by CHIROLU
“Hmm... I should normally be the one raising them... but I have left it all up to you, Smaragdi...”
“I feel fortunate, that the task came around to me because you were so busy.”
As Mov stroked Platina’s hair, the girl’s face shifted into a happy smile, even though she remained asleep. As if that happy feeling had been transmitted over from her other half, Chrysos made the same sort of smile by her side.
While grinning at her daughters, Mov gently touched their blue-stained fingertips.
“A bit of ink coloring still remains around their fingertips.”
“I called for a lady-in-waiting and tried to get them in the bath right away, but it apparently stained a bit.”
Bathtime was the only time that Smaragdi entrusted his daughters to someone else. He felt that as their father, he needed to set a boundary there. Precisely because they were such papa’s girls, he felt it was important to teach them the need to keep a certain degree of distance from the opposite sex.
Smaragdi was boundlessly soft on his daughters, but he was properly strict when it came to the matter of their education.
“It’s important for those two to face failure like this from time to time, too.”
“Right...”
Mov’s gaze towards her daughters was filled with a mother’s great love. Though the time they could spend together was limited, Smaragdi had no doubt of her deep affection for their daughters.
With a gentle smile on his face, Smaragdi beckoned Mov over.
That slightly blushing face of Mov’s was one unknown to those people of the temple who revered her as the Lady Oracle, fitting to a young woman such as herself. Though they had already had children, she still had an innocent inexperience to her actions.
As Smaragdi embraced her, Mov closed her eyes with a joyful look on her face.
“You’ve been working plenty hard. I know that, Mov.”
“You truly are skilled at pampering people, Smaragdi... If these girls become spoiled, it will surely be your fault.”
“There wouldn’t be anything wrong with that. After all, these girls are hard workers, just like you. And I’d say we need to pamper them.”
As he gently stroked her horns to comfort her just as he always did with their daughters, Mov became lost in the sensation, her expression softening.
Mov was washed away by that gentle happiness brought by their time together, causing her to forget everything that had happened up until now as she brought her cheek to Smaragdi’s chest.
†
Their daughters continued to grow rapidly day by day.
Their days were never the same, and they were never dull. It was a blink of the eye after they were born until they were able to walk and talk, but now that a few years had passed, they clearly started exhibiting their own separate wills. It was a dramatic change that occured in just these few years’ time. Due to the nature of his job, he had a relatively high degree of interaction with children, but being able to watch over their growth everyday like this was a special feeling for him.
It wasn’t as if there weren’t any incidents whatsoever. There were small ones day by day, and occasionally some that weren’t so little as the sisters continued to grow.
“Mov, why are you small?”
The incident that day started with a single comment from Platoma that was devoid of malice. It was her mother, Mov, who she asked that question to. Her daughter had no ill will behind that statement. The twins were highly curious, and a great many things interested them. Their father had knowledge of a great many things, and they had learned that all things had a reason, as well as the youthful joy of fulfilling their personal curiosity.
That was surely something to be glad over, but even so...
Smaragdi had emphasized that she shouldn’t ever raise her hand to a child, so she didn’t do so. However, it was her duty as a mother to teach her daughter that there were some things in this world that mustn’t be said.
Having decided as such, Mov turned towards Platina, who was looking up at her with a gaze of pure, innocent curiosity.
Streeetch.
She grabbed hold of her daughter’s cheeks. Those little cheeks were squishier than she had expected, and they stretched without even putting in much power at all.
“Platina.”
“Pwah!”
Being called by her full name rather than her usual nickname, Platina jumped.
“In this world, there are some things that must never be asked, thing that must never be said. Times where silence is the right choice.”
“Gwah...” Latina let out that strange sound while looking up at her mother, tears streaming from both eyes.
Her cheeks stretched further, and her sobbing increased in turn.
Her daughter’s question was likely grounded in the fact that she lacked the two abundant mounds the ladies-in-waiting, the other women the girl was familiar with, possessed. That was Mov’s assumption.
Platina was likely just curious, lacking any ill-will. However, the matter at hand was also a complex for Mov.
Mov sought to inspire love in Smaragdi. It wasn’t as though such feelings had led him to yearn for her. He simply hadn’t been able to cast her aside, because he was kind.
Mov felt deeply obligated for that fact. Because Smaragdi was someone who treated her as precious, she regretted having led him towards his destruction, and she also lacked confidence in herself as a woman.
When it came to her skills at governing, she simply needed to study diligently. But when it came to gaining a full feminine silhouette, she had no idea what she should do. She’d possessed a thin figure, ever since she was a child.
Perhaps Smaragdi preferred a more womanly figure. It was because she was so in love with him that such things worried Mov.
As Platina stood paralyzed in place, a long time passed. What finally changed the situation was the action of her other half.
“Rag, Rag! Hurry, hurry!”
“Why are you so flustered, Ryso?”
Chrysos desperately pulled on Rag, tears in her eyes.
As soon as Mov started her scolding attack on Platina’s cheeks, Chrysos moved to take action. In the small world she knew, the only one capable of stopping their mother was their father. In order to save her other half from that terrifying assault on her cheeks, she immediately left the scene to request aid.
Smaragdi had no idea what was going on. The teary-eyed Chrysos hadn’t explained anything, only telling him that he needed to hurry. Having thus received no prior information, what Smaragdi saw was Mov stretching his other daughter’s cheeks out to the side. Instinctively, he found himself impressed that Platina’s cheeks could stretch that far. More importantly, he felt an overwhelming pressure coming off of Mov akin to what he felt when dealing with those sly old foxes in their monstrous den in the depths of the temple, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
For now, all he could think was that he had no clue what was happening.
She’s crying.
That was no way to handle a child. It was no surprise that their daughters were sobbing. It wasn’t just Platina, who was taking Mov’s anger head on. Chrysos, who had come to him for help, also had tears flowing from her eyes.
“Mov, let’s drop it there. You’re scaring Ryso too, not just Platina,” rebuked Smaragdi in a slightly firm voice. With that, it wasn’t just their daughters crying, as Mov teared up as well.
He really had no idea what was going on.
Released from Mov’s hands, Platina’s cheeks snapped back to their original shape. The girl placed her hands over them and looked up at Smaragdi, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Rag, does Latina still have cheeks?”
“You’re alright. They didn’t come off.”
Apparently the girl had been so terrified as to be worried her cheeks were ripped right off. The normally lively and cheerful Platina tottered over to Smaragdi and then approached Chrysos, who was clinging to her father with teary
eyes. The two joined hands, and then as if sharing the terror they had experienced, hugged one another tight. As Smaragdi got down on his knees and put his arms around the girls, he noticed a resentful gaze coming from Mov.
He soon understood: She was sulking.
Mov didn’t often let her feelings show through her expressions. However, Smaragdi had gotten quite good at picking up on them.
“...Mov,” Smaragdi called out to her, but she remained silent and kept on pouting. All he could do in response was give an awkward laugh.
“...Did Latina tease you?”
With those words, the harshness faded from Mov’s glare. Her daughter had picked on her, yet Smaragdi was only doting on them, causing Mov to feel more than a little jealous.
While Smaragdi thought to himself that it was immature, he also knew that Mov, who was still far younger than him, was always pushing herself more than she needed to.
“Come here.”
He gave each of his daughters’ heads a stroke and then stood up and headed towards Mov with his arms held wide open. She half-ran towards Smaragdi and then threw herself into his chest, hugging him. She didn’t say a word. Even though she was a pampered child, she was bad at letting others spoil her. Knowing that, Smaragdi simply ran his palm through her beautiful purple hair.
Before he noticed it, fitting to that special ability of children to change gears so easily, their daughters were back to their normal selves and playing around as if nothing had happened. Seeing that caused Smaragdi to breathe a sigh of relief, and then he turned back to face Mov. He took her hand and led her over to a chair, and then Mov sat down atop his knees like it was only natural to do so. Apparently she had decided to let him dote on her thoroughly.
“Just what exactly happened? What did Latina do?”
“...She said I was small.” Mov replied in a whisper so quiet it was almost inaudible.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
“It is not as if I desire to be small...”
Hazarding a guess as to what had occurred from the words she was using, Smaragdi gave a strained smile. He hadn’t thought she was that concerned about her own physique.
“Even that cute way you get so self-conscious is part of what makes you who you are, I’d say,” said Smaragdi without any hesitation, not so much as missing a beat.
“...You would not prefer someone more womanly...?”
“You may have been the one who wished for it to start with, but I’m the one who decided to be together with you, Mov.”
The Mov clinging to him now and saying such things in a worried voice was not the “All-seeing Lady Oracle.” Seeing through that fact, Smaragdi felt the need to be kind and pamper her too.
“I wouldn’t have been able to have such adorable children with anyone but you, Mov.”
“I feel you like Latina and Ryso better than me...”
Smaragdi found it absolutely adorable the way that Mov let him and him alone dote on her, despite being even more strict in regards to her responsibilities than anyone else.
In the end, he thought that he really may be fond of pampering her like this as he hugged the girl who was far younger than him even more tightly. He decided that rather than his daughters, he would spend the day spoiling her instead.
“They’re the children born to the two of us, so of course they’re precious to me.”
If he hated her, then even if he had wanted them, there’s no way that he would stay with her like this even after their birth. He wouldn’t sacrifice himself out of duty or for the sake of some unseen future.
They had already spent more than enough time together for him to fall for her. He had made a point of expressing that, since this pampered girl was a little lacking in confidence.
Smaragdi’s whispered words were meant for Mov alone, and only she heard them. As such, Chrysos and Platina didn’t know what their parents were discussing. Even so, looking at their parents now caused the twins to smile at one another.
“Mov and Rag, getting along?”
“Getting along!”
“Yeah!”
Their mother may have been monopolizing their beloved father’s embrace, but they had each other, so they held each other’s hands tightly. With a happy feeling in their hearts, Chrysos and Platina went for a walk around the depths of the temple, which was the whole of their world. Ever since she was young she was called the “Lady Oracle,” and she was referred to as “Grand Priestess” since she became the highest ranking in the temple, but despite those high expectations, she was more than able to meet them.
Beauty always brought power alongside it.
She possessed not only beautiful features, but also had colors about her that people didn’t normally possess. As someone whose hair was a manifestation of the color most precious to those who served Banafsaj, she was a woman fitting to serve as the symbol of the temple.
A beautiful, capable, and enigmatic young leader. That was the opinion of her externally, being seen as a talented woman.
Smaragdi wouldn’t deny that assessment, either. As her teacher, he knew full well just how skilled of a prodigy she was.
But he was also well acquainted with the fact that it wasn’t all there was to her. She was a natural airhead who knew nothing of the outside world. Her actions fitting to such an assessment were known only to Smaragdi and their daughters, a sight that she only showed at her most unguarded.
Put bluntly, Mov had often caused such incidents with her airheadedness.
That day, Platina and Chrysos heard a story from their beloved father. Amongst the stories that Smaragdi told his daughters, there were quite a few heroic epics. “Heroes” weren’t born to the devil race. Even so, tales and legends about those antitheses of demon lords were also frequently told in Vassilios.
“Magical beings?”
“Magical beasts?”
What the girls were curious about then were the monsters that appeared to be defeated in the epic.
“The tales of those called heroes aren’t just about them defeating Demon Lords of Calamity, but also eliminating the magical beasts and magical beings that endanger people.”
“Magical beings? Magical beasts?”
“They’re different?”
“Ah, right... You’ve never seen any, so it’s hard to understand, huh?”
“Magical beasts” was a classification for all living things that possessed mana. It wasn’t just limited to beasts of the land, and also included birds, fish, bugs, and those humanoid beings outside of the seven races, the demi-humans.
On the other hand, there were those called “Magical Beings,” which were not animals. Such non-living beings as golems and gargoyles had mana dwelling in them, making them magical beings. They were akin to magical devices, and could occur either by design or pure random chance.
The most common type of magical beings, though, were corpses and the spirits of the dead given form by being exposed to mana. In other words, what was commonly referred to as undead monsters.
However, for these girls who were raised in secret in the depths of the temple, having hardly even seen normal beasts, it was rather difficult to understand the difference.
“...I’ll think on how to properly explain it to you. Could you wait a little longer?”
“Hmm?”
“Hm?”
Seeing Smaragdi’s troubled expression, Chrysos and Platina tilted their heads. Up until now, their father had known anything and everything and always had an answer to all their questions.
They wondered why he wouldn’t tell them. Each of them realized that her other half holding her hand was pondering the same question, so they nodded to one another.
If our father is troubled, then we should ask the other person we can count on, our mother.
Having reached the same conclusion without even needing to exchange words, the twins looked up at their father with refreshed looks on their faces.
Smaragdi took those expressions to mea
n that they were being reasonable in response to his request, making him feel relieved. He had no idea that they had decided on their next course of action through eye contact alone.
If Chrysos or Platina had spoken a single word of what they were planning in the presence of their father, the disaster to come surely would have been averted.
Occasionally, Smaragdi left the temple and headed out into town for work.
When his daughters had just been babies Smaragdi was constantly by their side and didn’t take his eyes of them for a moment, but now that Chrysos and Platina had grown up to be such good girls that weren’t troublesome at all, he could trust them to behave themselves and hold down the fort to some degree. And it wasn’t as if he left them entirely on their own. There were always ladies-in-waiting about, and their mother Mov was with them at times.
At the moment they were with the latter, so Chrysos and Platina pitter-pattered on over to their mother.
“Mov!”
“Mov, teach Ryso and Latina!”
“Teach Ryso and Latina!”
Mov was a bit surprised, hearing that from her daughters. They almost always asked their father when they had a question, and Smaragdi was always knowledgeable enough to give them a response. And so, it was a very strange feeling for Mov, having the twins ask her to teach them something.
“What is it?”
“Um, um...”
“About magical beasts and magical beings...”
“Magical beasts and magical beings?”
Mov looked confused, so her daughters continued on.
“Rag told a story.”
“But Ryso and Latina didn’t understand.”
“How are magical beasts and magical beings different?”
“Ryso and Latina don’t get it.”
Having heard their alternating explanation, Mov felt she finally grasped the situation.
“In other words, you want to know the difference between magical beasts and magical beings.”
“Ryso and Latina kind of get magical beasts.”
“They’re dangerous animals, right?”
“They also include bugs and stuff too, but that’s more or less right.”
Because Mov was raised in the temple and knew nothing of the outside world, if Smaragdi were in this place, he would want to interject all sorts of things into the conversation.