Chapter Five: As Expected, Let's Have a Child! / Chapter Six: I've Even Thought of a Name for the Child

However, Aozaki Touko's brows furrowed.

"Hadon, what exactly is this?!"

The girl before her looked like an elf from the snow. Her ruby-like eyes were utterly hollow, as though she were an emotionless doll.

"This is normal... She'll be fine after some time!"

Hadon said indifferently, "Even with enough information recorded, it still needs to be thoroughly catalyzed by certain external stimuli!"

"...Is that so?"

Hearing this answer, Aozaki Touko nodded slightly. After thinking for a moment, she walked over to Alice Phil, lifted her chin with her right hand, and brought their eyes level.

"Do you know who I am?"

"...Who are you?"

A trace of confusion appeared in Alice Phil's ruby eyes, but her voice remained utterly colorless. Though its tone was as pleasant as a mountain stream, it still left one feeling regretful.

"I'm a participant in the Holy Grail War!!"

Aozaki Touko's gaze sharpened as she said seriously, "Representing Einzbern... I'll be going to Fuyuki City in Japan to participate in the war. Can you understand that?"

"But... you're a woman?"

Hearing this answer, Alice Phil's mind became confused.

Before she emerged from the amniotic-fluid tank, her mind had already received the relevant information. She knew that she was an instrument of the Holy Grail War and that she was supposed to marry the participant who married into the family. She had understood all of this long ago.

However, the basic common sense implanted in her told her that spouses were supposed to be of opposite sexes.

"Hadon... Just proceed according to the original plan!"

Aozaki Touko turned around and said with a light laugh, "I'm 'her' husband now. Tell Alice Phil that!"

"...Are you sure?"

Hadon fell silent for a moment before calmly confirming.

He did not care who Alice Phil's wife was. As long as they could win the Holy Grail War, having a woman as his son-in-law was completely irrelevant.

"I'm sure!"

Aozaki Touko answered decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"Alice Phil von Einzbern, the woman standing before you is now the husband who will accompany you for life. You must serve her well!"

"Yes, Grandpa."

"Mm. Get to know each other."

Hadon nodded slightly, then turned and left.

Seeing this, Aozaki Touko smiled charmingly, gently gathered her hair with her slender hand,

then walked to the other side of the sofa and said with a gentle smile,

"My name is Aozaki Touko. Alice Phil, you should know who I am now, right?"

"Aozaki Touko, my husband."

This time, Alice Phil answered without hesitation.

Although she still did not fully understand everything, she did understand one thing: the woman before her was her husband.

"Then, I hope we'll get along from now on."

Aozaki Touko tilted her head and smiled slyly. "Alice Phil von Einzbern, I hope we'll have a pleasant relationship in the future, my good wife!"

"...If that is what you wish!"

Alice Phil nodded slightly. A glimmer of light appeared in her hollow eyes. "I'll work hard to be a good wife and satisfy you..."

"Then... I'll fulfill my responsibilities as your husband in return. I'll find a way to extend your life. I absolutely won't stand by and watch you die!"

Aozaki Touko replied with a light laugh.

If such a precious wife were to become the Lesser Grail and die, how heartbreaking would that be? Therefore, before the Holy Grail War, she would resolve the Lesser Grail's threat to Alice Phil's life.

Mm, it was easy to foresee that her days in Einzbern would not be boring. After all, raising a perfect wife was undoubtedly an extremely thrilling and enjoyable endeavor!

Chapter Five: As Expected, Let's Have a Child!

Time flew by.

One month later,

Einzbern was shrouded in a blizzard. In a room of the castle, the fireplace burned brightly, and the firewood occasionally crackled.

At that moment, Aozaki Touko sat intently at the desk, holding a quill as she carefully wrote line after line on paper. Most of the contents were insights into Einzbern's Android technology, along with conjectures about how to improve it.

In these short four months, she had absorbed knowledge like a sponge, growing at an unbelievable speed.

Click.

The door was suddenly pushed open.

An Einzbern maid carefully walked in. Aozaki Touko seemed to sense her arrival as well and turned her gaze toward the maid.

"What is it?"

"There's a letter from Japan."

"Bring it here and let me see."

"Yes."

Aozaki Touko took the envelope and opened it. Seeing the familiar, elegant handwriting, a faint smile touched her lips as she silently read the letter.

The letter had been sent by Kuonji Alice, though her younger sister, Aozaki Aoko, had also contributed to it. Its contents were not complicated: they merely described their recent situation and asked when she would return.

The letter contained nothing particularly substantial, but reading it was exceptionally comforting.

"...Looks like I have to keep working hard!"

After putting away the letter, Aozaki Touko let out a long breath, then turned to the maid. "Sorry for the trouble, but bring me a cup of black tea. My throat feels a little dry..."

"Of course, Miss Touko~"

The maid turned to brew the tea. Aozaki Touko leaned back in her chair, her pretty face showing a hint of fatigue. High-intensity study was not easy, and she truly felt somewhat tired now.

"Moderate rest is more beneficial to research..."

A cup of steaming black tea was brought to the desk. Concern showed in the maid's red eyes as she said gently, "Besides, if Alice Phil saw you like this, she would be very worried!"

"...I was just a little impatient~"

Aozaki Touko lifted the teacup and took a sip, then said with a light laugh, "I suddenly seemed to glimpse a bright road ahead, so I couldn't help trying to verify it..."

"...A bright road?"

"Do you know about Adam and Eve?"

"Of course."

"I want to use Dollcraft to create the body of the first human, then elevate the leaden human soul into an angelic golden soul!"

"Miss Touko... do you want to become a god?"

"Humans are gods in the process of growth. As long as they undergo self-discipline, self-transcendence, and self-liberation, they can become gods."

The maid remained silent for a long while. Then she looked at Touko with a resolute gaze, a gentle smile on her exquisite face.

"If that person is Miss Touko, then I believe you are a god in the process of growth. In the future, you will also become the master who rules over everything we have."

"The prerequisite is winning the Holy Grail War~"

Aozaki Touko tilted her head with a sly smile. The maid's red eyes also held a smile as she nodded naturally and said softly,

"Isn't this the trial you must undergo before becoming a god? I believe in you, Miss Touko. You will definitely overcome this minor difficulty and become our god!"

"Looks like I'll have to work hard!"

Aozaki Touko sighed softly, then lowered her head and continued working.

The maid smiled faintly, gently gathered her silver hair with her slender hand, and left the room with light steps, closing the door softly behind her.

At the same time,

Elsewhere, Alice Phil held a book and read it with great seriousness. The title on its cover was The Complete Wife, a name certain to offend feminists.

It had been a month since she emerged from the cultivation pod. During that time, in order to fulfill her husband's wishes, she had specially read a large number of books about how to be a wife.

During this short month, perhaps because her prototype was the Sefirot, Alice Phil's learning ability had been exceptionally strong. By now, she was no different from an ordinary person.

"...Mm~"

Looking at the picture of a family of three in the book, Alice Phil frowned slightly. Her slender hand unconsciously moved to her abdomen. Then she stood up and ran toward Touko's room after pushing open the door.

Although she had often stayed with Aozaki Touko during this time, they had not actually lived together as husband and wife. According to Aozaki Touko, "Three years at minimum, the death penalty at maximum," so they still had to wait a while.

At the very least... they had to be able to accept it mentally...

---Knock knock.

A knock sounded at the door.

Then Alice Phil pushed the door open and entered. Aozaki Touko stopped writing,

looked at Alice Phil, and asked in confusion,

"What is it, Alice Phil?"

"There's something very important!"

Alice Phil threw herself into Aozaki Touko's arms. Her elegant, princess-like face was flushed as she said in a voice like a mountain stream,

"Touko, as expected, married couples should have a child. Let's have one?!"

"...Huh!"

Aozaki Touko's eyes widened slightly. She suddenly became at a loss, her face gradually flushing as her body stiffened in place.

Chapter Six: I've Even Thought of a Name for the Child

Having children

was an entirely normal thing.

There was nothing to be ashamed of.

However, when the parties involved were a fourteen-year-old girl and an Android who had only emerged from the cultivation tank one month ago,

it seemed rather strange.

"..."

Aozaki Touko suppressed the surging emotions in her heart. After remaining silent for a long while, she asked with a strange expression, "...Alice Phil, why do you suddenly want to have a child?"

"...Since you defined our relationship as that of husband and wife, Touko!"

Alice Phil's ruby eyes were filled with warmth. With an expectant expression, she said, "Then having a child as the crystallization of our love isn't only natural?"

Since Aozaki Touko had become her husband, wasn't giving birth to a child who continued both their lives perfectly reasonable?

Snow flew outside the window, while silence filled the room.

"..."

Aozaki Touko looked at Alice Phil, who was close enough to touch. Her exquisite, elegant face was filled with expectation. This was not an expression she had put on merely to fulfill the requirements of playing husband and wife.

Alice Phil truly wanted a child of her own.

"Although with the technology I currently possess, producing a child by combining our life factors would actually pose no difficulty at all!"

"But my adorable wife!"

"You're only one month old right now... Are you really ready to give birth to a child? Are you confident you can raise her properly as a mother?"

"Carrying a child is no game!"