Dressed in pajamas, Greta sat on her grandmother's couch, brooding as she watched Lady Celi brushing her big blonde curls and taking off her makeup to reveal flawless pale skin that rivaled mother-of-pearl and contrasted the former queen's sheer black teddy. Fascinated, the little girl just kept watching her grandmother, awed by the seemingly ritualistic goings-on as the sexy matriarch of the royal family prepared herself for bed.
"You truly are the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, Grandy, and I mean that with all my heart," Greta said, walking over towards her grandmother and kissing her cheek.
"Nonsense, Greta. YOU are the most beautiful. You're my granddaughter, after all," Lady Celi said, her eyes still beaming at the compliment she'd just been paid.
Greta gave her a sad smile. "Grandy, what if… Daddy… gets a little girl?"
Oh, so that's it, Lady Celi thought as she held out her arms and hugged her granddaughter to her bosom, being careful not to crush her.
"Is that why you wanted to sleep beside me tonight?" Celi inquired.
Greta shook her head and laughed lightly. "Not at all. Papa's leaving on a quest to find a soul for my little brother or sister, so I imagine that he and Daddy… well, you know how Daddy and Papa are," Greta teased.
"Yes, I know! Utterly shameless!" Lady Celi laughed deliciously, her hand over her small mouth. "They seem to forget everything when they're together. Isn't that romantic?"
Greta nodded. "Yes, Grandy…"
Celi's face then took on a serious expression. "I understand why you chose to promise yourself to your Uncle Conrart now,"
Greta blushed. "You do? Why?" Greta's hands felt cold, but her cheek, face, and neck felt very very warm.
"I have seen it coming for a long time. Your parents are quite often too intoxicated with each other, that you get pushed aside. You know that Conrart would never waver like they do once you win his undying love," Lady Celi said sagely.
Greta was silent.
Lady Celi held her granddaughter in her arms and kissed the top of her head, and then rocked Greta in her arms like the little girl she was.
Greta put her arms around her grandmother's slim waist and squeezed back affectionately. "I'm being selfish then?"
Lady Celi laughed in her carefree, coy way. "Not at all. If you call that being selfish, then you can call Grandy Gorgeous a selfish woman as well, what with your three grandfathers in my past!"
Then Celi turned serious. "I just hope you know what you are doing," Celi added, her maternal instincts kicking in again.
"Uncle Conrad… Grandy, would it do to tell you that I have always loved Uncle Conrad?"
Curious, Celi looked at her granddaughter.
"You might be confusing that with paternal love, Greta. There's that possibility,"
"No, Grandy. I love Yuuri and Wolfram that way. But I… I want to be there for Uncle Conrad. I want to take care of him, be there for him. He takes care of everyone, but he doesn't have anyone who's just his, you know? I'd like to be that person," Greta said, resolve clear in her voice, young as she was.
"You've always felt this way?"
Tears started forming in the corners of Greta's eyes and then coursed down her cheeks. "And even more so since you ordered him to get married. He never even thought of himself and just said yes to you. He's always thinking of other people. He's even lost his arm for Papa and Papa tells me Uncle Conrad said it was okay! I couldn't bear it if anyone hurt Con—Uncle Conrad!"
Lady Celi held her granddaughter tighter, loving her now more than ever before. She realized that Greta would be good for Conrad like this; Conrad being a hundred and twenty, and two-thirds into his life, Greta would be in the full bloom of womanhood in three years just in time, ready for him.
"You have my full support, Greta. You have my full support," Celi cooed to her granddaughter, calming her as she cried herself to sleep in her Grandy's arms.
