Khal frowned and tilted his head.

What was he talking about? Hadn’t he been planning to go to the Magic Kingdom without Ruby?

“Don’t check anything first. Just... just tell her to stay still.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I can’t make her bear even this alone...”

Just then, a short tremor ran through the depths of the cave.

“Your Grace?” 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Whoosh—boom! A muffled roar rolled along the wall.

Apparently, a cave magical beast had been hiding inside.

“Khalid.”

Leon tightened his grip on his sword.

“We have no more time to delay. Let’s find the exit.”

The two of them hurriedly took the child and climbed back up the cliff.

The girl, who had been sobbing her eyes out, still had not recovered from the shock of learning that what she had received was a self-destruct magic tool. Only then did she barely manage to speak.

“Th-That cave is covered in illusion magic...”

“You don’t look impressive enough to cast magic over that entire cave.”

When Khalid shot the words at her coldly, the child flinched back, then opened her mouth again.

“The high-rank magical beast sleeping in that cave uses illusion magic. I only drew it out as far as the entrance... The deeper you go, the higher the concentration of magic will be.”

Leon, who had been listening silently, stepped in.

“You said illusion magic digs into a person’s weak points, didn’t you?”

“Yeah... Most people can get out if they realize it’s fake and overcome it, but... if the magical beast attacks during that...”

“Then His Grace won’t be taken down.”

“Really...?”

“He is not weak.”

Leon said it with absolute certainty.

*****

Leviathan cut down the magical beasts pouring out as if they had been waiting for him.

To think this kind of magical beast was sleeping here.

The children could have been hurt.

With a chilling thought, he strode through the cave scattered with black fog.

“Haah...”

He wanted to get out of here quickly and meet Rubian, or Rosetta. And he wanted to confirm it.

Crack. The note crumpled carelessly in his hand.

Ngh... It hurts...

Small illusions appeared and vanished again and again, trying to catch at his steps.

For instance, Rubian crying after she had fallen.

Ah... It’s Father...

The face of young Boyd, afraid of him and running away.

You really don’t understand me, after all.

Liam’s back, after he had touched a book without permission, slammed the door, and refused to speak to him.

Rosetta leaving him. His father, losing his once-strong form and wasting away. His mother, who had died as if falling asleep after a long illness...

All of them touched something inside him. Moments that hurt to see. Moments that frightened him. Moments he regretted.

So this is illusion magic.

Leviathan swung his sword again and erased the fakes.

“...Hoo.”

Though overcoming Rubian on the battlefield, looking up at him in that grimy state, was the hardest of all.

In any case, he moved forward, defeating the darkness that clung wetly to his ankles.

Squeak, squeak. Khalid’s squirrel wriggled on his shoulder as if cheering him on.

When a fork in the path appeared, it darted off somewhere, then pointed to the left-hand path.

“You’re the best-behaved child here.”

Leviathan followed the squirrel and walked toward the left. The distinct presence of a magical beast grew stronger and stronger.

If he defeated the high-rank magical beast guarding this cave, he would likely find the exit there as well.

< How does it feel to have had something stolen from you without even knowing it was stolen? >

Along with the contents of the note, all kinds of thoughts spun round and round.

Stolen... from me.

There was only one thing that had been stolen from him in his entire life.

He panted and clutched the left side of his chest. Inside were the locket containing baby Rubian’s portrait and the locket containing the family photograph.

An ominous premonition crawled up Leviathan’s spine.

He did not know what he should wish for.

Whether he should hope his child was alive, or whether that was too cruel, and he should hope it was not true.

He did not know.

For now... keep going.

His steps did not stop.

“Squeak!”

Just then, a low growl sounded. The squirrel on his shoulder shot off somewhere and fled.

Sparks flashed in Leviathan’s eyes.

A magical beast.

The moment he adjusted his grip on his sword—

Plink.

The sound of a droplet falling from the ceiling rang out.

His eyelids blinked once on reflex.

“...Huh.”

And before his eyes unfolded the cozy view of a dining room.

“I’m pregnant.”

A woman with lush pink hair said it. The scene gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Leviathan frowned and lowered his gaze.

Why were there a fork and knife in his hands? Where had his sword gone?

“I’m carrying a baby.”

“...”

“Your child and mine.”

Crash! He shot to his feet.

Damn illusion magic...

Apparently, it was digging through his memories and showing them to him.

From the situation, it seemed to be the moment Rosetta first told Leviathan about her pregnancy.

Was it because he had entered the place where the high-rank magical beast was? It was so vivid, it was almost indistinguishable from reality.

“I love you, Leviathan.”

Plink.

Another droplet fell.

As if he had blinked, the scene changed in an instant.

“I’m going to visit my family home for a bit. Father is ill.”

Rosetta was packing.

Her round, swollen belly was so overwhelming and lovely just to look at that it made his chest ache.

Leviathan looked down at his hands again. Both were now empty.

Only the sensation from the first time he had felt the baby move remained vivid.

What should these hands do now?

“I was wrong.”

Beg.

When he hugged Rosetta from behind, she briefly glared at him.

“At least you know that? I told you. Del really is just my friend. He came to congratulate me on the pregnancy, so I went out and treated him to a meal. Was that really worth... tormenting me all night?”

“You’re pregnant, so I barely tormented you at all... Fine. I understand.”

Leviathan, who had obediently raised the white flag, thought for a moment, then slowly ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek.

“But why are you calling him by a pet name again?”

“Hah.”

“He has a perfectly good, long name. Delivius.”

Rosetta let out an incredulous laugh.

“You just said the answer yourself, didn’t you? Because it’s long. And long!”

“...”

“See? You haven’t reflected at all. Go away.”

As Rosetta waved him off and tried to move away, Leviathan hugged her tightly again.

“No, I have. I mean it.”

“Why don’t you just lock me up in the castle entirely? While you’re at it, replace all the servants with women.”

“I didn’t realize... that was an option.”

“There is no talking to you.”

Rosetta roughly shut the trunk lid with her foot. Outside, the lady’s maid waiting for her lifted a mountain of luggage.

“Anyway, I’ll be back. Make sure you clean up the magical-beast suppression properly... And don’t get hurt.”

Before he knew it, Rosetta was already in the carriage.

Because magical beasts had been appearing frequently in the north, his wife had startled awake from sleep often these past few days. As she remained tense, her stomach had also tightened frequently.

In the end, Leviathan had moved the spring suppression campaign forward, and Rosetta had decided to leave for a nearby estate to recuperate in the meantime.

Just then, news arrived that her adoptive father was ill, so her destination had naturally been set as the west.

“...All right.”

When he nodded, the carriage departed.

Leviathan stared blankly at it.

Don’t go.

It felt as if someone shouted it.

Don’t let her leave!

At the voice that struck like lightning, he hurriedly ran forward and stopped the carriage.

“Rose, Rosetta!”

“Leviathan?”

“Don’t go. Please. Please, don’t go.”

“What’s wrong? You’re... covered in cold sweat.”

Rosetta opened the carriage door with a startled face.

“Send Father a letter. This doesn’t feel right. I’ll eliminate every magical beast, no matter what it takes. You’ll be safe if you stay inside the castle. So.”

“...”

“Don’t go.”

“Leviathan.”

“Don’t go. I’m begging you.”

Please.

Thud. Leviathan knelt in front of the carriage. A shocked Rosetta stepped down on the footstool the servants brought over.

“All... right, I won’t go. So get up. What are you doing?”

Feeling the soft embrace that wrapped around him, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Thank goodness.

Truly, thank goodness...

Plink.

Somewhere, the sound of a droplet falling rang out.

He did not notice.

The birth was agony.

Simply tumbling down the stairs, getting bitten hard by a magical beast’s teeth, or having someone beat him senseless with a club seemed as though it would hurt less than this.

He was so nervous and uneasy that his heart felt ready to leap out of his mouth. Not only his mind, but his entire body hurt.

And if he felt this way, how much worse must it be for Rosetta?

Leviathan trembled as he paced around the drawing room.

Beside him, Balrok sat collapsed on the floor, utterly dazed. It seemed he had exhausted all his strength after causing an enormous commotion, demanding that they save his daughter-in-law.

No. This doesn’t seem right at all.

My wife suffering like this is fundamentally unreasonable.

Leviathan’s reason snapped cleanly, and just as he was about to leave the room without knowing what he was even going to do—

“Y-Y-Y-Your Grace!”

Adolf came running, his face a complete mess.

“The baby is born! The baby is born!”

“Wha—!”

Balrok sprang to his feet.

At that moment—

WAAAAAH!

As if promised, a powerful baby’s cry burst out and shook the entire ducal castle.

“Ha...!”

Leviathan staggered a little, then quickly ran to the birthing room.

He stroked Rosetta, who was drenched in cold sweat, whispered that he loved her, pressed his lips to her, and held back the tears that kept trying to escape.

Then he met the child wrapped in swaddling clothes.

“Do you see her? She is a very pretty little princess.”

“Ah...”

A wrinkled little creature that could not even open her eyes properly was there.

Small.

...And ugly.

Leviathan thought it before he knew it.

But what a strange thing.

In this brief span of time, so short it was barely even an instant, it was possible to fall this completely in love with someone.

Such a being existed in this world.

Then the baby’s eyelids fluttered.

“Oh my. She takes after Lady Rosetta’s blue eyes exactly.”

After the lady’s maid confirmed the eyes that had shown for just a moment, Rosetta, who was being attended to at a distance, murmured.

“Then Ruby...”

“What?”

Leviathan quickly went closer to hear the whisper.

“If we name her Ruby... you’ll be in it too.”

His wife’s face, smiling faintly as she looked at his purple eyes.

I see.

Then your name must inevitably be Ruby.

“Your Grace, would you like to hold her?”

“...Me?”

He checked whether his hands were clean. What was this? Why had he thought they were soaked in blood?

It isn’t as if I was defeating magical beasts.

Shaking his head, Leviathan carefully received the baby.

“Ruby...”

The warmth and weight of that tiny, delicate thing were tremendous beyond words.

“Our Ruby.”

Leviathan’s world turned upside down.

If this was a dream, he did not want to wake.