Civil Servant in Romance Fantasy - Chapter 328

Chapter 328: The Prosperous Western Territory (8)

Grandmother held me tightly for what felt like an eternity before finally releasing me with a small, awkward cough. It seemed she felt embarrassed about showing such strong emotions to someone she was meeting for the first time, even if I was her granddaughter.

“I’m sorry. Getting old just makes me more tearful...”

“No, no. It’s fine.”

I quickly shook my head at her apology. No one in the world would judge a mother mourning the loss of her child, and grandmother’s tears were as much about accepting her granddaughter as they were about grieving her daughter. How could I possibly reject those tears while cradled in her arms?

Rather, I felt grateful that grandmother showed her honest emotions in front of me. She didn’t push me away out of hatred for humans despite my mixed blood, but focused on the elven blood of her daughter flowing through me.

“Your mother was scatterbrained even as she aged, but you’re so mature at such a young age. It seems you take after your father in personality.”

Still, I couldn’t get used to her treating me like a small child. I’d dealt with similar treatment from my kin before arriving here, but being doted on by someone with visible wrinkles and kind, aged eyes made me feel like a toddler all over again. I hadn’t experienced anything like this since my maternal grandmother passed away.

To be fair, from her perspective, a granddaughter 500 years younger probably was just a child.

“Um, child.”

Grandma carefully opened her mouth as I hesitated, unable to get up from her lap.

“Would it be alright if I called you Trixie?”

My body froze at those words. Trixie, a name I hadn’t heard since my parents passed away. Only my family used that to call me.

A wave of emotion surged in my chest, but I managed to keep it in check. Having someone call me Trixie again should have been a joyful thing, not something to cry about.

“Yes, grandmother.”

“You can call me grandma, too.”

“I will, grandma.”

Grandma beamed at my response. I probably had the same expression.

I found my grandmother after 121 years, and Grandma gained a granddaughter.

***But something felt off. Did she really see me as a crawling baby?

“I started hoping for grandchildren around when Ariadne turned 200. What name to give them, what clothes to dress them in, how to teach them. Just thinking about that made the months fly by.”

Her words were heartwarming and deeply moving, but I could barely focus on them right now.

“You already have a pretty name and seem to have grown up well so I have no complaints, but this is the one thing I regret.”

All my energy was focused on my eyes, so my ears weren’t functioning normally.

Specifically, on the clothes Grandma held up with a bright smile. The extraordinary clothes that stole my gaze were baby clothes Grandma made herself to dress her grandchild in.

Actually, I could look at baby clothes with a smile. Clothes for small children were inevitably small, and clothes too small for anyone to wear only evoked cuteness. I might have even laughed, imagining how adorable they’d look on a small child.

“I didn’t want to interfere with young people these days so I just made clothes, and they piled up like this.”

The problem was that the variety of sizes in the pile of clothes she showed was startling. They ranged from baby-sized garments to outfits for toddlers, and even dresses that could fit a fully grown adult.

Yes, Grandma was holding baby clothes that a fully grown adult could wear.

Oh no.

My head spun. That dress would be horrifying to a teenager, let alone someone like me.

“I put extra effort into making this, thinking it would be pretty if my grandchild was a girl.”

But seeing grandma looking at me with a subtle gaze, I knew it. It seems like I’d have to wear that dress.

Panic bubbled inside me. Out of all the clothes, why did she have to hold one I could wear? She even emphasized how much extra effort she put into making it—how could I refuse? Besides, she’d cried earlier, called me Trixie, and also welcomed me into her heart.

What should I do?

The answer was obvious. She’d be overjoyed if I closed my eyes tightly and said, ‘Then may I try it on?’

I knew that. I clearly knew, but I also had dignity and honor built up in human society—

“...Do you not like it?”

“It’s so pretty. May I try it on right away?”

Come to think of it, I’m in elven society now. Let’s temporarily abandon what I’ve built up in human society.

***The sound of footsteps echoed from the staircase as we struggled to keep the conversation alive, feeling like we might dry up and die if we kept our mouths shut.

The conversation stopped instantly, and all eyes turned to the stairs. It was natural, given that everyone’s interest and concern were focused on the Mage Duchess. Even the young duke was just sipping her juice, seemingly feeling the tension.

But only the Elder came down from the third floor.

We avoided the worst.

I felt relieved. I didn’t know the details, but we had avoided the worst-case scenario if the Mage Duchess was still upstairs. It meant they were having a normal conversation without her being chased out as a granddaughter.

“Which one of you is Carl?”

“Ah, that’s me.”

Moreover, the fact that the Elder was looking for me, the Mage Duchess’s lover, suggested that the situation was closer to positive than negative. She wouldn’t be looking for anyone if it were an expulsion order, and she would’ve addressed everyone if it were a threat.

“Come up for a moment.”

The Elder turned on her heel after saying that. She didn’t seem affectionate, but she didn’t feel hostile, either. She felt just like a civil servant dealing with a complainant.

That was enough. Being treated neutrally by someone who might hate humans was more than generous treatment—no, considering this was our first meeting, it was nothing short of a miracle.

“I heard it from Trixie. You’re in a committed relationship?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I quickly nodded at her words as I followed her up to the third floor.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but smile. If she was calling the Mage Duchess by her nickname, it meant we hadn’t only avoided the worst but achieved the best possible outcome—

“I’m not entirely pleased with it.”

I quickly managed my expression again.

Of course, having a human as the Mage Duchess’s partner was an entirely different matter even if she was accepted as a granddaughter. If anything, having recognized her as a granddaughter might make the Elder more scrutinizing towards the person who would be by her side.

“But I don’t have the right to interfere in your relationship. I couldn’t offer that child any help, while you provided comfort.”

However, her next words surprised me a bit. A family elder not interfering in her granddaughter’s marriage and setting aside racial sentiments? Just based on what she was saying, she seemed more open-minded than most humans. Was she really someone who hated humans?

“Trixie finds comfort in you, so I’d like to ask a favor.”

“Please, ask anything. I’ll do my best.”

For someone who had suffered at the hands of humans, lost a daughter who married one, and yet still accepted their granddaughter’s choice to be with me—a human—this level of open-mindedness was extraordinary. How could I not do anything for an elder who had made such a decision? Even if it meant giving the Wise Duchess a piggyback ride, I’d do it without complaining.

“I think it looks very pretty on her, but Trixie seems embarrassed. I think she’ll only come downstairs if you convince her she looks good.”

“Pardon?”

What was that supposed to mean?

Is she embarrassed?

Did she put on some kind of traditional elven makeup? No, even so, the Mage Duchess wasn’t a toddler to be embarrassed by such things, right?

The answer became painfully clear the moment I saw the Mage Duchess wearing a pink, frilly dress.

“Ah, baby. This, well...”

The Mage Duchess froze and stammered as soon as our eyes met.

I see.

I understood. She wasn’t a toddler, but she was being treated like one. That was enough to make anyone feel mortified.

She honestly looked cute, but I held back from saying anything since it felt like she might bolt straight through a window and run away if I did.

I pretended not to see the twin tails, too.

***Fortunately, we were able to calm the Elder’s desire to show off her cute granddaughter. Elves might have all cooed over the Mage Duchess, but there were over ten humans right downstairs.

“While Beatrix may be a cute child to the Elder and elves, she’s highly respected in human society.”

“Respected? This child? When she’s barely over a hundred?”

“There are many humans who don’t even live to be a hundred.”

The Elder was culture-shocked to learn that her cute granddaughter was considered the oldest living person by human standards. Still, it seemed her experience of cooperating with humans during the empire’s founding era hadn’t completely faded, and she reluctantly accepted it for the sake of her granddaughter’s dignity.

“But still, she’s only just past a hundred... That’s like being just over ten years old in human terms.”

Still seeming regretful, the Elder muttered as she went downstairs.

This is the difference between races.

It was dizzying. I occasionally felt the racial difference with the Mage Duchess, but facing a pure-blood elf made the gap feel this wide.

From now on, I think I should just accept whatever the Mage Duchess did. Was this what they called shock therapy?

“No, that’s not it.”

“Huh?”

The Mage Duchess shook her head while holding my hand. I was only more confused by this sudden statement.

“I’m not just over ten, I’m over twenty. Since I’m mixed-blood, it’s not 10% but about 20%.”

“...”

I was momentarily at a loss for words. Judging by her earnest expression, this wasn’t a joke to lighten the mood. And given her immediate rebuttal, it wasn’t an impromptu excuse, either. She must’ve sincerely thought this way all along.

I see. So the Mage Duchess thought of herself as twenty-four years old.

“That would have been dangerous if it was 10%.”

I replied, choosing my words carefully.

If that was what my future wife thought, then so be it.

***I went outside after finishing my conversation with Trixie and that boy called Carl. I did encounter the humans on the first floor, but they were guests invited by my kin and Trixie’s friends. I couldn’t treat them unkindly, so I told them to make themselves comfortable.

A granddaughter.

Getting some fresh air seemed to clear my head a bit. News of my runaway daughter’s death, and the unexpected appearance of a granddaughter. These events were too shocking to experience in a single day.

...Is the world changing?

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of my granddaughter carrying human blood, and even loving a human.

An elf who suffered at the hands of humans falling in love with a human. It was truly like a fairy tale.

“What should I do?”

I muttered while looking at the sky.

Our elven mother and the great god who gave us the World Tree. And the World Tree, the only means of communicating with that mother.

I had always missed them, but I had never wanted to see them as desperately as I did today.

“Auntie, auntie.”

“Are you crying? Are you crying?”

As I stared blankly at the sky, a few fairies hiding in the trees flew out and circled around me.

How could I have worried even these little ones? It felt embarrassing.

“I told you not to come out.”

Still, I needed to scold them when necessary. Their numbers had already dwindled since the World Tree burned; who would take responsibility if they showed themselves and something bad happened?

“But, but...”

“Look, look! There’s god’s power! We can feel it!”

?

What were they talking about now?