Novel Full Chapter 538: It is nice to see you again, Princess.
Chapter 538: It is nice to see you again, Princess.
While the pot cooked, one of the Velmourn elders cleared his throat and spoke again. Now that there was some sort of comfort and a strange sense of camaraderie, things had gotten much smoother, and more and more elders had begun participating.
“There are… rules,”
The Velmourn Elder began.
“To eating Divine Rations.”
Kael frowned at those words. He did not wish to discuss this for now since he had planned to do it later, but as he saw the Stonefang Elders staring at him, as if waiting for him to translate, he gave in and translated.
And the next instant, the Stonefangs frowned.
“Rules?”
One of them grunted.
“Why rules? Food is food.”
Another asked. Kael translated the question for the Velmourns out of habit, but it was clear by the hesitation on the Velmourn Elder’s face that he wasn’t fully prepared when he mentioned the rules. He had most likely said it because he wanted to participate in the conversation and was now looking at Kael and Lavinia with an uncertain look on his face.
In the end, before the conversation could twist the mood, Kael stepped forward and—
“I will explain later,”
He answered the Stonefangs.
“For now, there is one rule only.”
He spoke as he lifted a finger.
“Do not waste food.
And put nothing inside the Sanctuary.”
He cleared the most basic rule since he still needed to keep their ’Divine Ration’ bit going. The Stonefang Elders nodded as well. They had no intentions of wasting food, and while not being able to store something this delicious inside the Sanctuary seemed like a waste, since Kael had already promised that he would give this food every day, they did not mind following the rules.
The cooking continued; the pot finished soon after and the steam rose thick.
The scent spread again, this time much stronger than before. Even the warriors who had been trying to act tough all this while began to swallow and eventually lowered their guard as they stared at the pot with a lost look on their faces.
One of the Velmourn elders poured the first bowls carefully.
The Stonefang elders watched the food fill the wooden bowls, their eyes fixed, as if afraid it would vanish.
“Line them up,”
Kael nodded at Gruumak. The chief gave orders and slowly, the Stonefangs formed a line.
No, the line wasn’t perfect. With one look, it was clear that this was probably the first time these people had formed a line—at least a line as large as this one.
But again, it did the work that was needed.
Children came first; to the Stonefangs, children were the most important. They were extremely protective of their young ones.
After the children came the warriors, then the injured, and finally, the elders.
And both Kael and Lavinia did not miss it. The couple exchanged a glance. Once again, they could see the similarity—just like the Velmourns, Stonefangs too gave the least priority to the elderly.
Now their reasons or how they did it might differ, but the core idea was all the same.
For now, however, both Kael and Lavinia ignored it and continued to observe what was happening. A Velmourn elder handed the first bowl to a Stonefang child.
The child stared at it like it was treasure. The shine in his innocent eyes and the drool coming out of his mouth showed just how much he was holding back, and only when Gruumak nodded at him did he finally latch onto the bowl, devouring it at an impossible speed.
The moment the first bite touched his tongue—
“!!!”
His eyes widened instantly.
He froze for a moment, but while others waited for him to give a review, he did not say anything and began eating faster instead, as if he could no longer hold himself back.
The way that child fed himself made the children standing behind him unable to control themselves; they too moved forward, and the Velmourn Elders continued distributing the food.
More bowls were handed out.
More mouths tasted.
And the same reaction spread quietly through the line—eyes widening, shoulders loosening, breaths turning easier. Some Stonefangs even had tears rolling down their cheeks because of how overwhelmed they were.
Of course, the wariness was still there.
The Stonefang warriors still watched the Velmourn elders carefully, and the Velmourn elders still watched the Stonefang warriors carefully.
But those looks were… not as sharp now.
The hatred inside them had faded to a certain extent. For the first time ever since the Stonefang warriors crossed the wall, they… finally let go of the hilts of their weapons and truly enjoyed what they were being fed.
For the first time since the gates opened, both sides shared the same simple truth—
Warm food was in their hands.
And for this one moment, hunger mattered more than history.
Just like that, all Stonefangs finished their meals. Kael, Lavinia, and the Velmourn Elders watched them in silence. Some Velmourn Elders had light, gentle smiles on their faces as they saw the light in Stonefang children’s eyes shine brighter than ever.
And suddenly—
“We need to feed them dinner too.”
Kael muttered in a low voice.
“I can come make dinner for them as well, I do not mind.”
An elder who heard him answered, ready to do more since he wanted to help Kael in any way possible. Not to mention, seeing these… people they once considered monsters show… human emotions felt… quite strangely good.
He… enjoyed this feeling.
And he wasn’t alone; the rest of the elders beside him felt the same. They didn’t mind coming back and teaching the Stonefangs again.
But—
“No.”
Kael shook his head.
“All of you have already done a lot, so you need to rest. I will ask other elders. I will make a list of willing elders and have Elder Aeliana create a system that would manage the Stonefang food for the next three days till they learn to make their own.”
“We are not that tired.”
The elder countered.
“Yes, we can still move. Our hair might be white, but don’t underestimate our bodies. I used to be a soldier back in my day.”
Another added, patting his now non-existent biceps.
Kael chuckled at those words.
“That’s a good thing. If I fail to do things according to my plan, I will count on you then.”
The elders nodded. Kael nodded back before turning towards the Stonefangs—
“Chief Gruumak.”
He called before he walked towards the chief and began talking in a low voice.
Their conversation continued for a few minutes. After that, the Stonefang Chief nodded and turned towards his people while Kael returned to Lavinia and the Elders.
“Let’s leave now.”
He smiled.
Lavinia and the elders nodded.
The couple first returned to the quarters the elders belonged to, then finally, the two looked at each other and—
“Are you going to meet her now?”
Lavinia questioned in a low voice.
“Mhm.”
And Kael nodded.
“It has been two days. She must have a lot to say, especially with everything that has been going around. If she knows the situation at the Heights, her reaction wouldn’t be small.”
Kael nodded at those words again, and then Lavinia lowered her voice and…
“Should I come…?”
She asked, and Kael suddenly paused.
“Are you ready to?”
After a few seconds of silence, he questioned back.
All this while, when Kael was busy, it was Lavinia who went and gave the rations to Aeliana’s subordinates to make food for the prisoners, but never once did she actually meet them.
After all, these people connected her to her past. While they weren’t from Drakthar, the Sky Kingdom and Drakthar were still close. As Drakthar’s princess, Lavinia had met Aurelia a couple of times, and meeting her again would keep reminding her about the days of the past—the days when she… naively believed everything around her.
“I…”
Lavinia hesitated.
But when she looked into Kael’s eyes again, she took a deep breath and—
“I am.”
She nodded with a determined look on her face.
Kael nodded back and gently held Lavinia’s hand. From there, the two walked towards the hall the Sky Kingdom prisoners were imprisoned in.
It was a fifteen-minute walk. Kael and Lavinia now stood in front of the two guards who bowed at them. Then, the gates of the prison opened, and the moment they did, the soft look on Kael’s face disappeared and was replaced with coldness.
“Seems like you are enjoying yourself.”
He commented as he stepped in, attracting the attention of all the prisoners.
“Are you liking the delicacies that our people gave you?”
“We are eating what our comrades earned for us, and no, we are not enjoying ourselves, not when our comrades have been working tirelessly for the last two days and the one who captured us is nowhere to be seen.”
The Sky Serpent General answered in an instant, then her eyes fell on Lavinia and—
“It is nice to see you again, Princess.”
She greeted.