Arashi with confidence answered. "It's a bad thing." With the sound of a wine bottle being emptied and thrown to the side, the wine bottle shattered upon hitting a wall, making Arashi flinch as she straightened out her posture and placed both her hands to her side. Through the talisman Asami said. "Sorry about that, I was aiming for the window and missed. I'll have one of the maids clean it up for me… Now, where were we… Oh yes. Can you explain why the boy losing the scholarship is a bad thing?" The corner of Arashi's eye twitched as she relaxed and let out a short sigh, she said. "That's because he won't get the recognition he earned."

Arashi said. "I'll agree with you on that, the quality of his mana alone would be enough for countries to welcome him with open arms, and in the future, he'll become a powerhouse. But, will others even give him the chance to get that strong?"

Arashi was about to say something but stopped herself, Asami continued. "See, even you agreed with me. He may be a candidate for the fourth generation dragon, but in reality, nothing changed for him, I didn't give him any sort of special status or assign one of my serv-... Aid to protect him. He's still that ten-year-old that could easily be replaced by someone else with a more promising future. All he did was catch my interest, it's up to him if we'll accept him as an official member, or he'll just be another one who won't even get a chance to see the stage, let alone enter it... If he were the type to chase fame… He would die young." Arashi's face turned pale as her breathing was turning erratic, she was trying to calm herself down by convincing herself everything would be fine.

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Simultaneously At Asami's Room

The entire room was dark, the only light source was a glowing orb above her bed, Asami was lazily lying sideways on a large bed with white sheets. She was wearing her red robe with flames as accents with the belt undone revealing her middle cleavage, in front of her were dozens of pictures of groups of teenagers that had some subtle signs of them turning into adults.

A pair of glowing eyes were on the right of the bed making a soft sloshing sound followed by someone quickly picking up the shards of glass and placing them in a container. The window had thick curtains that were undone and there was a small slit in the middle that was letting light pass through the room but couldn't reveal anything.

The sound of a doorknob being turned as a maid opened it and turned around and gave Asami a deep bow and quickly left while carefully closing the door behind her, dozens of pictures the was sprawled around in front of her, she took a sip of the wine from her glass as she narrowed her eyes staring all of the pictures, Asami wasn't even looking at the beautiful girls looks that could put any models to shame.

She was staring intently at most of them with black hair and eyes, a few of them had their hair dyed a different color or were wearing their gym clothes due to their bodybuilding. Asami thought. I know I've seen his face before… But when… She let out a sigh as she lazily stood up from laying down on her side, she took another sip of wine and turned to face the talisman that was floating just above the nightstand. She said. "You've gotten quiet." The sound of someone slowly taking deep breaths came from the talisman, Arashi said. "Madam, then what is your plan? Surely you wouldn't just convince my mother of me staying here for an entire eight years?"

She spoke as if she was trying to convince herself Asami had something planned, Asami placed the wine glass on the nightstand just below the talisman that was floating, she lazily stretched making her chest bounce as her robe revealed the corner of something with a pinker shade. She said. "Just keep an eye on him for the time being, I'll be there for my first visit. By then make sure to invite him, I need to clear a few things… "

She reached for the wine glass on the nightstand, when she was about to take a sip Asami stopped herself and said. "Oh, and be sure to teach him the basics, and the basics alone. I'll see you on the weekend." The talisman slowly fell to the nightstand, Asami opened the drawer of it as the talisman fell inside, she closed the drawer and suddenly the sound of knocking from a door was made. A male said. "Madam, I have the photos you requested." Asami emptied the remaining wine in one go, she let out a small burp and softly said. "Excuse me."

She cleared her throat and said. "Leave them there." She crossed her arms placing them below her breast as it made them look bigger, her eyes narrowed as she stared at all of the faces in the dozens of pictures in front of her. Asami picked them all up one by one and when she picked up the last one her entire hand was enveloped by a flame as the pictures in her hand didn't even turn into ash and just disappeared, using the corner of her eye she looked at the door and stood up.

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Back At Melanor's House

Reiki was setting up the table, he already placed down plates, utensils, glasses, and a large pitcher of water. On the table was a large pan of baked mushroom ziti, freshly baked garlic naan with a few charred spots, and a few bowls of salad with lettuce, cucumber, and some tomato with a simple vinaigrette. 

Moranor was slowly walking closer to the table while wearing a pair of oven mitts holding a tray that had a smaller version of everything on the table that looked like it was made for the first time, Reiki stared at the contents of the tray and thought. The naan was left too long in the oven so the parts where it should be charted are burnt, the cheese on top of the ziti looks like clay dough, and… Moranor was placing the mini-tray right in front of a chair, followed by the bowl of salad that looked like a kid had chopped the vegetables, continuing his thought process. Didn't I already teach her how to hold a knife?... Her chopping skills went back to when we first met…

Reiki stared at the food that was specifically prepared for him, Moranor was scratching the back of her head in frustration, seeing the look he was giving the food she made, she said. "What?! If you have a problem you don't need to eat it!." As she crossed her arms with the oven mitts on, Moranor turned around and faced the wall to hide her expression from him as a frown was slowly forming. Reiki placed a hand over his mouth and said. "I made a mistake…"

Which made Moranor clenched her fist silently, he continued. "I should have never kept my supervision off from you…" As he let out an exaggerated sigh, Moranor's eyes widened as her frown was replaced with a small smile as she took a deep breath, she put on an infuriated look on her face and turned around and said. "What's that supposed to mean!?" She took both the oven mitts off and threw them at his face, the oven mitts hit him square in the face as they stuck to his head blocking his vision, Moranor had a small smile on her face as she quickly suppressed it.

Reiki took both the mitts off his face with his left hand as he felt it was still warm, he said. "I already taught you how to use a knife! Is your head so full of training and strategies that everything not related to it goes into one ear and shoots out the other?!" Moranor let out a scoff and said. "That's because you kept on doing everything at the same time, not everyone has eight arms and can knead, slice, and watch a pot of water boil at the same time!" Reiki gave her a deadpan look and said. "I did everything! All you did was-."

Moranor pointed a finger towards him as the air around the finger started cracking lightning which made him stop, Enrel was suddenly sitting on one of the chairs and was already serving herself some food on her plate. She said. "I don't know about you two kids, but I'll eat while the meal is still warm." Moranor sat on the other chair while Reiki walked to the chair closest to where Moranor placed all the food she made. As he placed the oven mitts beside him, he picked up the pitcher of water and filled up all the glasses with water, and passed both of them one.

He took half of the baked ziti from the mini tray and placed it on the plate and saw some parts of the cheese were charred giving it a blackish color and a crunchy texture, he reached out for a piece of garlic naan and placed it on his plate.

Moranor was serving herself some food while staring at Reiki through the corner of her eye, Enrel on the other hand was tasting a bit of everything and kept a straight face. He took his first bite of ziti and thought. Better than that 'stew' she made last time… Moranor was using a fork and played around with a couple of pieces of pasta that were on her plate, she said. "W-Well, H-How is it?" He was slowly chewing his food while staring at Moranor who was nervously playing and then stabbed both of the pasta using her fork, he swallowed the contents of his mouth and said. "It's an improvement." 

As he tore a garlic naan in half and took a bite out of it that was followed by a sip of water. Moranor's pointy ears slightly twitched as a small smile formed on her face for a split second as she replaced it with a frown and said. "I thought you were supposed to say that everything I made was good." He ate a couple of bites of naan followed by a small bite of ziti, he made a gesture to ask for a moment and swallowed his food, and said. "I did, and this is better than the last time you cooked a meal for me."

Before Moranor could say anything, Enrel said. "Who would be responsible for making the meals for dinner and breakfast tomorrow?" As she tore off a small piece of naan and chewed with her mouth closed. Reiki, who was about to take a bite of ziti, stopped and placed the fork down on top of the plate, he said. "I will Enrel-san, during my short stay here, I'll be making both their meals. Speaking of food, do you need anything? More vinaigrette on your salad? Cheese? Or is the naan not to your preferences? I think I know where the bread is."

Enrel took a sip of water, a small smile formed on her lips, she said. "No, everything is delectable. I might be inclined to say, you're a better cook than Melanor." As she ate a bite of ziti. Moranor who was about to take a bite of naan stopped and said. "I don't know about that, he is good. But don't forget, mom has been cooking before he was even born." Enrel was slowly enjoying her food, she took a sip of water and said. "True, but knowledge is not limited by a person's age…" She looked at Moranor at the corner of her eye and continued. "And you're a living example of it."

Reiki let out a small laugh but managed to stop himself in time, his lips turned into a small smile that was slowly growing bigger as he placed a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. The corner of Moranor's eye twitched, she gritted her teeth with a faint blush appeared on her cheek, she took a deep breath to calm herself down as she closed her eyes and turned her head to face him, she sweetly said. "I'll remember this, Reiki…" 

Moranor flashed him a big smile, while Reiki quickly turned his head and looked at the wall on his left, he thought. Worth it. Suppressing the smile on his face as he faked a cough and said. "On a different topic, when is Melanor-san coming back? Do you think-." An arm suddenly landed on his shoulder as a voice whispered in his ear saying. "I'm here." Reiki jolted and turned his body around as fast as he could and saw Melanor with a smile on her face, he said. "One of these times I'll have a heart attack at the young age of ten."

As he let out a sigh and took another bite of ziti, Melanor smelled the aroma of the food and said. "That smells lovely." As she took a couple of steps to the side and stared at the food on the table, Melanor glanced at everything, and a look of confusion slowly formed on her face, she said. "What about the other ingredients you asked for?"

Reiki tore a naan in half and said. "Oh, it's in the fridge. Marshmallow and strawberry coated in chocolate, with some whipped cream on the side, feel free to add any ice cream of your choosing or just eat it as is." He ate a large piece of burnt naan in one go and drank some water. Melanor picked up a plate and served herself two portions worth of baked mushroom ziti, and naan.

She vanished from the room while both Enrel and Moranor continued with their meal, Reiki stared at the spot Melanor was standing and said. "She didn't even take some salad with her." As he took another bite of ziti, Moranor took a sip of water and placed the glass down, she said. "You'll… Get used to it eventually…" Reiki shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat, Enrel who stayed silent was serving herself another portion while Moranor reached to grab a couple of pieces of naan. Enrel suddenly reached out to her pocket and pulled out some 'literature' and started reading while eating, 

Reiki was softly laughing while Moranor who was holding a torn-up naan fell to her plate. She said. "Really!? How can you eat while reading that!" A smirk formed on Enrel's face, she said. "It's called lunch and entertainment." Her eyes started to go from left to right as she was reading while eating. Moranor said. "Where's the respect for books?! I wonder how many you've ruined from your-."

Enrel let out a sigh which made Moranor stop, Enrel closed the book with one hand and said. "I never took you as one who held traditions high, most elves think books are sacred and should be treated with more respect than your firstborn. But I for one show my respect differently, if a book meets my standards I would waste no time reading the entire thing in one sitting."

She opened the literature once again and continued reading. Moranor was baffled by Enrel's logic, she turned her head to face Reiki who was stuffing himself with the food she made as she gave him a meaningful look. He ate a couple of bites of ziti while maintaining eye contact for a few seconds, seeing he was doing nothing, her look slowly turned into a glare. Reiki swallowed his food and let out a small sigh, he said. "I think it's fine."

As he tore off a piece of naan and threw it into his mouth. Moranor's eyes widened as she narrowed her eyes and a sweet smile slowly formed on her face. She said. "Care to repeat yourself? I think I heard it wrong." Reiki drank some water and said. "I mean, it's not like she stained the book yet, and I'm not in any position to reprimand her. And on the off chance, she does manage to stain a page with cheese, you can always speak about it with Melanor-san so she can talk about it with Enrel-san for reimbursement."

He was using a piece of naan to wipe some of the cheese off from the mini-tray. Moranor speaking through gritted teeth said. "Who's side are you on?" Reiki was about to eat naan with some cheese that he mopped off from the mini-tray. He said. "I'm on the side that doesn't shock me with lightning every time I do something." Moranor's hand that was holding a fork was slightly shaking. She took a deep breath and said. "The time before dinner I'll shock some sense into you."

Reiki was tidying up both plates and utensils that he used to eat and walked towards the sink. While walking he said. "Enrel-san will be here until tomorrow morning." The corner of Moranor's eye twitched. She said. "You little…" As she watched him walk to the sink and out of her vision followed by the sound of a faucet being turned on. Moranor ate everything that was left on her plate as she took everything she used to eat and went towards the sink.

Enrel who was still reading the erotica looked at the amount of food on the table. With a small smile on her face, she said. "More for me then." She heard the sound of lightning crackling and turned her head towards the direction of the sink where both Reiki and Moranor were, there was a flash of white light for a split second followed by the sound of a boy grunting. Enrel let out a chuckle as she continued to enjoy her meal and continued to read.

______________________________________________________

Back at the Lavish Room

Melanor and Elora were eating the chocolate-coated marshmallows and strawberries with some whipped cream that was on a cold porcelain plate while using a fork. Elora said. "For a dessert, this is oddly simple. Too simple if you think about the odd combinations he's made." Using a fork she stabbed a chocolate-coated strawberry and dipped it into some whipped cream and ate it.

Melanor who was staring at a marshmallow that was on her fork said. "Moranor did ask him about this, his answer was it was one-third of a dessert." Elora used her finger to scoop up some whipped cream and licked it off using her tongue. She said. "We do need to squeeze the recipe of this dessert out of him." As she continued with eating.

Before she could stab something with the fork in her hands she saw that Melanor was in deep thought, she looked at the chocolate marshmallows that were on Melanor's fork. Elora moved closer and ate the marshmallow in one go making Melanor snap back to reality, she said. "Elora you should've been ready half an hour ago. What would your servants think if the queen herself is always let to the meetings? It would set a terrible example and damage your reputation." Elora looked at the green dress on the other side of the bed that was next to a pair of long white socks. She let out a sigh and said. "But all those old coots do is report this, report that. If it isn't about reporting they keep saying I need to remarry, something about needing a leading figure for the males…"

Her eyes turned cruel as she coldly said. "Even when they're at their death beds all they think about is benefits… I can't wait to see the looks on their old faces when their entire clan is dead..." She lazily leaned her head on Melanor's shoulder and continued. "If only they would die by a heart attack right now, everything would be so much easier." Elora let out a long sigh as her eyes slowly turned back to normal. Melanor said. "Then we should at least take advantage of that elf before we kill the last one. Then we can guarantee a successor down the road."

Elora chuckled and said. "You mean that dead bloodline? It hasn't given birth to a decent elf. Thousands of years ago those old fogies gave their daughters to him, when he was getting too powerful and their daughters were pregnant they decided to kill him. His 'heirs' were treated the same, they thought as long as we have his genetics we can make another genius. Now look at what's left, they're desperately trying to match my daughter to that incompetent elf. With the promise of hopefully awakening the ancestor's potential to lead the cause. The only reason they are still alive is because of their 'reputation' and their hold on the economy…"

Elora lifted her head off Melanor's shoulder and continued. "The moment they're useless, I'll kill them myself. I discovered my true love, I'd rather put the entire species of elves on the brink of extinction than let my daughter suffer for her entire life. Especially when she's not even close to maturing."