“Happy birthday! Belated!”
“Happy birthday, my little fledgling!”
“Happy birthday! I apologize for taking so long, my niece!”
Two days have passed since my first Miononbolax idol concert. The situation between Eltharion and has… well, it hasn’t really progressed much since our discussion, and Kramps wasn’t willing to tell what he discussed with Father. Not to ntion, Eltharion wasn’t even inside Coral Beard yesterday, and when I asked Mom about it, she just told that he went back to his nest in the Black Citadel.
I didn’t join the festival on the fourth day, as I was still exhausted after the concert and my “therapy session” with my father and grandfather. Hearing Eltharion fly back ho made a bit self-conscious that I might have ssed things up. Well, those thoughts were also imdiately dashed away since I had a few chores yesterday that I had to do, and one of those two duties was to teleport High King Fugnarus and Elven King Elutis to Miononbolax!
“It has been too long, Empresses. Saelariel greets the imperial family of Kargryx, and let this eting renew our century-old alliance,” King Elutis announced after Mom helped teleport the two kings to Coral Beard. “I have been briefed by Empress lloxtressa on the situation, so let us continue in two days when His Majesty, Emperor Eltharion, will receive . I should speak with my cousin. It has been too long since I visited Kel’Thun.”
“The sa goes for , although it will be a re discussion on business with Princess Hestia’s guild. I do appreciate the warm welco, and I shall thank Kargryx on behalf of us dwarves,” King Fugnarus said more casually. “Anyways, today’s not the day to be kings, Elutis! Haha, got too many people to greet for this festival, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself! Marsh Nest wine with Frozen Nest fish sauce dishes will remind you of your youth!”
Elutis chuckled with a closed smile. “Verily, friend. Though let us save our rrint for later. The ti for talk will be after Princess Hestia’s birthday festival.”
Our dwarven and elven guests included those from Ankor-Nazta and Saelariel, and these were the people our two kings wished to et. Their retainers were part of this group, as it was already known that I could mitigate any travel risk by simply teleporting them over to the island while using a catalyst to cover the mana cost to travel from one continent to the next.
Still, as always, the continent-wide teleportation was dependent on a catalyst, and recharging it was still a major issue for mass teleportion. We would require a lot of high-capacity catalysts for such an idea, and also sobody with a rank S dragon’s mana capacity to execute it. Two people, though, was fine.
Initially, that was all I thought I had to do for the day, but Mom, or more specifically, our clan, had another surprise for . Unaware of anything, when I visited the Nordor mansion to continue practicing with my backup dancers, since we still had another concert during the two days dedicated to my belated birthday, I froze the mont I entered the building when I saw two dragonewts and an elf greet .
“Niece!” the slim silver-scaled dragonewt yelled when he saw , smiling wildly to the point his elf-length ears wagged. His long, silvery-white hair wafted through the air as he rushed over to to gently embrace as if he had known for years. “Haaa… I apologize for being unable to find you.”
He held back his strength, caressing my back with his hands. I noticed from the way his lanky, carapace-armored tail was wagging that he wanted to twist it around mine, similar to how Mom would do it whenever we hugged each other. Ordinarily, a man shouldn’t be doing this with a woman if they weren’t family, but it was already clear from the way he slled and how brilliantly his scales shone like silvery gems that he was one for .
Reciprocating his hug, I tightened my arms around him to tell him that I was okay. “It’s good to et you for the first ti, Uncle. My na is Hestia,” I said before [Fire Ice Fusion Core] activated, turning my crimson scales into silver, causing my uncle to gasp.
“And I am Hikari. It is good to et you.”
Uncle released us, gazing down at our bodies as he tried to make sense of what had just happened, before he sighed through his nose, smiling uncomfortably with his slightly wrinkly face. “I promised my older sister that I would find you in her stead when the empresses prevented her from going. I marshaled our entire clan to search for you, seeking through the areas where the royal egg carrier had crashed in. I dove into the ocean, in hopes that you might be sowhere in the abyss. ‘If it is my sister’s egg, then it would survive the cold darkness below without a problem.’ Ahaha… to think that if I had just searched southeast, in the Belzac forest, that I could have found you—ah, I felt so ashad.”
Hearing this, Hikari frowned before she gave back control over our body, causing to nod as I heard Uncle speak.
Seeing back to normal, he nodded to reciprocate my understanding. “Though today is one for rrint. The next few days should be just that. I apologize for dimming the mood. Hestia and Hikari, my nieces, my na is Odlesstruss Malborous Nordor. I am the younger brother of lloxtressa, aning I am your uncle.”
I grinned, finding it funny that he had to say that last part when we could recognize each other by our scent. “It took you a while, but I do appreciate eting you, Uncle. Welco back to Miononbolax, and thank you for enjoying my birthday party with .”
“Yes—Arrgh!”
However, before we could continue with our mont, Mom jumped at Odlestruss, grabbing him by the shoulder to bend his back. Since Mom’s dragonewt form was pretty tall, she had no issue bridging the small height difference.
“Considering he is finally here, I think I can reveal it: your uncle was busy, so he couldn’t visit, but he was also quite ashad of himself for not being able to find your egg. Technically, he is the patriarch of the Altrust side of the clan, and you should already understand how ti-consuming it is with your ti helping Siegragxus,” Mom stated before releasing her brother, waving at the dragonewt man and elven woman standing behind them. “Though that is enough of that. Your aunt and cousin need introductions, as well.”
Uncle chuckled for a mont before clearing his throat, bidding his family to approach . I already noticed the wrinkles on Uncle’s face, which was a bit unorthodox to see on an elven face. The only other elf I noticed who had wrinkles was Eltharion, and he was an elvenized dragon.
Even old elves like King Elutis or the Archerudite of Aleistunum, Uzerra, still possessed the stereotypical pristine, unblemished elven beauty. Yet the woman standing before looked her age, with eyes looking slightly dull, although nowhere as bleak as Eltharion’s. The dragonewt-elf man next to her shared those traits as well, contrasting with Uncle, who still looked hale.
“Your aunt, Pfeitrei, and your cousin, Threixane,” Uncle introduced, prompting the two to speak with .
“May the snow always guide your wings, Princess of Frozen Nest. It is good to et you, my niece,” Aunt Pfeitrei greeted, shaking my hand with a smile. “This is our first ti eting, but your mother has sent plenty of letters describing her ti with you. We won’t be able to stay for long, but I do hope we can speak a bit. I don’t leave our ho in Loatryx often, so I love to indulge in stories.”
“It would be a pleasure, Aunt Pfeitrei!” I said in a cheery tone, faking it a bit to make this mont more comfortable for everybody.
We were all strangers, in a way, after all. Not to ntion, I did rember Mom ntioning that the souls of my aunt and cousin weren’t doing too well. Uncle seed lively, but I could see that ti wasn’t too kind to my immortal relatives. At least Uncle and Aunt were immortal ‘cause of their race, with Uncle being a confird rank S, but my cousin… seed frail.
“You cannot hide the eyes, Cousin!” my cousin, Threixane, chuckled as he stroked the silver-shimring bone spikes on his chin. “Mother and I get those looks from the other clan mbers already, so please, don’t. We still have plenty of ti. Maybe not to another elf or dragon, but it should be enough ti to make so mories, yes?”
My face contorted a bit, feeling embarrassed at how this aged dragonewt saw right through . Considering how the dragonewt side of the clan descended from Uncle’s lineage, and he only married after the civil war, both Aunt and Threixane were over 2000 years old. The elven bloodline of the Nordor dragonewts probably thinned out later down the years, which was probably why I haven’t seen an aged dragonewt as Threixane before.
“Yeah… sorry, you’re right. I really shouldn’t be thinking like that on our first eting, right? Okay, then, how about we wander the city later on to enjoy the festival. Oh, but I can’t do it now! I have so training to do for my next concert. Would you all be willing to watch sing and dance?”
“Yes, gladly!” the three of them replied.
That was how the fourth day of the festival went for . A surprise visit from my relatives, which I was expecting for months, but would only receive today, caught off guard on how to act. It was the sa when I first t my half-siblings. We got along now, but every new eting, even as family, ant we were strangers to each other until we spent so ti together to get to know each other.
Fortunately, they introduced themselves yesterday, instead of today, when my birthday party would be held. Learning they were on Miononbolax during the party would probably make it a bit awkward for both sides, so I appreciated them arriving early.
Held inside the Black Citadel, as it would be inconvenient if we attended the party in our various-sized dragonkin forms, my siblings, empress-mothers, and family celebrated my belated birthday. By family, I also ant Tasianna, Shay, Beth, and Vifi, of course. I would have loved to invite Saori and the rest of Aurora, but they and the students haven’t appeared inside the subspace in the last few days. I presud they were safe, but the fact that they didn’t even leave a ssage was mildly concerning.
Then again, I wasn’t able to et them during the entire Elental Emperor fiasco, so my worry was probably gnawing in the back of my mind, regardless.
In any case, the birthday itself started nicely, but nothing too impressive. I had a cake, so decorations, affection from my family mbers, and also Nong and Wendriosa serenading . Okay, that last part was pretty morable since Nong pulled out a lute to act like a bard, even teasing with “I will not give an idol concert for my sister in return!” Brute! He knew well enough I hated getting compared to a bard.
… Though that was all right for since I welcod so normalcy in this draconic life of mine. There was no battle to prove ourselves or so wild, magical affair similar to Neill’s tournant. It was fun with a few gas and tricks, including Taim trying to test a new potion he brewed on , before Tasianna, Neill, and Vifi chased him away.
It was a private party within the family to make mories. I really appreciated that they included the mbers of Aurora as my family, since I saw them in an equal light to my draconic and human family… though, since all of this was so normal, I did get curious when nobody brought any presents for . They prepared everything else, but I was anticipating so big presents. Sadly, when I finally found the courage to ask Mom about them, the party got Kargryxmor’s like real quick.
Mom frowned a bit, scratching her cheeks as it looked like she wanted to avoid telling the truth. “Well… don’t misunderstand, but your father asked us not to prepare any presents for you when he announced your birthday celebration. He told us he would give you one.”
… Man, I couldn’t even act a bit spoiled.
Since Mom ntioned that Eltharion ordered this when he planned the celebration, it ant he already had this idea before I had my discussion with him. Great. I could have let my curiosity die out, and I would have been able to enjoy the rest of the party until Father actually arrived, but, alas, I wanted to get so presents.
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In any case, while I did pout a bit at first, my mood did return to normal when it took Eltharion a long ti to arrive. So long that we finished our dinner feast before he finally entered the room, almost like he perfectly tid it for when we were full.
“Your Majesty!” Uncle Odlesstruss greeted, walking over to Eltharion with his wife and son. “Oh, the rumors seem false. You do look far better than the words described you, Your Majesty.”
“Is that so, Brother-in-law?” Father replied, smiling. “No, those rumors most likely are truthful, and they reached Altrust’s ears for good reason. Things have changed, though.”
“Oh, would it be concerning a certain person?” Uncle asked, brazenly, since the rumors should also include Eltharion’s dislike for . Though he wasn’t expecting an answer, he smiled. “Well, I should not pry too much. It is just good to see you well, my friend. May you and my sister continue to find happiness together.”
“And I shall continue to uphold my promise to you, Odlesstruss. I shall give lloxtressa the happy family she had wished for,” Father replied before talking to Aunt Pfeitrei and Threixane.
Once that was over, Eltharion called for everybody to sit down at the dining table, outside of my retainers and Uncle’s side, stating that he wished to hand my “birthday present.” Considering he brought nothing with him into the room, I had little hope for sothing that would fit gifting to your “ntally 18-year-old daughter.”
Considering the nature of what we would talk about, everybody who wasn’t a direct mber of the imperial family had to leave. Once Tasianna, the twins, Vifi, and my Uncle’s family left the room, all my hopes dashed away.
“My family,” He gave a nod to everybody. “Today should be a day of joy for my youngest daughter, Hestia. I do hope all of you had the ti to foster your bonds and celebrate our addition to the family. Words have already been spoken, and to correct them here would only leave a bad taste in everybody’s mouths. I shall not speak them, but I will accept the fault lies with… my restrictive thinking on accepting my third daughter. A toast to her birth—a reminder for happiness our family surely needed.”
Uh?
“A toast indeed!” Kahalaet rose from his seat just as my siblings did the sa, raising their glasses. “We didn’t manage to do a proper toast during our dinner on the first day of the festival, so this is a fine substitute.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Kahalaet,” Mom replied as she did the sa, prompting the empress-mothers to follow along. “To my little whelpling—”
“Happy birthday, Hestia and Hikari! Thank you for being born into our lives!”
Eh? What is happening?
As I remained befuddled at this… unexpected gesture, Father raised his glass as well after he filled it up with so wine. “Words may help nd so wounds, but I prefer actions. Hold your head high as a mber of the Kargryxmor clan, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor.”
I looked down as I felt sothing wet dropping from my cheeks, touching my moistened eyes before I cleaned myself up with a handkerchief. I wasn’t that emotional that I would start crying up a river at this point, but hearing everybody cry my na pulled my heartstrings. Today was my little, happy day, even if it wasn’t my birthday, though what could I do if my parents and siblings wanted to celebrate it anyway?
Once Eltharion saw nod, he lowered his glass, signaling everybody else to do the sa and sit down, and continued, saying, “Your birthday present, as you might have suspected, isn’t sothing ordinary. Giving you sothing materialistic that can bolster your strength or wealth would be a fine option, but I believe you can achieve what you need by yourself. Your goals, currently, lie beyond our lands, and you will depart from Miononbolax regardless of the Adulthood Pilgrimage or not. You are currently under law, unable to leave, and I cannot make an exception. However, I also know you, technically, have already fulfilled the goals of the pilgrimage.”
“Yes, I would evolve into a rank A the mont I beco five, Father,” I said.
“Correct. Not to ntion, you have made your mark on Altrust and have co to Miononbolax more than just a child. In a way, you are still performing your pilgrimage as you can only find the end of it once you have fulfilled Aurena’s and Kargryxmor’s Divine Quest. As such, I believe it would not be wise to grant you the abundance of gifts you deserve as my daughter, as I believe adversity is the main driver of our growth. As Kargryxmor would say, ‘a dragonkin who basks in their ancestor’s glory will not be able to rise to the occasion.’”
Yeah, okay, but I still want sothing. You don’t have to give your scales or whatever. A hairbrush is also okay, I thought, but kept that to myself as Eltharion hadn’t finished speaking yet.
“Kahalaet and Wendriosa have already gifted you new equipnt. That should be proof of how much power being a daughter of Clan Kargryxmor can bring you. As such, I shall grant you a gift that is more fitting and that would help you more than re items—the support of the Kargryxmor Clan when it cos to the growth of your Digital dia Guild.”
“… Pardon?”
Did I hear that correctly?
“I had initially planned to help in your training to control your [Battle Frenzy], but… my wives reminded that it isn’t a privilege to be trained by their father in [Battle Frenzy], it is tradition. I am to train you. Rember that. Make sure to keep your schedule open, yes?” he ordered, prompting to nod vigorously as I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Perfect. Which is why I decided to follow your wishes as a bar—”
“Idol!” Mom, Neill, and Nong corrected him.
“… Idol. Yes, your fascination with your profession—idol.” Eltharion sighed, looking slightly annoyed, while the three who shouted looked at each other as if they wanted to tell the others how proud they were of each other. “Though your musical career wasn’t what intrigued . It was the usage of your ‘stream’ and ‘recording’ manatech. Forminaxtrass and I had enough ti to talk,”—all the empresses suddenly started giggling, but didn’t interrupt Father—“And I have been made aware of what your technology can provide us. I wish to utilize it for the upcoming succession event.”
“Oh? Well, I guess it does make sense, but we need money and manpower for that.”
“You will receive them after you have done the bureaucratic necessities. Don’t do it yourself. Have Alextraxus or his son do it. I would rather your focus on expanding the guild throughout Kargryx, and also help Dusk Nest continue the developnt of your information towers. That is our gift to you. As long as the product or activities fall into the digital dia guild’s interest, you will have the empire’s support. I am already showing you a lot of favor with this, so do not abuse it. The next emperor might retract the goodwill I’ve shown.”
“Ahaha, yeah, I know. Don’t worry about that. Sieg, Uncle Karydrinos, and even the guild’s current guildmaster, Jadhund, would probably kick my butt before I do anything that would sully the ideals I placed behind the guild’s creation. Since you are showing support for a private pursuit of mine, does that an that my guild’s reputation will reflect our clan’s?”
Eltharion nodded. “That is your gift, though with a caveat. I will support your proposal for funding from the imperial family, but the docunts will still go through the empire’s bureaucrats. If you cannot persuade them, or if you cannot continue to impress them with the guild, then I will not overrule them if they believe terminating the contract will be more beneficial for the empire.”
“No familial attachnt when it cos to the coffers, dear,” Gaistrus added, telling that she would oversee the financial side. With Forminaxtrass probably receiving a higher stake in the developnt side with this decision, the guild’s creative freedom would diminish even further.
Yet, the proposal was still too enticing for to reject. I still had to talk to Jadhund, the other artificers, and to Frozen Nest’s bureaucrats on whether we were willing to lose so control over the guild or not, but knowing we had this option now was making ecstatic.
“NO, no! I’m perfectly fine with this! Make it hard, in fact! I would rather you not spoonfeed the success when I know my guild can pass it with no issue! The digital dia guild will beco an important trailblazer of tomorrow’s manatech!” I cheered, jumping up and down, unable to hide my excitent. “Thank you very much! Seriously. The more dungeon shards we can acquire, the faster our R&D can work. Don’t worry, I won’t waste this opportunity!”
If they had given the funding contract without any big hurdles, I probably would feel far more apprehensive about accepting their goodwill. It was already hard to reject all the goodwill and nepotistic benefits I was receiving at Frozen Nest, such as how my digital dia guild was initially founded.
Sure, I convinced my retainer uncles that the idea of recording videos and streaming them was beneficial to everybody, but I only got the chance to present my ideas because I was their princess. Although I could say that I worked hard to get the guild rolling, I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity without my familial background. Even the continued developnt of the guild’s products was not done through my efforts, but through the work of Jadhund, his artificers, Haruka, and Daichi. They had the know-how, while I got them the funds.
And this relationship would continue today through this opportunity. My familial background opened the window, and although I did feel slightly bad, accepting the chance was the only logical way for a guild owner. Sticking to so of my ideals was pretty hard, though that just ant I had to work extra hard to ensure that my family’s trust was warranted. Monarchy or not, I wanted to feel like I had an important hand in the successes of my projects, outside of my role as a princess.
Gesturing for to calm down, Eltharion continued after I sat back down. “Now, concerning your special circumstances, I wish to change sothing. You will stay on Miononbolax until you are five, and while it is more customary for a fledgling to wait until they are fifteen or older to venture out to Altrust, you will most likely leave when you beco a rank A. Well… in my opinion, I would prefer stopping you from leaving until you finish your [Battle Frenzy] training.”
“Father?” My siblings turned to him, giving him a look as if they couldn’t understand what he was saying.
He raised his hand, stopping them from speaking so he could continue, “ntally, Hestia is far older than a re three-year-old. The [Battle Frenzy] training requires years to finish, and so of you did not finish it before you left on your pilgrimage. I understand that, but I do not believe that will be much of an issue for Hestia, as she herself should understand that she is currently locked behind level 45 as a rank B. She will return to a level 0 once she evolves. For two more years, her growth will be stunted. If she wishes to face the threats during her Divine Quest, she would be wise to finish her [Battle Frenzy] training now, while she is experiencing relative peace on Miononbolax.”
“Yeah, sure, but she doesn’t have to be on Miononbolax to do so!” Neill argued in my favor. “She has the subspace. She can co in and out to train with you.”
“Not to ntion, sotis it takes more than sitting inside a room to break through,” Phso added. “You might remain in a stump for years, unable to pass wrath or pride. The best thod to understand yourself is to travel. The pilgrimage is also there to help one find oneself, and adversity, as you said, is the catalyst for much of our own growth.”
“Furthermore, with the political landscape in two days, you will—”
“I’ll do it,” I said, interrupting Kahalaet. “If Father has the ti, then sure. The faster I master [Battle Frenzy], the better. It might seem a bit ambitious, but he is right that I want to get out of the empire as soon as possible to get back to dealing with the demonkin and Folschreck. The war is about to start, so I want to stop it.”
“I will be speaking to King Elutis and High King Fugnarus about it. Worry about yourself for now,” Eltharion said before finishing his wine. “That is all I wished to speak. My children. My wives. Do enjoy yourself for the rest of the evening. Hestia, don’t forget your concert tomorrow, and then the announcent on the last day. Good night.”
And thus, my birthday party ended on a good note, and… it left in a better mood than I would have expected when Mom ntioned there weren’t any presents for . Weird how much hearing Eltharion call his daughter made feel like I was part of the family, even if I didn’t need the reinforcent that I was one. My siblings did that well enough, anyway.
Though I didn’t deny it. Especially ‘cause Mom was celebrating that fact when we got back ho, but I couldn’t stay up for long since I had a concert to perform tomorrow.
Just as we practiced, everything proceeded smoothly, just like during my first concert, though even more people were rooting for . Outside of that, nothing eventful happened, so the transition into the last day of the festival started without an issue until Father “descended from the clouds” like on the first day.
The caras turned to him, giving the streams a clear view of him as he darkened the sky above Coral Beard with his titanic fra, making once again feel like an ant. When I felt a mana connection forming in my mind, I breathed deeply.
[“Citizens and visitors! My na is Emperor Eltharion Kargryxmor. I have already made my introduction when the festival started, but I shall do so once again on the seventh and final day. Five days were dedicated to my second daughter’s hocoming after she successfully fulfilled her duties during her Adulthood Pilgrimage, and two days were in celebration of my third daughter’s birthday. Although the birthdays of my children are usually not given a festival, I would like to remind all that we have not honored her birth before. May it be known that Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor is a mber of the Kargryxmor clan!”] Father announced, making feel conflicted as I wasn’t sure if I should feel embarrassed or happy to hear another confirmation. [“However, as rude as it is, I would like to dedicate another important milestone for the imperial family. Today, there will be another birth.”]
… WAIT, WHAT? Birth?
“Lady Hestia?” Tasianna questioned , prompting to shake my head as I had no idea this was even a thing. Actually, how was this even possible?
“I-I will beco a big sis—”
[“The birth of my first rank S child! Dedicate your voice to Kahalaet Seathfus Kargryxmor, my fellow dragonkin! The prosperity of the Kargryxmor clan shall continue to shine!”]
… Haaa.
If I were a normal person, I wouldn’t feel like a deflated balloon right now. However, I wasn’t. I wanted to coil into a ball and feel like the world was against .
Damn you, Father!
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