After Eiko’s battle with Astra, the baby slime slept peacefully in Lux’s arms.
Iris walked beside Lux as they went to find Vera in the Sky Garden of Barbatos Academy. This particular garden was divided into four areas.
The first one was for the students with commoner backgrounds.
The second was for those with noble backgrounds.
The third was for the elite students of the academy who had shown exceptional talent in Elysium. This special area didn’t care whether you were a noble or not. As long as you had results, you would be a part of this exclusive club.
Everyone wanted to enter this circle of the Elites because they were truly the recognized prodigies of the six kingdoms that backed Barbatos Academy. Even Princes and Princesses could not enter the Elite Circle, regardless of how much influence and money they tried to use.
And last, but not the least, was the private sanctuary of the Kaizer family. Since Alexander was one of the strongest humans in the Western Regions of Solais, no one dared to defy him whenever he made a decision.
This was also the case for the part of the garden where Iris usually stayed with her Beast Companions whenever she wasn’t training. ꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀs, ᴘʟᴀs ᴠsᴛ NovlFire(.)nt
When Lux and Iris arrived at the garden, they saw Vera enjoying some tea, while being served by Alicia, who wanted to score some brownie points with Alexander’s mother. Vera knew that the beautiful secretary admired her son, and had already approved of her.
However, Alexander had become distant and indifferent after Iris’ mother died due to her poor health. Since then, he never remarried nor even looked at other ladies with the intention of marrying them.
For him, Alicia was only his secretary and their relationship was pure business. Nothing more, nothing less.
‘Poor girl,’ Lux thought as he looked at the beautiful lady, who was trying to aim for the moon, but was given rice crackers instead.
“Grandma!” Iris smiled brightly as she ran towards Vera to give her a hug, and a kiss on her left cheek.
After giving her greeting, the young beauty gave Lux a side-long glance before whispering something in Vera’s ear, which made the old woman smile sweetly.
As if it was a planned move, both ladies gazed at Lux’s with faces that screamed “Mission Accomplished!”
The Half-Elf could only chuckle nervously because he could already hear the wedding bells ringing in the distance. His only hope was his stepfather, Alexander, getting in the way of the two ladies’ plans.
“Grandma, please meet your great granddaughter,” Lux said with a teasing tone as he presented the still sleeping baby Slime to his grandmother.
As if sensing someone staring at her, Eiko opened her eyes and saw an old woman staring at her with an amused expression on her face.
“Manma!” Eiko said happily as she looked at Vera.
Lux was quite surprised that his baby Slime had called Vera “Manma”, which was the endearment he used to call her when he was young.
Vera was also surprised and gave Lux a glance, as if asking him if he had asked Eiko to call her in this manner. The Half-Elf shook his head firmly in response, which made Vera shift her attention back to the little Slime who was lightly jumping on Lux’s hands.
“Come here, Little One,” Vera picked up the baby slime with both hands and brought her close to her face, to take a better look at Eiko.
Eiko didn’t resist, in fact when Vera tried to scoop her up, she jumped on Vera’s hands and giggled. Perhaps, she thought that her great grandmother was playing a game with her, so she decided to play with her.
“Manma! Kiss!” Eiko said as she jumped up and down on Vera’s hands.
Vera chuckled because this was the first time she had seen a Slime act like a spoiled child, which tickled her heart. The old lady then kissed Eiko’s cheeks, and the baby Slime returned the favor. After sharing a kiss, Eiko crawled from Vera’s hand, to her shoulder, until she stood beside her neck.
Vera then picked up a small cookie from her plate and fed it to the baby Slime, who was more than happy to eat some snacks after her battle with the Unicorn, who bullied her.
“Although I didn’t expect that my first granddaughter would be a Slime, this feeling isn’t half bad,” Vera commented as she gave Eiko another cookie. “But Lux, make sure to give me another great grandchild in five years, okay? I don’t have much time left, and I still want to hold your baby.”
“Grandma, you’re still young,” Lux replied as he rested a hand on his grandma’s other shoulder. “I’m sure that you’ll be able to live for another hundred years.”
“Silly boy, my ears are not as long as yours.”
“Grandma…”
Lux suddenly felt sad after seeing the wrinkles on his grandma’s face. He hadn’t paid any attention to this in the past because, for him, Vera was strong and healthy.
Also, Vera rarely showed any signs of weakness. For her to tell him that she didn’t have much time, and wanted to see her great grandchild, made him realize that he had only been thinking of himself as of late.
He had never paused to consider his Grandma who had raised him since he was a baby. The Half-Elf thought that because Vera was strong, she would be able to live longer.
The people in Solais lived longer lifespans, compared to the Humans back on Earth. Most of them could live up to two hundred years old without any problems.
Lux had never asked Vera how old she was because he had long been told that asking a woman’s age was disrespectful. But, seeing how old Vera looked, the red-headed teenager felt a tightening in his heart, as he thought about a future without her.
“Don’t worry, Grandma,” Lux said softly. “I promise you that before I turn twenty, you will be holding another great grandchild in your hands.”
Vera looked at her grandson and nodded her head with satisfaction. “I look forward to it.”
Iris who was listening from the side held her burning cheeks with both hands as her face turned beet red.
“Grandma, I will also do my best,” Iris commented. “What do you want? A girl or a boy?”
“Hm… I don’t mind if it’s a girl or a boy. As long as they are born healthy.”
“Understood! Let’s do our best, Brother!”
,m “Mmm.”
Eiko, who was listening to their conversation, also smiled. It was as if she was also excited to see her future brother or sister, who would be born a few years from now.