My name is Neil Notte Schwartz and I'm the ruler of The Northern Kingdom, Reinhardt.

I ascended to the throne with the title of Overlord after I married the love of my life and my queen, Emilia Bianca Weiss.

After 2 years of marriage and ruling the kingdom, we have finally been blessed with an heir.

During Emilia's labor, I stayed beside her bed every day (of course after finishing all of my administrative work first).

During that period, we also had the time to choose a name for our first daughter.

[a/n: Don't ask how they know their child's gender]

Rather than a discussion, it's pretty much a one-sided decision because Emilia had already chosen the name for our daughter a look time ago.

"Honey, have you decided our daughter's true name?" (Neil)

"Mmhm, I did." (Emilia)

"Do you want to hear it?" Said Emilia in a playful tone.

"Nod, Nod, Nod"

Without realizing, I had already answered her playful question by nodding vigorously.

" Sopheia " (Emilia)

Said Emilia while looking at the snowing night sky outside of the window.

" Sopheia?" Said me with full of curiosity about the origin of that name.

Noticing my curiosity, Emilia then tells me a story about a book.

"A long time ago, I had read a weird storybook with a title that I can't read. Thankfully, I could read the content of the book." (Emilia)

"The book is just a cliche hero story with a twist.The main character of the book is not a hero but a heroine." (Emilia)

"And that heroine goes by the name The Saviour, Sopheia."(Emilia)

Saying that Emilia then takes a brown-colored book from the table beside her bed, she then hugged the book.

"Till this day, this book is still engraved in my mind as my favorite storybook." (Emilia)

"So, don't you think that's a good name."(Emilia)

"If that's your decision, I will respect it and agree with you." Said me while trying to hide a roll of paper behind my back.

Unfortunately, the devil's luck struck me and the paper accidentally slipped from my hand and it rolled and rolled from where I am until the bedroom's door.

"Ara ara, you said that you would agree with me, so what is this 'Top 10000 Name For A Baby Girl" list, huh!? " (Emilia)

"Flinch!!"

"T-this is just a.. a.. backup plan" (Neil)

"Yes², a backup plan, it is not like I was actually going to have a full-on debate with you to decide our daughter's name, it's just a backup plan." (Neil)

"You suck at lying to me you know." (Emilia)

"Hahaha, what are talking about, when did I ever lie to you." (Neil)

We're very happy during that period, then we're at the peak of our happiness when Sophia is finally born.

I should add that I won the debate for Sopheia's general name.

[a/n: a royalty in Reinhardt have 2 names, one is their general name (for public use) while the other is their true name (for private use)]

Born with an ice-like bluish-white fur and crystal blue eyes which are inherited from her mother, she is my first daughter and also the crown princess of Reinhardt, Sophia Von Weiss.

Unlike other cub/babies, Sophia didn't cry or make any other sounds, I was worried at that time, and then she opened her eyes like she was responding to my worries.

And when she opened her eyes for the first time, I was happy as I could be and also... scared of the looks on her eyes.

It feels like she was directly staring at my soul, her stare for some reason feels 'otherworldly', no other words in my vast library of knowledge can describe this feeling.

After a short while, Sophia then closed her eyes and falls asleep, the royal's midwife then put Sophia into the crib beside my dear wife's bed.

Even though she should be resting, she still managed to hold Sophia's cute little paws in her hand, with motherly looks on her face, she then said.

"Darling, aren't our daughter a cute little cub."(Emilia)

That sentence, with just that one sentence, my wife had dispelled all of my negative thought toward my own daughter.

I... despised myself for allowing my mind to feel scared toward my own daughter.

With drops of tears flowing from my red eyes, I then hold my wife's right hand.

"Yeah, she is cute, since she is your daughter."(Neil)

"Dummy, Sophia is 'our' daughter."(Emilia)

"You're right Emilia... you're absolutely right."(Neil)

On that day, I swore an oath to myself that I will definitely protect my family from anything.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I would even dare to fight the gods if they want to harm my family.

But I failed to keep that oath.

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Sophia is in a very deep sleep since that day, today marks the seventh day since she's in this state.

I had called every doctor, healer, shaman, priest, and any type of similar profession to heal or at least diagnose Sophia's condition, but it was futile.

She doesn't have any illness, she isn't cursed and we can't find the source of her state, all of them said pretty much the same thing,

'She is just in a very deep sleep'.

The last doctor that had come today then finished his diagnosis, he who is also a close friend to md then said.

"Your daughter is in a sleep-like state, but she is certainly not in a comatose state."(Doctor)

"So Your Highness shouldn't be worried."(Doctor)

"On the other hand Your Highness, you look quite sleep deprived."(Doctor)

When I look at the nearby mirror, I noticed that there is a very dark circle under my eyes, I then said to the doctor.

"Doctor, thanks for the diagnosis, you may go now."(Neil)

"I understand Your Highness, I truly wish that Sophia-denka will wake up soon."(Doctor)

[Denka: Royal Highness in japanese]

"Thanks for your concern."(Neil)

When Doctor exited the room, I then whispered to Sophia's fluffy little ear with a tone full of longingness.

"Please wake up my dear daughter."(Neil)

[a/n: the doctor's full name is Doctorius Artz, Doctor for short]

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Several hours have passed since that moment, it is already midnight now.

A normal person is usually getting ready to sleep by now, I, on the other hand, am facing a sleepless night.

It is not just for tonight, it has happened almost every day since we noticed that Sophia is in that 'sleep-like' state.

This is the reason for my sleep sleep-deprived that the doctor diagnosed me this afternoon.

I usually spent the night doing some paperwork or doing something completely random like playing the piano, reading a random book, writing a book, and some other stuff.

When I was about to go somewhere to do my random thing tonight, suddenly, Emilia then brought me to 'our' bedroom.

"Tonight, we're going to sleep together as a 'family'."(Emilia)

"It's useless, even if I felt sleepy I just can't force my body to sleep even for just a wink."(Neil)

"Of course, I knew about that."(Emilia)

"Then-"(Neil)

"That's why we're going to do something different tonight."(Emilia)

Emilia then carefully but smoothly carried Sophia from her crib to our bed, she then used our race's 'Unique Skill' to transform into her wolf form.

[They are Beastmen, they have the unique skill to transform into other human form or beast form]

"What are you waiting for?, hurry up we're waiting for you."(Emilia)

"..."(Sophia)

Knowing her willfulness, there is no way I can refuse her, with a sigh, I then gave in to her request.

"Haah, Alright², you win this time."(Neil)

In a split second, I also transformed into my wolf form, I then make my way to lie on the left side of the bed.

Emilia is lying on the right side of the bed while Sophia is sandwiched by us in the middle of the bed.

Sh-... she is sleeping soundly like she always does.

After lying on the bed for a while, contrary to my expectation, I still couldn't sleep.

Even though I knew that this would ultimately happen, I still had a glimmer of hope.

"Emilia, are you awake?" I asked her in a low voice.

"I'm still awake, couldn't sleep can't you?."(Emilia)

"Well...Yeah."(Neil)

"Knowing you, your next word will be 'Why do you want to sleep together tonight?' aren't I right?."(Emilia)

"You had taken the word right out of my mouth, so... Your answer?"(Neil)

"It's nothing serious, I... just felt like doing it." (Emilia)

"You can also call it a 'mother and wife intuition'."(Emilia)

"Heeeh, so that is what going on." (Neil)

Emilia in a worried tone then said to me.

"Neil, I already knew that the reason you can't sleep for several days is because of Sophia's condition."(Emilia)

"As expected from my dearest wife, I can't hide anything from you."(Neil)

"Aren't I right."(Emilia)

"I don't need you to forget about your worries, I just want you to take it easy."(Emilia)

"You don't need to do it every day, at least just for tonight."(Emilia)

Even though her voice is only loud enough for me to listen to her, I still can feel all of her feelings through her voice.

"Don't forget, I'm there for you and I will always be with you."(Emilia)

With that one sentence, just that one sentence, I can feel that all of my emotions that I'm constantly suppressing these few days are breaking out.

With a drop of tears coming out of my eyes, I then laid the whole of my heart bare.

"I... I want to hear her voice, her laughter, her cries."(Neil)

"I want to carry her in my arms, I want to hug her tightly"(Neil)

"I want to take you and her together for a picnic as a family."(Neil)

"I want to do a lot of things with her."(Neil)

"And... I want Sophia to wake up."(Neil)

Embracing me while also in tears, Emilia then said.

"Me too darling, I feel the same way as you are."(Emilia)

"I want to kiss her, feed her, tell her bedtime stories, and many more."(Emilia)

That night, both of us cried our hearts out, we cried too much till I felt that a drop of our tears even dropped to Sophia's body.

It might just be my imagination.

I don't know why, but after letting all of that out, I'm feeling a lot lighter.

Too light actually, because I can feel my consciousness ~fading ~away.

"Zzz, Zzz."(Neil)

" Ara ara, your sleeping face still hasn't changed, so cute." (Emilia)

"Kiss"

On that night, I had the deepest sleep that I have ever had in a long time.

The current 'me' feels like I can take on any obstacle that's on my way to cure Sophia's condition.

Even if the god himself stood in the way of curing my daughter, I would even dare to rebel against him.

There will be nothing that can stop me now, that's how strong my resolve are.

On that night, I swore another oath to myself at that moment.

"(This time for sure.)"(Neil)

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The next morning, after being roughly woken up by Emilia, she then tells me the word that I was waiting for a long time.

"Our daughter... Sophia is finally awake."(Emilia)