That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Goblin Girl Chapter 26 (Patreon)

“Duke Vst it is my pleasure to see you again,” the queen said, allowing my grandfather to kiss the back of her hand.

She was quite the beautiful woman, and that wasn’t just based on her appearance alone. The way that she held herself and dressed only made her look that much more beautiful.

“As for you, I have heard many interesting things about you,” she said, looking down at me.

Wait, did the king tell the queen that I was a goblin? Was she going to threaten grandfather to have me kicked out?

“You’re so much cuter than I thought you would be. You look just like your grandmother Illya, well, besides the ears, that is. Though they do have an appeal of their own.”

Her hands felt warm as she patted my head. She was as kind and gentle as Auntie Sara. She was-

“Mother, what are you talking about? She’s ugly.”

“What?”

“Justin! How dare you speak such words to a lady?” The queen looked very flustered by her son’s outburst, while the princess and the king tried their best to avoid eye contact. It would seem that this was something that happened often.

“Apologize to her right now.”

“I don’t want to,” prince Justin said back to her, refusing to admit his wrongdoing. “If I say she’s ugly, then she’s ugly!”

“Duke, I am so sorry about this.” The queen bowed her head to my grandfather, doing her best to apologize for her disobedient son. “The prince normally doesn’t act like this, I swear.”

“There is no fault for you to take responsibility for,” grandfather said to her, not upset with the queen in the slightest. “Though I do believe that it would be best to continue with this conversation elsewhere.,” he said, motioning them to look around.

“Ahem, indeed, please, Duke, lead the way,” the king said, allowing my grandfather to lead us to his study.

“Kayden allows me to offer my deepest apologies for my son’s actions,” the king said, bowing his head once the doors were closed.

“Father! Why are you bowing to him!?” Justin yelled, acting like a brat when his father was trying to fix his mistake.

Though, to be honest, it was quite shocking to see a King bow before a Duke. I never thought that I would see something like this.

“Enough. Apologize to the poor girl right now.”

“…S-sorry,” he said meekly, barely loud enough for me to hear.

“Louder,” the King said, not pleased with his son’s tone.

“I’m sorry, alright!” he yelled, looking as if he was going to cry.

He may be older than me, but he was still just a child. I didn’t like it when I got scolded, either. It made me feel sort of sad for him.

“Very good, now please, if you would have a seat,” grandfather said, trying to sit down next to me, but before I knew it, I was sitting in the queen’s lap with the princess silently sitting next to us.

“…What? She’s too cute to be forced to sit next to some grumpy old men. Isn’t that right, Sophia?”

The queen was clearly making fun of grandfather as he was now forced to sit next to the king and prince.

“Hehehe~.” I let out a slight giggle, finding how uncomfortable the three of them looked assuming.

“Yes, mother, she is very cute,” Sophia said back to her mother, making me blush.

I was used to having my family call me cute, but it felt different when coming from the queen and the princess. It made me feel even more embarrassed.

“I still don’t see it,” Justin said, looking away from me, but I could see the tips of his ears turn red.

“So, what do I owe the pleasure of hosting the royal family today?” grandfather asked, just as curious as I was. There was no way that they were just here for me. There had to be another reason, right?

“Is it wrong for me to want to see my friend that has been trying to hide his granddaughter from me for the past three years?” the king asked, smiling at me.

“Of course not. In fact, I was wondering when you would show,” grandfather said as cookies and juice were brought in by Lena.

I wanted to grab a cookie for myself, but before I knew it, the queen was already feeding me one, and Sophia was eagerly holding one out for me.

I swear this mother and daughter were on the exact same wavelength. However, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it.

“Kayden, are you sure that she’s yours? So well-behaved, not even making a fuss when Justin acted out. Most children aren’t like this,” the queen said, feeding me another cookie. “I mean no offense, but look at Damien.”

“Of course, she isn’t,” grandfather said proudly. “It’s because she is my great-granddaughter.”

Hmm, this was more like a meeting between friends than it was a meeting of some of the most powerful people in the kingdom.

“As for Damien, he chose his path. There is no need to feel sorry for a man like that. I only feel sorry for those that he drags down with him. The nerve of that boy to insult his own family.”

‘It is a shame that he never learned properly,” the king said back to my grandfather. “I was forced to cut off dealings with him thanks to his involvement with some shady businesses. Though I do believe that conversation is best left out of the ears of children.”

“Hmm?” What could Damien be up to?

“No, you don’t need to think about that,” the queen said, letting Sophia feed me a cookie this time. “In fact, I believe that if you two wish to discuss that promise you made three years ago, then I will take the kids out to get to know one other.”

The promise three years ago? Wait, did that mean that she really knew I was a goblin? Why was she okay with touching me if she knew the truth? Didn’t she think that I was grotesque?

“What! That’s not fair! Justin yelled out in frustration. “I don’t want to play with a baby! I want to stay with father!”

“Justin, when you are older. For now, you should take care of these two. Remember, it’s your job as a prince to protect those weaker than you.” Really? I may just be a toddler, but I could protect myself.

“…Fine, but it’s only because she’s a weakling,” Justin said, falling for his father’s trick.

Seeing that there would be no more complaints from his son, the queen had me show them to my room, all while insisting on carrying me. I guess that my room was the best place to play, but it didn’t mean I was comfortable allowing offer kids to touch my toys.

“Hah! Yah! This is so cool! Why does a brat like you have one of these!?” Justin yelled, running around the room and swinging the small wooden sword that Auntie Sara gave to me for my last birthday. It was too heavy for me to lift, so I never had the chance to use it, but I had always planned on using it when I got older.

“Your dolls are pretty,” Sophia said, sitting across from me

To be honest, this was the first time that I used these dolls. Sully and Tully made them with the help of Lena. Though with no one to play with, they just sat on my bed all of this time.

“Fufufu~. It’s interesting to see that there’s a human, elf, and goblin doll,” the queen said kindly to me, seeing that the dolls were modeled after different species. The goblin doll was my favorite because she looked like me.

“Who would have ever thought that these three races could get along? Shall I play as well?”

“Mother! Watch out! I’ll protect you from the evil goblin!” Justin yelled, ripping my goblin doll out of my hands before beating it with the wooden sword, destroying it.

The smile etched across his face terrified me. I had almost forgotten since only my family knew what I was, but if I were found out, that would happen to me. I would end up just like… like mother….

“Justin, stop that right now!” the queen yelled, snapping me back to reality. “You’re making Illya cry!”

Cry? Was I… I held my fingers up to my face, realizing that I was crying.

“Come here sweetie,” she said, picking me and Sophia up in her arms, who looked disturbed by what her brother did.

“What did I do wrong? Why is she crying?” Justin asked, unaware of what he had done wrong. “I was just slaying the ugly goblin that dared to dress in human clothing.”

…Yeah, that’s what I was… an ugly goblin in a dress.

“And why did you do that?” the queen asked him.

“Because it’s a goblin! They’re evil!”

“Are you sure about that? Did you know that goblins have families of their own, just like us humans? True, they don’t all look the nicest, but appearances don’t tell you who someone is on the inside. “

“But they kill people!” Justin yelled, not listening to the lesson his mother was trying to teach him. “Uncle Desmond says that all monsters need to be killed before they kill us!”

“Illya, that’s not true,” she said to me, placing me and Sophia on my bed. “All creatures deserve to exist. They deserve to live. Just because something isn’t human doesn’t mean it’s evil.”

“Justin, needless violence will only continue the cycle of hate and war. You don’t want that now, do you?”

“…No,” Justin said, sounding remorseful of his actions.

“Good. Now apologize to Illya for destroying her doll. I’m sure that it meant a lot to her.”

It did. That doll was me. It was my fate, wasn’t it? All because I was a goblin, I had to suffer. It was unfair.

“… sorry…”

“Illya?” Did you hear what Justin said to you?” the queen asked, holding my hands, kneeling down in front of me.

“I said I’m sorry okay!” Justin yelled, grabbing my attention. “I’m sorry for breaking your stupid doll!”

No, you weren’t. none of you were sorry. None of you knew the pain of losing someone close to you just because of the color of their skin. None of you knew!

I wanted to scream and shout at them, but what did it actually matter? No matter what I do, my fate remains the same. I couldn’t escape what I was, no matter how many dresses I wore or how I talked. I was a monster.

I didn’t bother to say a word, climbing down from my bed and grabbing my broken doll. I walked to the corner of my room, huddling myself in a ball, holding the doll close to me as I silently cried.

“Sweetie, it’s all right, we can fix your dolly,” the queen said, trying to calm me down, but I didn’t want to hear it. If she knew what I was, she would just leave me alone. It was better that way.

“… No…”

I didn’t want to talk to her. I didn’t want to see her. I just wanted to be left alone.

“Sweetie, it’s alright, no one is mad at you. Don’t you want to play some more with Sophia?”

Play? No! I don’t want to play! I want to be left alone!

“No! Weave me alone!” I screamed, my tears soaking the top part of my dress. I couldn’t hold back my emotions any longer. I just couldn’t.

“You take everything from me! You take m-m-mey away! You take h-eer away! Y-ou t-take…. Wahhhhhhh~!!!!!”

I couldn’t stop myself from breaking down. I wanted nothing more than to forget, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t forget it and I couldn’t forgive them. Humans took her away from me. They took everything away from me.

“Sweetie, it’s all right, your safe. No one will hurt you. It’s okay,” the queen said, holding me in her arms, but I refuse to stay still.

“No! Let go! Let go of me!” I yelled, screaming for her to let me go.

I flailed my arms around, hitting her in the face and knocking the crown off her head, but she still wouldn’t let go.

“No, it’s okay, it’s okay,” she said, holding me even tighter. “It’s okay. Shh~. Shh~.”

She began to bounce me slowly in her arms, allowing me to tire myself out until I could no longer find the energy to even keep my eyes open.