Book 3: Chapter 77 (1/2)
Mary’s face hardened. “We’re being invaded?”
“Yes, my liege,” the Shadows member said. “It seems as if the other empires have been plotting this for an extremely long time. Knowing that the nobles in charge of our lands have come to attend your banquet, leaving their territories without a true leader, they’ve concluded that it’s the perfect time to attack.”
Mary stood up and drew her sword. “Shall I personally pay a visit to their palaces? I’ve left them alone because Uncle told me they were vital for our empire’s survival, but this is how they treat my goodwill?”
“Is it just me, or does Mary have a problem?” Vur asked Alora before taking her cake.
“H-hey! I was in the middle of eating that!” Alora could only say a sentence in protest before the cake disappeared into Vur’s mouth. She sighed. “What do you mean by problem? If by problem you mean only giving a single slice of cake to dragons, then yes, she has a very big problem.”
“No, not that,” Vur said after swallowing. “But that is a problem too.” He nodded. “It’s weird. Sometimes, Mary acts like an adult.”
“I am an adult!” Mary said and slammed her hand against the table, breaking it in half. “This is the banquet for my twentieth birthday, you big dumb dumby.”
Vur stared at Mary with a blank expression. Then he turned towards Tafel. Tafel nodded. “We’re adults too, Vur.”
Vur furrowed his brow and squinted his eyes. Then he shrugged and pulled the plate that Tafel’s cake was on towards himself and out of Alora’s grip.
The Shadows member cleared his throat. “My liege,” he said. “What will you do?”
“I’ll go straight to their palaces and take those backstabbers’ heads,” Mary said and raised her sword towards the gap in her armor. But before she could, a deep voice echoed through the dining room.
“You’re not going to do that.”
The door swung open, revealing a bald man with green eyes. Mary froze. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and a shiver ran down her spine as she took a step back, stumbling against her chair and falling over onto her butt. “U-U-Un…cle.” Her sword fell out of her hand, and an audible gulp resounded through the room as her throat bobbed. “You….”
A wide smile bloomed on Zyocuh’s face. He stepped into the room and spread his arms out to the side as if he were waiting for a hug. “Did you miss me, my dear niece?”
The Shadows member disappeared and reappeared by Zyocuh’s feet. His clothed forehead touched the ground. “My liege.”
Zyocuh frowned and lowered his arms before sweeping his gaze over the room. “Where are the rest?”
“They … fled … after an … incident.”
“What—”
“Is this your dead uncle?” Vur asked, his voice echoing through the mostly silent room. He frowned at Mary, who was trembling and hugging her knees while staring at the ground. He turned back towards Zyocuh. “He looks very alive.” Vur waved towards the table that Alice and Mr. Skelly were sitting at. “You should ask him how he got his body back, Mr. Skelly.”
“And you must be the dragon boy,” Zyocuh said and narrowed his eyes at Vur. “I saw what you did to my niece earlier. The disgusting scent of a dragon is easy to smell from even miles away.”
Vur tilted his head. “I think your nose is broken. Dragons smell very nice.” He hesitated and snuck a glance at Alora before blinking at Zyocuh. “Unless they fart in their sleep.”
Alora looked around and pointed at herself. “Vur totally glanced at me just now when he said that, right? Am I the only one who saw that?”