Life as a Royal’s Breeding Partner
Chapter 248 – Irlo Visiting her Grandmother

*** Armirynth ***

Why does my second pregnancy have to be so stressful? Twins, my daughter disappearing from me, moving, moving into the castle grounds with the Queen, and now my baby is marching off to war.

I've been a bit of a hypocrite with Mai. I've stopped her from running around the city while I still do all the housework. Not all the housework; I'm too slow to do that, but I'm cooking and cleaning a room or two to keep my mind off everything. Mai does tell me to stop, but I just say I'm older and ignore her complaints. I think my cooking is the only thing keeping everyone from tying me to the bed.

It has been strange not using a normal fire. The mana stoves are better at keeping a temperature, but I lost the tempo that keeping the fire going gives you. But I can instead cut ingredients or sit down for a bit, which does make it faster and easier on this poor old pregnant woman. I just had to get used to using mana.

"Mai," I say, the door opening behind me. That cat loves to sneak some taste in while I'm cooking. "You know..."

"I'm not Mai!" a little voice squeaks out behind me. "Are you Grandmother? Daddy said Grandmother was pregnant, and you're pregnant, right?"

"Yes, I am," I say, turning to see who invaded. "And who are you, little one? I feel some relationship with you, so Grandmother would be right. Is Daddy my son?" The little girl is a cutie in a green sun dress. My baby gave this little elf a lot of features. All the features, really. Just a step off being a dragonkin herself.

"Yes!" my Granddaughter says. Running to my leg and out of my site. "He didn't tell me how to glow or change colors! Daddy said it was natural to ask you about it. Daddy was lying, right?"

"Haha," I chuckle, trying to find the little girl with my arms past my belly. "No, little one. Daddy did come out of my womb glowing and changing colors. Freaked me out in an already stressful moment. That little stinker never made it easy on me. And it seems you are following in your Daddy's footsteps! You're hiding from this pregnant woman, but thank you for the hug."

"Let's play!" my Granddaughter says, taking my hand and pulling towards the door.

"I have food cooking, dear. How about after dinner? Can you join us for dinner?"

"Don't worry, Lady Armirynth," a woman says, stepping into the kitchen. "I can handle the food, and I think the Princess would love to join you all for dinner."

"I'm happy to have the Princess. Thank you for taking it over," I say. The Princess clearly isn't listening to me, pulling me towards the door as the other woman steps to the stove. Another maid is waiting outside the door, giving me a soft smile. I'm guessing I'm taking over for entertaining the Princess. I am happy to do it, but I hope I get some help keeping up with this energy. I don't think I could handle this like I did with Alzi. They seem to be very similar.

The Princess walks through the house, dragging me along, humming some song. She makes it perfectly to the garden in the back of the house, clearly having this type of manor already memorized. The chill air that isn't right for the middle of winter hits my skin as the Princess lets my hand go and starts running around to check the flowers before running back.

"Can we play tag?" the Princess says. The maid chuckles behind me but makes me answer my Granddaughter.

"Little one," I say, my hands moving over my belly. "I don't think I can play tag in this state." She really is just Alzi as an elven Princess. I don't know how she didn't become a full dragonkin with so many behaviors of Alzi. The Queen must be strong for her genes to win out in the end.

"Is it hard to run while pregnant?" the Princess asks. I need to learn her name.

"Yes," I say. "The belly gets in the way, and babies are heavy. It was a lot of work to keep up with you walking through the house. Can I have your name? I'm sorry, but I didn't get to talk to my son to hear about you yet."

"Irlo!" Irlo says, throwing her hands in the area. "My name is Irlo! What is your name, Grandmother?"

"Armirynth," I say. "Is there something else you would like to do? I'm sure Daddy would love to play tag with you when he gets back from the war. I'll have had these kids as well, so I can join and see if I can still keep up with the young ones."

"Daddy likes to play tag?"

"Yes," I say. "Yes. I did my best to play, but he often had to play with butterflies. I was busy with my store and didn't get to spend as much time as I would've liked with him. I'm hoping I get to spend more time with these two."

"Daddy did say you were having twins. Are you sure Daddy had the rainbow when he was born? Will those two be the same?"

"Yes, Daddy came out of me glowing and all. I doubt these two will be like that. I think your Daddy is special." Irlo pouts a bit at the news, eyeing my belly.

"Then we can walk through the flowers," Irlo says, giving up on figuring out my babies' color through my clothing and skin. She takes my hand again and pulls me over to the nearest cluster of flowers.

"Princess," the maid calls out. "You should make sure Lady Armirynth is capable. Pregnancies are hard, as I've told you a few times now."

"I'm fine," I say. "I'm used to running around. I can look at flowers with the Princess."

"Very well. Please tell me if you get tired. I can take over."

"Thank you," I say, getting dragged along. Irlo did not care what her maid asked.

Most of the flowers aren't blooming, even in the unnatural heat the castle provides. But they seem to have some that love the chilly air, keeping the garden from being depressing.

"Do you know the names of the flowers?" I ask.

"No, they just look pretty. Mommy says I can learn about the flowers later once I can read well enough and do some math. I do know about roses! Mommy loved when I gave her a rose until she remembered I had to get them from her garden. Then she would chase me around and smother me with kisses."

"That was sweet of you. I'm sure she loved getting them. She probably liked the excuse to get outside for a bit," I say. I wonder if the Queen fixed the garden herself or if maids covered the little girl's tracks. Either way, I'm sure it brought a smile to the Queen's face.

"Do you know the flowers?" Irlo asks.

"No, I grew up in a small village outside the city. Until recently, I lived there. We didn't have these kinds of flowers there. Most of the gardening space went to growing vegetables and fruits and outside the walls went to crops. It took a lot of work to find anything besides weeds. Your Daddy would find some for me here and there. But they always belonged to someone else, so she would just drag me to them to look at."

"Daddy like exploring?"

"Yes, your Daddy loved to run around our house and village."

"Hmm. I like that one the most," Irlo says, pointing out a deep purple flower. "Do you think Daddy would like it?"

"That one is pretty. I'm sure Daddy would like it, but I'm sure you'll have time to ask him yourself. You know what we should do?"

"What?" Irlo asks.

"You should go to each batch of flowers, pick out your favorites, and then when Daddy comes back, you can show them to him and see what he thinks. Maybe bother your teachers to give you some facts about them to share as well. Impress him with your brain and then beat him in tag."

"Yes, I could beat him tag! I'm a ferocious dragon! I'll find some flowers!" Irlo shouts. Running off to go look at the flowers, letting me walk slowly through the garden, watching her. I hope she doesn't trip. I don't know how strict this maid will be or how worried about small injuries. Alzi liked to hide when she fell back in the village, and Irlo acts like a clone. Of course, she doesn't have to worry about her Mother being tired when she gets back from work.

Alzi is too kind.

But she stays up, running from flower bed to flower bed, taking a close look at each flower before running off.

"Irlo!" I shout. "Don't run too far." It's probably safe to run around on the castle grounds, but I think the maid would be more comfortable if we could still see her. Or at least I am.

I hated that I couldn't always watch over Alzi when she was small. My neighbors helped a lot, but it's hard to watch over a kid, especially when it is a single mother who doesn't deserve a kid. I hope their kid is alright. They'll be great parents.

"But I haven't checked all the flowers!" Irlo shouts back.

"Your Highness," the maid shouts. "Come back! Your Grandmother is right."

Irlo turns, and I'm sure she's pouting as she stares at us, but she runs back when we don't give. She gives me a hug to the side so I can see her this time. Her big eyes blink at me as she decides something.

"I found three more flowers to show Daddy."

"I'm sure Alzi will love them, little one," I say. "Want to hear about your Daddy when he was younger?"

"Yes!" Irlo says.