Chapter 1463: Full House

By the time Brian, Landon and David finally arrived for breakfast, the table had already crossed the generous boundary between crowded and completely ridiculous.

The three boys entered together with Cherry, Rhea, Sharon, Halsey and Savannah flowing around them in a loose, noisy cluster, conversations overlapping before any of them had properly reached the dining room:

Cherry remained beside Landon, laughing at something he had whispered near her ear, while Rhea and Halsey were still arguing over who had taken longer getting ready. Sharon insisted neither of them possessed the right to complain when Savannah had apparently spent several minutes searching for something that had been in her own hand, which Savannah denied with enough offended dignity that David immediately made the mistake of laughing and earned himself a glare before he had even found his seat.

Their arrival added another layer of noise to a breakfast already filled with enough people to make the enormous penthouse dining room, a space deliberately built to make ordinary gatherings look small, feel strangely intimate.

Phei was not complaining.

He had spent far too long away from this he’d missed it.

A subjective year inside the Primordial Frozen Zone had given him enough silence, slaughter, freezing winds and endless white horizons to last several lifetimes. Sitting now beneath warm morning light with voices colliding around him, cutlery moving across plates and laughter rising from three different conversations at once surrounded by all his loved ones felt richer than almost anything he had touched since returning.

The enormous dining table had become a living map of the strange world his family had grown into, crowded with lovers, relatives, friends, ancient monsters pretending to understand ordinary breakfast etiquette and ordinary people who had somehow grown accustomed to sharing food with beings that once belonged in myths.

Patricia sat within the sprawling gathering alongside the Goddess, Elena, Amber, Sierra, Yuki, Sienna, Maddie, Delilah and Valentina. Soraya and Noor had settled near one another, while Cassiopeia sat close enough to follow whatever Melissa was saying without forcing herself into the conversation, Lydia occupied another seat.

Vic and Nastya— Roxanne was there, as was Mother, while Dianna and Dravenna had joined the breakfast with Dravenna wearing the expression of someone who had already witnessed several impossible things before finishing her first meal of the day and fully expected the household to provide several more before noon.

Emily had curled comfortably into her chair with her phone held close, technically participating in breakfast while very obviously watching anime whenever she believed no one was paying attention. Catrina sat nearby, and farther along the table Maya occupied her seat with that effortless presence of hers that somehow remained noticeable even in a room containing gods, Dragons and beings old enough to remember civilizations nobody living had heard of.

While the Undead Queen remained seated within comfortable reach of Sienna. The Origin Elf and Flower Elf had taken another section of the table, with the latter already suffering beneath Maddie’s attention. Seraphine and the female Demon sat close enough to join whenever conversation drifted toward them, and Dragon Lady had naturally reclaimed territory near Soraya.

Calling what Dragon Lady had before her a breakfast felt deeply dishonest.

It was closer to a territorial dispute with the kitchen.

Enough roasted meat surrounded her to feed several ordinary families, and she was working through it with the calm devotion of someone who considered the destruction of livestock a perfectly respectable way to begin the morning.

Eira floated lazily near Phei’s shoulder and had apparently appointed herself guardian of all unattended fruit, repeatedly stealing pieces from plates belonging to anyone careless enough to look away.

Phei had already eaten enough to satisfy himself and had begun preparing to leave with Melissa.

—It would be just them and their baby.

Melissa stood beside him while Phei checked that he had everything he might conceivably need, an action rendered almost completely pointless by the fact that he could cross the island and return in less time than most people required to realize they had to breath.

Phei had just reached for Melissa’s hand when the space near the far side of the dining room shifted—

Hayashi appeared.

The old man’s arrival was quiet, but as Phei’s attention moved toward him instantly... something in Hayashi’s expression killed whatever casual greeting had been forming before it reached Phei’s mouth. The old man was not frightened, nor did he carry panic carelessly enough for anyone else to taste it, but urgency lived beneath his calm in the restrained way cultivated men carried bad news after centuries of learning that fear rarely improved it.

"Young Master," Hayashi said, his voice enough to soften several nearby conversations, "something has come up—"

Phei regarded him for a moment before glancing toward Melissa. His fingers closed naturally around hers as he asked, "Is it about Althea?"

Hayashi hesitated.

That tiny pause made Phei’s eyes narrow.

"Or is it something just as important that requires me to delay taking care of my woman and child?"

His voice remained calm, which somehow made Hayashi’s continued hesitation louder than an argument. Phei waited for a heartbeat, then another, and when no answer came quickly enough, he gave a small shrug:

"Then it can wait."

Hayashi blinked.

Several people around the table turned fully toward Phei, but he had already begun moving on as though the matter were settled.

Whatever ancient disaster, Legacy Family problem or other nonsense had decided this particular morning looked convenient could stand in line. Phei had spent enough of his life allowing enemies, secrets and increasingly absurd problems to decide when he was allowed to devote himself to the people he loved.

Today, he had somewhere else very important to be.

If Hell’s Paradise Island had survived him accidentally flooding its lands with World Essence, awakening beneath a Primordial Lotus and becoming something even ancient monsters were struggling to properly name— his domain, then it could survive another few hours without personally demanding Phei Ryujin Tiamat’s attention.

He had taken only a step before remembering something and glanced back. "oh, Old Man Hayashi."

Hayashi released the smallest sigh at the title but turned anyway.

"Could you send someone to Jade?"

The old man’s attention sharpened immediately.

Phei’s mouth curved faintly. "Tell her it’s time."

Hayashi studied him for barely a heartbeat before giving one firm nod. "Right away, Young Master."

Space folded around the old man, and he disappeared.

Phei watched the empty place for a moment before turning back toward the table, where Brian, Landon and David had finally managed to reach their seats without actually sitting.

Between greetings being thrown at them from half the room and Cherry loudly correcting Landon’s version of something that had apparently happened the previous evening, breakfast had swallowed the three before food even had the chance.

Phei looked at them. "Brian, Landon, David. If you guys are free in these next days, there’s something I want to give you."

Brian’s brows lifted, David abandoned whatever food he had been reaching for and Landon’s eyes narrowed with immediate impatience.

"Maddie told me you’ve been training with Tatsuya and Endymion," Phei continued with deliberate innocence<anno data-annotation-id="20d0ab70-3a72-0961-7b75-fca5571b4498" data-title=".">.¹</anno>

The three boys looked at one another; something silent passed between them.

Then they all laughed much too quickly.

Brian waved one hand. "Haha, don’t mention it. It’s nothing."

David nodded with suspicious enthusiasm. "Yeah, man. We were just having fun."

"Nothing serious," Landon added in the relaxed tone of somebody who had clearly been taking it seriously. "Just messing around."

Phei slowly nodded as though accepting their explanation. "I see. In that case, I suppose I should forget about giving them to you."

Brian stopped laughing while David’s hand froze halfway toward his plate.

Landon’s mouth actually fell open before he managed: "What?!"

Phei turned slightly toward Melissa as though the discussion had already concluded and they could finally leave.

Brian moved first. "Wait, wait, wait. Who said forget anything?"

Phei looked back at him. "You just told me you’re only having fun."

"We were joking."

David nodded violently enough to look dangerous. "Obviously joking."

"Terrible joke," Landon added. "Awful delivery. You know Brian."

Brian turned toward him in outrage. "Why am I suddenly responsible?"

"Because somebody has to be."

David pointed at Phei. "Whatever you were going to give us, we absolutely want it."

Brian spread both hands in disbelief. "Come on, bro. You don’t tell three men you’ve got something for them after hearing they’ve been training and then walk away. That’s psychological warfare."

Maddie burst out laughing from farther along the table.

Phei held his expression for another heartbeat while the three boys desperately attempted to undo the previous thirty seconds. Then his mouth broke into a grin and laughter escaped him.

All three stopped.

Phei pointed toward them. "Got ya!"

Landon stared at him while David groaned and Brian’s face filled slowly with betrayal.

Phei laughed harder. "I told you I would pull one on you before two days ended."

Recognition struck them almost together what he’d said in the game room.

"Bro!" David shouted.

Brian dragged one palm down his face. "You fucking held onto that?"

"Of course I held onto it."

"That was yesterday!"

"Promises matter."

Landon shook his head slowly. "You’re such an asshole."

Phei looked deeply pleased with himself. "I still hold the leverage, Landon."