Little Sylvana greeted Pride with a wide, innocent smile. "Hello, Aunt Pride. How are you?"
The moment Pride saw that innocent smile and heard that sweet voice, all her frustration and negativity melted away like ice under a summer sun. It was as if the child's smile had healed her.
Pride cooed and slumped forward, engulfing Sylvana in a hug. "Awww," she said, nuzzling her cheek against the child's soft cheek. "Who are your parents, sweetie?"
"Um," the little one began, a hint of confusion clouding her brow frowned as she seemed to search her memory. "Papa's name is Daniel Embereave. As for Mama..." Sylvana trailed off, starting to count on her fingers. "Ummm... I have four mamas right now. The first is Mama Koyuki, the second is Mama Envy, the third is Mama Greed, and the fourth is Mama Penthesilea."
Pride's jaw dropped. "Four mamas?!" she exclaimed, stunned. "And you said the first one is that... fiery... I mean, Koyuki?"
Sylvana simply nodded in confirmation.
Of course, Pride, raised in a mage family, didn't mind that Daniel had several partners. In fact, she was even proud of him. After all, they were all powerful witches, which meant the inheritance of their magical legacy would be strong and secure.
However, what truly irked her was that Koyuki, her rival, the former Witch of Wrath, held the position of first wife. Honestly, Pride wouldn't have been half as annoyed if it had been Envy, her teacher.
Suddenly, a realization dawned on Pride. "Wait! You said your fourth mama's name is Penthesilea?" she asked, disbelief etched on her face. Little Sylvana simply nodded in confirmation. Pride's gaze immediately snapped towards Greed, who was busy arranging the hospital gifts.
"Yes, that Penthesilea," Greed confirmed. "The one who fought Achilles and died."
"Who brought her back?"
"Daniel, of course," Greed replied. "And before you ask, no, it wasn't through a homunculus body. It's a true resurrection. Aunt Envy already examined her – there's no trace of homunculus forging technique within her body. Penthesilea possesses a genuine body from the Era of Gods, when mana was abundant. Her strength comes from that era's constant mana exposure, not homunculus enhancements."
Pride, of course, knew Daniel somehow possessed the power to revive long-dead heroes like Heracles, whom she met in Japan. However, she believed the process was incredibly complex and taxing on Daniel. Bringing back an ancient hero must have consumed a vast amount of resources. But perhaps this was something Daniel could achieve with minimal cost to himself or his resources.
A frown creased Pride's brow. Her injuries stemmed from a desperate escape – fleeing from Achilles, another ancient hero seemingly working for General Moore, or perhaps aiding in a coup. She'd stumbled upon a secret underground laboratory on the outskirts of Washington.
It was a place of horrors, teeming with abominations being experimented upon. Even worse, her father was imprisoned there, guarded by Achilles himself.
However, the Achilles she'd fought differed from the original Achilles. This one was brought back using the soul of Achilles that integrated into a powerful homunculus body – a far cry from the true resurrection Daniel had achieved with Penthesilea.
"How can I help you, ma'am?" Daniel asked, confused as to why this woman still wanted to associate with him after he had ignored her earlier.
"Are you free? Interested in having lunch with me?" The woman asked again, attempting to showcase her beauty by stroking her hair and revealing her cleavage. However, Daniel remained immune to her obvious moves. After all, his partners were supermodel-level beauties, so he didn't find her attractive at all.
"I'm sorry, but I'm waiting for my date. Could you please not interrupt my gaming?" Daniel said bluntly, causing the woman's irritation to become more visible on her face.
"Ah, Lord Emberweave!" A somewhat familiar woman's voice sounded from a distance, and a girl with pure white hair exuding a beautiful and ethereal air walked toward him, accompanied by a stern maid in glasses.
The girl's stunning appearance made the women surrounding Daniel jealous, nearly sending them into a fit of rage.
Observing the situation, the maid pulled out a rune stone from her pocket and crushed it. Instantly, the crowd around them dispersed as if losing interest, returning to their daily routines.
"Quite convenient," Daniel remarked upon seeing the maid's use of the runestone.
"You jest, Lord Emberweave. This non-magical beings repellant runestone is a common product sold in bulk by the Stenmark clan in the Curtained World. I believe you could have procured one too, given the close friendship between you and Lord Stenmark," the maid explained in a polite yet stoic tone.
Daniel smiled wryly before turning his attention to the girl with pure white hair standing before him. "And you are..." he tried to recall.
"It's Anastasia, Lord Emberweave, Anastasia Romanov. We met once when you were hunting Satan in our palace back then," Anastasia answered.
"Ah, I remember. How are you doing, Ms. Romanov?" Daniel politely greeted her, recalling that she was the girl who seemed to know about him before he became famous in The Curtained World, and who had tried to accompany him to Tessia Kingdom but was declined, leading to her detainment by her mage for etiquette lessons.
"I'm good, Lord Emberweave. Thanks for asking, even though Svetlana's etiquette classes have become harsher after you rejected my request to follow you," Anastasia replied, still holding a grudge against him for leaving her with her stern maid.
"That's for your own good, Your Highness. You're too rowdy for a girl of your status," the stern maid interjected.
"Ugh... Could you please stop talking about etiquette, Svetlana? We're here for a tour... I mean, for a diplomatic trip!" Anastasia quickly corrected herself, treating the trip more like a fun excursion than a diplomatic mission.
Svetlana, the stern maid, fixed her young mistress with a silent stare. Her gaze held a knowing glint, silently communicating that she understood Anastasia's true feelings about the trip.
"Wh... What?" Anastasia stammered, flustered under the stern gaze of the maid who had raised her since childhood.