Gardenia’s Heart

Upon finally entering her quarters inside the royal castle, a woman with golden hair and a radiant crown on her head locked the door and drew the curtains shut.

“Damn elders…”

Elarielle was exhausted. The conversation with the leaders of the great elven families had dragged on for so long that her entire afternoon schedule was ruined. Her sister now handled most of the political affairs she didn’t care to deal with, but there were still matters she had to personally take care of.

Despite her status, her room was small and modest. Since she kept most of her equipment and materials in her laboratories, there was little of note here aside from a few personal belongings.

Splashing cold water on her face and drying it with a towel, the elf walked up to one of the paintings on the wall. Carefully removing it and peeking behind, a smile she would never show anyone else melted across her face.

“Wine, bread, and honey~”

Inside the small compartment behind the painting, several loaves of bread and bottles of wine were seductively arranged. As if that weren’t enough, small jars of honey—so golden it looked like pure molten gold—gave off a sweetness so rich that she nearly lost her composure.

Skipping cheerfully, Elarielle stripped off her excess clothing and threw herself onto the bed.

“Delicious~”

The great Queen of the Elves, one of the five heroes who invaded Finis and slew the Demon King, rolled back and forth on the bed as she devoured everything before her with frightening enthusiasm.

“To show respect for these gifts, I must eat every single one of them~”

Her drooling face grew even more indecent as she imagined when she might next visit her beloved friends to get more of such rare delicacies.

The bread and wine Gardenia made had started out as simple goods, but somehow, over time, they had become so delicious that it was impossible for Elarielle to maintain a composed face while eating them. And as if that weren’t enough, since the day she first tasted the honey produced by Rhei, it was as if her entire concept of food had been shattered and reborn. She honestly had no idea how Rhei cultivated such nectar, but treating ignorance as bliss, she chose simply to enjoy it.

Rolling around the bed with a bottle of wine in hand, she reached toward the small desk beside the headboard. Carefully, Elarielle took out a small scented candle made by Lily and lit it, letting the herbal fragrance fill the room.

“So good…”

After a week without a decent night’s sleep and the overload of royal duties, she was finally ready for a peaceful, relaxing evening where the only priority was indulging herself with food. However, just as she was about to down the entire bottle of wine in one go, the room was suddenly filled with a purplish light as a portal resembling a starry sky formed before her.

“!?”

Elarielle didn’t even have time to react before a tentacle wrapped around her waist and yanked her through the portal in an instant.

“W–What!? What’s going on!?”

Although she had been caught off guard, she didn’t panic—there was only one person she knew who could cast such a spell and handle her this way.

“Come on, hurry! We need your help!”

Just as she expected, the voice of the purple-haired metamorph reached her, and Elarielle realized she was now standing inside the residence within the great forest labyrinth.

“Paper Eater, help with what!?”

Even though she’d had a bit to drink, was unarmed, and half-naked, her combat experience was no joke. Quickly standing and taking a fighting stance, she prepared to cast whatever spells she could.

“It’s coming—you need to help us!”

As Nia shouted again in panic, the fear in Elarielle’s chest deepened.

“Coming? What’s coming!?”

Gardenia’s voice trembled. Elarielle had never seen her so panicked before—not even when she volunteered to face a Twilight alone.

It had to be a major threat; she needed to be ready for anything.

But the next words upended her expectations completely.

“The baby is coming!”

A white void flooded her mind, and a second later comprehension struck.

“Lily’s water broke?”

It wasn’t impossible—in fact, counting the weeks, it was the perfect and likely time for that to happen.

Steadying her breath, Elarielle quickly tied up her hair; her previous agitation vanished along with any trace of tiredness.

“What do we do? Do we need any medicine? Is there any risk?” Nia asked rapidly, unable to stop pacing back and forth in the corridor.

If there were an enemy to defeat, Nia would know what to do; if there were a task to carry out, she would do it with maximum efficiency. Normally calm and clear-headed, even she found it hard to maintain composure in this situation.

“Lily is in pain. Lily—!”

“Gardenia, listen to me.”

The firm voice that called her name pinned Nia in place for a moment. Standing where she was, Nia turned her head to face the senior elf.

“If the mere fact that I’m here doesn’t make you feel safe, remember one thing.” Stepping toward the metamorph with resolute strides, Elarielle fixed her emerald eyes on the girl. “Because you control her bodily functions, Lily will not be in danger.”

The rigid yet strangely calm statement hit like a blow. Like a turbulent river finally finding its course, Nia felt the wild anxiety within her begin to settle.

“This is not a moment to give in to emotion,” Elarielle continued. “Childbirth is something Lily agreed to go through—and she will make it. Right now, I need you to stay calm and fulfill your role as her wife.”

Her words may have sounded cold and devoid of feeling, but Elarielle knew it was exactly what the metamorph needed.

Closing her eyes for a second, Nia placed a hand over her modest chest and breathed out softly, her crimson eyes meeting the queen’s without wavering.

“What do I need to do?” she asked. A thin smile appeared on the queen’s face.

“Go to my lab and fetch my equipment. I need forceps, scissors, suture thread, and as many gauzes as you can carry. Then stop by the hospital and bring my garments. Make sure everything is thoroughly sterilized before you bring it.”

The moment she finished speaking, a starry-sky–like portal opened in the corridor and the purple-haired girl stepped through it without so much as a backward glance.

“That girl…” Elarielle couldn’t help a soft laugh.

Testing her mana circulation a few times and stretching, Elarielle gently opened the door to the room before her and was immediately greeted by the warm golden light spilling in from the balcony.

“Hello, Elarielle…”

Lying on the bed, face slick with sweat, a silver-haired girl greeted her.

With a belly rounded enough to truly show a nine-month pregnancy, Lily had a tentacle constantly stroking her face as she tried to find a comfortable position. Beside her stood a tall woman in a suit, anxious, a staff with blue butterfly motifs trembling in her hand.

“Don’t worry — it’ll be fine.” Walking to Lily’s side, Elarielle immediately began checking everything over, leaving no detail unexamined.

With a tired smile, Lily gently caressed her belly, watching the elf check her vital signs.

“I’d heard the women in my village talk about childbirth before, but I didn’t expect that… nhm… it would be this hard...”

Adjusting a few pillows to lift the girl’s back, Elarielle asked for permission and began examining her abdomen.

“You’re handling this better than most, Lily. You’re only four centimeters dilated—we still have time to prepare.” Turning to Rhei, who was still standing silently, waiting for instructions, Elarielle raised her voice. “Get me a source of warm, clean water. I’ll need enough to use at any time over the next few hours.”

“Understood.” Nodding and taking the fairy-shaped staff with her, Rhei quickly left the room while Elarielle turned back to Lily.

“Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the dilation to increase. Tell me whenever you feel a contraction—I’ll time them to track the progress.”

“Having a reliable doctor is really comforting…” Lily said between a tired laugh, the soft touch of the tentacle stroking her cheek helping her tense body relax.

“Elves have a low birth rate, but that doesn’t mean I lack experience with situations like this.”

Sitting at the edge of the bed, Elarielle rested a hand on her chin as if she’d just remembered something.

“Would you believe I once had to deliver a baby during the war? A pair of humans decided to copulate in secret inside a cave during a mission, and afraid of punishment from their superiors, they kept the pregnancy hidden until the woman went into labor at seven months.” Elarielle rubbed her temples, her expression exasperated. “Can you imagine? How much sexual drive does someone need to do something that reckless in a filthy place like that?”

“H-Haha…” A blush spread from Lily’s cheeks all the way to her ears. She averted her gaze, laughing awkwardly. “Y-Yeah… It’s really hard to imagine anyone doing something like that…”

Her last words were so faint they almost sounded like a whisper, and her eyes turned toward the purple shimmer that suddenly lit up the room.

“I brought everything!”

Leaping out of a portal, a girl with violet hair and a black dress carried several different items. With a swift motion, she handed them all to the golden-haired elf before crouching beside the bed and grabbing her wife’s hand.

“L-Lily, does it hurt a lot!?” Though calmer than before, a noticeable tremor still lingered in her voice.

“Welcome back, my love.” Even though Nia had technically never left her side, Lily couldn’t suppress the urge to say those words. Interlacing her fingers with her wife’s, she felt the relief in her chest swell now that her beloved was beside her again. “I’m fine—it only hurts a little.”

“Wait just a second, I’ll make it better.”

In a rush, Nia prepared to close her eyes and focus on adjusting Lily’s pain receptors. But before she could begin, a hand rested on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Elarielle watching her with a thoughtful expression.

“You can adjust how much pain her nerves transmit to her system, can’t you, Paper Eater?” the elf said. “It’s fine to dull most of it, but leave enough so she can still feel the contractions. I need her to know when to push so we don’t risk anything.”

When she finished speaking, Elarielle noticed the conflicted look on the metamorph’s face. Nia clearly wanted Lily to feel no pain at all, but after meeting her wife’s eyes and seeing her quiet nod of agreement with the elf’s reasoning, she did her best to comply—despite the worry that still lingered in her heart.

“Don’t be like that… today isn’t a day to be sad…”

Tightening their interlaced fingers, Lily softly ran her hand through Nia’s violet hair, gently pulling her closer.

“Lily…” Crawling onto the bed to stay by her wife’s side, the metamorph wiped her eyes with her arm several times before finally speaking in a lively tone. “You’re right! Today’s a day to be happy!”

Using her whole body and several tentacles to help Lily get comfortable, Nia pushed away all unnecessary worries and focused entirely on helping her prepare.

“It’ll just take a few more hours. The dilation is progressing normally, so we won’t try to rush it.”

With nothing to do but wait for the right moment, Elarielle began organizing the room for the delivery.

Though this was the first birth of its kind ever recorded, everything during the months of pregnancy indicated that the process itself would be no different from a human one.

Wearing proper clothes and arranging her instruments on the tables with Rhei’s assistance, the elven queen oversaw everything with precision, waiting for Lily’s cervix to dilate naturally. Due to the delicate nature of the situation, she had asked everyone except Nia to wait outside, including the guardian and the wolf fairy.

“Argh! Ah… Aaah… Argh…!”

And then, inside that room, cries and moans of pain grew louder and louder.

With her legs bent and each hand gripping a violet tentacle tightly, Lily kept sweating as she clenched her teeth harder than ever before.

“Come on, Lily! Push! Push!”

With her eyes shut, Lily could hear a muffled voice shouting in the background, but she couldn’t focus on it.

Despite her composure, she wasn’t calm. Not even close.

Her body felt like it was on the verge of collapsing.

The last few hours had been a cycle of exhaustion unlike any kind of pain or cramp she’d ever known.

Her sense of time had turned foggy, her breathing was ragged, and every sense felt heightened to an unbearable degree.

Every drop of sweat, every shiver on her skin was painfully vivid.

The muscles in her back and abdomen were taut and burning as if set ablaze.

Was she screaming? Or just gritting her teeth while moaning uncontrollably?

Lily didn’t even know the answer anymore.

She was a mage—someone whose mana, if left unchecked, could shatter the bed beneath her or worse, endanger the very life she was bringing into the world.

The pressure between her hips was indescribable.

It felt like her skin was burning every time she pushed, every muscle stretched to the brink of tearing.

And yet, despite it all, with her back supported by the woman holding her tightly, Lily kept pushing—using Nia’s warmth to keep herself conscious.

Her heart, her blood, her flesh—every part of her existence carried that child.

No matter how hard it was, Lily knew she wasn’t alone.

And in that moment, more than ever before in her life, she refused to give up.

This was a dream she shared with her beloved.

A dream that would now become reality.

Because within that room…

A cry echoed.

“Congratulations! It’s a healthy girl.”

When Lily’s eyes finally opened, it felt as if a powerful wave had washed away all her pain, leaving only distant echoes of it behind.

A small baby was now in her arms. The little girl, her eyes still closed, slowly calmed as she listened to her mother’s heartbeat.

No matter how tired or sore she had been moments before, the instant that tiny being rested her head against her chest, Lily couldn’t hold back her tears.

“My baby…” Lily whispered, as if she needed to make sure those words leaving her lips were real, not a dream.

She was so small and light it felt like she might crumble at a single touch. Her face was soft, like a delicate sculpture—gentle features framing two sky-blue eyes trying to focus and understand the world around her. Her closed fists wiggled slightly, tiny fingers reaching out in curious motion. Her silver hair, smooth and fine like silk, faded into a violet hue toward the ends, as if the night itself had painted her strands.

This was her baby.

Holding her as gently as she could, Lily couldn’t contain the flood of emotions bursting from her chest.

“She’s our daughter, Lily.”

Beside her on the bed, a faint voice broke through. With heavy tears rolling from her crimson eyes, Nia moved closer, her fingers brushing tenderly against the baby’s cheek.

“Yes,” Lily breathed.

“She’s our family.”

“Yes, Nia, she is.”

Tears welled up in both of their eyes again, their flushed faces framed by wide smiles. Interlacing their hands, the two women embraced one another while carefully holding the tiny life between them.

Every touch on that newborn’s skin was clumsy, uncertain, but filled with care. Neither of them knew exactly what to do, how to act—but they both instinctively wrapped the baby in their arms, protecting her with their warmth.

That little girl was now part of their family.

“What do you want to name her?” Lily whispered, feeling the baby’s soft warmth against her chest.

At any other time, such a question might have flustered the metamorph. But now, as Nia’s fingers traced the child’s rosy cheeks, all she felt was peace.

Lily was the one who had given her a name—the one who had found meaning in her existence and chosen to build a family together.

And now, the woman who had carried and given birth to their child was asking her to name the one who embodied their love.

“Rose.”

As the word left Nia’s lips, Lily’s mismatched eyes widened for an instant before a faint blush colored her cheeks.

Softly, she leaned forward, her lips finding her wife’s. The sound of their mingled breath and shared warmth filled the quiet room as their tongues intertwined briefly before parting again—both smiling through tears.

“It’s perfect.”

Adjusting the baby in her arms so their eyes could meet, Lily gazed at those two blue pupils and whispered, “Welcome to our family, Rose.”

The little girl, though too young to understand what was happening, no longer cried. Reaching out weakly, she touched her mother’s skin, and a small laugh escaped her lips as she felt the comforting warmth of both women surrounding her.

“It’s a name that suits you both,” said Elarielle as she approached, removing her gloves.

Even the elven queen couldn’t hide her exhaustion. After several sleepless days and the effort of overseeing such a rare birth, not even a hero could keep the sweat from running down her face.

Whether it was because the delivery had finally ended or because of the joy flooding her heart, Lily no longer felt any pain. With Nia’s help, she adjusted herself on the bed, carefully holding the baby close as she bowed her head deeply.

“Thank you, Elarielle,” Lily said firmly, doing her best to convey her gratitude.

“Nhm… thank you,” Nia echoed softly, lowering her head toward the elf as well.

The bond between those women wasn’t something that could be defined by a single word.

They were people who had once tried to hurt each other, yet had also fought side by side. Each carried her own fears and opinions about the other, shaped by pain, trust, and time.

Even so, despite everything that had happened, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t stand by one another in a moment of hardship.

“That’s not something you need to thank me for.”

Waving her hand a few times as if to show everything was fine, Elarielle rested one hand on her hip and let out a tired sigh.

“Since the delivery went well, I’ll now speak as a doctor, alright?”

Looking at each of the girls in turn and receiving a nod from both, the elf turned her gaze toward the small baby, who was already fast asleep.

“This is the first known case of a monster not born from pure dark mana accumulation, but through natural conception—in a womb. Because of that, even I can’t determine exactly what Rose is.” Her eyes sharpened slightly. “She has dark mana within her constitution, just like a monster. My theory is that Lily’s human genetic material caused her body to take on a human form as its base, even though she’s a metamorph.”

Elarielle lowered her head and let out a quiet sigh. After a brief moment of silence, she looked back at the two women.

“Her lungs and other organs are functioning perfectly, but I can’t yet say how necessary those organs truly are for her. As for her mind… I detected neural activity similar to that of a newborn, but whether she’ll be able to form a personality or develop intellect—that’s something I honestly can’t guarantee.”

Her body had the appearance of a human, but she was also a monster.

As a perfect hybrid, Rose stood on the threshold between two completely different worlds.

Both Lily and Nia understood what that meant.

Even if she had a brain, there was no certainty she would develop a “mind” like Nia’s. Just as monsters are often creatures without reason, there was a chance the girl might grow—but never develop any sense of identity that would make her truly a person.

“We’ll take care of her.”

Holding the small baby close and intertwining her fingers once again with the woman beside her, Lily met the elf’s eyes with a determined gaze.

Both women had known from the start that this could be a possibility—yet it had never changed the decision they made together.

“Rose is our daughter. So no matter what happens, or what she becomes… we’ll protect her.”