Chapter 3

“The Knights have just passed through the portal!”

Good news flew to Blenheim House.

After ten days and two days ago, the news that the knights were returning from the west of the Oden Mountains for subjugation.

“Madam, move slowly.”

“It’s alright. Let’s go and greet them.”

Countess Yvon Von Klose, with the help of her maid, hurriedly left the chapel.

At the news of Howell’s return, she was so happy she was in tears. Wasn’t this the third time he had left home this month alone? Weren’t they still in their honeymoon phase? Since she had not been a countess for more than a year, so her husband’s absence felt even greater.

Yvon stood in front of the forest lake, north of the mansion, where there was a transporting portal.

The old trees that have protected the Tezeba area since time immemorial  grew to a great heights and covered the sky. This place, where the light penetrating through the crevices of the trees, created a sacred atmosphere, was one of the five major portals of the continent.

Tezeba, blessed by the earth god Kayena.

Ante, blessed with the wind god Roxylane.

Reel blessed with the sea god Herion.

Altera was blessed by the sky god Delis.

And Eberdio, the capital of the Empire, was blessed by the sun god Icaruso.

The portals that were created in these five places used the blessings of the gods as an energy source. Since transport could move more than 1,000 troops at a time without delay, it was used as a military strategic point.

Yvon’s heart was pounding at her already at the sound of heavy military boots getting closer. Perhaps the child in her womb also felt the mother’s trembling, kicked lightly to announce his presence.

As Yvon entered her eighth month of pregnancy, she gently stroked her bulging tummy.

“Greeting the knights!”

When he lifted his head at someone’s cry, the flag of the Knights of Blenheim appeared first over a huge passage under the stone statue.

Following that, the knights with a tired look tumbled out of the passage. Yvon, who found Howell at the forefront, burst into tears. But she couldn’t just be happy. She mourned for the knighthood whose number had been cut in half, and put her hands together in prayer.

“… Yvon.”

Closing her eyes, she lifted her head at Howell’s voice above her head. Howell, messed with blood and dust, smiles faintly and spreads his arms.

“Honey.”

Yvon wiped her tears and put her in Howell’s arms. A light of relief spreaded across Howell’s face after he embraced his beloved wife tightly.

As if after a long, long journey, his whole body relaxed.

***

“Countess, this is the child.”

Rodrigo placed the child wrapped in a dirty blanket in front of Yvon, then backed away.

Yvon looked at the child’s sleeping face that the wizard had put down. When she first heard that her husband had brought a baby, she thought the sky was falling. She almost asked if there was some kind of concubine that he didn’t tell her about. However, she was relieved by the explanation that followed.

“This little baby… . She saved the entire Order? I can’t believe it.”

Yvon murmured softly, as Howell, who was soaking in the bathtub, wiped his wet face and narrowed his eyes.

“Without even a single wound.”

“Then, is the child a sentinel?”

Yvon gently touched the plump child’s cheek. Then the child, who was babbling, grabbed Yvon’s fingers.

She was as soft as a feather, and she was such a small child that it seemed she would break if touched.

“Actually, he says she has the powers of both a sentinel and a guide. After destroying the gate with the power of the sentinel, she guiding and saved me. Yvon.”

Howell got up from the water. He donned a gown hanging from the partition, came up to her, tying his knot loosely.

She had lost her gaze to the child, then lifted her head and looked at Howell. 

Stripped of his blood and dust, her husband returned to being a proper handsome man. Water dripped from his dark brown hair. She looked again at his golden eyes and the child’s blue eyes, and sighed again.

Then he bent over and hugged her waist. He looked down at Dahlia, kissing his wife’s belly.

“If you allow me, I want to make Dahlia a child of the Von Klose family.”

“She already has a name? You gave me a name without consulting me.”

In response to coy Yvon’s frivolous reply, he burst into laughter. But he soon spoke with a serious expression on his face.

“A child born with the power of a sentinel and a guide cannot live long. But to give up easily, this child is too strong.”

“Then… .”

“I think Dahlia can lead a family with our unborn child. In the future, it may become our child’s sword, and… .”

Howell couldn’t say that Dahlia couldn’t give up her power as a guide. The number of guides drastically decreased, and high-ranking sentinels were frantic to find their own guides. If, after reaching adulthood, Dahlia was equipped with the ability to properly wield both powers, it would be a lasting blessing for the family.

Ultimately, he wouldn’t even have to risk persecution and extortion from the temple to be assigned a guide. Howell felt bitter at the thought of using Dahlia, but he didn’t want to give up.

“Give me permission, Yvon.”

He kissed her troubled wife’s temple and caressed her full belly.

“She who saved my life. So shouldn’t I pay off that debt?”

Yvon stroked Dahlia’s frizzy hair and smiled as if she couldn’t help it.

“I can’t let go of the benefactor who saved my husband’s life.”

“Yvon… !”

“I need to find another nanny. Please call Mrs. Denver.”

At the prompt permission, Howell hugged Yvon with a thrilled expression.

Dahlia Von Klose.

Officially, Dalia Von Klose entered the family two months later as one of the twins the Countess gave birth to.

***