It was morning when Yasenia returned and entered Andrea's room. Right now, Andrea was prepared to give birth at any moment. Her cultivation had already disappeared almost completely, and she was just waiting for the birth to start.
Yasenia looked at Flora and asked, her face serious. "Flora, with Andrea's genitalia, how is birth going to go? Is it more difficult?"
Flora shook her head. "The birth will go exactly the same. Andrea's male genitalia is above, so it will act like a very big clitoris. It can move perfectly fine with the pelvis and other muscles. Similar to Young Miss, Andrea is a complete and relatively perfect hermaphrodite. She has no real defects in either of her sexual organs."
Yasenia nodded and looked at her big girl, who was lying in the bed weaker than ever. "How are you feeling, Andrea?"
Andrea smiled softly and looked at Yasenia while grabbing her hand. "Don't worry so much, love. I know you are worried. However, everything is fine. The threats are almost all gone. Every single maid is here, the formations are up, and Valeria and Kali are ready to assist me if anything goes wrong. Moreover, Flora is the main maid, and Laila is the helper. I trust both very much as well."
Yasenia nodded and lifted Andrea's hand to her cheek. "I know, Darling. I am asking because it must feel uncomfortable, right?"
Andrea chuckled. "Well, having mortal strength after being a cultivator does indeed feel terrible. It is as if my body is dying yet full of energy. It is a very strange mix of sensations."
The dragoness kissed her hand and asked. "Do you want to have my tail squeezed with your other hand?"
Andrea lifted an eyebrow and agreed. "Sure, why not?"
The dragoness sneaked her tail below Andrea's bed and coiled it around her arm, leaving a thin enough part on her hand so that Andrea could squeeze as she pleased.
After that, they just waited.
Around two days later, Andrea's water broke, followed by a contraction. The pain of birth came from the soul, so Andrea couldn't hold back her first grunts.
Yasenia knew that her Darling didn't like showing weakness too much. However, this time, the dragoness didn't indulge her. "Darling, let it out. You are giving birth to our child, so just focus on that. I won't look at you as less because you scream during childbirth, Darling. You are my heroic and strong Darling regardless."
Andrea, who had her forehead covered in sweat, squeezed Yasenia's hand and tail. When another contraction came, she screamed. "AH!"
The dragoness lightly tightened her grip, giving Andrea peace of mind by showing her that she was there. With the support of her dragoness, Andrea's determination was unending.
The childbirth went relatively smoothly, and as Flora said, Andrea's male genitalia didn't interfere in any way. Flora took the child and cut the umbilical cord, taking the little darling in her arms.
Looking at the small dragon beast-human, her lips arched. "In the end, you took after your mother's skin color~. Yasenia will like this, haha."
Andrea and Yasenia heard Flora and looked over. Seeing the little baby with very light brown skin being secured in Andrea's arms, both of them smiled. "It seems that, as you wanted, she has my skin tone."
Yasenia hummed, giving the little one a kiss on the head. "If you look closer, it is a middle point between yours and mine~. She is like a perfect little mix. Speaking of which, what about the gender?"
Andrea moved the little darling a bit, breastfeeding the child, and in the meantime, peeking at the child's waist. "Oho~, as expected."
The dragoness laughed. "As expected indeed~."
Leila's dog tail wagged as she said. "Congratulations to Young Miss and Lady Andrea. You now have a precious little one that truly resembles both of you~. Have you thought of a name, Lady Andrea?"
Andrea smiled and nodded. "Like when we met and like how you softly illuminated my life, this little one will be our new beginning. Dawn."
The dragoness kissed Andrea's forehead and laughed. "I love it. Thank you, Andrea. You've done well. And also, welcome to this world, Dawn. My beautiful daughter."
The little one opened her eyes, and like almost all her other sisters, she revealed a pair of enchanting golden eyes. Andrea snorted a laugh. "Really, all of them have your eyes."
The dragoness smirked. "I like that. The eyes are said to be the window to the soul. I am quite glad that all of them will have that part in common."
Andrea looked at Yasenia and sighed, feeling extremely tired yet somehow fulfilled. 'It was difficult, but now, I only feel happiness. Knowing I was able to give birth safely to Dawn is very…' Andrea smiled. 'Fulfilling.'
Yasenia looked at the little one and couldn't help but laugh. She was looking around attentively as if she understood her place. "You look like a clever little girl~. Look at you, looking around."
The other girls were all here with their children, and Tatyana raised her eyebrow. "Hm." She approached, and Yasenia looked over. Tatyana commented. "Hold Estrella for a moment, Little Treasure."
Yasenia blinked. "Is something wrong?"
Tatyana shook her head, and after Estrella was taken into Yasenia's arms, Taytana's eyes flashed with white light. The Death Empress snorted. "Tsk, tsk."
She extended her hand forward and grabbed a single golden and white string, severing it.
Mirrory who looked from the side raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Don't like that one?"
Tatyana rolled her eyes. "I don't really like when Heaven has 'Bigger Plans' for a little one. While this will make her lose one or two opportunities, at least she won't have her fate dictated by someone or something."
Andrea frowned and asked. "What happened? And I won't accept 'You will understand' bullshit this time. You've done something to my daughter, after all."
Tatyana smiled. "Relax. Your child was meant to have an otherworldly soul in her with one of those things. Mirrory informed me, and because my main body is swallowing quite a lot of Fate energy from one of those 'Systems,' I have plenty of ability to touch that line of Fate without affecting anything."
Andrea blinked. "System? Like Sarah's?"
Tatyana nodded, and Andrea relaxed. "Hm. Good. I don't need a thing like that dictating my daughter's fate."
Andrea poked Dawn's nose and laughed. "Little one got liked by the Heavens, it seems. You really have a good future ahead~."
Tatyana grinned as she moved to take Estrella back. "That's for sure… Hm?" Tatyana looked at Estrella and saw that she was hugging Yasenia's torso with all her limbs, including her tail, not wanting to separate. Her eyebrow twitched. 'You brat.'
The dragoness smirked. "How about you leave her with me for a while~?"
Tatyana humphed. "Smug, aren't you? Tsk, tsk. You were like that too with me not long ago!"
The dragoness coughed. "Don't bring that up now."
Tatyana raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Why~? Is my DAUGHTER ashamed, hm!? Is being Mommy's girl a shameful thing now!?"
Yasenia laughed. "Not at all. Relax, love."
Tatyana humphed and then smiled. "Tsk, tsk. How did you do it? All the darlings don't even want to move away when they manage to catch you. Do you know how hard it is to break open their grip? A toddler's grip is the strongest grip in the universe!"
The other mothers nodded. Even Cecile and Kali had a taste of trying to open a toddler's grip with something. The grip was strong, and because they didn't want to hurt them, they couldn't use as much strength themselves, leaving them helpless sometimes.
"Aurelia… Can you drop that toy formation pen already?" Angel looked at her little daughter with a helpless look, who was waving the toy pen up and down triumphantly.
The dragoness couldn't help but look around. Evelyn was holding Skye, who had fallen asleep in her arms. The little one had longer hair than before, and the tail coiled around her mother's waist.
Kali and Cecile were with their eggs placed on their laps as they hugged them closely. Moreover, perhaps subconsciously, Kali's tails and Cecile's wings surrounded their eggs.
Angel was moving her legs up and down, shaking Aurelia a bit while the little one waved her arm up and down. She was, of course, gripping a toy formation pen as tightly as possible. Yasenia guessed that making her lose grip would be a bit difficult the normal way. 'Hm~ If she doesn't drop it, I'll need to tickle her.'
Meanwhile, Tatyana was standing by Yasenia's side, and Estrella was latching onto her, looking up at her with her pretty heterochromatic eyes. The dragoness leaned down, kissing her forehead, and then, she looked sideways.
On the bed, with a weak look and a face and hair wet and full of sweat, Andrea lay while breastfeeding Dawn, the recently born little one.
In just a year, her family went from 7 to 13. Her responsibilities also grew with that, and her mind also grasped a wider outlook while remembering her last objective. If she ever could, Yasenia wanted to find a place to stay with everyone eventually.
But unlike a mortal mind that would want to grow old with their close ones, Yasenia wanted to create a small little paradise where she could spend as much time as possible with her family. As a dragon with an innately infinite lifespan, her thought process was a bit different, but the same at its core.
Be happy with her family.
Yasenia looked outside and sighed. The same sky that was unrecognizable a few years ago was now hers. The Astral Sky Alliance she built dominated land and sea. With her as the head of everything, Distancia had become that little paradise she had always wanted, even if it was not permanent.
'Even if it is not permanent. Even if it is for a short time… I managed to achieve one of my objectives, hahaha.' The dragoness chuckled. 'Really… All over a little wolf pup that bothered us a bit too much. How things can escalate.'
Yasenia muttered. "I wonder… Should I have done this?"
Tatyana asked. "Why not?"
Yasenia looked over, and Tatyana smiled. "Yasenia, the Universe is vast. It is so incredibly vast that even the strongest people haven't really explored everything. Practically infinite worlds, stars, galaxies, treasures, mysteries…" Tatyana laughed. "What's wrong with making a bit of that incredibly vast place yours? Someone complains? Good, they will fight you. But, if you win, who is there to complain?"
Yasenia nodded. "I know. The law of the jungle, right?"
Tatyana patted her head and caressed her long black hair. "Little Treasure, the cultivation world is and will be ruthless. You've killed many, but in total, they don't even make the 0.01 percent of the population. Not even less than that. This world will continue with or without them. The same way this universe would continue with or without us."
Tatyana laughed. "Being selfish, as long as you do so without being reckless, is not wrong. There is no… equality. There is no fairness. There is no one who rules 'objectively.' There are no absolute truths, and that broken mirror over there would agree with me."
Mirrory smiled at the side and didn't bother retorting this time.
Tatyana pointed down, making Yasenia look at Estrella. "Just be as you have been. Protect them as you see fit. And, if that protection means overturning the entire political system and ruling class of an entire world to make the World your nest… Welp, that's something you can do."
Yasenia giggled. "More like something I've already done."
Tatyana shrugged. "That's right. Now, with that done, there is one thing left~."
The dragoness looked at her new family and laughed. "Sure, sure. Let's grow our little family."