"""Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Alicia and Fate! Happy birthday to you!"""

"""Yay!"""

"""Congratulations!"""

"""Horray!"""

Sitting on my lap, Alicia and Fate looked around, bewildered by all the noise everyone was making.

Of course they were. It was their first birthday after all, and so many people came to celebrate it.

The song itself was the usual birthday song from Earth translated to this world's common language, but birthday celebrations weren't particularly unusual for the people here. Especially for the young.

""Auuuu!""

Fortunately, maybe it was all the exposure to Orphne and the occasional other fairy this last year, but neither baby reacted badly to the loud noise. Instead, they let out yells of joy themselves as they smiled back at all the happy faces surrounding them.

Me, in turn, held one of each baby's hand with a shadow and held the other with my own hands, and clapped their hands together.

It really was times like this that I was so glad that I could use magic. Having to alternate between Alicia and Fate when I wanted to do things like this just felt wrong. Like I was forced to play favourites or something.

Even though Fate was an accident I never intended, I loved her just as much as Alicia. My heart wasn't so narrow that I had to divide the love I had for them or something. I loved each of them just as much as if I only had one baby. But with the both of them, I loved them together twice as much as having just one baby.

Twice the babies, twice the love, twice the happiness.

Maybe that formula didn't exactly work, but at the very least, there was no way I could go back to a time before them. Motherhood may have been difficult, but at the same time it was so rewarding, if I had to go a day without the two of them, I'd probably die from withdrawal symptoms.

My mind returned to the present as the cheering died down.

Instead, the room was filled with anticipation. Maybe a bit too much anticipation as it was a birthday party for a pair of newly one year olds.

This large, wooden structure, built for the sake of indoor events for a large group. For its first official use was for a birthday party, and even then this school gymnasium sized building not being large enough to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend.

The space above was filled with fairies, imps, and fluffballs while the floor by those who couldn't fly. Even the windows had people squeezing to watch from outside, some faces even inverted as they looked in hanging from above. And beyond even that, I could feel and hear the presence of many many more enjoying themselves like this was some sort of national holiday or something.

(This day isn't going to become some sort of regular holiday, is it?)

One one side, I felt overly blessed with how much people loved me and my babies. On another side, I was a bit terrified at this celebrity moment. If newspapers existed, my family would probably appear in every issue, regardless of how uneventful the day was for us.

If I remembered right, it was overly aggressive tabloid photographers that got Princess Diana killed when I was young.

I shook my head of that thought.

The people here really cared about my babies. There wasn't a single person thinking of exploiting their popularity for their own gain.

And on top of all that, in a few more years, they'll be strong enough that I wouldn't have to worry about them getting hurt outside of exceptional situations.

But for now...

"Okay. Alicia, Fate? Make a wish!"

Holding both babies close, I leaned in towards the large cake made for this occasion.

At the top of the massive multi-tiered cake which covered most of the table with all its glory, there was a pair of small candles that were completely out of place due to the difference in scale. There was a label on each one. The right one said Alicia, and the left, Fate.

I didn't consider myself particularly superstitious, but just in case, I also put in my own wish. That the two of them will grow up healthy and happy.

"Now, blow out your candle to make your wish come true! This this...fuuuuu~!"

It was unfortunate that they were too young to really understand, so I helped them blow the candles out.

"Yay!"

"""Congratulations!"""

"""Horay!!!"""

As I clapped their hands together and let out a cheer, everyone around us gave out their own to go with it.

After a few moments of quick slashes using blades made from my shadow, the cake was neatly divided up for individual portions.

"Thank you everyone for coming to celebrate Alicia and Fate's birthday. Really."

(Really, since I didn't even know such a thing was going to happen.)

Originally I had just planned a simple celebration done at home.

Then again, half of that was because I wasn't aware that birthdays were celebrated in the first place. The other half obviously being that I'd rather go for a small, private party than such a massive public one.

But against my expectation of celebrating Alicia and Fate's first birthday quietly with a select few friends and family, we were dragged out of our room by Elli herself all the way to this building. All that to only be greeted with everyone surrounding a table with a giant cake on it.

As for who made the cake, apparently it was a collaboration between many of the best patissiers in the country.

And now that this cake, decorated white cream with red berries on top and black cream all around the sides, having been sliced, I backed up to make room for everyone to enjoy.

The fairies and imps hovering above were the first to come get their own slices. Or rather, they started their dives the moment I finished slicing the cake and the first few had already started devouring the dessert even before I had managed to move away.

The sound of clinking filled the room as people picked up plates and served themselves and each other slices of cake. Alongside those colder sounds was the warm voices of people as they talked in between bites of the treat or sips of various drinks that had been floating around since the beginning.

As for me, I was sitting on a seat prepared for me, with my little twins sitting on my lap as they watched the flurry of activity and noise around them. The way their heads swivelled around back and forth following loud sounds and flashes of movement that attracted their attention, I could almost hear a squeaking sound coming from their necks from their quick and relentless movement.

(Ah, I want to squeeze them, but they might stop if I do it. What a dilemma.)

In the end, I chose to let the two enjoy themselves how they wanted until they got bored, then I'd squeeze the stuffing out of them.

"It is good you are enjoying yourself."

Unfortunately, Elli came to ruin my plans.

"It's not quite the birthday I had planned, but it isn't bad. Alicia and Fate seem to be enjoying it quite well too."

"Yes, I am glad that all the noise had not scared them."

"Well, Orphne made sure of that."

That fairy was never good at staying quiet for long, and things got much rowdier when she was joined with some of the other fairies. Though, a bit of noise here and there wasn't bad. It kept things interesting at least.

"Yes, she sure did."

Elli's brow twitched for a moment, no doubt memories of a few of the incidents the energetic fairy was involved with was floating in her mind. At least it was a relief that Elli hadn't ever blamed me for any of those things, though I should probably try to curb Orphne's worst tendencies a little in the future, lest Elli get seriously angry.

"Well, I am not here for that. Happy birthday Alicia, Fate!"

""Aiiii!""

My cute little babies smiled brightly at the elderly dokkalfar as she shook each of their hands.

"My, you two are as cute as you always are. Here. This is a gift from me."

Elli handed me a large wooden box, tied closed with a ribbon. Cardboard still hadn't been invented yet, so it was unfortunate, but all packaging tended to lean towards wooden boxes at this point. It was something which I needed to look into, as unlike pulp paper, cardboard didn't need to be bleached so was much easier to make.

Though then again, brown cardboard was pretty unappealing, and without white paper to put colourful decorations onto, they didn't make good wrapping as it wasn't a good surface to hold paint. Being flexible unlike wooden boxes, most paints would simply flake off as they were handled, and those that absorbed into the material properly would suffer from severe discolouration as the brown underneath would show.

The more I thought about it, the more it felt like I needed to get proper pulp paper production working.

The benefits to it was endless, and once I got it working initially, the costs of mass production were quite small. Though it would take some time for people to adopt it, at the very least, having a wider variety of things couldn't hurt.

But shaking that tangential thought out of my head, I focused my attention on the important things: Elli's gift to my babies.

Carefully pulling apart the bow holding the top of the box in place, I quickly undid and revealed what was hiding inside.

What I ended up lifting out of the box was a pair of stuffed animals, or rather, stuffed monsters maybe? They looked like rush rabbits, though passed through the hands of a cartoonist first. The two plush monsters were identical in every way, covered in a thick layer of white fur, soft to the touch.

"Look you two! It's Elli's present!"

Levitating the empty box away, I placed the two stuffed monsters into my babies' arms.

Immediately, they grabbed their new toy and started to pulled on them and swinging them around like dogs with a new chew toy.

"Ah, careful! They'll rip!"

Panicking, unsure how to stop them from destroying their new presents so soon, my hands hovered overhead as I was conflicted as to how to make Elli's gift last a while unlike the Dracula plush I gave them months ago all without ruining Alicia and Fate's fun.

"Oh, do not worry. I made sure that these toys can stand up to your infants strength. Their bodies are made from the hide of a strong monster."

"Really? That's a relief."

If that was the case, then even Alicia and Fate's strength which was monstrous by baby standards wouldn't easily rip these plushes.

Though, at the same time, perhaps simply giving them separate toys rather than trying to get them to share might have saved old Dracula as well.

"You know, like always, thanks Elli."

"Don't forget. We all want to see your babies smile. Your children are like a gift to us all."

I couldn't help but the elder's words were nudging me towards a narcissistic perspective, but at the same time, I could feel the truth of them. How I would deal with such a thing, was something I needed to take some time to think about. For now, it was more important to make sure Alicia and Fate could enjoy this party.

After a few more words, Elli backed off and was replaced with Orphne along with the fairy guards which she used to lead.

"Oooh! I missed you Alicia and Fate! You're so big!"

"""Big babies!"""

The fairies, seemingly already forgetting what they came for started to flutter around my twins while waving their arms and legs around. The twins reciprocated, waving their arms at the little winged people, already forgetting about Elli's gift.

I put the dolls back into their box, feeling a little sorry for them being neglected by their owners so soon.

"Umm, you can play together later since there's quite a line behind you. Can we move on for now?"

Due to Elli's little greeting followed by Orphne's, a line was forming behind this group, and it was growing so long that I couldn't even see the end already.

As the fairies were giving my twins high fives cycling through a loop in repetition as if they wanted to compete against Alicia and Fate like it was some sort of analogous staring contest, I was forced to interrupt them as if I didn't, we'd be staying here all night trying to get all the greetings done.

"Oh yea oh yea! Here!"

Out of the magical bag she used for her regular delivery work, a large barrel many times her height came out with a heavy thud. As she opened the top, a familiar smell wafted over.

"Minotaur blood?!"

It had been a while, but there was no way I could forget the smell so quickly. There were crusher minotaurs on floor 84 of the dungeon. But as far as I remembered, nobody had gotten that deep into the dungeon yet.

"That's right!"

A few of the fairies brought out cups and a ladle. Three cups filled with fresh minotaur blood was held out to us.

"Man, do you know how hard it was getting far enough to get it?"

"I could imagine. Even when I lived in the dungeon, it took me so long getting that deep. To think you managed that so quickly."

I didn't know how long they were working on it, but regardless, they didn't have the benefit of being able to fight with little rest nor growing stronger just by consuming their opponents. It was really remarkable that they did it.

"Ahem! That's because we fairies are strong!"

"""We're strong!"""

The group of fairies put their hands on their hips and puffed out their nonexistent chests.

(Wait, that's pretty rude for someone like me to think.)

Catching myself comparing my own chest to theirs, I broke out a wry smile and accepted the cups, holding one in hand while levitating the other two.

"Alicia, Fate, how about you try some blood? It's tasty!"

The twins looked at the crimson liquid, their noses twitching as they took in its scent. Everyone leaned in, doing their best to watch my babies' first drink of blood. Though the fairies and Claret did an incredible job of blocking off everyone else.

I could just imagine their frustration.

"Baaa!"

Suddenly, Alicia threw up her arms, knocking the cup straight into the air.

"Baaa!"

Fate, after glancing at her older sister's action, copied her and thrust her arms up, sending the second cup to follow the first.

*Splash! Clink! Clink!*

Flying at an awkward angle, the cups emptied their contents right on the one leaning in the closest: Claret.

The greater dark spirit was covered in a thick layer of dripping blood. Her face, her hair, her robes, all were coloured a deep ruby.

"""Bwahahahahaha!"""

The fairies burst out into laughter as they pointed at the poor spirit. They even had tears squeezed out of their eyes from all the force originating at their bellies.

""Aiii! Ehehehe!""

Alicia and Fate soon joined in to laugh as well, though at least there wasn't any pointing on their end. All the while, the onlooking crowd added their own chuckles to the mix.

My mouth was held tightly shut, as I tried my best not to burst into laughter once the surprise wore off.

"The babies aren't going to drink?"

On the other hand, the spirit cocked her head to the side instead.

"I guess not...pfft!"

Seeing how she just took it like it was nothing only made it harder to stop myself from laughing. Whether she was just being oblivious or just had her priorities straighter than the rest of us, I wasn't sure. Though I was glad she wasn't upset at all the laughing.

Instead, she did look a bit disappointed as she straightened up.

Claret flickered for a moment as she disengaged [materialize]. All the blood on her dropped onto the ground with a loud splash before she reengaged the skill, making herself tangible to those of us who weren't incorporeal.

(I hope that won't stain.)

My eyes flickered at the slowly spreading sanguine puddle, but quickly looked back up at the fairies.

"Well, that was a bit unexpected, but really, thank you all for the gift. I'll make sure Alicia and Fate will enjoy it, one way or another."

At the worst, I could just drink it myself and they'll get the benefits when I next breastfeed them.

I quickly enjoyed my own cup of blood before putting the barrel into my pocked dimension to preserve its freshness before continuing to greet the next well wisher.

 

"Happy birthday Alicia and Fate. Congratulations Elder Scarlet."

"Happy birthday little ones. Hey, Elder Scarlet."

"""Happy birthday!"""

As I was getting really fed up with all the endless greetings, this time Frigg showed up, together with Alvaldi and a few of their subordinates.

It was a little surprising for them to come together. Less due to their relationship, and more that each group seemed to want to show off their own presents and make their well wishes as personal as possible.

In turn, that made the line progression ever so much slower to my annoyance. I was actually a bit thankful that Frigg and Alvaldi chose to meet us together.

Unusually, the group wasn't carrying anything that resembled a gift for Alicia and Fate. Though there was a chance that they were carrying it in a magical bag like some others, I kinda hoped that they didn't bring anything. The pile of gifts was growing so large behind me that I was forced to put away quite a few items already despite them not being perishable.

I had no idea how we were supposed to use so many gifts. I still hadn't found a use for many of the things I got during the baby shower almost two years ago. It felt bad that the number of unused gifts was going to multiply each year at this rate.

"Thank you all. Alicia and Fate are really enjoying themselves."

And I really was glad that they still were. I was thoroughly exhausted from all the greetings, so it was nice that the babies still had a pool of energy to draw from as they played with a ribbon which came from one of the presents they had received, ignoring the toys it helped package.

"It seems despite your lack of followers, you have quite the popularity."

"Do you two want them?"

"Hell no!"

The two elders laughed, while all I could offer in return was a pained grin as being the one the laughs were coming at the expense of.

Frankly speaking, I wasn't even sure why I was so popular. Most of these people here, they were supposed to be following the other leaders. I was the elder of only a handful.

Admittedly, I had contributed quite a lot to the foundation of this nation of ours, and had continued to add to it. And I was grateful for being loved so much by so many people. But that was different from the celebrity treatment I was starting to achieve.

(Maybe I should actually think about creating actual celebrities for people to worship?)

Since this world lacked entertainment, maybe that was the key. If they were using me as their entertainment, then if they got a better outlet maybe things would get better for me?

"Now, we're sorry to say that we hadn't brought your babies a gift today."

"Oh? That's fine. You guys coming here alone is more than enough."

Despite how political my words sounded, it was spoken from the heart. Being well wished by my friends was more than enough for me.

"Nah, it's not like that. It just doesn't fit in or pockets, right Elder Frigg?"

"That is right."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Most likely, they weren't talking about things literally. If they had gifts for Alicia and Fate, they wouldn't have put it in a pocket or something in the first place.

"Well, the whole thing doesn't in our pockets, but this part does at least."

"Please, accept it with our well wishes."

Alvaldi pulled a key out of his pocket.

Unlike the saw toothed keys common on Earth, the one he gave me only had three prongs on a long shaft to engage its lock. It was the main type of mechanical lock used in this world from what I had seen.

"Is this...?"

"The real gift, 'tis the newly built structure beside the dungeon entrance."

As I was looking at the key in the palm of my hand, my eyes shot up as Frigg explained.

"You guys got us a house?!"

"They did WHAT?!"

My eyes shot to the side, where Elli was standing. Her hands grasped at her hair as her ebon cheeks somehow looked a bit ashen as she fell to her knees. Putting aside that she heard Frigg's words despite how loud the room was, that reaction was far stronger than I had expected from the elder.

I kinda felt sorry for her, though it wasn't like I'd refuse a gift in the first place. That would be just too rude of me.

"Umm, thanks. But is it really alright? I mean, there's a reason why we barred any structures from being built so close to the dungeon entrance."

"'Tis true that we did that for good reason."

"But really, if anyone gets a place there, it's gotta be you, the owner of the dungeon itself."

"I see."

They did make a good point. I almost forgot that technically the dungeon was my private property, as I had originally negotiated during the establishment of the Hourai Commonwealth. At the very least, it also made a good excuse.

I hadn't been paying much attention to how things were going nationally since so much of my attention was taken up by Alicia and Fate. It wasn't like I got that many real breaks since they couldn't sleep, just like me. Without having someone babysit them, there wasn't many things I could do.

""Mommy...""

"What is it sweeties?"

I looked down when I heard myself be called in stereo.

But the tugging on my robes along with the expectant look in Alicia and Fate's eyes told me more than enough.

"Ah, well, thank you all for this gift."

"'Tis our pleasure."

"Don't mention it!"

As the group moved on, I got up and apologized to the next group, along with the rest in line. I had a new priority which couldn't wait.

As I stepped away to a quiet side room to feed my babies, I was feeling quite thankful at being able to get some time away from everyone.

Not to any god.

But if I had to give my prayer to someone, maybe Alicia and Fate would be enough.