As we spoke, both of them suddenly grew serious. Juliet was the one who spoke.

  “Which day do you usually spend with little Selah?”

  “Sunday. Why do you ask?” I replied.

  “We’ve heard so much about her,” Juliet continued. “We wanted to ask if you’d mind us coming with you this coming Sunday. We’d like to see her, bring some gifts, and just have a nice, relaxed day — without investigators breathing down our necks.”

  I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to hurt Alrune’s feelings. Before I could overthink it, her voice sounded gentle in my mind.

  “It’s fine. Don’t overthink it, Vic. I’m not petty enough to mind them playing with Selah.”

  I relaxed and nodded. “Sure. That sounds good. This coming Sunday works.”

  Both of them clapped in perfect sync, grinning.

  “Perfect! Then we need to go shopping for gifts!” Juliet said.

  “What does little Selah even like?” Cora asked, surprisingly eager.

  I chuckled and shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. But if you’re really set on buying things — she’s like most girls. Dolls, doll dresses, dollhouses, and little animals for her dolls.”

  “Animals for her dolls?” Juliet asked, surprised.

  “Yeah. Last time I bought her a horse for the dolls to ride, and a dog to guard the dollhouse. She took that job very seriously.”

  We spent some time talking about Selah’s toys, her treatment, and how she was doing. Both twins were visibly enjoying how talkative I’d suddenly become. Normally, I wasn’t exactly quiet by any means, but when it came to Selah, something in me always let loose.

  Eventually, we drifted back to business, and I sold off everything I’d gathered from my dungeon runs. I realized that drops from the angel were on an entirely different level; every core from that pigeon clocked in at more than ten gold.

  After this nice break, it was time to play the game ‘Kill the Pigeon’ again.

  The days flew by. The only real change was that I no longer limped back to the inn after the dungeon — I limped home to my mansion instead, where maids, a butler, a cook, and gardeners made sure everything was warm, orderly, and comfortable. I’d collapse face-first onto my bed after dinner and a nice bath, then sleep like a log.

  When Sunday morning came, I woke up full of smiles and in a good mood.

  “Can’t wait to see her!” Alrune chimed in my head.

  I nodded. “Same!”

  I went to meet the twins in front of the Cock-a-doodle-doo Rooster, and from there we headed straight toward the orphanage. As we approached, I spoke.

  “Wait here, please. I’ll go pick her up. I need to let her know you’re here before she sees you, so she doesn’t get scared.”

  They nodded without issue, and I went to get the little thing. The moment I saw her, I scooped her into my arms and hugged her tightly. She hugged me back, and only once we were both satisfied did I speak.

  “My two friends are here. They want to get to know you.”

  She became visibly worried.

  “Both are women. One is called Juliet, the other Cora.”

  The moment I mentioned that they were women, she visibly relaxed and nodded with a smile.

  I slowly led her out of the orphanage, holding her hand. She walked beside me in her pink, princess-like dress, smiling from ear to ear, her fox happily running around her. As soon as we arrived in front of the twins, they both crouched down to be level with little Selah.

  “This is Juliet and Cora.”

  Selah hid behind my leg at first, just peeking out and giving a small wave.

  “Look at this little cutie. It’s very nice to finally meet you, Selah. We’ve heard a lot about you from Vic over there!” Juliet said.

  “We even brought you gifts. Vic told us you like dolls, so we got you plenty. Do you want to go to the park and play?” Cora said.

  She slowly stepped out from behind me. Squeezed my hand. Moved toward them and bowed politely. Then she waved once more and started nodding vigorously.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Both of them smiled at the kid, and we all headed to the park. The moment we arrived, Juliet and Cora spread a giant blanket on the ground and pulled out a bunch of dolls, a dollhouse, and even some little farm animals.

  “If you get hungry, let us know — or Vic. We have plenty of food with us. And if you want to draw, we have a full drawing set as well,” Juliet assured her.

  Before she went to play, Selah froze and looked at me. I just smiled and nodded gently, making sure she knew she was free to play as much as she wanted. That was when she visibly relaxed. She ran up to the dolls and started playing with a smile, closely followed by both Yuki and Snowflake. Juliet joined her shortly after, while Cora came to chat with me.

  “She is healing,” Cora said with a smile, looking at Selah.

  “Yeah! Slowly and painfully, but healing. I honest to God pray that I’ll hear her voice one day!”

  “You will hear it, I am sure of it,” Cora assured me as she joined Juliet and Selah while they were organizing the little animals around the dollhouse.

  I ended up watching the three of them play all morning, until Selah ran up to me, showing me that she was hungry.

  “She would like to have lunch.”

  “Sure!” Both of them started pulling out various food containers, plates, and cutlery. The two of them ended up competing over whose food Selah would like more. When Selah realized what they were doing, she made sure it ended in a draw, making both of them laugh.

  Once she was full, she ran up to me again and showed that she wanted to draw. So I once more turned to the two and spoke.

  “She would like to draw.”

  Without hesitation, the two of them put away the lunch containers and cutlery and prepared a full drawing set. Selah sat down and started drawing slowly, smiling, her legs swinging back and forth. The two foxes lying down in the corners of the small table.

  The first picture she drew was called ‘New Friends,’ depicting her playing with the twins. She brought it to me once it was done, signaling for me to give it to them as a gift from her. This almost moved both of them to tears. I could see they very much wanted to hug her, but they barely restrained themselves and instead knelt to her level and thanked her heartily.

  She then looked at me, realizing she hadn’t drawn a picture for me. She quickly ran back to the drawing set and started drawing again, legs swinging, still smiling.

  We ended up chatting a little with Juliet and Cora when Selah finished her second drawing and brought it to me. The name was ‘My Family,’ and the drawing itself made my eyes water. In the picture was her, complete with an arrow and the label ‘me’ with Yuki and snowflake in her arms. Next to her was me, labeled ‘Vic.’ And above me, floating in the air, was a figure that could only be described as the cutest depiction of a Valkyrie I had ever seen — her — labeled ‘Alrune.’

  I was not the only one who carried the weight of that picture. Juliet and Cora froze in shock, processing the implications of what they were seeing.

  And that still was not all. The moment I saw the picture, I felt it. Alrune’s feelings began to seep out, but this was not her obsessive love that I usually enjoyed so much. This was pure warmth — spreading slowly across my entire body, intense but not overwhelming, warm but never suffocating.

  A moment later, a single line sounded in my head.

  “…She drew me.”

  I slowly took the drawing and held it to my chest like a treasure. Only then did I notice the worry in Selah’s little eyes as she reached up and gently pointed at mine.

  I smiled right away and lowered myself to her level.

  “These are good tears, Selah,” I said softly. “You don’t need to worry. They just mean your picture touched my heart very, very much. Thank you for it.”

  Her shoulders relaxed, and a small smile returned to her face. I pulled her into a gentle hug, making sure she felt safe. That she knew nothing was wrong, that nobody was sad or upset.

  When I finally pulled back, I looked at her once more.

  She was smiling from ear to ear.

  Somehow, standing there with Selah in front of me, feeling the warmth of a Valkyrie inside my chest and holding a picture that named the three of us family, felt like the end of a long, unseen road.

  I didn’t understand where the feeling came from, but I let myself enjoy it.

  I smiled down at her. She smiled back.

  For a long moment, I simply stayed there, gently caressing her hair.

  It took me some time to realize that we were not alone.

  I slowly looked up.

  Juliet and Cora were still standing exactly where they had been when Selah pulled out her picture, as if time had simply passed them by.

  Cora was staring into nothing, her gaze unfocused, empty — the kind of look people wore when their mind was somewhere far away, struggling to process something too large to fit all at once.

  Juliet, on the other hand, was looking straight at the two of us. Her mouth opened, then closed again. Then once more. No sound came out, as if whatever she wanted to say simply refused to take shape.

  Not wanting to burden Selah with their processing — or let her think she had upset anyone — I spoke to her instead.

  “Do you want to go play?” I asked gently. “Or draw some more?”

  She nodded without hesitation and ran back to her toys, quickly losing herself in play again. The moment she did, the tension eased a little, and the two women were left with the space they needed to process the situation — without placing any of that weight on a child who had done nothing wrong.

  “So she really is our kid after all…” Alrune murmured inside my head, her tone playful, her warmth still filling my chest.

  “Yeah,” I whispered back. “Looks like it.”

  After that, I went back to spending time with Selah, giving the two of them the room they needed to sort through things on their own terms. Eventually, they managed to gather themselves enough to join us again, and we ended up playing in the park for hours.

  Later, we stopped by a nearby pastry shop for maids of honour tarts. Selah ate three right away and packed several more to take back to the orphanage, insisting on sharing them with the other kids. I had two. The twins each took one and didn’t even finish it.

  They mostly just picked at their food, their eyes drifting elsewhere. Every time Selah looked their way, they smiled, reacted normally, and engaged with her like nothing was wrong. The moment she turned away again, though, the smiles faded, and that distant, processing look returned.

  As we left the pastry shop, both Cora and Juliet said their goodbyes to the two of us and went their separate ways. I, on the other hand, slowly walked Selah back toward the orphanage. I was allowed to put her to bed — a rare exception.

  Once Selah fell asleep, I left the orphanage and headed back home.