Some time passed, until Sofia was three months—a tiny menace who thought her father's hair was sometime to test her grip on.
"Ow, ow, ow! There she goes again!" Chronos yelped while trying to loosen her grip. "Why is she just like her mother?!"
She giggled, watching her father's face distort into a funny expression. Her dark eyes gleaming in joy.
"Because... She decided you have bullied her mother enough. Now it is time for your punishment." Fina spoke from beside him. She slowly reached out her finger to trace her baby's nose.
For some reasons, Aefia was only interested in the loose gold ring on her index finger. She somehow used her chubby fingers to pull it off, then threw it onto the ground.
Then happily babbled away as she saw her parents' shocked faces.
They both blinked at the strength of a week old baby.
"She is..." Chronos began, pausing to find the right vocabulary to describe her.
"Going to break Victoria's and Silence's bones." Seraphina continued for him, then smiled as she reached out to take Sofia off his arms. Resting her head at her arm, cradling the baby's head.
"I know for one thing that even if Victoria kills me one day, she would never be able to lay a finger on her and make it out alive," she whispered while leaning down to kiss Aefia's forehead.
"Oh come on... We will get rid of Victoria and Silence before she does." He spoke while pulling her into a hug.
Seraphina smiled softly, her brows furrowing as she let out a sigh. Afterall... This was going to be the last week they would keep the baby with them. Her finger traced the baby's jaw, while the baby laughed brightly.
Then, wrapped her fingers around her mother's before leaning forward to suck it.
"Well? She already knows who she loves the most." Chronos let out a deep sigh, gently placing his hand on her head, his thumb rubbing against her small forehead while Sofia slowly fell asleep.
"She looks like her mother, so she would obviously love her mother..." She replied. "Although... A bit of her facial features are yours. Like her chin and wavy hair."
"Yes... But she doesn't have my hair colour or anything."
"Wait for it," Seraphina murmured, a subtle, secretive smile playing at the corners of her lips as she kept her gaze fixed on the sleeping infant. "You are judging too early."
"Fina, her hair is as black as midnight," Chronos pointed out softly, shifting closer so his arm remained comfortably around her shoulders. "Every single strand."
"For now," she instructed in a quiet whisper, her red eyes sparkling with warmth. "Hair colour changes as they grow. But look at the shape of her eyes when she is awake—she has your tilt and the head nod you give when you are irritated but have to act nice.
"Then when the light hits those dark irises..." She paused, her voice softening. "They reflect a distinct, golden sheen. Right over that deep black."
Chronos leaned in, his own yellowish-brown eyes softening as he studied their daughter's tiny face.
"See?" Seraphina teased softly, tilting Sofia just enough for the soft lamplight to highlight her features. "She has my fierce gaze, but that golden light is entirely yours. And don't pretend you didn't notice that temper."
Chronos arched an eyebrow. "What temper?"
"She literally just ripped my gold ring off my finger and threw it onto the floor simply because it annoyed her," Seraphina pointed out, a dry smirk touching her lips. "That absurd, petty ego is all you. When you feel threatened or slighted, you push everything away with that exact same arrogant look."
"I do not," Chronos protested weakly, though he couldn't hold back the low, breathless laugh that escaped his chest.
"You do," Seraphina insisted with a fond smile. "And mark my words, Chronos... if she grows up and decides she dislikes something, she isn't just going to ignore it. She's going to want to incinerate it to ashes just to prove a point."
Chronos's eyes glowed with quiet pride as his long finger gently brushed over those tiny black locks, marveling at how something so small could hold such a terrifyingly perfect blend of them both.
"She's going to be absolute trouble, isn't she?" he whispered, his voice dropping into a tender hush as Sofia let out a tiny, snuffling sigh in her sleep.
"Complete and utter chaos. Victoria will never meddle with her since she would have run out of ideas to cornering her," Seraphina agreed softly, though her smile gradually faded, replaced by a bittersweet shadow that settled over her eyes.
She leaned her head against his chest, her grip on the baby tightening just a fraction—careful, gentle, yet desperately protective. "She is going to grow up so strong, Chronos. I can feel it."
"She will," Chronos promised, his jaw tightening with quiet resolve as he kissed the top of Seraphina's head, wrapping them both tightly in his embrace. "She is like her mother after all... I wonder if she will ever take the Guardian Realm under her control."
"She won't just control it, she will change it back to how it was back then."
"Then let us hope she gives us a break when she does," Chronos chuckled softly, though the humor in his voice quickly bled into a heavy, quiet stillness.
He looked down at Seraphina, taking in the faint shadow of grief creeping around her eyes. Just another five hours. That was all the time they had left before the Realm's impending storm forced their hands, before they would have to hide their daughter away for her own survival.
Victoria would use whatever she had to ruin Sofia if only she found out.
Seraphina's thumb traced the soft curve of Sofia's cheek, watching the baby's tiny chest rise and fall in a slow, peaceful rhythm.
"Do you think..." Seraphina began, her voice barely above a whisper, trailing off as if voicing the thought aloud would make it real.
"Do I think what?" Chronos asked gently.
"Do you think she will hate us?" She swallowed hard, her red eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "When she grows up and realizes we couldn't stay? When she finds out her own parents abandoned her to another family? My mother left me at four... But I am sending her away at only one week old."
Chronos stayed silent for a long beat. He reached out, his thumb gently catching a stray tear before it could fall down her cheek.
"She might be angry at first after knowing it," Chronos admitted quietly, his dark, yellowish-brown eyes burning with conviction. "She has your fearless mind and my stubbornness—of course she will be angry. But she will understand. She will know that every decision we made, every sacrifice, was so she could have a chance to live, to fight, and to stand on her own two feet."
Seraphina let out a trembling breath, leaning back her head on his shoulder. "I just want her to know she was loved. Even if it was only for a short time in her memory."
"She will know," Chronos whispered, pulling both Seraphina and the sleeping infant closer against his chest. "I will make sure she knows."
"And I hope she punishes you enough in the future when he grows up and comes back home."
"What—why?!"
"Because you didn't let me have your strawberry for breakfast." She smiled while shifting Sofia on her arms.
Chronos rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. And I would have no other choice but to succumb to it."
"Really?"
"Because one week old... And I am already wrapped around her finger." He replied while watching as Sofia let out a yawn. "Just look at how cute she is. She already knows her dad is going to spoil her in the future."
"But don't make her too spoilt. She is already perfect the way she is." Fina replied while kissing the baby's cheek. Then, she reached into her pocket with one hand, and pulled out a tiny anklet.
"What are doing?" Chronos asked in question.
"I am giving it to her. I had it made quickly in a small amount of time for this."
He watched as she reached the baby out for him to hold, while she worked on putting it on Sofia's tiny ankle. The garnet drops contrasted beautiful with the baby's hair and eyes, making her look ethereal. The gold made her look of high-born, and so much similar to get mother.
"She looks beautiful at this age itself. I wonder who would be the lucky person when she grows up." She whispered as they continued to walk.
"Stop... That already hurts." Chronos muttered under his breath. He looked down at Seraphina who was ready laughing.
During the entire time that she carried Sophia, she wore light colours and soft fabrics. But after her birth, she started to wear white.
The gowns were made of soft satin—which would make crisp sounds everytime she walked or Sofia squirmed in her arms—along with a top layer of organza that trailed like a cape behind her everytime she took a walk in the garden and it was windy.
Besides that, Fina also started to wear accessories like gold and pearl. Like right then, there was a bracelet at her hand which had two strings of pearls that attached a ring and sat at her middle finger. The bracelet had white lilies along its body, and it did have a meaning. It was a gift from him to her, which he thought she would never wear.
Then, at her ears were long, dangling, white butterfly earrings that framed her face. Her hair was held half-way up with a claw-clip made of actual preserved flowers.
She looked like a Garden fairy.
It could be because having Sofia changed her entire world, or she was simply trying to cope up the lose. But for however long she was smiling—
"Hahahaha!"
Seraphina came to a halt one pace before Chronos, hold her stomach as she laughed.
"What?" Chronos turned around to look at her.
"Your face! What are you even thinking?!" She took a step towards him, pointing a finger at his forehead.
He looked at her finger, then down to her smirking face.
"I was wondering why you suddenly changed your style."
"Really?"
"You don't usually wear light colours. Then after having Sofia, you completely transformed, laughing and smiling, leaving me to deal with your work instead..." He pointed out. "Then hoping towards the desk where I would be, and holding Sofia in the air in front of my face and speaking about new things she learnt to do... I am not saying I am unhappy... I am just... Concerned."
Her face softened instantly. Slowly, she reached out to cradle the back of Sofia's head.
"They say a woman can fully change after entering motherhood," she explained, "I didn't know why, until I had her, and I realized, she is a gold medal I have always wanted. She changed my life, and I changed myself so she won't see the person who has been facing Victoria since my childhood.
"And besides... She is my safe haven, who makes me feel proud of myself and as if I am the mother of a little angel. So I dress up that way to brag to the others, although I can't speak about it.
"Even when I can't hold her for much longer, I have always wanted to see her grow up right in front of my eyes. I wanted to see her take her first step, speak her first word, make friends, and tell us about her favourite things.
"I will be very honest here, I hate Victoria and Silence and the entire Guardian Realm for this reason. I have a beautiful, lovely family, but I can't hold onto to it forever." She whispered while resting her forehead on her husband's shoulder. "I can never forgive anyone in this entire Realm for what they are doing to me and my daughter... As if tearing apart my own sanity wasn't enough for them..."
Her hand clenched into fist beside her. Her eyes briming with tears, but she refused to let them drop.
"I know she will face a lot of allegations to whichever family she goes to. They won't be able to accept her, since my magic can only help for them to think she is their child. But I can't prevent what she will have to go through in that cruel world."
She lifted her face to look at Chronos's face, reaching out her hand to cup his cheek.
"But I will leave that to you," she smiled. "One day, she will return to this world through difficult means and become a Guardian, then you will be in charge of raising her to become a normal human again. Problems are things not everyone can avoid, because it is whether they have support or not. And as her father, you will have to make up for that blank space she will feel the entire time... Can you promise me that?"
Chronos blinked for the moment, looking down at their daughter's face, then back up at her.
"Why are you saying that?"
Seraphina continued to smile. "Because I am experienced in this specific scenario. I know what it feels like to lose a beloved parent, so I am aware of what I am putting her through. Although I can't prevent it, I can guarantee and there will be a day when Sofia comes to this Realm, finds out about her true origins and then gets close to you. And then there will also be that lucky guy who comes into her life and showers her with affection—whom you will hate for taking her away from you—and then she took will someday have a child who would become her Safe Haven."
"What about you?" Chronos asked, looking down as she retracted her hand.
"I..." She began, biting her tongue as she spoke. "Will have to get back into work, dive deeper into danger... And go into battles for a safe world for her to return to.
"Even if it is a bittersweet reality where I will have to use the same hand I carried her with, to hold a sword... I would still be doing it to keep this Realm safe for when she returns." She breathed out.
"Even though I will be risking my life doing so... At least she can say, 'my mother went to such depts to provide me a better life'...
"Because a mother can also take down an entire Empire if it throws an insult at her child."