The warm glow of the morning sun filtered through the trees, casting dappled light on the muddy ground.
"Miss Sissy, I have important matters to attend to, so I won't go in for now. I'll come pick her up in a few hours," Ryan said as he bid farewell. He brushed aside a thin branch blocking his face and turned to leave.
"Won't you come in for a seat, Lord Ryan?" Sissy asked.
"No," the man replied without looking back.
"I haven't even told you what I was going to do yet～"
Celia stood by the door, peeking out secretly. She watched Ryan's figure gradually disappear from sight, and after a moment of daze, she pressed her back firmly against the door to close it, letting out a soft sigh of relief.
....I'm really home.
Celia had thought she would never return, that she would be imprisoned and tormented by that terrible Ryan. But unexpectedly, ever since she helped him lay the egg in her arms, his attitude had changed a lot.
Maybe being Ryan's wife wasn't such an unacceptable thing after all...
The living room was still spacious and bright. The firewood in the fireplace crackled, filling the air with the fresh scent of wood. They sat down on the sofa.
"So, how does it feel to be a girl? Not bad, right?" Sissy asked.
"It's not good at all—it hurts," Celia answered.
"What? Was he really that careless!" Sissy exclaimed.
"Lord Ryan is amazing!" Celia's ears turned red. She quickly shook her head to correct herself, "No.... I mean, giving birth to the baby hurt a lot...."
"Oh, I see...." Sissy suddenly realized, then broke into a meaningful smile.
"Haha, just kidding～" she said.
"My daughter did such a wonderful job this time. You've been wronged," Sissy comforted her.
"Mm..." Celia's eyes welled up with tears as she murmured, praising herself: "The baby I gave birth to isn't an ordinary one. Lord Ryan told me that the baby will have at least a fourth-rank status. I just don't know when it will hatch..."
"Fourth rank?" Sissy's comforting hand trembled sharply. Her fingertips shook as she asked carefully, "My Celia, did Ryan really tell you that?"
Back in the days when the elf clan was at peace, when humans launched their first large-scale invasion, the strongest in the clan was only a fourth-rank. Now the entire clan had declined. If they were to face humans again, the only one who could fight would be the clan leader Lili, a half-baked third-rank.
It was easy to imagine how difficult it was to reach the fourth rank. Yet Celia had now given birth to a fourth-rank elf. How could this news not surprise Sissy? This result was far more powerful than the third rank Lili had expected—it was almost a dimensionality reduction strike.
A strong sense of pride welled up in Celia. She pressed her cheek against the eggshell and said in a muffled voice, "Of course. I'm the one who gave birth to it."
"From now on, I'll be its mom... Well, even though I didn't want to be a mom. Being a dad would definitely be better, but now Lord Ryan is the dad, so I have to reluctantly be the mom, I guess..."
Though she said that, Celia actually preferred being the mom. After all, she had given birth to this baby with her own hands, and she really liked the identity of "mom."
"I'm looking forward to Celia becoming a good mom," Sissy said.
"But this child is really amazing. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Has Lord Ryan thought of a name yet?"
"Not yet..." Celia replied.
"Lord Ryan really isn't in a hurry at all," Sissy commented.
"By the way, what do you think of Ryan, Celia? Are you satisfied with him?" Sissy asked. "He's good-looking and so powerful. To be honest, even I was a little tempted just now～ Oh, no... I already have Lord Lego～"
"I don't like him... I used to be a boy, how could I like him?" Celia said.
"That can't be," Sissy touched her lips and thought carefully... "Maybe you just need to do it a few more times and then—"
"Stop talking!" Celia's cheeks flushed again. She sharply turned her head away and refused to pay any more attention.
Somehow, every time she chatted with her mother, the topic would always inexplicably turn to this kind of thing. She thought back—well.... that feeling, was it actually...?
In the time that followed, as the mother and daughter talked, under Sissy's teasing, the topic seemed to take a turn for the worse...
Deep in the forest, on an open space near Celia's parents' home, dozens of elves each held a branch as a weapon for casting spells. They stood in a formation, busily working away.
"Carl, did you see her this morning?" a middle-aged elf with short hair wiped his sweat and said with a smile to the boy beside him. "Celia's back. She was holding that egg in her arms—apparently it's a fourth-rank... How did she give birth so quickly?"
"It's a secret method, I think. The clan leader mentioned it before," Carl nodded and said. "I've watched that kid Kyle grow up since he was little. Now he's suddenly turned into a woman and even had a child with Ryan—it's really unbelievable."
"If I get the chance, I definitely want to take a good look at the egg."
"But Kyle has already become Ryan's wife.... I'm afraid we won't have much chance to see her. I just hope she's doing well by his side."
"Yeah, who would have thought?" the short-haired elf sighed. "But this is a good thing, isn't it? Our elf clan has a new hope now."
Carl fell silent for a moment. "Ah, the hope is great."
Not far away, Ryan leaned against a tree, watching the building slowly taking shape on the open ground.
"Is the crystal ball really gone?" he asked.
Lili sat cross-legged on the ground, propping her ankles with her arms, looking lazy and casual. "Gone... There was only one passed down from our ancestors."
"You'd better not be lying," Ryan stared at her coldly.
"It's true," Lili waved her hand. "Why would I lie to you?"
"If you're willing to trade it to me, having a few more children wouldn't be out of the question," Ryan said.
"I really don't have it anymore!" Lili insisted.
"All right," Ryan broke into a smile. He stood up straight and walked slowly towards the house under construction. A light breeze blew, and the air was filled with a strong aura of natural magic.