The woman with braided dark blue hair and red eyes who sat in front of all female dragons stood out the most. She wore a dark blue Chinese dress and had blue horns jutting out of her head. She sat in front of the others and held a golden fan in her hand, hiding the lower half of her face with it.
This woman was Qianlong, the leader of the blue dragon, ruling over water.
Then on the right side of the carpet were male dragons. They were a bit rowdy and dressed a bit more openly. They had a similar trait, and that was their bulky body.
Sitting in front of all of them was an old man wearing black Chinese clothes often found in cultivation novels. His hair was white, and he had a long beard and majestic red horns above his head, coiling to the back.
This old man was Panlong, the leader of the red dragon, ruling over fire.
More than a hundred dragons from each family were all here to greet their King's return, the Dragon King. And they were excited to do so because they loved and respected their King.
After sleeping for 10 years, she had finally woken up and returned to the Castle. This was a joyous occasion, and the small table in front of each dragon was filled with assorted foods from the modern world. The finest beef, A5 Kobe Wagyu, which recently became dragon's favorite food.
The two leaders of each faction, blue and red dragons, sat right in front of the thrones, under the staircase. They also sorted out all dragons' matters with the outside world when the Dragon King was sleeping.
Even though this was a joyous occasion, the atmosphere in the room was quiet. Qianlong glanced over at Panlong, who crossed his arms in a quiet manner and closed his eyes. It was rather rare for the old dragon to be that quiet, especially when there was food and alcohol in front of him.
But that was something natural. Their King's return today was a bit different from the usual. Both leaders knew why there were two thrones when there was usually only one.
'The Ruler has returned to existence.' Qianlong thought as she opened her slit eyes slightly. 'This happened once a thousand years ago, but why? Why is the throne so close to each other?'
That was the question she wanted to ask. There was an occasion when this room had two thrones. It was when the Ruler visited a thousand years ago. But there were spaces between the thrones at that time, and the dragon heads on the backrest didn't touch each other like now.
'This seems to be interesting.' The leader of the blue dragon thought as her lips curled upward in a sly smile. 'I can't wait to meet this Ruler. To make our King do something like this, he is surely someone great or interesting.'
At that time, the quiet atmosphere was suddenly broken by the sound of the majestic door being opened from outside. Two servants appeared first, pushing the door open and holding them in place. The servants wore black outfits and veils over their heads, hiding their bodies and faces.
Then, they appeared. The dragons immediately looked to the side, at the red carpet, and bowed their heads deeply. Only the two leaders looked at them without bowing their heads, and they were surprised.
Qianlong's grin widened behind her fan. Panlong's eyes shot open, surprised.
'Now this is really interesting! Our lord is entering the throne room side by side with someone!' Qianlong thought as she quietly bowed her head slightly as the Dragon King and the young man beside her passed her.
The atmosphere in the room turned tense. The majestic aura leaked out of the Dragon King's body. It was enough to shut the others up as they turned to look at the throne, still bowing deeply.
"Raise your head." The Dragon King commanded with a crisp voice. Her sharp eyes could even slice the world in two.
The dragons raised their heads at once, and they gasped in surprise. They finally knew why there were two thrones in the throne room now. Their gazes settled on the young man beside the Dragon King.
While they did so, they immediately respected him. Without doing anything at all, and only gazing at them with his cold eyes with a pupil mixed in black and gold color, his charisma didn't fall short of Dragon King's.
Then the Dragon King smiled slightly. The corner of her lips only curled up a little, but the dragons were happy to see that.
"This lady praises your timely arrival on this occasion. Most of you must be curious. Who is this man on this lady's side?" Ao glanced to the side as she saw some dragons follow her gaze.
Fortunately, Kai did his job quite well. He kept his expressionless face as he rested his arms on the throne armrest, letting Ao do his introduction.
"This man is the new Ruler, Kai. And also…" The Dragon King paused a little, looking over all her vassals who were curious about Kai's identity. Then she dropped the bomb. "This man is this lady's husband. Treat him with respect."
And chaos ensued.
The Dragons clamored loudly when the Dragon King introduced Kai as her husband.
Kai, the one who caused the commotion, looked around curiously. He had expected someone to object or something, but they didn't do that.
The old dragon with white hair, Panlong, laughed loudly with his arms crossed.
"Hahaha! We can finally see our King's descendant!"
And the woman with braided long dark blue hair chuckled ominously. "Fufufu, this seems to be interesting. I am looking forward to the future."
Looking at their sitting position, Kai deduced that they must be someone with a high position in this Castle. He took a note in his mind to treat them with respect when he met them in the future.
Then he looked over the room. They shouted merrily.
Maybe it was influenced by his act or something, but Kai was still oblivious to that.
He didn't know yet that his contract with Ao gave him the aura often found in high-ranking and strong dragons, namely Dragon Aura. And it activated passively, without him doing anything.
Still, he was glad that he seemed to be welcomed by Ao's vassals and almost all dragons in this Castle. Almost because he didn't think that the ones who sat in front of him were all dragons in this Castle.
"Look, dear husband. They accepted you." Ao whispered in a low voice at him.
Kai smiled and nodded slightly. "Yeah."