With one hand, Shiva shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked, with his other, he easily scaled the tree, plopping down next to the two.
"Wow~ so cute. Why are you two here by yourselves in such a rural area?"
He picked Erin up, pushing him in his lap before patting Ciel's head, ignoring his attempt at dodging.
Ciel: ...
Ciel usually didn't mind meeting new people, but this guy was pushing his boundaries a little bit too much.
Erin also grimaced, Ciel was better off, he was directly in this guy's lap!
Theresa was also unhappy.
Who manhandled someone in their first meeting?
\Ciel, if he tries anything else, just stab him.\
Ciel nodded slightly, ignoring Erin's 'restrain yourself' look.
Without the awareness of someone about to be stabbed, the man continued leisurely.
"Your parents must be heartless, how could they abandon you guys in an empty forest?"
With long arms and legs that took up the entire branch nook, the brothers couldn't avoid him.
Shiva continued rambling.
"It's fine if your parents don't want you anymore, want to follow us? I'm from Acyuta! The great empire of the North!"
His tone was proud, a bit condescending.
Looking at the black and white hair colors, his eyes narrowed happily like a collector that had found a rare item.
Brothers with two completely different color palettes were rare. If no one wanted them, he would happily take them back to be playmates for his Andrea. As much as he was loyal to the emperor, that spoiled prince wasn't a good influence on his son.
Bristling with irritation, Ciel scooted as far away as possible on the tree, scanning him warily as a small needle appeared in his hand, preparing to draw blood at any time.
As if being from Acyuta made him so much better than everyone else.
Irritation made him childish.
"So? I'm also from Acyuta."
Shiva bent down, facing him with a smiling face.
"If you're originally from Acyuta, then wouldn't you want to come back? Our main city is the most advanced in the continent, with daily life much more convenient than Anatol. Ah, Anatol is a beautiful kingdom, but anyone from our main city is unwilling to leave. Our city's scenery may not sparkle like Anatol's capital, but it's still among the top ten sites to see!"
Ciel smiled sarcastically.
The main city where the emperor resided in…what kind of scenery did it have?
…He couldn't remember.
"No thanks."
He wanted to go home and eat some of his grandfather's shaved ice. The sweet flavor still lingered in his mouth.
Rock candy worked too.
"…"
A hawk's screech rang out again.
This time, it wasn't as faint as before, and it carried a tinge of anger. Following its sound, the group looked up to see a large hawk diving into the clearing.
Shiva hurriedly ducked, narrowly avoiding a scratch to the face.
The hawk swooped to the side, where a tall, but stunning beauty had appeared, it landed smoothly on his shoulder and started preening its feathers elegantly.
Following its movement, Shiva looked down, meeting icy light blue eyes.
"..."
"..."
Azar folded his arms, a chill emanating from his body, his eyes roamed over his grandchildren's scraped limbs, lingering on Ciel's barely hidden wings wrapped around his head before returning to gaze at the strange man, whose hands were still on the boys.
"Mind giving my grandchildren back?"
His voice was slightly cold, carrying a tinge of oppression from a centuries old mage.
"Ahaha, it was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding…"
Erin was put down, and he quickly grabbed Ciel, jumping down to Azar's side. As they fell down, Azar materialized two tails, cushioning each child's fall in soft fur.
Ciel smiled happily.
"Grandpa!"
Azar looked expressionlessly at the two behind him, only his tails betrayed his emotions, tightening their grip around the children, as the fox himself returned his gaze to the man in front of him, who had neatly jumped down the tree.
He was decked out in luxurious material sourced from the northern continent, shoulder epaulettes gleaming, and a neatly ironed uniform barely wrinkled from his actions.
In short, troublesome to deal with, whether it was through words or actions.
His fluffy tails curled up tighter around his grandchildren, blocking them from the stranger's view.
"Then, farewell."
Eh?
Ciel looked behind him.
Just leaving like that?
The man seemed to feel the same, fast walking forward to keep up with Azar.
"Uh, miss–"
"I'm male."
"Ah, mister then–"
Azar sped up, not even bothering to walk anymore, just floated forward on his ice particles.
Unfortunately, the man seemed to be a skilled combatant, keeping up easily.
"If you don't like the title mister, what about elder? Elder, slow down!"
He was still ignored.
At the site of attack, Verdalite was busy cleaning up the mess with the merchant group when a white figure flashed by him, leaving him nothing but a hawk in his arms and the final words.
"You deal with him."
Verdalite looked at Kierra, who had been suddenly thrust into his arms. The two looked at each other with varying degrees of confusion.
Kierra flapped up in panic.
"Kreeeeee!"
Hey! I didn't even greet my family's children properly!
"Eh?"
Eyes wide, Verdalite let go of the bird.
However, his swordmaster instincts made him stick out his arm next, perfectly hitting the man's stomach as he whooshed by.
"Ugh!"
The man wanted to bend over, but his manners didn't allow him, and instead, he stopped in place, still hissing from the pain.
"Ssss…Are you with the elder over there?"
Verdalite looked him up and down, placing Kierra on his shoulder for a more intimidating effect. Sensing his intention, Kierra straightened up, puffing out her feathery chest.
"Yes. May I ask why a person of your stature is chasing after my family?"
Duke Shiva looked at the man with a polite smile in front of him, a sense of pressure pressing down on him, like the feeling a mouse had in front of a snake.
His casual attitude vanished, and he straightened up, saluting in a polite manner.
"My apologies. I was merely concerned about the children."
Verdalite crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, they're surrounded by their family now. There's no need for any concern. I presume that's your master waiting for you?"
Duke Shiva followed his gaze to see a displeased looking Caesar. At some point, a luxurious line of carriages had appeared, hovering an inch above the treetops.
"Yes. Then, I will take my leave. Once again, I give my apologies for bothering your family."
Then, turning around, he quickly went to his emperor's side.
From afar, Verdalite and Kierra could still hear their conversation.
"Why did my oh so capable knight commander suddenly jump down without warning?"
"Ah sorry sorry, I thought I saw someone familiar."
"Hm? I didn't realize you knew people from the Eastern continent."
"No… Just saw a familiar color."
Caesar paused, his face darkening.
"This is home to the majority of the eve population. White hair is not uncommon here."
"Understood."
Shiva shut his mouth helplessly.
But he didn't mention the color at all…
As their voices faded away, Verdalite turned around, Kierra still on his shoulder.
"Son, see that? That's called power suppression. You know what to do now?"
A cheetah emerged behind the trees, transforming into a man.
Ptoo.
Jadiel spit out the corpse of the runaway demon bear that had been in his mouth.
"You know, me and you aren't on the same level. I really can't do that."
Verdalite removed Kierra, placing her on his son's head instead, laughing good naturedly when Jadiel flinched, throwing her in the air.
"I have a wife now!"
Kierra flew up grumpily.
Screeeee!
Well then, I'll go perch on your wife! With flowers! You damn cat didn't even woo her properly!
Jadiel's face darkened.
"You're getting more talkative now huh?"
Verdalite laughed, grabbing him as he continued the conversation.
"That one's the knight commander of Acyuta's first order. It's already impressive that you're on similar levels."
Jadiel turned around impatiently.
"Then?"
Verdalite paused, looking at Jadiel's gangster like—but still handsome face. He patted it lightly.
When this one was irritated, he didn't lose much to that emperor.
Though, it was still lacking the same power and intimidation.
"It's fine, just do what Azar taught you. You don't act foolish in front of outsiders anyway."
"Ah?"
Was that a compliment or an insult?
As their father was complimented(?) by their grandparent unit #1, the two brothers were plopped down in front of Lilian, who had bandages and salves ready in front of him.
Facing his severe stare, Ciel guiltily looked away.
"Ahahaha, uncle, it's a pleasant surprise seeing you today!"
Lilian gave a fake laugh, his eyes were cold.
"It's not a surprise, after Cedric came back alone, your father mobilized all the usable forces to search for you two."
Even me, this homebody.
As he spoke, he cleaned the scrapes on Ciel's body before moving onto Erin. They weren't as serious as the previous injuries, but they were small and numerous.
He sighed, looking at their pitiful state, it was hard to muster up any anger.
"Cedric already told us what happened, when he looked back, you two were already high up in the sky. Since it was an unexpected accident—mgff!"
Before he could start lecturing, Lanae stormed in, pushing his face aside. The gorgeous sheep eve looked at her sons, and immediately stuffed a small vial in their mouths.
"Drink!"
The two instinctively gulped it down.
As Ciel watched in amazement as his wounds healed in real time, Lanae hugged his and Erin's shoulders, squishing them protectively against her body.
"It wasn't their fault, so why nag? You should be glad that they came back in one piece!"
Ciel quickly squashed down the rising smile that would most definitely trigger Lilian. Instead, he opted to blink his eyes sorrowfully at Lanae.
"Mother… Sorry, we tore the clothes you gave us."
Along with his words, Erin lifted up the torn edge of his shirt, blinking in cooperation.
Seeing the two act cute, Lanae's heart melted, feeling an urge to spoil them.
"Aw~ Don't worry, I got plenty more clothing. When we arrive in the capital, we can go shopping too!"
Lilian, who had been pushed to the side, massaged his nosebridge grumpily.
"Lanae, what did I say about carelessly using your potions?"
"I gave them the most optimized one for scrapes and bruises!"
"The more effective it is, the more the body relies on it! They're still growing, and their bodies need to heal naturally!"
"Don't worry, I made it especially for children and it only encourages surface level tissue regeneration! It won't affect their body negatively!"
Just as Lanae was about to win the argument, Ciel shot up.
Wait, if Erin's superficial injuries healed, what about his bones?
"Mother, uncle, it wasn't just skin that was injured."
He shook his brother.
"Your wings."
Still examining his newly grown skin, Erin looked up.
"Ah."
Not having wings in his previous life, he had forgotten about them.
A second longer, the room fell silent.
The outside of his wings were fine, with the scrapes even growing new feathers. However, after examination, one wing had some of the smaller bones at the wing tip broken, and the other had its humerus cleanly snapped in half.
Lilian was silent.
Lanae decisively decided to disappear, leaving behind some more vials with tags attached.
As the door closed, Ciel quietly inched closer to Erin.
Uh oh, he could see the volcano about to erupt.
Mini Theater:
Erin: Uncle, love me again.
Lilian, ruthlessly strapping him to the bed: Making you get better is my way of showing love.
Ciel: …Pfffft.