Chapter 57

Everyone at the dinner table was oddly quiet. No one spoke a word but had a smile on their faces as they ate.

Amadeus was lost in his book as usual, yet I could tell he was more excited for tomorrow than ever. Though the silence was driving me wild.

"Ahem, so Amadeus," I spoke out, bringing an end to the eternal silence to spark a conversation. "What gift do you want from me personally?"

He closes his book and places it on his lap. "Nothing much. I just want you and mother to be healthy!" He exclaimed, squinting his eyes and smiling brightly.

Serena gasps and giggles from his sweet wish. "How nice!" She cries out. "You can say that your wish is granted already, right?"

She turned to me to answer and I nodded reluctantly. "Mhm, your wish is already granted, my son! Do you want anything else other than this?" I asked him, hoping he would ask for something this time.

He thought hard about another wish. Alas, he was unable to answer and sighs in defeat. "Nope, I don't know what else I can wish for. Maybe more books?"

I let out a genuine laugh upon hearing his wish. "You ask for that every year! What about something different?" I asked him once more.

Even if he didn't answer, I had a gift ready for him. I wanted to see if he got greedy and asked for something. It would be my final gift to him, a gift he would keep with him his entire life.

But it seemed he didn't want anything else. He shook his head as he answered and went back to eating his meal.

I turned to Serena who made eye contact with me and shrugged with her shoulders. A moment later she would also go back to eating her meal.

All I could do was look at my family, feeling a sense of melancholy as this would be one of the last times I could see them smile and enjoy a meal.

Every living moment I have here is numbered. It won't be long till I won't be able to see their faces smiling and enjoying a meal. It won't be long till I will be gone.

"By the way," Serena suddenly speaks up. "Who thought of all the decorations? They are all really beautiful!" She exclaimed with a mouthful of food.

I swallowed the piece of meat that I was chewing before answering. "I had a designer work on it," I replied. "I'm glad you liked it!"

"The designer seems to know what he's doing. I like it too!" Amadeus chimed in on the talk.

"If you didn't like it, it would've been useless!" I laughed out loud. "It's your birthday after all. I asked him to make it to your liking."

His eyes widened as he had a sudden realization.

"Wait… was that servant the designer who asked me so many arbitrary questions?" He said as he realised the truth.

I could only nod and give him a mischievous smile that went from one ear to another. He laughed out loud seeing my face. He couldn't come up with an answer but laughed his head off.

Serena started to smile seeing his euphoric laughter. Moments like these made my heart full and a warm fuzzy feeling grew in my chest.

Their smiles were something I wanted to protect for the remainder of my life. Their laughs were a sweet melody that gave me a sense of peace and joy. This family is what I longed for when I was young, yet I would have to say goodbye to them…

ARTORIUS' POV

Amelia's strength has increased drastically. Her size was also incredible at full size, being as tall as one whole story.

"Good," I complimented her as we rode around the sandy arena.

The arena underneath the estate was massive and perfect to train a medium-sized dragon. Amelia made herself smaller to fit around the arena, similar in size to a horse.

Her scales were a pain to sit on but I had to ride on top of her so that I could make her a saddle. The obsidian scales were good protection, especially against swords. One half of me wanted to test it against a sword but the other half felt it was too cruel.

Even though I was riding on her, she was still quick and nimble, able to jump around with ease and fly while managing to balance me.

She flew around the arena at incredible speeds. She could circle it twice in a minute, impressive for her age and size. Her wings flapped gently, creating enough force to let her float and fly. Though it blew around a lot of sand with all the wind.

"Alright, put me down!" I ordered her as into floated in the centre of the arena.

"Yes, sir!" She exclaimed before gently gliding down.

Her control over her body was extraordinary too. Even though she weighed as much as the estate, she barely made a noise when landing or walking.

"Eat up," I told her, allowing her to eat up the huge buckets full of beef and deer meat.

In her fox form she can survive on just a few steaks or poultry but as a dragon, she would have to eat as much as a small village. Her diet as a dragon consists of red meat as it has the most fat and protein.

Dragons are known for eating loads. Lucky for me I have enough supply of red meat from cow to pork. The only issue is the money to afford so much on a daily.

"All done!" She shouts out in a childish voice, a voice that didn't fit her current form.

I looked at the buckets and was shocked to realise that she cleaned them up to the full. Not even the bones were left.

My heart beat faster seeing how hungry she is. I turned back to her, freaked out and saw her yellow eyes glowing and staring back at me.

"You're one hungry creature!" I shouted at her. "Do you still feel hungry?"

"Duh," She answered back in the same childish voice.

This dragon is going to blow a hole through my wallet…

Without many options, I snapped my fingers to bring in more food. The workers are given a strict rule about not being able to gossip or talk about what they see inside the arena. My secret about owning a dragon is safe.

It didn't take long before servants came marching out with bowls full of meat in them as they heard the echo of my snap.

"Eat up as much as you want. I need you to stay healthy," I told Amelia through telepathy.

She was euphoric to smell the raw meat coming her way. "So much meat!" She exclaimed as the workers nervously placed the bowls on the ground, a few feet away from Amelia.

Though Amelia was quite tame, the workers were obviously afraid of a dragon that looked like it was a hound from hell. In her smaller form, she was similar to an Ankylosaurus. Scales that covered her entire body and a rather short neck. The only difference is her wings.

She ran past me towards the buckets and started to gobble down all of them at ungodly speeds. Seeing this, the workers freaked out and ran away from inside the ring.

A half wall blocked the arena off from the outer edges of it, similar to most sparring grounds. It gave the feeling of being in an actual fighting ground rather than just simulated grounds.

Her tail wagged rapidly as she enjoyed her huge meal of over five hundred pounds of meat. Every bowl she ate, she threw to the ground and let out a roar of satisfaction. I just hoped it didn't reach Kathlyn.

"Haa~ I feel satisfied!" She exclaimed as she turned back towards me.

I dodged her tail which was about to fling me across the entire arena. "Easy there!" I shouted out to her. "Watch your tail."

"Sorry! I'm not that used to my dragon form." She apologised, lowering her head while facing me.

Her apology quickly made me realise something horrible. She was not used to her dragon form, her true form. This isn't good as she's originally a dragon, not a fox. If she stays in this form for too long, it wouldn't work out well.

I shake my head and sigh. "Not good. How are you not used to your dragon form when you are a dragon? It's my fault for keeping you in your fox form for so long." I admitted to her shamefully.

I slowly walked up to her and petted her head. She has been with me for quite a while and the bond we created is stronger than the bond I have with Felix and Alexander. She is my daughter in a way.

If I wanted her to grow into a strong dragon I'd have to let her shift into her normal form more often. She's not even in her normal form right now. She's shrunk herself to fit inside the arena.

Suddenly Amelia's body glows and slowly forms back into her usual crimson fox form. She ran up to me and jumped back on my shoulder.

"It's fine," She said, trying to cheer me up. "I can get used to both if I practice more!"

"I know, but that's the difficult part. I need to find free time so I can train you well," I explained to her while unconsciously walking away from the ring.

Felix was waiting for me outside of the ring, standing cross-armed with a smirk that revealed his well-maintained teeth.

"Seems like Lady Amelia has learnt quite a few tricks," Felix compliments as I vault over the half wall.

"Who do you think she's learning from?" I smirked at him while petting Amelia's head.

Felix scoffs and follows me through the dimly lit staircase. "How did you learn to train a dragon anyways?" Felix asked, sounding enthusiastically curious.

"I didn't," I replied truthfully. "I just make her go through some physical activity to keep her active. If she just sleeps and stays on my shoulders all day, she won't grow."

"Hm, I see," He whispered. "It's tough to keep her real identity a secret. Though I doubt any of the workers that see her would speak out about it."

The scariest part of revealing her real identity is the number of scientists and hunters who would want to take her for either experimenting or killing. She's barely a month old but her strength is as powerful as a yellow core mage or at least a hundred master swordsmen.

We walked out of the dark staircase and out into the first floor of the estate. In the corner of my eye, I saw the lights in the living room turned on. Alexander and Vincent must be lounging there, perhaps I should give them a visit.

As I walked into the room both of their eyes turned to me. Alexander was laying down on the sofa, legs sticking out at the end because of how tall he is while Vincent sat upright.

"What were all those sounds?" Alexander asks, skeptical of what happened. "It was like a thousand men were having a war downstairs."

I took my seat at the armchair and sank into the comfort of it, sighing out my exhaustion from inside.

"Amelia is an active girl," I replied to him. "She can get quite loud when training."

"You said she sounds like a small girl. Those roars were not from a small girl," Alexander asks me.

I let out a chuckle as I turned to him. "That's when she's talking to me in telepathy. When she's in her dragon form, it's a completely different story." I tried explaining to him.

"So, tomorrow is the big day, huh?" Vincent says as he claps his hands together. "One of us could die tomorrow."

Alexander gets up from his lying position and sits down. "Die? What are the chances?" He exclaimed.

"He isn't wrong, Alexander," I chimed in. "It could be me because I'm the target. You and Felix are fine, but Vincent and I are placing ourselves in danger."

"How can that be?" He asked, bewildered by the circumstances. "Artorius alone is an army!"

"Thanks for the compliment. However, Alaric has sent his best men after me. It could be a group or a single person. He knows what I'm capable of and he's not taking any chances."

His already pale skin turns even paler. A face of fear and confusion comes out from Alexander. "B-but-"

"There's danger," Felix interrupted. "But our plans are well done. No one will die if it goes well." He says, reassuring the nervous elf.

Alexander nods his head and turns to me. "I understand. Just leave the investor hunting to your business partner!" He exclaimed proudly while pointing his thumb to himself.

Soft chuckles fill the room, cutting the tension that was growing inside it. Amelia at that moment jumps down from my shoulder and curls up on my lap, tired from the talking and training.

"It's very late, isn't it?" I asked, turning to Felix.

"Mhm, it's past ten," He answered, noticing my glare. "Let's get a good sleep. The party is during the evening."

"Very well," I said while picking up Amelia in my arms. "Spend the daytime in leisure tomorrow and be ready mentally and physically by the evening."

The rest of them got up and turned to me, smiling with hope and determination. "Yes sir!" Alexander exclaimed.

I carried Amelia on my left arm while Holding my arm out in front of me. "Let's make a promise, a promise of brotherhood."

Everyone else placed their hands on mine and glanced around each other. We knew the dangers ahead but were full of hope and determined to go on more dangerous activities together.

"Promise to have a drink at Wilkin's bar after this?" I said with an arrogant smile.

"Promise!" The others shouted out.

We all fell into a fit of laughter as we walked out of the room. Slowly but surely we broke off into our two small groups. Vincent and Felix went to their rooms while Alexander and I went upstairs to our room.

Alexander hadn't lost the smile that he had from the living room. He kept it up till we split up at his room's door.

He opens his door but turns around to face me again. "By the way, I wanted to tell you something?" He says as he makes eye contact.

"Hm? What is it?" I asked him.

"Thank you." He said out softly.

It caught me off guard and I was puzzled. "For what?" I asked him as I collected my thoughts.

"Allowing me to break free from my father's chains. If it weren't for our small project, I'd still be in my father's shadow. But because of your actions, I have gained some notoriety with you." Alexander explained with a bright smile on his face.

His explanation made me chuckle. "Is that so? Glad I could be of your help." I told him as I shifted Amelia to make her more comfortable.

Alexander nods his head and turns back around. "That's all I wanted to say, though don't expect me to stay in your shadows. I'll be trying to outshine you one day!" He said with a determined tone.

Before I could tell him anything, he closed the door in my face and left me staring at it with blankly face.

"Do so with pleasure," I muttered before turning around and walking away.

Alexander is still naive but he has the spirit to achieve his goals. He can be driven by emotion from time to time but even still, he has a great heart and doesn't let pride get in the way.

He had an issue in the past with putting his pride in front of everything. He was selfish and wouldn't work for anyone who is below him. Lucky for me my status was higher than his and he accepted defeat to me, letting go of his pride and agreeing to serve as a pawn in my game of chess.

Nevertheless, I'd have to be careful with him. I cannot hurt his ego too much.