Spring.
The royal palace garden is the most fragrant in this season.
The sun is warm but the breeze is cool, making it the best time to be outdoors.
Judas was sitting in the royal palace garden.
A small black head was wriggling under his chin.
It was Amor, sitting on his lap.
A table set up in the garden.
Amor was using his knee as a chair while writing her reading report.
Judas found Amor to be quite fascinating.
‘Is she smarter than me?’
At seven years old, Amor’s hobby was reading.
Perhaps because she resembled Eliya, she loved studying.
Though she was his daughter, Judas found her interesting.
“Sweetheart, is reading fun?”
“Yeah.”
A reply reminiscent of her mother.
Judas lightly kissed the top of Amor’s head.
A delightful fragrance wafted from her small hair.
A soft and cozy smell that only children possess.
Amor giggled as she continued to write.
‘It’s both commendable and cute to see her writing so diligently with those little hands.’
Finding it boring to sit still, Judas started tying Amor’s hair.
Thanks to her frequent requests, he had become skilled at hair styling.
‘What should I do today… Maybe pigtails?’
Pigtails reminded him of the first time he met Eliya.
They suited Amor the best.
He began to tie her hair with a ribbon he had been carrying around.
Even as he touched her hair, Amor remained calm.
While tying her hair, Judas asked.
“Amor, are you going to marry daddy?”
“Yeah.”
“What about mommy?”
Amor awkwardly smiled.
It was clear she was trying to hide her embarrassment with that smile.
“…Hehe. No.”
His daughter wanting to marry only him was cute and lovely.
But what if Eliya found out about this?
‘Eliya must know it’s just silly talk…’
“Amor, it’s a secret from mommy, okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re such a good girl.”
Actually, there was a more important point.
If her thoughts about marriage had changed, there might be other candidates on her list.
“Then are you going to marry just daddy? No one else you want to marry?”
“Yeah!”
A straightforward answer without a hint of pretension.
Judas smiled in relief.
For now, that answer was enough.
‘As for Eliya… I can tell her later.’
By the way, Eliya had gone to the sky to play with Fides.
‘What should I do for tonight…?’
It had been two years since Fides was born.
He was running out of topics to entertain her at night.
While Judas indulged in such unpleasant thoughts as he tied Amor’s hair, Maria approached, covered in dust.
Having briefly walked with Dust, who had originally been at the same table, she had returned.
“How can she be so smart and pretty? Who does she take after?”
“She takes after mommy.”
Maria felt her heart melt at Amor’s bright voice.
It was a warm and delightful answer.
Her granddaughter, resembling Eliya, knew she was smart and pretty because she took after her.
“Doesn’t she look like daddy?”
Judas casually asked while tying her hair.
“She looks like him.”
“Where does she look like him?”
“……”
Amor remained silent for a moment.
“Amor?”
“Yeah.”
“Why so quiet?”
“Umm… Hehe.”
Being cute seems to guarantee forgiveness definitely takes after her mother.
Being smart, she also knows her own weapons well.
Judas simply smiled and kissed the top of Amor’s head.
‘It’s hard to tell unless you examine closely.’
Given how much she resembled Eliya, it was tough to find traces of himself.
Judas also felt that way.
Ironically, because he didn’t inspect his own face closely enough, he couldn’t find commonalities between him and Amor.
So the first to discover the similarities was Eliya.
‘She said it was the eyes.’
Eliya’s eyes are round and calm.
She seems sharp in demeanor and attitude often, but sometimes she looks innocently blank in front of Judas.
In contrast, Amor’s eyes were quite intense.
After hearing Eliya talk about it, Judas checked and found it true.
Despite having a cute and gentle impression, her eyes held a subtle strength.
‘As for other aspects, certainly her height is inherited from me.’
Eliya was slightly taller than average.
Judas was much taller than average.
And Amor’s height was quite above her peers.
‘She seems like a daughter who’s a mix of Eliya and me at an 80:20 ratio… Just perfect.’
Judas smiled satisfied as he started tying the other side of her hair.
‘Fides… he definitely takes after me a lot.’
Even at two years old, his facial features were becoming increasingly apparent.
Not to mention those golden eyes.
Despite his chubby cheeks being round, reflections of Judas’ face peeked through.
‘That’s why Eliya liked him so much. She said it reminded her of me when I was younger.’
After wandering through those thoughts, he completed the pigtails.
“All done.”
Just in time, Amor finished her reading report and set down her pen.
“Really? I want to see it too.”
Maria promptly handed over a handheld mirror.
“So adorable, right? And pretty too, Amor.”
Her expression was already melting with happiness.
Judas looked at his daughter in the mirror alongside Amor.
Pigtails tied with a red ribbon.
So cute.
The mirror reflected a beaming Amor.
“Pretty!”
“Of course. Who’s your daddy? Amor looks good doing anything.”
“Thank you, daddy!”
Amor hugged Judas and kissed his cheek.
The small touch made Judas’ cheeks rise dramatically.
‘Hoping she’ll always remain this affectionate daughter is probably too greedy of me.’
So he ought to savor this moment as much as he could.
By mid-teens, she might shun him and tell him not to come close.
Just the thought made his heart sink.
…Whenever he shared such concerns, Eliya used to scold him for being excessive.
But it wasn’t something he could easily change.
Judas hugged Amor and kissed her cheek.
“You cutie.”
“Hehe. When will mommy come? I miss mommy.”
“She’ll be back soon after playing with Fides. I bet mommy misses Amor a lot too, right?”
“Really?”
“Of course, really.”
No sooner said than done, Eliya appeared, waving her red scarf.
She had teleported in.
“Mommy!”
Amor jumped down from Judas’ lap and ran toward Eliya.
“Amor!”
She quickly wrapped Amor in her arms.
“Mommy, I missed you.”
“So cute…”
Eliya gently stroked Amor, bending down to meet her eye level.
“Did you miss mommy?”
“Yeah! A lot!”
“Mommy came right away because I missed you, Amor.”
Amor hugged her shoulders and planted a kiss on her cheek.
At that moment, a small face popped up from behind Eliya.
It was Fides, sitting on her back.
“Sister!”
He called out with a brief pronunciation.
Amor found her chubby little brother quite adorable.
Though he did get into mischief sometimes.
“Fides! So cute!”
A cute daughter showering affection on her cute son.
Eliya smiled happily at the center of it all.
“Fides!”
From a distance, Judas caught their attention with a clap and called his son.
Fides promptly looked up, spotted his dad, and hurriedly climbed down from Eliya’s back.
As Eliya helped him down, Judas knelt down, ready to welcome Fides.
“Come here!”
“Daddyyyy-!”
Fides ran towards Judas with a comical, wobbly run.
His posture was a bit clumsy, yet he sprinted well.
Judas smiled and opened his arms.
But just then…
Fides stumbled and fell flat on his face.
“…!”
Everyone froze in surprise.
But Fides got up as if nothing had happened and ran towards Judas again.
He threw himself into his dad’s arms.
“Oh dear, so much energy, our son. Did you hurt yourself from that fall?”
“Nope! Not hurt!”
“How strong are you? Whose son are you?”
Judas examined Fides, but fortunately, he had no injuries.
Just a little dirt on him.
Not at all hurt, he smiled brightly.
While brushing off the dirt, Judas asked:
“Did you have fun with mommy?”
“Yeah! I flew in the sky and saw the ocean!”
“Sounds like your favorite game? Must have been fun.”
He patted the back of the still excited Fides and lightly kissed his chubby cheek.
It had become their daily norm for him to kiss his son upon returning.
To be precise, it was the atmosphere that had been formed as a result of Judas and Eliya doing the same.
Fides also kissed Judas’s cheek.
“Me too!”
Amor, who had come back hugging Eliya, joined in and kissed Judas’s cheek as well.
Once Amor stepped back, Eliya naturally moved closer and kissed him on the lips.
Judas found it incredibly adorable that his wife slipped seamlessly among the kids.
After one more kiss, he said.
“You worked hard. Eli.”
He could guess how much she must have suffered until Fides was satisfied.
Without having to witness it firsthand.
“Yeah.”
Still, Eliya’s face shone bright.
Judas understood her feelings.
Fides’ smile could make her forget how tough it had been.
Seeing Amor upon return and then his beloved spouse too fully restored him.
“You worked hard too, Judas.”
“I had nothing to worry about. I was with Amor. Besides, your mom was here too.”
“Eli. Come on over.”
Only then did Maria greet them.
“Mom, were you watching over Amor?”
The daughter and granddaughter who looked so alike.
Maria felt her heart ache a bit seeing the two, prompting an even brighter smile.
“I was literally keeping an eye on her. Just watching made me realize how well she does on her own. So proud.”
“Still, thank you. Amor, should you thank grandma?”
“Yeah. Thank you, grandma!”
Maria chuckled and patted Amor’s head.
“I’m more grateful.”
That wasn’t just directed at Amor.
She was thankful to Eliya for restoring this healthy happiness.
To Judas, who had helped her become that way.
And to the lively and spirited Fides, who resembled Judas. She felt gratitude for everyone.
Seeing the couple cradling their daughter and son who resembled them, Maria smiled contentedly.
“Grandma!”
Fides also greeted Maria warmly.
Amor was still using that pronunciation, and Fides had learned to mimic her.
“Right, Fides. It’s grandma. Did you have fun? Aren’t you hungry?”
“I’m hungry!”
“Oh no. Our puppy can’t be hungry. It just happens to be lunchtime. Shall we go eat?”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s hurry up!”
As they all moved together, Eliya winked discreetly at Judas.
It was a signal that she was looking forward to tonight’s entertainment.
Judas nodded quietly in his heart.
‘What should I do for her…?’
Thinking of various ideas, he finally settled on a good one.
That night, Eliya was rewarded significantly for her hard work during the day.
And about three weeks later…
She was pregnant with their third child.
*
“Waaah-!”
“Ughh-!”
Two cries resounded.
Judas, wiping the cold sweat from Eliya, first noticed something odd.
As if confirming his suspicion, Mei said.
“Your Majesty… it’s two babies!”
“…Huh?”
Only then did Judas understand.
During this pregnancy, Eliya’s belly had swelled larger than before.
He could vaguely guess why that was.
The vague reason suddenly became clear.
Mei held in her hands two newborns.
“You gave birth to twins!”
Eliya had twins in her belly after all.
Judas carefully accepted the two wailing babies, one in each hand.
They wailed heartily, looking like mirrors of each other.
One was slightly larger than the other.
‘Identical twins.’
The bigger one was a boy, meaning a son.
The smaller one was a girl, thus a daughter.
Having pulled out the son first, he took out the daughter next, making her their youngest.
Judas showed the twins to Eliya as well.
“Twins… oh my goodness.”
Eliya let out a hollow laugh.
“No wonder my belly felt bigger and heavier…”
“Must’ve been because of these little ones.”
“How did they fit in such a tight space?”
The third childbirth.
Eliya had become so accustomed to this that it made her first experience seem trivial.
The effects of anesthesia magic certainly weren’t negligible.
“An unexpected fourth child…”
The name for the third child had already been decided long ago.
Love and faith.
And the next was hope.
For the parents, the child was the object of hope, and they wanted to be the ones to fulfill that hope for the child.
Thus, the third child’s name would be Spei, pronounced as ‘hope.’
However, the fourth child was entirely unexpected.
Eliya found a name she liked among the candidates she had thought of earlier.
“A gift. The fourth is an unexpected gift we’ve received.”
Not just the fourth.
All the children were akin to precious gifts to Eliya and Judas.
“I was going to propose that name first, but it looks like our thoughts aligned.”
A gift.
The name they would call him was Donum.
Eliya and Judas smiled at the twins.
“Spei, Donum…”
As their family grew, the home’s atmosphere became brighter and more harmonious.
They looked forward to the day when these two would call them “mommy” and “daddy” as well.
‘With two children, the joy must also double.’
The couple failed to overlook one thing.
Having two children also meant double the effort required to raise them and the pains one would endure.
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