Meeting Again
The warm atmosphere of the dining room became dark and tense.
Even Baobao and Wisey who were happily enjoying the food had sensed hatred and resentment from their master.
Worried that it her reactions may be too detrimental, Grandpa Andi tried to calm everyone's mood and said,
"Now, now.. This isn't the time to think about the dark past, what we need to think about now is how do we proceed into savoring this dessert~~"
He gently waved his little hands towards the decadent mixed berry mousse cake beautifully plated with fresh berries and crushed nuts.
Eli understood Grandpa Andi's intention and proceeded calming down herself, by giving a taste of the well prepared dessert.
Taking a spoonful, Eli couldn't help but savor the symphony of flavors in her mouth, as all the berries were well blended with the light and airy cream. The fresh berries tickled Eli's taste buds, complemented by the varying texture of the cookie base, crushed nuts and mousse.
"Desserts are powerful!" She said in amazement and satisfaction. Her eyes went wide and round as enjoy every spoonful.
The two elders gave a light chuckle seeing the young lass enjoyed her food without a care. "Good to know that you liked it!"
"Yes, yes, now I feel that all the stress were gone and I feel like I have a clear head now, hehehehe." Eli responded with a somewhat mischievous tone. Finally adjusting her emotions she proceeded back to the main matter again.
"Grandpa Andi, Grandpa Ben, thank you for voicing out your opinions to the Prince. Just like what you were thinking, I also share the same opinion."
"A marriage with the prince will bring me more danger now." She said in a more serious tone and continued,
"First, it would be tantamount to announcing my whereabouts to The Spectre and who knows, they might also be interested in my Little Han.." She clenched her fist and she could imagine the great danger ahead for her unborn Little Han.
"Second, I will be forced to participate in a political battle should the Prince be subjected to pressure by the nobility. My identity and background will cause immense ridicule and pressure towards the Prince and the Imperial family."
The two men nodded towards Eli's opinion and were impressed that she had taught this far for the issue at hand.
"However, Grandpa Andi, Grandpa Ben… even if I run away from the Prince I will also be taking a lot of consequences...
"First and the most important one is, I will be depriving Little Han of a childhood without a father, knowing that the Prince was willing to take his responsibility as a father to him."
"Next was the fact that I couldn't protect myself and Little Han if I chose to live alone."
"Hmm, hmm indeed indeed, although do not forget the fact that Old Ben and I will be doing our best to protect you too. You have the Forgeworn and Farauld Clan standing beside you in this struggle!"
Grandpa Andi declared with a resolute expression. Grandpa Ben also acknowledged with a beaming smile and a nod of confirmation.
Touched by the elders' unrelenting support, she gave a grateful smile and replied,
"Grandpas, I couldn't be grateful enough with your support and protection. However, I think you would also agree to my desire to be stronger to protect myself.."
She took a pause, lovingly caressed her baby bump and looked tenderly towards Baobao and Wisey at the other table.
"To keep my little household alive and standing, at least until greater help comes."
"We also think that you need to do that. But alas! Your grandpas were not summoners! We have summoners in our ranks but I don't think they are strong enough for us to be relieved." Grandpa Ben affirmed Eli's statement.
"However, the Creator has been kind to us and let us know of one person strong and qualified enough to help you increase your strength as a summoner!" Grandpa Andi added with excitement on his face.
"A strong summoner? Who might this person be?" Seeing Grandpa Andi's excitement, she couldn't help but be curious.
"You will know soon~~ Hahahahaha!" Grandpa Ben laughed mischievously.
Eli's curiosity was immediately quenched. She gave a sigh of disappointment.
Shaking his head in surrender, as he saw his friend having a good time teasing the young one, Grandpa Andi thoughtfully gave Eli a little spoiler, "You maybe meeting this person after you get your health checked!"
"I see, I see. I'm curious and definitely excited to meet this summoner!" Eli replied, still savoring the dessert in front of her.
The two grandpas looked at each other with a knowing glance, their faces almost red in holding their laughter.
The rest of the meal time was another round of discussion regarding the household water pressure and heating system invented by Eli. It ended well and the two grandpas were excited again about what would happen in this project.
Eli suggested that the grandpas inform her in advance of the inquiries they have prior to visiting her household in the coming days, for her to prepare a 'paper' explaining their questions.
She wanted to also know how deep was the knowledge of the Elite Scholars of the Farauld Magic Institute in terms of science and technology.
After the meal Eli was led into the same study area they had met last night, to meet the doctor and receive medical advice. As her identity was sensitive she had been activating her veiling spell ever since she went out of the room.
However, Randel informed her that in order to get treatment from the doctor, one would have to deactivate all types of concealment magic before receiving a medical treatment because of the risk of misdiagnosis.
Randel assured her, however, that revealing her identity to that person was safe.
Trusting Randel, Eli deactivated her veiling spell. As she did this, she saw the activation of the familiar array requiring anyone who entered, give an oath of secrecy and an oath not to harm Eli.
'No wonder they said that it was safe.' Eli thought.
After the activation, the two grandpas along with Randel entered the study. Behind them was a very familiar person.
"Azayn?!" Eli exclaimed with wide eyes. She was so shocked that her mouth stayed open for a good few seconds.
"Wh-why are you here? How come?!" Eli couldn't comprehend what was happening. She knew that elves prefer not to interact with humans, so it was a big question for her why Azayn is here in Silvertown.
Azayn on the other hand was not surprised as she already expected to see Eli. Instead she gave a teasing chuckle and said, "Of course I will be here! At first, I was surprised that uncles Andi and Ben requested for me. When I knew that it was you whom I had to check, I gladly came!!!!"
"Well young Eli, this girl Azayn is also our friend. Although the elves do not like to interact with humans, we are part of this rare exception!" Grandpa Ben explained. He then beckoned Azayn to take a closer look at Eli.
In truth the grandpas were equally shocked that Azayn so willingly and immediately accepted their request upon knowing that it was Eli. They wondered how Eli got the favor of the elves. But upon long contemplation, they attributed it to the fact that the elves, just like them are lover of new knowledge which Eli had.
Without delay, Azayn immediately checked Eli's condition while she thoughtfully said,
"I heard you collapsed last night? I'll remind you again, it is crucial not to get too emotional as it will put stress on your body and Little Han. Please.."
"Uhmm, sorry. I'll be careful next time." Eli replied docily.
Azayn diligently checked Eli's condition and determined that there was nothing alarming to note. Little Han's heart beat remains at a normal level and Eli's pulse was also within the normal range.
After the procedures, Azayn stayed for a while and talked with the rest of the people in the study. She came to know about Eli's project and pleaded Eli to allow her to also come and participate. Clinging like a child, begging her mom to buy her ice cream.
Eli reminded her that other humans would be involved in the process and interaction with them was highly probable. This caused Azayn to be sulky and disappointed.
Although she wanted to gain new knowledge, her fear of interacting with humans other than the exempted ones remained unbearable.
Taking pity on her desire, Eli promised to explain it to her on one of her visits and show her the drafts and eventually the final product. Hearing this Azayn beamed in excitement once again.
Soon Azayn bid her goodbyes to Eli and went with Randel to transport back to the Elven Village through a portal. Grandpa Andi and Grandpa Ben then went on with their morning activities for their business and institute, respectively.
In the meantime, they advised Eli to stay a little more and make herself comfortable in the study while waiting for the summoner teacher to arrive. There were a lot of books in Grandpa Andi's study, most of them were about crafting magical items, history and geography.
However, Eli wasn't attracted yet with these subjects as she needed to dedicate this spare time right now in knowing one thing - who was the Third Prince!
Immediately summoning the book, she searched who the Third Prince was, praying that it wasn't marked as classified information from the heavens. Soon, the book of knowledge gave her the information she needed regarding the Prince background.
The information that the book of knowledge gave was akin to how the modern internet would display information about a public figure. She also noticed that the information displayed was color coded. She tried to figure out what it meant.
Public information will be printed in black text and flagged if there were more than twenty people who knew of the information.
Exclusive information about the prince was colored in cyan blue. It could be flagged if there were at least ten people other than the prince who knew of the information. Once the information was known to more than twenty it will be reclassified as public information.
Any lesser than ten was considered private information and would be marked as classified by the heavenly realm. It was so to prevent usage of this information to distort the ones destiny to the searcher's advantage.
After Eli figured out the meaning of the different classification of information, she engrossed herself in to reading the available info about the Prince.
"Leon Andrae De Seirende.."