Ep 19. Dear. Be Quiet. (3)

 

At the ridge of a steep, rocky cliffside was a small wooden door. Handmade by elder dragons centuries ago, behind this door was a cozy nest that housed four dragons – usually. Today, however, a guest was also with the four, and a poor youngling’s sniffling noises filled the interior. At least the other two dragons by the sniffling youngling’s side were managing to keep their faces straight.

…Sniff.

“Tch.”

“Ahem. Aether, perhaps just this once, it’d be alright to…”

“Dear. Be quiet.”

An elder dragon snapped back at her husband. She was grinning, but the uncomfortably crossed arms or the iron grip on her kitchen knife didn’t really help lighten the mood.

“…Yes ma’am.”

“Seriously, I go away for just a while to get some herbs, and all three of you just up and disappear?! Do you even know how worried I was?!”

“Well, there was a reason we…”

“I told you to be quiet, dear.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The woman’s long, violet hair seemed to angrily flutter as she shot menacing gazes towards the three dragons lined up before her, each on their knees with hands raised in the air. She was an unmistakable elder and, truth be told, weaker in strength than any of the three lined before her – but the menacing aura of authority around her made all forms of strength pointless.

“And Ilias! Just how hard did you hit Raizel this time?! I told you two not to fight over and over, and you go doing THAT to her arm?! I could see her bones! Bones!!”

“But that wasn’t me…!”

“Actually, you did do half of it.”

“That was to save you though…”

The elder shook her head, then proceeded to point at all the treasures she’d confiscated from her daughter that were neatly piled onto the corner of her kitchen.

“I’m not done, Ilias! What’s all this gold?! Are you girls stealing from others now?!”

“Um…we…found it on the ground?”

“We kinda did.”

Her smile was slowly fading as the younglings answered her with what seemed like nonsense excuses. She turned to the steel dragon this time, who failed to meet the elder’s gaze.

“And Raizel! I told you to stay home until I’m back at least five times! FIVE! Didn’t I tell you to come with me if you were going to go out anyways?!”

“That’s just another day of chores.”

“Zip it! Gosh, what am I going to do with you two. And Mr. Husband’s busy disappearing WITH our troublemakers instead of stopping them. Keep your hands in the air, all three of you!”

“Okay…”

“Tch.”

“…Yes ma’am.”

“…”

Serenis watched the scolding from a safe(?) distance, seated at an antique dining table. Every time the violet dragon screamed at the three kin kneeling on the floor with their hands raised, she could feel a pang of guilt stabbing at her reclaimed heart.

But she neither dared to interject nor defend the three. It was uncustomary to intervene in another family’s affairs.

Yes, that was the reason. Most definitely.

After making sure that the three dragons were properly raising their hands in the air, the violet dragon then turned to approach Serenis.

“Sorry for the wait. It’s been a while since we’ve had guests, I should’ve been here sooner...could I ask for your name again?”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. My name’s Serenis…madam.”

‘Wow, I guess even Lord Serenis is scared of mom.’

‘Did she seriously just say ‘madam’?’

‘Even I didn’t expect that.’

“Please, call me Aether. I must admit, I’m a bit embarrassed to show you something like this on our first meeting. They’re a heap of trouble, those kids…although I wasn’t expecting my husband to join them. Were you their acquaintance?”

“Well…you see…”

Serenis trailed off as she scrambled for words. And it wasn’t working very well.

‘…Vulka, I miss you. You’d know what to say.’

“She took us to the seal!”

“True.”

“Ahem. To be precise, she only took me. You girls simply followed us.”

“I thought I told you three to be quiet? Or do we want to starve for the whole week?”

“…”

Serenis squinted her eyes as she noticed just how fast Aether had silenced the three dragons again. One wrong word and it seemed like the angry dragon would level their nest down along with the cliff they were in.

‘…Is Ilias going to grow up like her later? With that strength? That’s quite the frightening thought.’

Before Serenis could imagine the red dragon’s future too vividly, Aether interrupted her thoughts.

“Sorry about that. What were you saying before?”

“Hm? Oh, well…”

‘…They did go through a lot of trouble. For my sake.’

“The truth is, I’m the…first…dragonlord.”

“Sorry? First what?”

“…I’m an elder. Just some elder passing by. I’d been looking for an item I’d lost, and I was able to finally find it again with their aid. The gold was a token of gratitude from me, and…Raizel’s arm was also hurt in helping me out of a crisis.”

“Oh? You don’t appear old at all…is a spell keeping your current appearance?”

“It is.”

‘Although if the spell was gone, my appearance would be even younger, not the other way around.’

The menace in the air slowly began to fade as the elder dragon nodded at the explanation. It almost felt as if the air was suddenly breathable again.

“I see...well, I’m glad the children weren’t up to no good again. At least they weren’t doing anything bad this time.”

“Yay! So we can stop raising our hands, right?”

“Hmph. Waste of time.”

“Whew.”

“Hands back in the air. All of you.”

The lowered hands immediately shot back up.

“I said you did nothing bad, I didn’t say you did nothing wrong! Are you trying to say there’s nothing wrong with ignoring your mother?! Helping others is a kind gesture, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to forget what your mother said.”

“…It doesn’t?”

“Of course not. A gesture is only kind if you’re willing to accept the consequences that it may entail. A gesture driven by a want for freedom and gratitude is no different from self-satisfaction.”

“Aww…”

“Also, Ilias?”

“Yeah?”

“Zip it.”

“…”

Aether sighed in a mix of stress and relief. She was still angry how the three of them had disappeared with nary a note, but she didn’t feel inclined to punish them too much for helping others either.

“But since no trouble was being caused this time…you can all lower your hands when the food’s ready.”

From the corners of her eyes, Serenis noticed the three dragons noticeably brightening up in their expressions.

‘…Aren’t they still being punished just the same? Or was she planning to actually starve them?’

She thought her curiosity through for a moment. Maybe they really would’ve starved for a week if they were out and about causing trouble. Aether seemed perfectly capable of making it happen.

The dragonlord shuddered at the thought.

“I’ll prepare a serving for you as well, Serenis. Make yourself at home! Since you’ve come this far, the least we could do is offer you a decent meal.”

‘She speaks exactly like her daughter…they really are alike. But…’

“Actually…”

“Yes?”

“…I think I’d be a lot more comfortable over there beside those three.”

“Haha, what are you saying? That’s a silly joke.”

‘No, it really wasn’t a joke…’

The dragonlord shook her head with a polite, nervous laughter. She couldn’t admit the honesty behind that statement…for various reasons.

“Then…perhaps I could help you with something? Anything’s fine.”

“Hm…then, could you sit over there and keep watch over those three? Make sure they don’t lower their hands.”

The three dragons glared at the dragonlord in unison. For once, she couldn’t meet their gaze.

‘Humans did always say silence is gold. I can see why now.’

But with what was already said and promised, the dragonlord couldn’t bring herself to back out.

“Of…course.”

Serenis awkwardly moved herself to a seat closer to the three dragons on the floor, regretting her offer to help already. She was facing them, but her eyes were looking towards the far distant corner.

“Lord.”

“…She told you to be quiet, Raizel.”

“Do you have no shame?”

“…No. I don’t.”

“…”

Right as her short exchange finished with Raizel, Aether called out from the kitchen.

“Serenis? Do you prefer your meat cooked, or uncooked?”

“Ah…uncooked is fine. Thank you.”

“Alright!”

Even dragons practiced culinary crafts when they could for their meals – although, they didn’t eat as much as one would typically expect in their morphed forms.

For Serenis, however, ‘hunger’ was a meaningless construct. With her heart always keeping her body at its prime, including its state of hunger, there was little reason to eat. Even the sensation of ‘wanting to eat something’ she’d had since becoming a human had melted away once she reclaimed her heart.

Consumption of food was merely another way to kill time, and one that she hadn’t exactly practiced much throughout her life. Even in the previous era she’d only ever eat when hatchlings would bring her food as gifts, oblivious of their lord’s lack of hunger.

Naturally, Serenis didn’t think it different this time. It was still a fairly meaningless act that she only partook to accept what gratitude was offered. An act that she’d soon forget about.

Or so it should’ve been.