Imprint

"Wow!! This is amazing. Tell me Mister Lustwood, do you know what this means?! " The orphanage keeper asked me with excitement clearly sprinkled on her face.

"Huh?, nope."

Well duh! Of course I do not know. Can't you see how dumbfounded I look right now.

"Well Mister Lustwood, you've got nothing to worry about. It just means she would be glad to have you as her father,"

"What?!"

"Well you see, when it comes to demon babies, they are a little different to the babies of elves, dragons, imps, dwarves and other races. Demon babies are capable of remaining as an infant for decades until they imprint with the ones they desire as their parents,"

"Demon babies are always born with their eyes closed and they can appear like that while still remaining in their infancy stage for several decades. All they need to open their eyes is to sense the presence of the one they want. A feeling of touch, a scent of the one they choose or even the voice heard of the person they want is enough to make the babies notice their presence."

"But for demon babies born directly to their parents, it takes at least two weeks for them to imprint with their biological parents. I think that with the baby being the only one who lost her mother during delivery, she was able to quickly choose you as her new parent. I'm positive the other two will eventually choose you once they've completely erased all information that once belonged to their biological parents."

Even as the orphanage keeper continued her detailed explanation, the baby kept staring at me. Stop that!!

It's creepy.

"So what do you say Mister Lustwood, would you like to adopt all three babies?" The orphanage keeper interlaced her fingers while staring at me with her puppy dog eyes alongside the two nursing mothers who seemed to be dragon kins due to their height and their dragon tails which kept wagging itself behind their backs as they anticipate my approval of the matter.

"I'm so sorry but I would rather adopt a male child or a male demon child than a female child." I said as I turned my back and aimed to exit the door.

"B.....but...don't you think you should reconsider this,"

"Nope, there's nothing to reconsider, I would like to come back after a month or two." I said as I sauntered towards the door before....

"Wueee!!"

The baby started to cry in a long and loud piercing tone which didn't take long for the other two babies to form an hysteria.

I covered my ears as the orphanage keeper tapped my shoulder to attract my attention before declaring....

" Please, Mister Lustwood, try to reconsider. You said so yourself that you wish to settle down with a child by your side. I do not think it matters if the child should be a male. Moreover the chances of seeing a male child in the next two to three months are pretty slim."

"As you can see, she clearly wants you to be her father. Okay then, how about this? You adopt the girl who wants you while I leave the other two in your custody for a duration of five months. If by the end of five months they had not opened their eyes, then I'll gladly accept both of them back."

"Huh?, I've barely even accepted one and you are already throwing all three children towards my way. Why should I accept all three?"

"Please come with me,"

She said as she beckoned me towards the crib of the crying baby who Immediately kept silent upon noticing my arrival.

She stared into my eyes as if urging me to pluck her away from this terrifying place.

No! No! No!

Do not fall into deception by those cute puppy dog eyes which had a slight cryptic eerie feeling mixed within.

"Please observe," The orphanage keeper said as she places her hand on the other two babies.

Nothing happened. Am I supposed to notice anything cause I clearly didn't see anything.

"Now please place your hands on both babies,"

I did as she said and I was instantaneously stunned. Wow! 'Are you for real? This is so amazing!'

Immediately I placed both hands on both girls head, their eyeballs started moving.

Their eyes were closed but you could see the eyeballs turning, trying to find out who touched them.

Well I won't deny it, I was certainly touched by what occurred just now.

*Sighs*

Oh so it seems the orphanage keeper had doubts it would work, I bet she didn't know she just heaved a sigh out loud.

So what do I want to do? Should I accept the babies? I mean what's the worst that could happen?

I heard raising male babies were always a tedious task to perform while female babies are always docile and graceful when raised and compared to their counterparts.

"Why do you want me to keep them for five months?"

I asked because I was puzzled by the duration of time she wants them to be in my care.

"Well that's because at the end of the fifth month is when the blue moon will appear and that's when their mana and soul energy will be enhanced."

Okay I think I get it now. Although it is a little bit frustrating to be learning about all these new information now.

I've been an adventurer all my life and I've been surrounded by beast kin and humans just like me, so there wasn't anything like absorbing energy from the moon to enhance one's soul energy.

I'm still new to things pertaining to demon babies. In fact I'm new to things concerning human babies also.

Anyway, what she meant was this. A blue moon only appears once a year.

And during that time is when demon babies going through the imprinting stage will finally advance into their growth stage.

Honestly, I do not know how that works out but all she is trying to say is that the imprinting of the demon baby girl could take a long time as she tries to study everything about me before the blue moon appears which would also mark the end of the creepy glare she keeps having towards me.

Although I couldn't care less about the enhancement of mana and soul energy concerning the babies but eventually they will have to join the academy just for a limited period of time, to provide them prior knowledge about their race, elemental aptitude and the likes.

I guess children of these days are a lot luckier than we were during our time.

We spent approximately five years in the academy going through various rigorous training as we prepared for war.

Children ranging from ten and above were immediately forced to join the academy.

Only few nobles had the power to prevent their children from joining the guild academy which seemed more like an army academy.

But now it seems children spend just four years in the academy ranging from the age of eighteen upwards.

Wow! Nothing beats having peace among neighboring races am I right?.

"Please Mister Lustwood, what do you think about my proposal?"

To be honest, I'm still a little hesitant about the whole situation but like I said, what is there to lose.

If I accept the creepy looking baby in addition to the other two, I'm pretty sure I can take good care of them all and once it has been five months and still no development with the other two, I'll immediately return them back. Win win right?

But what if their eyes becomes opened by the fifth month, what will I do?! Will I have to raise all three children?!.

Nah!! That's impossible, after all, the orphanage keeper said I'm just one of a few suitable candidates for those two babies so there's no way I will be able to be a father of all three babies. Right?!

'Whew!! Did it suddenly got hotter in here? Man I can feel my body temperature rising all of a sudden.' I thought inwardly as beads of sweat began to accumulate on my head.

"Mister Lustwood?"

"Yes?!"

"You accept them?! That's splendid Mister Lustwood, I'll get the paperwork done immediately,"

'Huh?! Paperwork?!...'

'No!! Wait!! I haven't decided yet,'

'Woah!... Man she is fast,'

'Well it doesn't matter really. I'll have to be a father eventually so where's the harm in learning how to take care of three babies. I bet it will as easy as pie.'

With various thoughts swarming around my head, I decided to shift my gaze towards the baby who as usual was staring at me.

Yep it's official, this baby is creeping me out.

C'mon just shift your gaze somewhere else or just blink for crying out loud. You are terrifying every fiber of my being.

As I thought this words my hands impulsively navigated towards the little baby.

I flicked her cute little nose with the most tenderest of care.

Looking at all three babies closely now, their bodies seems so flawless which only adds more to their exceptional beauty, I guess I'll adopt them for now and then decide whether to keep all three on the deadline day.

"Babies are sho cute and beaushiful ishn't that wright?"

"Hehe... Hehe, "

As I said those words to the baby girl, she giggled before grabbing my finger and sucking on it as though it was a delectable. I guess she is hungry.

*****

"Here is everything you will need in taking care of all three babies, their baby formula is in the bag and descriptions on how you will get more has been indicated in a sheet of paper."

With all the paperwork being taken care of and the agreement made about the two babies already issued out, both nursing mothers helped me in carrying the crib outside, the crib contained all three babies by the way.

"Thanks for everything,"

"Oh no, its nothing, you don't have to mention it," "Please take care of all three babies," The two nursing mothers relayed as I smiled and nodded back to them.

"Teleportis,"

I enchanted a spell and suddenly I appeared at the front door of my mansion with the three babies in a crib just right beside me.

**********

"Eiiii!!!"

Meanwhile back at the orphanage where Dante had just left from, both nursing mothers and the orphanage keeper screamed in delight as they were finally free from the burden of taking care of all three babies.

"Behave yourself now ladies, we can't fully celebrate yet, the most important thing is to hope he doesn't return the babies back here before the ending of the fifth month, "

Hearing those words, the nursing mothers felt a little crestfallen but the excitement and relieve still lingered on their faces.

"By the way ma'am, were you able to remind him about the full moon? "

"Uh-Oh, Nah!, don't worry ladies, it will be fine. He doesn't look like the kind of man who would try to hurt a baby so please be rest assured. Well If that's all then I'll be on my way to nap.....uh!... I mean to work. Yes! That's it. " The orphanage keeper said as she dashed away towards her office.