Having children.
This is a very normal thing.
There's nothing to be ashamed of.
However, if you put the subject on a fourteen-year-old girl and a Homunculus who has only been out of the cultivation tank for a month.
This becomes a bit strange.
"..."
Aozaki Touko suppressed the surging emotions in her heart. After a long silence, she asked with a somewhat peculiar expression, "...Irisviel, why do you suddenly want to have a child?"
"...Since Touko, you defined our relationship as husband and wife!"
Irisviel's red eyes glowed with tenderness, and she said with an expectant expression, "Then, isn't it natural to have a child as the crystallization of our love?"
Since Aozaki Touko and she had become husband and wife, wasn't it perfectly reasonable to have a child to continue their lives together? Outside, snow fell across the sky, and inside, it was silent.
"..."
Aozaki Touko looked at Irisviel, who was close at hand. Her delicate and elegant face held an expectant look; this was not an expression she would show merely to fulfill the requirements of playing a husband and wife.
Irisviel truly wanted a child of her own.
"Although with the technology I currently possess, the birth of a child combining our life factors is actually not difficult at all!"
"But, my dear wife!"
"You are only one month old... are you truly ready to give birth to a child? Are you confident in teaching her as a mother?"
"Bearing a child is not child's play!"
Aozaki Touko spoke in a gentle, unhurried voice.
Listening to Touko, Irisviel was silent for a moment, then said with some loss, "Then, how is this qualification determined? When can we have a child?"
"...I don't know either~"
Aozaki Touko smiled gently, "But, we have a plan. I will take you to orphanages, to various places, and slowly search for your answer!"
"So... we're leaving Einzbern?"
Irisviel's ruby eyes showed anticipation. She was full of longing for the outside world, full of curiosity about this world, like a sheltered young lady who had never left her chambers.
"...I will take you away!"
Without denying it, Aozaki Touko said with certainty, "This place will limit your growth. I will take you to see the truth of this world!"
"Will I be able to have children then?"
Irisviel tilted her head, her focus a bit subtle.
"...Mm!"
Aozaki Touko smiled, then said softly, "I have a premonition... The day you give birth to a child, my dear wife, you will completely break free from the shackles of a Homunculus and understand what 'love' is!"
"Touko... did you think all this through long ago?"
Irisviel blinked, her focus still a bit subtle. These words didn't sound like Aozaki Touko's impromptu thoughts, which meant Aozaki Touko had this idea for a long time.
"...Mm."
Aozaki Touko nodded slightly, "In fact, I've even thought of the child's name. How about 'Illyasviel von Einzbern'?"
"Illya, Illya, Illya, Illya..."
Irisviel repeated the name a few times, then smiled brightly and said, "I really like this name. I'm looking forward to Illya's birth more and more!"
...Inside a secluded room, a candle burned with a bright yellow flame. Hadon listened to the maid's report expressionlessly, until he heard that Aozaki Touko wanted to take Irisviel away from the old castle. His stern face showed no emotion.
In fact, even if Irisviel died, it would be nothing more than redesigning a new Lesser Holy Grail.
As long as Aozaki Touko participated in the Holy Grail War, they could guarantee the greatest hope of victory. In just four months, Aozaki Touko's strength had made a leapfrog progression. Her astonishing comprehension of Magician and her incredible innovative ability were both remarkable.
She was simply an aggregate of talent, a genius among geniuses; now, all that was needed was the accumulation of time.
"...Let her go."
"Mm... If she needs anything, assist her as much as possible!"
After speaking, he closed his eyes and said no more. The maid, seeing this, curtsied slightly, turned and left the room, gently closing the door behind her... At the same time.
Inside the vast library of the Hesitant Library, Aozaki Touko's slender hand caressed the bookshelves, walking deeper and deeper along them.
The surface of every bookshelf here was covered with strange blue patterns, and faint magical fluctuations flowed within them. If someone without permission were to enter here, they would instantly be torn to shreds by defensive Magician.
However, it posed no obstruction for Aozaki Touko.
Soon, she reached a bookshelf, took down a book, and quickly flipped through it. The book recorded methods on how to quickly release human potential, which is to say, how to shut down the body's protective mechanisms.
Yes, her current research direction was how to release the body's protective mechanisms.
And at the same time, allow the human body to continue functioning normally.