It even makes Narin seem primitive by comparison, I chuckled internally in disbelief. "I'm glad you're impressed," the man said, obviously having read my thoughts, getting a weak chuckle out of me. "I should have assumed you could read my thoughts, and for that, I apologize if I was rude to you earlier, sir," I said, offering him as much of a bow as I could in my seated position.
"Nonsense. You've only just woken up from a terrible ordeal that you shouldn't have had to be the one to deal with," the man shook his head. As the words left his mouth, my mind suddenly flashed with the memory of Edryd's death, and everything that happened in between. I felt my features drop a little, as the guilt quickly filled me once more.
"Thoma," Ysevel said, putting a hand on my shoulder, knowing exactly what was going through my mind. I reached up to gently take her hand and nodded. "I know…" I trailed off, not being able to find any words to say. "At least I was able to encase his core in Wraith mana," I felt the words go hollow even though I knew that was the only option I had at the time.
"Oh? If he was able to do that, then he's smarter than you said he was, Bernar," he said over his shoulder just as my brother was walking in. "Hey shit-bean, glad to see you're awake, but not as glad to see you almost causing a full-blown riot," Bernar said, gesturing to a group of what I thought were medical personnel in the corner of the room with their jaws dropped to the floor, but I had no idea why.
The use of the term shit-bean prompted Ryfon to raise an eyebrow at him, but Bernar merely shrugged as if it were normal. I suddenly felt a minute pulse of Wraith mana in the air, but since my mind was still a little fuzzy, I couldn't tell if it had been between Bernar and the strange man, or my mother who stood right beside him.
"I should have guessed as much," the man said with a light chuckle. "Guessed what, sir?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Please, you can drop the sir. My name is Ryfon Ansuz, but feel free to address me simply as Ryfon," he said with a warm smile that radiated a sense of unease throughout the other medical staff.
"V-Very well, Ryfon. I'll do as you ask, but what should you have guessed at?" I repeated my question from before with an extra layer of humility, just in case. "When you entered the fifth stage, who was there to greet you on the other side?" Ryfon asked plaintively, though the question took me by complete surprise.
"Lady Essentia. She was kind to me, and said that she wanted to be the first to welcome me, whatever that's supposed to mean," I shook my head as I struggled to piece my thoughts together. Ryfon's eyes widened in genuine surprise, but after a few, searching moments, he chuckled softly to himself.
It left everyone, including me, in a state of pure befuddlement.
"So she's chosen you, then? I must say, I'm impressed you caught the eye of the Wraithlord herself. I'm not sure if even my granddaughter would be much in the way of competition," he chuckled loosely, but the horrified look on Ysevel's face gave me chills.
Did I just fuck up? What did I say that was so wrong? I paused, feeling my face blanche as he chuckled.
"You didn't say anything wrong, I'm only joking. I'm glad you two are together. She's told me a lot about you, after all," Ryfon said, giving the tomato-red Ysevel a knowing look.
That's when it hit me.
"Wha-ha-ha-hat the fuck…?" I muttered, piecing together the fact that Ryfon was actually her grandfather. "I'm surprised she didn't tell you earlier, though it wasn't for a lack of trying," he said playfully, wrapping his arm around her with a bright grin. "Although, to be fair, I haven't been around much the past thousand years," his expression suddenly shifted into mild dejection.
"I-It wasn't your fau-..." Ysevel cut herself off as a deafening screech and a heavy wave of mana came from just beyond the balcony. Without thinking, I used the odoruki technique and formed the kataki blade as I leaned into the space between the balcony's edge and I.
Even though I was in a decent amount of pain from how quickly I'd moved, I realized that I had no idea what I was looking for, let alone what I was looking at. Below me there was a busy courtyard lined with high-arched walls that shimmered with the purest mana I'd ever felt outside of when I'd draw from a realm.
There were a number of buildings with domed roofs of a deep blue that reflected the triple-sun's light. Far above me, I could see what I thought was a moon, but it was over twenty times as large, and had a strange ring around it like a belt on an over-fed knight.
The streets that connected the nearby buildings shimmered with the same mana as the walls, and I couldn't help but feel a strange sense that we were no longer on Kavrass, but somewhere else entirely.
My eyes widened at the sight and I struggled to take it all in, though I couldn't help but notice a titanic shadow of a winged creature circling around the courtyard.
"Damn it, I told them not to fly too close to the medical ward," Ryfon snarled, suddenly appearing beside me with the faintest shift in the ambient mana. "R-Ryfon, wh-where are we?" I asked shakily, reforming my blade into the band on my wrist. "This is my home. Welcome to Polarion, Thoma," he leaned on the railing, tracing a line with his eyes from the sky to an open area of the courtyard far below us.
Trying to see what he was looking at, I realized that the great, winged-creature was, in fact, a massive, white and blue dragon. I felt my eyes go wide as a half-chuckle escaped my mouth in genuine astonishment. "Well, that's not something you see every day. I can feel the weight of his mana from here," I swallowed dryly, but was immediately comforted by the feeling of Ysevel's arm wrapping in mine.
Ryfon gave us an amused look, but said nothing about the gesture. "This is your home, too, now," he said, still looking off in the distance. "Sorry?" I shook my head in surprised confusion.
"Generally speaking, we can only allow those with the blood of a dragon into Polarion. Given the fact that both you and your mother had lost a vast amount of blood during the fight with Mideia, I had no choice but to bring you two here for treatment," he began to explain, prompting me to nod slowly.
"I see, but if I don't have dragon's blood, how was I allowed into this place?" I asked, getting a light-hearted chuckle out of him. "Who said that you didn't? When we were treating you, we had no choice but to give you some of our blood. Granted, only the blood of one at the level of a duke can bring someone back from the brink of death, but since you're my granddaughter's mate, I had to call in a favor for you, Siraye, and your brother. That stubborn brat wouldn't leave your side," he said with a wry grin.
What the fuck am I supposed to say to that? I asked Ysevel, while my jaw dropped to the floor in astonishment, fear, and surprise that he'd gone through so much trouble to bring me back. Just thank him for now. We'll deal with the details later, she smiled, tightening her grip on my arm gently.
"Th-Thank you, Ryfon. I don't know what to say," I offered him as low a bow as I could. "Don't thank me, thank her," he said, turning around to face the entrance of the medical ward. In the doorway stood a woman with sharp features, flowing black robes and pearlescent hair, with calm sapphire eyes that swirled with power.
"It's a pleasure to see you awake, Thoma. I've heard many great things about you from Duke Ryfon," the woman said with an elegance that rivaled even Aurae's.
D-Did she just say Duke Ryfon? I felt my eyes widen in surprise. She did, but don't read too much into it for now, Ysevel said with a nervous, but charming smile. R-Right, yeah. Of course I won't, I sent back nervously.