"Nana... This."
As they read the story, Elysia would point out some pictures and Christina would explain them.
"That's the wolf disguising as the grandmother."
Elysia noticed a new word and practiced to open her mouth. Christina was thrilled at the child's progress.
"...d….dish…"
It seemed as though the toddler forgot the word and looked back at Christina. Christina patiently said it again but by syllables.
"Repeat after me— Dis~"
"...ish…"
Christina noticed that the toddler tended to stop when she wasn't confident. But this didn't let her stop teaching.
"Let's do it again. Dis~"
Seemingly encouraged, Elysia tried to repeat the words for a second time.
"Dish~~"
This time, the toddler was taking failure better than before.
"Ga~is~"
"Gas~"
"Sing~"
"Ching~"
"Disguising!"
"Ishgasching!"
"Yay~!"
Although the way Elysia pronounced the words weren't fluent, it was enough that she was trying.
"Let's try it again next time. Now, where are we~"
Since nothing could be learned right away, Christina let Elysia know how to move on. That she could learn more things than just focusing on one.
For a kid, it must be frustrating. Especially, when she saw Elysia pouting in frustration unable to stop herself from drifting away from the story. Therefore, Christina had to ask questions from time to time.
This helped Elysia from realizing that there were more words and shouldn't be pressured by one. Life lessons were always a perfect tandem with academics.
Christina diligently taught Elysia to recognize and understand words. But she only did so when the child was willing. After all, forcing a small kid to study wasn't very nice and would only incur the child's hate.
Ahh~ As expected.
Just like Christina predicted, Elysia was showing signs of a prospective protagonist of some otome game she did not have prior knowledge of. She was quick to learn, curious, and hard-working. Something that males in this world definitely won't miss out on.
By the end of the book, Elysia could almost recognize everything. She could even tell everything that Christina had in her little territory. It might take just a little more time before Elysia asked for more to learn.
It's… just too soon...
They spent them every day in peace and serenity. It felt as if every day repeated itself, but it didn't. At least not for the two whose giggles and laughs could even be heard from the outside.
Since it was bright, sunny, and warm, the two decided to play outside. They're going to play around the huge garden of the Witch's Mansion. After all, around this season, a lot of Christina's flower collection was blooming.
Christina prepared the treats on the porch and let Elysia explore on her own. With her magic, she could always guard Elysia if anything unusual happened. This would be an unlikely event because of the high-end class SSS barrier that Christina put up around her premises.
"UWAAA~"
Elysia's giggles could be heard from afar. She was running to and fro the porch. When she saw a beautiful flower, she would pluck it and show it to Christina.
There were certain spots amongst the flowerbeds that have a wood bench. The tired Elysia decided to seat on one and sort out her collection of flowers. She didn't notice the incoming Christina.
Kyaaaa~
Christina felt like she was melting on the spot.
Elysia was currently surrounded by different kinds of flowers. Her blonde hair and large blue eyes fit perfectly at the background's color. Her rosy cheeks, her sweet smiles, and the perfect lighting from the sun satisfied Christina's thirst for art.
It was a sight to behold.
"Nana!"
Suddenly, Elysia noticed Christina and happily trotted towards her. When she was closer than before, Elysia showed her flowers held in one hand.
A bouquet.
"Give!"
Christina took what Elysia gave and smelled. The bouquet and her silver hair complement each other.
You're the real deal!
Without knowing what a bouquet even was, Elysia made one. By the looks of the remaining flowers on the bend, she had chosen carefully with Christina's image in mind. She combined certain shades of white and green from daisies, gardenias, and little branches with a cluster of sampaguita flowers.
"Thank you~"
Christina hugged Elysia tightly, overjoyed. She continuously praised the toddler while doing so.
Ah~ I want to keep you to myself! FOREVER!
She silently cursed Elysia's biological parents not to show up at this heartwarming time. Christina wanted to keep Elysia for a little while even though she knew she couldn't when the time came.
"Nana!"
Elysia pointed back at her unfinished business on the bench. Lots of flowers were still cluttered, unsorted. She wanted to play some more with the flowers and Christina let her do so.
"I wonder what can keep this scenery…"
Christina unconsciously thought out loud. Elysia heard her but confused. She couldn't understand what's bothering Christina that made her frown. Although she wanted to help, she didn't understand the problem so she let Christina be.
Ah! I have that—
Christina pulled out a boxed shaped item from her [Item Box]
It was an old fashioned design of digital camera but functioned like a modern colored digital camera.
"I didn't think I would get to use this for real…"
Back when she started living by herself, boredom engulfed her every day. To find something new, she started to recreate items from her memory. Although she couldn't understand much of the science part, she could use mana as an alternative. After all, magic itself was a miracle to human beings.
But a passing thought put her rich and wealthy girl's life plan to a stop.
Remembering the history of the earth, wars frequently happened in the past. If technology geniuses found her inventions, they could instantly turn the world upside down. They could burn places at every turn.
I don't want that.
So she swore to the God of Elkid that she would not intentionally boost technological development. She also said that she won't take out her 'inventions' if not necessary. It would only be for her personal use.
And now—
"I'm not breaking the promise. Just let me have some fun, kami-sama."
As if agreeing with her thoughts, the sky lit up at the right spots and the right moment. It was helping her capture the most beautiful moment at the right angle.
Great!
Christina silently stepped a few steps back. She clicked the button. Without making a bit of sound to startle the little kid, Christina managed to capture from the wide-angle to a much closer image.
The device could only store 20 images at a time. It needed to print right away which Christina scrambled to do so. She hurriedly put pieces of paper under the camera.
Slowly, the images earlier turned into beautiful pictures at the size of paper. It was the original but you could duplicate it using an incantation or existing magic.
It was like a high-tech two-in-one camera-picture printer. But instead of electricity, it was using mana as a medium for energy and ink.
"Nana!"
Elysia looked back to check on Christina but found her busy with the thing in her hand. Feeling a little jealous, she approached Christina to have a look.
"Aaahh!"
She tripped on a small rock and was about to fall. Elysia couldn't help but cry in alarm. But instead of the rough ground, Elysia found herself floating in the air.
"How clumsy."
Christina managed to cast [Float] on time. In contradiction to her words, Elysia saw mirth in Christina's eyes. Her green eyes reflected by the bright sun shone like an emerald.
The distracted toddler, Elysia, was currently surrounded by bubble-like magic. Christina pointed her index finger towards her and the bubble carrying Elysia came.
With a pop, Elysia fell to Christina's arms.
"Are you alright?"
Elysia nodded in response and held on tightly around Christina's neck.
"It's fine."
Christina consoled the child by patting her back gently.
While resting on Christina's shoulder, Elysia noticed the strange thing Christina was holding before. It was something that she hadn't seen before. The item's shape in itself instantly piqued her interest.
Right at that moment, Christina was discreetly laughing at Elysia's 'accident'. Elysia instantly felt that she was making fun of her. Feeling complicated, she decided to squirm out of Christina's arms, as if telling her to put her back on her toes.
"Well then."
Christina didn't argue with her and helped the little kid stand up on her own.
The moment she stood up; she was pouting hard to express her displeasure at Christina's reaction. Christina found it even more amusing and wanted to laugh but managed to repress it.
"Nana! Come!"