A family, I would truly wonder what it was like to have a family. I used to think that families were nothing but fiction, a myth to fool naive orphans into believing someone would actually love or care for them unconditionally.
But this child of mine, I think that perhaps what the old masters used to tell us that being loved and cared for was a weakness, an unnecessary attachment, is false. The rise of fall of my Emmy's chest solidified that fact, it may be a weakness but it was one I will take upon myself in a heartbeat.
Today I wished to venture through the border of the palace walls. The stone cold walls reminded me too much of my past and I wished to show my Emmy life outside these walls.
I walked around the palace with my baby in my arms, ignoring Iris as she tried to relieve me of holding my child.
"To the kitchen Iris! Emmy and I are going to make some delicious lollies".
I've always had a sweet tooth and to not be able to have a single dessert or snack since I've been here is slowly killing me. Of course my daughter wouldn't be eating any but it should be fun seeing her watch me cook. Besides everyone I've seen throughout the castle are far too serious that I wouldn't be shocked if they didn't know the concept of having fun.
"We are here mistress", Iris said as she opened the door.
As it opened, many different type of races stood at attention, all wearing a pale grey uniform. I gazed in amazement seeing even more races, some reptile like whilst others resembled dog features. A female demoness stood toward as she lowered her head.
"It is an honour, Madam and princess Emersyn. This chef is named Kalani."
I was mildly surprised by the amount of respect held for a mortal enemy like myself but I gazed at my adorable daughter, I knew this attitude was aimed more towards her then I, not that I minded at all. I smiled at the thought that so many people cared for my child.
"I'm sorry to disturb you and your crew but I was hoping if I could make some sweets from my hometown."
Kalani wore a puzzled look which turned into a much more excited smile. Not only her but her crew also looked just as excited too making me slightly gulp seeing their anticipated faces. I can make very, very simple sweet dishes and definitely not the ones they were probably imagining.
"Yes of course Madam. I heard many stories about the humans creating a variety of sweets. Our culture aren't well trained with such dishes, may we also watch on to learn how to improve our skills."
"Um I only know how to make simple dishes", I laughed out loud scratching the side of my head.
Emmy looked up at me before copying my actions also scratching her head. She already been able to even crawl after three weeks of being born.It almost gave me a heart attack when I found her not next to me but I then nearly bursted into tears seeing my Emmy clumsy crawl unto my stomach that morning.
I giggled at her actions and gave her a light kiss on the forehead before placing her on my hip, securely wrapped in my embrace.
"Any help is welcome, now what ingredients do you require."
A lot more emotion was found within the group of cooks who followed my every command into making the sweets. But not before they all individually bowed to Emmy.
I felt like making some cookies and a cake for all of the cooks to share. The kitchen was exactly as I expected, they didn't have any electricity and instead used mana and with those who had fire magic to cook all their dishes.
Luckily they did have ovens which only needed mana fused into it to work. In order to control the heat of the equipment the person using the ovens just needed to increase the amount of mana being used.
They had flour, sugar and a substance that was close to chocolate including all the ingredients needed for my dishes. I handed Emmy to Iris who stood a fair distance from the kitchen but I could see her eyes twinkle seeing the sweets being made.
I'm sorry my baby girl but you are not eating any of these dishes until you are much older.
"Okay so you want to mix these ingredients first, to seperate the wet and dry ingredients before mixing them together."
After a lot of mess and instructions being ordered I was finally able to make the dishes I wanted. Kalani and her crew also looked quite pleased with the end result. I saw Iris glare daggers at my casual conduct to which I merely shrugged.
I was never meant to act like a quiet noblewoman and shall never be one. So instead I gave her a thumbs up as she sighed very heavily shaking her head while my gorgeous baby tried to mimic my actions.
The end results of our cooking turned out far better then even my expectations. I smiled at the work done and Kalani offered me a spoon to taste first and I accepted happily.
I scooped a bit of the slice of cake in front of me and squealed in delight. This! This is what I needed! The sweetest, the hard work making this, it's just too damn yum to not devour straight away.
"Everyone, have a taste of perfection!", I roared out loud scaring the cooks.
They all shared the same expressions, savouring the sweetness of the multiple dishes we made. I only wanted cookies and cake but seeing how cooperative they all were despite first expressions, I decided to go all out and make every dish I had made back in my past life.
Kalani expresses her thanks and asks to seek me out again for pointers on how to cook other sweet dishes. I accepted without forgetting to tell her that I wasn't a good cook. She gave me a puzzled look before nodding hesitantly at those words.
Emmy began to yawn, meaning it was due for her mid day nap. Iris went to take her back to her chambers whilst I went on a little adventure before seeing my Emmy again.
I left the rest for them to enjoy and went to venture further around the palace by myself. And to my luck I stumbled upon an elderly women with black ebony horns staring down at me.
It was not a stretch to say she must have been a extremely beautiful woman in her prime years, not to say she still isn't. But her grey hair was woven into a intricate design, adored by noble wear fit for a empress gave off a different beauty, a far more mature like beauty if I had the words to describe her appearance.
To add on she had similar features to the demon lord which could only give me one conclusion, his mother, Emerysons grandmother.
"So you're the human woman that stupid son of mine conceived my granddaughter with", she slowly spoke with poise looking me up and down.
I simply smiled nodding my head not wanting to deal with her shit, but she was my daughters grandparent and she wasn't a generic 'evil mother in law' just yet.
"It would appear so. My name is Oriana, your highness."
She continued to stare looking unimpressed and spoke once more. She didn't seemed entirely all bad, if anything she seemed like a gentle woman in my opinion who merely wore a mask.
"I am Elezen, mother of that idiot. Tell me girl, what do you think of this palace?", she spoke neither too fast nor too slow.
I pondered on her question to grasp my experience so far.
"It has been quite a month. To find out the father of my child was actually a demon lord, my races mortal enemy.He was what any human would have expected. Cold, strong, really handsome I mean really powerful as well."
Her eyes turned sharp at those words to which I eased out of and switched the topic.
"But your people are interesting to live with. I've learned more about your people then I'll ever will living out my entire life with my race. And my daughter was born here so this place will always have a special meaning to me."
She waved her hands and in seconds an elegantly craved table was materialised with two seats. She sat on one side and ushered for me to sit on the other.
I held my amazement back and kept a poker face whilst taking a seat too. She gave a small smile sending shivers down my spine for some reason as a maid came forth with a tea set, pouring tea into the Snow White cups.
"So you aren't afraid of my people at all? Not even a little bit?"
"Rather than afraid, an appropriate word would be is intrigued. Most of my race is bland in my opinion, very narrow minded and unable to believe that there is more then one solution to their problems. Like this war for example."
"Yes indeed they are but the same could be said about my people too."
"Like when they tried to assassinate Emmy and I last we-"
"They What!!!! Yui! Increase the guards to maximum capacity around my granddaughter and bring me the heads of those guards who did not report the incident to me", Elezen slammed her fists into the table heaving in anger at my words.
"Humans", she spat out with venom dripping from her tone as if I wasn't the one she was also insulting.
I held back a smile seeing that there was one more person in the world that cherished my child almost as much as I do.
"You are most welcome to visit her at any time, your highness. She will definitely be excited to see more of her fathers family."
Surprise overclouded her face and she no longer showed any resembled of the cold hearted woman she was seconds ago.
"I would like to meet her now, guide me to her", she said standing up slowly.
I happily obliged and escorted her and her entourage to meet Emeryson. Her servants did not bother to also hide their excited expressions seeing the princess which made me ponder. Why had it taken her so long to meet her own granddaughter?
I didn't know what the feeling of having a family was really like, so I fully intended for Emmy to grow into a loving family but if any of them were to cause even the slightest bit of pain to her then they would be erased from her life.
I walked beside Elzen and spoke fondly about our time spent together. I spoke of when she first started crawling and the older woman laughed fondly talking about how her son was similar when he was a baby.
Soon enough we arrived at the nursery and I opened the door to the most adorable sight ever, Emmy was reaching out for the dolls beside her crib but then she started making grabby hands at me.
I smiled sweetly as I picked her up, rubbing my cheek against hers whilst she made baby noises.
"So you really don't have any animosity against my people, I never believed that there were humans like you who existed", her grandmother spoke with a lighter tone gazing at Emmy.
"I prefer to judge someone myself rather then hear rumours of what the said person has done. Your people have never harmed me nor given me a reason to bear hatred towards you."
"Sweetie, guess who came to visit? Your grandmother, say hello",I lifted Emmy to come face to face with the older woman.
Emmy looked back at me then to her granny with a clueless expression. I pushed her towards Elezen and Emmy settled into her grandmothers arms. They looked at one another in silence before Emmy gave a small smile, rubbing her cheek against Elezen's chest.
"What kind of power do you hold little one, for you have already completely captured my heart", her entire attitude transformed into a caring grandparent.
Elezen spun her around to show her entourage of female servants who all smiled with fondness as if Emersyn was their grandchild too.
I could already hear their discussions about what type of clothing they'd put together for her for the next ten years. I smiled looking at the adorable scene until the sound of thunder erupted into the castle.
Any signs of the peaceful atmosphere disappeared in an instant. Elezen placed Emmy in my arms with extreme care and nodded to her servants. Their attitudes changed as they nodded and vanished from thin air.
"Take her into the royal chambers and do not let her out of your sight Iris", Elezen declared staring into the dark clouded sky and gave Emmy a little peck in the cheek before she also materialised into nothing.
" What's going on?", I asked confused as Iris tried to rush Emmy and I away.
Iris bit her lower lip and spoke with nervousness I didn't know she possessed.
"His Royal highnesses elder sister has arrived home", she gulped.
"Oh more family for Emmy to see. Isn't that a good thing?", I asked calming Emmy who was starting to tear up over the loud noises.
"No mistress, knowing she has returned home is anything but good, especially for you", Iris gravely replied as she slammed the doors behind us shut.