The outside world was far from pleasant to look at, so the moment they finished everything they needed to do, they immediately began their journey back to the Azuryn Settlement.

Along the way, Maeve was finally able to walk on her own every now and then instead of spending the entire trip sitting in the cart like someone on the verge of death.

"The sandals are so cute!" Maeve said excitedly, looking down at her feet for what was probably the tenth time that day. "Axan, this is such a wonderful gift!"

Since Maeve hadn’t needed to walk much during their trip to the Tomb of Heart, no one had bothered making her a new pair of sandals. But now that she was feeling better and liked getting out of the cart from time to time, Axan had decided to make a pair for her using leftover pieces of tree bark.

He had even added a small heart-shaped decoration. It wasn’t perfectly shaped, and one side was slightly bigger than the other, but that only made Maeve like it more and every time she looked at the little heart, she couldn’t stop smiling.

"I’m glad you like them," Axan said in his usual calm voice, though his eyes kept drifting back to her every now and then. "If we have more resources in the future, I’ll make you a better pair."

Maeve immediately shook her head. "But these are already so beautiful!"

A bright smile spread across her face, and all three of her mates found themselves staring at her for a moment.

Actually, it was hard not to because the Maeve standing before them now was completely different from the woman who had first arrived in this world.

Back then, she had always looked tired, frightened, and uncomfortable. Even smiling seemed difficult for her. Now, her eyes were bright, her cheeks held a healthy color, and she smiled so easily that it made the people around her want to smile too.

"But..." Maeve continued, glancing down at her sandals again, "if you don’t mind, could you make me a pair of house slippers later?"

"House slippers?" Axan repeated.

"They’re a type of sandal people usually wear indoors," Maeve explained. "Maybe you could use the bird’s feathers for them. I think they would be really soft and comfortable."

Axan considered the idea for a moment before nodding. "That won’t be a problem."

Maeve’s smile immediately grew even wider. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you!"

The excitement in her voice made Axan look away for a second. He wasn’t sure why such a simple request made him feel strangely pleased.

Perhaps it was because Maeve was finally comfortable enough to ask for things she wanted or perhaps it was because every time she smiled like that, it felt as though the dying world around them became a little brighter.

"I can make sandals for you too!" Cerus said enthusiastically.

Axan rolled his eyes before saying, "The only thing you’re good at is breaking things. You can’t even make a proper storage basket without it falling apart."

"That happened one time!" Cerus immediately protested.

"Three times," Axan corrected.

"Alright, that’s enough," Ikarus said, stepping in before the argument could grow any worse. He even grabbed Cerus by the shoulder and gently pulled him a little farther away from Axan. "We’re all good at different things, so stop fighting so much."

"It’s not like I’m the one who started it," Axan replied.

The corner of Cerus’s eye twitched. "Oh, for Sky Mother’s sake, you love starting fights too!"

As the two of them immediately began bickering again, Maeve simply watched in silence. Arguing with your siblings wasn’t exactly a good thing, but it was still much better than losing them forever.

For some reason, watching their small arguments always brought her a strange sense of comfort. It reminded her of the days when her older sister was still alive.

Back then, little arguments had been normal.

It was annoying sometimes, sure. But at least it was normal, and now, she would give anything to hear her sister argue with her one more time.

"I’ll separate them again in a few minutes," Ikarus said with a tired sigh as he walked beside Maeve. "Those two are honestly embarrassing."

Maeve giggled. "It’s fine. They’ll stop on their own eventually." She glanced at the pair ahead of them. "As long as they don’t kill each other, I don’t think you need to worry too much."

Now that she thought about it, Ikarus was actually the only one who rarely got involved in these arguments.

Most of the time, he acted as the bridge between Cerus and Axan. When he wasn’t doing that, he was usually listening to one brother complain about the other.

It was a little surprising when all three of them had been born only minutes apart.

"I’ve noticed that you don’t seem to like arguing very much," Maeve said.

Ikarus raised an eyebrow. "Does anyone actually enjoy arguing?" he asked. "It’s not even fun."

Maeve turned to look at Cerus and Axan again. At some point, their argument had somehow turned into a battle involving dirt.

They were now kicking small clumps of soil at each other while continuing to complain. Both of them looked irritated, but somehow, they also looked like they were having fun.

"Besides," Ikarus continued, "what kind of leader starts arguing over something so small?"

Maeve pointed her chin toward his brothers. "Them?"

Ikarus let out a soft chuckle. "And that’s exactly why I have to be the responsible adult."

Oh.

Maeve finally understood.

Even though Ikarus was only a few minutes older than Cerus and Axan, he was still the eldest and whether people realized it or not, the oldest child was often expected to carry a little more responsibility than everyone else.

Maeve had never experienced that herself since she had been the youngest child, and her older sister had passed away long ago.

But when she lived in her uncle’s house, she had noticed that his eldest daughter was always given more expectations and responsibilities than her younger siblings.

She was just as terrible as Maeve’s uncle, but even so, Maeve couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her sometimes.

Well, putting that bitch aside, Ikarus was a much more interesting person to think about.

Then again, that woman wasn’t nearly as interesting as the man walking beside her.

Maeve glanced at Ikarus. The more time she spent with him, the more she realized how much he quietly carried on his shoulders.

Unlike Cerus, who openly showed his emotions, or Axan, who never hesitated to speak his mind, Ikarus often placed himself in the middle.

"It’s good to let out some stress once in a while," Maeve said. "I’m sure your brothers would forgive you if you threw a tiny rock at them whenever they made you angry."

[Host! You shouldn’t encourage people to do mean things!] Pinky immediately protested. The fluffy little ball even looked like it was puffing out its round cheeks in disapproval. [That’s not a good thing!]

’It’s just a tiny rock, not me telling him to push his brothers off a cliff or anything,’ Maeve replied to Pinky in her mind.

Honestly, Maeve didn’t think it was that serious. Besides, she wasn’t even sure a small rock could hurt any of them in the first place. After all, their skin was practically as tough as stone.

She had seen them wrestle with giant beasts, get thrown around, and walk away with little more than a few scratches. Compared to that, a pebble was probably nothing.

At worst, it would annoy them.

"I’m good this way," Ikarus said with an awkward chuckle.

Maeve simply nodded. If he was happy handling things the way he always had, then she wasn’t going to force him to change. Still, that didn’t stop her from offering more ideas.

"Or maybe we could try shouting at a cliff sometimes," she suggested. "That’s also a good way to relieve stress."

Ikarus blinked. "Shouting at a cliff?"

"Yeah." Maeve nodded seriously. "You climb somewhere high, make sure nobody is nearby, and then you scream as loudly as you can."

"That sounds fun," Ikarus said, a genuine smile finally appearing on his face. "We should do that someday."

Maeve smiled back at him before falling into a comfortable silence as they continued walking side by side.

The journey back home was just as long as the trip to the Tomb of Heart, maybe even longer.

No, it wasn’t because the distance had changed, but because they often slowed their pace whenever Maeve wanted to get out of the cart and walk on her own.

None of the triplets complained about it. In fact, they seemed happy every time she chose to walk because it was proof that she was getting stronger.

About three days later, they finally reached the Azuryn Tribe.

The moment the warriors guarding the settlement’s border spotted them, their eyes widened.

"They’ve returned!" One of the warriors immediately jumped to his feet. "Our leaders and our Goddess have returned!" he shouted into the night. "Wake up! Wake up!"

His voice echoed throughout the settlement. Then, after getting a better look at Maeve, his eyes grew even wider.

"Our Goddess looks so healthy now!" he shouted excitedly. "She even looks rounder!"

Hey! Take that back! She hadn’t been eating that much!