After a moment, when Dayton returned to the room, he found Yerna sitting on the bed, having just finished a shower, drying her hair with a towel.
Although there was a bathroom in the master bedroom, it wouldn’t be reasonable for Yerna to go in there while she was washing up and have to deal with an unpleasant smell.
“Sorry for making you wait to use the bathroom while I was showering. It must have been a hassle to stay in the room.”
“Hmm, it’s fine. I didn’t really care.”
Dayton, still feeling drowsy and rubbing his eyes while stretching out a yawn, suddenly recalled Luke’s appearance earlier.
Come to think of it, there was a mark on the blanket…
‘Even though it had smudged a bit, it definitely looked like blood.’
Dayton was also a Forest Keeper who often encountered blood.
It was almost impossible for him to confuse that with other stains or marks.
The reason Dayton didn’t make a big deal out of seeing the blood was that he had a hunch about what it might imply.
‘So that really is it.’
No matter how he thought about it, that was the only thing that came to mind.
Sneaking around to do laundry before being caught felt a bit like the children in an orphanage who had wet the bed.
It couldn’t just be seen as blood on the blanket when he had changed into different pajamas after going to bed that night, could it?
Well, given that kind of growth, what he was doing now wasn’t particularly strange.
There were girls in the orphanage who looked younger than him but were already going through that experience, so it wasn’t impossible that Luke, often mistaken for over 15, could be in the same situation.
The only reason Dayton had kept his mouth shut back then was that he honestly didn’t know how he was supposed to react.
It made sense since a guy in his early twenties would have no clue how to appropriately respond to “a daughter’s first menstruation.”
Of course, Diana would naturally experience this phenomenon when she grew up, but she wasn’t at the age to be thinking about that yet.
Thus, he had never had to consider such matters in the first place.
That said, it wouldn’t feel right to create a fuss in front of Luke, who was likely feeling quite complicated about it.
As a man, he didn’t know how to handle it properly, either.
Considering all this, he concluded that ignoring it at that moment was the best course of action.
Then Dayton thought, ‘Maybe Yerna, being a woman, would know better about this,’ and decided to speak up.
“Yerna, I have something to tell you.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
At Dayton’s words, Yerna raised her voice with interest while still fixing her hair in front of the mirror.
“I saw Luke this morning with a blood-stained blanket. Could it be… that?”
“Oh my— really? A blood-stained blanket…?”
– She paused.
Yerna’s reflexive movements while brushing her hair suddenly stopped.
Before long, she didn’t hide her surprise.
“What? Really? There was blood on Luke’s blanket? It couldn’t be…?”
Perhaps due to her speculation, Yerna’s expression mixed worry with a hint of excitement.
Dayton nodded in response.
“Yeah, his pajamas had changed too. No matter how I think about it, it seems like that’s the only thing it could be.”
“Oh my, then that’s something to celebrate!”
Yerna appeared quite joyful about Luke’s growth.
After all, how could one not be happy?
The onset of menstruation for Luke was proof that she had grown correctly as a woman.
Therefore, celebrating a child’s first menstruation was entirely natural for a mother.
Just as her own mother had done before.
In response to Yerna’s, Dayton wondered, ‘Is this really how one should react?’ while nodding his head, he voiced a curious point.
“But if it’s something to celebrate, why was she trying to wash it secretly?”
“Maybe when she woke up and saw the blood on the blanket, she thought she was hurt? I was shocked at first for that reason too.”
Moreover, while knowledgeable, Luke was quite innocent regarding sexual matters.
This likely stemmed from Luke not having been in an environment where she could receive proper sex education.
Thus, Luke probably had little understanding of menstruation.
Hating to worry others, Luke might have panicked upon seeing the blood on the blanket and thought she was hurt, wanting to get rid of it before anyone found out.
“I guess so.”
While they’d need to ask her to know for sure, that guess seemed quite plausible.
“Well then, what do we usually do to celebrate? I don’t know anything about this. Do we throw a party or something?”
“Oh, about that…”
——
In the kitchen, preparations for breakfast were in full swing.
The menu consisted of foods that Luke had particularly enjoyed in the past.
“Delicious smell!”
“Wow, is it meat for breakfast today?”
Diana and Pyris, enchanted by the appetizing smell, were already sitting at the table waiting for food, but Luke was nowhere to be seen.
Normally, she would have been out helping with breakfast by now, but she seemed to be quite tired today.
“Luke, come out and eat!”
It was only after Yerna called for her that Luke appeared in the living room.
“Yawn…”
Luke stretched out, unable to hide the lethargic expression on her face.
“Did you sleep in pretty late today?”
“Yeah… I did.”
Luke answered vaguely while rubbing her eyes.
There was no way she could help but sleep in.
She hadn’t slept at all at night.
The only reason she had managed to stay up a month in Arinseia was that it was Arinseia.
Originally, Luke had long sleep times, typical of a cat, but she had been reducing her sleep time lately while increasing her activity time, so some fatigue had accumulated. On top of that, today’s events had left her feeling considerably worn out.
Therefore, Luke was in a completely unguarded state, with her hair sticking out in all directions, unlike her usually strict self.
Yet Yerna could fully understand Luke’s different demeanor today.
Dayton pointed to the dining table.
“Hey, come and sit! It’s almost ready.”
But Luke shook her head.
It seemed her mouth felt entirely numb from using breath techniques.
Even if delicious food was prepared, it only felt painful now, so she firmly declined.
“No, I don’t have an appetite today. I’m just going to drink tea.”
As she passed by Dayton and Yerna, pouring tea into a cat-themed mug, he could hear their concerned voices.
“Lu, we made everything you like. There are skewers, meat, and grilled fish. Plus, there are plenty of desserts for after the meal…”
“All of it was made by me and Yerna.”
The fact that they went through the trouble of making all those dishes for her made Luke grateful, but gratitude didn’t magically restore her appetite.
Besides, missing a meal wouldn’t cause significant issues for her body, so Luke expressed her refusal once more.
“I’m not interested. Give it to the kids instead.”
“Really…?”
Yerna exchanged worried glances with Dayton at Luke’s firm refusal.
Then the two began to whisper quietly enough for only each other to hear.
‘The kid who couldn’t resist fish and skewers is really down today.’
‘Right? Luke seems to be the type who struggles a lot with this. She’s so different from usual…’
‘What should we do, Yerna? Luke isn’t in the mood for celebrating at all.’
‘We can’t help it, let’s quietly celebrate later. For now, just let her rest…’
While menstruation for a growing child was certainly a cause for celebration, it didn’t seem likely that Luke would feel joy from it in her current state.
‘And it came right the day after I showed her the documents… She must be really troubled.’
While pouring tea into her cup, Yerna comforted the dazed Luke.
“Luke, just keep warm and rest in your room. I’ll bring some porridge and snacks up later.”
“Okay, I understand. Thank you, Mom.”
Luke bowed her head in gratitude for Yerna’s care.
However, Yerna’s suggestion to keep warm seemed to imply that Luke might be in pain.
Looking into the mirror, Luke realized her face clearly showed her fatigue—understandably so.
After cooling the tea she had brewed, Luke headed toward the stairs to return to her room.
‘I’m so tired…’
Though tired, she still had so much to think about.
Coming up with a concept for a new interconnected device that could replace the mobile phone linked to Arinseia and be used effortlessly during battles.
A system for creating and controlling a dolls army.
And, the one singular sentence she barely deciphered from Seyeo’s mind at the last moment, a way to understand the meaning of ‘Nidhogg’.
Luke needed to rush to figure all this out.
Time was running out.
In two months, or at least within one month, the dimensional rift would stabilize.
Once that happened, ‘Sigarmata’ would regain the ability to interfere with this world, and then…
‘I’m sure, something will happen.’
Luke was convinced of that.
At that moment, Yerna, who sensed something strange about Luke as she was climbing the stairs, shouted to her.
“Luke! You absolutely mustn’t overdo it! Understand? Rest well! You mustn’t strain yourself while menstruating!”
-Pff!
Yerna’s unexpected language attack.
As a result, Luke couldn’t help but spit out the tea she was drinking.
“W-what? Yerna, what did you just say?”
What on earth was that supposed to mean?
