Boreas POV

"Yeah, hell no, I ain't doing suicide missions."

"You will, the demon lord has captured a phoenix that may be of help to you." Ginger replied, "Not only that, Sasha herself, has confirmed of the existence of one of his generals being a phoenix. So that's 2 phoenixes...and trust me, your dragon will need it, our experiments were not kind to him...the trauma managed to block his memories of it...why do you think he has never told you about it all these years..."

"What's stopping me from just getting that and not getting you the demon lord's blood?"

"Simple...we'll no longer interfere in Vladmir's revenge...you did kill his granddaughter quite a while back."

Shit, I've completely forgotten about it.

"I've used my authority to interfere with him after I heard that you would join us." that dumb brain said before giving off an arrogant chuckle, "He's been quite a handful...but...if you get me what I want...I'll help you stop him, he's been eyeing you more than the demon lord himself...so, what do you say?"

Meeting Ralph and Joyce Silver for the first time...well, not exactly the first time, but definitely the first time with them knowing who I really am...was... awkward, to say the least. I could see it in their eyes. They were trying their best to be polite, but they were absolutely terrified of me. It's not every day the Queen of an Empire invites you to her doorstep, especially when she's dating your son. The way Ralph's hands twitched, and how Joyce kept glancing nervously at me, it was clear they were trying to wrap their heads around the situation.

I tried calling them father or mother or by their surnames, but I found that calling them by their given names scared them least.

I could only nod, giving them my warmest smile, but that only seemed to make them even more uncomfortable. This was not how I imagined it going. I had hoped for some warm welcome, maybe some excited congratulations for being their son's girlfriend. Instead, I was greeted with stiff silence, awkward glances, and Joyce offering me tea like she was presenting it to a ticking bomb. Tea that was supposed to be served by Amelia, not...what do I do?

"I'm not going to bite, you know," I said with a teasing smile, trying to break the ice, "I'm just Isabella. You can relax."

Ralph cleared his throat and exchanged a quick glance with Joyce.

"Of course, Your Ma-uh, Isabella. It's just... surprising." he commented.

"Surprising?" I tilted my head, "Why?"

"Well," Joyce hesitated, almost fumbling with her cup, "We never thought...I mean, Boreas never told us...We just didn't expect this...if anything, we told him many times not to make a move on the queen if he gets to meet you...but...it's...too late now..."

"He's a...character, that's for sure." Ralph laughed.

"I just want to get to know you both. I'm not here as the queen right now. I'm just here as Boreas' girlfriend. I want us to get along."

That helped ease the conversation a bit as they then asked about my health and the pregnancy in general, we were now heading in a nice direction, and with Amelia helping me every now and then, we made good progress...if only Boreas could do the same with Uncle George, not that he doesn't try, but my Uncle have been found to poison his drinks several times, Boreas knew that they were spiked, but he did drink them anyway due to his immunity against most poison.

It's going so well now...let's hope I don't mess up.

Boreas POV

"Hey...guys, how did it go?"

Ginger gave me time to think about my decision, and I wanted advice from Sir Wiles and Chris first since they're smarter when it comes to such tough subjects. I got back to the castle and saw that my parents were invited here, just as planned, and it seemed like they all got along well. Internally, I let out a sigh of relief. At least no one looked too traumatized because if my parents were to learn that she is like me or slightly worse, they might worry about our children's wellbeing.

They were about to leave for home, but Amelia convinced them to stay in the guest rooms, which they accepted, I greeted them and they told me to not mess up my relationship, they also said that they approved of Isabella, and as Mari, that was automatic, they already knew her, and after that, they bid me a good night and was led by Amelia to the guest room. As I watched them shuffle off with Amelia, I felt Isabella's eyes on me.

"Sleep with me tonight." she said, "I already got Wiles and Chris to take over your duties, Theo should also come later."

"Really? Thank you."

"No worries. But...why are you back so quickly?"

"I'll just go discuss this with Sir Wiles and Chris first, I'll tell you in bed. Jett and Mari, you guys can go rest up first.

"I say you shouldn't." Chris said after I told them of what happened, "We can handle a demon general, you going after the demon lord is a suicide, and getting him to bleed...you're nowhere near that level."

"I will at least keep my eyes...figuratively, on their base." Sir Wiles chimed in, "But if they are as advanced as you say they are, even if we launch against them and fight, we'd lose so much force that we'd have no chance against the war against demons."

"I'm thinking of going, but I'm going for the phoenix and if possible, also meet with that phoenix ally of his."

"Why? Even if I'm going with you, you returning alive would be a miracle." Sir Wiles questioned.

"No, I can infiltrate, free the Phoenix, and come back here...I'd give the demon lord's blood thing a shot, but if I see that it's impossible...I rather have that vampire king launch his attack here...the demon lord got a lot of interest in me recently, he won't kill me off, I should be able to get close enough to the phoenix."

"It's risky, really risky...think of your children for a second here...also I think even Jett would recommend you not to...I'd say we can just get the Phoenix after the war. Did they tell you what condition Jett has?"

"No, they refused to tell me...but they did say that it wasn't urgent, however, Jett will experience something soon, that...they guarantee."

"I'd recommend for you not to go." Chris said, "Talk about it a bit more...these blood ravens are tricky creatures, but we can take them, so...you don't have to do this."

"I'll think about it then...damn, what a stressful time to be alive."

"Be a bit more optimistic, you're still young."