King Baltos looked at Lucy and Gojo with a wry smile, “Lucy, please behave in front of our guest,”

Lucy nodded, “I will behave with Mentor Gojo,” She smiled, lifting her plate so the maids could clean the wine.

Kin stared at the spilled wine from her stance and then lifted the king’s glass, taking a sip from it. “Spicy with a hint of cinnamon, a variant of dwarven spirit.” She put the wine glass down in front of the king, “It’s clean,”

Alfred giggled, “Come on, I brought that wine. Father loved dwarven spirit, didn’t he?”

“That’s a rare brew originating from the ice dwarves of the north,” EirwanKari said with a smile, “A sign of goodwill,”

Gin stared at the bottle, “One bottle of this could go for hundreds of gold coins,”

Gojo glared at Lucy, “You spilled that! Each drop could be worth a whole gold coin!” He pointed at the spilled wine as the maids cleaned it.

“It smells strong. You would get drunk,” Lucy replied, “All alcohols are filth, liquid rot,” She hated all alcohol in the blood.

The king lifted the glass and took a sip. He had tasted hundreds of drinks, but this one was really exquisite, the sharp taste and the spicy aftertaste in the back of his throat.

“I do like it,” He said with a smile.

***

The maids brought the tea after the dinner plates were lifted, no one had left the table for even a second.

Gojo stared at the maid bringing the tea with a smile, “Do you have milk? If so, can I get some with my tea?”

The maid bowed as she laid the cups on the table, “Of course,” She headed back to the kitchen to inform them.

Baltos lifted his teacup and took a small sip, “Chieftain EirwanKari, shall we discuss the purpose of your arrival now?”

EirwanKari took his teacup, cooling it down to almost freezing, “Of course,” He then turned toward Isdis, “Since I’m building a new kingdom, I want to mend the bad blood between our nations. Humans create political relations through arranged marriages and using family bonds. That’s why I’m seeking Isdis, the only princess of marriage age.”

Isdis lifted her teaspoon, hitting the edge of her cup and creating a ringing sound. “At the end,” Ding! Ding! “A monster mimicking humans can never grasp the art of courtship,”

Kin looked at EirwanKari and Isdis, closing her eyes, “Dragons only know how to take.”

Gin looked at Gojo, “If a dragon saw a drakaina and wanted her, or the reverse if a drakaina saw a dragon and wanted him. They usually drag them away by force.” She walked toward Gojo, grabbing him by the hair and dragging him toward where she stood before. Strangely, He remained sitting on his chair like a statue.

“Careful, I take care of my hair,” Gojo stared at her with an exhausted face. He then stared at EirwanKari, “It’s strange you are asking in the first place, what’s your game?”

EirwanKari smiled, “What is your game?” He glared at Arad, “Someone of your power dragged by her, you stopped my fist, remember?” He tried to pray about the nature of Gojo’s power as that was a mystery to him.

“I have a weak spot for maids,” Gojo replied with a smile, “I also don’t care that much,” He looked at Gin, “It was but a demonstration.”

Baltos nodded, “They are right, what’s your goal?”

“Marrying Isdis is the goal of me coming here, and if you want my end goal, that is to create a kingdom strong enough to support me. With the right step up, I can rule over the whole frozen continent.” He smiled. An ambitious plan, but wasn’t impossible for a dragon. Since all dragons desired wealth and power, it wasn’t unreasonable for him to want that.

“There is always a catch,” Gojo smiled, looking at Gin and Kin, “Dragons never act without an ulterior motive that they keep to themselves.”

“So we can’t establish trust yet,” EirwanKari sighed, “I should probably give up on Isdis,”

“Giving up so easily?” Emma, Isdis’s mother said with a worried voice. She had a hunch EirwanKari was after something besides her daughter.

“Are you mocking us? Or are you that dense?” Charlie stared at EirwanKari with a suspicious face, “This is the worst plan I saw from someone wanting to marry,”

“You said she already has a man,” EirwanKari looked at Gojo, “Your brother, what does he do?” Considering how intimidating Gojo looked, he started to expect Arad to be an equal monster.

“Brother?” Gojo scratched his chin, “He lives in the forest and hunts monsters for a living. He already got a noble title and is well on his way to climbing ranks,”

“A successful man from a humble start,” Charlie said with a passive face, “I saw him from afar and I should be honest, that’s a bear, not a man.”

“I would love to meet him,” EirwanKari took a sip from his tea.

Kin stared at them, ^Arad is far more than that, and the monster inside him is far worse.^ She stepped forward, “I suggest you keep a formal tone with him. And never attempt to harm him.”

“That depends on him,” EirwanKari stood, “I will speak with him tomorrow when he gets back, and leave afterward.” He looked at one of the maids, “Please guide me to my room if one is ready,”

The maid bowed, “Of course, please follow me.”

King Baltos stood, his vision turned back for a second and he leaned on the table, gasping for air. “Baltos!” Kin cried seeing his almost fall. She stared at him, sniffing the air but sensing nothing strange in his body.

Baltos stared at the table, his mind zoning out as he started to hear his heart flutter in his chest. He could smell blood with every breath as his body felt lighter and lighter.

He looked at Kin, “To my room, and call everyone,” He gasped.

Scales emerged on Gin’s forehead for a second before disappearing again, “Don’t tell me?” She growled.

“What’s happening?” Everyone asked, staring at him.

“Maids! The guests to their rooms, call all the guards to gather around his majesty’s room and summon the crown names.” Kin growled, carrying Baltos and his wives gasped.

Two veins popped on Chairlie’s forehead, “You **ing Maggot!” He grabbed Alfred by the neck, “Did you poison him? I’m going to skin you alive!”

Alfred gasped for air, “Kin! Inspected the wine, I didn’t do anything!” He cried.

“Brother,” Thomas said in the back, “Alfred is right, trust Kin,” He stood, “Go call the best medic you can find. I will get the alchemists.”

Charlie threw Alfred on the ground and rushed out, kicking the door open with a powerful hit.

The queens and Isdis rushed after Kin and the king, and the maid guided EirwanKari to his room, leaving Gojo alone in the room with Lucy.

“You aren’t going?” Gojo said, staring at her.

“I don’t know what to do,” Lucy replied, looking down.

“You can start by telling me why you smashed the wine from my hand,”

“I felt like throwing up when I smelled it.” She replied.

Gojo started thinking, ^That wine wasn’t poisoned, but I’m sure it had a hand in this mess,^ He approached the table, sniffing it, ^Nothing, could Baltos be allergic to something in it? Or this is just a bad coincidence? I need to find the root cause if I want to fix this,^ He turned around and started walking, Lucy by his side. ^Let’s see Baltos first,^

As Gojo walked into the king’s room with Lucy, they saw Baltos lying on the bed, everyone surrounding him. A dying king, ready to speak the name of his successor.

“Too late,” Gojo growled, he could see death looming over the king, his next word would be the last.

“A…A…” The king struggled, mustering all of his power, trying to push the name of his heir with his last breath.

Alfred smiled, he could hear the letter A, it’s his name, no mistaking it.

CLICK! The door opened and EirwanKari walked in, “I’m reluctant to help, but I can freeze him to buy time,” He stated.

Everyone stared back at him, “You what?”

“Don’t look at me like that. Even I know how valuable saving a king’s life is, that won’t be a debt you can easily repay,” He walked forward, extending his hand, “I will freeze and take him and any one of you with me. Since I need him close to keep my magic stable. In the meantime, we can gather healers and alchemists to try and save his life.”

“A…A…!” Baltos’s eyes almost popped out of his face, and Alfred stared back, “I will remain here to act as a temporary replacement, please make sure Father survives.” He blinked and then saw a large muscular man squatting over the King’s bed.

Baltos eyes fixed forward, “Arad?” He gasped the last breath.

Staring with a passive face, A faint pink glimmer sparked in Arad’s eyes.