Meron too would have liked to have fun and spend the night racing, but when duty called, he had to answer.
The Royals walked along the red carpet to the entrance of the Mansion, where the honor guards waited for them to confirm their identity one last time before allowing them entrance.
On the right side stood Dragons in their human form, wearing a red suit of armor whose scales were shaped like blazing flames. Their vertical slitted pupils betrayed their inhuman nature, while the color of the membranous wings that rested on their back like a mantle marked their bloodline of origin.
On the left side of the carpet stood the members of Salaark’s Nest, wearing a black suit of armor whose plates were shaped like feathers.
They also had feathered wings on their backs and plenty of Forgemastering tools that they used to expose possible shapeshifters and even Skinwalkers.
No one stopped the Royals nor asked them to slow down, but they could feel the Divine Beasts’ eyes piercing through their skin and searching for any anomaly that would warrant further inspection.
"My King, My Queen. Thank you for coming." Lith said once the Royals reached the main door. "I’m sorry for the wait, but after the last Demon Dirge, I had to tighten security around the Mansion."
"No, thank you for the invitation, Magus Verhen." Meron replied. "And don’t worry about the wait. It was far from boring."
"A word of advice." Kamila said as she gave them a perfect curtsy. "Please, be careful with the babies. Elysia doesn’t like strangers and likes being separated from Raldarak even less.
"She’s too young to understand what’s happening tonight, but old enough to be dangerous if she thinks someone is a threat to her or her brother."
"Thanks for the advice, Lady Vehren." The Queen nodded. "We’ll do our best to be quick and avoid any behavior that might be misunderstood."
Sylpha took a good look at Kamila and noticed that her condition was much better than after giving birth the previous year. Kamila was still struggling with the loss of her powers, but every time Raldarak called her mom, her spirit soared.
Whenever he called someone else mom, instead, her spirit soured.
In particular, her annoyance peaked when Raldarak called a man "mom". The baby boy had a tenuous grasp on the meaning of words, yet while he called only adult men "Dya", Raldarak was much less selective with "mom".
The chatter that filled the Main Hall died down immediately when the valet slammed the heel of his metal staff against the ground and announced the arrival of the Royal Couple.
’Well, this is new.’ Sylpha said via a mind link.
All the noble guests from the Kingdom gave the Royals deep bows and curtsies while everyone else stared at them in annoyance as if they were a very late server that could expect a lousy tip at best and none at all at worst.
Under normal circumstances, coming in last during a Gala was the highest honor a guest could receive. This time, however, it just made the Royals the slowpokes everyone had to wait for before the gala could start.
"About time." Milea clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"First, you entered right before them." Much to everyone’s surprise, it was Erghak who replied to her accusations. "Second, I had to wait to meet the young Raldarak for a month. I’d appreciate it if we didn’t waste time in pointless squabbles."


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