Chapter 1218 - 1217: The Royal Dinner and Young Dragons

Chapter 1218: Chapter 1217: The Royal Dinner and Young Dragons

Gawain paid no heed to Amber’s loud chattering—because he knew that this half-elf had long grown accustomed to not being too unreliable. She hadn’t jumped through windows into rooms for quite a while and hadn’t triggered the "Anti-Amber Mechanisms" on nearby street lamps and rooftops recently. In the end, she had shown some growth compared to before.

Except for her height and figure.

Gawain walked over to open the study’s window frame, and the two young dragons outside immediately jumped in through the window. They first ran a quick circle on the ground before remembering to gallop back to Gawain, neatly spreading their wings and lowering their heads (a bow in dragon form), letting out "Ga-oh—" sounds. Then they ran to Amber and repeated the same gesture, "Ga-oh—".

Amber and Gawain both wore expressions of surprise and amusement, watching the young dragons greeting them. Amber couldn’t help but speak first, "Wow...didn’t expect them to be quite polite, huh?"

"The young dragons’ minds have developed so quickly..." Gawain was surprised by something else. "They’ve only just hatched, yet not only can they fly all the way from Embassy Street, but they also know how to greet politely... I thought creatures like Dragonkin, with long lifespans and at the top of the food chain, would have a very lengthy childhood, similar to elves..."

"That’s what I thought too," Amber squat down, rubbing the young dragons’ heads covered in fine scales haphazardly. "But now it seems those are just our stereotypes—of course, it’s also possible that Dragonkin modified their genetic information at some point to accelerate the growth rate of young dragons, given their technical prowess back in the day, manufacturing dragons in factories like child’s play..."

It seemed "The Shame of All Things" was once again letting her mind wander, but this time Gawain didn’t join her in pointless speculation. He checked whether the young dragons carried any notes from Melita or Nuoletta, and upon finding none, he knew these little ones had sneaked out on their own. He glanced out the window at the sky, seeing the sun setting and the evening getting late, he turned to Amber and said, "Melita must be worried by now. Go send a message to the Talronde Embassy, let them know the young dragons are here, and that they’ll be having dinner here—Enya hasn’t seen them in a few days and has mentioned them several times."

"Alright, I’ll go inform them." Amber got up while speaking, fading gradually in the air before finishing her sentence.

The two young dragons watched Amber disappear into thin air, exclaiming in surprise immediately, then ran circles on the ground as if looking for hiding spaces. But after just a few seconds, they lost interest, returning to Gawain’s side, circling around him constantly, pressing their heads against Gawain’s knee, making cheerful yet unintelligible gurgling sounds.

Interacting with Dragonkin hatchlings—even for Gawain, was an unprecedentedly novel experience. Although it wasn’t his first time being with these little ones, he couldn’t help but marvel at the young dragons’ interesting and quirky nature.

The natural development of activity and intellect among Dragonkin hatchlings clearly distinguishes them from other races, manifesting in their preference for Cecil Palace and their close attitude toward Gawain. The little ones seem to be aware of their birthplace, recalling the aura of everyone around them at birth. Shortly after mastering crawling, they once ran all the way from Embassy Street to frolic on the lawn in front of Cecil Palace, causing a chaos Gawain still vividly remembers. And predictably, they’ll likely visit to cause more mischief in the future...

But Gawain didn’t mind this at all; he was quite fond of these Dragonkin sisters.

Soon after, the Imperial Emperor’s family dinner was ready in the dining hall. With the chefs and attendants bustling around, the long dining table was filled with bountiful yet not overly lavish food. Extra chairs (though they might not be used) were brought in as well. Gawain sat in the chief seat as the head of the family, with Aunt Heidi, Rebecca, and others following suit. As for Amber...as usual, sat confidently at Gawain’s left hand side, raising a drumstick and beer.

If there were a stubbornly conventional individual witnessing the Emperor’s family dining scene, they’d likely write a detailed critique or discussion of several thousand words. Just because there were too many situations at the dining table not adhering to "aristocratic etiquette" and "royal dignity." However, Gawain himself was quite satisfied with this lively yet unrestrained "family gathering." He always believed mealtime should be the most relaxed moment, especially with family and friends, and this precious time should never yield to those energy-draining formalities and "etiquette customs". This principle existed since he first built a pioneering settlement here and remained unchanged even after becoming the ruler of this vast empire.

Regarding this, even Aunt Heidi, who once valued tradition and "rules" greatly, had long grown accustomed—even to the scene of Amber and Rebecca competing for the last drumstick at the table.

Considering Aunt Heidi’s character, it’s truly remarkable...

Gawain’s gaze shifted to the end of the table, noticing another figure who rarely appeared in the dining room standing by the table. It was a golden giant egg, with magic symbols emitting a faint glow flowing across its shell surface. It stood imposingly opposite Gawain, with a teacup and kettle floating beside it, and the latest newspaper hovering before it.

The two young dragons had long jumped down from their chairs, now energetically bouncing around the golden egg. They occasionally climbed to the top of the eggshell, like dragons perched atop a castle in bard tales, curling their tails to squat on top, continually stretching their necks to let out harmless "Ga-oh" calls.

Ordinary people in charge of caretaking here would likely be in a fluster in front of the young dragons’ abundant energy and strong physique. However, for the former gods, this level of mischief from the little ones was nothing worth mentioning. Enya simply let the young dragons climb around on her, and it didn’t affect her enjoyment of drinking tea and reading the newspaper.

Of course, considering the current form of this Dragon God...whether she was indifferent or not, others couldn’t discern. After all, she just stood there.

The aroma of food wafted through the dining hall. Amber enjoyed eating with excitement, holding a partly-eaten drumstick, but soon glanced at the young dragons and Enya nearby, then noticed Tiel on a chair not far away, lying face up and asleep like a corpse before dinner even began. She couldn’t help but whisper to Gawain nearby, "Hey, not that I’m saying this...but have you noticed the number of normal humans around you is getting fewer and fewer? Nowadays, just having someone who looks human at the table isn’t easy..."

Her voice wasn’t loud, but certainly couldn’t escape the keen perception of the golden egg, with Enya’s warm yet playful voice immediately coming from the far end of the long table, "I’m usually not in the dining room—today’s just because the little ones are visiting, so I’m here to make an appearance."

While speaking, she summoned the floating teacup beside her with invisible magic, deftly pouring the hot tea over her eggshell. As steam rose, the golden egg emanated the fragrance of tea—the young dragons, busy studying whether the table could be eaten, were immediately drawn in by the scene. One jumped up trying to grab the teacup floating in the air, while the other opened its mouth to send a stream of fire accurately onto the portion of Enya’s shell drenched in tea—most likely helping to dry it.

Gawain looked at the bizarre and bustling scene, finally couldn’t help but rub his forehead and mutter: "A meal still needs SC, this is something I never dreamed of..."

Before he finished speaking, Tiel, who was almost sliding off the chair, suddenly became alert and woke up, the sea demon lady looked around with wide eyes: "Dreaming? Sleeping? I wasn’t asleep, just dozing off, let me know when the meal starts..."

Before finishing her sentence, this deep-sea salty fish spirit slowly closed her eyes again, her body softened back onto the chair - her expression was peaceful, appearing as if she had slept to death.

"I can’t even understand what she’s doing here," Amber couldn’t help but glance in Tiel’s collapsing direction, muttering softly under her breath, "She doesn’t eat, she’s just changed places to sleep..."

"...I wanted to inquire about the current situation on Antawen, feels like it’s been a long time since we received news from there, also not sure what progress has been made on those sea demons’ repair projects recently," Gawain helplessly looked at Tiel and sighed softly, "Oh well, wait until she’s awake someday to talk."

"Don’t always keep your nerves tense, at least at times like this, you should think about things unrelated to the ’big picture’," Enya’s voice calmly transmitted from the opposite side just as Gawain finished speaking, two young dragons were vying for space atop her eggshell, her voice soothing, "Although I’ve never quite understood the sea demons’ way of living, at least in relaxing the mind and ’making themselves happy’, they’re much better than you."

"I can’t help it, my mind has difficulty quieting down, if I stop thinking, I feel uneasy..." Gawain smiled and shook his head, somewhat helplessly, his gaze suddenly falling on the two young dragons wrestling each other - he noticed a blue glow arising between the scales near the little creatures’ necks, and where the glow extended, a semblance of ’flowing’ texture could be faintly seen, "Enya, have the ’deep blue markings’ on the two little ones changed again?"

"Did you notice too?" Enya’s voice came, as reliably peaceful as ever, putting one at ease, "Indeed, it’s already at the point where it’s visible to the naked eye, hard not to notice... Their markings have indeed developed again recently. Previously, I thought they were showing some signs of mutations due to the active energy influenced from The Deep Blue Webway, which would stabilize as they grew, but now... The influence of The Deep Blue Webway on them is deeper than I imagined."

Gawain subconsciously paused his hands holding the knife and fork, his expression turning a bit serious: "Is it really alright?"

"Still cannot see any adverse impact for now, they are very healthy, even healthier than typical young dragons, in terms of magic sense capabilities, they too possess higher developmental limits, just... I noticed the deep blue markings on them have been causing external sensations and interactions, making me suspect they haven’t separated from The Deep Blue Webway’s influence, even..."

Always silent, Aunt Heidi couldn’t help breaking the silence at this moment - like Gawain, she was equally concerned about the two little creatures hatched in the Cecil Palace: "Even?"

"I even suspect they are still connected to The Deep Blue Webway up to now," Enya’s calm tone finally betrayed a trace of worry, but she quickly concealed this concern, "And we’re probably unable to sever this connection."

Gawain looked at the golden eggshell: "Do Melita and Nuoletta know about this matter?"

"I’ve mentioned it to them - as mothers of the young dragons, they have the right and duty to know the changes happening on the two little ones," Enya slowly said, the still naive young dragons had climbed down from her eggshell, glancing around with no awareness of the atmosphere change while focused on Tiel Platform’s tail beneath the table.

Fortunately, before the fearless young dragons unleashed a breath to evaporate the sea demon lady’s tail, Enya had already used her invisible magic power to pull them from under the table.

"They have already reported the changes on the two little ones to Talronde, and previously they’ve reported the possibility of many dragon eggs being influenced by The Deep Blue Webway, but given Talronde’s current state... Heragor probably has difficulty providing a swift response," Enya continued, "Now all we can do is observe the markings on the young dragons with caution, seek ways they establish connections with The Deep Blue Webway, and hope these connections don’t affect their health."

Gawain and Aunt Heidi exchanged a glance, speaking in unison: "...Hope so."

...

Standing on a hill in the suburbs overlooking the direction of the imperial capital, the artificial lights shimmering like a river of stars often leave newcomers to this "City of Magic" in awe.

Magic crystal lamps drove away the darkness under the night sky, under the dense lighting along the road, lay the main artery bustling even at night and the shops by the roadside, each residential area within the city equally bright, the brightness from thousands of families’ windows far surpassing old-day oil lamps and candles, casting their light outwards - this earthly "constellation" even brighter than the starry sky above, making Asharena who was gazing at the city from atop a large rock squint her eyes involuntarily.

Under the night sky, the red-haired Dragonbranded Witch softly exclaimed: "Though I’ve been here for several days... I still must say, the city’s nightscape far surpasses the daytime’s for its awe."

"Thousands of lights... When His Majesty first described this scene to us, none of us could imagine what picture that would portray," Byron Kirk stood beside Asharena, speaking with a low voice, "But speaking of which - I’ve heard Amber describe that the former Talronde was far more dazzling than Cecil Castle, its lights could turn the land into daylight, even each brick in the road could emit light..."

"No matter how brilliant, the former Talronde is gone, and even if it were still there, that’s the pure-blooded Dragonkin’s home, not us Dragonborn," Asharena chuckled and shook her head, "Besides, to say something that might raise the blood pressure of the three Dragon Leaders - the now sparsely lit Talronde after the wars, in my eyes, is actually far ’brighter’ than during its old day glories."