[By the way, this chapter is a little different from the others, so please bear with me, and thank you!]
******
"Aurora, wake up! It's almost time for school!" a man's voice echoed through the room as a young girl named Aurora slowly pushed herself upright and rubbed the sleep from her groggy eyes, blinking several times as she tried to make sense of her surroundings.
A moment later, once the last traces of sleep had finally left her eyes, she blinked again, sensing that something was strangely wrong. Her mind felt clouded by hazy fragments of memories, some clear and others almost impossible to grasp, all overlapping with one another and leaving her increasingly confused.
As she swung her legs over the side of the bed and carefully rose to her feet, she suddenly paused. Everything around her felt unfamiliar, almost as though she were seeing it all for the very first time. 'Where am I...?' Aurora wondered as she looked around the room. For some reason, to her, the neatly arranged furniture, the schoolbag resting nearby, and the clothes piled up on a nearby chair all felt strangely out of place.
Still confused, she slowly turned her head, and her gaze fell upon a nearby mirror. Her eyes immediately widened as she stared at the reflection looking back at her was a cute little girl, seemingly no older than ten, stood before her, with delicate features, waist-length white hair cascading down her back, and a pair of beautiful golden eyes.
'That's... me?' Aurora thought to herself, staring at her reflection in disbelief. Then, as recognition slowly dawned on her, she added, 'Oh yeah, that's me...'
Almost as if that realization had unlocked something deep within her mind, memories suddenly began to surface. She remembered being an orphan who had lived in a local orphanage alongside her twin brother. She remembered spending her childhood there, growing up with him until just a few days ago, when a kind couple had adopted her. She remembered leaving the orphanage, arriving at this house, and being told that this was now her new home.
These memories were clear, as she could recall the people she had met, the places she had seen, and even the smallest details about the life she had supposedly lived. There was no reason for her to doubt them, since they felt like genuine memories, things she had personally experienced throughout her life. And yet, despite how vivid they were, something about them still felt strangely unfamiliar to her.
Then there was another thing bothering her. There was another set of memories lingering somewhere in the depths of her mind, like faint echoes that she could sense but couldn't quite remember. Whenever she tried to focus on them, they slipped away like mist, leaving behind only a single name that kept repeating itself in her mind.
Ivaragé.
Aurora blinked as the unfamiliar name echoed through her thoughts once again. She didn't know who or what Ivaragé was, nor could she understand why the name felt so strangely familiar. All she knew was that, for reasons she couldn't explain, it felt as though she had known that name for a very, very long time.
But then, just as she was still lost in her thoughts, a sudden knock came from the bedroom door, causing her to flinch slightly. Before she could say anything, the door slowly opened, and a man stepped inside with a warm, gentle smile on his face. The moment Aurora saw him, she immediately recognized him as the man who had adopted her.
"Good morning, Aurora," Rimuru, her new father, said warmly as he entered the room.
Aurora simply stared at him for a moment, unable to shake the strange sense of comfort she felt in his presence. There was something about him that felt oddly familiar, as though she had known him somewhere before.
Rimuru seemed to notice her hesitation, but rather than question it, he simply smiled and walked over to the bed before sitting down on the edge. "Come on, you can sit here with me," he said, gently patting the empty space beside him.
Aurora hesitated for a few seconds before slowly walking over and sitting beside him. She kept her hands resting in her lap as she glanced at him uncertainly, unsure of what she was supposed to say.
Noticing the awkwardness between them, Rimuru asked, "So, how did you sleep?" in an attempt to break the ice. "And how have the past few days been for you? Are you starting to feel comfortable here, or does everything still feel a little strange?"
Aurora remained silent for a moment, thinking about his questions. "I... slept fine," she eventually replied. "And I think I'm getting used to everything. It's just..." She paused, pursing her lips as she struggled to find the right words, "...everything still feels a little unfamiliar," she finally added.
"That's perfectly normal," Rimuru said with an understanding nod before continuing. "I know this is probably a lot for you to take in. You've spent most of your life in the orphanage, and then, all of a sudden, you were brought into a completely new home with people you barely knew, and now you have us calling ourselves your family. It must be pretty overwhelming, huh?"
Hearing his words, Aurora lowered her gaze and couldn't help but appreciate how, somehow, he had managed to put into words the strange feelings she had been struggling to understand herself.
"You don't have to force yourself to feel comfortable around us right away, you know?" Rimuru continued, keeping a calm, kind smile on his face. "And you don't have to pretend that we're already as familiar to you as the people you've known your whole life. If calling us Mom and Dad feels strange right now, that's okay. If you need some time before you can truly think of this place as your home, that's okay too."
Aurora slowly looked up at him, her golden eyes widening slightly.
"What is that look, you silly girl?" Rimuru chuckled before gently placing a hand on top of her head and softly patting her white hair. "Just take your time, Aurora. There's no need to rush anything. We'll get to know each other little by little, and eventually, I hope you'll feel completely at home here."
His gentle words left Aurora strangely quiet. She didn't understand why, but the warmth in his voice made the uneasiness in her chest slowly begin to fade.
"In the meantime," Rimuru continued, giving her another gentle pat on the head, "just remember that we'll always be here for you. No matter how long it takes you to adjust, you don't have to go through it alone." He paused for a moment, and his smile grew even warmer. "You're our daughter now, Aurora. And because you're our daughter, you deserve nothing but the best in the world."
Hearing his words, Aurora lowered her head as a heavy emotion welled up in her chest. She clenched her fists, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes.
"Now, come on, get ready," Rimuru said as he rose from his seat. "Even though you have a new family now, we can't forget about your old school friends, right?" he chuckled and gave her head one last gentle pat before leaving the room.
Meanwhile, Aurora sat there for a moment, replaying the entire conversation she had just shared with her new father in her mind before a small, quiet smile appeared on her face as she slowly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
******
Half an hour later, Aurora carefully made her way down the stairs, dressed in her school uniform, with her white hair neatly brushed and tied into a high ponytail. Of course, she still felt a little nervous as she descended each step, but unlike earlier, the unfamiliarity no longer felt quite as overwhelming since her new father's words had considerably helped calm her nerves.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, the pleasant aroma of freshly prepared food immediately caught her attention. Aurora followed the smell toward the kitchen, where she found Shizu standing in front of the stove, busy preparing breakfast. Her new mother seemed completely focused on what she was doing, but the moment she noticed Aurora standing nearby, her face immediately brightened.
"Good morning, Aurora!" Shizu greeted her with a warm smile. "You're just in time. Breakfast is almost ready."
"Good morning, M-m-mother," Aurora replied, deciding to use the proper term for their new relationship, even though there was still a slight hesitation in her voice.
Shizu noticed it but didn't comment. Instead, she simply smiled even more warmly. "Come on, go ahead and sit down. I'll bring everything over," she said before turning back toward the kitchen. As she did, she couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for Aurora to go from addressing her so formally as 'Mother' to calling her something more casual and affectionate, like 'Mom,' and what she and her husband could do to help close that distance.
Meanwhile, Aurora nodded and walked over to the dining table, where Rimuru was already sitting.
He looked up when he noticed her and gave her an encouraging smile. "Looks like you're all ready for your first day," he said as Aurora nodded and took her seat. "Feeling nervous?" he asked.
"A little," Aurora admitted, fidgeting with her fingers.
"That's understandable," he replied with a small chuckle. "I'm sure your first day at a new school is going to feel a little strange, especially after everything that's happened recently."
Shizu soon joined them, placing the last few dishes on the table before taking her seat beside Rimuru. "Don't worry too much about it, though. I'm sure you'll make some friends before you know it."
"I hope so," Aurora said, glancing at her. "I like making friends," she added with a small smile directed at her new mother.
With that, the three of them began eating breakfast together. At first, the atmosphere around the table was somewhat quiet. Aurora focused on her food, occasionally glancing at Rimuru and Shizu whenever they spoke. She still wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to behave around them. Technically speaking, they were her parents now, but emotionally, she still felt as though she were only beginning to understand what that really meant.
Rimuru seemed to notice her awkwardness and deliberately kept the conversation light. He asked Aurora about her favorite subjects at school, what kind of food she liked, and what she usually enjoyed doing in her free time. Shizu joined in as well, sharing little things about herself whenever the opportunity arose. Neither of them pressured her to talk more than she was comfortable with, and that gradually made it easier for Aurora to join in the conversation.
"I like models," Aurora eventually answered when Rimuru asked about her hobbies. "Especially taking them apart," she added, a strange light appearing in her eyes. "Someone once donated a model set of a city to our orphanage, and we had a lot of fun with it. Especially my brother. He loved building the whole thing, and I loved destroying it..." Her voice suddenly trailed off as memories of her twin brother came flooding back. Then her eyes widened when she realized what she had just admitted.
"I'm sorry," Aurora immediately apologized, lowering her head. "I know what I just said sounded strange, but I don't..."
"It's okay, Aurora," Rimuru cut her off before she could spiral any further. "There's nothing weird about what you said. Everyone has their own quirks, and those little differences are part of what make us special."
"Exactly!" Shizu chimed in with an encouraging smile. "And Aurora, as long as you're not hurting anyone or breaking other people's things, what's there to worry about? In fact, if you'd like, we could buy a bunch of model sets and build them together, then break them apart as a family."
"Really?" Aurora choked out, her eyes widening as she recalled how everyone at the orphanage had made fun of her for wanting to take apart models and toys. Some of them had even been outright mean to her. Especially her twin brother, who would glare at her whenever she took apart anything he had built.
"Of course. Why would we lie to you?" Rimuru replied with a kind smile. "Also, why are you acting like such a crybaby? Didn't you already have your fill of tears upstairs?" he added with a teasing grin as Aurora hurriedly wiped the corners of her eyes with her arms.
"Rimuru Tempest! How dare you make fun of my daughter!" Shizu exclaimed in mock outrage as she grabbed a nearby spatula and pointed it at her husband.
"Ahh! Aurora, help me!" Playing along with her antics, Rimuru jumped out of his seat and hurried around the table before hiding behind Aurora's chair. "My dear daughter, become my shield against this cruel woman!"
"Lies! Absolutely lies! Stop poisoning my daughter against me!" Shizu narrowed her eyes at Rimuru, a playful smile threatening to spread across her face. "And stop using her as your adorable shield!"
"Well, she's pretty effective, isn't she?" Rimuru replied with a wink.
Suddenly, a melodious sound filled the room as Aurora couldn't help but let out a small giggle at their exchange. The sound seemed to surprise even her, and she quickly covered her mouth with one hand.
"There we go," Rimuru said with a wide smile as he placed a hand on her head. "That's the smile I've been waiting to see."
"I have to agree with Rimuru here," Shizu said gently. "It's nice seeing you smile. You should do it more often."
Aurora quietly nodded at her new mother's words and lowered her head as she continued eating, trying to hide the blush spreading across her face. However, as breakfast continued, Aurora couldn't help but notice that the atmosphere felt different from before. It wasn't completely comfortable yet, but it was no longer as awkward as it had been earlier. Either way, one thing was certain to Aurora that she was really starting to like her new family.
******
The days that followed gradually turned into weeks, and before Aurora knew it, those weeks had stretched into months until an entire year had passed before her eyes. Looking back, she couldn't point to a single moment when everything suddenly changed and she instantly accepted Rimuru and Shizu as her parents. Instead, it happened slowly, almost imperceptibly, through countless little moments that gradually accumulated over time.
Though one thing was certain that Rimuru and Shizu made sure to keep the promise they had made that morning.
Every so often, they would come home with a new model set for Aurora, sometimes something simple and sometimes something considerably more complicated. At first, Aurora would hesitate whenever they presented one to her, almost as though she were afraid that accepting their gifts would somehow make her a burden. But that hesitation gradually disappeared once she realized that they genuinely enjoyed watching her work on them.
Rimuru would often sit beside her while she carefully assembled the pieces, while Shizu would occasionally join them and ask questions about what Aurora was building. And once she finished, they would happily let her tear the entire thing apart, much to her amusement. Those moments became something Aurora secretly looked forward to, not because of the models themselves, but because they gave her an excuse to spend time with her parents.
Of course, it wasn't always easy. Aurora still struggled with the strange anxiety that seemed to linger somewhere inside her. There were times when she would become quiet without even realizing it, or hesitate whenever she wanted to say something. Sometimes, she would worry that she was being too annoying or that she was bothering them, even though they had never given her any reason to think that way.
But as time went on, Aurora began to realize just how much effort her new parents were putting into making her feel loved and cared for, and she gradually started making an effort of her own.
If Rimuru asked her about her day, she started giving him more than a one-word answer. If Shizu asked what she had learned at school, Aurora would happily explain everything she could remember. She began asking questions about her parents as well, wanting to know what they liked, what they were like when they were younger, what their favorite foods were, and even what kinds of things they enjoyed doing together.
And just like that, little by little, she began inviting them into her world. She would tell them about something funny that had happened at school, complain about a difficult assignment, excitedly show them something she had made, or ask for their opinion whenever she couldn't make up her mind about something.
In fact, by the end of the year, Aurora's real personality had started to bloom, revealing the adventurous, enthusiastic, and chatty girl who had been hiding beneath her shy, anxiety-filled exterior. Her school life began reflecting that change as well. Over the course of the year, the stories she shared with her parents became increasingly expressive and daring, a far cry from the quiet and hesitant girl she had been when she first arrived.
Speaking of school, Aurora's life there had changed just as much as her life at home. When she had first arrived, she had been quiet and hesitant, rarely speaking unless someone directly addressed her. However, as the months passed, she gradually began to come out of her shell, and before long, she found herself surrounded by a small group of friends who made even the most ordinary school days considerably more interesting.
The first friend she made was Framea, the girl who sat at the desk beside hers. Framea was an adventurous, happy-go-lucky girl with an almost endless enthusiasm for food. She was always eager to explore new places, try unfamiliar dishes, and drag her friends along whenever she heard about a restaurant serving some strange or exotic meal.
She also had an incredibly loyal, ride-or-die attitude toward her friends. Once she considered someone a friend, she would happily go along with almost any crazy idea they came up with. Naturally, that made her a perfect match for Aurora's increasingly adventurous personality, and the two of them quickly became inseparable, with Framea being largely responsible for introducing Aurora to the more exciting side of school life.
Then there was Ultima, the girl who sat behind her and was often regarded by the teachers as trouble personified. She had a sadistic streak and seemed to take genuine pleasure in frightening people, often finding amusement in their reactions whenever she managed to scare them. Her arrogant and seemingly uncaring attitude had caused most of the other students to avoid her, and she had quickly earned a reputation as something of a loner. Her fascination with poisons certainly hadn't helped matters either, and to most of their classmates, Ultima was the kind of person they were better off staying away from.
So, of course, through a stroke of luck, Aurora ended up becoming her friend after an unexpected adventure that allowed her to see a side of Ultima that most people never bothered to look for. Once Aurora managed to break through that initial barrier, Ultima gradually became a regular part of their little group, and it didn't take long for them to realize that beneath her unsettling personality and love of frightening others was someone who could be surprisingly loyal to the people she cared about.
And then there was Chloe, who, compared to the other two, was practically the definition of common sense. She was the class president, an elegant and responsible girl who took her duties seriously and often found herself playing the role of the group's voice of reason. In fact, during their early days together, she frequently scolded Aurora and Framea whenever their antics caused trouble and repeatedly warned them to stay away from Ultima, whom she considered the ultimate troublemaker in their class.
Naturally, Aurora and Framea didn't exactly listen, and after yet another adventure brought the four girls together, Chloe eventually became part of their group as well. She seemed to realize that trying to keep Aurora, Framea, and Ultima apart was ultimately a losing battle, so she decided that the next best thing was to stick with them and make sure their adventures didn't spiral completely out of control. In her own personal opinion, it was probably the most sensible decision she could have made.
However, although Chloe was undoubtedly the most composed and responsible member of their little group, Aurora soon discovered that even she had a weakness. Unfortunately for Chloe, that weakness happened to be a small crush on Aurora's father, Rimuru, something Aurora found deeply annoying.
The first time Framea and Ultima discovered Chloe's crush, Aurora immediately regretted ever introducing them to her family. From that point onward, Chloe's feelings toward her father became one of their favorite things to tease her about. Framea would happily bring it up whenever she wanted to embarrass Chloe, while Ultima seemed to take particular delight in watching Chloe desperately try to maintain her composure. Of course, Aurora did her best to remind them, "He's my dad!" whenever the subject came up, but unfortunately for her, that only seemed to make them laugh even harder.
Despite all her complaints, however, Aurora genuinely treasured the friends she had made, and they had become an important part of her life. Having people she could laugh with, joke around with, and share her adventures with was something she had once believed she would never have. For all the chaos they brought into her life, she wouldn't have traded any of them for the world.
Yet whenever Aurora thought about how much her life had changed over the past year, there was one person she couldn't help but remember... her twin brother.
It had been nearly a year since she had last seen him, back when Rimuru and Shizu had adopted her. Even now, Aurora sometimes found herself wondering what he was doing and how his life had turned out. Those thoughts inevitably brought her memories of the orphanage flooding back, along with the painful realization that their relationship hadn't always been as strained as it had become toward the end.
For most of their childhood, Aurora and her brother had been inseparable, and to Aurora, he had been the most important person in her world. He was her twin, her closest companion, and, for the longest time, the one person she believed would always be by her side.
That was why she could never understand what had happened to him.
Seemingly out of nowhere, he had started distancing himself from her. At first, Aurora assumed it was only temporary, and like a good sister, she tried to give him space, believing that eventually he would return to the way he used to be... but he never did. Instead, his attitude toward her grew colder with each passing day.
Whenever Aurora tried to talk to him, he would dismiss her. Whenever she attempted to spend time with him, he would find an excuse to leave. Eventually, even her smallest attempts at affection were met with rejection, leaving Aurora wondering what she had done wrong. She couldn't understand why the person she had trusted more than anyone else had suddenly seemed to want nothing to do with her. To Aurora, it felt as though her brother had simply discarded her the moment he decided he no longer needed her in his life.
And that realization broke something inside her that she still couldn't put into words.
The more he pushed her away, the more desperate Aurora became to regain the bond they once shared. She tried harder and harder to get his attention, but every attempt only ended with him rejecting her again. Eventually, Aurora became so isolated and frustrated that she no longer knew what to do with all the anger building inside her. Until finally, she couldn't take it anymore and started taking it out on everything around her.
She would lash out at the other children whenever they bothered her, sometimes becoming far more aggressive than she intended. She began tearing apart their toys, breaking things they cared about, and unleashing all the frustration she couldn't express toward her brother on anything unfortunate enough to be within reach.
Until eventually, the orphanage caretaker had no choice but to intervene and place her in an isolated room whenever her anger became too much to handle, giving her time to calm down away from the other children. But once the anger faded, there was always the same emptiness waiting underneath it, making her curl up in a corner, crying until her eyes hurt, and desperately begging for her brother to come back to her.
Back then, Aurora had believed that she couldn't be happy without him. She had convinced herself that if she could only make her brother love her again, everything would return to the way it had been before.
But then Rimuru and Shizu came into her life.
At first, Aurora hadn't understood what they were trying to give her. She had been too frightened and confused by everything that had happened to realize that she didn't need to spend the rest of her life chasing after someone who didn't want her around. It was only through the love and patience Rimuru and Shizu showed her that she slowly began to understand something she had never considered before... that she could be her own person, that she didn't need her brother's approval to determine her worth, nor did she need to depend on a single person for all the love and companionship she wanted in her life.
They had given her a place where she could be herself without fear of being rejected. They had encouraged her to make friends, supported her interests, listened to her worries, and loved her without asking anything from her in return. Through them, Aurora had learned that love wasn't something she had to desperately cling to out of fear that it might disappear. It was something that could simply be given and, perhaps more importantly, something she could give back.
As Aurora thought about everything that had happened over the past year, a small smile appeared on her face. She still remembered the lonely little girl she had once been, desperately crying in that isolated room and begging for someone to come back to her, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for that version of herself. If she could go back and speak to that little girl now, there was something she would want her to know that she wasn't alone... that soon, there would be people who would love her for who she was, and for that, Aurora knew she would always be grateful to Rimuru and Shizu.
And so, by the end of her first year with her new family, Aurora had finally learned to let go of her twin brother, who had abandoned her, and decided to move on with her life, focusing on the people who were actually there for her and genuinely cared about her.
******
New Year's Eve
In the backyard of their home, the Tempest family sat together on the grass, enjoying each other's company as drinks and snacks lay scattered around them as they watched beautiful fireworks burst across the night sky.
"Wow... this is so beautiful..." Aurora said, gazing up at the fireworks as their colorful glow reflected in her eyes and illuminated her face. Yet, as beautiful as the display was, out of the corner of her eye, something else caught her attention as she noticed that Rimuru and Shizu weren't watching the fireworks at all. Instead, both of them were looking at her with warm, affectionate smiles, and seeing them look at her like that made her chest feel strangely warm, filling her with a soft, fuzzy happiness that she couldn't quite put into words.
"Mama, Papa..." Aurora began, gathering the courage to speak while the warmth of the moment gave her the little push she needed as she nervously fidgeted with her fingers before finally looking toward them. "I just wanted to say thank you for adopting me," she said, with a heavy, emotion-filled voice, and tried to continue, but the words failed her, leaving her unable to properly express everything she was feeling.
"It's okay, dear," Shizu said kindly. "We understand. And just so you know, it's our pleasure to have you in our lives."
"She's right, you know. We're the ones who are thankful that we brought you home," Rimuru said as he placed a hand on Aurora's head. "In fact, if given the chance, we'd like to be your family in the real world as well..." he said, and then time itself came to a stop around them as he asked, "What do you think, Ivaragé?"
"Ivaragé..." Aurora repeated the name, and her eyes suddenly widened as she remembered hearing it somewhere in the back of her mind. With that realization came a flood of memories, and soon, she remembered who she really was... Ivaragé, one half of the primordial consciousness. Then, slowly raising her head, Ivaragé looked at Rimuru and asked, "All of this..." trying to say something, but once again, the right words failed to come to her, and this time, it was due to too many conflicting thoughts and complicated emotions swirling within her heart.
"Well, first of all, I'm sorry for deceiving you, but yes, I made all of this happen," Rimuru admitted honestly. "And as for why... well, it was to reduce your obsession with your other half, so you wouldn't descend into madness like before and lose your sense of self to the insanity that came with that longing," he explained.
"Now that you mention it..." Ivaragé said, finally realizing that even after remembering who she truly was, she still didn't feel that overwhelming need to reunite with her other half, to become one with him and complete herself at any cost. Of course, there was still a faint pull urging her to seek him out, but unlike before, she now had complete control over that impulse and could easily resist the urge instead of allowing it to control her and send her spiraling back into insanity and destructive madness.
"But what about all of this?" Ivaragé asked as she looked around at the world frozen in time. "Everything I... we lived through, all my friends and the time we spent here... was none of that real?" she asked with a slight tremor in her voice.
"Of course it was real, love," Shizu said, quickly wrapping her arms around the little girl from behind. "We really did spend an entire year here together, and you did go to school and had all those silly adventures with your friends."
"Indeed, as Shizu said, this isn't a simulation but an entire, real world that I created," Rimuru explained as he placed a hand on her head. "So trust me, none of what you experienced here was fake or fabricated by us."
"So does that mean you won't abandon me and lock me in that room again?" Ivaragé asked as she looked at Rimuru with hesitation and vulnerability in her eyes. After all, she was genuinely afraid that all the kindness and love she had received from the people in front of her would suddenly disappear, forcing her to return to that bleak, endless prison she had once known.
"Of course not," Shizu said, immediately tightening her arms around Ivaragé before narrowing her eyes threateningly. "And I dare anyone to try imprisoning my daughter." The mama bear's words gave the little girl in her arms a much-needed sense of relief, along with the familiar, warm, fuzzy feeling in her heart that she had grown accustomed to over the past year.
"Ivaragé, listen carefully," Rimuru said, looking directly into the white-haired girl's eyes. "...As we've said before, you're our daughter now, and nothing is going to change that, either in this world or in the real world. You're part of our world now, and we love you with all our hearts. So..." he extended his hand toward her, "...we'd like to keep playing the part of your parents, if you'll allow us, of course."
Ivaragé stared at his offered hand for a long moment before asking, "First, can I ask you something?" and received a nod from Rimuru. "What would happen to this place when we return to our original world? I mean, everything here, like our house, my friends, and my school. Will all of that disappear when we leave this place?"
"If you want all of this to continue existing, then it definitely can," Rimuru replied, secretly feeling a sense of triumph in his chest as he saw how this girl, once known as the Evil God of Destruction, was now genuinely worried about others. "In fact, I could turn this world into a separate timeline and create parallel versions of the three of us, allowing them to continue living here as humans while we simultaneously live in our own world," he explained before grinning at her. "How does that sound?"
"Amazing!" Ivaragé exclaimed with stars in her eyes. "Thank you, Papa! You're the best!" she said before quickly grabbing his hand. "And yes! Mama, Papa, I want to be your daughter a hundred times over!" she added excitedly, glancing between the two people she had accepted as her family.
"Thank you, dear, for giving us this honor," Shizu said with teary eyes as she kissed the top of Ivaragé's head, making the little girl duck her head shyly.
"And as our daughter, you shall no longer be haunted by the image of your past. No longer will you be remembered as the Evil God or the World-Destroying Dragon. Instead..." Rimuru said as time began flowing once more, another firework bursting directly above them as he placed his hand on his daughter's head and declared, "...from now on, the world will know you as Aurora Tempest, the Dragon of New Beginnings!"
To be continued...
******
[Okay, so I'm not really sure how this chapter turned out, to be honest, since I was writing it with those special Elseworld episodes in mind. But if you guys actually liked this setting and world, maybe we could revisit it sometime in the future.]
******
Illustration:
Aurora:
Aurora, Framea, Ultima and Chloe in classroom: