Chapter 60
Elodie had grown fairly close to Zeno.
“Hey, do you know what this is?”
Zeno hovered around her, bringing out a strange toy that Elodie probably wouldn’t have encountered while living as a mouse.
“If you press this, it sparkles.”
“…….”
Elodie stared with lifeless eyes and mechanically opened her mouth.
“Wooooow. Sooo amaaazing.”
“……You can talk that clearly?”
No, it was just that after seeing toys that transformed into giant weapons inside a carriage, she’d developed the automatic ability to react like this.
The fact that the belt on the toy flashed with some extra light-up function was honestly none of her concern.
“Hmph, you like it that much? You can have it.”
I don’t need it.
Elodie almost blurted that out honestly.
But she figured that, in his own way, he’d probably brought something he treasured most from his childhood, so she held back.
‘At my age, playing with toys……’
She felt like sighing like Aizen would.
Seeing Zeno sneak glances at her with expectant eyes, Elodie decided to go along with it properly.
The boy twisted the toy’s joints with clacking sounds as it transformed and shouted:
“Hyah, trans—form—!”
“Your pronunciation’s kind of bad.”
Immediate correction.
So picky.
“Still, it feels noisy today, doesn’t it?”
Zeno scowled slightly, annoyed by the constant whispering around them, but then his eyes lit up.
He grabbed Elodie and dragged her over until they were pressed tightly behind a corner.
“Hey, what are you doing? You have to eavesdrop too.”
Ah, entertaining kids is exhausting……
With the face of someone worn down by childcare, Elodie listened in on the servants’ conversation alongside Zeno.
“That’s impossible.”
“I’m not the only one who saw it.”
“Did His Grace dye his hair or something?”
“It’s not that—his roots were black.”
“Black hair grew back?”
“That’s exactly it! And his wrinkles seem a little lighter too. I thought I was imagining it, but everyone else thinks so too!”
Goril, the duke’s personal attendant and a gorilla beastman, nodded vigorously as he spoke passionately.
But the servant listening from the other side looked doubtful.
The story was simply too absurd.
After all—
Rejuvenation?
Even if the Ratson baby came back, no—if Ratson’s grandfather came back, it would still be impossible.
It was like how you could revive the dead, but never revive dead hair follicles.
“His Grace hates flattery like saying he’s gotten younger.”
“You think I don’t know that? You don’t see him often, so you wouldn’t notice.”
Goril thumped his chest in frustration.
He was indignant at being treated like a liar when he was only saying what he saw.
“I fix His Grace’s hair every morning! You think I wouldn’t notice?”
“O-okay, calm down.”
As Goril got worked up and started pounding his chest, the other servant hurried to placate him.
‘Grandfather got younger?’
Zeno and Elodie exchanged silent looks.
This was something they had to see for themselves.
The two of them immediately barged into Aizen’s office.
He was frowning, lifting the monocle he used while working toward his eye and pulling it away repeatedly.
“Grandpa!”
“You came at a good time. My eyes feel strange—can you fix them?”
“Your eyes?”
Aizen calmly explained his condition.
“When I use a magnifying lens, things look dizzy.”
“……Grandpa, thas not weird. It means yer eyes got better.”
(“할아버지, 그건 이상한 게 아니라 눈이 좋아졌다고 하는 거야.”)
“Why would my eyes suddenly get better?”
Aizen looked at her as if asking, Did you do this too?
Elodie quickly shook her head.
It did seem like only she could do something like this, but it definitely wasn’t intentional!
If there had been physical damage to the eyes, she could heal it.
Maybe she could treat nearsightedness too—she hadn’t tried, but it seemed possible if she studied it.
But presbyopia wasn’t the same.
This was on the level of reversing time—completely absurd!
Of course, she herself was living proof of time reversal, but still!
“Who are you?”
Zeno blurted out, clearly feeling something unfamiliar about Aizen.
He circled his grandfather cautiously, then poked his arm once or twice before breaking into admiration.
“Grandpa, you look like you’re ten years younger.”
And that wasn’t some generic compliment—it was simply the truth.
‘I have been giving Grandpa all kinds of things lately to improve his health……’
Aizen had already been absurdly healthy for his age, but she’d fed him every vitality-boosting potion she could find and treated him constantly.
‘So he ended up rejuvenating.’
Well then.
Maybe it wasn’t something just anyone could do—perhaps it was only possible because he was the Duke of Valkyrisen.
Or maybe she’d unconsciously mixed some genius-level potion combination.
‘Should I research this and write a book for my descendants?’
Though whether she’d even have descendants was another question.
Anyway, a rejuvenation potion would make a fortune.
Elodie was certain that if she told the fire spirit about this, it would be so shocked it might scatter sparks everywhere.
“Grandpa.”
Elodie spread her arms wide, asking to be picked up.
As he naturally lifted her, she climbed up his torso.
“You’ve finally escalated to climbing me like a tree.”
Well, Grandpa was kind of like a huge old tree.
Zeno giggled at the sight.
Aizen looked exasperated, but soon let out a small snort.
Elodie messed up the neatly combed white hair he always kept slicked back.
With her clumsy fingers, his bangs slipped loose.
“What do you think you’re doing, you little brat?”
“Theres really black hair!”
(“진짜 검은 머리 생겼어.”)
“Black hair?”
Aizen seemed completely unaware.
His indifferent expression said, So what if there is?
He didn’t seem to care at all.
‘Somehow, I figured as much.’
Aside from his body becoming younger, nothing about him had changed.
Wasn’t he a bit too indifferent about himself?
Zeno, who now shared the same hair color as his grandfather, reacted far more dramatically.
“Whoa, Grandpa! Does that mean your hair color’s the same as mine now?”
“I was originally black-haired.”
“Wait, you weren’t white-haired……?”
At that foolish remark, the old man’s previously indifferent face stiffened.
He hadn’t cared about his improving eyesight or darkening hair—
But now, Aizen silently set Elodie down.
Pressing his forehead, he sighed deeply, then suddenly straightened and spoke in a grave tone.
“Zenobia. You’ve been hanging out with this little one every day lately—are you studying properly?”
“O-of course! I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know your hair used to be black! I knew already!”
No, you very obviously didn’t.
“I just heard from your tutor. You skipped lessons two weekdays, didn’t do your homework, and your grades have sunk so low there’s no bottom. What do you plan to do at this rate—”
The nagging went on endlessly.
Zeno glanced desperately at Elodie, pleading for help.
“Why are you looking at the kid? It’s not my hair that’s black—it’ll be your future.”
Aizen cut him off mercilessly.
Wow. I’ve never seen Grandpa like this before.
‘…But he kind of deserves it.’
Zenobia—the genius capable of making even the Duke of Valkyrisen nag.
His potential was terrifying.
“Zeno, even now, if you pull yourself together and listen carefully to what your grandfather is saying—”
Elodie quietly backed away and slipped out of the office.
Zeno shot her a look of betrayal, but she didn’t care.
Wasn’t this the attention and love from Grandpa that he wanted so badly?
‘I’m stepping aside so you can receive it in full.’
This is what you wished for.
Endure it with grit and determination.
Elodie kindly made sure to close the office door tightly behind her.
