I Missed You
Sitting on one of the maids John, Sher Aka and Rayla silently stare wide eyed at everything in the castle until John breaks the silence by saying, “I’m sorry, Scarlet.”
“Huh? For what?”
“I genuinely thought you were overexaggerating this entire time but this place really is immense. It’s so big that I’m genuinely wondering how such architecture is even possible.”
“Heh, told ya. Once you’ve been to our home even the most extravagant castles outside this country will look like dollhouses or vacation homes.”
Rayla asks, “One question though. I don’t quite understand the clothing conventions here. You said a dress like mine is fine, right? But why do you and all the servants wear way less revealing clothing?”
“I do it because I’m not a full adult yet and my parents are overprotective. As for the maids, they do it in case we get surprise visitors from out of the country. If you go through the city you’ll find a lot more people being naked or what you would call partially naked. Usually the older or more conservative people go naked while the younger people wear clothes as fashion statements.”
“And…Non-Dragon citizens are okay with that?”
“Yeah, it’s normal here after all. Though non-Dragons are still a lot more likely to wear clothes because they generally need them for environmental protections. Once we reach a certain age we don’t really need clothes to keep us warm or protected from the environment anymore but it’s not the same for you guys.”
John interjects, “I see…I never thought about that. For you guys clothes are pretty much unnecessary for anything besides fashion, right?”
“Ding ding ding, finally you get it.”
“Then what about the whole belly thing?” Rayla asks, “Why is it okay to show your bare ass but not your belly?”
“Counter question. What’s so attractive about a body part whose only job is to emit waste?”
“If you phrase it like that, I don’t know either.”
“Yeah and I also don’t know. If you want to ask someone what the reason for it is, ask my uncle. He’s pretty knowledgeable about animals and people. He probably knows.”
Sher Aka answers, “You mean the uncle on your father’s side? He did seem surprisingly sensible for being related to that cretin.”
“Oy, I know you don’t like him but don’t call my dad a cretin. Also, I wasn’t talking about uncle Nico I was talking about my uncle Emilio. He’s the husband of my mom’s sister. You’ll know when you see him, he has yellow hair and looks like a nerd.”
A bit hesitant Rayla asks, “Does he have a brother or other relative that looks like some sort of mob boss but has the same features?”
“No? He’s an only child.”
“...”
“I see. I think we met him before.”
“Oh really? Did he bore you with bird facts?”
“Well…He did talk about birds.”
“Then it was definitely him, kikikiki.”
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“Tell me more stories uncle!”
“Sure! Do you want to hear more bird facts or other animals too?”
“I wanna hear about something cute!”
“Oh? In that case, I hear there is a new species of Dragon that has been discovered recently. I also heard they are extremely cute and live in a big castle.”
“Pfft Are you talking about me?”
“Hmm…I don’t know, let’s see…New racial features, check, big castle…check, extremely cute, yep also true. Looks like you really might be the one!”
“Giggle You’re so stupid uncle,” I say while giving him a tight hug and resting my head on his shoulder.
“Oh? Is someone getting sleepy?”
“No…”
“It must just be my imagination then~”
A maid then enters the room and announces, “Princess Scarlet and her guests have arrived.”
“Hmm? Did Scarlet invite some friends over, uncle?”
“No…They aren’t friends.”
“Oko!”
“A-Ane!?”
Without hesitation I jump out of uncle’s arms and fly towards her voice. Our eyes then meet and she runs towards me as well. At full speed, I crash into her and put my arms around her neck as I start to cry and whimper while licking her face.
“I…Sob…I missed you so much, ane!”
Starting to cry herself, Rayla hugs me tightly and answers, “I missed you too, oko!”
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m exhausted or if it’s because of ane’s familiar scent but it doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep in her arms.
—--------------------------------------------------------
John scoffs, “I knew you were going to be the guest of honor Rayla but I didn’t expect her to not even notice us.”
“Well, what can I say~ I guess I’m just so charismatic that all eyes are on me.”
“Right…And anytime you open your mouth you say something that lowers that charisma to negative levels.”
“Oh please, I’m nothing if not charming~”
“Oh you are many things but char-”
With a whispery yet stern voice Sher Aka interrupts, “Stop joking around. You seem not to have noticed yet, we are in enemy territory right now. Look around you.”
“Huh? What are you talking about Sherr-”
Looking around, both John and Rayla suddenly feel a shiver down their spines as a primal fear of being hunted by beasts far stronger than them creeps up on them. The venue is completely silent as they glare at the Shooting Stars with eyes of hatred and suspicion. Before they know it both Rayla and John have instinctively taken on a battle stance.
The queen then slowly walks up to them. Despite having a friendly face and demeanor the Shooting Stars still feel like disaster is approaching them.
“Hello, nice to finally meet you three in person. Has your training been fruitful?”
Using her new ability Sher Aka confirms that she too glows red, which is still better than the Duchess from before who didn’t emit any detectable aura.
Rayla answers, “Yes it has, your Majesty. I believe we have all gotten stronger.”
“How wonderful~ Now how about we have some tea, we can talk comfortably there.”
Looking around at the death glares of everyone else Rayla stutters, “S-Sounds great.”