In the long empty hallway of the castle, King Arindor was pacing back and forth nervously in front of the Queen's room.
"I told her over and over, with her sickness, getting pregnant again was a terrible idea!" His tone was shaky, filled with worry. "The baby's already ten days late! Something's definitely wrong, I know it!"
Eric, only eleven, looked just as anxious as his father.
He quietly walked up, grabbed his father's hand, and stopped him from pacing.
"Father, Mom's health has improved. Nothing will happen to my sister," Eric said softly, trying to calm him down a little.
The king leaned his weight on his little son, clearly overwhelmed.
"My own son is the one comforting me now," his voice broke, and he almost sobbed. "What would I do without you?"
Eric gently patted his father's back with his small hand.
It had already been hours since the Queen and Rosita had gone into the chamber.
The baby's delayed birth was driving the king crazy with worry, even though Eric tried to hide his own fear.
But the Queen, however, always stayed positive and kept saying nothing bad would happen.
After Eric was born, the Queen had gotten really sick. It had taken years for her to recover a little, but she always wanted a daughter.
As the last of the angel bloodline, she couldn't let her illness take her before she gave birth to at least one girl—for the angels' sake.
When she was four months pregnant, and Rosita told her the baby was going to be a girl, she was so happy it felt like she'd been given the whole world.
Even when the baby stubbornly refused to be born on time, the Queen had taken it as a good sign.
She laughed and said, 'My daughter just doesn't want to be born in winter.'
Finally, on the first day of spring—the day of The Birthday of Light—the baby must've decided she'd made them worry enough.
At last, after such a long wait, the door opened.
Rosita stepped out, holding a bundled newborn in her arms.
Her smile was tired but warm. "No need to worry, Your Majesty. Both mother and baby are fine. The Queen is resting now."
The king let out a huge sigh of relief and rushed over, while Eric froze in place, hesitant.
"It's really… a girl?" the king asked nervously, peeking at the tiny face wrapped in cloth in Rosita's arms.
Rosita nodded softly, still smiling.
The king's legs gave out—he leaned against the wall and ran a shaky hand through his hair.
"She was stubborn all the way, but we finally have a daughter. Ha… haha." His weak laugh cracked, and he slid down to sit on the floor.
All those sleepless nights had finally caught up to him now that his worries were gone.
Rosita's eyes shifted to Eric, who looked even more tense now.
She approached him kindly.
"Want to hold your sister?" she asked warmly, and before he could answer, she carefully lowered the baby into his small arms.
Eric froze completely.
"W-Wait…" he said in shock, squeezing his eyes shut.
But Rosita had already gently placed the baby in his arms.
Feeling that small, warm weight, Eric slowly opened one eye.
He saw his baby sister's pale little face, her hair and brows white as snow.
At that exact moment, she forced her big eyes open for the first time.
Eric just stared, frozen, at the tiny thing in his hands. Was this real?
Eri reached out her chubby hand and poked his cheek clumsily.
Then, out of nowhere, she pinched his nose and tugged it down—before bursting into a little laugh.
Eric let out a shaky breath, and a smile spread across his face.
All the fear and anxiety he'd bottled up melted into tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Don't worry about anything," he whispered through the happy tears, gently resting his forehead against hers. "I'll protect you, baby."
-
"Wait… my mom actually wanted a daughter?" Eri asked in disbelief.
From what she'd just heard, her family had really been happy about her, and that was the opposite of what she'd thought.
Rosita, sitting beside her on the couch, gave her cheek a warm little pat.
"She was so happy," Rosita said kindly. "It might be illegal, but she was the last female angel. And with you, she managed to keep the bloodline alive a little longer."
"So… if Mom didn't have any problems giving birth to me, then how did she die?" Eri mumbled, looking down.
Rosita's expression softened, grief flickering in her eyes. "I'm not sure. Everything went fine. But a few hours after you were born, Harold came to me with the news that the Queen had passed away."
Eri fell silent. Her brother's words echoed in her head. '—even with Mother's sacrifice…'
What had happened just hours after her birth? What kind of sacrifice?
Maya, sitting on the other side, gently grabbed Eri's hand.
"Being outside the castle is really dangerous. You're lucky you made it out of the chaos in the capital alive," Maya said, worried.
Eri snapped out of her thoughts and gave them a faint smile.
"Well… Human and Master V helped me a lot. Without them, I probably would've died already," she admitted.
"At least the king gave you good guards," Harold said.
Eri shook her head slowly. "Uh, no… they're not my father's guards,"
"If they're not royal guards, then you can't trust them." Maya narrowed her eyes at Noah. "Especially that boy."
Noah, sitting on the other couch with his arms crossed and eyes fixed on the ceiling, didn't react at all—not even to Maya's suspicious tone.
He was still trying to process what he'd just heard.
Yeah… Eri really was an angel. Just like Nerza had guessed.
And that meant she was exactly what the Empire was hunting for. Which made Noah quietly go over his mission again in his head.
Eri placed a hand on Maya's shoulder and smiled. "I trust Noah,"
Hearing that, Noah's eyes widened for a second.
He quickly glanced at her, then immediately looked away again when he noticed she was looking back.
He honestly had no idea what was up with her. Was she doing this on purpose? Did she somehow know about his mission and was trying to mess with his head?
Because if she was… that was just cruel—saying stuff like that out loud, knowing how it'd hit him.
That's when a thin voice piped up from Eri.
"Na! Na!"
Everyone froze and stared at her in confusion.
Eri's face went pale, and she gave a nervous little laugh.
"Haha… t-that was me. Na-na," she stammered, awkwardly trying to copy the voice.
She quickly put her hand to her neck, where tiny movements were tickling her, and tilted her head down to whisper.
"When I said 'Noah', I didn't mean you, Little Noah!" she murmured softly.
"NA!!"
And with that, Little Noah suddenly popped out from Eri's collar and tumbled into her lap.
Maya and Rosita, sitting on either side of her, instantly jumped to their feet in shock the moment they saw the Devourer.
But Noah's expression just turned blank, pure poker-face.
"Just to make sure… did a Devourer just crawl out of your collar?"
Eri nodded, smiling.
"The same Devourer I told you eats parts of your body?"
And Eri just nodded again.
Noah blinked several times before speaking again. "Oh, I see. Clearly you listened to my warning very carefully."
Eri lifted Little Noah in her hands and held it closer to him.
"Don't worry, Human. Little Noah's different. He only eats what I give him." She reassured everyone, holding her fingertip out in front of his mouth.
Little Noah grabbed her finger with his tiny hands and stuck it in his mouth. Eri lifted her hand and wiggled her finger, he still hanging on. "See? He doesn't bite. He just drools a lot."
Noah's brain practically glitched at the name she had given it.
"What the…?!" he muttered, staring at Little Noah. "Little... what?"
"Little Noah! Isn't it such a cute name?" Eri said excitedly.
"Come on! You still call me Human!" Noah said in disbelief.
Eri gently petted Little Noah's head. "Don't worry, Little Noah. He's just jealous of your name."
Noah stared between her and Little Noah, still looking completely lost.
"Why would I be jealous? That's literally MY name!" He sounded like he couldn't process it at all.
A burst of laughter escaped V, though he was immediately met with Noah's sharp glare.
Then Maya also started laughing.
Harold and Rosita looked like they were holding their laughter back.
Harold quickly dragged V outside with the excuse of fixing the light crystals. Rosita also hurried Maya into the kitchen before the whole thing ended in a fight.
And just like that, only Noah, Eri, and Little Noah were left in the living room.
Eri glanced toward the door as Harold and V stepped out to hang the light crystals outside the house.
She really wanted to help with that, so without thinking, she suddenly plopped Little Noah into Noah's lap and hurried toward the exit. "I wanna help Mr. Harold. Human, just watch Little Noah for a bit till I'm back."
Noah stared after her in disbelief, then slowly turned his angry gaze onto the small thing in his lap.
He pinched the leaf on top of Little Noah's head with two fingers and dangled him right in front of his face.
Little Noah just blinked back at him with big round eyes, quietly opening and closing his mouth.
"You thieving little brat. That name doesn't suit you at all," Noah muttered darkly.
"Don't bully my Little Noah, you jerk!" Maya's voice shouted from the kitchen.
Noah shot a furious glare toward the kitchen, yelling back. "Don't you dare stick my name on this stupid thing!"
Little Noah flailed his tiny arms and legs.
"Na! Na!!"
"Shut up already!" he snapped at Little Noah.
.
.
Everyone was sitting around the table, the house glowing with light crystals, and a cake was placed in the center.
"It's so cool that you and I were born on the same day, right?" Eri said excitedly.
"It's not a big deal. Lots of people were born today," Noah replied coldly.
"But we still managed to find each other."
"We didn't find each other. We just happened to cross paths."
Eri leaned closer to him, grinning ear to ear.
"This is the first birthday for both of us, both eighteen. So it has to be fate. Maybe it means we'll never be apart for the rest of our lives!" she said cheerfully.
Noah lazily put his hand on her head and shoved her back a little.
"Ugh. This is the side effect of you reading too many novels." He rolled his eyes.
Rosita lit two candles on the cake, and Eri excitedly clasped her hands together and shut her eyes tight to make a wish.
But Noah just sat with his arms crossed, blankly watching her.
This was Eri's first birthday, and just the thought of celebrating it with people made her heart race.
Though Noah didn't seem pleased—more like he was just tolerating it until it was over.
"I wish—"
Before she could finish, Noah suddenly slapped his hand over her mouth. "At least say your wish in your head."
Eri blinked in confusion, then finally realized she'd been saying her thoughts out loud again. Her worst habit.
After all, she had spent her whole life in a tiny room, always talking out loud to the walls, the desk, the books, the bed, even her pillows.
She nodded quietly, this time made sure to keep her wish in her head.
'I wish… no more bad things happen. Or at least… nothing too bad… you know?… not too too bad.'
After finishing her birthday wish, she opened her eyes and stared at Noah, waiting.
The two locked eyes, and Eri kept nodding and smiling at him, urging him to make a wish too.
She was so stubborn that Noah finally let out a defeated sigh.
Still arms crossed, he glanced at the people sitting around Eri, then closed his eyes for just a second.
'Since I can't finish my mission while I'm here anyway… I just wish for something that'll let me take Eri away from this place.'
When he opened his eyes, Eri suddenly pushed his head forward with hers, forcing him toward the cake so they could blow out the candles together.
Noah really didn't care about any of this, but when Eri blew out the candles, he let out a deep sigh too—just so she wouldn't be upset.
As everyone clapped, V had already cut himself a huge slice of cake and left for living room.
Eri bounced happily and threw her arms around Noah. "Happy birthday, Human!"
Noah didn't move. He glanced at her hugging him again and turned his gaze away with a faint scowl, not even answering.
"Tsk tsk tsk… this guy's social skills are a disaster," Maya sighed dramatically.
Rosita gave her a light nudge with her shoulder, then turned her gentle smile toward Noah.
"So, what did you wish for?" she asked softly.
Noah avoided eye contact, keeping his tone flat and cold. "It's not like my wish is gonna come true anyway…"
Right then, Harold's eyes caught something outside the window.
In the distance, a massive cloud of smoke was rising, and even the nearby crystals were going out at a terrifying speed.
"Uh… h-honey…?" Harold stammered.
Rosita looked at him in confusion, then glanced out the window—and suddenly shot up in shock.
"The city's on fire?!" she shouted.
Everyone froze in horror, but before anyone could react, someone started pounding furiously on the front door.
The banging was so strong it felt like the door was about to break.
'…Of course. Make a wish, get a disaster. Typical,' Noah thought.