325 – Prosperous Western Territory – 5
An awkward silence lingered. I couldn’t open my mouth to the embarrassment of meeting her mother’s acquaintance for the first time in her life, and the embarrassment that the acquaintance had mistaken him for a person. Not only his mouth, but also his body stiffened, and the cotton candy in his hand grew bigger and bigger, but no one mentioned such a trivial problem.
“…My mother used the name Ariadne.”
I was the first to break the silence. It was unfamiliar for her to show respect to people other than members of the imperial family or dukes, but since she called her mother’s name comfortably, she must have been close to her mother. I dare not speak to such a person.
And in response to my answer, an acquaintance—a blond elf was a bright color.
“Then are you Ariadne’s daughter?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Oh my gosh! Somehow she looks exactly like Ariadne!”
Then he came up to me and touched my face with both hands. Instinctively, I almost backed away, but I knew that I was looking for the image of her mother in my face, so I stayed still.
My mother’s face is now only in my memory. If I can see that face too, there is nothing more gratifying than that.
“Really! It’s the same as when I was a kid!”
I felt an indescribable sense of relief at those words. Yes, as expected, my mother’s blood also flows in me–
“Fortunately, you don’t have similar personalities, do you? You’re still young and so dignified.”
Is…?
“…Yes?”
I heard a strange word and asked a question. Young? Courageous?
“It’s been about 150 years since Ariadne left her house, so I’m guessing she’s a little over a hundred years old at most… Isn’t it?”
In response to my reaction, my acquaintance blinked at her and asked. A reaction as if she knew she was wrong.
I was confused because I knew it properly. As deduced, it was over 100, but you say you are young even though you know that?
“This year is one hundred and twenty…One.”
“Oh, that’s right!”
A friend of mine starts touching my face violently again before he finishes answering.
Those eyes were similar to those of children watching Little Duke.
***
Starting with Lutis’ candy, Later’s ice cream, Tanian’s chocolate, and Ainter’s chocolate cookies. All kinds of snacks were dedicated to the little duke.
The little duke smiles brightly whenever the tributes increase one by one. Her bright smile also melted the faces of her companions. Please, please grow up like this. If you blacken out during your adolescence, the Duke of Salon and the Empire will grieve…
‘What is it?’
And only then did I notice the change. Dozens of elves gathered in one place. Even the elves in the shops we visited passed us by and headed for the elven district.
What is it really? Did a fight happen? No, it’s not a particularly hideous atmosphere to call it a fight, is it?
‘When it’s not there.’
An abnormal situation where elves gather. This is news that will make Jong-gong, who was secretly looking forward to meeting his own people, be happy, but he is away.
When the party’s attention was focused on Duke So, Prince Ma took an independent action, saying that he would check whether there were any magic materials that were only sold in the sanctuary for different tribes. In fact, he seemed to be full of anticipation of meeting his own people under the pretext of confirmation, so he let them go, but if he had known that the elves would gather while Prince Majong disappeared, he would have captured them.
But what can I do? Even if you regret it, there is no way for the person who disappeared to come back, so someone else should check it for you.
“Louise. I’m going to look around for a while.”
So, I pointed to the densely populated area and said to Louise, who was next to me.
“Ah, yes. Come home.”
Louis, who was puzzled by the sudden move alone, was immediately convinced by the appearance of the elves huddled together. That look is sure to interest anyone who sees it.
She seemed to want to go to Louise, but in the end she went alone. Even if it’s not a fight, isn’t it difficult to watch as a group if they’re gathered for negative reasons? Until you figure out the details, it’s better to check on your own.
And she was genuinely glad she moved alone.
“Oh my god, are you really a daughter? Are you not playing with magic? How did you look so alike?”
“Look at her hair. When Ariadne went around like that, she was just funny, but her little girl is so cute.”
“Everyone stop touching! What if the kid gets scared!”
Elves making a fuss around an elf. I almost laughed at the appearance of the members surrounding the small duke, but the elves surrounded by them are very familiar.
‘No, what.’
It’s Majonggong. Unlike usual, his ears facing the floor, and his hardened eyes rolling around are unfamiliar, but he is definitely a master craftsman.
“Oh, baby!”
‘Ah.’
Majong-gong, suffering from the touch of countless elves, desperately called me as if he had found me in a daze. Then, it was natural for the elves surrounding Majong-gong to focus on me.
“Baby? Hey, is that your son by any chance!?”
“Oh my God! You have a son over 100 now?”
“Ariadne… Is already a grandmother…? Until she becomes a grandmother, what am I…”
A trivial—no, a fatal misunderstanding arose because of the title.
“Little baby! Come here too!”
And after a while, I could see countless hands attacking me.
What the hell is this?
There are dozens of questions, but the loneliness of having to answer alone without allies. I’ve never experienced a hearing, but I think it’s roughly like this. Fortunately, the past I can’t remember is not at the level of being summoned.
From noble mtl dot com
“Oh, lovers?”
“You misunderstood me by calling me baby.”
In addition, misunderstandings were resolved quickly, and the atmosphere was quickly resolved.
“A small child and an even smaller child are lovers…”
“Somehow, it’s so cute…”
But wouldn’t the hearing be better than being treated like a child? I’m used to being ignored because of my age, but this is the first time I’ve been treated like this.
I feel like going crazy. A situation in which Prince Majong, who is over 100 years old, and I, who are at the end of the marriageable age, are treated like children. It’s not just the psychological trauma. Little Duke, did you feel like this…? I will never treat you like a kid again. Sorry.
“By the way, where is Ariadne? No matter how well-mannered the kids are, what are we going to do if we leave them alone?”
At the same time, a blonde elf crossed his arms and said, and I saw the demon tremble.
“My mother passed away.”
“Huh? Leaving you alone? He’s also really, if he’s come this far, he’ll even show his face.”
I felt like I was breaking out in a cold sweat at the elf’s words, which clearly showed regret. That doesn’t mean he went home.
“He passed away by Enen’s side.”
A creepy silence fell upon Ma Jong-gong’s hesitant answer.
“Ah, that, that…”
Fortunately, Tallulah has powers that transcend races. I was worried that the longevity species might have escaped death because of their different way of thinking than humans, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“Ariadne left?”
But from the point of view of that blonde elf, Jong-Gong Ma’s mother is a friend. I heard that a friend I hadn’t heard from died suddenly, but no one is okay.
The shock was evident to the other elves as well, and everyone was clearly perplexed. If you compare it to a human being, is it like hearing the news that an alumni you haven’t heard from after graduating from high school died in your 30s or 40s? I can’t feel it.
“Hey, there. Baby, what the hell, when…?”
One caught elf spoke very carefully. From the point of view of the elves, ask the little kid, Ma Jong-gong, ‘When did your mother die?’ You might be hesitant to ask, but shouldn’t you know when your friend left? At least to honor a close friend who passed away without their knowledge, they should know how they passed away.
“In the summer of 1277—”
Majonggong’s words had to be cut off without being completed. After hearing that, the red-handed elf hugged him.
Shedding tears, hugging Jong-gong Ma tightly, and patting his back with his hand was like soothing a crying child. It’s the elf that cries.
“101 Years ago? Didn’t that kid say one hundred and twenty one now?”
“Twenty is the age to be loved, how can it be…”
“What about Ariadne? How would she feel if she closed her eyes over a bloody child like that?”
A conversation in which pure pity and sadness coexist. However, listening to that conversation, I felt like my hair turned white.
I guessed that the difference in perception between humans and elves would be significant because of the significant difference in lifespan, but was it this much? Enough to treat twenty-somethings as little kids to be pampered in the arms of their parents?
‘Crazy.’
Confused. It’s not even that elves grow slower than humans. Aren’t pureblood elves physically mature at twenty? Are you still treating me like a kid?
Of course, I don’t live in an elf society, so I’m not in a position to say anything.
“How hard she suffered. She lost her mother at the age when she should be loved the most, and lived alone for a hundred years like that…”
Anyway, it seemed that Ma Jong-gong was also confused by the consolation mixed with tears. Then, did Ma Jong-gong ever have to receive such consolation? His father, who would love and cherish Ma Jong-gong, left before his mother, and his mother collapsed from illness as if to follow his father.
A friend? A friend cannot play the role of an adult. Vassal? Unless you’re really close, you don’t dare to sympathize with and comfort the duke. Even if it were possible, that friend and vassal would have died before Ma Jong-gong.
In the end, Jong-Gong Ma silently hugged the elf as he was comforted by adults for the first time in his life.
A commercial district visited by tourists. Dozens of elves gathered in one place in that commercial district are enough to draw attention, but they all shed tears with gloomy faces? It is a sight that cannot be turned away no matter how hard one tries.
“S-Master…?”
In addition, Louise already knew that I was among the elves. How embarrassed he must have been when the elves started sniffing in such a situation.
Luise, who had brought his party along, was able to witness Ma Jong-gong being patted and patted by dozens of elves.
“Ah, Louise.”
And then, Prince Majong greets Louise with an embarrassed face. The master’s dignity was in danger of being destroyed, but fortunately, Ma Jong-gong’s dignity was high and high, so he was able to withstand it.
“Oh my. Are you friends with my baby?”
Isn’t it? Can’t you stand it?
“It must have been difficult to adapt to the human world, but making friends like this is extraordinary.”
“Really? I’m sad that he seems to have matured so quickly.”
I quietly closed my eyes at the successive additional damage from the elves.
A world in which the oldest and most respected person in human society is treated as a pitiful little boy.
‘…It’s fortunate that it’s a protected area.’
I’m afraid of what would have happened if the elves were spread all over the continent, not in the reservation.