After he had finished his breakfast, Maxwell tried to relax a bit by reading a book, but he almost immediately fell asleep. He was still holding the book upright and was sitting properly, with his chin resting on his other hand, so one might get the impression he was just resting his eyes for a moment. But the moment went for too long, and I swear I heard him snoring softly every so often. The poor doctor must have gone sleepless several nights trying to keep me healthy, and I was very thankful to him for that. Once I recovered, I would have to repay it to him somehow.

It took more time to Alyssa and me to finish our meals, I had to eat a bit each time and let it sit in my stomach for a while so that I wouldn’t overfill it, which the doctor had warned me not to do in my condition. Alyssa, on the other hand, had asked for quite the big dessert. I started to ponder what to do with the rest of my day, I was still too weak to return to my daily activities, but I certainly didn’t want to just go back to bed. And I was feeling like I was missing something. No, someone.

—Come to think, where is Eve? —I asked, and Sophie suddenly looked away.

—Eve? —Alyssa asked, as she finished the last spoon of her frozen confectionary.

—Oh, you might have not met her yet. She is the Rose Nymph that I managed to sprout recently. She was the one that saved me the first time they tried to kidnap Violett —I said, followed by a brief description of her appearance and emphasizing just how small she was by placing my hands to roughly represent her size.

—Ah! Yeah, yeah, I met her! —Alyssa said with a broad smile on her face —she didn’t allowed anyone but Maxwell to come close to you when you were unconscious, and it even hissed at him a few times. When I arrived, she attacked me right away, but fell to the ground after I blocked her.

—WHAT? —I said, shocked.

—Ma-madame, please calm down —Sophie said— We took Eve to the greenhouse and we have been watering and taking care of her since then, but… well, it might be better if you see it for yourself…

I threw a glance towards the doctor, and thankfully he was still asleep, so I asked Alyssa to carry me to the greenhouse, while Sophie helped me carrying Violett. My heart almost dropped when I finally saw Eve, she was lying on a pot, and her leaves and vines looked brown and unhealthy.

—W-we are very sorry, Madame… —Sophie declared, lowering her head.

—I believe all of you took care of her when I couldn’t; this is not your fault. She must have been too worried and stressed trying to protect me —I said, grabbing hold of Eve and bringing her towards my chest—, we need to contact Victor, he might know what to do to save her.

Just as I was saying that, I felt that she started to move, and I saw her eyes opening. She smiled, weakly at first, but her face started to regain color in just a few seconds. Even her leaves looked a bit healthier, and she was able to move enough to rub her face against me. I was glad her situation wasn’t as critical as I had thought, but I still believed we needed an expert’s opinion. So we took her back to the house and I wrote another letter, this one for my botanist friend.

The rest of the day was quite uneventful, and so were the following ones. But as the days passed by I started to show improvements on my condition. The doctor was actually quite impressed and even a bit confused by how quick I was regaining control over my body. I want to think he had been just too pessimistic in his initial examination. After four days, I was able to walk on my own, although still slowly and with the help of a cane. Sophie volunteered to help me carry Violett around, but my baby decided to start walking on her own at that same time. Whenever I needed to go somewhere, she held onto my leg to get some support, and we slowly made our way through the house.

It was during those days when I got a reply from Victor, who was traveling out of the country at the moment and couldn’t return immediately, but he sent me some recommendations about how to help Eve regain her health. He also promised to visit as soon as he could. Eve was already looking livelier, but I still followed his instructions; letting her rest under the sunlight, giving her plenty of water, and even giving her some bugs and fruits to eat. I also got a message from Erzi, who told me she would visit me the following Saturday.

She said she would arrive “early”, so I woke up a few hours before normal and started to prepare myself. As Gabby was getting breakfast ready, I went to welcome her personally at the pier. Alyssa was following me, though she was still half asleep, while Sophie was carrying Violett, who was still full asleep.

—Aren’t you being too eager? —Alyssa said before yawning—, the Queen probably will be busy with royal duties and will not get here until late.

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—Huh? Oh! Right, you haven’t met Erzi yet.

—What do you mean? —she tried to say, but the sound of something running through the water at high speeds interrupted her.

A boat-like figure appeared in the distance, but just in a few seconds it had already reached the pier. The Queen’s luxurious yet compact yacht stopped suddenly, most certainly using magic to remove all the inertia so effectively, it barely splashed any water and the passenger must have not felt anything. The aquatic carriage had been pulled by two big sea serpents that looked quite exhausted, as well as a three meters high alligator-like beastmen that was so familiar to me.

—Good morning, Adrian —I said, waving my hand towards him.

—Good morning to you, Madame, I have returned. I’m sorry for not informing you I went to pick up her majesty early this morning.

—Don’t worry about it. I suspected that was the case when I didn’t see you when we arrived earlier.

With how many times she had been visiting me recently, I wasn’t surprised she had reached some sort of agreement with Adrian. Still, I was a bit confused about Erzi’s choice of transportation. Surely a smaller vessel could have arrived at the same time or even earlier with only the two sea serpents pulling it. When I saw a mob of people get off the ship, I started to figure why she has preferred the yacht. There were at least half a dozen of maids and a baker’s dozen of guards as well. It only dawned on me when I saw Erzi herself come out of the yacht, carrying Prince Julius on her arms and having Prince Gaius walking at her side. I froze.

Nowhere in her letter had she told me that she was bringing her kids with her, I was just not prepared for that. This would be the first time that Violett would interact with Prince Julius at all, since the last time they had met he was almost a newborn and she was barely older than that. If their relationship turned sour from this moment, it could impact the rest of their lives, I… I just…

—Auntie, auntie! —Prince Gaius said while running towards me, with a big smile on his face.

—Wha-what? A-auntie? —was the only coherent thing I managed to muster.

—Auntie, you saw the boat? It was going really fast! —he said, running around me. He was so adorable; the only thing stopping me from picking him on my arms was that I was still pretty weak at the time.

—Gaius, don’t bother you auntie too much, she is still recovering, remember? —Erzi said, as he approached us. Her son nodded enthusiastically.

—Good morning, Erzi.

—Good morning, Rossane. How are you feeling? —she said.

—I’m pretty much out of danger; I think I won’t even need to use the cane next week.

—I’m glad to hear that —she said, trying to hide that she wasn’t entirely convinced.

It was then that we both noticed Violett had wake up and was looking at the guests with curiosity.

—Good morning, young lady. I’m Erzebeth, a childhood friend of your mother. You can call me Erzi.

Violett tilted her head a bit to the right.

—Ezzi… —she said, and I almost had a heart attack.

—That’s right! These are my sons, Gaius and Julius. I hope you can be friends with them.

Violett looked at both of them for a moment, as if pondering her choice. She looked towards me, and then once more towards our guests, replying with a simple but noticeable nod. While I did my best to not show to everyone how I was melting due to my baby's cuteness, we moved towards the mansion. We sat down at the gazebo, where our breakfast was being served. I'm proud to announce at that point I could eat solids once more. Nothing with too many condiments or too greasy, though.

To my surprise, Gaius sat next to me and started to draw on a little notebook that he was carrying, all while a maid tried to get him to eat his breakfast.

—Auntie, look —he said, showing me one of his works.

—Oh, is it me and your mom? —I said, interpreting his drawing as best as I could.

He nodded and smiled once more, content with his work being appreciated.

—He is quite the artist, isn’t him?

—Yeah, he spends most of his time drawing. I’m starting to consider getting him a proper tutor —Erzi said.

—So… since when am I an auntie? —I asked a bit too abruptly.

The Queen giggled.

—I’m not sure myself, when I told him we were to visit you, he started to tell everyone we were going to visit his auntie. Augustus has a sister, and he calls her auntie too. I guess he thinks everyone we visit at their house is his auntie. Should I correct him?

—…No. Not for now.

She smiled, innocently at first but it took on a more devilish look in just a few seconds.

—And? Isn’t the Doctor going to join us? Last I heard he has taken this place as his second residence.

—H-he is not here right now, he has been visiting other clients of his since I woke up, after we forced him to get a proper night of sleep, of course. He told me he isn’t going to leave until I have healed completely, though.

—Huh? Is that so? Isn’t that too much of a preferential treatment?

—I’m… not sure what you meant by that… —I said looking away. I knew pretty well what she was implying, but the doctor and I were only friends and confidants at best.

He was still single when Violett started to study at the Academy, after all. There is no way he would be interested romantically in someone like me. I was also not looking for a partner, all my love was directed to my adorable daughter.

—Putting that aside for the moment, is SHE the bodyguard that the Doctor got for you? —Erzi said, pointing towards Alyssa.

She was sitting at another table, but still pretty close to us to hear the slightly contemptuous tone of the Queen. Her table manners were a bit sloppier, but I didn’t think they were bad enough for Erzi to call her out in such manner.

—Ah, well, I can assure you she can do her job pretty well —I said, trying to save her reputation.

—And exactly how much do you know about her?

—How much… do I know?

As I tried to think about it, I came to realize I only knew her name and that she was a dragon like me. That, and the Doctor’s recommendation were enough for me to trust her, but I really didn’t know anything about her.

—W-we are still getting to know each other! —I blurted, and Erzi seemed satisfied, albeit barely, with that answer. I made a mental note to try to actually get to know her in the future to not make a liar out of myself.