Ch 25- Settled

Claud gently knocked on the door and waited for a moment before knocking again. After waiting for a few minutes with no response he gently pushed the door open and saw two figures curled around each other on the bed. After Casey fell asleep he unknowingly switched back to his human form and is now lying contently in Mac's embrace.

Claud for the first time in a few years felt like cursing. 'Just a temporary measure? If they're left like this there may be no going back'. He stared at the Shera and his young master/future monarch lying in each other's arms and was livid. He raised his personal terminal and took a picture of the scene and sent it to Sitka and Aki.

Aki jumped up from his desk, scattering most of the paperwork he had just finished processing. He called Claud immediately "wake them up and separate them now". Claud felt relieved after receiving this order and pushed the door to the room back open and yelled to the pair on the bed.

"Young master, guest, please wake up now". Mac instantly opened his eyes and drifted them towards the strange voice before shifting them back to the young man in his arms. Casey's eyes fluttered from Claud's yell but they still stayed closed, Mac gently shook Casey in an attempt to wake him up.

Casey opened his eyes and sat up in a daze; then he lazily tried to rub his eyes. Claud saw such a scene and clenched his fist. 'Ah I knew it, the young master is even cuter than his father. So beautiful and lovely I'm glad I haven't retired yet'. Claud was intently watching his new master and couldn't resist praising him internally incessantly, he was very glad that the young master had finally made his way home. Even if there was a bug floating around him Claud could try to tolerate it for the young master's sake.

After staring at Mac blankly for a moment Casey looked around and realized there was another person in their room. His eyes widened and he stared at the old gentleman standing by the door. Receiving his gaze Claud gave a low bow "young master, it is an honor to meet you". He straightened back up and motioned his hands as he talked. "My name is Claud I've been the Amos family's housekeeper and butler for the last five generations. It is an honor and pleasure to meet and serve you". Claud gave another short bow and met Casey's curious eyes with a smile.

"Five generations? How old are you then??". Obviously, Casey knows dragons live long lifespans some manage to live over ten thousand years. So he was very curious about how long the grandpa in front of him had been around. In response to Casey's question, Claud smirked: "take a guess?".

Casey pondered for a moment and tried to do some guessing based on the number of generations. "5000 years?".

"Not quite, I'll be 7223 years old this year. I'm already an old man, I was planning to retire. However now I won't be able to after learning I get to serve the next monarch".

Casey titled his head and thought for a moment "have you met the previous monarch?" Claud sighed and held his head "young master it looks like you will need history classes first. The last monarch died around 12,000 years ago there's only one or two dragons still alive that would've been around at that time". Casey nodded in understanding and dropped the topic.

Claud smiled and pushed in the cart of tea and snacks, "I originally came to bring you an afternoon tea and snack". Casey saw the desserts on the platter and felt his mouth salivating, Mac who was watching him gave a slight chuckle and took the lead of pulling Casey off the bed.

Claud spoke up right as they sat down "young man may I borrow you for a moment? The masters wish to talk with you". Casey whipped his head toward Claud "can I go too?". Claud shook his head "they want to speak alone with the Shera".

"Then can it wait until after we eat? I don't want to eat alone". Claud saw his young master's head droop and left like he'd been struck by a meng attack. He lightly coughed and agreed and stood off to the side as the two enjoyed their snack.

After Mac and Casey enjoyed a leisurely snack together, Claud led Mac away. Casey was left alone and looked around the room and searched the dresser before finding his bag of jewels. He dug through it and found the necklace Mac had made, which he took off after they fled the tribe. He held it carefully and slowly clasped it back on his neck and went to the mirror to properly admire Mac's handiwork. Casey then proceeded to find a book about Dalhi star and sat down to read.

Meanwhile, Claud's smile had disappeared and he grimly led Mac to the Amos couple. Sitka gestured for Mac to sit down, and as the three sat Claud prepared tea and gently set the cups before them. Sitka sighed and spoke first "Mac I'm grateful and thankful that you've taken care of Casey so well until now". Although the words spoken were positive and polite Mac had an ominous feeling upon hearing them.

"To be honest if it wasn't for Casey's dependency on you we would've sent you to live elsewhere. It's not very comfortable having strangers in our territory. However Casey has attached himself to you". Sitka pulled the photo Claud took earlier and displayed it in front of Mac. "Let me be frank, you're too close. I respect you and don't wish to force your and Casey's relationship, but how you two act isn't appropriate. To tell you the truth Casey has a marriage covenant and he is able to get married once he's received a proper education. Him being so close to another adult man is unacceptable. I don't dare speak these things to Casey who's not settled yet so I can only ask you; since you seem very mature and rational. Please watch the distance and be mindful of your place, Casey is the dragon race's future king".

Mac had lowered his head at some point of listening to Sitkas words and felt his heartache again. "I understand, I'll try to be mindful of our interactions from now on". Sitka gave a heavy nod and dismissed Mac. Aki's glare never left Mac's figure until he disappeared behind the door.

"Do you think he'll listen to your words?". Aki held his head in frustration. Sitka touched his chin "probably, he seems like a respectful and very good young man". So the two parents temporarily set their worries aside, the butler however wasn't quite as assured.

Mac had been wandering outside the mansion for a while now stuck in thought on how to handle Casey. Lately, Mac had found himself conflicted whenever he thought of Casey, he wasn't sure what he thought of Casey now. He had a hard time thinking of how they should interact. Mac stayed lost in thought for over an hour before slowly turning back to his and Casey's room. Mac stopped at the door and took a deep breath before pushing the door open. "Casey let's talk". He raised his eyes and all that greeted Mac was an empty room. Mac looked around blankly, covered his eyes, and sighed before sitting on the couch in their room.

Meanwhile, Casey had landed himself in a bad situation. After he tried reading the book about Dalhi stars' in-depth geography Casey found he couldn't focus on it no matter how hard he tried. His eyes turned up toward the bag of jewels, he sat down the book and looked through the bag. However his favorite ruby was already gone, Casey felt sad as he thought of the past and what happened to his family. His maternal grandmother gave her life for him and his maternal grandfather is trapped in a lab.

'Oh right! I should go see how he is, a quick visit shouldn't hurt'. Casey pondered it for a moment, he walked to the bed and laid down before he activated his space powers. Then the next moment he opened his eyes and saw the familiar blue dragon before him. Four eyes met in the air and Casey showed a wide smile; Morrisons' pupils shrunk. "Why are you here?! You need to leave quickly". Casey stared at Morrison and spoke softly "I learned who you are and wanted to see and help you. Do you know where this is? We can send help to get you out".

Morrison stared at his beautiful grandson and sighed "I'm not happy to see you. I don't know where this is, you shouldn't come here. That lunatic is working to create a trap for you, it's not safe for you to see me".

"Grandfather…. Can you tell me anything that'd help my parents find you?". Morrison's eyes shook at Casey's words and he uncomfortably turned his head away "I have nothing to say. Now Go". Casey's eyes turned red in frustration and as his emotions fluctuated they slowly turned gold and his suppressed aura was released. Morrison stared at Casey dumbly, the next moment the door to the room flew open and the man in the lab coat strutted in leisurely.

"Oh my! The baby went through a growth phase". All the man saw was Casey's back and white hair, Casey slowly turned toward his voice". The man's playful gaze froze, and his eyes wandered over Casey's gorgeous face. His eyes slowly turned and traced over every accent and curve of Casey's body and his frenzied eyes that only cared for research were instead burning with desire and lust. His eyes narrowed and he showed a devilishly charming smile to Casey. Casey felt scared seeing the man's sultry gaze.

The man slowly took off his glasses and put them in his coat pocket, he grabbed out a tiny metal device and stuck it against his temples. He slowly smoothed out his lab coat and organized the ends of his sleeves and rake his hands through his purple hair before turning his eyes back to Casey. He tapped the small device on his temple and smiled at Casey extending a hand toward him.

"Casey, come to my side". The man's voice had a different flavor than usual, it was low and soft. It sounded as if he was seducing a lover and the moment he spoke Casey's name the young dragon fell into a haze. His gold eyes turned back to red and became blank and empty; Casey took mechanical steps toward the man. The man smiled in satisfaction, Morrison who already understood what happened released his weakened aura to the max and roared at the top of his lungs. Normally such a thing wouldn't be enough to break the man's spiritual power, but Casey wasn't a normal dragon. That roar was enough to wake him up, he looked at the lab coat man with fearful eyes.

He heard Morrison's roar again "leave now!". Casey obeyed unconsciously and his figure vanished from the room. The man left behind was furious, he pulled out his newest plasma whip and released all his fury on Morrison.

"I thought I had prepared well enough, it seems the Monarch's power is no joke. I'll have to enhance the power of this device to make my spiritual control stronger". The man muttered to himself as he whipped Morrison, he suddenly stopped and kneeled down in front of him.

"Say Morrison how would you feel about having me as an in-law? Casey hasn't mated and neither have I; such a beautiful and perfect dragon I don't think I could stand the sight of him bonding with another". Morrison's eyes quaked in fury and he snapped his mouth towards the hateful man, who nimbly dodged his attack while in thought.

"Yes rather than an unwilling research subject isn't it more beneficial to have him bond with me and listen to me willingly? I'd also treat him much gentler and take care of him". He turned his eyes to Morrison and spoke clearly "it'd be much better for him to be my mate than my research material. Don't you agree?".

Morrison glared at the man who let out a soft chuckle in response. He patted Morrison's head and walked away saying, "I must make proper preparations to capture him. I may lose my chance if I don't work fast"; he walked away and left behind a bloody, mentally, and physically drained Morrison.

Casey reappeared on his bed panting heavily, Mac heard the movement and looked over at Casey. He stood up abruptly and ran to his side and pulled him into a hug. He felt Casey's body trembling he spoke softly and stroked his hair "what's wrong?".

Casey had a hard time pulling his mind back after the hypnotism and soon recalled everything. He kept trembling and started crying telling him how he went to visit his imprisoned grandfather and what happened while there. As Mac listened his expression turned grave and slowly coaxed Casey until he fell asleep in his arms. Claud knocked on the door and pushed it open just to see this scene and was upset once again. Claud wanted to speak but Mac turned towards him and raised a finger to his mouth and gestured to talk outside.

"Take me to Casey's parents, something happened". Claud was a bit confused about what could happen since they both just stayed in their room but looking at Mac's bleak face he still faithfully led the way.