her level and whispered something into his ear, her expression mischievous. Then she looked over at the main Luca with barely contained anticipation.

"What did I say to this Luca over here?" She demanded. "Can you tell me that?"

She thought for sure she would stump him—that her question was too specific, too personal.

But Luca just smiled tenderly, his eyes soft with affection.

"You said..."

He began, his voice filled with amusement.

"that Lulu is the cutest, most adorable elf princess in the entire world. And that everyone should bow down before her great beauty."

Lulu’s face immediately flushed with embarrassment and joy.

"I really did say that!" She squealed. "That was exactly what I whispered to him!"

She spun around, pointing at the other elves triumphantly.

"See? See? I’m the cutest! Even projection Luca agrees!"

Some elves shook their heads, amused by her antics, while other elves getting even more convinced.

But then Nyx stepped forward, a glint in her eyes that made everyone wary.

She turned her own Luca around, then pulled out a small dagger from somewhere within her robes.

With practiced precision, she poked a certain part of his body and looked over at the main Luca with a charming, dangerous smile.

"Tell me, Hero." She purred. "What part am I poking right now?"

The main Luca immediately grabbed his own crotch in a protective gesture, his face contorting with pain.

"Nyx, don’t you dare point that dagger over my penis!" He shouted, his voice cracking with alarm.

"Even though he’s a simple projection, he’s still me! And I can feel that as well!"

It was true. Nyx was indeed stabbing the projection Luca’s penis with her dagger, and the main Luca was clearly feeling the phantom pain.

Several elves winced in sympathy, while others couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

From there, chaos erupted in the best possible way.

Everyone wanted to try it out on their own—to ask questions to the other Luca, to play games that would test whether their Lucas were truly connected.

The older elves joined in on the fun, eager to confirm that everything was exactly as Luca had said.

"What’s my favorite color?"

"What did I say to you three days ago?"

"What’s the name of my childhood pet?"

"If I’m thinking of a number between one and ten, what is it?"

"You said I look like a certain animal. Which animal is that?"

And to everyone’s shock and surprise, it was exactly as Luca had said.

No matter what they asked or how they tried to disprove his theory, Luca managed to answer everything smoothly, almost as if he really was connected to all of them.

""It’s really him." One elf whispered, her eyes shining with tears of relief. "It’s not a trick. Every single one of them is our Luca."

"Yeah, I checked everything." Another agreed, leaning happily against her projection’s shoulder. "There’s no stranger under this skin. This is 100% our husband."

The murmurs of affirmation spread like wildfire, completely dissolving the last remnants of doubt in the village.

But right as everyone was celebrating, a loud, dramatic protest cut through the noise.

"Hold on a second! I think my Luca is a defective bootleg!"

It was Ivy. She was tugging fiercely on the arm of her Luca, who was just looking down at her with an incredibly amused, relaxed expression.

"Look!" She pointed dramatically at a massive boulder near the village edge. "The real Luca could lift that with one finger! He could probably juggle three of them while composing poetry!"

"But this one—" She poked her Luca’s chest. "—can’t even budge it!"

Many eyes snapped back to the original Luca, waiting for his defense.

Luca held up his hands in a peaceful surrender, a slightly sheepish chuckle escaping him.

"Okay, okay, fair point. Let me clarify one thing. Even though he is me, the projections don’t inherit my crazy, overpowered combat stats."

"They can’t leap over mountains, they can’t shatter forests with a single punch, and they’re basically built with standard human strength."

He rubbed the back of his neck, grinning.

"Honestly, just imagine if there were fifty different versions of me running around with world-breaking demi-god powers."

"What do you think would happen then?"

The mental image made a few of the elders shudder.

Luca was already a walking natural disaster when he got serious.

Multiplying that level of destructive force by fifty would probably result in the accidental leveling of the entire continent.

"The Gods on the human side would probably lose their minds and trash the mortal realm themselves if they saw that kind of power imbalance."

Luca joked.

"So yeah, unfortunately, your personal Lucas won’t be pulling off any impossible physical miracles."

A brief, collective "aww" of disappointment went through the crowd.

But Luca immediately held up a finger, brightening the mood.

"But! They can do literally everything else!"

"Want to go for a casual stroll? Done!"

"Need help chopping veggies or cooking a massive family dinner? He’s on it!"

"Want someone to help carry the laundry, fold clothes, or just sit and talk through the night? He’s all yours!"

"He’s essentially a normal, human version of me, and honestly, for everyday life, there’s no difference."

The disappointment vanished instantly, replaced by pure excitement.

An elf tightly gripped her Luca’s arm, her eyes sparkling like stars.

"Wait—so does that mean I can finally take you to the deep forest?"

She asked breathlessly before shyly saying,

"The truth is I’ve been wanting to show you this beautiful hidden flower meadow I found, Luca."

"But you’re always so busy and surrounded by everyone else that I never got the chance..."

"Of course!" Luca nodded warmly. "By going with him, it’s the same as going with me. Whatever you tell him is whatever you tell me. There’s no difference. We can go flower watching together."

The elf’s eyes shone like stars. It was as if her dream had finally been achieved.

Another elf stepped forward, practically bouncing on her heels.

"What about stargazing?! My dream has literally always been to stay up all night, pointing out silly fake constellations with my partner and just talking until the sun comes up."

"Can I do that with you, Luca?"

"No problem at all." Luca promised. "When you’re talking to your projection, you’re talking to me."

"And don’t worry—just because there are fifty of me operating at once doesn’t mean my brain is going to lag or start stuttering like a broken machine."

"The Goddess optimized the blessing completely."

"It’ll feel just as smooth and personal as a one-on-one date."

The elf let out a joyful squeal, already mapping out her perfect stargazing night, looking up at her personal Luca with an expression of pure bliss.

But amidst the joyous chatter, a tiny, quiet voice broke through.

It was Lisa, Esme’s daughter. The little girl stepped out from behind her mother, her big eyes looking up with intense hope.

"Daddy..." She asked softly. "Does this mean you can always stay right next to Mommy now?"

"Like...you’ll never have to leave her alone by herself again?"

The question made many of the elves go still.

"Mommy has always lived a lonely life."

Lisa continued, her voice growing quieter.

"My actual father always treated her harshly. Because of that Mommy always had a sad look on her face, even though she smiled all the time."

The elves grimaced, their hearts aching for Esme and her daughter.

Esme herself had a sorry look on her face, tears welling in her eyes at her daughter’s words.

Lisa looked at Luca with pleading eyes.

"So is it possible that Mommy can finally be happy right now?"

"Happy to be with someone who will actually gives her the love she deserves?"