Reincarnated As An Archmage’s Daughter

Hania blinked her eyes open, her vision still blurry with sleep, and found herself staring up at Kofery's face.

He was sitting in a wooden chair, his spectacles slightly crooked on his nose. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her against his chest with the same gentleness he'd always used when she was a baby.

A basin sat on a small table in front of them, steam rising gently from the warm water. Beside it, a young spider maid stood at attention, her eight legs folded neatly, holding a cloth in two of her hands and a toothbrush and paste in another two. Her eyes watched Hania with polite expectancy.

Hania blinked. "Kofery?"

"You woke up. You were worried about your breath earlier," he said quietly. His eyes didn't quite meet hers. "I thought... I thought you might want to... before you woke fully. I didn't want you to be upset about it again."

Hania stared at him. The morning breath crisis. He'd been so formal and distant earlier, but he'd remembered that ridiculous panic and had prepared for it while she slept. Her heart squeezed in her chest.

"Kofery..." she started.

"The maid will help you wash," he continued. "It's easier if I hold you. You're still weak. Your muscles haven't recovered yet."

Hania looked at the spider maid, then back at Kofery. His hands, wrapped around her, were trembling almost imperceptibly.

"Okay," she said softly.

The spider maid stepped forward. She dipped the cloth into the warm water, wrung it out, and gently began to wash Hania's face. The warmth felt wonderful against her skin, washing away the stale sleep and two years of accumulated dust. Hania closed her eyes, letting the maid work.

Next came the toothbrush. It was soft-bristled, clearly designed for children, and the paste on it tasted of honey and mint. The maid was surprisingly gentle, brushing in small circles while Hania obediently opened her mouth.

Through it all, Kofery held her. His arms didn't waver. But she could feel the tension in his shoulders.

When the maid finished and stepped back, Hania's face was clean and her mouth tasted fresh. She felt more human than she had since waking.

"Thank you," she said to the maid. The spider bowed deeply, her legs folding, and then retreated silently from the room.

The door clicked shut.

They were alone.

Hania looked up at Kofery again. He was staring at the closed door. The same reluctant attitude.

"Kofery," she said quietly.

He didn't respond.

"Kofery, look at me."

Slowly, he turned his head. His eyes met hers.

"Earlier," Hania said carefully, "you called me 'Miss Hania.' You said servants don't harbor anger toward the master's lineage."

His jaw tightened. "That's correct."

"It's not correct." Her voice was soft but firm. "You've never called me that. Not since I was born. I was always 'little moon' to you. Even when you were panicking about milk temperatures or trying to keep me from eating chalk, I was your little moon. Now you won't even look at me properly."

Kofery's grip on her tightened. "Miss Hania, I—"

"No." She reached up and grabbed the front of his robe, her fingers clutching the fabric. "Don't 'Miss Hania' me. Don't do that. Something happened while I was asleep, and I need to know what it is. I need to know why you're acting like you're nothing to me."

His composure cracked. His eyes grew wet behind his spectacles.

"I don't matter. I never mattered. I'm just a servant, Miss Hania."

"What are you talking about?"

"I couldn't do anything." His voice rose slightly, cracking under the weight of two years of silent pain. "When you disappeared, I couldn't do anything. The Archmage searched. Lusha searched. They have power. They can travel instantly, break through dimensions, tear open the fabric of reality looking for you. Do you know what I did?"

She didn't answer. She couldn't.

"I waited," he said. "I just sat in the Tower, waiting for information to come. Waiting for someone to tell me if you were alive. Waiting for someone to remember that I existed."

Hania's chest tightened. Her fingers still clutched his robe.

"Lusha disappeared. The Archmage vanished. Nobody told me anything. Nobody told me what was happening. Servants just wait. I couldn't leave the Tower because there was work to do. I couldn't search because I don't have that kind of power. I'm a combat mage, but what good is that when the enemy is the space between dimensions? What good is that when I can't even find you?"

Tears were streaming down his face now, but he didn't seem to notice.

"You always came back before," he continued, his voice breaking. "Every time you disappeared, you always came back. Sometimes hours, sometimes days, but you always came back. And then this time, you just... you didn't. And nobody told me anything. Nobody said, 'Kofery, she's alive.' Nobody said, 'Kofery, we found her.' I just waited."

"Kofery—"

"Then Lusha showed up at the Tower and she said, 'Come with me.' Like I was a bag she was carrying. She brought me here, and I saw you, and you were just..." His voice cracked entirely. "You were just lying there, Hania. For months. And I sat by your bed every single day, and I waited. I held your hand and I waited. And I couldn't do anything else. I'm just a servant. Servants don't matter. Servants don't get to have feelings."

"You matter to me!"

The words burst out of her desperately. She grabbed his face with both hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Kofery. You matter to me. You've always mattered to me. You were the first person in this world who held me like I was precious. You called me 'little moon' when I didn't even have a name. You fed me, you changed me, you read to me, you panicked, conjured bottles and made sure I was safe." Her voice cracked. "You're not nothing. You're not just a servant. You're my family."

He stared at her, tears still streaming down his face. "Hania..."

"You're my family," she repeated, squeezing his cheeks. "And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't think about what it would be like for you. I was so focused on everything else that I didn't think about the people I left behind. I didn't think about you waiting. I didn't think about you not knowing. And I should have. I should have thought about you."

Kofery's composure finally shattered completely. He pulled her against his chest, burying his face in her silver hair, and sobbed. Great, heaving sobs that shook his entire body.

Hania wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again. "I'm so sorry, Kofery. I won't leave you behind again. I promise. You're my family. You're always my family."

They stayed like that for a long time, holding each other.

Eventually, Kofery's sobs quieted to shaky breaths. He pulled back, wiping his face with his sleeve, his eyes red and swollen behind his spectacles.

"I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you," he said in a hoarse voice. "Not the other way around."

"Families take care of each other," Hania said firmly. "That's the rule."

He let out a wet laugh that was almost a sob. "You sound so grown up."

"I'm nine now, technically. I'm basically an adult."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works."

"Shut up and let me have this."

He laughed again, and this time it was genuine. He pulled her back into a hug, gentler this time, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I missed you," he whispered. "I missed you so much, little moon."

"I missed you too," she whispered back. "And I'm never going anywhere without telling you first ever again. I promise."

"Even if the Archmage says no?"

"Especially if he says no. I'll tell you anyway. You can help me plot my escape."

Kofery sniffled. "That's a terrible idea."

"Probably. But you'll help me anyway because you love me."

He didn't answer, but his arms tightened around her, and she felt the tremor in his shoulders as he tried not to cry again.

The spider maid returned, silently collecting the basin and towels. Hania glanced at her and mouthed, "Thank you." The maid's eyes crinkled in what might have been a smile, and she scurried out as quietly as she'd come.

Kofery settled back into his chair with Hania still in his lap, his breathing finally steadying.

"Did you really wait by my bed every day?" Hania asked softly.

"Every single day," he confirmed. "Lusha and the Archmage did their duties. The maids did theirs. But I had nothing else. So I sat." He looked down at her. "I told you stories. I told you to come back. Lusha needed you. The Archmage needed you."

"You needed me too. And I came back for you."

The tears welled in his eyes again. "Hania..."

She patted his cheek. "You're not allowed to be sad anymore, okay? We're together now. We're not doing the distant formal thing again. I'm your little moon and you're my Kofery, and that's that."

"Even when you grow up?"

"Especially when I grow up. You're stuck with me. You have to deal with my existential crises. That's the price of being my family."

He laughed again. "Your price is very high."

"You're rich. You can afford it."

"I'm a combat mage with an Archmage's salary. I'm not rich."

"Compared to a baby spider, you're a millionaire."

"Where did you even learn words like 'millionaire'?"

"I'm an is—" She caught herself. "I'm just smart. Read a lot of books."

He looked at her suspiciously but let it go. "You're definitely hiding something."

"Everyone has secrets, Kofery. Some secrets are just... secretier."

He shook his head, but he was smiling.

"I missed you so much," she said again, tucking her head under his chin. "I didn't realize how much until now."

He squeezed her gently. "I might not be able to travel through dimensions or break curses, but I'll always be here for you. Waiting. Making sure you have honey cakes when you wake up."

"That's all I need."

"..."

"..."

"Kofery?"

"Hmm?"

"Is my father doing okay?"

The silence stretched.

"I don't know," he admitted quietly.

"When will I see him again?"

"Soon," Kofery said. "But now you need to get ready, everyone is waiting for you."

"...Everyone?"

Kofery smiled at her, a smile that immediately made Hania uneasy.

Did he just smirk?