Year 1463, 9th of LuniusDrakonis Empire
Emerald Palace
A middle-aged man was rus.h.i.+ng through the beautiful halls of the Emerald Palace. Even though he was in a hurry, his regal air and bearings of an emperor flourished to all who saw. His perfectly chiselled face maintained composure yet his golden, vertical slit eyes beget worry. None dared to look at his eyes as they kept their distance. He wore a golden robe with a fiery red dragon depicted on the side and armoured boots. It seemed that he was in the midst of getting ready when he was suddenly called. His dark violet hair fluttered behind him revealing a pair of sharp ears that weren"t found in a human.
The servants he pa.s.sed were of various origins. Some had smaller demon-like horns, some had animal ears, and some were even humans. No matter who it was they all bowed to the man pa.s.sing through.
Rus.h.i.+ng out of the Emerald Palace, he came in front of another smaller palace that had a plaque on the side reading
- Ruby Palace -
Entering, he rushed to his wife"s, the current empress", room only to see his mother, the Empress Dowager, waiting outside a door.
Rus.h.i.+ng to her,
"How"s…agh"
The Empress Dowager slapped her son"s head as she returned back to sitting on her chair.
"Calm down"
Her strict, blue eyes disproved her son"s actions as she calmly waited.
"My daughter-in-law is a dragon, something like this shouldn"t harm her"
Her prideful voice caused a sharp glint in her eyes. She had similar eyes to her son but of different colours.
"After this I"ll be returning to the clan, so I"ll leave the empire to you."
Her son quietly listened as he also sat down next to her on a chair.
"Baldrik"
"Yes mother"
"How"s the situation?"
Hearing this, the current emperor gave out a sigh. His child was about to be born but he had to oversee a war. He knew that he had only this one chance to see his child and then he would be occupied with the war, decreasing the time spent with his child.
"We did get caught off-guard, but it"s something we can handle"
Silence filled the room as the sound of m.u.f.fled screeching could be heard from the closed the door. Although, the empress dowager said that and tried to change the topic, she couldn"t hide the worry on her face. Baldrik saw this and couldn"t help thinking
"If even you"re like that, then imagine me"
The screeching stopped, and then the sound of wailing could be heard. A joyous look appeared on their faces as they waited to be called in. He didn"t want to cause any repercussions so he waited otherwise he would have just rushed in. With some chaos ensuing he finally saw the door open and out came a maid.
"Your highness, congratulations it"s a boy"
Baldrik was immediately joyous and rushed in. The empress dowager frowned again but eventually decided to let it go.
"If it wasn"t for the birth of my grandson…"
Walking in, she saw her son cradling a treasure and her daughter-in-law"s smiling face. Her pale, exhausted face didn"t diminish her beauty, but it did add a charm to her already beautiful looks. Her fiery red hair cascaded down her back as her silver eyes contained immeasurable motherly love. A warm feeling engulfed her heart as she saw this scene.
Coming next to her son, she took her grandchild in her arms. He seemed to have gotten his father"s hair and both of their eyes.
"Wait both?"
Looking once more, she noticed that his left eye was a golden colour while his right eye was a silver.
"Now this is unusual"
She stared at the boy while the opposite party did the same.
"Why is this old hag staring at me like this"
It seemed that all the pain from the birth was all forgotten as he a.n.a.lysed his surroundings. From what his limited vision could see, he seemed to be in a palace of some sort. It seems like the previous man that held him seemed to be his father while the beautiful red head was his mother.
"Hmm"
The Empress Dowager frowned at the boy.
"Is he thinking something bad about me. Nah, probably just my imagination"
Hearing a stomach rumbling, the baby in her arms started wailing as she handed the boy back to his mother.
"Lily, feed him and rest well"
"Yes, mother"
She then turned to her son
"You as well. Give her time to rest"
She left after getting Baldrik"s confirmation.
Baldrik got close to his wife and kissed her.
"I"m sorry for being unable to accompany you"
"It"s okay, when will you leave"
"In a bit"
Lily never said anything as Baldrik hugged her and watched their son fall asleep.
"He"s strangely red"
This earned a giggle from Lily as she rested her head on her husband and also fell asleep. Although she tried to hide her worries, it couldn"t escape Baldrik"s eyes as he soon left the chambers.
Taking one last look at his family, he left the ruby palace with determined steps, he had one more person to protect.
The empress dowager looked at her son and returned to her chambers, she decided to remain and look over her daughter-in-law and grandson.
Only one thought was going through the mind of our protagonist,
"She"s my mother, She"s my mother, She"s my mother, She"s my mother"
- One Month Later -
In the ruby palace, Lily had just finished feeding and had gotten back to work after leaving Tos.h.i.+ro, or rather, Amadeus in the baby crib.
Right, Amadeus was the name given to Tos.h.i.+ro. Amadeus Drakos. Hearing the gossip of the maids that took care of him, he realised that he was born as a prince. He didn"t have any siblings and was the first born of the emperor and empress.
He hadn"t seen his father since his birth meaning that he had work to do. His mother would also look out of the window from time to time looking worried. This stirred something within him as he started looking at Lily as a proper mother. He had a loving family in the past and it was hard to forget them, but he eventually had to. He had a new family now.
Turning his head, he saw Lily leaving while a young girl came and started to clean the room. She was a cute girl, probably around the age of 12 and wasn"t human. His curious eyes went to her head where a pair of cat ears rested upon. She wore a standard maid uniform and a tail barely popped out from the bottom of her skirt.
"I want to touch them, baby mode on"
"Uwagauga"
"This is embarra.s.sing but need to touch the fluff"
This certainly attracted the attention of the girl, but she ignored him and continued cleaning. Although, she was curious at what the prince was doing she didn"t pay any attention onto it and continued with her job. Suddenly she felt an intense gaze upon her tail as she quickly turned around only to see the baby prince gazing at her.
Just at this moment, Lily returned and broke the stare of the cat girl. After greeting, Lily, she returned to cleaning while Lily went to check up on Amadeus.
Coming close, she was surprised to see Amadeus staring intently at something. Following his line of sight, she also looked at the cat girl here.
"Eriko, come here"
"Yes, your highness"
Lily looked at Eriko walking towards her and then looked at Amadeus as his sight never left her. Eriko felt uncomfortable with the queen but never fear. The current emperor and empress were known for their benevolence. She was happy to have her name called out and came next to her.
"Give Amadeus your tail"
"Eh?!"
"Don"t look at me like that, I"m not telling you to cut it off. Just give him your tail"
Blus.h.i.+ng in shame she turned around and presented her tail to the prince.
Amadeus" eyes started s.h.i.+ning as she brought her tail in front of him. Reaching out, he grabbed and brought her tail next to him as he rubbed his face against it.
Eriko was surprised at the sudden pull as she never expected the prince to have such strength.
"Nyaa!"
Eriko hurriedly closed her mouth and her face flushed a deep red.
"Uwawawawawawa, how could I let out such a sound"
Expecting to hear the anger of the Empress, instead she heard a giggle from the side.
"Pfft. Eriko, it seems Amadeus has taken a liking to you"
Eriko just looked down and never met the empress" eyes.
Looking at the cute girl, Eriko dropped another bombsh.e.l.l,
"Why don"t you become his personal maid?"
"Eh?!"
"He doesn"t have one and I couldn"t possibly watch over him all the time. So yeah, you could be his personal maid"
"Eeeeeehhhhhhh?!"