Harpia's First Dawn
From the crack of dawn, I received an urgent call and was summoned to the facility. My heart churned with anxiety and tension as I climbed into Yerin’s waiting car and headed for the art museum. The inexplicable one-week deadline tied to my promise with Undine had ended just yesterday, and they hadn’t given me the slightest hint about why I was being called. It was only natural to feel uneasy.
Crack… crack…
But the moment I arrived at the facility, I found myself staring at something entirely unexpected.
“Piaaa…”
A tiny creature had just broken free of its shell on its own. It stretched with a small, adorable roar, its underdeveloped light-brown hair still damp and its round, pumpkin-colored eyes blinking curiously. I didn’t need any confirmation. This delicate little life was unmistakably Harpy’s child—and mine.
“Ah… uuu…”
Harpy crouched low, unsure what to do, simply gazing at her newborn. The sight made everything feel dreamlike, perhaps because I had rushed here straight from bed. Yet this was no dream.
“May I… touch her…?”
She desperately wanted to hold her child, but her sharp talons made her hesitate. I reached out to lift the baby for her, only to freeze the moment my hands drew near. The tiny life looked so fragile I was terrified I might break it.
“Kauu… ppyaa~”
The child giggled at my outstretched hand and grabbed my finger with surprising strength, stretching out arms that were still more wing than arm, covered in soft, fluffy down. Just like Harpy’s.
It was miraculous. At first, that was all I could feel—pure wonder. Never before had I experienced the birth of a new life that existed because of me.
“Ah…”
While I stared, entranced, at the baby’s sparkling eyes, I caught Harpy’s crestfallen expression behind her. Steeling myself, I gently lifted the child. She was impossibly light, yet the warmth and the steady pulse of life in my palms were undeniably real.
“Piaa~”
Enjoying the sensation of being lifted, the baby flapped her tiny wings. I carefully placed her into Harpy’s waiting arms. Harpy neatly tucked her talons away and cradled her daughter with infinite care. Only then did her face bloom into a radiant smile as she nuzzled her cheek against the baby’s head again and again.
“We should give her a name…”
My naming sense was notoriously terrible, so countless possibilities raced through my mind. I hadn’t been able to do much while Harpy incubated the egg; the least I could do was give our child a proper name.
Harpy herself had never had a name. She had lived alone since childhood, separated from her flock, and I had simply followed the team leader’s example in calling her Harpy. Bestowing a new name on her now would feel strange, but this newborn needed one from us.
Still, what name would suit her? I vaguely recalled a custom of combining one character from each parent’s name, yet every combination that came to mind—Ha-woong, Geonpi—sounded utterly ridiculous for a daughter.
“Come to think of it…”
I remembered the first time I visited this facility. Standing before Harpy’s containment room, I had misread the codename on the doorplate. The way I had read it back then was…
“Harpie… Harpia.”
“Is that the child’s name?”
“Ah, no. We should discuss it properly with Harpy first—”
Before I could suggest thinking it over, a bright, delighted voice cut me off.
“Happiya!”
“She seems to like it…!”
Harpy’s face was alight with pure joy, her lips moving as though she couldn’t contain her happiness. I didn’t have the heart to interrupt. And so the name was decided: Harpia.
“Now… shall we try saying it? Mom. My.”
This was probably the first word she had longed to hear the moment the egg hatched. The baby giggled excitedly and repeated after her, just as she had clumsily echoed the name I had given.
“Mumma!”
“Ung-ssi! Did you hear that? Harpia just called me Mommy…!”
Harpy looked ready to cry from overwhelming emotion, though what I heard was clearly “mumma” rather than “mommy.” Still, it was close enough. And strangely, I found myself wanting to hear the child call me something too.
“Harpia? Can Daddy try? Da. Ddy?”
“Happiya~”
She wasn’t making it easy. Watching her flap both wings toward me with that innocent, beaming smile, I felt grateful she responded at all—yet I still longed to hear her say “Daddy.”
“Harpia is your name. Try calling me Daddy? Da. Ddy?”
“Piyaa…?”
“Harpy! Harpia just called me Daddy!”
“R… really?”
If you listened carefully it was still just “piyaa,” but spoken a little faster it became “pya.” With a generous stretch of imagination, our clever little Harpia had succeeded in calling me Daddy on her very first try. She was definitely a smart child. And since she took after Harpy, she would surely grow into a beautiful girl while keeping every bit of this adorable charm.
“Hah…”
Was this what paternal love felt like? An overwhelming affection surged through me, leaving me helplessly captivated by both Harpia and Harpy. How could anyone be this lovable? This precious? The happy, foolish thoughts spun endlessly in my mind.
“Mummaaa~”
Then Harpia, apparently finding Harpy’s chest comfortable, snuggled closer and began to knead it with tiny hands. Children really did have the habit of touching and tasting everything they saw.
“That’s right. Mommy’s here~ Are you hungry, Harpia?”
Whoosh. In the next moment, an unexpectedly intimate scene unfolded right before my eyes. Without the slightest embarrassment, Harpy lifted her top and guided Harpia to her breast with practiced ease. She was careful to keep her generous chest from pressing too heavily against the baby’s face, every movement the picture of a devoted mother. It was the first time I had seen Harpy—so often clumsy and shy—look so steady and reliable.
“She really… takes after Ung-ssi… Hehe…”
“…”
Harpy smiled softly down at the suckling child, then delivered a remark that struck straight at my pride. There was no malice in it—she had simply overlapped the image of Harpia nursing with me—but my face still burned.
“…The other side is mine.”
“No. Harpia needs to eat plenty and grow strong.”
Embarrassed, I tried a weak joke, only to receive a firm rejection. I had heard she had to express milk several times a day because it built up, and I doubted such a tiny baby could possibly manage both of Harpy’s enormous breasts alone. Yet at her adorable scolding, I found myself nodding obediently. It seemed I had already decided, deep down, that Harpia’s well-being came before everything else—including my own desires.
Wishing for someone else’s happiness while feeling this happy myself… Was this what it meant to become a parent?
“I love you, Harpy.”
“…I-if you suddenly say things like that…”
Her flustered reaction proved Harpy was still Harpy, yet as a mother she seemed far stronger than before.
“Right now, I’d do anything for you, no matter how unreasonable.”
And I, too, felt as though I could accomplish anything.
“Ah, um… then…”
*
After spending a sweet, tender time with Harpy, I stepped out of the containment room and recalled her requests. Being trusted enough to hear two heartfelt wishes made my chest feel warm. One was for Harpia—once she was a little bigger, she wanted the three of us to go outside together. The other was for Harpy herself.
“She wants a ring…”
She hadn’t meant to say it aloud, but when I repeated the word that had slipped from her thoughts, she shook her head and tried to dismiss it. I pressed gently until she finally admitted what she truly wanted. If I didn’t push, she would never ask for anything for herself. Even when she did speak up, it was usually only to ask to be loved. This request meant more to me than I could say.
Now, a ring sized for Harpy’s hand… Would I need to have one custom-made?
“…”
If I was going to do it, I wanted it to be a matching couple’s ring.
“You look happy.”
I flinched.
“…! Observer-nim?”
It was still early; the long corridor should have been empty. Yet when I turned toward the sudden, blunt voice behind me, a white-haired girl stood there, staring up at me with an eerily expressionless face. Codename Observer—Founder’s one and only precious younger sister. For a moment Alchemist’s image flashed through my mind, but what truly puzzled me was why she, who rarely showed herself in the facility, had come looking for me now.
…It had also been Observer who ordered me to fulfill my promise with Undine as quickly as possible.
“If you want to protect that happiness, you’ll have to play your part in this little farce diligently.”
“What do you mean by—”
“This appears to have fulfilled the third condition as well. It was close, but…”
She paid no attention to my words, simply continuing as though my input was irrelevant. I found myself falling silent. From the start, this doll-like girl gave off an unmistakable aura that said I should not speak.
“…I’m curious to see what choice you’ll make.”
Having said her piece, she turned without hesitation. The soft sound of her long white hair brushing the corridor floor faded, and by the time the sound stopped, Observer had already vanished without a trace.