3rd POV
Hajin and Rachel stayed like that for quite some time, and only separated when they finally heard their daughter calling them.
"Mommy, Daddy! Look, I finished my castle!" She said as she ran towards them and jumped onto their laps. "Don't leave me behind!" She retorted as she hugged Hajin and Rachel, or at least to, but her arms were too small to hug them both at once. Still, they didn't say anything and just took her into their embrace as well.
After a few seconds, Evandel separated as though she remebered something important.
"Ah! This was not what I wanted to show you! Come with me!" She said as she took their hands into hers and dragged them to where she had built her sand castle.
"Hmm~ That's a beautiful sand castle you built there, Ev~"
It was nothing extraordinary, nor was it too normal, just the perfect balance. Even though Evandel was not a normal child, she still behaved like one.
"Indeed, Ev, you did a great job~" Rachel praised her, to which Evandel puffed out her chest as she proudly gave nods.
"Ah, speaking of which, Ev, do you know how to swim?" Rachel asked.
"Swim?"
"Yeah, like those people you watch on the TV moving in water by pushing their hands and feet onto the water."
"I... I don't know..." She said while looking sad.
"A-ah, n-no need to worry about it;;; Do you want us to teach you how to swim?"
"Really?!" Evandel exclaimed with shiny eyes.
"Yes. And speaking of swimming, Hajin, you don't know how to swim either, right?"
"Yeah... I never had a need to swim cuz I could walk under and on water with my powers..." He said while averting his face to the side. He didn't want to admit it, but even though he was 17, and mentally 25, he didn't know how to swim.
"That won't do... come, I'll teach you how to swim too." She said as she crossed her arms under her chest and puffed her chest proudly. Yep, as the saying goes, "as mother as daughter."
"Okay..." Hajin said defeatedly as he followed her and Evandel to the ocean.
*
**
***
About an hour had passed since they started practicing swimming. Evandel had gotten the hang of it relatively easily, something that her potential and talent helped a great deal in.
Meanwhile, Hajin tried, but didn't succeed. He tried several times, but nothing changed much. In the end, he just created a gift that allowed him to swim.
Rachel could only sigh at this. But she gave up on that soon too as she joined Hajin and Evandel in swimming.
For sometime, they continued swiming and playing in water. A while later, Evandel got tired, so Hajin created a child sized swimming mattress and gave it to Evandel, who got on it and layed down to catch her breath, but soon fell asleep instead.
Hajin also tried to give one to Rachel, but she refused it saying that she could still swim a while longer. In the end, Hajin just gave one to Evandel and made a swimming ring for himself as he also grew tired of swimming while Rachel just swam around him.
**
Evandel had gone to sleep long before on the water mattress, and now, even Rachel was getting tired.
After a while, Rachel stopped swimming as well and joined in on the ring on which Hajin was also resting. She carefully crawled on top of him and layed down as her eyes slowly closed.
*
**
***
A few hours passed like that, it was evening. The sun hadn't gone down, but it was not as bright as before, covered by the clouds and it's brightness reduced.
Hajin slowly opened his eyes, which reflected the decreased sunlight, causing him to cover his eyes as a natural reaction.
Of course, he didn't need this, but he was just being lazy, a trait he had gained after acquiring the so-so nigh-omnipotent power.
After recovering from the sudden flash and making the ring change directions so that the he faced the sun with his back, he opened his eyes again, this time not hazy, and saw Rachel laying on top of him, crawled so that she won't fall off.
"Hmm~" He chucked as he rolled his arms around Rachel, and than turned his face to look for Evandel, who was nowhere to be seen.
His eyes glowed golden for a second as he searched for Evandel on the system map, and finding that she was just at a stall not too far from their area, he sighed in relief.
"In any case, at least she should be safe on this beach. Otherwise she can just use her powers to defend herself, but let's not rely on the latter too much..." Hajin thought but accidently said that aloud.
Loud enough to be heard by Rachel, who slowly opened her eyes as well, getting up and sitting on his stomach.
"Oh, sorry, did I wake you up?" Hajin asked as he patted her head.
"Nnn, I had a good sleep either way." She said as she looked around and asked, "Where's Ev?"
"She's at a stall a little far from this area. Don't worry, she can take care of herself just in case."
"I know... but I still can't help but be worried about her even more when you say that..."
"Haha, it's a natural feeling of a mother I guess." Hajin teased.
"..." She blushed upon being mentioned as a mother. Even though she hadn't did the act of making one, she still had a child. She was still innocent in that regard...
Rachel approached his face and kissed him on the lips, which Hajin accepted gracefully, before getting up and walking out of the water, and turned to Hajin.
"Get up, we have to go get Evandel before trouble finds its way." She said.
Hajin got up and walked out too as he joined Rachel. They walked towards the stall that Hajin had detected Evandel at while holding hands as they slowly crossed the beach.
-- Meanwhile --
-- A few minutes before Hajin had woken up --
3rd POV
The sun light shone on Evandel's face, to which her eyes twitched and covered her eyes before changing sides. However, she had already been woken up when the light shown on her eyelids.
She lazily opened her eyes and got us as she looked around.
'Mm... mommy and daddy are still sleeping...' She thought as she looked at Hajin, who was sleeping on top of his swimming ring, which at some point had also transformed into a floating mattress, Rachel laying besides him resting her head on his shoulder as she had her arms across his chest.
Evandel smiled before getting up from the mattress and walking towards the sand.
Since she had nothing to do, she thought about visiting the stalls. Since last time when Rachel went there with Evandel was to get something to drink, so Evandel hadn't explored the various other shops and stalls much.
She knew that Hajin and Rachel could always find her because they shared the connection through the system and through hre Nihility; Users of Nihility could detect each other within the universe. And there were only 3 at the time, Hajin, Rachel and Evandel.
She created some money from her powers and put it in the side pocket of her clothes.
With the current stage of her Nihlity, she could only create non-living matter and weapons. Although she could create any weapon she wanted, she couldn't use Nihlity directly as Hajin or Rachel used it; Coating it on their weapons or attacking the opponent with concentrated or bursts of Nihlity; Still, it was not to be underestimated.
Even with the limit, she might as well could destroy some galaxies if she let her Nihlity run amok, which was one of the main reasons that her powers had a seal on them. Even lesser concentrated Nihility was dangerous. So, the fear of someone attacking or kidnapping her didn't exist.
Evandel reached the stall area and roamed around, before stopping at a specific stall.
It was a fish stall; you would pay a certain amount and get a certain number of small fishnets, and any fish that you catched would be yours; simple and easy right?
Not so much, the fishnets were extremely weak, just a slightly pressured touch would break the net into shreds. It needed a lot of concentration to catch a fish in these types of stalls.
-- 100W per net -- A sign board on top of the fish pool stated.
She gave the amount to the stall owner, and received a small fish net.
She looked at the pool and saw various types and colors of fish in it. But her attention was caught by a baby goldfish that had various colors in it. It had yellow, golden and orange color on its body, while it's corners were white
Evandel slowly inserted the fish net in the pool near the baby gold fish she wanted and moved it in the direction of the goldfish. When it was near enough, she rushed the fish net out of the pool, thinking that she had caught it, but to her surprise, she didn't catch anything. Instead, the thin piece of cloth in the fishnet broke instead.
"Again!" She yelled as she gave another 100 won to the shop owner and tried again. But she failed again.
She tried it several times, but no matter what she tried, she failed and the fishnet broke every time.
In the end, turned to leave the stall with a defeated expression. She had already spent several thousand won but had failed to catch even a single fish.
As she was about to leave, someone touched her shoulders and she heard the person say,
"Want me to help?"
She turned around and saw a lady with purple hair, accompanied by another teenage tooking girl with light brown hair.
'Ah...' She exclaimed in her mind.
They were Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun. Evandel recognized them because when she was a seed, she had already seen them and heard her dad talk about them.
Yes, she could see even when she was a seed, but that was it. She couldn't move, or more specifically, she could move but not as freely as in her current human form, she could only jump around and sense the surrounding through mana frequencies, which helped her see and perceive the surrounding.
"Yes please, Unnie!" She said, to which Yeonha flinched.
'No one has even called be a unnie before... and why is she so cute?!?!' Yeonha thougth with a slightly embarrassed face.
Yeonha was about to turn around and get a fish net from the stall owner, but stopped when she heard Nayun say something.
"Yeonha... who is this child? Do you know her... ?" Chae Nayun asked while pointing her finger towards Evandel.
"Ah, no. I just thought maybe I should help her a bit." She said in a montone manner. Even on the beach, her montone expression and tone of speaking didn't change, she cared that much about her public image.
Even when her friends, namely Nayun, Suho and Jonghak already knew her personality, she still tried to hide it and denied it to the end.
"Hmm, sure." She turned her gaze to Evandel and stared at her for a few seconds, to which Evandel just tilted her head, seemingly asking if something was wrong.
"Ah~ Why does this child look so familiar... ?" She asked herself, to which Yeonha also looked at Evandel, this time analysing her appearance, to which Evandel smiled slightly.
'Now that I think about it... she does look similar to a certain someone... no, that's impossible. It's probably just a coincidence... Yeah!' She started thinking about various senarious, discarding one after another and coming up with new ones, her habbit of misunderstanding started doing its miriacles.
"It's probably just a coincidence." She said firmly, to which Nayun frowned and said, "Yeah, I'm probably overthinking it... ."
Yeonha turned to the stall and gave the man 100 won and received her fish net.
"Which one do you want?" She asked Evandel.
"Umm... " She started looking around the fish container as if trying to find something. Finally finding the baby fish she previosly tried to catch, she pointed her finger toward it and said, "That one, I want that one!"
"Hmm~ What a unique taste for a child... let's do it than." She said as she got ready.
In an instant, she moved her hand in the container and pulled the net back, successfully catching the baby fish that Evandel had pointed at.
"Wow~" Rachel exclaimed in amusement as she clapped her hand, praising Yeonha, who had a smug grin on her face.
"Yeonha... I didn't know you were so good at something like this~" Nayun said.
"Huh? Ah, no, I mean yes, wait, no..." She blushed in embarrassment. She tried to hide this persona of hers as much as she could, but in the end, she failed.
"... Wow, no need to hide it. I know you feel proud on the inside~" She teased.
"..." She just remained silent, seemingly having given up. She shook her face and turned to Evandel.
"Here's your goldfish." She gave the baby goldfish that was in a closed but see-through packet to Evandel.
"Thanks, Unnie!" She thanked her while smiling.
'Ugh!!?! Why do you have to be so cute, #@*!' She thought but made sure to keep her face composed on the outside.
"*cough* What's you name, child?" She asked Evandel as she bent down.
"I'm Evandel!" She answered.
"What a cute name. Did you come here with your parents? Where are they?" She asked.
"I came with my mommy and daddy. They're that way." She said while pointing towards the aeach area that she was before.
"..." She stayed silent. It was not because she didn't understand her, but because the area she was pointing towards was questionable. It was the area left between Yoo Clan's and Chae clan's reserved area.
'Hmm... Judging from her clothes and appearance... and from the area she's point at, her parents are probably at least billionaires... This is an opportunity for business!' Her logical personality and habits started effecting her thinking.
"Evandel, can you go back alone? Or should I accompany you... there are a lot of dangerous people in the area..." She said.
By dangerous, she didn't meant the wealthy people that had reserved an area on this beach, but the ones that belonged to guilds. It was because Hunters tend to have twisted personalities and sense of humor because of constantly hunting monsters.
And the stall section was a public area of the beach, meaning that anyone could access it, both the VIPs and the normal people, which also produced the risk of thugs and alike.
"..." Evandel seemed to think of something.
'I know they are not bad people because daddy told me... but the chances that I might come acroos some bad people are high, and daddy said that I should refrain from using my powers in public as much as I could if they weren't around... taking them along with me is the best option.' She came to the conclusion that if she was to go alone, the chances of her causing a mess and chaos were high, and someone could get killed too. So taking someone who had quite an amount of influence and well known with you was a good choice.
"Okay." She affirmed, "This way." She said as she took Yeonha's hand hand started walking, Yeonha, and consequently, Nayun as well, following her.
On the way, some people did try to approach them, maybe because of Evandel? Or maybe because of Yeonha and Nayun? The latter was most likely not the case as they were both well known, but some idiots did try to approach them as well, but they were those who didn't know who they were.
Nevertheless, all of them backed away when the experienced a death glare from Yeonha.
They soon reached outside the beach and entered the private area that Evandel claimed to belong to her parents.
'... whoever they are, her parents must be quite powerful... Creating a barrier so huge and complex is a near impossible feat... they have to be at least in the top 100... no, they have to be on the level of the nine-stars' Archmage Aileen to be capable of such a feat.' She thought.
The moment they entered the area, she felt a disturbance in the air. After focusing mana on her senses, she barely found out the thin but yet illogically sturdy and strong barrier that was covering the whole area.
'They're probably the origin of the intense and dangerous aura our guild members sensed a few hours ago...'
She stopped her thinking at that and looked forward. The beautiful scene of near-sunset in front of her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt someone approaching her from behind.
"So here you are~" She heard a voice that she was quite familiar with from behind.
Abrupty, she turned around expecting to see the one she thought she would, but froze the next second.
"Yeonha?" Nayun, feeling that Yeonha stopped, turned around to see why she stopped, but also froze the next second.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Evandel said as she ran passed them and towards the two figures in front of her.
'W-what...?' 'wa?!' Yeonha and Nayun screamed in their head.
"I told you not to come here alone, didn't I?" The female figure said as she scolded Evandel, who ran towards the man and hid behind her.
"Don't worry too much Rachel, she's still just a child~"
In fron tof them were standing Hajin and Rachel, who were arguing among themselves, and the topic seemed to be Evandel.
'D... did she she just called them mommy and daddy?!?!' Yeonha thought as countless senarios started playing in her head one after another. The gears in her brain were running at full speed.
'Huh?' Why did she call... ' Meanwhile, it seemed that Chae Nayun still couldn't understand the situation.
"K-kim h-hajin..." Yeonha said barely.
"Hmm?" They stopped talking and turned to Yeonha and Nayun, who were staring at them intensly.
"Ah... I almost forgot you were there." He said.
"That's... not very sincere of you..." She muttered as she looked down at Evandel, who was holding Hajin's hand.
"I... didn't know you had a daughter..." She said while looking at Rachel, while Nayun noded voilently, agreeing with Yeonha's remark. Yeonha added while looking at Hajin, "And I didn't know you were close to the Princess..."
"Uh..." Rachel tried to say something, trying to clear up the misunderstanding, well, not exactly a misunderstanding, but nothing came out of her mouth.
"That's natural as she was born just a few days ago... same for my close relationship with Rachel." He replied.
"... ?" Yeonha tilted her head. If earlier she was baffled, now she was confused... 'how can she be born a few days ago if she looks like a 5 year old already?' She thought.
"Wait, does that mean you and Rachel are lovers?!" Nayun asked with a surprised face.
"Mm, Yeah." This time it was Rachel who answered the question while Hajin noded, confirming her answer.
"And Yeonha, I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that."
"Than... ?" She asked.
"Let's... go sit there... It's better if I explain properly instead of like this, it's time to eat anyway." He said while pointing towards a group of chairs under a cover, blocking the sunlight from the sitting place.
He and Rachel walked towards the place, while Yeonha and Nayin silently followed. Evandel just ran off to the strandkorb where Hajin had put their snacks.
* 2 Minutes later*
Hajin and Rachel were sitting on two chairs around a round rable, Evandel was sitting on Rachel's laps.
A few dishes were served on the table, Hajin was eating himself while Rachel ate and also fed Evandel.
On the other side, Yeonha and Nayun just stared at the food with their heads down, peaking at Evandel from time to time.
Hajin finished his food first and cleaned his mouth with a tissue.
"Now..."
"...!" Yeonha's back straightened while Nayun flinched as they heard Hajin.
"To clear up the undetstanding of Evandel..." Hajin said and paused at the end, getting Yeonha's and Nayun's full attention.
"She is indeed our daughter."
"... but you said that she was born a few days ago..." Yeonha said.
"Indeed."
"Than how... why does she look like that... " She said while pointing her finger at Evandel, "Why does she look like a 4-5 year old... ?" Yeonha asked
"Because of magic." He answered as if it was a simple fact.
"Huh?" She asked back, confused.
"She's not born through ... natural means..." He said while looking at Rachel, who blushed slightly.
"Than how?" Yeonha still didn't undetstand what he was saying.
"More specifially, she's not human, so she's not born from human means. She's born from a seed, or what you can call an egg in a sense." He said.
"Oh..."
"She's born from absorbing our mana and blood, so she's biologically our daughter, but at the same time, she's not our Biological daughter because she isn't born in a normal way." He explained.
"She's fairy, so she's born from a seed by absorbing my mana and Rachel's blood, so technically, she's indeed our biological daughter in that regard." He added.
"So... you're basically saying that she looks this old because she is human... ?" Nayun questioned, to which Hajin was surprised.
"What?" She asked.
"I didn't know you could understand it that much..." He said with a shocked expression, to which Rachel and Yeonha laughed.
"Huh? Do you take me for an idiot?!" She asked angrily.
"Well, yeah, wasn't that obvious?" He answerd with a plane face.
"Why you?!" She stood up and slammed the table with an embarrassed and angry exression.
"Babo Unnie!" Evandel said. [A/N : Babo means idiot in korean, like Baka from japanese.]
"... !" Now Nayun couldn't even be angry. She could only be embarrassed for being called an idiot by a small child that wasn't even the 1-3rd of her age from looks.
The rest only laughed at her, loudly or muffed.
In the end, they had a simple talk as Hajin explained his relationship with Rachel. At first, they didn't believe it, but when they asked him to prove it, he nonechalantly kissed Rachel shorty, which took both of them and even Rachel in surprise, but Rachel recovered instantly and kissed him back, but it was only a short kiss or more like a peck on the lips.
After talking, Yeonha and Nayun said their goodbye and left. Of course, Hajin made sure to keep things related to his power and him being from another world a secret as they were unnecessary.
After staying at the beach for some time and enjoying the silence under the moonlight, they also went home.
Evandel was already asleep, and Hajin and Rachel were too tired to go in the car, so Hajin opened a portal directly to their room.
The layed Evandel down on the bed and changed their clothes, afterwhich they also joined her on the bed and slept.
Of course, Hajin called back the car via the ring on his finger. And it used the teleportation portal to directly teleport to their garage.
After a long day of fun and playing on the beach, they were tired and slept soundly while hugging each other.
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END [OF VOLUME 1]
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