On a wooden carriage led by horses, a strange group of individuals journeyed towards the Empire’s capital. The atmosphere of the carriage was awkward and tense, as a few of the occupants were not particularly enthused to be in such a clumsy contraption.

“We could have been there by now,” Yrlett muttered. “You humans are just far too slow.”

The wizened old human chuckled lightly and retorted, “Perhaps we are slow, but I caught up to you just fine. It seems that you have some reevaluating to do, Matriarch, if you’re able to be caught by a slow, old human such as me.” He paused for a moment, before getting a sudden thought and saying, “It won’t do to have you having such disregard and hate for humans since your daughter-in-law will be one.” His eyes became crescents as he broke out into a grin, eliciting a frown from Yrlett.

She harrumphed before speaking coldly, “We’ve yet to see if your granddaughter is suited for my baby boy. Not that it’s even worth a trip. A mere human girl trying to measure up to be the wife of my son?” Yrlett crossed her arms and cast her gaze angrily out the window of the carriage, unwilling to look at the old man.

Eseit merely ignored their conversation as he watched his son carefully. He was greatly interested in his son’s fascination with flora, like any Fae child. It was generally indicative of their magic alignment, as the Fae were born with innate nature magic, never anything else. However, Eseit knew that his son had inherited knowledge from his draconic lineage. It raised many concerns in his mind.

After mulling over his worries for some time, he shelved them in the back of his mind with great effort. He knew that stressing himself out over it would be of no use and that he should seek answers to his questions once William was out of the picture. He glanced over at his wife. “Dear,” he said as he cleared his throat. “We have yet to name our son.”

Yrlett’s face drained of color almost immediately, causing much concern with Eseit and great amusement to William. “Oh no, oh no! How could we forget something so important! Oh, Eseit, we are already off to such a horrible start! Our son is going to end up hating us, I can already feel it!” Her eyes grew misty with tears as she continued to fret and panic.

“Oh, would you snap out of it already?” Snapped William after a while of listening to her moping. “The boy’s just been born, you think it matters if you’ve named him yet? Just hurry up and get it out of the way before we get there. How am I supposed to introduce my granddaughter to her future husband in these kinds of circumstances, damn it?!” He scoffed. “What am I to do if she asks what his name is? You’ve got a few hours yet, go on!”

A long discussion began between Yrlett and Eseit, spanning much longer than William had hoped. By the time they had decided, the capital was already in sight, and he had long since begun to grow as frustrated and worried as the couple. The nameless boy, however, was completely unbothered and was perfectly content to just continue playing with his flowers in peace.

“His name will be Yrit! It’s strong, fiery, and powerful! All the things a dragon as gifted and intelligent as my son will be!” Yrlett was practically shouting in the carriage at this point, her face stern and on the verge of turning red. “His name will be Yrit!”

“Yrit? You want to name our boy Yrit?” Eseit’s voice was a virtual mirror of his wife’s, and his usual calm and collected appearance was completely abandoned in the heat of the moment. “He’s a boy! We can’t go and break naming conventions just because you like the name! His name should be Esyr! It has all the strength and power of Yrit, but with the cunning and charm that a proper Fae boy should have! Not to mention, it’s not a girl’s name!”

“I can break whatever I want! Who’s going to stop me from naming my son Yrit?! I’ll name him whatever I want, see what they do to stop me!”

“I’ll stop you, that’s who!”

“Oh?! Let’s see it, then! Come on, you overgrown butterfly!”

Thus, their bickering began once more, continuing for a long while, consuming the rest of their ride. By the time they had arrived at the capital, though, the name had been decided, entirely thanks to William’s intervention. In the end, they resorted to flipping a coin, resulting in the boy being named Esyr, much to Yrlett’s dismay.

Esyr did not react much to having a name. It was of little importance to the young boy, who was much more inclined to continue to inspect his flowers. It was difficult to pay close attention to the details of the flower with the bouncing of the carriage, but he was determined and focused. Eventually, they rode the carriage on into the capital city with Esyr none the wiser. After all, there weren’t many flowers out and about in such busy streets, so he was disinterested.

…

“Your Imperial Majesty,” called a kneeling servant in a throne room. “The guardsmen have reported that His Former Imperial Majesty has returned, riding in a strange and small carriage. He was spotted with several strange companions, their identities uncertain.” The servant continued to kneel, as silence spread out throughout the room.

Only after several minutes did the Emperor reply, “That is all.” With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the servant from the room, leaving the room empty barring himself and the several silent figures clad in the Imperial Guard armor. With a great sigh, the Emperor slumped in his seat, his graceful and imposing posture vanishing.

“Dear Father, where have you gone to in such a hurry? To even go as far as to use a Port Crystal…” he said, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the armrest of the throne. “You must be hiding something from me. By the System, when will this old man give up on this feud? Those two were an eyesore anyway, what does it matter if I removed them? Oh, what lamentable fortune I must have. What a detestable thing it is to be bound to others by blood, to share that which makes me myself with glorified strangers. Oh, cruel Fate.” He breathed out yet another heavy sigh. “To have power, but to be constrained as such… Truly a horrid torment.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

The sound of heavy wooden doors being opened quickly interrupted the Emperor’s monologue, followed by the call of an old voice, “I hope that I am not interrupting anything important, boy.” The voice was all but dripping in a venomous hate, and was cold enough to burn. “I’ve just come by on my way to fetch the Little Lady to inform you that I will be arranging her marriage on your behalf. Do feel free to tag along to see your son-in-law, if you so desire. That is, if you aren’t preoccupied.” The door, which was only open enough for the voice to come through, closed almost immediately after.

The Emperor waited a while after the door closed, silently fuming. His face reddened slightly at first, before growing more and more intense as time went on. Eventually, after he felt sufficient time had passed for the old man to leave earshot, he burst.

“Accursed old bastard! Setting up my only daughter with some vagabond, no doubt. She is an innocent child, you old fiend! And to think that I had just begun to believe you harbored even a morsel of emotion in your decrepit old body! To think I believed you to care for her even in the slightest! How could you use your own granddaughter as a tool to inflict me with more hurt! You sadist old bastard, just go and croak already!

“You didn’t get enough enjoyment this week?! It wasn’t enough to ship me off to the frontlines to ‘encourage the troops’, to ‘boost morale’? You old coot, leave my daughter out of this! Old bastard! Decrepit monster! Beast! Thing!” The Emperor cursed and cursed, his anger flooding the room like water from a burst dam.

After ranting for a while, the Emperor’s face returned to its natural color, and he regained his calm bearing. “Let us see what sort of little beast my grandfather has decided is fit to marry my daughter,” he called out in a lazy manner. “Attend me.”

...

“Mother, Mother!” called out the voice of a young girl as she peered out a window in her bedroom. “I can see Grandfather coming down the pathway! Do you think he has come to visit?” She spoke in a very educated manner for her age, but even still she retained that childish and girlish charm to her tone. “I hope that he came to see me. I never get to see Grandfather anymore.” Her happy smile drifted away, forming a slight frown as she began to fall into doubt.

“Oh? Let me see, my dear,” said a young woman from another room. She scurried over to her daughter’s window before continuing, “Would you look at that, you’re right! I wonder what His Former Imperial Majesty has come to see us about?” Her voice was similar to the young girls, but more refined and womanly, lacking the childish innocence that her daughter still retained.

“I hope he’s brought me a toy, he promised he would! Do you think he kept his promise, Mother?” Mixed feelings fluttered within the young girl, as she was torn between hope and doubt. She looked away from her mother, returning to look out the window. “Wait, Mother, who are all those people with Grandfather?”

“Dear, what did I say about questioning your grandfather?” said the mother, a slight frown on her face when she glanced towards her daughter. When the little girl only mumbled in response, her frown grew and she repeated herself. “What did I tell you about questioning His Former Imperial Majesty?”

“That it was not appropriate…” the girl said, still muttering slightly.

“That is right. Now, if your grandfather has come to visit, I expect you to be on your best behavior. Let’s go wait by the door, shall we?” After a moment, the little girl nodded and the mother smiled and took her hand, heading towards the door.

It wasn’t long before the Former Emperor and his group reached their home, and the mother opened the door to welcome them. “Greetings, Your Former Imperial Majesty. Greetings, everyone.” She said with a curtsey. Beside her, the little girl mimicked her every movement, just with slightly less grace.

“Now, Meredith, I told you already. Just call me father-in-law, there’s no need to be so distant. Especially from you, Little Lady.” William reached out and patted the little girl’s head as he spoke, smiling down at her happily. “I’ve got a surprise for the both of you, and I hope that you both appreciate it.” He glanced over his shoulders, back to Eseit and Yrlett, who were carrying a sleeping Esyr. “May we come in, Meredith?”

Meredith, who was staring at the three strangers in a daze, shook herself awake after William spoke to her. “Ah, of course! I’m so sorry! To have made you stand outside…” she said, as she ushered them into the house, directing them through the fancy home to a place where they might sit and chat. “Shall I make some tea?”

“No, no, that’s quite alright. Let’s see, I think I’ll first make some introductions…” William said, tapping his chin in thought. He turned to Eseit and Yrlett, gesturing to Meredith. “This is my daughter-in-law, Meredith, the current Empress. And this little lady is her daughter, my only granddaughter, Elizabeth.” He grinned happily at the little girl. He turned to face Meredith now, gesturing instead at Eseit and Yrlett.

“Now, for this loving couple. This one here is Fae King Eseit, and this is Yrlett, Matriarch of the dragons. You undoubtedly have heard of her latest exploits throughout our territory. This little boy is the child she was looking for. As you can see, he has been reunited with his parents. They named his Esyr on the journey here, after much deliberation,” he said, stopping to let it sink in for a moment.

He was right to do so. Meredith was very much shocked, to have two such important visitors. She was unaccustomed to having such important guests in her household, typically only ever having people who were below her husband in status. However, the two of these visitors were far above the Emperor in status, especially due to the restrictions imposed upon him.

“Ah, oh, that is…” Meredith stuttered before clearing her throat. “Greetings, Fae King and Matriarch. Thank you for gracing my household with your visit. I am glad to see that you have recovered your child.” She stood up and said, curtseying slightly.

“Hello, Human Empress, Little Lady,” said Eseit, nodding at each of them as he spoke before continuing, “We are glad that we could get him back, as well. Thank you for your hospitality.” In contrast with him, Yrlett simply nodded in response.

“With that out of the way, let’s get to the point of our visit, shall we?” He patted his lap with both his hands. “Oh, and while I’m at it…” he said, turning his head towards the door before saying, “Francis, now that you’ve come, you might as well come in.”

After a moment, the door opened and in walked an angered Emperor. He glanced at the sleeping boy and scoffed, “This lethargic little thing is to marry my Elizabeth? What a joke.”

Meredith gasped, her eyes wide. “Marry?” She looked towards her father-in-law. “Father-in-law, is this true? You’re here to betroth Elizabeth to Esyr?”

Elizabeth was confused but didn’t speak out. She looked at the sleeping boy’s face for a while, before noticing that her grandfather was grinning and watching her. With a blush, she looked away.

“Oh? You think that my child isn’t good enough, Little Francis?” growled Yrlett. Her eyes slanted while she glared at him. The atmosphere grew tense.

Francis looked at Yrlett, before growing shocked. “Y-you…” He stuttered, shooting a shocked glance at his father, who was glaring back at him. “No, that’s not…”

“Enough, Francis.” William turned to look at Yrlett. “Ignore him, he’s just a blind fool. After all, he did completely overlook the very woman who bullied him back when he still attended the Institute with his brothers.” William snorted. “Now, since Francis seems to have no more objections, shall we begin?”