The Baby Isn’t Yours

As Simon increased his power, blocking the Fairy King, the sound of Kalia’s soft moan reached his ears.

‘Damn it.’

Simon cursed under his breath, swallowing the profanity, then added in a hushed voice:

“Trying to break down this room? Your claim of coming to help Kalia seems like a lie.”

Pabababak!

Sparks flew as Simon’s power and Kalexia’s power clashed.

In this tense moment, it was Gaia who intervened.

Unaware of her dire situation, she ran up to her father, who was slowly fending off Simon’s attack without caring, and hit him on the shoulder.

Slam.

Both Simon and Kalexia’s eyes turned to Gaia.

She glared at them with a furious expression and exclaimed:

-Not now, not like this!-

Even though her words weren’t spoken aloud, they were clearly conveyed.

Only then did Kalexia turn to look at his daughter with a bewildered expression.

With an apologetic face, he cleared his throat and spoke in Gaia’s place to Simon.

“It seems that the child needs the power of nature to properly give birth.”

“Why would natural power be necessary?”

“Well…”

At Simon’s skeptical remarks and suspicion on his face, Kalexia furrowed his eyebrows and fell silent.

Then his gaze fell on Kalia behind Simon and he muttered

“It might be because the child is part of the natural world.”

Simon frowned in disbelief.

Could this mean that Kalia was some kind of being related to fairies, elves, or spirits?

But that didn’t make sense.

Simon had seen many war wounds, and he knew that Kalia’s blood was no different from a human’s.

Generally, the blood of fairies and spirits was purer and lighter in color compared to that of humans. They were creatures who mainly consumed things like fruits, flowers, and dew, so their blood was purer.

On the other hand, blood from dark and death fairies, who consumed the deceased, was tinged with purple.

Moreover, fairy folk were known to have a much stronger sense of family compared to other species. They were filled with maternal and paternal love, as well as love for their siblings and parents.

Why would a member of the fairy race be abandoned as an orphan in the human world?

Even if she had a demon child, fairies would never abandon their offspring.

Nevertheless, since it was the Fairy King who was speaking, it couldn’t be dismissed outright.

Simon was hesitant, but Gaia pressed against Simon’s protective barrier and looked at Kalia desperately.

She muttered a few words before speaking more firmly.

“Please. Just for once, let me help her.”

The pleading in her eyes was palpable.

Her pure green eyes seemed to hold no trace of deceit or falsehood.

At that moment, Simon felt a touch on his hand from behind. Startled, he turned to look at the owner of the hand.

“…Let them in, Simon.”

Kalia, holding him tightly with a pale complexion, spoke in a trembling voice.

“Kalia…”

Hearing Simon call out in a voice filled with suppressed emotions, Kalia smiled weakly.

“It’ll be fine. Trust me.”

‘…You really.’

Simon’s face contorted as he wiped her tear-streaked cheek with trembling fingertips.

She must have sweated profusely, as her complexion was pale like a corpse.

The situation could not be further delayed now.

Even if Kalia could withstand it, Simon couldn’t watch her struggle any longer.

‘Rather… If only I could share Kalia’s pain. I would wish nothing more than to take away her pain.’

But since he couldn’t do that, all he could do was find a way to quickly resolve the problem.

Simon bit the inside of his lip briefly to calm himself.

Whether it was the Fairy King or a pitiful-looking fairy, they were not the standard of his faith. 

All he believed in was Kalia.

“Okay.”

He exhaled quietly and carefully removed the barrier.

That which he had so stubbornly resisted, his unshakable resolve, was broken in an instant by a single word from Kalia.

This wouldn’t have been possible without complete faith in her. Simon trusted her to the point of madness. His devotion to her was almost obsessive.

He didn’t hate or resent the woman who abandoned him, who didn’t understand his heart because of his overwhelming love.

“What an interesting guy…”

The Fairy King, now intrigued, mumbled as he lowered the barrier.

In the blink of an eye, he released the power of the natural world.

The room was immediately filled with air resembling that of the fairy realm.

Simon, who had been observing Kalia’s complexion, noticed her subtle but comfortable change.

It was as if the thin air had become richer, and her breathing had become more natural.

‘Maybe… She really needs the power of the natural world?’

Simon cut off his train of thought.

There was no time for idle speculation.

Once the barrier was removed, Gaia went straight to Kalia.

She approached her almost as if she would pull her, and then she grabbed Kalia’s forehead with both hands.

A faint power enveloped Kalia, and soon Gaia bit her lower lip.

Then, as if she had made up her mind, she clenched her teeth and began to channel all her power into Kalia.

“Ah, haah!”

As Gaia’s power increased, Kalia, who had been able to breathe a bit more comfortably, let out a small whimper.

Simon, who was anxiously watching, reached out to grab Gaia, but Kalexia stopped him.

“Wait.”

“If you just explain what’s happening here, I can wait as long as needed. Waiting is something I’ve always done.”

‘Hmm.’

Kalexia wanted to answer Simon’s question, but it wasn’t easy to give a straightforward response. He had a hard time gauging what his daughter was trying to do to that woman.

And then, after a while, Kalexia’s eyes narrowed as he understood his daughter’s intentions.

“Ah, Gaia.”

He called out his daughter’s name like a sigh, but she didn’t respond. Instead, her presence gradually faded away.

Her existence didn’t dissipate like mist. It was weakening as Gaia channeled her soul’s power into Kalia’s body.

Not knowing what she was doing, the Fairy King squeezed his daughter’s shoulders with his powerful hands.

As the flow of power was cut off, Gaia, who had been sweating, staggered.

Soon, she turned her head to look at her father, her weakened head shook, as if signaling him not to stop her.

“Are you willing to give away all your power?”

Gaia turned to look at Kalia with a hard face and said nothing.

“If that happens, you will disappear.”

-That doesn’t matter.-

“…Are you going to make your father shed tears of blood again?”

Only then did Gaia shudder and look at her father with infinitely tender eyes. Kalexia’s heart sank as Gaia bit her lower lip and smiled apologetically.

-Sorry, father.-

She was a fragmented soul that could no longer grow and was no longer free, but nonetheless, she was still his daughter.

Kalexia, who had lost his daughter by neglecting and suppressing her because he didn’t trust her, didn’t want to make the same mistake again. He pushed his daughter away and stood in her place, looking at Kalia.

‘What the hell is this child’s real identity…’

He suppressed his vague speculative thoughts and ran a small knife across his palm.

‘The question can be confirmed with this.’

Before Simon could react to the sudden presence of the knife, the king’s hand moved and struck him sharply across the heart.

“…!”

Kalexia muttered in the language of the ancient spirits as he cut the flesh around his heart without hesitation.

[Chashram Kumbhra.]

This spell has not been used for 700 years. He never thought that the day would come when he would say it.

[I will share my soul.]

The clear red blood flowing from the long wound began to clump together, floating in the air. 

The collected blood gradually hardened. The moisture from the droplets gradually evaporated until the blood turned into a solid solid substance, like a gemstone.

Small as a man’s thumb, its smooth surface shone brightly.

Although it was a different color from a ruby, it was still very beautiful.

A blood stone floating in the air flew towards Kalia’s stomach. As if searching for the core, it turned around and hovered before piercing Kalia’s stomach.

“What are you doing now?”

Simon growled wildly, fearing that this could harm Kalia and her child.

“Gaia is trying to create something inside the baby, even if she has to break her own soul to do it.”

The Fairy King kindly explained to Simon as he watched him closely.

“Inside the baby’s womb, Gaia is creating something that has yet to become complete.”

“What on earth is that?”

Kalexia looked at Kalia with cold eyes and said:

“Fairy Stone.”

“What?”

“Kalia, the baby inside her has an incomplete Fairy Stone. This child’s womb is distorted because the child cannot come out until it completes the formation of the stone.”

Because they were in a place lacking natural world power, the baby’s body resists being born before the Fairy Stone becomes complete. 

So the child was struggling not to be born without it.

“Fairy children must be born in places rich in natural world power with a perfect Fairy Stone. If something is missing, the mother might sacrifice herself to make sure the child is born.”

But Kalia didn’t know how to do that.

There is no way a child who is not a complete fairy could know such a method.

That was why Gaia tried to help Kalia, to ensure the safe birth of the child.

But Gaia didn’t have a Fairy Stone either. She could only maintain her existence through fragments of her soul and Kalexia’s power. Even if she poured her soul into the baby, it would be difficult to enhance the baby’s Fairy Stone or physical body.

However, Kalexia knew that there was a way to make the incomplete stone complete, a method that could be used only once.

But he had never used that method because he never had a situation that required him to use that power.

“An ordinary human bearing the name of Kalia Takscate.”

It was a blood magic known only to the descendants of the Fairy King. But how often would the Fairy King’s bloodline need such a spell?

“How did you take my blood?”

But…

It worked for Kalia.