CHAPTER 71: CALM DAYS, PART I

Maldie pulled out some seat cushions from one of the trunks. Yuri picked a book, set her cushion on the floor, and asked Haru to read to her.

"I can read by myself, but you have such a pretty voice, Mom! I really want you to read to me."

"I know, I know," Haru smiled.

He and Maldie sat down on the cushions Maldie had laid out. Lánshuò looked at the floor.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot about you," Maldie said, her voice a little shaky.

"Don’t worry, I’m fine," Lánshuò replied, then simply stood behind Yuri. "Even though I have a physical body, I don’t feel tired or sore in my limbs, so I can stand for hours."

"Could you... maybe act a little less scary?" the maid asked nervously.

At the same time Yuri handed the book to Haru.

"Lánshuò, sit next to me on the floor," Yuri ordered.

If you wish so, my lady,’ Lánshuò said with a bow, then sat on her knees right beside Yuri — completely still, like a statue, a dead sculpture staring straight through you.

"Ahem," Haru began. "The Tale of the Silver Crane..."

"Oh! That was one of my favorite legends when I was little," Maldie said. "No wonder you like it too, Yuri. I guess we have similar taste." The two of them giggled.

Haru started reading, but he couldn’t focus. He was saying the words, but there were no emotions, no accents, no tone changes in his voice. His mind kept going back to what Lánshuò had told him. He kept thinking about their next child – and ever since she’d made him aware that another life was growing inside him, he could feel it: a faint, fragile spark slowly getting brighter as time passed.

"Mom?" Yuri cut in after a moment. "I think you don’t like the story. Or... are you worried about something?" she asked, a little worried herself.

"No, that’s not it, I just..." Haru exchanged a look with Lánshuò and froze for a second. Her stare clearly told him not to lie. He sighed. "Actually, yes. I can’t stop thinking about the fact that we’re having another baby, and you, sweetheart, will have another little brother or sister. I’m sorry. I was supposed to read to you, but... I just can’t. I think I need to talk to Dad about it."

"Don’t worry, Mom," Yuri said with a smile. "Grandma can read to me."

"Gladly. I’d love to reread my favorite childhood legend," Maldie said with a wide grin.

Haru gave her the book and stood up.

"I’ll come back once I talk to Shion."

"Just be careful on the stairs, Mom!" Yuri said, genuinely worried.

"Of course. Looks like I’ll have to start taking better care of myself again," Haru said with a smile, then headed toward the door.

Maldie took a deep breath and began reading the legend aloud for Yuri.

*

Shion was getting through the paperwork faster than ever. He wasn’t sure if it was the unification ritual or if his mind had just missed this, but he was working twice as fast and twice as effectively.

Shion the Second stared at his dad, jaw basically on the floor.

"Dad, did something possess you?" he asked, surprised.

"No. How are you doing over there?"

"I – I finished another document," the boy answered nervously.

"You’re a bit slow. You’ve gotten lazy. I’m already on my fourth."

"Told you, something possessed you," Shion the Second repeated the joke.

"Oh, cut it out! After everything that’s happened, I don’t want to hear that!" Asahi snapped from beside him, sitting on a chair Gari had brought in.

The half-dragon woman leaned against the wall near one of the windows and sighed.

"Give him a break, Shion. Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t jump in – it’s your kid and all – but... let the boy live a little."

"It’s just about learning. The faster and more he learns, the better."

Shion the Second sighed and went back to work. Asahi peeked over his shoulder, then got bored and started tapping his fingers on the desk. Shion the Second frowned.

"Can you stop? That’s super distracting!"

"Oh, sorry."

"It doesn’t bother me," the king said casually. "You’re just really unfocused today, Shion."

"Can I have a break?" the boy asked with hope.

"When you finish one more document."

"Ugh."

Asahi yawned and stretched.

"Man, it’s so boring here."

"Hey! We’ve been trying to tell you this from the start!" Shion the Second said, even more distracted and annoyed. "And seriously, stop bothering me! You haven’t done anything for a few minutes, and you keep bugging me!"

"Okay, we’re doing it my way. I’m calling a break – boss included," Gari said with a huge grin.

Shion and Shion the Second sighed at the same time and set their documents on the desk.

"So what do you have in mind for this break?" the king asked.

"Arm-wrestling tournament!" Gari announced proudly. "One point for every win. A tie or loss gets you nothing."

"That’s not fair! You picked that on purpose – you’ll win right away!" Shion the Second puffed up his cheek in protest.

"Nope. Who knows, maybe I’ll go easy on you," Gari said with a dumb grin.

"I don’t want that! No going easy!" Asahi replied.

"Let’s just start," the king said. "The sooner we go back to work, the better."

"Okay, haha," Gari laughed. "Round one! Adults vs. adults, kids vs. kids. Go!"

Everyone set their elbows on the desk. Gari defeated Shion after a few minutes of effort, but neither Shion the Second nor Asahi’s arms budged at all.

"Wow, you actually beat Dad!" Asahi said, impressed.

"Don’t lose focus, kid," she said in a surprisingly serious tone.

"Huh?" Asahi blinked. Gari nodded toward their hands. Only then he noticed his hand had tilted a bit. He pushed back with all his strength.

"Alright, this is taking forever, so I’m counting to ten," Gari said. "One... two..." Both boys pushed with everything they had, but neither could overpower the other. "...nine... ten. Tie."

"Okay, now I say human vs. human and half-dragon vs. half-dragon," Shion the Second said, clearly enjoying the break.

"Yesss! And then we switch!" Asahi added excitedly.

"Alright," Gari nodded and grinned.

Shion the Second and Shion finished in one second. Shion simply tilted his hand in his son’s favor so the boy would win quickly and easily.

"Oh come on, Dad! You didn’t even try!" Shion the Second argued.

"Not true. You were just so strong you beat me instantly," the king laughed. "Oh no, looks like I’ve got two losses already. No point in playing anymore. What a shame, I have to get back to–"

"Not so fast. You still haven’t gone against Asahi," Gari said, holding Asahi’s hand slightly tilted toward herself. She carefully pushed it a bit further, almost to the tabletop – but the moment she saw Asahi straining with everything he had, she paused.

"Oh no, what’s happening?!" Gari said, pretending to be shocked, her arm trembling as if Asahi was gaining the upper hand. Then with one quick move he beat her. "Great job, Asahi. That was a tough match, but you defeated me." She smiled.

"R-really?" he asked, staring at his hand with hope.

"Oh please, she let you win," Shion the Second muttered and sighed. "Honestly, I’m already bored of this."

A moment later everything became clear: Shion threw his match to let Asahi win just like he did with Shion the Second, while Shion the Second, already bored, gave up against Gari; and Asahi ended up winning the whole arm-wrestling tournament.

"Hooray for the winner!" Gari shouted cheerfully, grabbing Asahi’s hand and lifting it up.

Both Shions clapped and Asahi laughed, full of joy

After the little triumph, they went back to their tasks. Both Shions returned to their work, and Gari – making sure Asahi didn’t get too bored but also didn’t disturb anyone – asked the King for a blank sheet of paper and a quill.

She dipped the quill in ink and scribbled something clumsy and totally elementary-school-tier. It was supposedly an animal, but what Asahi saw was basically two circles with a smile, a stick for a neck, and four more sticks for legs.

"We’re playing silent charades. I draw, you write what animal it is. Then we switch."

"This could literally be anything!" Asahi exclaimed. His brother shot him a mildly annoyed look, telling him that way to be quieter.

Asahi took the quill and wrote "dog." Gari shook her head, showed him her open hand, then folded down one finger — four chances left.

He thought for a second. Then wrote "cat" - miss. "Horse" — miss. "Wolves" — also miss. Asahi scratched his head, then finally wrote "pig." Gari nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"Huh?! How is that supposed to be a pig?!" he exclaimed.

Before his brother could scold him for being too loud again, there was a knock on the door.

Haru walked into the office.

"Mom?!" both boys said, surprised.

"Did something happen?!" Shion the Second asked, genuinely worried.

"No. I mean, nothing bad, but there is something I want to talk about with your dad — alone," Haru said, sighing. "You two get a longer break. Gari, take them to the gardens, you can play tag there."

Gari nodded.

"Come on, boys."

"Yesss! Awesome!" Asahi cheered.

"Yeah, that’s great!" Shion the Second added.

Before Gari left the room, she placed her hand on Haru’s.

"Are you sure everything’s okay?"

"Yes. You don’t need to worry. I’ll explain later — for now I just... want to talk to Shion."

"Okay, if that’s what you wish," she said, and motioned for the boys to follow her. Excited and full of energy, they ran out with her to play tag.

"Haru, what’s going on?" The king immediately set aside his documents and went over to him, gently taking Haru’s hands and meeting his gaze.

"Shion, I..." Haru said softly, shyly. He didn’t even know what exactly he was afraid of — Shion’s reaction? No, that couldn’t be it.Haru was afraid of their future, which might turn dangerous again. "...I’m pregnant again."