“I trust her, Father.”
Vitaria spoke and at those words, Lavinia frowned.
She knew the Fox was talking about her but…
Trust her?
Trust her in what?
“Father should trust me as well.”
The Fox continued.
Lavinia glanced at Kael, observing his reaction. He seemed to be hesitating, it was something Lavinia expected. After all, even though this man said he trusted her, the reasoning behind that was those Visions of his.
With such weak reasoning, she would never trust someone.
Never.
But then suddenly, Lavinia noticed a change.
Kael stared at her with a determined look on his face and then,
“Come out, all of you.”
He spoke up.
“What ar—”
Lavinia tried to question, but then, the Portal that had formed behind Kael buzzed a little as a little white furball rushed out like a missile and landed right into Kael’s chest.
“Father!”
Cirri shouted excitedly.
Kael hugged his first daughter with a big smile on his face, caressing her soft body with gentleness and love.
“Father~”
Cirri continued to rub her head on Kael’s chest and Lavinia…
She just stared at the being in front of her in absolute horror.
“D-D-Dragon…”
She stuttered, pointing her trembling finger at Cirri and Kael.
“Y-You have a Dragon! You were chosen by a Dragon!”
She shouted, unable to believe what she was saying.
“Fufufu~”
At her outburst, however, Vitaria just laughed. Lavinia glanced at her and Vitaria’s eyes shined playfully.
“You react too quickly, Human Girl.”
She spoke as she then pointed her little paws at the Portal.
Lavinia frowned, then suddenly, a 2-meter giant, red-scaled being walked out and the instant her eyes fell on him, Lavinia felt her world collapsing,
“T-T-Two D-Dragons…”
She couldn’t believe it.
It was absurd.
She stared at the large Dragon, completely ignoring the little Ant sitting on top of his head and her entire body started to tremble.
She knew what sort of existence a Dragon was.
Legendary beings capable of destroying nations if they so wished to…
And now…
She was seeing two of them… right in front of her… bonded with a single man… and…
They seemed to… love him?
What?
Lavinia didn’t understand.
Sure, this was her first time actually seeing a Dragon, but this didn’t mean she didn’t know anything about them, on the contrary, she knew everything there was to know about them.
She was so infatuated with the Dragons that she had read every piece of information—be it rumours, or true, observed facts regarding the Dragons—multiple points, to the point she could recite them in her sleep.
The possibility of there being a human who knew more about the Dragons than her was close to zero.
And according to what she knew…
The Dragons never showed love to Humans, even the Humans they chose themselves.
Sure, they cared for their Tamers and respected them but…
Rubbing their heads on his chest so affectionately…
Lavinia had never once heard of a Dragon acting like… a pet.
Ridiculous.
She stared at the absolutely ridiculous situation, her jaw was about to fall on the floor and Kael…
He was too busy caressing Cirri and giving attention to Igni and Imperia to care about the Princess.
“Father.”
Only after Vitaria, who was standing next to Lavinia, called him, did Kael finally recall that Lavinia was with him as well.
“Right.”
He nodded as he glanced at the Princess and then, the introduction round began,
“Princess Lavinia, I haven’t yet introduced my Bonds to you, have I?”
“…”
Lavinia stared at the man in absolute silence. Kael, used to such shock, ignored it and pointed at his Igni instead,
“He is Igni, my firstborn.”
“I-Igni? T-That’s Lord Dragon’s real name?”
Lavinia stuttered.
Was it perhaps a nickname?
She wondered in her head, but…
“That is correct.”
Igni looked into Lavinia’s eyes and nodded.
Lavinia’s body flinched, the Dragon’s gaze was intimidating, but,
“Nice to meet you, Human Girl.”
Igni, like the cute little boy he was, greeted properly.
“T-The pleasure is all mine, Lord Dragon!”
Lavinia bowed her head in an instant. She couldn’t believe she was talking to a literal Dragon!
“You can call me by my name.”
Igni answered.
“Y-Your name…?”
“Igni.”
“I can call you… Igni?”
“That is my name, yes.”
“…”
Lavinia gulped.
Thinking that the conversation was too overwhelming for the Princess, Kael decided to spare her and pointed at Cirri instead.
“She is Cirri, my first daughter.”
“C-Cirri?”
Lavinia blinked.
What is with these ridiculously cute names!?
They are Dragons!
DRAGONS!!!
She was close to losing her mind,
And to make things worse.
“Hmph!”
Cirri snorted and buried her face into Kael’s chest, not interacting with Lavinia. The Princess’s blinked, she had no clue why she received that reaction.
She wanted to say something, but before she could say anything, Cirri turned back towards her and,
“Father is mine! I was his first Princess!”
She declared proudly.
“Yes?”
Lavinia, obviously, had absolutely no clue what the Dragon was talking about but,
“Hmph!”
Cirri turned away again.
“Cirri?”
Kael called out with a frown. It wasn’t just Lavinia alone, even he didn’t understand why Cirri was acting like this.
“Fufufu~”
Vitaria on the other hand, laughed menacingly and in an instant, Kael understood it.
This was the Fox’s doing.
His mouth twitched, for now, however, he let this go and pointed at Vitaria instead,
“You have already met her, she is my third child, Vitaria.”
Vitaria jumped on Kael’s shoulder and waved her little paw at Lavinia,
“Hello, Human.”
“L-Lady Vitaria.”
Lavinia gestured back.
Normally, she wouldn’t act this tame in front of a Bond, especially when it was not a Dragon but…
Just the fact that Vitaria was jumping around so carefreely in the presence of two Dragons while other, normal bonds usually trembled in instinctive fear, told her that she wasn’t a normal Bond either.
“And lastly, this little adorable girl is Imperia, my youngest.”
Kael spoke as he gently picked Imperia in his hand. Imperia stared at Lavinia and nodded politely,
“It is nice to finally meet you, Lavinia.”
“It is my pleasure, Lady Imperia.”
Lavinia answered respectfully. To her, Imperia’s presence wasn’t very intimidating, but since she was with them, she showed proper respect.
“You have worked hard today, get some rest.”
Imperia nodded, staring right into Lavinia’s eyes and Lavinia… for some reason, she couldn’t say no to her.
“Yes, Lady Imperia.”
“The space here is a little cramped, so we will need to adjust.”
“Yes.”
Lavinia nodded again.
Imperia then turned towards Igni and,
“Brother.”
She called out respectfully.
Igni, knowing what his youngest sister wanted, nodded back and sat on the floor, making himself comfortable. The Dragon then glanced at Kael, who made himself comfortable on top of Igni, Cirri and Imperia settled in their own places as well, but this time, instead of sleeping on his right, Vitaria went to Kael’s left with Cirri and Imperia glanced at Lavinia,
“Come.”
She instructed.
“M-Me?”
Lavinia stuttered.
“Yes, you young lady. Come.”
Imperia repeated and once again, Lavinia couldn’t go against her words. She stared at the Dragons who were staring at her, especially Cirri, who was practically glaring at her.
“Sister Cirri.”
Imperia called out as she stared at her older sister.
“Hmph!”
Cirri turned away and Imperia, once again stared at Lavinia.
“Come.”
She instructed the third time. Lavinia stared at Igni, who nodded lightly and then at Kael, who just shrugged,
“Just listen to her, trust me, you do not want to see her angry side.”
Slowly, Lavinia nodded and walked towards Kael with an uncertain look on her face. She glanced at the empty position that was left for her.
‘What am I even doing…?’
She asked herself but no answer came. Her body moved and she lied down. She stared at Kael, but maybe because he was sleepy, or because he wanted her to be comfortable, he had closed his eyes, not watching her.
Whatever it was, it made her more comfortable, as she lied down, Lavinia made sure she kept enough distance from Kael, she was still wary, there were thousands of questions in her mind but…
When the realization that she was currently in two Dragons’ embrace sank in, a strange, comforting heat overwhelmed all her senses, silently healing her physical and mental fatigue.
Her grief, wariness, confusion, and shock, all calmed down. The sound of heavy rain that scared her and made her feel how alone she was, seemed to have turned silent as this comfort enveloped her.
She observed Kael, whose eyes were still closed, and slowly, she matched his rhythmic breathing and closed her eyes as well.
She finally let her guard down and for the first time after three long years, she slept with an empty mind, not thinking anything.
Five minutes later, once Lavinia was in deep sleep, Kael opened his eyes and stared at her. He had noticed how she made sure that none of her body was touching his, even in this cramped space, she still kept her guard around him and the only thing he could do about it was to smile weakly.
Suddenly, Kael noticed something on his left hand, he turned and realized it was Vitaria, who slowly climbed on top of his body and settled on his chest, right in front of his eyes.
“Thank you, Father~”
She whispered lightly as she glanced at Lavinia. Kael gently patted her head and nodded back,
“I will do anything for you.”
He spoke in a low voice, making sure Lavinia didn’t wake up and as his reward,
“Chu~”
Little Vitaria kissed his cheek, pasting a big smile on his face for the rest of the night.