"P… Papa?… The person who just killed me… is my dad now?" Elyra thought to herself.
Before she realized it, the word "Papa" slipped out of her mouth.
Hearing it, Damnern was so overjoyed he felt like he could fly (and he actually could fly). His head seemed filled with exploding sugar bubbles—sweet, warm, and overflowing with happiness—leaving him completely bewildered.
"Just now, Elyra called Papa 'Papa,' right? Say it again," Damnern said excitedly.
"Daaaaaaaaaarling!!" Elina Solv, Damnern's wife, shouted.
"Darling… Elyra just called me pa… pa…" Damnern said, his face beaming with excitement as he told Elina. However, his joy quickly vanished when he saw Elina's face—it looked fierce, like that of a lion. Elyra, who had been crying just moments ago, froze as well.
"I just finished putting her to sleep, and you wake her up again!" Elina scolded.
"And you haven't even bathed yet…"
Seeing the blood smeared on Damnern made Elina even more annoyed.
"… whose blood is that? Did you kill someone again?" she continued, making a disgusted face.
"I… I…" Damnern didn't dare answer.
"You take the lives of others too lightly," Elina said sternly.
"That person… was Count Elvion's killer," Damnern replied.
"So you killed him?!" Elina interrupted.
"Sometimes people have reasons that force them to act! You're no different from the killer—except that your reason, you claim, is justice," Elina said as she carried Elyra to the bathroom.
Hearing this, Elyra (Ryudien) couldn't hold back her tears.
"Don't cry, Elyra. Mama isn't mad at you," Elina gently coaxed.
For the first time, someone was defending her. Elyra felt as though her heart had been understood through Elina's words. Even Damnern seemed to realize something.
After bathing Elyra and taking her back to the bedroom, Elina spoke to Damnern, who was lost in thought.
"One more thing—never show that side of yourself in front of Elyra again. And don't enter the room until you're clean."
"I… I'm sorry, dear… I just got too excited to see Elyra," Damnern said softly.
That night, the house fell into a quiet stillness.
The next morning, under a bright and sunny sky, Elyra saw Damnern acting completely differently. He willingly knelt down to apologize to Elina. Elina merely shook her head with a wry smile, lightly patting Damnern's head with eyes full of affection.
In front of Elyra, he even made silly faces right before her eyes.
"Is… this really the same person who killed me?" Elyra thought.
Elyra also learned that Damnern Solv (24 years old) had another child—Eldern Solv, three years old. There were also two maids, Sasha (19 years old) and Rina (20 years old), who helped Elina Solv (23 years old) take care of her.
"Sigh…" Elyra groaned internally.
"I don't even know when this change happened. Ever since being in a baby's body, my heart feels softer, and tears come so easily. I… Ryudien… risking everything that night was the last time I cried."
The scent of warm milk filled the room as sunlight streamed through the curtains.
"Papa… Eden wants to hug Eyya," Eldern asked Damnern.
"Sure, but Elyra is very small. Let's hug her together, okay?" Damnern replied.
"Bwa… baaa… baba!!" Elyra babbled while holding back her shame. (Don't act like that in front of me, Damnern!!)
"Papa! Did you hear that? Eyya said she loves Eden… Eden loves Eyya too," Eldern said happily.
(NOT THAT!) Elyra protested in her mind.
"You're way too confident, Eldern. What she really said was that she loves Papa so, so much," Damnern corrected his son.
"Ba… babawaaa!!" Elyra babbled loudly. (When did I ever say that?!)
"Yes, dear, Papa loves Elyra too," Damnern replied.
(Enough now…) Elyra finally surrendered.
Eldern extended his tiny index finger toward Elyra.
"Huh? Well, he's just a kid. I'll just play with him for a bit," Elyra thought as she took Eldern's finger—not realizing how small her own hand truly was.
"Papa, Eyya is holding Eden's finger!" Eldern said happily.
Damnern quickly extended his own finger as well.
"Hold Papa's finger too, my dear."
"Huh?" Elyra thought.
One month passed.
Life as a baby was incredibly boring for Ryudien (Elyra). Time felt painfully slow. Her daily routine consisted of waking up, drinking milk, sleeping again, staring at the ceiling, and watching Damnern act silly.
(Stop it!!) Elyra thought.
She even had to pretend to cry just so Elina would come and kick Damnern out of the room.
"My dignity… completely ruined…" she thought.
"But life like this isn't all that bad."
"Huh? What am I even thinking? Haha… If I'm no longer needed, they'd probably throw me away anyway. But strangely… I want this life to last longer."
On a calm midday, Elyra—who had grown accustomed to drifting easily into sleep—was gently patted by Elina before falling into a deep, peaceful slumber. Two maids, Sasha and Rina, were assigned to watch over the sleeping Elyra.
"The young miss is really adorable, isn't she, Rina?" Sasha whispered as she gazed at Elyra's small face.
"Just look at that soft blonde hair… it takes after Lady Elina, but those blue eyes clearly belong to Lord Damnern."
Rina smiled faintly and nodded.
"That's true. Young Master Eldern is the opposite."
"Green eyes inherited from Lady Elina, but silver hair from Lord Damnern."
"Yes, both of them are super cute," Sasha replied.
Both of them looked at Elyra, who was sleeping with such a peaceful expression, as if the outside world did not exist for her at all.
On a new day, greeted by quiet morning sunlight, Elyra finally managed to roll over on her own after practicing every day. This was witnessed by Elina, who had secretly been observing her all along.
"Yay!! My little one is so clever!" Elina exclaimed excitedly as she picked her up.
"Wow, my baby can roll over by herself now!"
"Bwa… bba… ba baba," Elyra responded. (A piece of cake.)
"Yes, yes, baby, Mama is proud of you," Elina said warmly.
No gifts were given, and no grand words were spoken—only eyes meeting and hearts understanding. Happiness was there simply because a little child had successfully rolled over.
That evening, Damnern returned from work, freshly bathed.
"Hah!! Elyra rolled over by herself?!" he exclaimed in shock.
"Wh… why, Elyra… why?" he asked dramatically.
"Bwa ba?" (Why what?)
"Why did you roll over when Papa wasn't around? Papa wanted to see my little one do it too! So Papa asks you to do it again in front of Papa, please, my dear…" Damnern pouted.
"Bwa ba!!"
Elyra immediately refused.
End of Chapter 2