Valerian, The Legendary

94 Fortune.

As soon as Valerian said this. The beast stopped digging her needle-like talons in his flesh and let out a yawn. Fragrantia was surprised by this, she was going to cast a spell to put the beast away from her nephew after a few minutes of excitement, but things changed.

Valerian did let go of a breath and then sat up from the seat. Fortuna was forced to jump off his chest and land in his lap. She made a few sounds expressing her dissatisfaction, but then coiled up to sleep. The silver scales were shimmering with the gentle reflection of the sunlight pouring over them from the window.

Valerian asked, “What were you talking about earlier? Will she have harmed me if I did not know her name?”

His tone was filled with confusion while his fingers gently caressed the body of the creature in his lap. Fragrantia nodded and said, “It is said, that after newborn dragons wake up from their first sleep, they are given their name by the dragon god in a dream. This name is the source of their magic, it is also something that only the dragons on friendly terms will know.

Usually, it is a dragon, who tends to the newborn. However, unique circumstances led you to fulfill that duty. So, that was Fortuna’s method to verify whether you are friendly or not.”

Valerian nodded and asked, “How long do we have to hide her existence?”

The Empress was surprised but then she replied, “Till she is strong enough to face an Arch-mage.”

Valerian asked, “When is that?”

“When she manifests her unique dragon magic.”, replied the Empress.

.....

The two people talked about how they intended to hide Fortuna from everyone, and also, about the war situation faced by the nation. Fragrantia told him about how she awakened the Emperor of the Stella Empire from his mental prison. Apparently, till now there have been no advances made by the other parties.

Valerian nodded and leaned back in his seat. Then he looked at the beast in his lap and mumbled, “Fortuna.”

Somehow the name sounded very pleasant to him. The convoy entered the palace and Valerian went out of the carriage holding the neatly folded shawl from the Empress. Fragrantia got down after him and then said, “Val, how about you take a rest first, and then I will call you over when the meal is ready.”

Valerian thought for a bit, he was a little sleepy. He nodded and then after a bow he left the place. Azula and the rest did not even have the time to catch up when the silver-haired boy was already gone.

Fragrantia looked at her daughter and said, “Azula, today is Valerian’s birthday, when you see him next time, remember to wish him.”

The princess was surprised and nodded. Then she became excited and decided to help her mother prepare for a feast. Priscilla also helped and Consano and Conixia decided to go out of the palace to buy a gift for him. The four girls had contributed to the gift.

While the preparations were going on inside the palace, Valerian had come to his room and then retired under the bed. Fortuna, who was wrapped in a shawl was placed over the bed. The child had slept for only a few minutes when he was woken up by gentle nudges on the side of his face.

Opening his eyes, Valerian found the dragon-ling looking at him with her blue eyes. He asked in a daze, “What do you need?”

Fortuna was very smart, she raised sat down on her hind legs, and opened her mouth wide for the boy. Valerian was confused, but then asked, “You are hungry?”

Fortuna let out a gentle nod. Valerian was slightly taken aback and said, “I will get you some food in a bit, however, you cannot leave this place, okay?”

The beast tilted her head to the side, she did not understand what this human was yapping about. Valerian sighed and said, “You stay here.”

He even used his hands to convey the same to Fortuna. The beast only nodded one, before Valerian, left the room, locked the door from the outside, and made a beeline to the kitchen. He found that most of the dishes were yet t be cooked.

The chef did not want to hand him the food. The cooks did not know what this child might do. For example, If he was to poison some food and then pass it to someone, it will be a disaster. However, just when they were about to send off the kid.

Priscilla arrived and Valerian said, “Priscilla, can you get me some food?”

The maid did not understand what was going on but she still got him a plate full of meat. The people had no clue why this child was so excited to have a plate of raw meat.

Valerian made his way back to his room and found a maid trying to open the door. He asked, “What happened?”

The maid was startled and jumped back. She placed a hand on her chest and said, “Oh, you really scared me.”

Valerian did not speak more, he asked with sign language, “What happened?”

He was asking the same thing and the maid, said after catching her breath, ” I heard a few noises inside. So, was going to check.”

Valerian nodded and said, “In the future, you can just ignore these noises coming from the room. I got a cat.”

The maid opened her eyes in realization. She nodded and was about to tell Valerian to take care of his cat when the boy pushed open the door and closed it again after entering. The operation was really fast and it made the lady think that Valerian was excited to meet his cat.

Inside the room, Fortuna was curiously jumping here and there which caught the attention of the maid, Valerian sighed and placed the plate on the floor, “Fortuna, food.”

The curious beast arrived in front of the plate in a blink. She bit into the flesh and forgot about the rest of the world. Valerian did not mind this silence and went back under the bed to sleep.

After the dragon-ling finished eating she also moved closer to Valerian and fell asleep. It was later when Fragrantia herself came to call Valerian for the meal. However, it was anything but simple, she first had him change into a nice suit. Then groomed his hair, and after he was ready, looking like a lady-killer prince. She walked through the palace with him holding her hand.

He asked, “Do you know what those servants are thinking?”

Fragrantia smiled and said, “Yes, I do. Worry not, I will clarify your identity.”

Valerian cast her a look and said, “I do not want you to do that for me. My parent’s identity is not something that shall be known to everyone.”

“I understand that better than you do, Young Valerian. However, the identity of your mother was known only to Lady Amour. She is no more. Also, I will not be proclaiming you to be my nephew, but an adopted son. Everyone knows that you came from an orphanage and that you have the blessings of a battlemage. This is an idol child for the royal family.”, said Fragrantia.

This logic surprised the young man, but he could not find anything wrong with it. The reason? This was how royals worked. Suddenly he said, “I will not call you mother or your husband as Father at any cost, I am telling you beforehand.”

Fragrantia chuckled and said, “Fine, I do not mind that. You can call us Uncle and Aunt then. We will adopt you into our household and family.”

Valerian nodded and as they were walking in the corridor leading to the main dining hall, he asked, “Your sons will not go hunting me in the name of dealing with potential threats, right?”

The Empress said, “You can beat them and send them back broken if they dared to do so. I will help you, okay?”

Valerian nodded and Fragrantia gently gazed at him. He was half her height and reached just a little above her waist, yet the aura he gave off at this moment was that of a grown man. She smiled softly and led him through the doors of the dining hall.

...

In the dining hall, a lot of people were seated and drinking. They were the officials and the rich of the imperial capital. They were invited by the Empress for a feast and also to introduce to someone. Although, they did not know who it was, the invitation came from Her Excellency, in person.

When they all saw Valerian walking in with the Empress, they all stood up from their tables. When Fragrantia arrived beside Libra, the Emperor. Valerian slightly bowed his head to the latter, the guests understood something.

The ceremony began. Valerian’s fortune just changed from a beggar to a prince.

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