The dim light of the dungeon filtered through its ever-present mist, painting the Ogre Queen’s chamber in hues of twilight. A vast hall carved from stone and reinforced with bones of ancient monsters served as her throne room. At its center sat the Queen, her towering figure framed by a throne of blackened iron, etched with runes of power long forgotten. In her arms rested a bundle wrapped in coarse fabric—a human infant who had turned her world upside down.

  Kenji cooed softly, his tiny hand curling around the Queen’s massive finger. For the first time since the death of her husband, the Queen felt a strange, unfamiliar warmth in her chest. She gazed at him with an expression that none of her subjects had ever seen. Her gaze was tender, maternal, and vulnerable.

  Around her, the royal advisors and elders of the village stood in uneasy silence. They had been summoned to discuss the fate of the human child—a creature many of them believed should have been left to die.

  “This is madness, Your Majesty,” one elder finally said, stepping forward. His gnarled face twisted in anger, his tusks jutting out as he gestured to the bundle in her arms. “A human has no place among us. Their kind has spilled ogre blood for centuries!”

  “Enough,” the Queen’s voice echoed like rolling thunder, silencing the murmurs of agreement that had begun to ripple through the chamber. She rose to her full height, towering over them all. Despite her gentle demeanor toward the child, her presence was still as commanding as ever. “This boy is under my protection. Any who dare question my decision will face the consequences.”

  The elders exchanged wary glances, but none dared challenge her directly.

  The Queen turned her attention back to Kenji, who had begun to squirm in her arms. “You do not understand,” she said, her voice softer now, but no less firm. “This child is not just human. He is… different.”

  “Different?” the martial arts instructor, a burly ogre with scars lining his green skin, crossed his arms. “What do you mean, my Queen?”

  “When I touched him,” the Queen said, her eyes distant as if recalling a vivid memory, “I felt something. His mana—though faint—was unlike any I have ever encountered before. It is… raw, unshaped, and limitless. He is not ordinary. Destiny brought him to us.”

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  “Destiny or not, he will grow to be a liability,” another advisor argued. “What happens when he learns of his kind’s hatred for us? What happens when he turns on us?”

  The Queen’s golden eyes burned with resolve. “Then it will be my responsibility to teach him otherwise. He will grow here, among us, as one of our own. And I will make him strong enough that no one—not even his own kind—will ever dare harm him.”

  The room fell silent again. The Queen’s words carried an unshakable conviction, one that even the staunchest skeptics found difficult to refute.

  

  Though Kenji was merely a baby in this new life, his mind was far from blank. Memories of his past life lingered at the edges of his consciousness, like whispers in the dark. His time as a jaded otaku in Tokyo was still fresh, though fragmented. He vaguely remembered pouring hours into video games, devouring countless light novels, and coding into the early hours of the morning.

  Now, in the arms of a massive, tusked creature who radiated both power and gentleness, he was acutely aware that this world was unlike anything he had ever known.

  he thought, as his infant body struggled to process everything. The Queen’s mana surrounded him like a protective shield, soothing yet potent. Despite the foreignness of his situation, he felt safe.

  he mused, his infant mind surprisingly lucid,

  Kenji’s small fingers instinctively gripped the Queen’s finger tighter, as if anchoring himself to this new reality.

  A Mother’s Vow

  Late that night, the Queen sat in her private chamber, cradling Kenji as he drifted to sleep. Her golden eyes glimmered with a mix of determination and sorrow.

  “My son,” she whispered, her voice trembling ever so slightly. “I lost my mate to the hands of humans, and my people are dying in the shadows of this dungeon. We have hidden for too long, grown weak in our isolation. But you… you are a spark of hope.”

  Kenji stirred slightly, his tiny face scrunching up before settling back into a peaceful slumber.

  “You may not be of my blood, but you are my son now. I will raise you, protect you, and make you strong. Stronger than any ogre, any human, or any monster that dares stand against us. Together, we will rise.”

  Her words carried the weight of a Queen’s vow, a promise that would shape not only Kenji’s life but the fate of the entire ogre village.

  As the Queen held him close, she felt the faintest flicker of mana emanating from Kenji’s tiny form—a testament to his potential. The boy would grow to be a force unlike any other.

  And for the first time in years, the Queen allowed herself a small, hopeful smile.