The sunlight filtered through the sacred foliage of the Temple of Life. Garlan and Marenna’s footsteps sank softly into the carpet of moss and leaves, their peaceful silhouettes advancing toward the heart of the sanctuary. Since their last visit, the energy radiating from this place seemed denser, almost alive.

  “Still hungry?” Garlan chuckled. “You ate enough for three this morning.”

  Marenna shrugged with a small smile, but her gaze drifted away. Suddenly, a surge of mana rushed through her, halting her in her tracks. She pressed a hand against her stomach, eyes widening.

  The world seemed to fall into suspended breath. One second—yet stretched out, elongated like a held breath. The insects fell silent; the rustle of leaves grew louder. Marenna slowly raised her eyes toward Garlan, speechless. Something moved inside her. Something… other.

  “You felt it too?” Garlan asked, his tone suddenly serious.

  Around them, the vines clinging to the trees quivered as if stirred by an inner breeze. A verdant mist rose as Virellia, the Primordial of Life, appeared, floating above the ground, draped in her mantle of living greenery, her hair braided with threads of light.

  “So you’ve returned,” she murmured. “And more bound than ever.”

  Marenna stepped forward slowly.

  “There’s something… something inside me. It’s not just a surge of power. It’s alive.”

  Virellia placed a hand on Marenna’s stomach. A shiver ran through the forest. Vines coiled gently around them, forming a sacred cocoon.

  “Oh…” Virellia breathed with a tender smile. “You’re pregnant.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Garlan choked.

  “WHAT?!”

  “And not with one. Two. Twins.”

  Garlan’s eyes rolled back. With a dull thud, he collapsed, stiff as a board, eyes glazed over. His spirit drifted lazily out of his body, a tiny white mist shaped like a butterfly.

  Marenna, meanwhile, stood frozen—until emerald light erupted from her. Her breath aligned with two inner pulses. A halo of life enveloped her, and little by little, an armor of nature took form: vines, leaf-blades, glowing fibers. She moved in a graceful dance, weaving the armor around herself, a fusion of her strength and the wild.

  “The heiress is ready,” Virellia whispered.

  On the ground, Garlan cracked one eye open.

  “Am I dead? And why is there a sexy green goddess in armor… oh. Marenna?”

  He struggled upright, still groggy.

  “Wait. Two? As in… how exactly are they going to be born? Eggs? Crystals? Or…?”

  “With your build and hers,” Virellia said mercilessly, “she’d be more likely to give birth to a boulder than an egg.”

  “Lovely,” Garlan muttered, rubbing his temple.

  He coughed, stifling the rest of his thought, then added acidly, shooting Virellia a sideways glance:

  “Bit sharp-tongued for a great-granny, isn’t she?”

  Marenna burst into laughter. Garlan groaned.

  The calm slowly returned to the sacred clearing. Virellia guided the couple to a resting place by a luminous pool, where the water seemed to hum softly with each ripple. Roots formed a natural bench to welcome them.

  “Stay here tonight. The bond between you three—or rather, you four—deserves to be honored,” she said, gesturing to Garlan, Marenna, and the two glowing auras pulsing gently within the young woman’s womb.

  Garlan looked at his companion, then at the reflection of the moon in the water.

  “Two children. My heart’s going to explode.”

  He leaned slightly toward Marenna’s stomach, his gaze tender yet trembling with emotion.

  “Hey, little ones… it’s Dad. I’m here to watch over your mom. Always.”

  He paused, then smiled nervously:

  “And she’ll protect me from you. Or… at least I hope so.”

  Marenna rested her head on his shoulder, a tender smile at his last words.

  “They’ll carry your flame, and my light,” she murmured.

  “They’ll give us hell, more like,” he grimaced.

  Virellia drifted away slowly, leaving them alone beneath the stars. The wind in the leaves sang like an ancient lullaby. And the sanctuary, in silence, seemed to bless them with a gentle flutter of air through the branches.

  A new page of their story had just begun.