Chapter 356: Spirituality (1)

    Knock knock—

    “Mm...”

    Knock knock knock—

    Who is it? I was having the sweetest sleep in the world.

    I squinted my eyes as a small hand poked my cheek.

    Could it be Arwen getting up first and playing around?

    It’s just her and me in the bed right now, so it’s definitely her.

    As expected, it seems like something Arwen would do, acting cute first thing in the morning.

    I let out a soft laugh and hugged her with both arms.

    Squeak—

    “Umm?”

    Arwen let out a cute sound like a baby as I hugged her. Her small frame fit perfectly into my arms...

    ‘...Hmm?’

    Wait, no, this isn’t just a perfect fit.

    It’s not a metaphor.

    Arwen’s entire body is nestled into my embrace.

    It’s not just her upper body either, but her whole body, literally.

    No matter how small she is, it shouldn’t be this small.

    I didn’t even dare open my eyes, but I began to feel her body.

    Starting from her back, moving to her little head, and all the way down her legs...

    ...So small. Too small. It felt like her whole body had shrunk, with both her top and bottom being unusually short.

    I even felt something on her back that almost seemed like a mist or vapor brushing past my hand, as if I were touching steam or fog.

    But this isn’t Arwen. She’s not this small. This is literally the body of a child.

    And she doesn’t smell like Arwen either.

    She doesn’t have that sweet body lotion scent. I remember her scent being subtle, like lilies.

    ‘Who is this?’

    I shook my eyes open a bit and started to lift them slowly. The queen’s bedroom doesn’t allow anyone in without Arwen’s permission.

    But if there’s someone else here... in my bed, this could turn serious.

    As I opened my eyes, I saw...

    Blink— Blink—

    Golden eyes that sparkled like they were holding pumpkins, and red hair just like mine.

    “Umm?”

    A small sprout shyly blossomed from the top of their head.

    “....”

    I’ve heard that when people are too shocked or confused, they can’t even speak. That’s exactly how I feel right now.

    I blinked a few times while staring at the child with a sprout on their head, who looks strangely similar to me from the past.

    I couldn’t even begin to understand what was going on. I looked behind me, and Arwen was fast asleep.

    After last night’s passionate events, it seemed like she’d be asleep for most of the morning.

    “Ugh.”

    While I was looking at Arwen, the child began to whimper. It felt almost like a request to look at them.

    I turned back to face the child. Their golden eyes were filled with curiosity.

    ‘So, to summarize...’

    Last night, I spent a hot, passionate night with the woman I love, and the next morning, a child who looks just like me is lying between us.

    Even soap operas or novels wouldn’t take a plot this wild.

    My mind started to whirl. It was hard to figure out how to react.

    At least, the one thing I could be sure of was that sleep had completely disappeared.

    Whether this was a dream or reality was still unclear, but it’s definitely real.

    Swoosh—

    I slowly propped myself up to get a better grasp of the situation.

    I covered my lower body with the blanket so the child wouldn’t see anything inappropriate.

    The child, who had been lying down because of my embrace, followed suit and got up too.

    Now that I could see clearly, their hair was long, much like mine.

    Between their hair, I saw pointed ears. Elf-like, elongated ears.

    That alone was enough to give me a sense of unease, but what truly startled me was what was on their back.

    “...What is this?”

    “Hmm?”

    It was hard to make out, faint and translucent, but I could see it clearly when I squinted my eyes.

    Just like how demons are symbolized with horns and bat wings in the literature, angels have their own symbols.

    A halo floating above the head, and pure white wings.

    Angels, though extinct now, have been described in literature this way, at least.

    And the child, instead of a halo, had a small sprout on top of their head, and instead of white wings, they had translucent wings on their back.

    Something so strange and cute that it felt fitting—truly, a mysterious and adorable sight.

    ‘What the hell is going on here.’

    I couldn’t help but let out an expletive. I was still too confused to understand anything. I blinked a few times, then shifted my gaze.

    The seed of the World Tree, which I had placed on the desk, was nowhere to be seen.

    There were brown crumbs scattered across the bed.

    Looking at the sprout on the child’s head, I could guess where it came from, but there was no longer any trace of it...

    I figured we wouldn’t get anywhere if this kept up, so I decided to step in and help Arwen.

    First, I slipped my hands under the child’s armpits and gently lifted them.

    At that, the child let go of the blanket and looked up at me.

    “You can’t do that. Arwen doesn’t like it.”

    “Uung?”

    I wasn’t sure if the child understood, or just couldn’t hear me, but they tilted their head.

    The sprout on their head shook slightly.

    I sat the child down between my legs and gently stroked their head.

    Their hair was far softer and shinier than mine, and it even sparkled as if sprinkled with golden dust.

    For a moment, I thought this might be an angel from the legends.

    “Amnyamnyam.”

    The child, who had been enjoying my petting, now began chewing on my long hair.

    They must have been hungry, but stopping them was the priority.

    “Ah, no. You can’t eat my hair. Come on, spit it out.”

    “Uum?”

    “Spit it out quickly.”

    As I tugged on the hair the child had in their mouth, they obediently opened their mouth.

    And then, I was left speechless.

    As if it had been done by a sharp tool like scissors or a knife, chunks of my hair were cleanly cut off.

    Normally, it would be impossible to cut hair without scissors, but this child had managed to do it with just their teeth.

    What in the world is this child?

    With the wings, they seem like some sort of angel, but the sprout on their head says otherwise.

    And then there’s the other thing.

    ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’

    Setting aside the mystery of their identity, how am I supposed to deal with this child? That’s the real dilemma.

    If I stand side by side with them, anyone would assume we’re father and child.

    The red hair, the golden eyes. It would be impossible to believe we weren’t family.

    Their ears are pointy like an elf’s, there’s a sprout growing from their head, and they have translucent wings—but I suppose that doesn’t matter.

    They resemble me so much that anyone would think it’s my child.

    Honestly, even just the pointed ears would make people think they’re an elf’s...

    “... ...”

    “Why are you looking at me like that?”

    An elf is standing right in front of me.

    Moreover, elves are widely known to be descendants of angels.

    If, by some chance, this child inherited that bloodline, then the translucent wings make sense.

    The sprout... well, that might be from the World Tree’s seed. That makes sense, in a way.

    Anyway, this much is clear.

    The child’s parents are likely Arwen and me.

    But I have no idea where, when, or how we passed on our genetic information.

    “...Hey?”

    “Uung?”

    “Do you know who your mom is?”

    The child didn’t seem to understand, but I asked anyway.

    At my question, the child blinked their golden eyes and turned to look at Arwen, then pointed at her with a tiny hand and cheerfully said:

    “Mamma!”

    “Me?”

    “Mamma!”

    Despite being freshly born, the child is already calling Arwen “mamma.”

    While Arwen was still stunned, I moved on to the next question.

    This one was a bit unnecessary, though, since, no matter how you look at it, the child looks just like me.

    “...Then, who’s your dad?”

    “Appa!”

    The moment I asked, without any hesitation, the child pointed directly at me.

    I nodded, as I had expected.

    I was planning on going to the temple to find out what exactly was going on, but one thing was certain.

    ‘This is a mess.’

    If I showed this to Mari, I could already imagine the situation that would unfold.

    ‘This is really a mess.’

    I could see it clearly, but honestly, I felt a little wronged, too.

    This was the gods’ doing, making things so complicated for me.

    I laughed to myself quietly as I patted the child’s head. I guess I’d have to sort things out and try to convince Arwen slowly.

    Even though it’s still a mess.

    “So... so...”

    “Huh?”

    “So bad?”

    “...”

    Somehow, it feels like things are even worse now.