‘Beautiful.’

The synchronized dance of fireflies illuminating the darkness was fantastical.

The fireflies were not afraid of people.

On the contrary, seemingly curious about the long-unseen guest, they playfully flickered their lights in adorable motions.

Dante reached out his hand toward the fireflies.

Then, a pink-hued firefly circled above it before shyly settling on his fingertip.

[Yerpi, look at this. The little one is sitting on my fingertip.]

Dante whispered as softly as possible, worried the firefly might fly away.

But he couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes.

Once the pink firefly landed on Dante, other fireflies rushed to gather near his hand.

Green, blue, and yellow ones sparkled beside the pink one, performing courtship dances.

[Why are they all doing this? Maybe they’re sending some signal to the one on my hand.]

“The red-toned ones are female. The others are either male or immature.”

Seri answered as Dante murmured in wonder.

Listening to her, Yerpi glanced around and indeed noticed that fireflies with reddish hues appeared fewer than those of other colors.

The differently colored fireflies were each striving to win the female’s affection.

Some danced individually, while others synchronized their movements into group performances. Yerpi let out a small sigh of amazement.

“To think insects could be this beautiful—it’s amazing.”

“Really? To me, you’re far more lovely.”

Raymond’s gaze held only Yerpi, who had just gasped in wonder.

Across countless past lives, his eyes had always seen only her.

Yerpi blushed at his words. Unlike the Raymond before she regained her memories, the current him spoke such embarrassingly affectionate words with ease.

While Dante remained engrossed in observing the fireflies, a sweet atmosphere bloomed between the duke and duchess. Watching them, Seri could only smile helplessly before guiding them onward.

“There’s still much more to see, so let’s continue.”

With the fireflies lighting their path, walking through the cave was noticeably easier than before.

The duke and duchess could now observe rare magical beasts within.

For instance, magical beasts resembling rabbits the size of a palm, or tiny lizards small enough to rest on one’s fingertip. They could even experience feeding miniature hummingbirds that ate only rock honey.

Flowers that glowed on their own, and peculiar magical beasts resembling cats with bat-like wings attached to their bodies.

And reptiles with vibrant, tropical colors unlike any seen elsewhere, as if plucked from a rainforest.

‘I’ve never even seen these in books.’

Species that self-protected within the domain of winter were treasures absent from official magical beast records.

These creatures didn’t shy away from humans—on the contrary, they were friendly. It was in this moment that the need for their protection truly sank in.

[Yerpi, it’s rubbing its cheek against mine…!]

While the joy of seeing rare creatures firsthand was wonderful, what meant the most to Yerpi was Dante’s smile.

The way he handled each creature carefully, his bright, joyful expression—was incredibly endearing.

Yerpi etched every detail of Dante’s appearance into her mind like a photograph.

Just when she thought they had seen all the wonders,

Seri led them deeper inside. From afar, a sound like flowing water could be heard.

At first, they thought it was a trick of the ear, but as Yerpi moved forward, the sound grew steadily closer.

“Is there underground water flowing inside?”

“Something similar, but even more special. You’ll understand once you see it—just a little further.”

Following Seri’s words hinting at a hidden place, the duke and duchess silently trailed behind.

Soon, a crunching sound blended with the murmur of gentle waves. Glancing down instinctively, glittering sand caught their eyes.

The sand grew more abundant, forming a stretch of white beach. Glowing fragments of seashells sparkled upon it, and crabs wearing luminous snail shells walked in groups to the side.

This was just like—

“A beach…?”

“Yes, exactly. There is an ocean within the firefly cave.”

Goodness. Yerpi’s eyes widened.

She had known the cave was special, but never in her wildest dreams imagined an ocean lay within.

Even after hearing Seri’s words, she couldn’t quite believe it—so Yerpi dipped her hand into the seawater washing up on the shore.

‘Cold.’

It was definitely seawater. Upon closer look, small marine life—starfish, sea urchins, crabs—moved about in the crevices of the rocks.

It felt just like strolling along a moonlit beach where fireflies danced in the night.

[Yerpi, the water’s salty!]

Unable to resist, Dante had apparently tasted the water and now stuck out his tongue, spitting it out dramatically. The sight made her laugh.

“That’s because it’s seawater. Normally, such a sandy beach doesn’t exist inside the cave.”

[I’ve never seen the ocean before.]

Dante paused mid-spit, fascinated—still having encountered most ecosystems only in theory.

Yerpi began pointing out the marine creatures nestled in the rocks. “This is a sea anemone. This is a jellyfish.”

As she named each creature she knew, Dante’s eyes sparkled with delight.

They were completely absorbed in marveling at the sea when a low chuckle sounded above her head.

Raymond was quietly laughing, watching Yerpi’s astonished expression.

“Did you already know about this?”

“Of course. In Growen, there’s nothing I don’t know.”

He had simply kept quiet because he wanted to see the look of surprise on Yerpi’s face.

And just as he’d hoped, Yerpi was amazed. The cave seemed to hold an entire ecosystem within itself.

Especially the marine life here—many of which glowed on their own, making observation much easier.

‘I always wondered how seafood dishes appeared in Growen, since there’s no ocean here.’

Raymond explained that small hidden seas like this were scattered throughout the seasonal domains.

Magical beasts that could only survive in seawater were rare, so most were protected species. Seafood was also one of the most precious ingredients in Growen.

[Yerpi, quickly come here!]

She was in the middle of talking with Raymond when, from far away, Dante waved his hand.

His voice was filled with urgency. Worried something terrible had happened, Yerpi hurried over to Dante.

“Dante? What’s wrong?”

[Look at this. I caught it!]

“!”

Dante proudly lifted up a giant lobster, as if he’d been waiting for her.

Unlike regular lobsters with reddish tones, the one Dante caught shimmered with a blue hue and was larger than average.

Its claw, nearly half its body size, looked quite intimidating. It was astonishing how Dante had managed to catch such a large creature.

[Amazing, right? I found it beside a rock and picked it up!]

Dante raised his voice, brimming with excitement. It wasn’t just Yerpi and Raymond who were stunned.

Seri, seeing the wriggling lobster, clapped her hands in admiration.

“It’s a Blue Ribbon Lobster. Named for its blue body and ribbon-like dotted pattern along its back. Everything from this cave’s sea is precious, but the Blue Ribbon Lobster is an exceptionally rare ingredient, even here.”

[Wow, can we eat this? Is it… delicious?]

Dante asked in surprise—he had caught it on impulse, but hadn’t really considered eating such a monstrous-looking creature.

Seri tilted her head, puzzled—wasn’t that exactly why he caught it?

“The flavor of blue lobster is called by gourmets the most extraordinary meat in the world.”

It was said to be excellent steamed or grilled, with an incomparable taste. Seri added that she had tasted it only once, on the lord’s birthday, but even now, she couldn’t forget its flavor.

Encouraged by Seri’s testimony, Dante stood a little taller.

[Yerpi, Uncle! Let’s cook this and eat it today!]

His proud demeanor was cute, but leaving him with it like that seemed risky.

Yerpi placed the blue lobster into a net bag given by Seri. Seri herself licked her lips at the sight of the healthy lobster.

Fishing was normally illegal, but they were the masters of Growen, and catching enough creatures for one dinner wouldn’t cause any significant harm to the cave’s ecosystem.

“Since we’ve come this far, we might as well harvest a few other sea creatures for the table. The experience of catching your own meal will be special.”

[Yeah! I’ll catch even more amazing ingredients! Yerpi, look forward to tonight!]

His voice sounded oddly competitive. Raymond muttered under his breath, amused.

“Kids really know no limits.”

[Hmph, Uncle couldn’t catch anything as cool as this, could you?]

A spark ignited in the young dragon’s eyes—and in Raymond’s too.

Suddenly, an unspoken competition over who could catch the better ingredients seemed to unfold, leaving Yerpi momentarily speechless.