“Satin, try it. Satin.”

“Yes. Don’t say ‘mom’, say ‘Satin’.”

“Sa, tii…”

The pronunciation was unclear, but the meaning was certain.

“Does the baby already know your name is Satin?”

“I know, right? How did it know? Ah…”

The surprise was brief. Satin soon let out an exclamation.

It was thanks to Rublier. There were far more unconscious mentions of names by people around than conscious words like mom or dad.

Madam, Lady Satin, Master, Paladin, Sir Ka Dillon, there were countless titles used to address the two depending on the situation, but above all, Rublier had called Satin’s name hundreds or thousands of times in front of the child. With the most affectionate voice and faithful gaze in the world.

Satin. That was the mother’s name the child would have heard most often.

The two quickly exchanged glances and sat right down on the floor.

“Say it again. Satin. Satin.”

“What about daddy’s name? Let’s try Rub. Hmm?”

“Uu…”

It was amazing. Speaking, moving, smiling. These are ordinary actions that everyone does, but thinking that my child is doing them made everything special. The child will call for mom and dad, and grow up with a face resembling its parents. The days yet to come were so eagerly anticipated.

Suddenly, she felt a hand caressing her belly. Satin slowly opened her eyes. Rublier was gently stroking her belly.

Her mind didn’t return quickly. Satin asked blankly.

“…The child?”

“Huh?”

“We were definitely holding it in our arms. We…”

The child.

Stopping mid-sentence, Satin realized. It was a dream. She must have had a dream. A beautiful and quiet long dream. Overwhelmed by indescribable feelings, Satin lost her words.

But Rublier, who was embracing Satin from behind, whispered softly.

“I saw our child who looks like you in my dream.”

“In your dream?”

“It called you ‘Satin’ instead of ‘mom’. The pronunciation was all slurred, sounding like a bird chirp. My heart was all tingly, but when I opened my eyes, it was just a dream. I wished this dream was real.”

That’s why he had been caressing Satin’s belly. With the warmest touch.

Somehow, her heart was overwhelmed. Satin slowly turned her body to lie face to face with Rublier. Her disheveled silver hair cascaded over her face, completely obscuring her vision. Rublier’s fingers burrowed through the flowing hair, gently brushing it aside.

The moment she saw Rublier’s expression, Satin instinctively felt it. Right now, she and he were wearing the same expression.

“We must have had the same dream.”

They shared a dream. Their memories were the same. The more they matched their words, the more amazing it was. They had lived a future in their subconscious that they could say they shared together.

“Is it a prophetic dream?”

It was a prophetic dream of no less than three people — Satin, Rublier, and even the child in the womb. By the standards of others who had experienced unbelievable things like devils and evil spirits, it might not be considered a great miracle. It could be seen as a coincidence. But for Satin and Rublier, it was an incomparable sensation.

Rublier couldn’t take his hand away for a long time. The warmth of his fingertips lingered for a long time. It was a familiar feeling. Rublier was always amazed by the gradually swelling belly. In fact, as the presence of the child grew heavier little by little, Satin was also amazed. It was especially amazing when there was kicking from inside or when the child reacted to her or Rublier’s voice by squirming.

When this child is born, it will be that child from the dream, right?

Satin, who had been immersed in emotion, suddenly sent a pouty look.

“It seems I had a really hard time giving birth.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Even with a good doctor and experienced servants, the reality of labor pains was an issue that others couldn’t share.

“If I could, I’d want to be in pain instead of you.”

Fear was evident in Rublier’s voice. In the dream, he had witnessed in detail how much Satin had suffered.

Satin quietly closed her eyes. Even now, she could vividly recall it. The unfamiliar pain, the fear of not knowing what would happen to her right away, the man who cried with her, the emotion of the moment when their family, which had been just the couple, was reorganized into a new family including the child.

“If you ask if I’m scared, I really am, but…”

Nevertheless, because that day in the future she saw in her dream was so enchanting, so deeply longed for, that Satin’s eyes stung.

“I’m really looking forward to it. You know? I feel like I can endure it all. After all, I did endure it in the end, didn’t I?”

In truth, it was an unremarkable daily life. They had lived through much more dramatic days. They had plummeted to the bottom of life, and they had turned around unfavorable situations. They had experienced changes that would be remembered for a long time.

It could be said that life had changed. However, the child changed their emotions. They found peace, they found happiness. This was a value they wouldn’t change even if it changed their lives twice.

It’s white cheeks flushed with color, it’s stubbornly furrowing eyebrows. Vaguely tracing the image that resembled herself, Satin asked Rublier.

“It was a girl, right?”

“Yes. A beautiful daughter who looks just like you.”

“We should decide on a name in advance.”

Sah, tii. The bright eyes of the daughter calling her name with clumsy pronunciation came to mind. She hoped this dream memory would remain unfaded for a long, long time.

Satin whispered.

“Let’s meet soon.”

Aella.

Satin had already chosen Aella as the name for her first daughter. Rublier worried that the prophetic dream might have left a warning about labor and childbirth, but Satin wasn’t particularly scared. It’s a day to reunite with their future daughter. Recalling the dream that would soon become reality, she could willingly endure anything.

Time naturally flowed, and when the day of the meeting they had mentally prepared for approached, Satin, overwhelmed with longing and emotion, held the newborn baby in her arms. The faces of the family, now complete with three people, were all a mess with tears.

“Aella Del Mare.”

Her heart swelled at finally being able to call out the name. Satin whispered, pressing her cheek against the baby’s.

“We’ve met again.”

Two years later, Satin and Rublier broke their previous resolve that one child was enough and had a second child. After giving birth and raising a child, the memory of childbirth was forgotten as their child of their own blood was so lovable. The couple thought it would be fine whether their second child was a girl or a boy. A girl would be pretty, and a boy would be handsome.

The second child was a boy. The famous genetic trait of the Del Mare family was certainly unique, so both the first and second child inherited Satin’s silver hair and white skin, but if you looked closely at their features, traces of Rublier were subtly present.

Since Satin had named the first child, Rublier named the second. Silvio. That was the son’s name.

Epilogue

I got scolded by mom again today. But actually, it was my sister who caused the trouble, you know? She asked me to play pirates under the desk. If she hadn’t begged me to do it, I wouldn’t have done it. Whenever I listen to my sister, I always get scolded by mom.

But my sister is stronger than me, so I was forcibly dragged in by her. Anyway, we were playing pirates with a lamp inside when suddenly it caught fire.

In the end, one side of the wall was completely burned. Later, the nanny said that the room had been newly painted recently, so the fire spread quickly. Still, she said it was good that we were able to put out the fire early before the room burned more badly.

Anyway, the nanny hurriedly sent someone to call mom. Not much time had passed when we suddenly heard a commotion outside, so my sister and I poked our heads out, and we saw mom’s carriage approaching at an incredible speed with its curtains fluttering.

Mom jumped out as soon as the carriage stopped.

“Aella! Silvio!”

Her voice calling our names echoed from outside.

“We’re dead now.”

My sister whispered in my ear. I wanted to say it was because she asked me to play, but I kept my mouth shut because I thought she might hit me if I did.

“Don’t worry. The young lady and young master are safe.”

The nanny who went out to greet mom quickly reassured her, but mom pushed past the nanny and came running.

“Oh my goodness, are you two not hurt?”

We awkwardly greeted mom. She pulled us into a tight hug and looked us over with a face that seemed about to cry. After confirming for a long time that my sister and I weren’t hurt, mom’s expression suddenly became stern as if nothing had happened, and she told us to stand for punishment.

I felt a bit wronged. It was my sister who suggested playing…

Anyway, while my sister and I were kneeling in front of the study door where mom was working, serving our punishment for a long time, evening came and dad returned from work.

Oh, our dad is a Paladin of the Holy Knights. Others ask if dad isn’t strict because he’s a Paladin, and say he must be scary, but honestly, mom is the scariest for us.

Even when my arm broke while sword fighting with my sister, when the shelf we were climbing for adventure play collapsed and smashed all the wine barrels, causing a river of wine to flow in the basement, and when we left the stable door open and all the horses ran away, it was mom who was angry to the tips of her hair. Each time, mom immediately summoned dad.

“Our children must have taken after you. I was very well-behaved when I was young. I never caused such large-scale accidents.”

“I know. Our children must all take after me. They look like you, but why do they act like me?”

Then dad would always apologize, saying he was sorry.

Today too, dad sighed deeply when he saw us serving our punishment as usual.

“What kind of trouble did you cause this time, you rascals?”

Dad went into the study. Usually, dad mediates when mom gets angry. Since mom often softens her heart and forgives us according to dad’s mediation, we sat with our ears pressed against the door.

“The children set fire to a room on the first floor. It’s fortunate we caught it quickly, but what if it had spread into a big fire? I can’t handle 10-year-old and 8-year-old children running around like wild colts all day long. At this rate, there won’t be any furniture left in the house. Who on earth do they take after to behave like this?”

We naturally thought dad would apologize to mom. Just because that’s how it’s always been.

“Well, even if everything else takes after me, the fire play seems to take after you, Satin.”

“……”

As soon as he said that, dad was chased out by mom. My sister and I looked up at dad, feeling intimidated.

“What should we do? Mom seems really angry.”

“Mom is scary.”

Even dad, whom we trusted, was chased out by mom. But dad didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Let me tell you one important fact I’ve learned in life. When you cause problems and mom gets angry, that’s okay. If you apologize sincerely, mom will forgive you. The time you really need to worry is when mom doesn’t get angry. That’s when something is really wrong. It’s the scariest one. Of course, it’s best not to cause trouble in the first place.”

Dad is strange. Isn’t it usually scariest when mom gets angry?