After three years living together, luckily the casualty rate had become close to zero.
More proper housings and other structures had been made once they came to an acceptance that they might need to spend quite a long time living there, and the place was more than ideal to support their livelihood. Although not as polished as the original world, it was enough.
Everyone was pretty much adapted to living here and had become more harmonious with one another. Some quarrels still happened from time to time, but it was less frequent and less malicious than before.
On this seemingly ordinary day, Fideline walked into Orielâs room as usual.
âGood morning, Milady. Itâs time to wake up,â Fideline lightly shook Orielâs body.
âMmm⦠Right, I need to get up,â Oriel said as she dragged her sluggish body up.
âAre you feeling better?â Fideline asked as she extended a hand to help Oriel.
âYeah, maybe I was just too tired these daysâ¦,â Oriel said as she held her forehead.
âYou should get some rest, Oriel-sama,â Fideline suggested.
âYou too, youâre much more of a workaholic than me.â
âItâs not working. Itâs only researchingââ
âI know you are a studious person in nature, but itâs still working and you need more rest.â
âI am doing it for our own good, too,â Fideline said.
âRight, right. As we know more about this world, we might be able to find a way homeâ¦,â Oriel then paused and muttered, âI wonder how the others are doing in our original worldâ¦â
ââ¦â¦,â Fideline was silently aiding Oriel to prepare to face the day.
âI canât help but wonder. Have you caught yourself feeling that way, Fideline?â Oriel asked.
âHmm⦠Not really. Youâre the only person I have in that world that I care about, Milady, and youâre right here with me, soâ¦,â Fideline causally answered.
âSorryâ¦,â Oriel didnât say anything else and just looked down.
âItâs fine,â Fideline said.
âShall we eat breakfast together?â Oriel then said as she noticed she was done getting prepared.
âWith pleasure, Milady.â
Meanwhile, on the other sideâ¦
The great general of Naraka, Nagare Sesshouseki was having an important discussion with his most trusted aide, Osamu.
ââ¦and so far, although there are natural teleportation spots in this world that weâve been using as shortcut once we determine theyâre safe, I have yet to find any dimensional gate. I am pretty sure there must have been at least one in this weird world⦠Butâ¦,â Osamu sighed.
âWhy are you that sure?â Nagare asked.
âFor one, there are natural teleportation spots. Then, there are some places void of gravitation here. There are all sort of weird stuff here, and all these weird things meshed up together here will definitely bring about a dimensional distortion, somewhere. If they are permanent like the permanent teleportation spots weâve found, they might become a dimensional gate we can use to travel⦠Yeah, in the end, they are all hypothetical, though,â Osamu admitted defeat after blabbering out his thoughts.
âHow is it going with the native âpeopleâ of this world?â Nagare asked.
âYeah, the âaliensâ, as we call them. They seem intelligent and communicate in some kind of language we have yet to understand. But weâve found that theyâre living in a very small group as opposed to us, the sentient humanoid races in our original world, Sphaela. Some are very solitary and those in small groups are hostile towards anyone other than their own. Itâs hard to approach them to even try to digest their language, but perhaps we can find something useful if we can communicate with themâ¦â
âHave you found the remaining of the separate groups?â Nagare asked.
âNone,â Osamu shook his head as the two drowned in thoughts about the scattered Onis and elves who still refused to be with them.
Right. They tried to find them in every chance and exploration, but they rarely saw them. Not all that they encountered want to return to their side, despite the fatal wounds they seemed to have suffered.
Some were found in the state of dying, but were keen on refusing help, saying, âOver my dead body.â
And so, their words were granted.
Right at that time, they heard an unusual commotion from outside.
The almost inaudible voices they heard couldnât be of use to find out what was happening.
âPrincess, hâ on!â
âWhy are⦠like that?!â
Nagare then raised his voice towards the door, âWhat is it?â, asking to the ones outside.
But before an explanation could be heard, the door was opened in a rough manner.
And there, a worked up Oriel with a clearly angry face could be seen. One of her hand seemed to be holding Fideline, as Fidelineâs figure could be seen behind Oriel.
Then, Oriel stared dagger at the stunned Nagare, causing him to be confused and asked, âOriel, whatâs the matter?â
âShou, you better take responsibility for this!â
What came out of Orielâs mouth was something that Nagare still couldnât understand.
âHuh?!â Nagare blurted out without thinking.
âGreat General, I didnât think that you wouldâ,â Osamu had a mischievous side in him, so he snickered and tried to fan the fire by saying that with an exaggerated surprised face at Nagare.
âNo, wait, thereâs really nothingâ,â Nagare quickly answered the annoying Osamu.
But then, Orielâs sharp gaze quickly landed on the snickering Osamu, causing Osamu to shiver as his mind seemed to be screaming â
With her index finger pointing at the stunned Osamu, Oriel quickly said, âYour subordinate is a scum! What are you even doing as his higher up, Shou?!â
âHUH?!â
It was Osamuâs turn to gasp in surprise.
Without even giving Osamu the chance to think, Oriel quickly pushed Fideline in front of her, as well as in front of Osamu.
Fideline only held her mouth and frowned. Noticing this, Osamu stood up and approached Fideline whenâ¦
âSheâs like this because of you! Are you a man? How can you mess up the order?!â
Osamuâs confused face then changed immediately upon hearing Orielâs last sentence.
He then took a closer look at Fideline, who was evidently feeling nauseous and tried to hold back from vomiting.
âUrpâ¦,â Fideline still held her hands in front of her mouth. And it was then that Osamu understood.
âFideline, youâreâ¦?!â Osamu still couldnât bring up the word he wanted to say.
Luckily, Fidelineâs nausea dissipated as she opened her eyes and looked up at Osamu and said, âIâm pregnant.â
Nagare, who was right next to Osamu, had his eyes opened widely due to the surprise towards this sudden and unexpected development.
Osamu then asked Fideline as he held her shoulders, âIs it true? Really? I mean, we⦠you are a pure-blooded elf, and I am a pure-blooded Oni, andâ¦â
Fidelineâs shy gaze quickly turned into a dagger-like stare as her tone changed into a harsh one, âAre you saying that Iâm sleeping with another man?!â
âNo, I would never think of thatâHuh? Thenâ¦?â Osamuâs brain seemed to crash.
ââ¦I wonder if this childâs gonna be more of an Oni or an elfâ¦,â Fideline muttered as she caressed her still-slim tummy and then said dejectedly, âBut ah, weâre so different. There must be a reason why a child between pure-blooded Oni and pure-blooded elf was never found before. Will this child even be able to liveâ¦â
âDonât think about it, Iâll do everything I can for them to live!â Osamu quickly declared.
As the pair of couple was deep in their own world, Oriel coughed before saying, âSo, whereâs your responsibility?â
âHuh? Yes, of course I will take care of her and this childâ¦,â Osamu quickly answered with a dumbfounded tone.
Oriel stared dagger at Nagare.
âWhy me?â Nagare wondered but he then coughed before saying, âShall we hold a wedding for the two of you?â
And thus, on that very historical day, the Oni-elf alliance was in uproar because the Oniâs great general and elf princess suddenly announced that their aides, Fideline and Osamu would be holding their wedding ceremony here, as quickly as possible.
At this point, they were pretty much used to the spirit of togetherness and almost everyone would participate in preparing any kind of celebration or even funeral.
But a wedding? This would be the first time.
Very quickly, people started voicing their opinions, âWhy wedding now? Isnât a wedding here⦠pretty much uselessâ¦?â
Their implication was that something like that should be held when they return to their original world, but then again, the situations might change after returningâ¦
There were other Oni and elves that seemed to feel attraction. As an attraction might even occur in people towards someone completely different from them, not just through similarity. But nobody really dared to pursue it to something else, as they realized there might be no âfutureâ for such a relationship.
But it was pretty much known that Osamu and Fideline had something for each other. From their intense bickering to close relationship due to being in the same research team and the leaders of the research team who were both so into their work. Their quarrels were usually noisy and almost comedic that everyone was even comforted by their antics.
Everyone joked that the two of them were in three-way relationship with their work, because apparently, they bonded over their work and goals. And some even thought that they were dating because both were curious about the other race, and since both were the same type of a studious person, they were all in to âlearning more about the otherâ.
As to why the two of them could progress to this relationship this quicklyâ¦
For Fideline, she had no attachment to the original world and lived in the present. She didnât have much thought about returning to the original world, other than because of Oriel that obviously wanted to return.
As for Osamu, he happened to not like thinking about the uncertain future and would focus on the certain present. He didnât have any fiancée or thought of forming a family before. He thought of marrying his job. Until he met Fideline, who was more like a female version of himself.
Amidst everyoneâs growing demand on asking, âWhy wedding now?â, Fidelineâs face reddened and Osamu hesitated to announce.
Osamu shuddered out of a sudden and when he turned around, he saw the elf princess staring at him with a murderous intent, so he quickly cut his hesitation, grabbed Fidelineâs hand, took a step forward, and announced, âWeâre expecting.â
The noisy surrounding quickly turned silent. Everyone had the same expression on their face. It was evident that their minds were blown by Osamuâs revelation. Nobody thought that a child between a pureblooded Oni and elf would be able to exist. This was also why nobody dared to pursue a relationship with the other race. Most still wanted to have a child that could carry their bloodline.
It was different for Osamu and Fideline. Both didnât mind being with each other, both also didnât mind not having a child.
After the initial silent, everyone turned even noisier than before.
âWow, what? Is this, for real?â
âSo, sheâs pregnant, right? But will the child be alrightâ¦?â
âHey, what are you saying?â
âI meanâ¦! Throughout the known history, there is noâ¦â
âProbably itâs because of our different magical element. No Oni can do Light magic and no elf can do dark magic unless theyâre not pure-blooded. Two contrasting characteristic clashing, will it be alright or fatal?â
âIâm afraid for them, but Iâm also excitedâ¦â
âMore importantly, weâre finally going to celebrate a wedding here! Whatâs more, itâs between an Oni and elf!!â
Everyoneâs reaction varied, from being excited to fearful and worried, but nobody gave any opposition.
The research and health team worked together in order to pay more attention to Fideline starting that day.
To the Oni-elf alliance, Fideline and Osamuâs wedding as well as their child symbolized their hope and solidified their alliance even more.
That was why, they were both fearful and excited.
Of course, everyone wanted their small united family to be able to survive any calamity, for the child to be able to be carried full to term, be brought to life, and to live wellâ¦
For they symbolized everyoneâs hope for this alliance to work out and last forever.