20 Palace

Dragonsoar City

Zeke's caravan approached but didn't join the long line of people. Instead, they stop a bit closer to the guards beside the line of people.

"Hey! No cutting!"

"Didn't you say earlier that people will be treated equally here? What's happening now?"

"Quiet!" The guard in charge of checking identities bellowed, then glared at the people who shouted complaints. He then looked toward the adventurer who's closing in on him.

"What's the matter? Spit it out!"

The adventurer didn't react. He then whispered a few words to the guard then came back in front of the caravan.

Hearing what the adventurer said, the guard repeatedly mumbled it in his mind and after a few seconds, he suddenly remembered something. His expression turned from a sour one to a respectful one.

Seeing the usually stern guard look like he found a treasure, the people in line couldn't help but wonder what the adventurer said to him.

In fact, the adventurer only relayed the words Sanjay told him to. Sanjay said that when the guard hears his words, the guards will immediately understand.

"Make way! Make way! A caravan's passing by! Open the doors!" The guard shouted and looked towards his fellow guards at the back. He signaled with his hand to indicate that this caravan is something special and simple. When the other guards got the signal, they immediately adjusted their posture and didn't dare delay any longer.

Zeke's caravan went along and before they could get in, the guard didn't forget to greet them

"Welcome to Dragonsoar City, Dragon Nobles!" The guard then respectfully bowed before going back to his usual cold demeanor.

As the big arch door opened, Zeke could see in front of them a bustling scene of people conversing with each other. Some adventurers are out on the streets while there are also people who sell near the entrance.

Zeke's caravan went on and on until they made it in front of a very big luxurious house. This house seemed almost 10x bigger than any other house in the city and it was also surrounded with walls higher than 2 humans stacked. They were greeted by a garden on their left and right while the stone pavement their caravan was currently traversing on made Zeke feel like he's in an ancient era. Although he knew this world isn't advanced in terms of technology, it's still a different take when Zeke felt the old-fashioned designs personally.

Their caravan stopped in front of a big mansion, one that could even fill almost a thousand or more guests. They were then welcomed by an old man dressed as a butler.

"Greetings, your Majesties. I take it your trip didn't go as smooth as planned so I figured I'll send you on your way and conduct the tour tomorrow."

Charles and Catherine went out of the caravan and talked for a bit before Catherine fetched Zeke from inside.

"No need for formalities, Esteban. Just call us Charles or Catherine when we're alone. Thank you for your consideration, we indeed had a little fight along the way and I wanted to rest in a good bed for a while now. Take us in, then."

"Yes, Charles. How was your vacation? You should know that we still cleaned your rooms even after you left. The maids were a little sad about your departure so they had to have something to do while you two are gone." Esteban, the butler, seemed like he was a long-time work partner of Zeke's father.

"*Sigh*, thank you and the maids for your diligence. Unfortunately, I don't think we're going back there for the time being. We still have years left on our time off and I don't plan on working much until it ends. As for our vacation, yes. It's been very peaceful in that village and although I didn't have any friends there, the atmosphere there feels much more peaceful than that of our imperial capital. Although I am not fond of kids, taking care of my son feels much more fun than I thought."

Charles smiled and look at his son, Joy written on his eyes. Esteban saw this and formed a smile as if he's also happy for his superior's happiness.

"I see, offsprings really bring out the human inside people, you know? It's a good change from your previous behavior, no?"

"What do you mean? I'm still the same workaholic you know. It's just that work has been reduced ever since then and I didn't have anything to do so I felt it would be good if I spend it on our son. Who knows when we'll get quality time like this after the 4 years?"

"I agree with you. Well, I hope Zeke won't take it too hard if he suddenly had no bonding time with his parents when that day comes."

"I am sure he won't act that way. He's much more mature than you see, you know?"

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I'll tell you about it later but for the time being, I must admit I'm quite surprised to see you here. Did the elders sent you?"

"Yes and No. I was indeed sent by the elders, but that was because I and the other maids insisted. We plead to them that wherever our master resides, we should take the menial tasks from them and do it in their place."

"That's really surprising. So the other maids... are they in here?"

"Yes, although some of them were left there to take care of the rooms. They will be switched out later on so I guess after a few months all maids should be here?"

"Great. It's not that I don't want to deal with strangers right now, but I prefer my old acquaintances rather than some new people. It's good to see you again, Esteban!"

"So am I, Charles. Also, I will lead you to your quarters now."

Esteban signaled some maids and helpers to carry their bags.

"Oh, before anything else, please take care of the adventurers that sent us here, Esteban. Give them compensation for treating us kindly. Sanjay gave some gold to them, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to know some trusted adventurers, you know?" Charles blinked his eye to Esteban.

Esteban seemed to have received an order as he solemnly replied.

"Yes. Please wait here for a moment. I'll be right back in a minute after handling this, so please don't wander off."

Esteban left and after a minute or two, he came back.

"Now that that is dealt with, let's continue our tour. Before all that, let me tell you something about this place. This was originally called Dragonsoar Palace back in the day as their royalty resided here. After the great war ended, the Humans abandoned this and went on to their new place we now call the Human Continent nowadays. The council found this after scavenging this land, and they figured it'd be a good place for a city so they rebuilt the outer part of the palace and kept some old designs in the inner. They also advertised the place and after a few years, here we go! Dragonsoar City, the city only second to the Imperial Capital in terms of population!"

"Interesting, but why do I feel as if this place is too big for just us?"

"You're quite right about that. If you have noticed, we're only currently touring the garden and the front part of the palace. Let's go inside and I'll explain on the way there."

As Esteban pushed open a big door, they were suddenly greeted by a hallway. Across their view was an open field, not a room like they were expecting.

"You see, this palace has quite some features of a castle. Although it is a palace, there are some defensive measures that were installed in here but it wasn't enough to call the place a castle. The previous owner maybe couldn't decide between royalty or security, so he might have gone with both. This resulted in a palace-like place but with some features of a castle. As you can see, the palace has an inner ward, while there are also quite a number of watchtowers in the vicinity of the outer wall. This security might not be enough for the previous inhabitants, but coupled with our magic capabilities, these defensive measures are enough for us to hold out in a siege. Also, you were right in that this place is too big for us, so the council decided to have this whole palace as a place for the four royal families."

Hearing this, Charles' ears pricked up.

"You mean my friends are going to be living here too?"

"That's right. your three other friends have been here for almost a week now, and the latest among them, sir Gradavar, arrive three days ago. You are the latest of them." Esteban smiled.

"Fuck! Did they get to pick their place here?"

"No, the council did all the work. The way this palace is divided, each side will have a family. The Terraforma Family was assigned in the front part of the palace, as they could be considered the vanguard of the four families when it comes to territories. The left and right part belongs to the Hydrofrost and Featherflight Families respectively. Your Family resides in the back part of the Palace."

"Hmmm.. not bad. At the very least we're at the back in case of enemy attacks.... but no, the exit would be farther from us, so this is a con...."

Charles grumbled while Esteban looked at his master and smiled as if he knew why Charles weighed the pros and cons.

"I must say, for a simple house arrangement you sure are a bit antsy, hun." Catherine lightly pinched Charles as he woke up from his grumblings.

"People should always count how many advantages they get and how many disadvantages they have to endure. This is common noble teaching, Cath. I feel like you skipped class a lot, huh. You should.... ouch!" In the middle of his 'awe-inspiring' speech, Cath pinched him again, this time a bit stronger.

"What did you say? Are you implying I'm not listening to the noble teachings?"

"No.. it's not that.. ouch! Stop it!"

"Hmph! Forget it. I want to rest. Esteban, can you take us to our part of the house now?"

Esteban smiled at his master's banters.

"Sure, Catherine. Do you mind if I call you that?"

"You always do it back then, why are you only asking now? Would you stop if I said no?"

"No, hehe."

Esteban lightly laughed while leading them to their quarters.

Zeke, who was in Catherine's embrace for the whole time, was looking around at this grandiose place he and his family will be living starting now.