Family Reunion

-----Kaede's POV

It's been a few days since we've arrived here, and so far, It's been quite pleasant. Thanks to the blood I have stored in the wine bottles, Fleur and I had some supply to quench our thirst. Of course because of Neri supervising all of us, everyone watched as we drank. I didn't mind it, but Fleur is still quite ashamed by it still. I still have to moderate how much she drinks though since I don't want her to completely lose herself in her urges. But we've now completely drank all of the blood in one bottle, and the other one is now maybe half empty.

Kaede: "That's enough."

I seal the bottle back up before storing it back into my bag. Just like usual, Fleur seems disappointed at having the blood taken away from her, despite her feeling ashamed from drinking it. I feel sorry for all these conflicting emotions I've brought onto her.

Faye: "You're getting better."

Fleur: "It's still tough..."

Kaede: "You'll get the hang of it. Just takes time."

Our sleeping arrangements followed quite similar to how we stayed at the bar. Sicily, Lillian and Mell slept together in one room. Faye and Silver has their own room which Neri sometimes uses as well. Fleur and I however don't feel the need to sleep as often, so we haven't run into the issue; yet. We were also staying at quite a large house that's right before the hill that leads up to Yui's mansion, so if I did want to see her, it's not that much of a walk.

Apart from us, all of Iris' followers have now settled into their homes as the streets slowly started to liven up with everyone. I'd say we probably used up 40% of all the homes in this city, leaving us still still a lot of room to take in more citizens.

Neri: "Come on. We can't let the queen wait for us."

It was Sicily to get out of bed last as she's still having trouble with the collar. Hopefully we can switch these out today after meeting the queen.

.....

We exit the house and begin to follow Neri through the city. My outfit is being cleaned so I'm back to wearing one of my black dresses instead. I do like the layout of the city as we don't need to walk around so many corners to get to where we need, it's pretty much straight forward.

And upon arriving at our destination, I catch sight of Yui along with her mom and Alice, with Natalie is also there at Yui's side. We end up moving to the left of them with Neri guiding us, and once we got to the front, I notice we're at the entrance to the city. Up ahead I can see a few carriages coming into view as they approach the city. "So this is the queen, huh."

Mai: "I'd suggest being honest with her."

Kaede: "I wasn't planning on lying anyways. Plus she already knows about me being a vampire."

I've had Mai remain out of sight from everyone as to not draw any attention to us. I've been unable to use mana-sense since our encounter with the masked people, so I have no idea where exactly Mai is.

Finally, the carriages stop upon entering through the gate, numbering 3 in total. I'm baffled at just how little arrived as I'd imagine the queen is far too important, but after seeing the masked people that Neri's apart of exit one of the caravans, I guess it makes sense. It was then, that the queen herself exited the middle carriage with the help of two maids. Her long, dark blue hair flowed effortlessly with the wind, but my eyes were drawn to one of the maids. I couldn't tell due to my lack of mana sense, but I know for certain who it is just at a glance...

Kaede: "Mom."

As if she heard my soft mutter, she looked my way as a wide smile stretched across her face. I feel my cheeks start to feel wet before I realize that I'm actually crying a little. I just want to run over there right now, but I need to stay cool, I cannot break the trust mom has made with these people.

Queen: "It's nice to finally meet you, Iris."

Iris: "Likewise."

Queen: "I hope that this land is sufficient enough for you and your people?"

Iris: "More than sufficient. We can fit plenty more people and still have room."

Queen: "Fufu, I'll arrange something then."

It was then that the queen herself locked eyes with me. She's surprisingly tall as she's even taller than Iris who's around the same height as me. Her golden eyes pierce into my own, but I remain calm and meet her gaze head on, not showing an ounce of weakness... Despite me not having wipes my tears yet.

Queen: "And you must be Kaede."

Kaede: "Yes."

Queen: "My name's Cecelia, the queen of Yarene."

Kaede: "It's a pleasure to meet you."

She smiles my way, but her smile is filled with uncertainty as I can't tell whether I should be afraid or happy about it.

Cecelia: "I've heard quite a lot about you-"

She then proceeds to walk closer towards me, as if she's not afraid in the slightest of me, just like how I tried to be when our eyes met. And for the first time in a long time, I'm starting to feel threatened as I can feel my heart beginning to beat out of my chest.

Cecelia: "Lilith here told me everything, so don't even attempt to lie."

Kaede: "Y-yes, your majesty."

Cecelia: "Good. Then is it true that you're a half vampire? Born from a human?"

Kaede: "Yes."

I clearly remember being raised by mom ever since I was little. Without a doubt, she's my mother. And as if to prove it, I grow out one of my nails before stabbing it into my palm, letting my blood drip down my hand and onto the ground.

Cecelia: "Fascinating..."

Her eyes lit up in amazement, as she stares at my hand that's now bleeding. I'm unable to heal it or take control of the blood thanks to the collar, so I let the blood continue to drip.

Cecelia: "Right-"

Suddenly, her hands reached forward around my neck. I'm honestly stumped at just how close the queen is putting herself to me. I remain still as I can until finally, I hear a snap, followed by the tight sensation of the collar now loosening. In the next moment, the queen pulls her arms back as I see that she's now holding the collar in her hands.

Cecelia: "And I also hear you're capable of using light magic?"

Ah, so that's what she's after. I'm fully aware at how odd it is for me to wield both light magic and my vampire magic, but if I show her just that, then-

I proceed to heal my hand, but not in a quick way that I normally do. Instead, I dramatize the healing proceeds, producing a strong ball of light in my left hand before spreading my magic over my hand. in the next moment, the light fades away, revealing my hand now completely healed, with no sign of a scar. I decide to leave my blood on the ground since if I dare to take control of it, I'd likely ruin everything I've done so far.

Cecelia: "Extraordinary."

She takes my right hand in hers as she inspects it closely. It's honestly embarrassing having the queen grab hold of me like this, but I remain still, glancing over at mom. She's also clearly stressing out over this, but I shoot her a smile as she gives one back.

Cecelia: "And you can even hold yourself back, even among someone like me."

Kaede: "I learnt at a young age to contain myself, your majesty."

Cecelia: "And I believe you."

This time, her smile was easier to read as I can clearly sense that she's happy with how things are going, relieving the massive amount of tension that has grown inside my body.

Cecelia: "Well? Are you just going to just stand there, Lilith?"

She turns around before immediately addressing my mom. And in the next instant, mom runs over to me before swinging her arms around me. I was taken aback by how things are going, but I quickly wrap my arms around her as my tears start coming out just like before. But suddenly, I could smell blood coming from mom. In a panic, I pull myself off of her and direct my gaze down to the back of her hand. It was a small clean cut, which makes me think that this was done intentionally and not some accident. Is this actually some kind of test the queen is giving me?

I quickly heal her hand in a way that everyone can see, dramatizing the healing process just like before. And just like that, the cut on her hand vanished.

Cecelia: "Splendid! Sorry, but I just needed to be certain."

Kaede: "I understand."

So it was a test after all. Phew.

Lilith: "Don't worry, I agreed to it."

Cecelia: "You won't need to put this back on, but I'll still have your supervisor to watch over you. Or will that be a problem?"

Neri: "Not at all, your grace."

Looking back, Sicily was clearly upset at me being free while her and her sister still remains collared. It was just then that the queen moved towards them, leaving mom and I to continue our reunion.

Cecelia: "And you two must be the elves that I have heard about."

Lillian: "Yes."

Cecelia: "You two are quite a ways away from home."

Lillian: "Our village was raided. My sister and I were taken in as slaves to the humans."

Cecelia: "And I take it you have distaste towards humans?"

Lillian: "N-"

Sicily: "Yes."

Oh no. Sicily is running her mouth again. Lillian immediately tried to get control of her sister, but the queen stopped her, raising her hand.

Cecelia: "Go on."

Sicily: "Humans, Goblins, Dragons, whatever. I despise any race which allows such things to happen... Kaede helped me see the good in people again, but that doesn't mean I'll be friendly to humans in general."

The way Sicily is speaking to the queen is so much different to how I was being. I was trying to be respectful, but Sicily is just saying her pure emotions, letting everything out to the queen.

Cecelia: "Heh. I understand-"

Then, out of nowhere, the queen moved her hands up to her head, parting her dark blue hair from the sides of her head. It was then that I saw that her ears weren't that of a human, but they almost look like they were fins instead, or maybe even little wings? And the light blue hue they had definitely sold me to the idea that the queen must be some kind of creature from the ocean. Sicily and Lillian looked on in disbelief, speechless at the queen.

Cecelia: "I know what it's like. My people, the merfolk, used to be hunted by humans as well. But no matter how far I went, even after becoming the queen of Yarene, I didn't let my previous experiences harm my perception of humans. I hope that you can also learn to forgive them."

Sicily: "Y-yes, your majesty."

She made a quick attitude adjustment, speaking to the queen with respect as the queen smiled dearly at Sicily. Just then, the queen reaches around Sicily's neck before taking off the collar with ease, with Lillian's followed shortly after. Sicily of course was ecstatic from finally being free as a massive grin was plastered on her face whilst rubbing her neck.

Mom suddenly brings me into another hug after sensing that ordeal is over.

Lilith: "I missed you."

I wrap my arms around her as well, tighter than before, not wanting her to leave.

Kaede: "I missed you too."