The baby's cries lingered softly in the air, pure and gentle, like a beam of light piercing through the clouds. The rain faded completely, leaving only the whisper of the wind. Whoooosh...
King Arden wiped the sweat from his brow, the tension in his shoulders slowly melting away. Then — TAP! TAP! TAP! — hurried footsteps once again echoed in the corridor.
The door opened, and Sir Rowan reappeared, this time alongside the Royal Mage, a tall man with a white beard and a deep-blue robe, his staff still crackling faintly with residual magic.
— Your Majesty! — Rowan gasped, though a rare smile tugged at his lips. — All the workers at the warehouse have been found! No serious injuries — no deaths at all!
The king blinked, stunned.
— None…?
The mage stepped forward, leaning on his staff.
— As for the dam, my king… — he said, still catching his breath. — I managed to stabilize it in time. The landslide diverted the water by sheer chance. It was as if… fate itself intervened.
For a moment, the room fell completely silent.Only the sound of the newborn breathing remained.
The king exhaled, long and deep. Relief spread through his body like warmth returning after frost.
— Praise the Goddess of Light… — he murmured.
And then— the world stopped.
VUUUUSH!
A golden light tore through the heavens above Eldenfall, piercing the storm clouds like a divine spear. The brilliance was so pure, no shadow could resist it.
Guards in the courtyard dropped to their knees, blinded by the radiance. The midwives covered their faces, weeping in awe.
And across the entire continent of Solmera — the vast empire from which Elara hailed, the mightiest force in the known world — the same light filled the sky.
From the frozen north of Valkyren to the burning deserts of Sahrat, every eye turned upward.
And a voice echoed within every mind:
"I bless thee, child of Arden of Eldenfall and Elara, Fifth Princess of the Empire of Solmera. All that thou shalt do in life shall bear the blessing of a god."
The voice shook the world itself.
In the holy kingdom of Lumenveil, priests and archbishops ran through their temples in panic, their prayers tangled with fear. Across other realms, messengers were dispatched, kings summoned councils, and mages argued in disbelief.
But inside that room— none of it mattered.
For Elara, the world had vanished. There was only her child, warm and breathing softly in her arms.
She gazed at him through tear-filled eyes, her voice gentle and calm — a complete contrast to her earlier fury.
— My baby… — she whispered, brushing her fingers through his golden hair. — I swear, by all that I am… I will protect you from everything and everyone.
Outside, the sun broke through the clouds.Birds began to sing again.And so dawned the first day of the Child of Luck—while the rest of the world trembled, trying to understand what had just been born.