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Father and Son
“There are so many books…”
“Lots of them are actually documents I’ve read. The documents were moved here for storage. They’re considerably old things. They’re meaningless now, but they were the steps that the North took to become what it is today, which also makes it His Majesty’s history. Lots of documents here no longer need to be store; however, Freya kept every document, citing that they might be very interesting in the future.”
Irina checked out the two huge bookshelves, where a large number of books and file holders were, on both sides of the office. The books and file holders were almost stacked up to the shelves’ glass. Ling Yue watched from behind her with a smile. Liu Yue slowly climbed onto the chair and then cheerfully climbed onto her father’s desk. Ling Yue turned around and immediately exclaimed, “Liu Yue, what are you doing?! Come down! That’s your father’s work desk!”
“Liu Yue, come down. It’s dangerous.”
The door suddenly opened. Liu Yue looked to the door, and a radiant smile came to her face. She cheerfully exclaimed, “Daddy!! Daddy is back!!”
Liu Yue dexterously hopped off the desk and zipped past her mother to leap into my tight embrace. I picked her up with a smile and kissed her cheek: “You’ve grown quite a bit, Liu Yue. You’re prettier than the last time I saw you.”
Liu Yue kissed her father. She joyously responded, “You, too, Daddy!”
Irina felt a little envious when she watched the father and daughter pair. He was a boy, but he was also a child. Her son could act spoilt with his father at his current age. Actually, even if he couldn’t act spoilt, he could’ve joyfully played with his father in the past. Nonetheless, because of her, he didn’t have a father during his childhood. On a positive note, that was also why he was very sensible and understanding. Her own child was afraid of worrying her. Sadly, sometimes, being too gentle will hurt others.
“Ling Yue. Irina.”
I finally shifted my gaze off Liu Yue and to the two women with a strange relationship. I gave them a small nod. Ling Yue seemed displeased with her husband for caring for only her daughter and not her. Irina fearfully looked at me. I basically looked at Irina the exact same way I looked at Ling Yue, which made her feel slightly better.
“I know about Liu Yue’s matter, so don’t worry. Freya still has a group of humans clinging to her. If you have any thoughts, share them with Freya first. We shouldn’t be too intimate this time; else, they’ll claim that you and I are being biased toward the anthropoids, which won’t be too good. That’s how humans are. Don’t touch their profits; otherwise, they’ll do anything, and come up with any excuse. I really don’t want to offend them.”
I sighed then turned to Ling Yue. While she was very unhappy, she understood what I meant. She had to take Liu Yue and leave. Liu Yue loudly protested, but when she heard me say that I was going to call Nier to play with her, she immediately turned tail. Hence, I was left alone with Irina.
I gently shut the door then sat at the table. I indicated for Irina to sit, too. I conveyed, “I genuinely didn’t expect you to come here on your own accord. I thought you dragons didn’t want to leave. Let’s put your reasons aside for the meantime. I want to know how he is, our son, that is.”
“Mm… Everything is well.”
The mention of her son warmed up Irina’s heart. Troy didn’t want to recall his memory with her and his son. Irina knew she essentially snatched their child from him. She was worried about her son and his father being hostile with each. By the looks of things, however, her son admired his father. Troy didn’t hate or forget him. He, too, always kept his son in his mind.
I stood up. I lightly pressed my hand onto Irina’s hand and, in a gentle voice, said, “I see. It’s been hard on you. You’ve raised him all alone for so long. Despite being his father, I didn’t do anything for him.”
The warmth on the back of Irina’s hand instantly shot to her heart. The blissful memories with the man she liked resurfaced. She was so nervous that she didn’t know what to say.
“Not at all…”
“So, what did you come here for this time?”
I pulled my hand back and sat back in my chair. She froze for a moment before smiling helplessly. She almost forgot that she couldn’t be with me.
“His feelings for me are far from love. I just stole something from him. I exchanged what I stole for his care. Sadly, there are only two women who he will ever love,” Irina told herself.
“I hope that you can give Raul a job by your side.”
“Huh? Raul can work already? He’s only five, isn’t he? I haven’t remembered it incorrectly, have I? I couldn’t be mistaken.”
“Dragons are considered grown up by the age of five. Raul can now take on the jobs of a grown man. I do not think the dragon race will be able to continue living there in the future. The world is moving faster and faster. Lots of people have moved close to us. If we continue to live in seclusion, someone will discover us sooner or later. I want to let my son see the world. Further, he should get to see his father. He greatly admires you. He views you as the hero who saved the entire North and the dragon race.”
I smiled helplessly: “I have no idea what you told him, but I think it might not be a good thing for him to see me because his image of me will be destroyed. I’m no hero. The so-called Hero King title is just for advertisement. I wouldn’t spend so much effort trying to win the favour of those rich businessmen to prevent them from leaving the North, otherwise. That said, you’re right with what you said. If he wants to work, I’ll let him work as my guard. I’ll personally write him a letter. Just take the letter back to him.”
Irina was happy that I didn’t refuse her. She stood up and watched me write on a sheet of paper. Rather than call it a letter, it was a King’s decree. He could join the guards if he had the order.
Irina noticed that I wasn’t in the best mood. Having misgivings, Irina warily asked, “Are things going all right?”
I shook my head with a smile. I took out my seal and dipped the heat stamp into the fire to heat it up. I wiped my face: “It’s not something incredibly important. It’s just a business deal. I just want to make more money, though. The one thing I dislike most is forming connections with them. To be frank, we’re fussing over the details to an excessive extent. In saying that, they’re easier to connect with than the ambitious soldiers and politicians.”
“I do not quite understand…”
“There is one thing you can tell me, though. Irina, has anybody found a forest with lots of wild animals – relatively speaking?”