The Baby Isn’t Yours

“…Seeing how quiet it is, Papa must still be asleep, right? Phew, I wonder when Mama will come. I have to hide until Mama arrives.”

Shuri, with her dark forsythia-colored hair tied up on the sides, whispered to her twin sister, Maeve, as she diligently looked around from their hiding spot among the thick foliage.

The two children were hiding on a large maple tree that overlooked the royal palace, and the old tree was spreading its leaves wide to shield them from the sunlight.

“Uh, um… That’s right, we have to… hide… heehee.”

Unlike Shuri, who had bright eyes as she scanned the surroundings, Maeve had her hair braided down and was sound asleep, tightly hugging a rattan basket filled with juicy strawberries.

The child was completely unaware of how deeply she was dozing off and that the mischievous mole spirit had stealthily sneaked into the basket, slyly stealing some tempting strawberries.

“Earlier, Rohiri said Mama would be here soon…”

Shuri looked tiredly at the entrance to the clearing.

Today was Mama’s favorite Family Day.

However, due to a fire at an apple farm near the capital caused by the dry season, Mama had rushed there early in the morning.

The fire was quickly extinguished with the help of magic and spirits, but the problem was the immigrant tribe that took advantage of the fire to plunder the orchard.

Lately, the immigrant tribe had been infiltrating the border area, and although their numbers were not large and the residents’ damage wasn’t significant, they turned a blind eye to it, thinking it wasn’t a big deal. But this time, they had managed to harm people.

Mama had said that she would personally capture all the immigrants this time and settle the matter.

According to Papa, Mama had eagerly rushed there because she was getting restless from sitting in front of her desk every day.

If her body itched, she could have taken a bath. It was unclear why she had ridden off to the scene.

Anyway, Mama had quickly resolved the situation and said she was on her way back.

So now, they just had to wait for Mama to arrive…

“…Oh, goodness, didn’t I tell you two to go away? I’ll play with you later. If we get caught because of you, it’ll be bad!”

The problem was the spirits that had been pestering them to play.

The light emitted by the gathering spirits was so intense that it reflected the sunlight only around the maple tree, creating a dazzling spectacle.

If they continued like this, even from a distance, the maple tree with the twins would become even more conspicuous.

Anxious Shuri tried to shoo away the spirits with her hands, struggling.

“Uh please, go away! I’ll play with you later, okay? We can’t get caught right now! G-Go away!”

Frustrated, Shuri waved her hands to chase away the spirits, but they playfully laughed and kissed her curly hair.

Overwhelmed by the shower of affection pouring down on her, Shuri trembled and requested support from Maeve.

“Maeve, try to do something, too! Don’t just doze off!”

“Huh? Uh, huh?!”

Startled by Shuri’s loud voice, Maeve suddenly lifted her head and got her hair caught on a branch.

“Ah! Ouch! Shuri, my hair got stuck!”

“Pull it out!”

“It won’t come out!”

Maeve, in pain from her tangled hair, looked at Shuri with teary eyes.

While her voice was nagging and complaining, Shuri’s touch as she untangled the hair was gentle and careful.

“Seriously, why are you dozing off here, it’s dangerous. Don’t you remember the time when you tripped and almost got seriously hurt?”

Despite her nagging tone, her hand that untangled the hair was tender and delicate.

“No, I was just meditating for a moment…”

“You have drool on your mouth, Maeve.”

“This isn’t drool, it’s tears of meditation…”

“…”

“Really…”

She’s being funny. What’s the real reason?

As Shuri remained speechless and didn’t respond, Maeve awkwardly scratched her nose before pulling Shuri into a tight hug.

“Shushu, you’re my favorite person in the whole world.”

Maeve expressed her affectionate gesture when she had nothing else to say or felt embarrassed.

It was strange how Shuri didn’t feel annoyed at all, even though she knew it.

Without getting angry, Shuri tried to conceal her quickly unraveling composure by pouting her lips and grumbling.

“Maeve, don’t wipe your drool on me so sneakily.”

“Hehe!”

Knowing Shuri’s thoughts, Maeve gently laughed as she held her soulmate even tighter.

“Maeveee! Don’t wipe your drool!”

“Yeah! I wiped it all off now!”

“…Haa, you’re really something.”

“Of course, you’re my favorite person in the world, Shushu.”

“Yeah, I got it. So stop it now. That’s not what’s important right now.”

Why is she acting like this today?

Shuri, who had been glancing away with embarrassment, gently pushed Maeve’s face away and changed the subject.

“But, Maeve, can you really leave that thing like that?”

Shuri pointed to Maeve’s strawberry basket with a worried expression.

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Your strawberries… Tierra seems to be devouring them right now?”

“What?!”

Startled, Maeve glanced at the basket she had momentarily set down, only to find that half of the basket, which had been filled with plump strawberries, was now empty.

There was no need to search for the culprit separately; it was undoubtedly Tierra, the chubby mole spirit poking out next to the basket.

“That chubby mole again!”

“Oh, Maeve! Be quiet!”

“I won’t let that greedy mole get away with it! Waaah! Tierra ate, no, devoured my strawberries! Stupid Tierra!”

Maeve burst into tears and grabbed Tierra’s tail as she tried to escape.

“Freeze!”

While Maeve was usually gentle and lazy, once her anger ignited, her temperament could become uncontrollable, to the point that even Shuri couldn’t handle it.

-Kyuuu!-

Coldness emanated from Maeve’s palm and engulfed Tierra in an instant.

Even when faced with a completely frozen mole, Maeve’s anger didn’t subside. In the blink of an eye, she conjured an ice hammer from her palm.

Unlike Shuri, whose specialty was swordsmanship utilizing elemental spirits, Maeve was excelled in magic. Among them, her best was ice magic, no doubt.

A delicate, beautiful, yet sturdy ice hammer appeared in Maeve’s hand in an instant.

Without hesitation, Maeve fiercely struck the frozen mole’s head, shouting in frustration.

“You stupid Tierra! Greedy Tierra! Fool! Idiot! I hate you! Waaah!”

“Now stop it, Maeve. What if you really end up breaking Tierra’s head? Calm down, let’s go pick strawberries with me again.”

“But Mama will be here soon… I woke up early in the morning to decorate her crown with the berries… Ughh!”

Today was the once-a-year Family Day, where all the family members gathered for a joyful and warm time.

By ‘whole family,’ it meant the fairy family, Shaik, Drea, and everyone, truly encompassing the entire family.

They all gathered to share delicious food, played card games near the fireplace, and sometimes listened to someone’s small heroic tale. Uncle Ganini or Papa would demonstrate a new invention as well.

In any case, Family Day was one of the twins’ favorite days.

Maeve had been making a leaf crown for Mama since a few days ago, and she planned to decorate it with specially grown strawberries that she had nurtured with her own hands.

Grosh strawberries were much plumper and more beautiful in shape compared to regular strawberries.

They were truly beautiful, sparkling like jewels, but being fruits grown in the cold regions, they were hard to find in Purito.

These strawberries were very special, as Maeve had nurtured them daily with her ice magic.

But now that Tierra had greedily devoured them all, Maeve couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

To make matters worse, just then…

Woooo-!

The sound of a hornpipe, signaling the return of the Queen, which Shuri had eagerly awaited, echoed through the air.

“Oh no! Mama must have arrived!”

It meant they were too late to pick more strawberries or find another gift.

Maeve’s already tear-stained face crumbled miserably like sun-melted whipped cream.

Although she had already shed plenty of tears, more tears welled up in her large eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

The spirits that had been circling around the two children seemed to understand the situation and discreetly disappeared, hiding their winged radiance.

In fact, many of them had already vanished in fear when Maeve struck Tierra’s head with the ice hammer earlier…

“…Maeve? Shuri?”

A gentle voice called out to the two children, resonating like a voice of salvation.

Maeve and Shuri widened their eyes and shouted in excitement, waving their hands at the person beneath the tree.

It was a beautiful woman with white hair tinged with a hint of pink.

“Drea!”