"Oh, so she's into girls," Leah teased, a sly grin on her face.
"She's lying. I'm straight. I don't like girls," Selena snapped, venom lacing her voice as she shot me a glare.
"We won't judge," Leah persisted, her tone dripping with amusement.
"Mom, Stop."
"Alright, alright." Leah raised her hands in surrender.
"Good morning, everyone. Let me introduce Duke White and his two daughters. Chief White, I heard you two met a while back, and behind her is General Nyx White." Leah spoke, gesturing at each of them individually.
"It's nice to meet you all and see you again, Chief White. I am Ren Diamonas," I said, extending my hand to the duke.
"Nice to meet you, Ren. They are definitely dragon scales, just like you said, Artemis." The duke uttered these words while gazing at me, giving Artimus a nod of approval.
After giving Artemis a quick glance, I turned my attention back to Duke White, the imposing figure before me. As expected, he was wearing a white and blue suit, something you would certainly wear to a formal meeting, but I would easily guess that this suit was not just for meetings; that suit was also ready for a fight.
'Guess he came prepared just in case.' I thought even though I couldn't see a sword, I knew he had a soul weapon on him.
"Of course, Dad, I did meet her a few times to make sure," Artemis said, causing me to raise an eyebrow at her in irritation.
"Ha, I told you she was looking for us those times," Sara said, pointing at Selena in victory. Something Selena didn't even react to. I just ignored her.
"Well, with the introductions over, let's go somewhere to talk. Preferably inside." Leah spoke, clapping her hands.
"You just want to see what's inside. Before we leave, please move your Pegasus out of my garden." I asked politely, or as much as I could. I stared at Nyx, who was narrowing her eyes at me.
'Yes, totally, babe. Selena might come out of the closet.' Looking at her silver eyes with dragon-slit irises, I contemplated her potential.
"How was that a garden? There were no plants." Nyx spoke for the first time. Upon hearing her voice, I was taken aback by the heavenly-sounding quality of her tone.
'It might be a bit of a waste to give her up. No no, can't think like that, nope. Think about Liny; Liny comes first.' I paused to avoid delving into a path I wasn't prepared for.
"Selena, you better climb out of the closet," I said. Spinning around, I looked at Selena.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Selena yelled, staring daggers at me, trying to hide her blush behind her anger.
"Ren, please calm down," Leah said, grabbing my shoulder and making me look at her.
"How can I? Didn't you hear her voice?" I said, staring at Leah, baffled.
"Is something wrong with my voice?" Nyx replied, giving me a skeptical gaze.
"There is nothing wrong with your voice, dear. It's just that she finds it attractive." Leah clarified, prompting Nyx to look away in embarrassment. A few of us were surprised.
"I will move the Pegasus," Nyx said, turning around and walking away.
"Alright, while she does that, let's go inside," Leah said, letting go of my shoulder.
"I will move us to the second-floor living room," I said, not waiting for any confirmation. I teleported everyone to the living room.
"What the hell?" Looking around, the duke said this:
"Gulp, Ren, I am going to hit you in your sleep," Selena said, glaring at me.
"Yeah, yeah, good luck with that," I said, waving her off and sitting on one of the couches with Sara and Selena joining me. Uwe, Leah, and Lina took one of the couches to the side, while the Duke and Chief White took the couch across from me.
"You can teleport people around. You really are half-human." The duke gazed at me intently.
"Yes, she is half-demon and half-human, even before I did what I did to her," Leah said before I could answer him.
"Hmm, let's get straight to the point, Leah. Why did you not tell us you had ancient dragon blood? That's black dragon blood." Duke White replied, glaring at Leah.
"If I had told you, you would have taken it. I even got it before I met Uwe." Leah explained, making Uwe nod in agreement.
"That was long ago. Then why did you give it to her?" The duke pointed at me and said this.
"Andreas, that is something you do not need to know," Leah said, shaking her head.
"I believe I have the right to understand how and why you created an artificial half-dragon." The duke spoke in an authoritative tone, which annoyed Uwe. Having someone order his queen around wasn't sitting right with him.
"Not even I know how that happened, and I don't need to give you a reason," Leah said, not backing off.
"So, Leah, you made something that should not be able to happen."
'Man, does this guy think I am nothing at all?' I thought, hearing how he was talking about me.
"Andreas, why are you talking as if she is an abomination?"
"Because she is! She may be half human and half demon, but that doesn't make her a true dragon. She suddenly has dragon blood. That's not how a dragon must come into this world. What do you think would happen if something like this were known to the world?" The duke said this again, pointing at me, making me even more annoyed.
'Old-fashioned much?' I thought, scoffing to the side.
"Well, no one will know. It's not like there are no other demons with dragon-like scales." Leah countered, glaring at him.
"They're black. No lizard or snake has black scales. Black scales are just not a thing, Leah!
"So, there are no records regarding what happens if any of them have a child with a human." No one would suddenly assume that she might be a dragon. Black dragons have been extinct for thousands of years. Barely anyone knows they existed at some point." Leah calmed down, realizing that she might be falling for his trap.
"That doesn't make the cut, Leah. Someone will then figure it out. What plans do you have? The duke was a bit annoyed.
"Fine, so what? Someone will find out what you think we should do. It's not as if we're the most powerful family in the world. Leah spoke again, this time mocking his scowl.
"Why don't you just get rid of it?" The moment the duke said that, the air in the room became very still and heavy.
"What did you just say, Father?" The first one to talk was, surprisingly, Chief White.
"What, did I say something wrong? If we eliminate it, we won't have to worry if the problem doesn't exist." The duke said this, which made my hand twitch.
"It? You've been talking about me like I'm not even a person. I actually expected better from you, considering you've spent decades working with the demon and human worlds. But no—you're just an old, grumpy man terrified of anything new." I glared at him, my patience gone.
"That was a mouthful," Sara snickered beside me.
"You young women are not even aware of the proper way to hold a weapon, and you are so bold as to respond to me?"
"Oh, I don't know how to hold a weapon properly? You want to test that theory?" I stood, the air crackling as I summoned my three soul weapons.
"Hmph. I won't waste my time on a child," the Duke scoffed, his lip curling.
"Father," Chief White warned quietly, her gaze steady, "don't underestimate her."
"Again with this nonsense," the Duke snapped, glaring at his daughter before turning back to me. "Younglings these days—no respect for order or tradition."
"Duke White, watch what you are saying. I am still present here," Uwe said, warning him.
"Demon King, you should have known how I would react to hearing this news."
"Sigh, yes, I knew, but I would hope you have changed your mindset a bit, seeing you working so well with the humans," Uwe said, sighing at the duke's attitude.
"Humans have order, and they punish those who disrupt it. On the other hand, you should simply issue a warning and never resort to punishment."
"Andreas White, this is your last warning. Don't push your luck. I have let you meet her on short notice, but seeing you act like this, I think my choice was wrong."
"She shouldn't exist, and you know that, Demon King. The last time your wife made something like this, it killed 300 demons."
"Sigh, that was a child who was unstable to begin with. Ren is already 18, and she comes from a battlefield. Something as violent as blood transformation won't alter Ren's perspective. Uwe spoke, making me raise an eyebrow at him before thinking about all my changes again.
'… something like this happened before?' Although I wasn't shocked, I found the previous events intriguing.
"That doesn't change anything."
"Why is this old fool spouting dumb excuses? How long ago did that happen? Huh?" I said, looking at the duke as if he were an old coot moaning about something stupid.
"65 years ago," Leah answered.
"Sixty-five years? That's ancient history. You really think Leah's still the same naive kid she was back then? Hell, you were probably off drinking and flirting with your wife," I shot back, gesturing at Leah.
"Ugh. As if you have any idea how we were," Leah muttered, irritation flickering across her face despite her best efforts to hide it.
"Hah! She got you good," Uwe said, laughing at the Duke's sour expression.
He cleared his throat, his tone finally losing some of its edge. "We will not…eliminate you. But we must make absolutely certain no one learns of your existence. If word spreads that an artificial black dragon can be created, it could trigger an apocalypse."
Did I just earn a shred of respect from this crusty old man? I wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Why would more black dragons cause an apocalypse?" Sara piped up, her voice full of innocent curiosity.
Honestly, I couldn't help wondering the same thing.