Evil dragon has a warm heart-Chapter 145 - 144 Its Just an Accident

Chapter 145: Chapter 144: It’s Just an Accident

Chapter 145 -144: It’s Just an Accident

“Roman, Meryl.” Count Merlin Rain-Longflower gently embraced his son-in-law and daughter, “It must have been a hard journey.”

At this moment, he was no longer the dignified Chief Executive of the Council of Elders, but simply a kind old father.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

“Not at all, it wasn’t hard.” Lady Meryl’s eyes brimmed with tears, yet her smile was joyful, “Father, you’re still as strong as you were at Red Castle. You haven’t changed much, which is truly wonderful, truly wonderful.”

“What changes could there be?” Count Merlin smiled as he spoke, “Mercedes’s power boils within my body. Only when I return to the volcano and follow the Grand Duke to his rest will old age come upon me.”

Viscount Mejie, Count Merlin’s son, also stepped forward and embraced his brother-in-law and sister one by one.

He often saw Baron Roman but had not seen Lady Meryl for over a year: “Welcome home, Meryl.”

“I’m very happy, brother.” Lady Meryl said through laughter and tears.

Viscount Mejie’s wife, Kuna Shadowflame, also embraced Lady Meryl with a smile: “You’ve grown haggard from the journey. You must quickly regain your spirits. Many ladies at Tributary River Mouth have been missing you.”

“I miss them too, especially the time when you had just married into our family, and I was still unwed… Time flies so fast; our children have already grown up.”

“Yes, Mel has been mentioning Russell’s name at home, heaven knows how many times.” Kuna Shadowflame, watching Russell embrace and greet Count Merlin, said softly, “Standing together, he and Mel look like true brothers.”

It had to be said.

Russell’s outstanding appearance and distinguished temperament always attracted more attention.

“Little fire sprite, you’ve grown up!” Count Merlin didn’t see Russell often, but he used to when he was a child.

By the time Count Merlin went to Red Castle to govern, Russell had only visited once with his parents and met him at a banquet there.

Russell was about twelve at the time, and afterward, his memories of Red Castle and Count Merlin gradually became vague. Only upon seeing Count Merlin again tonight did Russell recall his impression of his maternal grandfather from his predecessor’s memories.

Stern, aloof.

Thus, Russell felt somewhat constrained and wasn’t as warmly close to Count Merlin as Roland was.

Moreover, he was not very fond of socializing and had a touch of social anxiety, especially when it came to seeing relatives.

“I’m very pleased to see you, Grandfather.” Russell did his best to make his smile appear more sincere.

But his sense of aloofness was easily seen through by Count Merlin, the graceful old Earl, who did not show anything amiss but merely smiled gently, “Think of Bluebird Castle as your own home and have a pleasant time here.”

“Alright.”

And so the greeting ended simply.

Count Merlin returned to fondly stroking the hair of Lola, who had come forward to say hello. Although Lola was not quite a beauty, she was at least not ugly and fairly cute. Hence, Count Merlin took Lola’s hand, chatting amiably for quite a while.

“Uncle.”

“Good, tonight you must join me for a few drinks!”

“Definitely.” Russell smiled and replied.

Then he greeted his aunt Kuna Shadowflame: “Aunt, you look as radiant as ever.”

“Knowing you were coming made me very happy, and when one is happy, it shows,” Kuna said with a smile.

She was born into nobility, being the personal aunt of the current Grand Duke. After marrying into the Rainflower Family, she only had one son, Cousin Mel, and chose not to have more children. As a result, she took excellent care of herself, looking as slim and attractive at forty-five as a young woman of twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

Despite her bright smile.

Russell could still sense from certain subtle expressions that Aunt Kuna was not truly happy about his family’s visit.

Even subtly, Russell could sense that Aunt Kuna seemed to have a slight disdain for his family.

“Because we’re ugly, or is it something else?” Russell didn’t know.

He couldn’t be sure whether his feelings were accurate or not.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to engage in social niceties with Aunt Kuna; that was a concern for Baron and his wife. His only duty was to keep his cousin Mel entertained.

Once all the necessary formalities were concluded,

Mel threw an arm around Russell’s shoulders and led him into the castle with a laugh, “Haha, finally got you here, kid. Have you been training hard in the territory? You seem a bit lacking in physique to me!”

“Lacking? I’m still growing,” Russell replied with a smile.

“That’s why you need to focus on cultivating your Battle Qi. Become a Great Knight soon, and you won’t be lacking anymore,” Mel teased.

Compared to his cousin Mel, Russell’s strength indeed seemed a bit lacking.

Mel was only three years older but had already advanced to the rank of Great Knight and was just waiting for the day to ride a dragon as a “virgin.” Despite the massive investment of Magic Elixirs by the family, it also proved Mel’s own remarkable talent.

In other words, cousins like Mel and Roland were the elite among the aristocracy.

Russell was just an outlier.

…

The banquet at Bluebird Castle wasn’t particularly grand, primarily because it didn’t involve the local aristocracy. It was just the family seated around a round table for dinner, yet dishes kept coming out like an assembly line.

As Russell’s personal servant, it was his job to attend to him during the meal.

When a servant of Bluebird Castle brought the plates, he had to receive them and then place them in front of Russell, making it easy for Russell to help himself at any time.

There were no chopsticks, only knives and forks.

Russell’s aristocratic manners were impeccable; he ate quickly yet gracefully. However, he only partook of foods imbued with magic power and merely tasted the others without much enthusiasm—since he didn’t have much love for most of the world’s cuisine, he only cared about which was more nutritious.

When it came to Primordial Beast meat and Magic Potion porridge and the like, he treated them as he would a Magic Elixir.

“Russell, how far have you gotten in your training?” asked Earl Merlin curiously, quite impressed with his handsome grandson at first glance, glad that he hadn’t wasted the Rainflower Family’s good looks.

Russell responded, “I’ve already opened up the main meridians in both arms, and now I’m further cultivating the main meridians in my legs.”

“It was during your coming-of-age ceremony that you first unleashed your Battle Qi, right?”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“That’s good progress,” said Earl Merlin, pleased, “Talent in cultivating Battle Qi is important, but perseverance is even more so. The fact that you ignited your Battle Qi before the coming-of-age ceremony and carved out the meridians in your arms in a short time shows that you’ve worked hard.”

In just over four months, he had carved out the meridians in his arms, and his training speed was now no less than some of the talented knights.

Of course.

Whether or not one was a genius did not determine a knight’s success; the true benchmarks were whether they could bond with a Fantasy Beast and if they could ride a dragon.

The training before bonding with a Fantasy Beast or riding a dragon was all about laying the groundwork for extraordinary power.

Ordinary Knights dreamt of bonding with Fantasy Beasts.

But aristocratic youths were wholeheartedly focused on dragon riding!