Page 31 of The Dark Elf's Surprise Baby

Kerym laughs. “She’s quite the beauty, isn’t she? She’s a friend of Layla’s, actually.”

“Oh?” I breathe out, not being able to take my eyes off of her.

She crosses through the crowd of people collecting in the center of the hall, Layla leading her over to a large table full of desserts while both children cheer loudly.

“Yes. She’s from Zerva and is staying with us for a little while. We’re helping her get back on her feet.”

I swallow thickly, my glass of alcohol all but forgotten in my hand.

“I-I see.”

“She’s a lovely woman,” Kerym crosses his arms over his chest. “She and Layla have become close friends. It’s nice for my mate to have someone else around to keep her company. And the kids play together, so that’s always a bonus.”

Kids.

My eyes dart down to the small child that is lifted off of the ground by Harper and balanced over the table. Her little finger points to one of the desserts on top—a small cake from the looks of it.

As Harper sets her down, she reaches over and plucks it off of the display, bending down to get eye level with the little girl to feed her a small piece.

“She… has a daughter?”

“Mmm, Adelaide. Sweet little girl and she plays well with Jasper.”

My heart pounds in my chest, the nest question burning on the tip of my tongue.

Do I dare ask? What if it’s an answer I don’t want to hear?

From here, the child looks human—pale skin, blonde hair and a short stature that is common with human children.

It would break my heart to find out that the real reason Harper ran away was to be with someone else and have a child with them. Perhaps she’d grown tired of waiting for me to constantly come back from my missions. Perhaps she’d grown tired of me in general.

Whatever it was that made her leave my estate without a trace has been ruminating inside of my head for the last four years. To the point that it’s caused me a great deal of agony.

I’ve spent so long searching for her, hoping that it was all one big misunderstanding. But finding her to no avail has only made this ache in my chest grow worse.

And now that I see her with a child that looks just like her?

My hand tenses around the glass.

“Her child…”

I feel Kerym’s eyes on me.

“How old?”

“Oh,” he shrugs. “About four, I believe. Why?”

My entire body goes still.

Four? Did I hear that right?

“You’re sure?”

“Sure… of what? Of the girl’s age?”

“Yes.”

“Well. As far as I know, that’s her age. Why? Demethys, you look pale.”

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