Day 28 arrived pretty quickly as we spent the days preparing for the sleep over plan. The night before Day 28 arrived, the twins were so excited that they hardly could sleep. Thus…
“RISE AND SHINE, FREYR, FREYJA!”
We were desperately trying to wake the sleeping children up.
“Uhn…Five…more…minutes…,” Freyja mumbled, meanwhile Freyr raised his blanket up.
“That’s your fourth five more minutes already,” I yanked Freyr’s blanket, causing Freyr to twitch his eyelids.
“Geez, these two are really…,” Alt-nii sighed helplessly as he leaned on the door.
“Alt-nii, what do we do with them?” I turned around to look at Alt-nii with a pleading look.
Alt-nii sighed as he walked closer to me and said, “I guess it can’t be helped. Let’s just leave them.”
“Eh?” I reflexively raised my voice in surprise. Alt-nii only winked at me, but that was everything it took to make me realize what Alt-nii was planning.
“Oh, right. Let’s just go, then. It’s too bad they can’t go with us. To think that they were looking forward to it, too…,” I said with a loud voice so the two sleepyheads could hear them.
I felt like their bodies just stiffened, and if only they had ears—for example rabbit ears—their ears would perk up so high.
A few moments later, the two of them sprung up from their bed.
“I’m coming, coming!” Freyja immediately clung to my hand, afraid that I would be going without her.
“Wait for me?” Freyr also softly grabbed my free hand, asking me to wait for him.
Uuu…
“Sure, sure, geez, your cuteness is cheating!” I couldn’t turn my head away from them anymore, so I turned around to see the two pitiful rabbits and hugged them.
With that, the two lazy buns who couldn’t sleep last night, finally woke up and started to prepare themselves.
After breakfast, we started our departure. Clavis was already here with us, so we went together.
But instead of going straight to the Halmsroth village at the Western Province’s suburb, where the Flugel family was, we stopped at the Capicastle first.
Mom was going to work there, while Dad would come with us to the Halmsroth village along with Leticia, Kiri, and Luca as well. We were going to make use of the teleportation service at the Capicastle to directly move there. You could say that Dad was the one escorting us.
Obviously, some maids and guards from the Capicastle were going to come along for they needed to take care of the royal siblings. Nothing should go wrong, after all. That was to be expected.
It was almost lunchtime when we arrived in front of the Flugel family’s doorstep. But still…
“Whoaaa…”
Before we even arrived at their doorstep, we already witnessed how vast their land was while we were on the leisure carriage (we used it to move from the teleportation place to the Flugel’s). It was really green when you looked to the left and to the right, just like what the miracle twins described.
Fences were bordering the ranch from the road and the other lands. I saw some of the animals or monsters roaming free. There were regular cows, sheeps, horses, rabbits, and chickens. The air over here was so fresh and it smelled of ‘nature’. I couldn’t describe it well, but I felt like I was detoxified when I came here. My house had a nature vibe as well, but that was still different from a real village and a ranch. The vibe was just…different.
“Welcome!” Ristea-san personally greeted us at the front door. Standing in front of her were Dmitria and Valerie who happily extended one hand each to greet us.
“Welcome!” Dmitria and Valerie cheerfully welcomed us.
Meanwhile, on Ristea-san’s left and right were…probably her husbands. No, most likely so.
Behind Dmitria was a brown-skinned tall and robust man. His muscles were really well-developed that it made him seem like a bodybuilder. He had an unruly black short hair and stylish beard. Overall, he was a very macho man. His thick eyebrows were definitely similar to Dmitria’s. No DNA test needed, he would be Dmitria’s father.
Meanwhile, on Ristea-san’s other side was a man with a complete opposite vibe to Dmitria’s father. He was just as tall as Ristea-san and even had a fairer skin than her. The freckles on his face resembled Valerie’s a lot. His long white hair was tied in a low ponytail and had some curls. His eyes were droopy as well, resembling Valerie’s lazy eyes. This man was slender and had the air of nobility around. He would be Valerie’s father.
Sure enough, the girls excitedly introduced their fathers.
“This is my Daddy,” Dmitria said as she directed her hand towards the man standing behind her.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Garret,” Dmitria’s father introduced himself.
“And this is my Papa!” Valerie also gestured at her father.
“It’s been a pleasure to meet you. My name is Malvin,” Valerie’s father introduced himself.
“Anyway, come in first,” Ristea-san quickly ushered us in after the brief introduction. It wouldn’t be good to continue talking while standing in front of the door.
When we arrived inside, I realized that we weren’t the first ones to come.
Inside the house, three figures were sitting leisurely…Actually, only one figure sat down leisurely as if she was enjoying her time there, while the other two figures seemed as if they were already too tired from the journey.
They were none other than the dormitory group, Carbuncle, Iris, and Harvey.
“You guys are so quick! How did you guys get here so fast?” I asked them.
“Don’t…ask…,” Harvey’s face blackened when he remembered his—perhaps arduous—journey.
“Kuu-chan…,” Iris only muttered.
“Well, of course, I am fast,” Carbuncle proudly exclaimed.
“No way, did you turn into your dragon form and have the two of them riding on you?” I couldn’t believe it.
“More like she grabbed us…,” Harvey’s face seemed like he was about to puke when he remembered that.
“I…think I…am afraid of the altitude…,” Iris came upon a realization.
“Hehe, but it’s indeed the fastest way,” Carbuncle chuckled.
“You have to show us your dragon form, too!” Freyja said with sparkling eyes.
“Show us,” Freyr nodded.
“Hoho, would you like a taste of it, too?” Carbuncle’s eyes also sparkled.
“No…Freyr, Freyja, you don’t know what you’re asking for!” Iris warned.
“Sssh, it’s going to be fun,” Carbuncle smirked.
“…Did it not cause an uproar?” Clavis asked.
“For one, there are wyverns,” Carbuncle reminded.
Oh, perhaps she was mistaken for a wyvern? Well, unless you glance at it nearby, perhaps you can mistake them…
“Then, you gotta show us your dragon form too later!” I exclaimed.
Sorry Iris, for not heeding your warning at all. My curiosity wins over the horrible look on your face!
Anyway, Ein arrived soon with Nicole escorting him. The parents were talking together while the children were also talking together.
We were waiting for Briar at the same time we were waiting for lunch. But even after we had lunch together, she couldn’t be seen anywhere.
My dad and Nicole left after lunch, perhaps they were done talking already by then. Now that I thought about it, Dad, Nicole, and Ristea-san were all the head of the family and also a governor. Of course they would have a lot to talk about.
After lunch, our agenda finally started.
Luca was talking with Ristea-san, perhaps they were talking about the territories and governance stuff. Luca was really befitting of the next ruler, for being so eager to learn in every possible chance.
Garret-san and Malvin-san were with us as they introduced the ranch to all of us. Aside from the regular animals, they were also raising monsters here. There were Pegasi—the winged horses, Raphus—the giant flightless birds, and Wyverns—the ‘dragon-imitation’ creature, according to someone who clearly looked down on wyverns. Aside from that, they also had some tamed beasts similar to Dmitria and Valerie’s partner beasts. For example, there was a hippogriff.
Time flew so fast as we walked around the huge ranch. The sky was turning orange, and that was when I started to feel really uneasy for Briar.
“Isn’t Briar coming?” I finally asked.
“That is…,” Valerie and Dmitria looked at each other, both seemed to be hesitating.
“What’s the matter?” I asked them.
“…She might not be able to come, after all,” Valerie sighed.
“Eh, why? Ah…,” I asked them without thinking. But what else could it be? Her parents might not allow them. But why?
“Briar’s been involved in some troubles at school this semester, and her parent was even called to the school. That’s why, I suspect she might not get the permission to come,” Valerie explained.
“If she really can come, she should have been here already,” Dmitria sighed.
“Well, their family ranks higher than us. Plus, we are more or less seen as the troublemakers too. That’s why, she’s denied from coming,” Valerie added.
“Isn’t there a way?” I asked.
“Hmm…Last time, our mother personally fetched her so it was possible…,” Valerie’s voice trailed off.
“I know! Let’s fetch her personally, then?” I asked in excitement.
“That’s a nice idea!” Dmitria’s eyes sparkled.
“Let me ask Mother’s permission, then,” Valerie ran off to tell Ristea-san.
After getting the permission from Ristea-san, Valerie and Dmitria prepared to go together with me. We also informed the others where we would be going.
At first, Carbuncle and the younger ones also wanted to come along, but after we persuaded them not to (add to the trouble), they finally calmed down.
Dmitria took her trusted partner, the peryton Shula with her, while Valerie had to borrow one of the pegasi to take with her. Just as we were preparing to depart…
“Wait, why don’t you just take a wyvern with you? You can all go together that way,” Ristea-san dropped a bizarre idea at us.
“Mother…,” Valerie opened her mouth as all of us widened our eyes. I thought she was going to say no to such a bizarre suggestion, and yet…
“You’re allowing us to ride on one of the wyverns to go outside like this?!” A hint of excitement was seen on Valerie’s eyes.
Ristea-san nodded, “Go ahead. It’s easier to ride on a wyvern if there are four people.”
Carbuncle immediately raised her objection, however!
“Objection! Rather than wyvern, just let me!” She was rather excited.
“But we are going to ride on you, we don’t want to be grabbed by your claws, is that fine with you?” I immediately raised an issue. Iris and Harvey suffered from being grabbed by Carbuncle and then was taken to fly all the way here. If I’m going to confront the Remus parents, I’m going to need my energy, and I won’t risk it by hanging around a dragon’s claw…
Carbuncle put her hand on her chin to think for a while before she finally said, “Deal.”
“Yeah, so…Wait, what?!” I was surprised to see her actually saying ‘deal’.
I thought her high pride wouldn’t agree to it, but she didn’t seem to be bothered by it, unexpectedly.
“Just because I feel like scaring the humans there. Just in case your showing up doesn’t do much,” Carbuncle smirked.
“…Whoa, that’s a good contingency plan, actually,” I was amazed at Carbuncle, even if I knew she liked scaring someone.
“Yeah, because why use a wyvern when you have the cooler, real, living dragon like me?” Carbuncle pointed at herself proudly.
“This is amazing!” Dmitria excitedly said.
“That will be our honor, then,” Valerie also smiled, her excited eyes betrayed her calm expression.
“You two know where her house is? Lead the way! Let’s go and fetch!” Carbuncle said.
Carbuncle then distanced herself from us before she gradually transformed into her dragon form. First, she transformed into her demi-human form, the form that I first saw her in. She had dragon wings and tail extending out from her human body, then dragon horns as well.
After this first stage, her limbs were the ones who were gradually transformed into that of a dragon’s—then her head…and finally, a perfect dragon was there on the Flugel family’s ranch.
Carbuncle in her draconic form was really “Carbuncle”-ish. The color of her body was marigold, just like her hair’s color, and a shade of orange could be seen as well. A dazzling red gemstone was embedded in the middle of the dragon’s forehead. Several red lines were there on her body and face. The difference from the humanoid Carbuncle was her size, obviously. This Carbuncle was huge! Really, four people sitting on top of her back wouldn’t pose much problem. And perhaps around two people could be carried by a single grip of hers?
With that, Valerie, Dmitria, and I rode on Carbuncle’s back.
“Hang on tight,” Carbuncle’s voice changed a bit, as expected from her bodily transformation.
I reflexively hugged Dmitria who was in front of me. Dmitria was hugging Carbuncle’s body tightly while Valerie hugged me and Dmitria tightly as well.
“On board!” Carbuncle’s crisp voice said as she flapped her wings.
We were flying on a dragon!
“Here we go!” Carbuncle said.
“Wait—” I have a bad feeling about this.
“Close your mouth or you’re going to bite on your tongue!” Another warning issued and I already knew where it was going.
“Just take it slowly!” I requested, but Carbuncle already flew with a speed that didn’t enable me to speak another word.
But it might as well be Carbuncle’s teasing again, as she slowed down after we were flying quite high in the air. We could see the land and rivers.
“Which direction are we going?” Carbuncle asked.
“From here, you should…,” Dmitria and Valerie took turns to show the way.
With that, we were going to fetch our last member, Briar~!
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