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Chapter 330 Family
330 Family
"Well, on that topic, I would have to digress here in the sense that..." A woman with mixed-breed characteristics of a human and some sort of bird-like species spoke in a pleasing and slightly fawning tone.
Nodding her head while listening was Aileen, who wore a business smile that was pleasant but distant. She wore a black business suit for women that was slightly fitting, allowing her now rejuvenated body to display her femininity, which caught David hook, line, and sinker when they were younger.
Seated beside Aileen was a neatly dressed Antonia who was also pretending to listen with a similar fake smile but was secretly playing around on the Etranet. She wore a frilly purple and red dress with a lovely pink bow tie to round up her plentiful hair that was becoming as lush as her mother's.
She was currently watching the video of her dad fighting Lara in that tumultuous battle that shook the universe back then. When she saw Dante dominate everyone, she was full of excitement and worship.
The way he was so calm yet firm was just like the Dante Antonia was used to, never rushing her nor exerting force, but always letting her know that he cannot be disrespected through his expressions and the softness of his words.
When Lara suppressed Dante and seemed to belittle him before calmly leaving, Antonia was filled with fury and rage. She wanted to run up and scratch that mean woman in the face for talking to her dad like that!
However, when Dante suddenly dragged Lara down from her high horse and put her face first into the dirt, there was no one more excited than Antonia in the entire universe. She cheered so hard that she realized that she had jumped to her feet in joy in reality, causing the room to go silent and everyone to stare at her.
Seeing all the adults in the meeting room look at her, Antonia was not shy, but she did realize her mistake. She glanced at Aileen guiltily, knowing that she had disgraced her someone like this, but Aileen's eyes were filled with indulgence as she stroked Antonia's hair gently.
"Hehe, you were watching videos of your dad again, weren't you?" Aileen teased with a chuckle.
Antonia blushed and felt exasperated. "Geez grandma, how can you always know what I am thinking and doing?"
"You're as predictable and readable as your dad in that regard. You can continue watching the videos but use full immersion mode. You don't need to pay attention to the meeting anymore, we're almost done anyway." Aileen snickered and responded.
Antonia sat back down and did as Aileen said without making a fuss, something that startled the adults here. While they were puzzled as to why an eminent person like Aileen would bring a child to literal diplomatic meetings that affected the entire universe, it was the specific child that she brought that shut them up from even having negative thoughts.
After all, this was Antonia Alighieri, the daughter of the number 1 man in the universe as well as the strongest woman in the universe. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that within the entire Eternal Universe, Antonia was a princess!
Even if she ran about breaking things and making noise like most toddlers her age did, they would have to bear with it, much less that she was such a well-behaved little miss. She really did live up to her heritage, all the various beings in the room couldnt help but feel.
Aileen saw this and her eyes narrowed slightly. This was the exact effect she wanted to achieve, making those who came through this place recognize Antonia as well as her extraordinariness.
One thing Aileen knew was that her son and her daughter-in-law were practically the owners of this universe, its undisputed monarchs who could decide the fate of anything and everything with a word.
However, neither of them cared little about the micro-management of the universe and left everything as it was in order to pursue higher goals. This left a vacuum in power of sorts that she temporarily filled, but Aileen wanted to enjoy her extended life and rejuvenated youth with David, not babysit an entire universe.
Quantum AIs helping her or not, this was the kind of herculean task that caused her to be completely tired every day. David had told her to drop it many times, but she was a perfectionist at heart who had the skills necessary to do this, so she couldn't help herself.
David himself offered to help, but Aileen rejected because he did not know the first thing about politics. He was a master architect and was currently undergoing intensive study of the Eternal Universe architecture and the architecture of various races to enhance his craft; he did not have time to play house with her.
That was why Aileen chose to tutor Antonia like this, because as the daughter of Dante and Beatrice, she was heir to the universe. While her parents fulfilled their goals, she would be able to take the reins of the various things they owned and bring prosperity to the family's 'backyard'.
What Aileen was basically doing was undergoing a slow process of succession for Antonia to take over the authorities and powers that her parents possessed. Knowing how this worked, Aileen understood that the first step of succession was recognition.
Many successions were ruined or made difficult simply because neither the people nor those in power recognized the incoming ruler. This was both in the sense of respect and identity.
It was bad enough if the people did not respect you as a liege when undergoing succession, but even worse when they did not even know who you were or what you looked like before coming into power.
Let them see Antonia frequently at such meetings, and when she grew up, taking charge of these things would be a breeze for her. The succession process would be so smooth that people would not even realize the change when it happened.
This was Aileen's goal.
"Thank you for coming here today and sorting this issue out. I will speak to the Councilor of Potala Prime about this issue and see what resolutions we can come up with." Aileen stood up and shook the hand of the dignitary opposite her, who responded with some similar light words before exiting with his entourage.
After making sure that they were gone, Aileen sighed and slumped into her seat tiredly. Antonia stopped what she was doing after being alerted by her A1 chip that her grandma was done with her meeting in time to see Aileen's reaction.
"Aww, grandma. If you're so tired, why do you put up with this? Just mention Dad or Mom's name, and these guys won't make a peep!" Antonia comforted Aileen confidently.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSeeing her granddaughter so concerned about her, Aileen couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry about grandma, I won't continue doing this for long. Besides, you should be excited because your dad and mom should be coming to pick you up soon."
Antonia's eyes shone with excitement as she immediately jumped to her feet. Then what are we waiting for? Let's go, go, go!"
Chuckling at how energetic Antonia had suddenly become, Aileen got up and dusted herself before leading Antonia towards the main bedroom of the Alighieri family estate on Planet Etonia.
Just as they reached the door, it opened to reveal Dante and Beatrice, who were dressed as usual, their faces wearing smiles. When Antonia saw them, she squealed with delight and ran up to them.
"Mom, dad!" She cried with joy as Beatrice and Dante squatted down to pick her up and bring her into their mutual embrace.
Aileen folded her arms and smiled while watching this, remembering the days oh so many years ago when a tiny Dante would run into her and David's arms in much the same manner. Now, the son she had raised, her darling boy, had a family of his own.
Aileen could not even begin to explain the surge of emotions going through her heart right now. In the end, she could only say: "My granddaughter has been pining for you two the entire time. Make sure to spend more time with her if you can."
Dante smiled. "Don't worry mom, we plan to keep her by our side for a while to come."
"Oh? That's good. I'll return to your father then and make sure he's not up to some trouble." Aileen said as she waved goodbye and began to leave.
However, before she could go, she heard a sweet little cry. 'Wait, grandma!"
Aileen stopped and turned around with confusion, only to see that Antonia had somehow rushed over to her. The little lass gestured to Aileen to squat down, which she did.
"Thank you for taking care of me grandma. You're the best!" Antonia stated as she sweetly pecked Aileen on the cheek.
Right then and there, Aileen felt like everything she had done her entire life was worth it. There was no better moment than this.
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