Demigod

Passing through the palace doors, Lucia looked around. This was likely a side hall where the golden royal family held family gatherings. Its decor and furnishings were not as solemn and imposing as the outside world; instead, they carried a warmer, more comfortable sense of home.

A massive sandalwood dining table stood in the center of the main hall. Marika's and Radagon's seats were placed side by side at the head, with more than a dozen seats arranged along either side. They were not far apart from one another, and the chairs were all of the same style. Everything was much like the gathering place of an ordinary household, with no distinction of intimacy or distance.

At that moment, the tabletop was already filled with rare fruits and vegetables produced across The Lands Between. Exquisite and magnificent magical lamps on the ceiling and around the room cast a warm golden glow, reflecting off the glass cups and plates in a dazzling riot of color. Several neatly dressed maids stood respectfully at the side, awaiting orders at any time.

"Come, hurry and take a seat—" The queen walked briskly ahead. "I thought you must be hungry, Lucia, so I instructed the chefs to begin preparing dinner early. Today's head chef is a master from Stormveil. His style is sure to suit your tastes."

Radagon followed steadily behind Marika. Only when they drew near the table did he slightly quicken his pace and step forward, pulling out the high-backed chair for the queen. After she sat, he took the seat beside her at the head.

On the other side, Lansseax had originally intended to let Lucia sit in the first seat on the left, but Lucia stepped forward first and pulled out that chair. "Sister Lans, you sit here."

Seeing the look on his face, as if it were only natural and allowed no refusal, Lansseax could only sit down helplessly. Lucia then pulled out the second chair and sat down right next to her.

Seeing the honored guests take their seats, the maids immediately brought out all kinds of aperitif desserts and drinks in a smooth stream. Queen Marika turned to look at a female official standing not far away and frowned slightly. "Peggy, have Miquella and Malenia still not arrived? And that child Godrick..."

The female official was just about to explain when a somewhat anxious voice suddenly came from not far away. "Sorry, Mother. We're late."

Lucia looked toward the sound and saw, by the side door on the right side of the palace, a frail blond boy hurrying out while pushing a wheelchair. He was too short, and the wheelchair was too tall, hiding his body completely; even most of his face was blocked.

Sitting in the wheelchair was a girl who looked even more delicate than him. She had rose-bright red hair, and her skin was as fine and pale as snow. Yet her right arm, left leg, and right lower leg were all gone, replaced by prosthetic limbs made of gold.

However, such a terrible lack did not seem to have made the girl's personality gloomy. At that moment, she had her clear eyes wide open and was curiously sizing up the guests in the hall. Perhaps because she had seen Lansseax before, her attention almost immediately settled on Lucia.

Lucia looked back and suddenly saw her lips move slightly. Though they were so far apart, he understood what she had said right away.

"It's a dragon!" she muttered softly.

"Malenia!" Miquella's indulgent low reminder came from behind her. "That is a very important guest. You can't call out like that!"

Malenia gave an "oh" and quickly covered her little mouth, but her sparkling eyes still kept looking Lucia over without pause.

Behind the two of them followed a group of flustered maids. After seeing Marika and Radagon, everyone immediately bowed. The female official at the head stepped forward and explained, "Your Majesties, Prince Miquella insisted on taking care of Princess Malenia himself, so..."

Radagon was clearly very familiar with this pair of children. Seeing this, he did not blame the maids, merely answering kindly, "All right, I know it wasn't your fault. You may go."

"You two..." He looked helplessly at the brother and sister. "Miquella, your own health isn't good either, so why are you still rushing to take the maids' work every day—and you too, Malenia. If you weren't always acting spoiled and making your brother keep you company, he wouldn't have spoiled you to this point, and you wouldn't have ended up late for such an important occasion today."

The criticized Malenia immediately lowered her head and secretly stuck out her tongue. Miquella gave an apologetic smile and explained, "It was my fault, Father. Malenia wasn't feeling well this afternoon. When Peggy sent someone to inform us, I was helping her suppress the Scarlet Rot. We accidentally ended up a little late."

As he spoke, Miquella had already pushed Malenia to the dining table. Only then, when he walked out from behind the wheelchair, did Lucia finally see his appearance in full.

If one ignored his overly frail build and somewhat sickly pale complexion, Miquella undoubtedly possessed perfect looks in no way inferior to his father's. That dazzling golden hair was enough to make even Radagon himself feel ashamed. At the same time, his mature bearing formed an extremely contradictory sense of dissonance with his young and fragile body, like light and shadow, clearly interlaced yet inseparable.

The twins blessed by the Erdtree—Miquella and Malenia. One was tormented by the erosion of Scarlet Rot, and one would never grow up.

Lucia looked at them, and confusion suddenly rose in his heart. If this was called a blessing, then what counted as a curse?

"You must be Prince Lucia," he said, looking at Lucia with a gentle smile. "If possible, I hope you can forgive our rude tardiness—I am Miquella, and this is my younger sister Malenia. After hearing that you were coming to the capital as a guest, we have been looking forward to it for many days."

"No matter. Just call me by my name." Lucia rose and returned the greeting, smiling sincerely. "I'm very happy to be here as well. You should understand—those elders in Sky City, whose average age is over five hundred, wouldn't have much in common with me. After all, strictly speaking, I was only born three months ago."

"Liar!" Malenia's voice rang out crisply. "How could you grow this big in three months? Brother is almost ten already, and he still doesn't look as old as you!"

Everyone present could not help laughing. Queen Marika stroked her hair and explained with a smile, "Malenia, Lucia and Priestess Lans are both Ancient Dragons. They don't grow the same way humans do. Before Lucia was born, he had already been growing in the Supreme Egg for many years!"

"Really?" The little girl widened her eyes and scrutinized the boy before her.

"Of course it's true." Lucia blinked. "I stayed in that egg for more than a thousand years. You and Miquella both have to call me big brother."

"No—way!" Malenia puffed out her mouth and deliberately made a face at him.

"All right, sit down quickly. Lucia has been waiting for us for a long time." As Miquella spoke, he was about to lift Malenia onto the high-backed chair.

"But I want to sit over there—" Malenia pointed to the seat beside Lucia, then looked pitifully at her parents and brother.

Marika exchanged a helpless glance with Radagon, then turned her gaze to Lucia, asking for his opinion.

"My pleasure." Lucia smiled.

He truly had nothing against it. The current Malenia did not have that world-famous prosthetic blade in her hand, nor would she suddenly follow up four close-range slashes with a Waterfowl Dance. On the contrary, she was still an adorable little girl.

He rose and helped Miquella push Malenia's wheelchair over to this side of the dining table, then pulled out the chair beside him. Miquella reached out, lifted Malenia, and placed her on it, then lightly patted her head. "Sit properly. Don't cause trouble, and don't say anything rude again."

"I know!" Malenia agreed out loud, but her gaze still could not help drifting toward Lucia. Ever since she had confirmed that he was actually a young Ancient Dragon, she looked as if she wished she could find a few dragon scales on him.

"You are Lucia-Sancus?" Just then, a light and airy voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

Lucia glanced sideways and saw a short-haired boy in gorgeous clothing stride in with his head held high. Judging from his appearance, he had inherited the golden lineage's characteristic tall and imposing physique quite well, and his features could also be called sharp and rather handsome. It was just that a somewhat gloomy air always lingered between his brows, making his whole impression seem much narrower and more cramped.

After entering the hall, the boy swept his gaze around. He first saluted the queen and the consort, then nodded slightly to Lansseax, before walking straight to the empty right side of the long table, pulling out the first chair, and sitting down proudly.

"Welcome to Leyndell," he said, looking at Lucia with a faint expression. "It seems the grand lift built by our court was somewhat unsatisfactory, to the point that Your Highness had to personally fly over the plateau barrier and travel all this way. In that case, we truly have failed in our hospitality!"

As soon as those words came out, the atmosphere at the table immediately grew tense.

Lucia narrowed his eyes and looked at him for a long while before finally matching the boy before him with that gray-haired disgrace of a demigod from his memories, the one with arms grafted all over his body. He simply could not understand it no matter what—this guy looked passably human now, so why had he later insisted on not being human and gone off to become a tentacle monster?

Besides, trying to play passive-aggressive with me? Back when I was flaming people online in my previous life, who knew where you were digging mud?

So he shrugged and smiled with a kindly expression. "You must be Godwyn's eldest son, Godrick, yes? I wouldn't say your hospitality failed. It's just that Dectus is really too close to here, and as your uncle, I came in such a hurry that I didn't have time to prepare any toys for you. Next time, for sure!"

Beside him, Malenia, who had just been scolded by Miquella and had unwillingly sat properly, burst out laughing with a pfft.