Side Story 16. The World in the Book

All mothers in the world are great.

I came to sincerely think this after going through the process of childbirth.

I don’t think I could do it twice. I really had no idea that nine hours of labor were waiting for me.

Giggle.

But even the memory of that pain would fly away with just one smile from Baby Star. Who knew such an innocent, untainted smile could be so valuable?

“Oh, so cute. Coochie coo.”

Having returned to my duties as Empress, I took a moment to come see Baby Star.

Of course, he’s now a baby with a proper name.

Erhi Jean Philip Marseus.

He inherited his dad’s beautiful appearance perfectly. Every time I saw Erhi’s tiny face with Johann’s features exactly replicated, I was amazed at the wonders of genetics.

Silver hair like the moon was poured into it, and blue eyes like the sea. The shape of his eyes and mouth when he smiles. Even his ears.

He was exactly a mini version of Johann.

“They say the firstborn takes after the father.”

Muttering something I’d heard somewhere, I played with Erhi. I kept covering and uncovering my face with my palms, and for some reason, Erhi found this endlessly amusing and laughed happily.

I couldn’t stop this simple game because I loved seeing my son’s smiling face.

It’s already been half a year since Erhi came into the world. The season had entered summer.

“Are you going to roll over again?”

These days, Erhi has found rolling over to be fun.

After succeeding once, he’s made boundless progress since then. What used to succeed only once out of ten attempts, he now accomplishes ten out of ten times.

“Come on. You can do it.”

“Uuung.”

Erhi struggled, babbling.

I cheered for my son with clenched fists. It suddenly occurred to me that this must have been how Johann felt watching my special training.

Well.

Even considering all that, it was still pretty intense.

“Erhi, you’re almost there. Just a little more. A little more.”

“Uung! Uuuu.”

“That’s right!”

“Giggle.”

Having succeeded in rolling over, he laughed out loud in excitement. Despite his head being heavy and difficult, Erhi raised his upper body on his own and stretched out both hands towards me as if asking to be hugged.

“Does mommy need to hug you?”

“Mami. Mammi.”

“Huh? Did you just say mommy? Say it again, Erhi.”

“Uuuu.”

Did I hear wrong?

Maybe my ears are interpreting things as I want to hear them because I want to hear it so badly. I swallowed my disappointment and picked up Erhi.

“Hm? You want to go outside?”

“Byaa. Baaak.”

“But it’s noon now and the sun is too strong, so we can’t. Let’s go out in the evening.”

“Byaaa.”

“Instead, shall we go to mommy’s room?”

When I started walking, Erhi quieted down, thinking we were going outside. Even this simple aspect of being so easily fooled was too cute.

“Your Majesty, I’ll hold him.”

“It’s okay, Whitney. I want to hold him myself.”

Among the Empress’s four maids, Whitney became Erhi’s wet nurse. As a result, I now had three dedicated maids. Whitney’s experience in caring for babies was taken into consideration.

I walked across the corridor. Even so, we arrived quickly as it was just the next room.

We were all huddled together in this vast palace.

The maids say they like having less area to clean, and well, I liked it too. I could go see him right away whenever I wanted.

Click.

I opened three doors in succession and entered my bedroom.

It felt strange coming in at this time. Usually, I would be in the office, or if lucky, having a meal with Johann in the dining room.

“Thanks to Erhi, mommy gets to lounge around during the day?”

“Buu. Buuuu……”

Just then, Erhi stretched out his chubby arms like sausages towards somewhere.

What is he looking at?

I turned my head in the direction Erhi was gazing.

“Ah, the wand?”

The wand I received as a gift from Mihail last year was hanging on the wall like an exhibit. Now that I no longer need to act as a purifier, and the frequency of undead appearances across the continent has significantly decreased, I thought I wouldn’t need to use it anymore, so I put it there.

It’s a precious relic after all.

I should keep it well-preserved, as if enshrining it.

By the way, he’s truly the son of the divine purifier, isn’t he? He recognized that right away.

Erhi’s eyes were sparkling as if he had discovered an interesting toy. He was even drooling on my shoulder.

“Oh my.”

I skillfully wiped my son’s mouth with a pure cotton handkerchief as I walked. Then I grabbed the wand hanging on the wall and went to the bed.

“Here you go.”

I put Erhi down on the soft bed and sat down next to him. When I held out the long wand, this tiny fellow started wriggling and touching it here and there with his small hands as if examining it.

From the smoothly extended rod to the red magic stone at the head.

He quietly focused on touching it for a while.

Is it that fascinating?

“Mommy defeated even the bone dragon with this.”

“Buu?”

“It hasn’t even been two years yet.”

“Uwo. Mami.”

Now that I mention it, it really hasn’t been long.

It’s surprising that it feels like I’m telling an old story from over 10 years ago. It will be exactly 2 years this coming winter.

Cardiff Corsace met his death, and peace came to the continent. I heard that the frequency of undead appearances in the Grodes Mountains and durahan appearances in the Sahar Desert has noticeably decreased.

It had been swarming like that due to the influence of dark magic all this time.

Although they say peace came when the three heroes saved the world 15 years ago, it seems the problem wasn’t completely solved since Cardiff, the source of evil, was still alive.

Of course, the naturally occurring undead still needed to be dealt with. That had been ongoing throughout thousands of years of history, so it couldn’t be helped. Well, the numbers were quite minimal anyway.

In any case.

Did Erhi just say something? What’s this feeling like I’ve missed something important?

“Erhi, did you just……”

“Mommy.”

“……!”

“Dada.”

“……!”

I can’t believe it!

He just said mommy and daddy, right? Johann should have heard this!

I couldn’t have felt more regretful that Johann wasn’t here at this moment. This time, I didn’t mishear. I heard it clearly.

“Erhi, did you say mommy and daddy? Really?”

I asked over and over again, moved to tears.

Unlike the one who had just given such a big emotional moment, Erhi was busy playing with the wand as a toy. Cute little one. He was just so adorable, so small.

After spending such a sweet time with my son for a while…

Before I knew it, it became nap time, and Erhi fell soundly asleep in my arms. Even then, he was tightly holding onto the wand he had been playing with until the end.

I chuckled softly, then carefully removed it from Erhi’s hand.

After patting him a bit more, I thought I should leave him with Whitney and return to my office. While I was thinking about this, I fell asleep without realizing it.

Maybe because it’s been a while since I’ve had a nap. Or because I’m sleeping while holding Erhi.

It felt cozy and nice.

In my half-asleep state, I vaguely thought.

What if this is a dream? What if the world inside the book is this happy?

* * *

Drip…… Drip……

What’s this sound?

I listened carefully to the sound of water droplets falling. From the sensation at my fingertips, it seemed to be falling one drop at a time from the tip of my index finger.

Huh? What’s falling?

I opened my eyes in surprise. Then I jumped up, startled by the familiar scenery.

Splash……!

Water droplets scattered in all directions. I was clearly submerged in water, but my body wasn’t wet at all.

Milky white water.

This place with a cozy and warm air flowing…

“Isn’t this that strange space that appeared in my dreams?”

What bewildering situation is this?

I clearly fell asleep holding Erhi in my arms. Could it be that I came here because I was holding the wand? Then what about Erhi?

I guess I’ve really become a mother.

My first worry was for my child.

I emerged from the white water of unknown origin and started walking aimlessly. A hazy fog obscured my vision and I couldn’t see anything, but I couldn’t just stay still. My heart was urgent.

“Erhi!”

Ah.

Come to think of it, this was the space that connected me and Yoon Ji-ah.

Trying to think rationally, I cleared my throat.

“Yoon Ji-ah!”

And shouted loudly.

For my voice to reach someone.

But without even an echo, my desperate cry was swallowed by the fog. There was no answer.

I became afraid.

From experience, when I came here without a physical body, I would just wake up from a dream in reality. But when I had a physical body like now…

“Is it because I fell asleep holding the wand? D*mn it. Then what happened to me in reality? Did I disappear leaving Erhi alone?”

As my thoughts reached that point, I felt like I was aging rapidly.

I couldn’t stay still and started walking aimlessly.

If the fog clears and I find the wand, I should be able to return to reality. I don’t know where this d*mn wand is leading me, but…

“Could it be because of what I thought as I was falling asleep?”

Suddenly, a realization flashed through my mind. The reason why the wand brought me to this space.

“Ha.”

I let out a bitter laugh, dumbfounded.

I was so happy that I worried a bit. What if this was a dream? I had entered the world of a book, but is it okay for the book world to be this happy?

And it brings me here because of that?

I couldn’t help but curse at the d*mn wand. There was no Yoon Ji-ah here, nothing at all. Finding the wand was the only way I could think of to escape this place.

After wandering around for a while, grumbling like that, not knowing which direction to go.

Thud.

Something caught my foot.

I stopped walking and looked down.

“A book?”

I picked up the object lying on the ground and opened it. Of all things, it was a blank page.

Rustle.

I flipped through all the pages from beginning to end.

Soon, a bewildered voice escaped my lips as I reached the last page.

“……An empty book?”