Chapitre 20: Eighth Birthday

This was the first time where Amadeus would show his face to the populace as the future ruler of the Drakonis Empire. Later on, there would be a ball where Amadeus would formally meet the nobles and the ministers of the empire. Currently Amadeus had woken up as soon as the sun rose. It had become a habit for him to do so when he spent time with his father. Like on cue, a group of maids entered the room with nervous yet stoic faces.

No matter how much they had been trained, they still couldn't resist the charm of Amadeus and the only reason why they could hold themselves back was due to Amadeus still being eight. Only Eriko was able to look unperturbed as she had spent the most time with him and was currently his head maid. Like robots, they undressed Amadeus and led him for a bath, where they cleaned him. Eriko was in charge of the important bits as she didn't hesitate when doing so but a slight blush could be seen on her face. Amadeus would stroke her tail out of habit, so she was barely in control

What followed was him having breakfast with his family and him going on to accompany his family. They never talked about Baldrik's future separation but just talked about miscellaneous stuff.

The one who did the most talking was Arius, mostly talk about the things he did with his friends. Hearing the word friends, Amadeus sighed. Friends was such a foreign topic for him as he never had any. Barely leaving the palace, he would soon face the responsibility of shouldering the burdens of the empire.

Even in his previous life, he only had a small number of friends that stayed with him. Most just feared his ability to see through people. His parents saw his dropped mood but didn't know what to do. He was too mature for his age and his accomplishments blinded them of his loneliness. Arius felt his brother in a despondent mood as he jumped of his chair and made his way to Amadeus. Tugging his clothes, he looked up with a finger on his lips,

"Oni-tan, you okay?"

Seeing this, Amadeus felt all his loneliness wash away due to that cute look. Rubbing his head, he hugged his cute little brother,

"I'm okay."

Arius regained his joyful look and returned to talking about his antics.

His parents smiled at tis but knew that there was nothing they could do. They couldn't give him friends; the true friends would be those he found himself. They knew that he couldn't be exploited due to his eyes of the truth, but they still felt a bit worried and would see anyone that would approach with evil intentions.

The rest of the day went peacefully as all the populace gathered round to see the Crown Prince. Many people had set up stalls while many travelled great distances just to see. The capital was crowded, and the inns fully booked. Dragons could be seen patrolling the skies and the city guards were vigilantly looking round. Still there were no major fights.

They all had one thought in mind,

'What if start a fight and a dragon steps in.'

They weren't worried about getting killed but jut facing those apex predators was enough to let their bowels loose. Enemies would see each other in the crowd and turn the opposite way or would pass each other with smiles. Business was booming while the whole capital had a festive atmosphere.

While this was happening Amadeus was getting ready, with the maids shuffling about making sure everything was perfect.

After dressing him up, Eriko looked carefully at Amadeus and nodded. He would grow up to be a lady killer. Amadeus conscious was still hazy but was mostly awake due to the bath. He had gotten used to maids dressing him up and washing him. At first her mother wanted butlers to do it, he would rather have pretty girls rather than men to do it.

Amadeus looked at himself in the mirror. His violet hair had been donned into a high ponytail and his fringe split into the middle dropped onto the side of his face while one covered his right silver eye. He wore a purple robe with golden straps and the logo of the Drakonis kingdom on his chest. He also had a dark purple overcoat on top of that that also had golden linings and a roaring golden dragon with four claws sewn on the back. He wore black fingerless purple tekkos on both his hands while he wore black pants and boots beneath his robe. His tanto was placed within his robes while his wakizashi was placed on his waist.

Simple yet elegant with his favourite colour purple. After he was fully dressed, he left and met his family who were also dressed up. His mother crouched down to properly check him,

"You look very handsome."

Amadeus looked back at the eyes filled with motherly love as he gave a smile,

"You also look beautiful, mum."

Baldrik cleared his throat to get the attention of the two. Looking at him, he looked away, slightly posing with a hopeful look,

"You look okay, dad."

Lily just laughed at the crestfallen emperor while Arius gave a cute shout,

"What about me? What about me?"

"""You look cute."""

They answered his wishes and sat in a carriage that took them to the walls. The walls had a balcony where it was only used in times like this when the royal family would need to address the populace. Today was such a day and the imperial guards had been replaced by the blades and dragons. A group of blades surrounded the carriage while they were led to the walls. The imperial guards would be manning the bottom of the walls to make sure there weren't any trespassers. When they finally arrived, they flew to the doors behind the terrace.

There were no stairs to the balcony, and one had to fly there. So, if one couldn't then they won't be able to get there unless the found other means. Arius was carried by Lily while Amadeus flew behind Baldrik. Golden dragons were able to fly without wings, so it was natural that Amadeus was able to do it in his human form.

Landing in front of an opened set of doors. Four blades commanders stood there with Lionel also there. Amadeus tilted his head in confusion when Lily spoke to him, he was thrown here. Amadeus nodded when he saw Lionel and waited behind his father who started walking to the terrace.

Whereas a normal kingdom would use horns to alert the populace, Drakonis used the two dragons that flanked the terrace.

""ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAR!!!""

With a loud roar, the citizens stopped clamouring and immediately descended into silence. They cheered when Baldrik made his appearance but quietened down when he started his speech. Amadeus started playing with Arius as he got bored listening to the speech when Lily nudged him.

"It's now your turn."

Hearing this he looked towards his father who said,

"…Drakonis' Crown Prince, my eldest son, Amadeus Drakos!"

Amadeus got up, dusted his clothes and walked to the balcony. Seeing a figure appear, the started cheering until they saw who it was, they immediately silenced. Amadeus could physically see heart shaped eyes sprout on most the females and some males surrounding the area. He could see the back of projections of the balcony further into the distance, as there was a silence in the whole capital.

This seemed to be a record as to the quietest the capital had been ever. Time seemed to stop moving and the world lost colour in the eyes of the people. Amadeus didn't know what to do when a mutter from his dad reached his ear,

"Smile and wave, boy. Just smile and wave."

Hearing this, Amadeus gave an awkward smile as he started waving. Instantly the capital was engulfed in cheers as Baldrik could see the loyalty of the populace go up a notch. The noise and clamour caused a faint earthquake that went largely unnoticed due to the hype.

Arius behind was in awe of so many people and had an excited look on his face. The family of four stood at the balcony as they just waved at the populace. Reports flew back to their kingdom explaining Amadeus' appearance, but they were all just different ways of expressing his good looks.

It wasn't until some time that the family returned to the palace, still able to hear the commotion outside. A while later, all the servants prepared the main hall for the ball and banquet later on. Once all the people had cleared various carriages started making their ways to the palace. All the nobles were invited and were slowly making their way to the palace. The gates were opened and was heavily guarded. They were only let through with a thorough inspection, an invitation card and proof of identity. The scale was massive.

Once they hall all gathered, the hall was lit to the max. people were chatting with everyone, yet schemes were thrown around. Some were having friendly conversations while some were setting up marriages for their children. All in all, there were various groups with some manoeuvring from group to group some avoiding others.

To the side was a small gathering of people that was left alone. No one went near them while some looked in fear in that direction. Many people tried but couldn't muster their courage. A group of four were stood in a circle where three of them were surrounded by their significant other. They were all middle-aged and had four distinct hair colours. Blue, red, black and green.

They all had vertical slits for eyes, signifying their race as dragons. They were all merrily talking with each other and was one of the rare groups that had no schemes between them.

These were the four dukes of the kingdoms. Each protecting a cardinal direction of the empire. The blue haired man with a lean body was Gaius Glacies. He was a water dragon and the current duke of the east. He was also Lily's brother. His father was a rarely mutated ice dragon, but they were all from the water dragon's lineage. His sister had inherited her father's ice, but he hadn't, however he didn't care.

Water dragons cared the least as their motto was to just go with the flow and boasted an equal defence and attack. His wife had black hair and was an earth dragon. Her name was Urania Terra and had a gentle look on her face and a voluptuous body.

The man with Black hair was Quyen Terra and was also Urania's brother. He had a rather large muscular body and towered over most of the group. He was like the big friendly giant with the gentle look on his face. He was the current duke of the north. Earth dragons were the gentlest and boasted the strongest defence.

His wife was a green haired rather petite lady. The two were the exact opposite with her energetic look, as she talked non-stop. Her name was Rada Ventus.

The third man was a rather tall man that looked skinny. He was Yaalon Ventus. He was the current duke of the south. Being a wind dragon, boasted the fastest speed alongside the rarely mutated lighting dragons.

His wife had fiery red hair and a voluptuous body second only to Urania. Her name was Paloma Ignis and she had a cold look on her face, opposite to her nature.

The last man was someone with fiery red hair and a muscular build. He was Adelmo Ignis, the current duke of the west. Naturally he was a fire dragon and boasted the strongest attack. His wife had violet coloured hair. Unlike the Amadeus' or Baldrik's this was more of a bluish, purple colour.

She was a rare lightning dragon and her name was Vesta Ventus. She had a lean and modest body. The whole group was either beautiful or handsome in their own rights.

Looking round Rada looked round,

"Where are the kids?"

The rest also looked round before Urania spoke,

"They seem to be in the garden."

Being an Earth dragon made them more sensitive with the vibrations within the earth and were able to naturally locate their children.

"Let them play, it seems that everyone had arrived. Where are they exactly?"

Adelmo was getting slightly impatient. Quyen tried to calm him down,

"Mah, mah, they'll be here."

As if listening to him, a group of blades marched out through a pair of doors. They stood attention on each side of the hall, while a voice was heard throughout the hall.

"The Emperor Baldrik Drakos, Empress Lily Drakos, Crown Prince Amadeus Drakos and Second Prince Arius Drakos have arrived."