Elves could control many things during pregnancy.

That was one of the reasons why women were superior to the men in their society.

Various factors pertaining to the child were decided by the mother. However, that wasn’t all.

The length of pregnancy was also something they controlled.

“Over a hundred years. Emilia carried that child for over a hundred years.”

I was still recoiling from one shocking discovery when I heard of another.

“What? That’s possible…?”

“Yeah, but not for everyone. It’s probably because Emilia was very powerful and skilled at Mana that she was able to pull it off…”

I was even more amazed. Holding a child—my child—in for so very long…

“… Why?”

I couldn’t comprehend it.

“She most likely didn’t want to burden Lewis. Their relationship soured over the course of time. But, that wasn’t the only reason…”

At this point, Aurora stopped looking at me and stared at the Elf girl who had already found what she was looking for—a Magic Gem that shone bright blue.

Upon finding it, she returned to her work.

Something about her made my heart beat fast. Not only because she looked exactly like her mother, but because I realized… she was my child.

But, something was strange. I felt uneasy somewhat anytime I looked at her. It was as though there was something about her that was slightly off—different from the others.

“It seems you’ve noticed it already,” Aurora said with a sad tone.

I didn’t fully understand what she meant, and the barrier between me and the girl interfered a lot with my sensory abilities.

But, even with the little I could notice, I realized something terribly wrong.

“What’s going on with her? Her body isn’t normal. It’s almost as if—”

“—She has Miasma Poisoning… right?”

My eyes widened, realizing my hunch was correct.

Aurora flashed me an impressed look, though the sadness on her face clouded it.

“I’m surprised you were able to notice it without me having to tell you.”

I was all the more surprised. Miasma Poisoning for an Elf was a terrible thing. Though the effects didn’t seem to be fatal, I could tell that the poison had spread throughout her body.

“It’s the second reason why my sister had that child in her womb for so long. She was incubating it, trying her hardest to contain the Miasma within her.”

“Miasma? I don’t understand…”

Aurora sighed, probably not knowing where to start. Unfortunately, the answer dawned on me before she even answered.

“Lewis had a special constitution. It allowed his body to strongly reject Mana. It was caused by his overexposure to Miasma when he explored the Demon World.”

‘My genes got passed on to her, causing the special constitution of my body to be inherited!’

However, unlike me who was Inept, my daughter had Mana.

The Miasma in her body fought with the Mana within, causing a dissonance. How was such a child even born? How did she survive for so long?

“Emilia found a way to isolate the Miasma in her child’s genes, using a hundred years to cultivate a stronger Mana essence to overcome the Miasma within her.”

Aurora further explained that the Mana shell made by Emilia served as a prison to hold in the recessive tendencies of my Miasma-inclined genes.

As a result, when our child was born, she didn’t have to deal with the clashing effects of both Mana and Miasma.

That was how she was able to live for four centuries without incident… or so I had hoped.

“My sister died early most likely because she used the Mana meant to sustain her life force to help the child in her womb. Unfortunately, a few decades after her death, the dormant Miasma gene within the girl started manifesting.”

As a result, she was slowly getting Miasma poisoning.

Aurora and many skilled Elves had tried controlling it, trying to replicate what Emilia did, but it was too late.

Even if they could prolong the girl’s life and mitigate its effects, it was inevitable that the poison would catch up with her soon enough.

“At this rate, she’ll die in a few years…” Aurora winced as she spoke those words.

It must have pained her that her niece would die before she did, but the hard facts were difficult to escape from.

Even I, when confronted with that news, was devastated.

I hardly knew the Elf, but the mere thought that I would lose her soon after just meeting her nearly shattered me in my core.

“No… that can’t happen!”

Aurora stared at me with surprise, most likely shocked that I shared her sentiment. She didn’t understand that this was simply the selfish desire of a father to save his child.

“It’s a shame that there’s nothing to be done. It’s impossible for Mana and Miasma to coexist—especially for an Elf.”

Aurora wasn’t wrong. It truly was impossible.

“That’s why I let her do as she pleased. That girl, she has a strong interest in technology and Magic Research. I suppose she takes after her father that way…”

I nearly burst into tears as I was filled with both pride and sadness.

“Yeah. Yeah, she does.”

The Elf had the appearance of Emilia, but the vigor she showed as she worked on the project was definitely a reflection of me.

This truly was my child!

“She has developed quite a number of innovations that have even surprised me. Though, because of her condition, I can’t allow her to interact with many Elves, my children and I still enjoy her company.”

Aurora was truly a lovely woman.

Freya indeed mentioned that she had an eccentric cousin who was into weird stuff. To think she was referring to my kid.

“Does she know? About her condition… about everything?”

Aurora nodded at my question.

“We never kept any secret from her. She knows about her origins—the true identity of her father… and her identity as a Half-Elf.”

According to Aurora, she had never been bothered by her identity because she was always surrounded by the loving warmth of family.

Besides, Emilia only died a hundred years ago, so she had lots of good memories with her mother.

Still, there was a void that the Elves could not fill. That brought us to the favor Aurora wanted to ask of me.

“Please, Jared Leonard… can you become friends with that child?”