“Hngh!”
With an identical grunt to his grandmother’s, he tried to extricate himself from Nieshika’s grasp, but before he knew it, he was resting on her lap. Despite being a master of every martial art, he couldn’t even begin to fathom how she’d managed that. Embarrassed, frustrated, and a little happy all at once, Vandre once again tried to squirm away, but before he could, he heard an exasperated voice call out to them from above.
“Nieshika, what are you doing?”
“Hello, dear. Van’s being shy and rebellious. What should I do?”
“It sure seems like you already know what you want to do, so why even ask?”
“He he he he...”
Grice let out a long sigh. Their savior had ultramarine hair and eyes, and was wearing a yukata that was the same indigo color as Vandre’s. His brow was perpetually furrowed, and he carried himself with all the dignity and pride of a powerful general.
Vandre cast his gaze around, searching for anything that might help him. He wanted to stand, but Nieshika kept holding him down without him even realizing it.
“You have a bad habit of smothering people with affection, you know? Remember how much it annoyed Sariska?”
Nieshika certainly did have that old cat lady vibe.
“Sorry, Van,” Grice said.
“It’s okay...”
Both of them weren’t very talkative by nature, so whenever they met, it was kind of awkward. Kind of like a father who was always away on business trips finally getting some time off to see his son, but neither of them knowing what to say.
Grice wasn’t trying to be distant, but he also had no idea how to interact with his long-lost grandson, so their exchanges always ended up stilted.
“Oh, come now, dear. I know you’re bad with words, but you really do want to talk with Van more, don’t you? Why, just last night, I saw you wandering the halls with your prized bottle of aged sake, looking for—”
“Please spare me,” Grice said, blushing to the tips of his ears. It was obvious to anyone watching that Grice and Nieshika both treasured Vandre greatly. He was their daughter’s cherished son, so of course they loved him. And it clearly wasn’t just them either, since the other members of the Schnee family, and even the family’s servants, were overjoyed to see Vandre. No one cared that he was a half-breed or that he had the blood of the previous Demon Lord running through his veins. Though honestly, that was precisely why it was hard for Vandre to settle in.
The night they’d arrived at Grice’s mansion, Vandre had talked with him and Nieshika for hours. He’d told them about how he’d been born, everything that had happened to him, and even that Sasrika had died because he couldn’t control himself. He hadn’t hidden a single thing. And that was precisely why Vandre thought he didn’t deserve to be accepted by the rest of his family. However, Grice and Nieshika clearly didn’t agree.
“Umm, I...”
Before Vandre could get another word in, Grice patted his head and made his grandson look up to see the old dragonman casting a gentle gaze over him.
Feeling totally out of place, Miledi slowly scooted away. Seeing that, Grice remembered what he’d come here for and awkwardly cleared his throat.
“His Majesty has invited you to lunch. Will you join him?” he asked, looking first at Miledi, then at the trio hiding in the hallway.
Vandre followed his gaze and nearly fainted in shock when he realized Oscar, of all people, had seen him resting atop his grandmother’s lap.
“It’d be our pleasure,” Oscar and the others said, grinning.
Grice led Miledi and the others to the palace for their formal lunch. As they walked through the city’s gorgeous streets, the party took in the sights of the capital.
The Dragon Kingdom’s capital was situated in a large caldera, and while the surrounding region was nothing but bare rock, the caldera was teeming with vegetation. Numerous streams ran through the city, and all of the buildings were made of wood. Even the largest of them was no more than three stories tall, and the simple architectural style was something the group hadn’t seen anywhere else.
The palace, too, was quite unique. It wasn’t at all ostentatious, and following the rule of other large buildings in the city, only three stories tall. And yet, the vermilion gates were beautiful despite lacking ornamentation and the rock garden in the courtyard was marvelous. The inner palace also felt majestic, and Miledi and the others felt as though they’d wandered into another world.
As they stepped inside, they awkwardly removed their shoes, following the dragonmen’s custom of not wearing footwear indoors. They enjoyed the warmth of the wooden floors underneath their bare feet as they walked down the halls. Or, in Meiru’s case, glided like an ice skater. Naiz shook his head in exasperation as he watched her.
After taking a few turns, they reached the banquet hall. The party could hear boisterous voices from the other side of the sliding door.
“I’ve gotta say, I’m jealous of Grice. None of us have any kids as amazing as his grandson.”
Vandre stiffened up upon hearing that.
“Well, if you ask me, Miledi’s the best of them!”
Miledi blushed.
“Both of them are only skilled in their respective fields, though. Meanwhile, Oscar has mastered numerous different disciplines.”
Oscar let out a strangled noise.
“Come on, who cares about those three? Meiru’s the real star of the Liberators. She really does take after Reej. No wonder she’s become one of the most—”
Meiru scowled angrily and before anyone could stop her, she kicked the door open and stomped into the room. One of the guards turned in shock, but Meiru ignored him and turned to one of the men who’d been talking—Baharl. She then gave him a terrifying smile, and before he could try to make excuses for himself, she elbowed him in the face, hard.