Secondary Story: A Mother's Joy

Mireia Sophrein from Dranalian.

Maiden name, Mireia Sadre Von Solein.

She was the illegitimate daughter of a relatively wealthy baron who controlled three cities with an iron fist. Her childhood was difficult, as she endured abuse from her father and older brothers, who viewed her as a pest; she was forced to be raised by law.

He was finally able to escape that life when he successfully enrolled in the Academy, which he considered the beginning of a new life… although it turned out for the worse.

In the Khazar Empire, illegitimate children were not necessarily despised by everyone as in other nations, but there were still noble houses that looked askance at children born purely for pleasure without judgment rather than careful selection of a suitable individual to strengthen their bloodlines of power.

The sad thing is that Mireia had no redeeming abilities beyond increased physical strength, an interesting mutation it was said, but nothing more.

He had no talent for the Arcane Arts of the various combat professions, nor could he use Magic or Divine Arts.

Even worse... he failed to awaken any One Forces even though his father and brothers possessed them as if it were natural.

That fact seemed to confirm the belief that one shouldn't have children with any random scum, and many nobles and even commoners used that as an excuse to harass and mistreat her at the Academy for fun.

The irresponsible teachers turned a blind eye because many of these individuals were high-ranking nobles or extremely talented commoners, and they were not going to risk incurring their wrath over a mean-spirited, talentless illegitimate daughter.

For them, it was convenient for Mireia to be one of the dolls of the future powers of the Empire who would fight against the threat of the abyss to undo the stress of intense training and studies.

This situation left Mireia depressed and alone, feeling as if the world were her enemy.

She considered dropping out of the Academy many times to escape it all, but in the end, she decided to persist. She had a dream to fulfill there… and that was to find a powerful, wealthy husband who would care for and pamper her.

Maybe they'll judge her for being greedy or something, but after everything she's been through, Mireia just wanted to live well.

Without the Arcane Arts, it would be difficult to be treated well in the Empire, which values ​​them almost as much as bloodlines, and without the One Force, it would be difficult to survive as an adventurer.

Even if he possesses powerful physical abilities... So what? That wouldn't help him fight against demons immune to human attacks! Magical beasts? Please, those things not only have stronger bodies than humans, but they could kill her as many times as they wanted!

Hmmm... with the exception of slimes and horned bunnies... those cute things.

In any case, Mireia was realistic and concluded that the best thing for her to live well and in health was to have the support of a good husband. She didn't care what others thought about it; anyway, the other humans around her were already busy mistreating and insulting her from beginning to end.

However, it was difficult to find someone willing to take her as a wife. Mireia wasn't ugly; she was quietly acknowledged as a great beauty. Her problem was that she knew full well that many of those noble lads would only want to play with her once before throwing her away.

The only reason she wasn't raped was because it was easy for even Mireia to call a Priest to verify a rape, since the servants of the gods didn't care at all about the status of nobles and would punish them if such a crime was revealed. (Thanks to the fact that the gods literally watch their every action with hawk eyes, they couldn't support them even if they wanted to.)

All that aside, Mireia couldn't even hope to be a mere concubine to some nobleman; no one wanted her to insult their family name and lineage by giving birth to an inferior son, including knightly families. The realization of this drove her to despair.

It was then that she met him in an academy garden filled with beautiful botanical species, whose leaves were shaken by the wind, creating a beautiful scene.

He was an older man, the talented and reclusive son of the Duke of Dranalian, Astaroth Sophrein von Dranalian.

The man was one of the most handsome men in the Academy and the entire Empire, but despite the popularity he had thanks to his talent, family name, and status, he kept himself away from social interactions for some reason, not trying to form connections at all with other nobles.

He always stayed away from public places when he could, and she only met him by chance to hide from the sight of troublesome nobles.

Mireia was enchanted by his cold and stern appearance, and upon learning of the wealth and power he would have in the future, she immediately decided to pursue him with the thought that she had nothing to lose, even if the other party rejected her.

What noble woman would want such a handsome, strong, and rich husband?

With that idea in mind, Mireia decided to approach Astaroth wearing a smile... and in the midst of that, an unexpected event occurred.

The moment Astaroth turned to look at her with his indifferent blue eyes, she immediately saw them widen in surprise, which confused her.

What she didn't know was that he was captivated by the way the wind magically blew flower petals around her as she held her hair (trying to maintain her cute smile even though she was annoyed by the petals), which, combined with her spectacular beauty and the sunlight bathing her body in its splendor, ended up creating a wonderful image of her, worthy of a fairy tale princess.

––An image that completely captivated the heart of the usually stoic but naive young Astaroth. He didn't have to lift a finger, and the future duke fell in love with her at first sight.

Then Astaroth approached her gallantly without his usual cold atmosphere and said to Mireia, who was stunned, with a voice full of passion and a captivating smile as he fell to his knees and took her hand:

“I know this is sudden, but… Will you marry me…?”

"Huh?"

Needless to say, Mireia was stunned by this scene and accidentally (?) hit him in the face, shouting: “What nonsense are you talking about, huh!? “Who proposes to someone they just met!?”

…I mean, she may have intended to approach him to try to gain his attention and maybe become his wife or concubine, but…

It's just that his sudden proposal was complete nonsense to her and Mireia doesn't exactly react very well to nonsense, she usually uses violence to deal with the idiocy around her.

That usually didn't go very well, and his expression immediately paled...

Oh no, hitting the son of a duke... I'm dead!

However, Mireia would be surprised again because Astaroth, who was sent flying, just smiled stupidly with blood coming out of his nose as he got up from the ground and bravely proposed again.

The guy wasn't angry at all, what a freak, he thought.

Suppressing the urge to answer, Mireia immediately agreed. She'd be a fool not to, anyway.

And with no more drama than the angry noblewomen who loved Astaroth complaining and the other nobles mocking his stupidity, the two were married. Apparently, Astaroth's parents were just as romantic as he was, believed in true love, and didn't care as much about bloodlines as the other nobles did.

This was what her father-in-law said when Astaroth proudly introduced her.

“My son…! You finally found love! I’m happy for you!”

The old man wept earnestly with joy as he hugged his fiancée, who responded with equal drama.

“Of course! I wish you could have seen her…!” Astaroh smiled happily as she spoke with overflowing emotions, “…She appeared in front of me through a sea of ​​petals like a mythical fairy while smiling at me so affectionately that she stole my heart in a flash…! It was simply fantastic!”

"That sounds so wonderful!" The former Duke wept even more as the Duchess wept silently beside him, her expression content.

Mireia sincerely wanted to replicate many things... but she left them as they were because they seemed happy. Above all, she had to admit that Astaroh looked cute acting like this, unlike his general cold image.

She may not have necessarily believed in so-called true love and just wanted to get married for a better life, but she was also happy that her husband was a good person... and handsome.

Of course, even if he eventually found a stable source of support, there would still be certain difficulties to overcome.

From assassins from other families wanting to get rid of her to secure the position of duchess for their daughters, to unsavory relatives wanting to take advantage of her future position as duchess, to the unfortunate fact that her husband had to go off to battle demons for the past few years, leaving her alone...there were many challenges to overcome.

Fortunately, the assassins were defeated, the unpleasant relatives were eliminated, and her kind and loving in-laws were there for her when her husband went to the battlefield.

So 10 years passed.

However… during all that time, they had no children.

It's not that they didn't try, but that there was no result no matter how many times they tried (Astaroth was very energetic...). This raised some concerns about the future, especially in Mireia, who feared that Astaroth would abandon her if she couldn't give her children to inherit his legacy.

But that never happened; during those 10 years of marriage, he didn't abandon her; instead, he devoted himself completely to her, regardless of whether they might have children at the end of it, showering her with affection.

What seemed like a stupid crush on a surprisingly naive man turned out to be a love so real that in the end, she couldn't help but fall for him for real. She was happy and content. Her current life made it easy for her to move past a memory so distant and insignificant that she could almost laugh at it.

And when Astaroth finally inherited the Dranalian Duchy, a few days after the succession ceremony… Mireia finally became pregnant.

It was a miracle (Actually, he had the help of an eccentric alchemist friend who created a medicine that strengthened fertility, but nobody needed to know that...).

Although the baby girl wasn't a boy, her parents were happy to finally have a child of their love. And just two years later (this time a true miracle), Duchess Mireia gave birth to another baby girl.

That's Ekaterina. A special child for her entire family, she would grow up to be a light not only for her parents and grandparents, but also for her older sister and her servants. It was as if she was destined to be loved by everyone.

A beautiful little girl who looked just like her mother, like a tiny copy of Mireia. She honestly liked that a lot, though she wouldn't tell anyone.

But one incident would cause serious damage to her little girl's soul when she attempted, without any guidance or supervision, to use her unique power that she herself had awakened without anyone noticing.

She used him beyond his capacity, damaging the essence of his being, and since then, not only did she lose her adorable personality that charmed everyone with her cute smile, becoming an empty shell of her former self, but the little girl was destined to have her soul destroyed if they didn't find a way to permanently heal it.

Mireia and Astaroth were desperate for a solution.

The Duchy of Dranalian quickly concealed the news of what was happening to the youngest lady of their family by all possible means under the excuse of an illness, while the Duke ordered his subordinates to search the ruins and dungeons for any item capable of healing a soul.

They explored for a year in search of such things, using legends, historical records, and rumors to guide them in their search and try to save Ekaterina from her impending collapse.

However… there was no result.

They even tried to ask for help from their allies in the church, but the power of the gods failed to save the soul of an innocent mortal.

Weeping in anguish until she couldn't stand it any longer, Mireia resigned herself to her fate. If not even the power of a powerful priestess like Hecate could save Ekaterina's soul... then they were helpless.

Astaroth may still have had faith in finding a solution and persisted in doing so, but Mireia no longer wanted to have useless hopes.

Since then, Mireia has kept her distance from her youngest daughter, unable to be near or look at a doll-faced, emotionless-eyed Ekaterina who mercilessly tears at her heart every time, causing a strong feeling of suffocation.

He didn't have the strength to be by her side when he knew that neither his body nor his soul could be saved.

She even wondered if having children was worth it if losing them was so painful... it was so painful that even the abuse and mistreatment of her past couldn't compare. It was too much for her.

But when she heard that Ekaterina had suddenly fainted in her room for no apparent reason, Mireia's heart couldn't help but beat anxiously and she rushed to her side without a second thought.

As she had thought, she really wasn't ready to lose her daughter.

When she arrived at the room, she ignored everything her husband had to say for the moment and approached Ekaterina to check on her condition. She hesitated to touch her, only looking at her face and chest, and seeing her cute sleepy expression and the slow exhalations she made, she sighed in relief.

She wasn't going to die... yet. That's what she thought with some sadness, until Astaroth's words finally registered in her head.

"Ekaterina just fainted, she's fine... She's even getting better!"

When she understood those words, she couldn't control herself before grabbing her husband by the neck and demanding an explanation while thinking to herself: “There's no way... Right?”

She knew what was happening… How could her daughter get better on her own?

Astaroth explained how Ekaterina's soul could be miraculously healed while she was drowning, and Hecate at her side confirmed it with a simple gesture.

Upon hearing the good news, Mireia simply smiled after being stunned.

No one had any idea how much she wanted to cry as she held her baby, but deep down, she feared it was all a misunderstanding of some kind. She didn't know what to think and could only feign calm as she stroked her daughter's hair with slightly trembling hands.

In the end, after a brief discussion, both parents decided to sleep next to Ekaterina that night, and after a long time, Mireia now had her beloved daughter in her arms again.

When the two woke up the next day, they both said good morning to each other and Astaroth looked lovingly at her little baby while Mireia stroked her hair again.

Interestingly, Ekaterina's eyes were slightly swollen as she slept with her lips pursed, and noticing this, Mireia looked at her worriedly and shook her, deciding to wake her up.

“Ekaterina…wake up…”

—Hmmm... Mother...? —When she opened her eyes, two pairs of golden irises identical to her own looked at Mireia with a tender and sleepy expression as she asked with some confusion.

“Yes, I’m mom…good morning, baby”

—Mn… —Good morning, —Ekaterina replied as she yawned, lazily raising her arms in the air for a few seconds before smiling weakly at him.

"?!" Mireia's eyes widened when she saw a small smile on Ekaterina's face that she hadn't seen in a while. That, along with her gestures, which were not typical of the expressionless person he remembered her as, completely confirmed what he had been told the day before.

Finally understanding that, Mireia's eyes filled with tears after so long, but this time with happiness, as she took her daughter in her arms, giving her a tight hug while she sobbed.

Ekaterina was stunned for a while as it was sudden, but she smiled a little and hugged her with her small arms too, making Mireia tremble and cry harder.

And crying similarly to his wife while watching the scene, Astaroth turned his nose a little and hugged them both as well.

It was a lovely family moment... with only one member missing...

But despite that, it was one of the happiest days for Mireia.

Since her daughter was no longer destined to disappear forever.