Chapter 25: The Little Elf Is a Woman Who Could Become My Mother

Astraea silently played her role. She was supposed to be a quiet, obedient elf slave, not an independent being who could directly interrupt Luo En’s conversation with the tall man who called himself the Regent of the Kingdom.

The feeling of playing this role made the little elf very uncomfortable, but considering that the other party really looked like he could kill her with a single slap, the little elf decided to endure for now.

Endure…

“You are also someone favored by the All-Father. There’s no need to hide anything in front of me.”

As if seeing through the little elf’s thoughts, Maximus spoke directly. Astraea instinctively looked up at the tall man walking ahead of them.

Then the tall man added, “I can’t read minds.”

‘What a familiar scene. I think I used this same trick to make Luo En feel embarrassed before?’

Elves have excellent memories. Astraea immediately remembered how she had teased Luo En before.

‘Never thought the tables would turn, and today she was the one being teased.’

But since he had said so, Astraea decided to stop pretending. She immediately asked, “What do you mean by ‘traveling the same path’?”

“Literal meaning. Under the All-Father’s gaze, we walk the same road.”

Maximus explained briefly. His tall figure was truly eye-catching, and every patrol they encountered along the way gave him a uniform salute.

Having controlled the Royal Capital for fifty years, Maximus was indeed a behemoth. After arriving at the duke’s mansion, this became even more apparent. Surrounded by a group of blue-armored attendants, the little elf couldn’t bring herself to refuse anything.

She was genuinely worried that if she didn’t please the duke, a bunch of knights would mince her into a fine paste.

Luo En remained silent the whole way. Only after the duke settled them into a guest room inside the mansion did he finally relax a little.

“Teacher Astraea, what do you think?”

Luo En asked. His original plans had been completely disrupted, and things felt like they were slipping beyond his control, making him slightly uneasy.

So he sought the little elf’s opinion. But Luo En knew that the little elf probably couldn’t offer any useful advice right now. Over the past month, he had noticed her strange state. If he had to describe it, the little elf had completely turned into an idiot whose mind was full of him.

“I… I don’t know.”

Astraea lived up to Luo En’s expectations. At this moment, she was performing even worse than him.

At least Luo En wasn’t gawking at the luxurious decorations of the duke’s mansion like some country elf.

Luo En sighed. He placed his longsword on the weapon rack and sat down on a chair.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this chair was made from gold-thread bamboo, a specialty of the kingdom’s southwest. This plant, a mutation of ordinary bamboo, had no special properties other than being extremely rare and expensive.

Ordinary nobles usually only used this material for small decorations or such. He never expected the duke to make chairs out of it. No wonder he was the Regent of the Kingdom.

“The duke values us so much probably because he’s competing with the Church over people. The expressions on those Church priests we met on the road were priceless. But what do we have on us that makes two such behemoths want to fight over us?” Luo En muttered, staring at his own hands while sitting in the chair.

His hands were rough, covered in calluses—the proof of his sword training since the age of eight.

After receiving the knowledge imparted by the All-Father, he had once felt significantly more mature. And over the next month, he had replaced the little elf as the backbone of their small team.

This feeling of commanding from within a tent intoxicated him. Every time he made a decision, the adoring look the little elf gave him secretly filled him with delight.

But faced with today’s situation, which exceeded his expectations, Luo En suddenly woke up with a start.

That knowledge was dead, a gift from the divine. Even the little elf’s feelings for him might have been guided by the gods. Without those things, he was nothing.

This realization filled him with an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

The cold reality tore away his thick disguise. Luo En, who had thought he was prepared, realized for the first time that he hadn’t prepared anything at all.

Just as his mind was in turmoil, Luo En suddenly felt a warm body press into his arms.

“Don’t be scared. I’m here.”

It was Astraea. She had somehow slipped into Luo En’s embrace.

Astraea had indeed felt dizzy lately, unable to think clearly about anything. But relying on her keen elven senses, she had immediately noticed that something was wrong with Luo En.

Seeing the two-meter-tall man trembling in the chair, Astraea recalled that Luo En was just a seventeen-year-old boy.

Luo En had told her about his past life. He had lost his mother at the age of two, started military-style training at eight, and his father had been his most strict instructor, rarely showing him any warmth. The last warmth he had felt was from that muscular nun.

To Astraea, whose mental age was over forty, Luo En’s problem was obvious at a glance.

This kid was starved for affection.

Originally, Astraea had wanted to hug him from behind, but Luo En was now too big. With her height of less than five feet, she couldn’t wrap her arms around him. So after some thought, the little elf changed her approach and slipped into his arms to be his hugging pillow.

Now it seemed to work well enough. After a brief moment of surprise at the soft warmth in his arms, Luo En immediately hugged her back. Feeling the warmth, the little elf turned around to face him.

Then Astraea reached out her small hands and gently pulled Luo En’s head into her embrace.

“If you want to cry, just cry. No one will laugh at you.”

To be honest, whether in her past life or this one, Astraea had never done anything like this.

In her previous life, she had been a man through and through. Raised to be strong and to earn money to support the family, she would never have acted this way toward anyone.

But she hadn’t lived up to the expectations placed on her either.

After being reborn into this life, Astraea was surrounded by elves who all looked down on others. Those elves certainly didn’t need anyone’s comfort, so this was the little elf’s first time taking such an action.

She had no experience, but she clearly had talent. As the saying goes, put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Having once been a seventeen-year-old boy herself, Astraea naturally knew what Luo En needed now.

Feeling the boy trembling and sobbing in her arms, Astraea suddenly felt her thoughts become much clearer. That all-consuming obsession with Luo En seemed to be drawn away by some unknown being. Her pointed ears perked up, twitched, then drooped back to their normal state.

Astraea let out a faint sigh.

‘What despicable gods, using such means to push me into falling for him.’

The experiences of the past month and her own abnormality flashed through Astraea’s mind. Back to normal, she immediately realized why she had been acting that way.

But she had to admit that those gods, whatever their intentions, had indeed hit her weak spot. She couldn’t just abandon Luo En now.

Even if the memories of her actions weren’t necessarily genuine, the little moments of the past month together were real. Astraea couldn’t deny the feelings for Luoen that had sprouted in her heart.

She gently stroked the boy’s head in her arms, letting him cry out his insecurities.

……

“You smell of another elf.”

Bound and curled up in Maximus’s arms, Aiouwen felt his aura completely enveloping her. Her expression grew intoxicated, but her mouth refused to let the duke off. “Why come to me again? Haven’t you been spending too much time with me lately?”

Saying this, Aiouwen opened her mouth and lightly bit down on Maximus’s large hand. The latter took the opportunity to freely caress the elf in his arms.

“It’s about time. The All-Father’s guidance is indeed correct. The Executive Council is fully capable of taking over the entire kingdom’s affairs.” Maximus toyed with Aiouwen like a doll. Her smooth skin gave him an excellent sensation. “When the day of the regency transfer ceremony comes… the All-Father’s long-cherished wish can truly take its first step.”

“Mmm…” Aiouwen’s eyes went wide, and her whole body trembled violently, but her mouth was blocked by Maximus’s large hand, so she couldn’t make much sound.

Maximus looked down at the tempting elf in his arms and chuckled.

Ever since he had shed his political duties, his expressions had grown richer, and with it, his mood had improved.

So now he looked more and more favorably upon Aiouwen. He even thought that in the future, he might as well just marry this elf.

“I met an elf today. Guess what?”

“Hmph… Are you taking a fancy to her? Planning to give me a new roommate?”

Having recovered, Aiouwen pushed Maximus’s hand away. She glared at him with slight dissatisfaction.

But he wasn’t annoyed. “What are you saying? I’ll only ever have you, one elf.”

Aiouwen was satisfied. She slumped into the duke’s arms, letting him stroke her body.

Though even if she resisted, it wouldn’t make a difference.

“That elf is very young, but I saw the All-Father’s blessing on her.”

Maximus said this, and Aiouwen stiffened. She asked in disbelief, “Who did you say? Who did the All-Father bless?”

“He blessed an elf.”

“Have I finally gone mad after all these years of captivity?”

Seeing Aiouwen’s worldview shaken, Maximus chuckled smugly. The last time he had seen her like this was when they first slept together.

Maximus loved seeing that expression on Aiouwen’s face.

“When the time is right, I’ll let you two meet. Come on, we still have many things to do.”