Today, after waking up, Lien opened his eyes and found that the little elf was not in the room.
He stared blankly at the ceiling with its mottled wood grain.
“I need to pee….”
He lowered his head slightly and saw that he was properly wearing a diaper.
“Just pee, anyway, I’m just a baby now….”
The Emperor was relieving himself….
After he was done, he continued to stare blankly at the ceiling, contemplating his next move.
From what he saw and heard yesterday, the technological level of this world had reached the level of the Second Industrial Revolution in his original world, with running water, cars, and radio.
Before his revival, it was still the Middle Ages. According to the original laws of productive force development, he had slept for at least several hundred years.
What could these several hundred years have left for him?
His subordinates who had once fought alongside him to conquer the world were all buried, and perhaps even their descendants could no longer be found.
Even if his empire still existed, it must have changed drastically. Even if he could prove his identity, the new ruler would probably not welcome him, the old emperor.
He wouldn't just show up and be greeted with a smile, “Ah, haha, it’s Emperor Lien! You’ve finally returned! Come, come, come, you should still be our emperor.”
Most likely, after he showed up, he would be untraceable the next day.
The main reason was that he no longer had his great hero-level strength; he had completely reset to a level one initial account.
The max-level account he had painstakingly built was directly archived.
It made his still-undeveloped teeth itch with anger.
However, Lien still held some hope in his heart. No matter what changes had occurred in the world's situation, and regardless of whether his empire still existed, at least the world was peaceful and tranquil, and the people were prosperous and well-off. It would be good if there was no grand unification, and no conflicts or wars.
Otherwise, why would he continue to conquer and expand his territory, even after he had amassed enough wealth and glory for a lifetime? Setting aside the utilitarianism and sense of honor of an emperor, this was precisely what he was striving for.
In the past, after he completed his grand unification, the country's population doubled within ten years, and grain production quadrupled. Although it was still not possible for everyone to eat their fill, at least there were no more famines. Looking at the current technological level, it shouldn't be worse than that, right?
In the past, even after becoming emperor, he never had a day of rest, diligently managing the court, perfecting laws, opening up new lands, and suppressing remnants of rebels in various regions….
If the world were peaceful, it would be quite nice for him to find a good job and live a leisurely middle-class life.
Lien thought this in his heart.
But no matter what, he could only temporarily stay here for now. He would wait until he grew up a bit and could be independent before doing anything else.
However, this meant he would have to spend several years under the care of a little girl.
This was very difficult for the extremely proud Lien to accept.
Although he was an emperor, the fierce personality he developed during his campaigns made him very resistant to others excessively interfering with his daily life. Even Gleisa, who had served him as a servant for thirty years and later became empress, would only brew him a pot of tea and arrange his clothes for the day.
Now, a little girl was going to completely control his life.
Although he had heard that Yumilia, as an elf, was already over twenty years old.
He never expected it! In his previous life, he was an orphan. After reincarnation, he also became an orphan due to war, growing up in the church. At fifteen, he joined the mercenaries, barely experiencing any family affection. Yet, after spanning several hundred years and becoming a baby, he got a little elf as a mother.
At least give him a normal family….
Fate truly plays tricks on people….
Just then, the door was pushed open, and the little gray-haired elf came running in, carrying large and small bags, her pretty face still flushed, looking very excited.
“Baby! You’re awake!”
She placed all the bags on the table, then pulled something out of them.
“Look what good things I brought you! You’ll definitely love them!”
Lien looked over and saw that she was holding a pacifier. His face immediately fell.
“What a joke….”
He absolutely did not want to suck on something so embarrassing!
However, Yumilia had already brought the thing towards him, about to put it in his mouth.
Lien struggled to cry out, shaking his head back and forth, but still could not escape the fate of being gagged.
The pacifier was inserted, and just as he was about to spit it out, he uncontrollably sucked on it once.
Then he opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“Hmm? What is this? It feels so stimulating.”
He sucked a few more times.
“Damn it, this elf didn’t mix anything into it, did she? Why is it so stimulating?”
Yumilia watched him constantly sucking on the pacifier, and her eyes also narrowed happily.
“I knew you’d love it!”
“Don’t misunderstand, this Emperor is merely using it critically,” Lien thought, with the pacifier in his mouth.
Yumilia rummaged through the bag on the table and pulled out many baby products: clothes, bibs, diapers, bottles, baby powder, and a plush toy rabbit with a rather mischievous expression.
“Look, this is Mr. Poppo Rabbit. From now on, he’ll be your friend,” Yumilia dangled the little rabbit in front of him, then placed it beside him.
“Can you not let that guy’s face point at me?” Lien thought, looking at the mischievous rabbit.
“Oh, right, I also asked Grandpa Rudy to come up with some names! There are so many I don’t know which one to choose, so I’ll let you pick.”
Yumilia pulled out several cards, laid them out around Lien, and then picked him up.
Lien looked at the names on the cards around him.
“What the hell is ‘Cute Pink Little Dududu’….”
Did this elf really think of names for him seriously….
“Do you like this one? It’s called Char. Grandpa Rudy said boys with this name would be very sunny and cheerful.”
Yumilia picked up a card with a name written on it and brought it close to him.
In a certain way, Lien expressed strong rejection of this name.
“You don’t like it?” Yumilia said, lowering him a bit.
“Then, why don’t you choose yourself?”
Lien looked at the cards, hesitating for a long time.
He certainly couldn't use the name Lien Notting now; it would be better to choose a nicer one.
He looked around and reached out his hand towards one of the cards. Yumilia noticed and picked it up.
“Caesar, do you like this name?”
Lien nodded his little head.
For him, this name carried a certain idealistic color.
“Alright then,” Yumilia said, smiling as she held him in her arms, “From now on, you’ll be called Caesar, Caesar Serandil! Serandil is my surname, so now we’re a family!”
Lien hummed and whimpered in her embrace, and when he heard the surname Serandil, he suddenly froze.
“Wait, isn’t that the surname of the Elf Royal Family?”
This little elf was actually from the royal family?
No.
If she were truly from the royal family, she wouldn't be living in such a small village, alone in such an ordinary wooden house.
From his understanding of the elves, they would not bestow the noble royal surname upon ordinary elves. Even if she were an illegitimate daughter of the royal family living outside, she would never bear such a noble surname.
If she could so casually bear a name that was once exclusive to the royal family, there was only one possibility.
This surname now held no meaning whatsoever.
In other words, the Elf Royal Family had perished.
România, the kingdom where the elves resided, had always remained neutral in conflicts, peaceful even during wartime. Since elves were long-lived, their royal family had never changed for thousands of years.
What kind of event could cause their rule to collapse? What could make their noble surname, which had lasted for thousands of years, fall to common status?
Lien had a terrible thought.
Perhaps, the entire elf race was on the verge of extinction.