104 Huh? You... Yousre What, Now? (1/2)
The foursome headed back to Cosmos City, mainly because that was their base of operations, and also because Nine didn't trust any other workshops outside of the one she had built herself to track down the Elf. Who knew just how far her reach went?
Other than her own people, she did not trust anyone else!
Mephisto chirped, which briefly made Nine wonder why a spider to chirp at all but listened closely to the transmitted message from her familiar.
Helce, servant to the High Elf of Lapheria, Zephyr. Since the darkness magic that lingered on her was so strong, it had been easy to find her through the use of Mephisto's minions, whom as a species, were familiar and sensitive to darkness as a whole.
Nine commanded for one of the more conspicuous Toxic Spiders to attach itself to her, and according to what Mephisto said, there was no problem. The little Toxic Spider had not been discovered, since it blended it perfectly with the darkness lingering on her body.
Nine nodded with satisfaction, patting Mephisto. She fed her familiar more of her magic, causing the Toxic Spider to shudder in happiness, letting out a series of chirps. She placed Mephisto on top of Rainier, who happily moved around the room with a stationary Mephisto on top of him, long used to it.
It was in the afternoon, when she was still meticulously working on the spell to be used to track down the Elf that her father knocked on the workshop windows. Behind him stood Deltan, who was, for once, wearing a rather emotionless expression. Though his mask was flawless, Nine could feel from his magic that he was a mix of complicated emotions. Restless, happy, scared, anticipatory, worried.
Sensing this, Nine had a faint premonition in her heart, but waited for them to speak first.
After the privacy wards and spells had been set up, her father's rather expressionless face slowly melted as they were finally under the security where no one else could see them. If you couldn't call his expression beaming, then there was no other description for it. The emperor swept his daughter up in a hug, squeezing her tightly before letting go and sitting back down on the couch.
He didn't know why his eldest son had called him here to give him news together with Nine, but he felt a great deal of affection for the both of them, so he didn't mind. Gone were the days where he only felt indifference looking at his son's face.
Deltan's flawless mask stayed on his face for a few minutes longer, before likewise to his father, it suddenly slid off without any problem. He struggled with himself, not sure how to phrase it.
Nine and their father didn't rush him, silently waiting for him to get his nerves together.
Deltan silently appreciated them giving him time to put himself together. Even though he knew what he was in for before using the spell, he hadn't anticipated that it would impact him this much. The moment it *really* hit him, he felt like his entire worldview had shaken. He wondered if this was how his Imperial Father had felt.
Deltan struggled to put the words together, before taking a deep breath to calm himself. ”Imperial Father, Fourth Brother, I'm pregnant,” he blurted out at last. The words seemed to take a great deal of strength out of his body, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel anticipatory, as if a great burden had been lifted off his chest.
Nine let out a rare gentle smile that was only reserved for those she held dear, causing their father and Deltan to both feel dazed. The difference from the indifferent face to the one she showed here was too stunning on contrast!
”Congratulations, son.” Emperor Destan's face was full of smiles. Nine had thought the smile on his face earlier was wide, but she didn't think that it could actually get bigger!
”Congratulations, brother,” she said, hugging him. She looked him in the eye seriously as she asked him. ”You're not doing this because you think something might happen to you in the battle, right? Or are you doing this because you think you're being forced to?”