Sinclair's Docile Form

Anastasia's eyes only narrowed at those words. She then kept the potion vial in between her breasts. "Alright. It seems like even you are powerless against Rosen about this. Was this Roth's urging? Hmph, that man didn't even bother to come see me when I stepped into his city. All he knows to find is Rosen."

At this, none of the servants reacted. Neither Michelle nor Stuart knew how it even happened. All they knew was that the heart was halved one morning, and Sinclair didn't even deny where it went. It's not that he could hide it as well.

"If Lupin wants him out, however, I'd be the first to do it," Anastasia then whispered as she watched the scenery next to them.

Stuart only glanced at her and felt uncomfortable at that. After all, he couldn't find himself leaving his master's side. If Sinclair decided to protect the human from his father and leave the clan for it, Stuart could only apologize to his own family as well.

…

The castle of the Snowy Moon Cove was not seen on the surface. The carriage had taken them to a cave where they would trek down to reach the entrance. It was not like they had to do spelunking as the tunnels were already there, but Ainsley still felt a little unsafe. Why did they have to live somewhere hard to reach?

However, the doubts in his head were gone the moment he saw the lake inside the cave. The top part of the cave was open to welcome the moon if it showed up, and the bottom half was almost submerged in the water. The crystals all over the walls twinkled along with the ripples of the water, and the huge castle spanned way beyond Ainsley could see.

Ainsley's mouth had dried in shock, and he had to wet it first before reaching to the side to hold onto Sinclair's sleeve. He then whispered, "You don't want to live here? You're insane."

"Have you gone inside?" Sinclair only chuckled. He knew full well that the Snowy Moon Cove was the most beautiful. As for the memories and people inside it, not so much.

"Then, let's go!" Ainsley pulled on his sleeve like an excited child. However, he realized that Sinclair only stayed outside as if waiting for someone to let them in instead.

From behind them came the beautiful lady and the servants. Stuart only stood on Sinclair's other side, while the two others proceeded closer to the castle's bridge. When it lowered, they saw a few figures in the distance. Though most of them didn't look happy, a middle-aged man was smiling at them. At the sight of them, Anastasia and Michelle flashed towards the group.

Sinclair moved his hand and took Ainsley's hand in it. He didn't move; neither did he smile nor frown. He was only staring in the direction of the middle-aged man.

"Rosen, come closer. No need to fear." The middle-aged man called out with his normal outdoor voice, but it sounded very clear to Sinclair and Ainsley.

Ainsley glanced at the man holding his hand. He seemed to be called with a different name here than the one he liked responding to. Then again, if this man had been getting reborn again and again, it was natural for him to have an original name.

After a few seconds, Sinclair whispered to Ainsley, even if he didn't look at the friend. "Leo, try to behave yourself really, really well. You can disrespect all the others but that man in the middle, okay? Don't say anything stupid to my father, or else I will behead you myself."

"Shucks, I won't say any word then." Ainsley gulped down the lump in his throat. He didn't know that something like this would come up. Soon, even if he was not ready and partially unwilling, they began walking across the bridge.

As soon as their feet landed on the bridge, Ainsley couldn't help but be attracted to the carvings on it. It didn't seem to be made of any material that Ainsley would normally see used in a bridge; neither did it look old nor new. It had a very mystical feel to it, and Ainsley secretly felt excited. He didn't want them to catch on, but he felt like he was entering Atlantis.

The middle-aged man had his hands behind him as the three crossed the bridge. He was discreetly examining Ainsley and the green scaly heart that he could barely sense coming from the human's body. "Ah, how strange. The hearts melded perfectly. Can you see it, Calla?"

"All I see is a human that took away our Rosen's immortality." Anastasia only made a bitter smile.

"Hm, what took it away is a dragon instead, don't you think?" The father only chuckled before smiling deeply as he watched Sinclair lead the two towards them. "Ah, my son has returned from the human city. How was your trip?"

"It's fine. The water's rather calm. I didn't expect it." Sinclair then glanced at Ainsley, who stared at this father. "Father, this is Ainsley. He's still a little new to a few things. I hope you can be a bit more patient with him."

The father then turned to Ainsley, who was clearly taking note of the father's features. His eyes weren't even on the man's face, but at those dragon horns and scales that showed themselves despite the sunlight. The father's gaze then deepened, causing Ainsley to notice.

At this, Ainsley only smiled a bit and rubbed his nape. "H-Hi, I'm Ainsley. I can't help to stare, but you look more powerful than Sinclair. I saw him change before, but it's definitely not like this."

It was true, after all. Sinclair's father undeniably had an imposing aura that was pressuring everyone to kneel down and be slaughtered without a word. The horns and the scales did have a certain glow that was making themselves known to the human. Sinclair didn't have that; actually, his transformation was so docile that Ainsley managed to call him names.

"…you." Sinclair glared at Ainsley and almost crushed the other's hand, to which Ainsley reacted with a wince. Did he not tell this idiot not to say anything stupid?

"Hahaha, I only look more powerful than the prince of the clan. My power is still incomparable to that of Rosen." The father, however, chuckled and stroked at his beard. "No matter. Let's go inside. I would hate to look unkind to Ainsley."