Epilogue End

"And so, Mama Sora and Papa Shuya fell in love and lived happily ever after."

"Kyaaa!"

In a corner of the castle courtyard, beneath the shade of a tree planted when the first daughter, Sakura, was born—now fully grown—Fere was reading a book aloud to the children.

Apparently, it's a love story about a former slave girl and a wizard, currently popular in town. It’s filled with blatant proper nouns... that person really went all out.

"Ah! Mama!!"

As I approached with a wry smile, one of the gathered children noticed me and came running. It was Momiji, my second daughter.

With honey-colored hair and bright blue eyes, she's a girl with long ears. Seven years old this year, still very clingy. When I patted her head—about three fists lower than mine—she squinted her eyes ticklishly.

"We were just hearing about Mama Sora and the others from Big Sis Fere!"

"Ugh, dredging up my embarrassing past again..."

Letting out a sigh, I was approached by Sakura, my first daughter, who giggled quietly. She’s eleven this year—a girl with black hair, blue eyes, and slightly long ears. Maybe because she takes after her father, she’s developing quickly. By the time she was ten, she had already overtaken me in height and bust—such a cheeky girl.

"It was such a wonderful story! I want a wonderful master too!"

"Momiji, you don’t need to imitate how I speak."

I gently warned Momiji while stroking her sparklingly smiling head. For some reason, this child always copies my way of speaking.

I know I need to fix it myself, but it's become such a habit that it won’t go away. I can speak properly in public, but in private, I let my guard down. Not good at all.

I mean, what kind of example am I setting for my daughter like this?

"Big Sis Fere, I wanna hear more adventure stories!"

"Me too!"

Next to them were Ridy, Lulu’s first child—a mischievous boy with black fur and red eyes—and Flear, a boy with cow ears and horns and pale green hair, Yuria’s second child, both begging Fere for more adventure tales.

"Ugh, I want to hear about knights and princesses instead!"

"Yeah yeah!"

Opposing that faction were Prim, Lulu’s second daughter and Ridy’s younger sister with the same black fur, and Miltea, Yuria’s first daughter with black hair and violet-blue eyes, a responsible girl.

"Adventures are better!"

"Romance stories all the way!"

Just as the sibling quarrel was escalating, I clapped my hands to draw their attention.

"Okay okay, if you fight, you won’t get any snacks from Mama Yuria, alright?"

As soon as I said that and all eyes turned to me, the children—who were about to jump at each other—straightened up instantly.

"Come on, let’s all make up before the moms get mad and go have our snacks, okay?"

At Sakura’s voice—who’d somehow become the leader—the kids reluctantly made peace and headed together to the dining hall. Watching their backs, I took Momiji's hand, still clinging to me, and started walking toward the dining hall with Fere.

"Kids really are so full of energy. And so cute."

"Which is why everyone spoils them so much. Especially the master—he's the worst."

I’m one of the guilty ones, too. At first, I thought I just had to have kids, but after giving birth with all my heart and effort, they turned out so unbearably adorable.

Even when I try to be strict, I end up going easy on them. By the way, as expected, the master turned out to be a total doting parent. Sometimes, he even gets into debates with Kasai-san over whose kid is cuter. Everyone just smiles wryly at that fruitless battle—on par with the great mushroom vs. bamboo shoot wars.

"Daddy?"

"We were just saying that Daddy spoils the kids a lot."

"Yeah! I love Daddy because he's so kind!"

It was Momiji, walking beside me, who responded to the topic of her father. She’s especially spoiled by him, probably because she looks just like me. As a result, she’s got a pretty serious daddy complex. Just to be clear, the master dotes on the other kids, too.

I did worry about the possibility of him favoring one and making the others feel bad, but aside from spats like earlier, the kids generally get along. In fact, the older ones are very fond of Momiji, the youngest, so it doesn’t seem like there’s much to worry about.

As for Sakura, maybe because she was my first child and I was trying too hard back then, she’s ended up with a pretty intense mommy complex. A daughter who takes after her father with a mommy complex, and a daughter who takes after me with a daddy complex—what kind of twisted fate is this? Maybe once things settle down, I really do need to go defeat the gods…

"Hey, Sora."

With a serene smile, Fere, who has grown quite mature over the past decade or so, looked into my face. Come to think of it, she’s even taller than me now.

"What is it?"

"Are you happy now, Sora?"

Before I could answer that question, Momiji suddenly took off running as if she had noticed something. I always tell her she’ll trip if she rushes, and sure enough, when I followed her with my eyes, there he was—our master, sitting in the dining hall eating sweet potatoes with the children.

Watching Momiji leap into his arms and get seated on his lap, the other kids laughed and teased her. Yuria smiled and placed more sweet potatoes on the table, while Lulu, trying to grab some with both hands, got scolded by her daughter for being rude and looked thoroughly deflated.

It was the usual scene. Even though there were more people now, nothing had really changed—just a peaceful, ordinary day.

“—Fere.”

“Hmm?”

When I called out to her, Fere tilted her head slightly, as if expecting a reply. I gently took one of her wings in hand.

“If we don’t hurry, there won’t be any left. Let’s go.”

“Eh!? Ah! Save some for me!”

When we arrived at the dining hall in a hurry, the kids burst into laughter again at Fere scrambling to secure her share. I quietly sat down in the open seat next to the master, listening to their voices.

Before I could reach out, the master—so much more mature now than he used to be—offered me a portion of sweet potatoes he had already prepared.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

That was all. Just a short exchange, no sweet or fancy words. And that simplicity makes it so much easier. To outsiders, it might look like we’re distant, or close in a strange way… but this—this is the most comfortable way for us to be.

“Here, Fere Onee-chan’s portion!”

“Thanks, Prim! You’re the best!”

I still haven’t found an answer to the question Fere asked me. But if I had to say something now, it would probably be, “I just want this everyday life to last as long as possible.” That’s all.

But surely—that’s enough… right, Master?

The silent smile I gave to the one who, before I realized it, had become someone I expect to always be by my side—was met with a quiet smile in return, just the same.