Side Story 2 – Rosiana Christian 

She remembered the suffocating silence that filled the mansion in the autumn of her eighth year, after her mother’s sudden passing.  

Although there were many employees in the mansion, including her nanny, who cared for her and tried to cheer her up, they could never truly replace family.  

No matter how kind they were, the fundamental relationship between them remained that of employer and employee.  

There was always an invisible wall between her and them. On Saint Esna’s Festival Day, she found herself sitting at the long table with no one to share dinner with.  

Though she wasn’t an only child, she always felt lonely and yearned for human warmth.  

Knowing all too well the emptiness of being alone, she wanted to give Philly as much family as possible.  

The thought of Philly being alone in a world without her and Felix made her even more determined not to let him grow up as an only child.  

Whenever she said such things, Felix would furrow his brow and scold her for taking on unnecessary burdens, but he never outright opposed her.  

In other words, they were always waiting for another child.  

She often imagined Philly and his younger siblings running around the small but well-kept garden they had prepared for the children. Just the thought of it made her happy.  

However, contrary to her wishes, there was no news of a second child, even by the time Philly turned three.  

When she confirmed that her monthly visitor had come yet again this month, she felt devastated.  

One would think she’d have grown used to the disappointment she felt every month, but it still felt like her heart was being torn apart each time.  

“Don’t worry too much.”  

Felix kissed her forehead and comforted her in an unusually gentle voice.  

“Mommy, don’t worry!”  

Philly, who didn’t understand anything, mimicked Felix’s words and laughed. By now, Philly had grown significantly since the time he had appeared at the Kaine Estate and woken her up. His picky eating habits, however, remained the same.  

“Philly, don’t pick out the beans. You need to eat them with the meat.”  

Philly hesitated before reluctantly picking up a couple of beans and eating them. However, as soon as Elena turned her head, he spat them out onto the table.  

Narrowing her eyes at him, she watched as Philly hurriedly picked up the beans he had spat out and ate them again.  

“It’ll happen when the time is right.”  

Felix’s words, instead of comforting her, stirred up a strange sense of rebellion.  

‘So when exactly is the right time? How long am I supposed to wait?’  

She swallowed the sharp retort that rose to her lips. This wasn’t Felix’s fault. He was probably just as frustrated as she was. All she could do in this situation was force a smile.  

“You’re right. It’ll happen soon. Right, Philly?”  

“Hmm?”  

Philly, who had been secretly throwing beans onto the floor, flinched in surprise.  

“Let’s make a wish to the moon together, Philly, so that you can have a sibling soon.”  

Philly tilted his head, holding his fork in his mouth, before breaking into a bright smile.  

“Okay!”  

* * *

“Philly, come out and eat.”  

She called him several times, but there was no response from Philly. This was strange. Although he was a picky eater, he never skipped meals like Felix.  

Elena decided to go to his room to fetch him.  

“Philly, didn’t you hear Mommy calling?”  

Again, there was no response. Instead, she heard Philly’s cheerful voice coming from the slightly open door.  

“Baby, take this. It moves, doesn’t it? Isn’t it amazing?”  

Although there was no one Philly could talk to like that, it wasn’t unusual. Lately, he had been playing alone by creating imaginary friends, as he was at the age when curiosity peaked.  

But today, something felt different.  

“Abubu, mawu.”  

There was a voice replying to Philly in rhythm. A voice unfamiliar to her.  

“Do you like this? Baby, I’ll give it to you!”  

Even the term “baby” felt oddly out of place. Feeling uneasy, she quickly approached and opened the door.  

“Philly, who are you talking to?”  

“Mommy! The baby!”  

“Mama!”  

Philly was sitting on the floor, surrounded by scattered toys.  

And next to him was a baby she had never seen before, sucking on one of Philly’s block toys. The baby was drooling so much that the toy was dripping wet.  

…Wait. A baby? A baby?! Another baby had appeared?  

What on earth was happening in our house? Was I dreaming while standing up?  

While she stood frozen and speechless, the baby tossed the block toy aside and crawled toward her.  

The baby grabbed her skirt and struggled to stand up. The baby’s hair was a pale blonde, similar to Philly’s.  

The round, sparkling eyes that looked up at her were a soft pink, the same color she always saw in the mirror.  

Blonde hair and pink eyes. The thought that crossed her mind made her head spin.  

“Elly, why aren’t you coming out? Philly, you too, hurry…”  

Felix entered the room but trailed off before finishing his sentence.  

Standing behind her, she couldn’t see his expression, but she could imagine it.  

He was probably wearing the same bewildered look as she was.  

“Baa!”  

The baby, glancing over her shoulder at Felix, bounced up and down excitedly. The baby even stretched out short, chubby arms toward him, as if wanting to be held.  

Felix quickly approached and picked up the baby.  

“What on earth is going on here…”  

“Mommy, look at this.”  

Philly, noticing their reactions, hesitated before revealing something he had been hiding behind his back.  

In his small hand was the magic-suppressing bracelet Felix had given him when he was younger.  

It was the same bracelet Felix had put on him after the incident where Philly had teleported alone to Alice’s mansion to visit Elena.  

The sight of the bracelet made the situation clear.  

“Philly! Mommy and Daddy told you not to take that off!”  

“I didn’t mean to…”  

Philly clutched the bracelet and shrank back.  

“Pyui just… Mommy was sad… You said you wanted to see a baby.”  

Philly mumbled incoherently before bursting into tears.  

Apparently, Philly had done this to cheer her up because she had been feeling down about not having a second child.  

‘Though I have no idea where he got that baby from…’

‘What could this small child have done wrong?’ 

Elena quickly moved forward and hugged the frightened Philly tightly.  

“It’s okay. Philly, you didn’t do anything wrong.”  

“Hmm.”  

Feeling reassured, Philly wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his tear-streaked face into her shoulder. Behind her, the unfamiliar baby continued to babble incessantly.  

“Ababa. Kyawu!”  

Felix rubbed his forehead.  

“Let’s put the bracelet back on first.”  

* * *

The unknown baby crawled around Philly’s playroom as if it were her own home.  

“Baby, do you want to play with me?”  

Philly crawled alongside the baby, following her everywhere.  

If anyone saw this scene, they would think it was exactly what Elena had always wanted—a picture of Philly happily playing with a younger sibling.  

The problem, however, was that no one knew where this baby had come from.  

“So, Philly can use magic to bring people here?”  

After much discussion, Elena and Felix concluded that the baby hadn’t arrived through her own magic but had been brought here by Philly’s overflowing magical power.  

The baby, who had suddenly appeared, showed almost no talent for magic. In that sense, she was similar to Elena.  

“It’s theoretically possible, but…”  

Felix trailed off, staring at the baby who was chewing on her fist. Noticing Felix’s gaze, the baby folded her large, round eyes into crescents and smiled brightly.  

“Baa!”  

“Let’s assume Philly brought this baby here. But where did she come from? How does Philly know her? Her parents must be desperately looking for her. Has our Philly become a kidnapper?”  

“Calm down, Elly. Let’s look for clues first.”  

Felix picked up the baby, who had crawled toward them. The baby buried her face in Felix’s chest, rustling around.  

Was she just naturally unafraid of strangers, or did she already know Felix? 

The thought crossed Elena’s mind briefly.  

“There’s embroidery on her clothes.”  

Elena noticed a small embroidered design on the baby’s sleeve. A pink rose was stitched there, along with a name written in cursive.  

When she saw it, she couldn’t believe her eyes.  

“Rosiana Christian?”  

Hearing her words, Felix’s eyes widened unusually.  

As they both fell silent, Philly tugged at Elena’s skirt and patted his chest with his other hand.  

“She’s Philly’s little sister!”  

Before Elena could ask how he knew that, Philly spoke again.  

“Isn’t she pretty?”  

Neither Elena nor Felix, still trying to grasp the situation, could respond. Philly, seeing their blank expressions, clasped his hands together as if in prayer and murmured.  

“Philly wished to the moon for Mommy not to be sad and to have a sibling!”  

“You made a wish?”  

“Hmm!”  

Philly’s cheerful response only left them more confused.  

“Did Philly create a person?”  

“That’s impossible.”  

Felix scolded her lightly.  

“No matter how powerful a mage is, creating a person is impossible. Creating life is the domain of the gods. That’s why Deros tried to change the future by turning back time instead of directly reviving the Second Prince.”  

“Philly can hear you. Could you choose your words more carefully?”  

“Anyway, that’s why Philly brought this baby here from somewhere else. And judging by the name on her clothes…”  

Felix couldn’t finish his sentence. He seemed hesitant to voice the thoughts swirling in his mind.  

Elena felt the same. She had a vague idea of who this baby, Rosiana, was, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud.  

It felt as if saying it would make everything disappear.  

Instead, Felix gently stroked Rosiana’s cheek and whispered,  

“This baby… she looks a lot like you, Elly.”  

Felix alternated between looking at Elena and Rosiana, muttering absentmindedly.  

Come to think of it, Felix had always been both proud and slightly regretful that Philly had inherited his eye color.  

“Really? How does she look like me? Other than her eye color, I don’t see it.”  

“Her eye color is similar, but so are her round eyes and her cute little nose…”  

“And?”  

“She’s beautiful.”  

Felix pressed a kiss to the top of Rosiana’s head.  

“Kyaa!”  

Rosiana let out a delighted squeal.  

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry anymore.”  

Felix muttered cryptically.  

“That’s right, Mommy! Don’t worry!”  

Philly echoed Felix’s words from beside Elena.  

Pondering their words for a moment, Elena finally understood and let out a soft laugh.  

“Yes, that’s true.”  

When Philly’s magic wore off, Rosiana would return to wherever she had come from.  

No one knew when they would see this baby again—not even Philly.  

Still, Elena no longer felt sad or depressed. She had hope that they would meet this beautiful Rosiana again someday.  

“I don’t know when Rosiana will leave, but I should make some baby food for her. It’s been a while since I’ve made any, so I’m a bit nervous. What do you think Rosiana likes?”  

“Broccoli!”  

“Broccoli is your favorite, Philly.”  

“The baby likes broccoli too!”  

Rather than questioning how Philly could know that, Elena decided to indulge him.  

“Then let’s have broccoli soup with the baby for dinner, Philly.”  

“Okay!”  

Elena hugged Philly, who was excited to see the baby, and met Rosiana’s gaze as she rested quietly in Felix’s arms.  

“Nice to meet you, Rosiana.”  

In response, Rosiana pressed her drool-covered lips against Elena’s.  

“Huh? Baby! Kiss your brother too!”  

Impatient, Philly couldn’t wait for his sister to kiss him and leaned in to plant a kiss on her first. Rosiana, seemingly pleased, kicked her little feet excitedly.  

Elena felt her heart swell with warmth.  

‘I’m happy.’  

She couldn’t stop smiling as she imagined Philly running through the garden with little Rosiana following closely behind.  

No longer worried about not having another child, she felt grateful to Philly.  

Elena kissed Philly’s drool-covered cheek.  

Their little treasure, Rosiana Christian, officially came into their lives exactly one year later.