Morning came quietly.

Soft sunlight filtered through the curtains of the guest house room while birds chirped faintly outside near the village rooftops.

Meanwhile—

I was busy imagining my future wedding with Leon.

Again.

Honestly the ceremony looked beautiful in my head.

Massive black roses.

Purple flames.

Leon standing beside me in formal noble clothing while looking completely overwhelmed by everything happening around him.

Maybe we would have the wedding inside the capital...

No.

Actually somewhere quieter would probably fit him better.

Maybe near a lake inside the Aldric territory.

Then after that—

Our honeymoon.

I wondered where Leo would want to go.

Somewhere warm maybe.

I could just fly us there.

And after that—

Children.

Lots of them.

At least ten for sure.

Leon would definitely panic after the first one though.

That thought made me smile happily into fake Leon’s chest.

Then suddenly—

"Wake up."

I blinked slowly.

Reality returned.

Clara stood beside my bed stretching tiredly while rubbing one eye.

The moment she fully looked over toward me and fake Leon tangled together beneath the blankets—

Her expression immediately changed.

A sleepy grin slowly spread across her face.

"Did the lovely couple have a lovely night together?"

I stared at her flatly.

Then ignored her completely.

Eventually the two of us got dressed before leaving the guest house and heading downstairs toward the village center.

The morning atmosphere outside already felt tense.

Villagers moved around nervously while several hunters prepared weapons near the edge of the settlement.

Then suddenly Professor Hale hurried toward us the moment he spotted us.

His expression looked stressed.

"Lady Nightbane. Clara."

He stopped directly in front of us.

"Have either of you seen Adrian or Marcus since yesterday?"

"No," Clara answered immediately.

The professor frowned deeper.

"They still haven’t returned."

Interesting.

Clara looked concerned now.

"You think something happened to them?"

"I don’t know yet."

His eyes briefly moved toward the forests.

"But they’ve been gone all night."

I looked toward the treeline calmly.

"We’ll go deeper into the woods and look around again."

Professor Hale hesitated briefly before nodding.

"Be careful."

"Mhm."

The two of us eventually headed back into the forest shortly afterward.

Morning light filtered through the thick trees while soft fog still lingered around sections of the woods.

After a while we eventually returned toward the area where we fought the forest gorilla yesterday.

The creature still remained trapped inside the giant block of ice near the cracked boulder.

Clara slowly approached it.

"...Can you unfreeze him?"

I looked toward her blankly.

"Why."

"Because he might know something."

"...It’s a gorilla."

"And you’re terrifying enough to probably communicate with it somehow."

Fair point honestly.

I sighed softly before snapping my fingers.

The thick ice immediately began cracking apart before shattering across the ground in frozen chunks.

The forest gorilla slowly stirred afterward.

The creature let out a weak huff before opening its red eyes again.

For several moments it simply stared toward us cautiously.

Then slowly—

It stood.

Clara tensed slightly beside me.

Meanwhile the creature carefully approached us instead of attacking.

Interesting.

It stopped less than a meter away afterward before turning around.

Then it started walking deeper into the forest.

After several steps it looked back toward us expectantly.

Clara blinked.

"...I think it wants us to follow it."

"Mhm."

Now I was curious.

The three of us eventually traveled deeper into the woods together.

The farther we walked, the stranger the forest became.

Broken branches.

Damaged trees.

Old tracks hidden beneath the dirt.

Eventually the gorilla led us toward a rocky hillside partially concealed behind thick vines and roots.

A cave entrance rested there.

At first glance it looked normal.

But after focusing slightly—

I noticed light deeper inside.

Torches.

Clara noticed too.

"...That’s definitely not natural."

Now that was very interesting.

The gorilla stopped outside while watching us carefully.

Meanwhile Clara quietly whispered:

"I think he wants us to go inside."

The two of us cautiously entered the cave afterward.

The deeper tunnels quickly changed from natural stone into something more artificial. Wooden reinforcements lined sections of the walls while old crates and barrels sat stacked near corners.

Then eventually—

A wooden door appeared embedded into the cave wall.

Definitely human.

Clara slowly looked toward the gorilla again.

"You stay here."

The creature huffed quietly before sitting near the entrance obediently.

Then the two of us carefully entered through the doorway.

A hallway stretched deeper underground lit by torchlight mounted along the walls.

And after several seconds—

Voices.

Male voices.

Laughing.

Clara and I quietly moved closer until eventually peeking around one of the corners.

Three rough-looking men sat inside a larger chamber drinking around a wooden table.

Bandits.

One had a scar running across his nose.

Another carried a large axe resting nearby.

The third looked heavily drunk already.

Purple mana flickered around my fingers instantly.

Clara immediately grabbed my arm.

"Wait."

I clicked my tongue quietly but stayed silent.

Then one of the men suddenly laughed loudly.

"We’re gonna be rich after selling that baby forest gorilla."

Another smirked.

"Don’t forget the extra money from trafficking humans."

The third man leaned back proudly.

"Boss really is a genius."

He took another drink.

"Blaming the disappearances on monsters was smart."

Then one of them stood up while stretching.

"I’m gonna go play with that girl we caught earlier."

Something inside Clara visibly snapped.

She slowly looked toward me.

"You can let loose now."

A grin spread across my face instantly.

Finally.

I casually walked around the corner into the room.

The men immediately looked over.

"Tell me where you keep your prisoners."

The two sitting down immediately froze slightly after seeing me.

But the standing man just grinned.

"Well damn."

His eyes slowly moved across my body.

"Another beauty to toy wi—"

Something inside me flipped instantly.

My smile vanished.

A violent purple glow exploded across my eyes.

"I wouldn’t cheat on my amazing husband Leon in a million years."

The room temperature plummeted instantly.

I flicked one finger.

Two massive magic circles appeared beneath the seated bandits before instantly encasing them completely in solid ice.

Before the third man could even react—

Dark chains erupted from the shadows.

CRACK.

The chains wrapped around his arms, legs, chest, and neck before violently pinning him against the walls and ceiling simultaneously.

The man screamed in terror.

I slowly walked closer.

Very angry.

"And my first time will be with him and him only!"

Then swung my leg upward directly between his legs with enough force to crack stone.

The man let out a horrifying noise before immediately passing out.

Silence followed.

Then Clara stepped into the room while staring at me with amusement.

"...Wow."

I slowly looked toward her.

"What."

"You got REALLY angry."

I narrowed my eyes.

"He insulted Leon."

"Yes I noticed."

Then before I could redirect my remaining anger toward her—

Clara quickly pointed toward the frozen bandits.

"We still need one conscious to tell us where the prisoners are."

Right.

Annoying.

I walked over toward one of the frozen men before punching directly through the ice surrounding his head.

CRACK.

The upper section shattered instantly.

The bandit immediately started hyperventilating in terror while staring at me.

"I-I’LL DO ANYTHING—"

Clara stepped forward calmly.

"Good."

Her expression hardened.

"Where are the prisoners?"

The bandit’s face had already gone pale long before Clara finished asking the question.

"We keep them deeper inside the caves..."

His voice shook violently while he pointed down another hallway.

"Second passage to the left... then downstairs..."

Clara narrowed her eyes.

"How many guards?"

"Its only us!"

I stared at him coldly for several seconds afterward.

Then froze him again.

The screaming stopped instantly.

Clara slowly looked toward the frozen man.

"You really like doing that."

"He annoyed me."

The two of us quickly moved deeper through the underground hideout afterward. The further inside we traveled, the more obvious it became that this place had been operating for a long time.

Storage rooms.

Crates.

Weapons.

Eventually we reached a large reinforced door near the lower tunnels.

And behind it—

Noise.

Soft crying.

Clara immediately rushed forward and pushed the door open.

The room beyond looked horrible.

Multiple cages lined the underground chamber while chains and supplies sat scattered throughout the area. Several frightened villagers immediately recoiled backward after seeing us enter.

But that wasn’t what caught my attention first.

Baby forest gorillas.

Several small ones sat trapped inside one of the larger reinforced cages while making frightened noises toward us. Their bark-like fur looked dirty while vines wrapped around their tiny arms and shoulders.

Then my eyes moved farther across the room.

A terrified little girl clung tightly onto a young woman inside another cage.

And finally—

The last cell.

Adrian and Marcus.

Both looked terrible.

Bruised.

Dirty.

Barely conscious.

Marcus weakly looked upward first before his eyes widened slightly.

"...Lady Nightbane...?"

Adrian looked too exhausted to even react properly.

Clara immediately hurried toward the cages.

"We need to get them out."

I shattered the locks effortlessly using magic while Clara helped the prisoners outside one by one.

The little girl immediately clung onto the older woman beside her while shaking.

Meanwhile the baby forest gorillas rushed around excitedly the moment their cage opened.

The entire underground room filled with happy squeaking noises.

After everyone was freed, we quickly escorted the prisoners back through the tunnels and eventually outside into the forest again.

The moment we reached the cave entrance—

The large forest gorilla immediately stood.

Then the babies saw him.

The little creatures rushed forward instantly while making excited sounds and climbing all over the larger gorilla’s body.

The massive creature let out softer quieter noises while carefully pulling them close.

I stared silently at the scene.

The babies circled around their parent endlessly while clinging onto his arms and shoulders with obvious happiness.

Beside me Clara smiled softly.

"So I guess those babies were his kids."

I stayed quiet.

Clara looked toward the gorilla family again.

"He was probably searching for them."

Then she sighed slightly.

"And while attacking others he probably drove goblins or other monsters out of their territory."

Understanding slowly settled together.

The attacks.

The disappearances.

The monsters near the village.

Everything connected.

The forest gorilla hadn’t been some rampaging monster.

It had just been a parent.

I quietly watched the babies continue climbing all over the larger gorilla while making small happy noises.

Then eventually—

The forest gorilla looked toward us one final time before disappearing back into the woods with the babies following close behind.

The group finally returned toward the village afterward.

And the moment we reached the entrance—

The little girl suddenly broke free from the young woman’s grasp and sprinted ahead.

I blinked slightly in surprise.

Then watched as she threw herself directly into the arms of two adults waiting near the village gates.

Her parents.

The couple immediately wrapped around their daughter tightly while tears streamed down all their faces.

The little girl cried happily while clinging onto them both.

I stood there quietly watching them.

Then slowly—

My imagination replaced their faces.

Leon.

Me.

And a smaller child between us.

The image settled inside my head painfully fast.

Meanwhile behind me Clara began explaining everything to Professor Hale and the village chief.

Bandits.

Trafficking.

The captured gorillas.

The fake monster attacks.

The teacher looked horrified listening to it all.

But eventually he frowned slightly.

"This is good work."

Then he paused.

"But where are Adrian and Marcus?"

Clara froze.

Then slowly looked behind her.

Silence.

"...We may have forgotten them in the cave."

The teacher’s eye twitched slightly.

Then immediately turned and hurried back toward the forest with Clara rushing after him.

Meanwhile—

I kept staring at the family near the gates.

The little girl cried while her parents hugged her tightly again.

Something inside my chest hurt strangely.

Eventually I quietly returned to the guest house alone.

The moment I entered the room, I immediately flopped face-first onto the bed before pulling fake Leon tightly into my arms.

I buried my face into his chest while hugging him hard.

"I want a little Leon so badly..."

The words came out softly at first.

Then more followed.

"I want a family with you..."

"I want lots of children..."

"I want them to have your eyes..."

"And your hair..."

I closed my eyes while imagining it all.

A house.

Leon beside me.

Small children running around everywhere.

One sitting on Leon’s shoulders.

Another asleep in my arms.

A peaceful happy life.

The image became so vivid in my head that my chest physically ached.

Then suddenly I sat upright while squeezing fake Leon dramatically.

"I WANT A LITTLE LEON SO BADLY!"

"I’M HAVING YOUR CHILD THE SECOND I SEE YOU AGAIN!"

The door immediately opened.

Clara walked into the room slowly.

"...Yeah I heard that."

I blinked once.

"Weren’t you getting Adrian and Marcus?"

"I was."

She dropped onto her bed tiredly.

"That was hours ago."

Then she looked toward me and fake Leon.

"...You were really screaming about having children with him?"

"Yes."

Clara stared at me for several seconds.

Then sighed deeply.

"You’re terrifying."

I ignored her completely while hugging fake Leon tighter.

"I want at least ten."

Clara almost choked.

"TEN?!"

"Maybe more."

"That is not a normal amount!"

I frowned slightly.

"Leon would make very cute children."

"That is NOT the issue here!"

I continued speaking while imagining it again.

"A tiny Leon following him around..."

"One sleeping on his chest..."

"One holding his hand..."

My face slowly heated up more the longer I imagined it.

"I want daughters that look like him."

Clara buried her face into her hands.

"You’re already planning genetics."

"I also want one with black hair and his eyes"

"You sound like you’re designing them in a laboratory."

I ignored her again.

"Leon would definitely panic the first time one called him father."

That thought alone made me clutch fake Leon tighter while smiling into the pillow.

Meanwhile Clara slowly looked toward the ceiling like she was questioning every life choice that led her here.

"...You know what."

She pulled the blanket over herself dramatically.

"I hope you marry him quickly."

I blinked.

"Why?"

"So he becomes legally responsible for this insanity instead of me."