"Is that your kid, Laiex?" The king asked. "I heard he is pretty smart; he can talk and walk by himself despite his age. Who could have thought that you would become such an exemplary old man? Hahaha."
"It is all the result of Lyra's parenting skills, Your Majesty," Laiex said.
"The same as usual, huh," The king said. "Even if you didn't do anything, you should take pride in your son's growth. Although all that my daughter does every day is cry, I take pride in that."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will do that," Laiex said.
"Well, let's hope that your kid will be strong like you and smart like Lyra," The king said. "Still, knowing you, you probably won't let the boy even touch a book. Hahaha. Hey, kid. What is your name?"
"Zaos," Zaos replied.
"A strong name and a fast kid…" The king said, slightly impressed. "Grow up well, Zaos. Become a respectable man like your father."
Zaos nodded after hearing that. Although he couldn't find many respectable things about a man that only eats with his family once a week, he certainly did the right thing at that moment. In any case, the royal family had a long night ahead of them since hundreds of noble families had come to greet them, so Zaos and his parents left the area.
Although Zaos couldn't remember a single birthday party, he was pretty sure that one had been the most boring one. He didn't eat anything; he didn't drink anything, and there was nothing to do. As if that wasn't bad enough, not a single-family could leave until every single noble family had given their gifts to the princess.
"Come to think of it… what that voice said…" Zaos thought. "Do I have to protect that noisy princess?"
Zaos never forgot the first thing he heard after coming to that world. Following the logic of things, it looked like he had to protect the princess. After all, she was born a week after him, and his family emblem was a shield, and they have been protecting the royal family for ages…
Still, Zaos thought that something was missing… Why didn't the voice mention any name? Things would be much simpler if Zaos knew a name. After all, he might choose to protect the wrong person.
"I don't feel like obeying the voice of someone I don't know, but I am pretty sure that voice belonged to the same person who gave me a second chance…" Zaos thought. "Speaking of which, I can't remember if that voice belonged to a man or a woman. The fantasy books of this world don't mention gods or goddesses as well."
The number of things Zaos had to research increased… unfortunately, there was only so much he could do with such a young body. So, he will have to be patient. At some point, the party got so boring that Zaos began to feel sleepy. While he used to fall asleep quite early in the night, it wasn't that early. Fortunately, many other kids also fell asleep, and no adult felt the need to wake them up. After all, even princess Ameria was sleeping. In the end, Zaos only woke up the next day, and he felt slightly guilty about it. While his body was of a young boy, his mental age was at least a couple of decades older… probably. It was hard to be sure since he couldn't tell if he died young or old even after dreaming about his previous life one hundred times.
While Zaos was learning more about magic words and slowly learning how to run. He waited patiently for his mother to pick some books to read for him that had useful information. While she was young, and that was understandable, she just had too many fantasy novels on her bookshelf. So, only after several months, he learned something about the place he was living.
Zaos was born in the Sairus Kingdom in the year of 2562. Apparently, the people of that world created a new calendar to mark the start of a new era on the same day the demon god, Elysus, was defeated. Although Zaos hoped that he would hear more about the demon god, it looked like a lot of information was a lot in two thousand years. Still, he felt that something was off since his mother frowned the entire time she read that story…
The current king's name was Dalyor, who assumed the throne five years ago when his father died due to an unknown illness. Zaos frowned when he heard that since it was another person who died before the forties. Regardless, the queen's name was Loellena… that was it. That was everything Zaos learned about her.
For thousands of years, the kingdom has been at peace, but that felt odd. Since there were no external problems, the norm would be to have some internal problems, but Zaos didn't hear anything about it. Either despite his looks, the king was pretty smart, or the books couldn't be trusted that blindly.
After a full year without hearing a single mention about a god or goddess, Zaos concluded that the only god that the world had was the demon god. Even so, Elysus wasn't the being that actually created that world. He was just another mortal who reached the peak of his existence by using magic. Some stories mentioned that he once was a handsome man who became deformed due to magic. Others said that he was a disfigured child since birth, but that, in fact, he was the first demon to be born and give birth to others. Still, Zaos didn't hear about any other demon being mentioned.
"Although the kingdom has been at peace for two thousand years, my grandfather died four years ago because of assassins. Two years earlier, the current king died due to an illness," Zaos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I will need to be careful. Otherwise, I won't live a long life here."