It didn’t take long to get settled in. Our room has an ocean view. It’s quite nice. We ended up deciding not to bother with the hot spring tonight and stayed in to just enjoy each other’s company. I had to basically order Liliana and Aliana to stay in another room. The difficult conversation I needed to have with Alethea needed to be alone, without any guards, attendants, or the clearly conscious baby Kaede.

Kye was leaning over the balcony rail in a bra, panties, and unbuttoned shirt, gazing out at the sea. Alethea was asleep inside.

The conversation wasn’t as difficult as I expected. Once we were alone, she broached the subject herself. She was scared, but she said if she didn’t do it herself that she’d regret it forever. We had to use medicine to make it possible. She’s been on hormone treatment for years now, and that’s questionable in of itself at our age in most worlds, but this world is much more advanced than most. Hormone treatment made certain things difficult. But... we succeeded. I just hope she’ll be okay. It’d be impossible for most couples to tell they conceived, but with my ability to sense mana so thoroughly... I can tell even now. There are two more unique mana signatures beginning to manifest within me. Heh. We’re having twins. The biology hasn’t even happened yet, and thanks to how strong this world is with mana, I can already sense the children’s mana forming. What a marvel! I’ve never been able to sense it before.

She went back inside and found that Alethea was sleeping on her side, her bare back on display to her lover. Kye smiled and shed her shirt as she climbed into bed and cuddled up with her pink-haired partner.

Kye was the first to wake the next morning. Alethea slowly came to when Kye sat up.

“Mmm mm umm mmm mah.” Kye looked down and saw Alethea stretching, eyes closed. Kye decided to take advantage of her partner’s moment of weakness, leaned in, and stole a kiss. Alethea was instantly awake. Her eyes shot open. “Kye!”

“Good morning, love.”

“What? Where? Huh?” As she sat up next to Kye, she remembered where she was and what happened. Her face instantly reddened, and she hid under the covers.

“Hey! Don’t you hide from me!” Kye reached under the covers and tickled Alethea. “You come out here right now, missy!”

“AHHH, haha AHHHH!!!” Alethea struggled but finally came out, still topless from the night before. Kye gave her a smirk and she quickly rushed to get dressed. She threw on the button-up shirt Kye wore on the balcony and ran into the bathroom.

“You’re beautiful and I love you!” Kye hollered as Alethea disappeared into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Alethea came out and properly dressed. Kye had already dressed and was swiping her fingers around in the air. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I’m just giving our mothers an update.”

“Oh? Whatcha saying?”

Kye cleared her throat. “Alethea and I have successfully conceived, and I am expecting twins.”

Alethea’s eyes widened, “How do you even know? It takes a little time to-”

“Don’t look in terms of biology. Feel it instead.” Kye gave her a wink.

Alethea concentrated for a second. “Holy shit, I can sense them! There’s three unique manas. Yours and two new ones! O-M-G!” Alethea screed in excitement.

Kye smiled for a moment, then frowned. “I... I’m sorry about last night.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I...” Alethea took in a deep breath and let it out. “Look, this thing bothers me, but... I love you more. I would have never forgiven myself if I didn’t. Never mind the need to give Azalea a way in, I’ve wanted to have a family with you again for a long long time. I was born female as Sayaka, so you had to use a doner back then. But this time... I was... I refuse to say blessed, but at least one good thing came out of my genetic mix-up! We did this together this time and that makes me so happy!”

Kye smiled and pulled Alethea into a hug, happy that Alethea was okay. “I love you so much!” As soon as they tried to kiss, a knock came at the door.

“Princess, it’s me. Breakfast is ready!” Kye flipped a small clump of mana at the door and manipulated it to unlock and open the door. Liliana entered and immediately lost her temper upon seeing the mess. “Wh-wha... what happened in here?”

“Hehe!” Kye said with a grin.

“That’s for us to know and you to never find out!” Alethea added, also with a grin.

“Uh huh. You two go to breakfast and I’ll clean up in here.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Kye started pushing Liliana out of the door and winked at Alethea. “The mess can wait. You’re coming to breakfast with us. I have something to announce.”

“Announce? Is it about Kaede?”

“What? No. It’s about... you’ll see! Hehe.”

Liliana looked back and Alethea gave her an apologetic smile before following them.

“How do you like it?” Hannah asked. “The food’s great, huh? How are you enjoying the resort? Didja have fun last night?” She smirked on that last part.

“As a matter of fact, we did!” Alethea said proudly. Kye was taking a bite of waffle and froze. She was so shocked that her food fell back onto her plate.

“Oh? I bet that room’s a mess now. Two girls your age? HA! Didja break anything? Didja?!”

“Saya-chan!” Kye’s face was solid red.

“Who’s that?”

“Me!” Alethea said. “One of my past names is Sayaka Sakaguchi.”

“OH, the reincarnation plot! Tell me more!”

“Well, Kye is Shiori Sakaguchi, the undefeated legend and the world leader who took down the tyrant Emperor Shiro Shikigami.”

“That sounds like a fascinating tale.”

“It has a bad ending...” Kye said with a frown. “I...” She looked at Alethea. “Go ahead and tell them. I’ll step out. I don’t even want to hear that part of the story, but I don’t want to hide it either.”

Alethea nodded and Kye created a solid barrier around herself and her food. Alethea told the story including what happened after her own death.

“Your daughter, Suzuka, grew hateful and everything just... fell apart. That’s... I’m so sorry.” Hannah jumped up, broke into Kye’s barrier, expanded it, and pulled her into a hug. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry you went through that. I wish I could’ve been there for you, but I’m here now. Did you ever cry?”

“What? Huh?”

Hannah pulled away and looked Kye in the eyes. “Did you ever cry after it happened?”

Kye averted her eyes. “No.”

“Look at me, sweetie. I don’t care if you’re some ancient champion that reincarnates all over the place for the goddess. Right now, and forevermore, you are my granddaughter and I love you very much. How have you survived all this time without crying?”

“I don’t deserve to.”

“Of course, you do. More than anyone, YOU do. I can’t even describe how much bravery it must have taken for you to do what you did. I can’t think of a single thing more difficult than that. Even now, I can see it in your eyes. You loved your daughter with everything you had. Any parent deserves to cry after what you did. Let it out, sweetie, I’m here for you.”

“No.”

Hannah was surprised not at Kye’s refusal, but the serious look in her eyes. “Wh-”

“I will not. Not until I have brought her into this world and made good on my promise to her. Only then, if she forgives me, will I cry.”

Hannah smiled at Kye’s dedication. “Very well. I support you.” She hugged Kye again before leaving the barrier.

Kye got rid of the barrier and told everyone she had an announcement before returning to her meal. “So as my pink-haired beautiful wife here somewhat alluded to, we... succeeded in things and I am expecting twins!”

Everyone except Alethea dropped their silverware and looked at Kye, mouths agape.

“HA! You should see your faces. I bet mom and Lanti are making those faces right now!” She grinned for a moment but her face quickly turned to confusion. “Wait, did I just say ‘Lanti’?” She looked at Astraia.

“How in the world do you even know? It hasn’t even been twelve hours!” Alexandra said.

“I can sense their mana. Even before the biology begins, I can feel two more unique manas within me!”

“Remarkable,” Astraia said with an analytical face. “There’s never been a documented case of a child’s mana coalescing before fertilization, and believe you me, we have checked. I’m a bit of a researcher and have tested couples the day after many times and it’s never happened before. Kye, you need to keep this information confidential. It’s not normal.” Kye began to fret, but Astraia immediately caught on and corrected herself. “It’s not normal, but it’s safe. I can only surmise, but... tell me, are these new manas within you familiar at all?”

Kye closed her eyes and focused. While she could sense the unique manas within her, it was difficult to read them properly, but with significant effort she could. She smiled when she figured it out. “Yes. I recognize them.” She gave Alethea the biggest grin. “One of them is Azalea, and the other...”

“Is it?” Alethea couldn’t hide her excitement.

“SUZUKA!”

The two screamed together. Everyone around the table, after hearing the story Alethea just told, was smiling at the news.

“Congratulations, Princess!” Liliana and Aliana said together.

Meanwhile, in a black and purple mansion overlooking a purple sea of “liquid,” Shiro was meeting with his subordinates.

“Lord Phantom, they are currently on Atlas. It seems they are married now, have adopted a child, and are on a honeymoon,” Elliot reported.

“Ah, they must have known of that child’s reincarnation ahead of time.” Shiro chuckled. “This one seems to have been rather sudden. However, there are two more reincarnations in progress. It seems the blond girl, Kye, is pregnant.” He sighed as he stared at the picture on the wall of Kye. “I need an S+ class beast. Are there any remaining?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I no longer wish to recruit those two. They’ll never join us, so it’s moot. From here, cancel any plans to do so.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Send an S+. I want them dead. Even if they’ll simply return to this world later, this will buy time.”

“Yes, my lord. It shall be done.”