Despite the small size of the Anatol Kingdom compared to its overseas neighbor, Acyuta, the continent it resided on was not small, and it took several months for each caravan to come back.
Jadiel, living up to his name as a cheetah eve, traveled one of the furthest journeys, and was also the first to return.
…Ciel had been really surprised to see a carriage pulled by a large cheetah with a scarred eye.
"Dad, I remember you left with several horses pulling the carriages?"
Jadiel lowered his head, and a fluffy head popped up from his back.
"Oh! He agreed to let me ride for a bit!"
Ciel circled around Jadiel curiously, tugging his tail.
"How was your trip? Did everything go well?"
"Of course, the Ungula tribal grounds were large and they're usually on the move, but your mother tracked them down almost instantly. As expected of someone I chose to like!"
Embarrassed, Lanae tugged his ear.
"Anyway, they also agreed to trade wool later for the winter in exchange for the materials we brought. I've talked with the chieftain, you children will have specialized clothing for the winter too!"
Erin looked at his brother.
"We had materials?"
Ciel was equally confused. He only had the small fortune from his mother and gambling, plus a few necessities. Also, didn't their family go broke moving here?
Cedric laughed.
"Dominic and your father bought all the merchandise that couldn't be shipped out due to the lockdown."
Ciel ah'ed.
Well, that explained why they had gone broke.
"Anyway, I traded some local specialties from the area. Take them, these are tribal specialties!"
Rummaging around her bag, Lanae produced three sticks covered in white crystals.
Taking one each, the brothers examined it curiously. Erin raised his eyebrows.
Why did this look familiar?
Theresa jumped out excitedly.
/I recognize this from the textbook! It's natural rock sugar! It was lost when the government decided to prioritize military development over agriculture!/
Ciel looked at the stick of crystal glittering in the light.
"This is food?"
Cedric had already bitten into it.
"It's crunchy but sweet."
Verdalite, who had been passing by in the background, saw this and raised an eyebrow. Easily covering the distance with his long legs, he picked the three sticks out of the children's hands.
"We're eating lunch soon. If Azar sees you kids eating sugar, I'll be the one scolded."
Ciel blinked.
Aw.
Just as he said this, Azar walked out of the building. Jadiel quickly hid the candy behind his back, but he was ignored.
Azar examined the singular carriage attached to the large cat.
"Lanae, Jadiel, did you just leave the others behind?"
Both his kids froze. Jadiel laughed nervously as Lanae pinched his fur.
"Ah..hahaha?"
"Elder! They should only be a few hours away!"
"Hmm?"
Azar narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"Only a few hours away? That should be across the border I made then. Do you know what that means?"
Without waiting for them to answer, he continued.
"That means there are plenty of demons that could attack the caravan without you two. The average strength of your group without you two is equal to a tier 2 demon. What will you do if they get wiped out in the time you two took for a stroll? Verdalite and I did eliminate as many demons as we could, but not to condone your irresponsible behavior. Not everyone is as strong as the people in Fatalite, and as nobles, especially as the heads of this family, you two should start learning more about taking care of those under you."
Wow, this firm tone that somehow felt cold and stinging at the same time—It felt so familiar.
Well. He knew who Lilian got his nagging from.
Ciel regretted that he didn't have the candy stick, though, he did have a melted strawberry flavored snowcone to sip at.
Not being the target of nagging was a great feeling.
…
With the return of a large portion of the group. The empty mansion's atmosphere livened up—it still looked old, but at least the village around it had expanded with the increasing population.
"The journey was quite long, so we passed by several other smaller tribes, some decided to trade, others ignored us, but some mixed ones, like the first village that decided to migrate, decided to send some scouts to follow us. Now more villages have decided to migrate."
Sitting next to Jadiel, Ciel and Erin were the definition of polar opposites. One was listening intently with an upright posture, and the other was sprawling out lazily in a star shape on his father's back, eyeing the swaying tail, before reaching out to grab it.
Jadiel turned his head around and blinked at Ciel: …
Ciel blinked innocently, still holding the tail.
Ooh, it was sorta silky.
He rubbed the bushy tail tip.
And fluffy.
Well, not as soft as his little uncle, but soft enough.
He smiled sweetly at his father.
Jadiel: …Fine.
He turned back to the window.
Looking at the three slackers staring vacantly out the window, Azar materialized two of his tails and hooked the two boys back to the dining table.
"I don't recall ending the lesson."
Tsk.
Ciel picked up the utensils again to cut at the meat in front of him. The presence of Azar had given them more lessons and less freedom. Though, it was still better than the school schedule he and his siblings had to follow back in the day. Besides, school hadn't given him a tasty ice treat everyday.
However…
"Why do I feel like our combat lessons were reduced, and our etiquette ones increased? And why is our little uncle exempt?"
He didn't mind moving his body, nor did he mind the influx of new information, but he really hated the repetitive etiquette lessons, especially since he had to repeat everything until it was, according to Azar's words, 'just right.'
Azar looked at Jadiel's younger brother, still a small cheetah, basking in the sun.
"He's still a baby cub. Forced human transformation slowed his mental growth and he needs to recover in his natural form for a few years."
Ciel nodded.
No wonder his human form never appeared after the auction.
Settling in Ciel's former position, Verdalite patted his two furry sons lazily.
"It's not just a feeling too, your etiquette lessons have increased. The new system is settling in nicely and our crown prince is planning to lift the blockade at the border. To congratulate the new crown, many dignitaries from the other continent are planning to visit. In response, we will soon have to attend a banquet."
Erin sadly poked the meat he had cut for the fourth day in a row now. As a former soldier, he was doing fine with the repetitive drills, he just found it less useful than training with Verdalite.
"Dominic's planning a banquet? In this economy?"
Cedric, who had popped in the second the word "Dominic" was dropped, smiled softly.
"My prince got quite a bit of wealth from cutting down the lee–corrupt nobles."
Ciel and Erin paused.
This guy was about to say leeks wasn't he?
"Anyhow, in a few months, we'll all get to return to the capital. I already told your grandfather that Dominic expects the Evanair family to at least look like a noble family when you all appear to the public eye next time."
Cedric, aware of his slip up, quickly changed the topic before slipping away. He had not needed the extra classes, and had no desire to get dragged into them.
Azar nodded in agreement. Hence, the intensity of the etiquette lessons was increased.
Besides…
He looked at the two kids sulkily cutting meat into neat diamond shapes, recalling their abnormally proficient combat skills.
It was common for heirs trained in the same family to have similar movements, but as far as he recalled, the six children Verdalite had taken in all had differing styles of combat. Though they all had human forms, the different anatomy systems in their animal forms would make it harder for the kids to learn Verdalite's combat style, so the dragon didn't bother teaching any of them, instead opting to train them through experience.
Besides, according to the second eldest, those two had only known each other for about a year. Was it really possible to form their own combat style in such a short amount of time?
At this moment, a hand sneakily rested on his shoulder.
"What's this beauty thinking with such a serious expression on his face?"
With a frozen face, Azar lifted a finger, but before he could do anything, Ciel had hopped down from his chair, carrying the plate of freshly cut meat.
"Elder, this should be fine now right? Can I go please?"
This time, he had secretly eaten the oddly shaped ones, leaving only the perfect diamond shapes!
At this time, Erin, who had taken the chance to dump his own weirdly shaped pieces into his mouth, slid off his chair and presented his plate proudly, swallowing the meat pieces whole.
Jadiel, who had watched as the imperfect slices of meat had disappeared one by one: …
Remembering when he himself tried this trick, he laughed in his heart: His sons was still too young, how could the elder not notice his small tricks? They would definitely be drilled for another few hours!
"Mm. Alright."
Jadiel's furry head shot up in disbelief to watch his two sons cheer and dart out of the room.
What???
Verdalite laughed.
"Don't you know grandchildren are meant to be spoiled?"