Chapter 43 - Morning Breakfast

Hearing the growling sounds coming from Valerie's stomach even an idiot could she was hungry so I grabbed her hand and led her to the castle's dining room. To my amusement though throughout the whole journey Valerie continued to look at the surroundings like a child.

When we entered my personal relay station she had sparkles in her eyes as she looked at every glowing formation with obvious curiosity. If I hadn't personally taken her away from that room she might have accidentally stepped on one.

In the halls every time we passed a maid, they would always give me a courteous bow until we left before returning to work. This cause Valerie to blush and stick close to me, either she wasn't used to this type of treatment or she wasn't used to meeting new people.

I was about to ask her this, but at that moment we passed by a window showing an overview of part of the capital city. Quickly removing her bashfulness and started to survey the city. While watching this I shook my head wondering where the previous shy girl went.

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After a short 8 minute walk, we arrived at the castle's dining room. The dining room was big and there were many wide windows on the walls allowing sunlight to enter the room. At the center of the table was a long mahogany table that looked like it could fit 50 plus people.

As of right now, the only ones eating at the table right now were Suzaku and Genbu in their human form. Suzaku had fiery red hair with gold colored eyes, he had a thin build with androgynous facial features that made one wonder whether he was a boy or a girl. Then as for Genbu, he had a bald head with buff body structure, charcoal black skin tone, black eyes, and a masculine style facial feature.

Out of all of my 4 guardians, these 2 always had their meals in the castle. Byakko rarely eat here because if he was hungry he would go out and hunt his own food rather than have it served to him, and Seriyu would come every now and than because the amount of food he ate was around the same amount as the size of a semi-truck. Because of his dragons sized appetite, he will eat in the dining room once or twice a week and hunt a snack or two the rest of the week to satisfy his hunger.

Genbu and Suzaku, on the other hand, ate around the same amount as a normal person and preferred to eat in the castle rather than hunt for their food. As I got closer to them I saw that Genbu's breakfast was eating fish with a small salad, while Suzaku had a bowl of oatmeal.

Feeling my presence both looked my way and we're going to stand to greet me but I stopped them before they could.

Genbu/Suzaku - Good Morning Master.

Yu - Morning Genbu, Suzaku how is the migration of the vampires doing.

Genbu - Yesterday we were able to accommodate all of them into temporary housing facilities in the city, we should be done providing housing for all of them by the next few days.

Suzaku - We also got information from Seriyu that Master has thought of giving the vampire Esau Damian a position of power in Haven. We wanted to confirm this information with Master but when we tried looking for Master in your study you were nowhere to be found. Currently, Esau is residing in the castle with his family.

Yu - Yes I did promise him that but first, we need to know how well he can manage people. Before I give him any real power make his the representative of the vampires and have him help in their integration to Haven. Depending on his work, if it's good I'll make him an [Earl] but if it's bad I'll at least make him a [Baron].

Suzaku - As you wish.

Genbu - Also Master, Lady Yasaka wanted me to inform you that the preparation to migrate the Yokai faction into Haven is almost complete but she would like your help to finalize the plans.

Yu - Okay I'll go meet her later today.

As we were having our little talk I had already sat down at the head of the table while Valerie to a seat opposite of Genbu and Suzaku. The 2 gave her a single glance before the returned to their food. I'm sure they wanted to know who she was but knew I wouldn't bring anyone dangerous into my castle.

After that, I talked with them for a while about other simple stuff before they finished their food and returned to work. However, before they left I handed them both a bottle of wine from the Gates of Babylon. While it is true that they are young age-wise both of them have a nice appreciation for alcohol. Genbu prefers hard liquor while Suzaku prefers something similar to tequila, but that didn't mean that was all they drank they always liked to sample new drinks and I thought they would appreciate the wine I gave them.

Once they were gone, the maids in charge of the kitchen came and brought Valerie our breakfast. I left the choice to her and told her to get me what she got but because I was talking with Genbu and Suzaku I didn't know what she wanted.

However, when we got our food I smiled a little when I saw her become so happy looking at a stack of pancakes.

Yu - Do you like pancakes Valerie?

Valerie - I've never had them before, but I read about them in a book in my mom's library. Who knew it smelled this sweet.

Yu - That would be the syrup right next to it.

Since this was her first time eating pancakes I gave her a simple 5 second tutorial on how to eat them. Seeing her like this made me pity her previous lifestyle it must not have been very good, but at least that behind her now.

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??? - Good morning Yu

Yu - Morning... Did Kuroka not want to get out of bed again?

Shirone - En

After our short greeting both of them sat down, and I introduce them to Valerie. Valerie might not have remembered them since she was unconscious but the girls remembered her from last night. As we ate I had Valerie tell them her story, and besides the things, I already knew nothing new came up.

Surprisingly when Valerie mention how she had to go through her brother's experiments the previously drowsy Kuroka instantly started to pay close attention to the story. When Valerie talked about her pain and how much she suffered she was stopped by Kuroka who's eyes began to water.

This story might have hit close to home for her and as I wanted to calm her down Kuroka jumped across the table and hugged Valerie. Soon after she started to comfort her telling her she doesn't have to speak anymore while patting her back.

Before long Valerie started to cry a little as Kuroka told her how she understands her pain while also telling Valerie what she went through in the past. I don't know how but once she stopped crying both Valerie and Kuroka started talking about their likes and dislikes and other stuff like that. Not long after they started to laugh and then left the dining room together leaving me confused at what just happened.

Probably knowing what I was feeling Shirone stood from her seat and sat on my ŀȧp. This caused me to subconsciously start petting her head while the subtle feeling of confusion goes away.

Yu - [Thank you Shirone but can you stop eating my pancakes?]