My Servant System

"Well, you two might not be senile, but damn does it feel like you are getting close~! Keep it up with this no sleep thing and terrible health management and you might just reach that level~!"

Mom walked in with a smirk, the large Demoness taking a seat and being unbothered by the glares sent her way by the older Elves, both of them frowning and trying to browbeat the Demoness into displaying proper manners and filiality... which we all knew was a losing battle.

Mother and Mother Ria walked out behind her and took a seat quietly, ignoring everything for the moment and just staring blankly at the table before accepting the coffee that I handed them, using the warm liquid to center themselves once more.

"Ahem... Well, go ahead and unveil it then, Grandpa, Grandma. Oh, and we made use of those techniques you told us about; we were curious to see how well they worked, and I think it turned out really, really well all things considered."

That made Grandpa raise a brow as he stared at the cloth covered object, preparing to tug the cloth off when he asked "So it's something made of metal and something enchanted? Interesting... but that only makes me rather curious about what it is, since you said you made it whilst we were asleep..? We weren't asleep for an entire day, now were we?"

"No, not at all. Though I can fix something up for you both if that's what you want~?"

Smiling at them, I too ignored the glares they gave me as I suggested giving them another extremely healthy and potent tea that would do them wonders... on catching up on weeks worth of sleep.

"I appreciate the concerns, Katherine, but-"

"I don't."

Giving his wife a small smile, Grandpa continued on with a nod as he said "I don't think we need to be aided to sleep anytime soon. Now, let's go ahead and see what this is, hm? Should we let Alessandra unveil it, or is it delicate..?"

"She can help, but don't let her knock it over?"

He nodded again and glanced at the baby Elf, who instantly crawled forwards to stare at the cloth with indignant blue eyes, the curiosity inside her hating that she couldn't see just what was beneath and understand what it was and what it did; I had to admit I was curious if she would retain this quirk of hers growing up, and if she did...

How amusing would it be to give her one of those presents that is stuck inside a few different boxes?

Watching as she excitedly opens it up to reveal another box inside, only to open that up and find another box, going all the way down to something small just to get on her nerves...

Wouldn't that just be absolutely amusing~?

Meanwhile, Lakshmi was curious as well, but she was more than content to just sit on Grandpa's lap and watch from afar as her twin sister tugged at the cloth, pulling it off of the green stem and revealing the flower ornaments with a slightly aggressive flourish... with the help from Grandpa and Grandma, who were watching the baby Elf like hawks as they ensured she didn't break anything.

As soon as the cloth was gone, the two older Elves paused before leaning closer, instantly taking note of the glimmering flowers and seeing the engravings on the sides, with Grandma deciphering them first as she gently pulled Alessandra over to the yellow flower and showed it off to her.

"Look. It's your name, on this yellow flower..."

"It's a lily of the valley... A play on what Haniel means in Elvish, isn't it? Joy, happiness, family... all found in both the meaning of the flower, and the meaning of our name. Who thought of it..?"

He was gently turning and lifting the various flowers closest to him as he asked that, but when Jahi proudly said "I did~! Mother had me study flower language when I was a child, and I have a rather sharp memory, so..."

"Flower language... Ria, did you..?"

Mother Ria just coughed and looked away, making us all furrow our brows in confusion as we focused on her, only to turn to Grandma when she asked "Was it Beaux De Durand's 'Introductory To A Beautiful Language'?"

"Potentially..."

"And did you give her two other bland options that you knew wouldn't appeal to her, perhaps?"

Coughing gently, Mother Ria turned away and muttered "Does it matter..?", only for Grandma to raise a brow as she said "I seem to recall that being a certain someone's favorite book growing up... and I also seem to recall offering a certain someone three options of books and her picking that one..."

"Mother, you..?"

Jahi stared at Mother Ria for a few moments, her incredulous expression making Mother Ria cough again as she looked towards Mom, who just smirked back at her and said "I told you she'd realize that eventually, dear... I'd almost forgotten about that; you used to carry it around at the Academy and read it during breaks, right?"

"Chordeva!"

Slapping her arm, Mother Ria glared at her wife before turning back to Grandma when she said "There's nothing to be ashamed of; it was a really well written book, and well deserving of being passed down to the next generation. All of that is to say: Jahi, whilst your Mother might have..."

Tapping Alessandra's head and catching her attention so that the baby didn't yank the flower off of the stem to see it closer, Grandma trailed off and entered a staring contest with the smaller Elf, who was adamant that she was allowed to do whatever she wanted.

"What she means to say is that while Ria might have been a bit... manipulative in how she got you to read it, it is a really good book written around two and a half centuries ago? And one that Minuvae and I quite enjoyed as well when it came out. So it's nice to see that it is still receiving its praises so long after it was penned. Even more so since you seemed to have enjoyed it just as much as Ria did..."

"I did enjoy it, but... Mother, you could have just given me the book you know? We could have read it together because you wanted to read it instead of having to 'trick' me into it... just saying. But yes, the book was good and its contents were rather nice to memorize. That's where this came from; a fun project that has many meanings and helped us practice, all while it could be a set piece for the two of you."

"It certainly turned out quite well... the metal is beautifully worked and shaped, the glimmer of the enchantment and the engraving of the names... the colors too are impressive! And I sort of see some correlations between the colors and the person too... Very well done, very well done indeed."

"Yellow matches Alessandra's hair, the violet matches Lakshmi's skin just like the blue matches yours... orange for the Sultanate, I suppose? The heat and the sand..?"

Grandma looked up from Alessandra, who was now firmly and securely seated on her lap and not allowed on the table anymore, much to her immense displeasure as she huffed and pouted.

"And I imagine the pink is supposed to be a play on Leone being a Princess, correct? Albeit the more stereotypical princess color... but a pretty shade and a color I think works well for her. It's just..."

Grandpa and Grandma looked towards the red before looking at me, clearly trying to find the link between the color and me, with Grandpa hesitantly saying "Red certainly matches your hair and eyes, but..? Blues and greens have always been the colors of the Zara Pack, no? And you are an Ice Mage, correct? So why red..?"

Mom and Jahi chuckled at that, grabbing the attention of the two Elves and making me sigh as I realized there was no stopping the two Demoness' from amusedly grinning at one another before saying "It's because she's a sadistic little puppy, that's why~!"

"Sadistic..?"

Mom was the one to elaborate further, grinning from ear to ear as she said "She looks all adorable and well mannered most of the time, but give her a blade and a hapless, blood filled monster or person and you get a much~ different person~! She's a closeted sadistic~! I got to watch her butcher a goblin a few times over in Fovos Forest, and from what Jahi's said..."

"She's a murderpuppy~!"

Grinning at me, Jahi ignored my narrowed gaze and instead turned towards our Grandparents, who were frowning slightly as they stared at me curiously, only to add "She's also a bit of a conniving, deceitful thing who likes to wear masks. Probably why she and Sla'Caligo click so well together... isn't that right, my love~?"

Anput couldn't help herself either as she snorted, while Leone just looked away and remained as neutral as she could, though I did note how her lip twitched a bit, so...

Crossing my arms, I leaned back into the chair and raised a brow, staring back at Jahi and watching as the Demoness' grin stiffened, though my clear displeasure at this crude mentioning of my nature didn't stop Mom from adding "I guess that does make more sense~! In more ways then one, all things considered~!"

The two older Elves frowned some more at that, the mentioning of an Arch Fiend clearly setting off some alarm bells in their minds as they turned towards me once more, only for that frown to deepen as Mom added something else, making this even more embarrassing.

"Might also want to be careful~! That concoction of hers worked quite well, didn't it~?"

Mother just sighed as she peeked at Mom and whispered "It did, and who would she use it on now? Miss Minuvae, or you?"

That made Mom's smile stiffen as well, and I just tilted my head and smiled innocently at the Demoness Mom-Daughter duo across from me, remaining quiet and letting them both shudder as they realized just~ what trouble they might have gotten themselves into.