Minutes before the explosion...
Ernesto dragged Watson outside the dining room. In the long hallway, he crossed his arms and looked at his slave with so much displeasure.
Unaware of Ernesto's vexation, Watson smiled brightly and asked, "Didn't I do well?"
"You're a hundred years old, right? Why act so childish?" Ernesto cannot grasp whatever his slave is thinking, "What kind of game are you playing? I said to sit still."
"Aw, master, that's boring! Don't worry, I won't harm your friend, pwamish."
Ernesto squished the blue wolf's cheeks with his one hand as he yelled at him.
"The way I see it, your mouth is full of nonsense."
Ernesto tightened his hand that's holding Watson's cheeks, which caused Watson to speak strangely, saying, "aaawhsjowpologies mashthwer awelldowell"
"Remove your filthy hand!"
An adult lady knight with long braided azure hair behind her back and a hairpin on her right side suddenly attacked Ernesto with her longsword.
Of course, the hundred-year-old Ernesto effortlessly defended himself by swinging his hand, holding Watson's cheeks, and using Watson as a shield.
The lady knight could not draw back her sword and was shocked by the sudden appearance of Watson too close to her sword.
Watson doesn't look troubled. Instead, he enjoyed what was happening. He freely tapped the hands of the lady knight, who was holding the hilt strongly enough to change its direction to avoid hitting Watson. He shouted, "Oh, my servant!" accompanied by a loud laugh.
The lady knight felt relieved that her sword pierced the wall beside Ernesto, not her lord. She growled, "How dare you use our young master as a shield!". She was about to pull out her longsword, but Ernesto took the chance to attack as he cast a water spear to attack the lady knight.
"Since you attacked me first, let me vent my frustrations on you!" Ernesto stated.
The lady knight snorted and said, "Do you think you can scratch me with that measly water spear, kid?" She easily sliced the water spears that turned them into pieces, and Ernesto smirked at her action.
"That's not a spear; it's actually a water bomb." He snapped his fingers, and the chunks of water floating around her simultaneously exploded. Water vapor and smoke from the explosion cover the long hallway.
The lady knight plunked down on the broken wall with her crushed armor, which revealed her white clothes decorated with her blood.
"Oh master, you're ruthless."
Watson had his usual sparkling eyes even when he watched his adopted children's descendants get injured from Ernesto's attack.
Ernesto heedlessly commented, "Your children's descendants are weak, Watson," while looking down at the lady knight with a refreshed expression, as it's great to vent his frustrations to her.
The lady knight tried her best to get up and ask, "You know the young master's identity?"
"Of course, we're the same age." Ernesto replied by looking away from the beaten knight and glaring at his side, warning them, "So you children, don't mess up with me. That includes you, Duke Allan."
Ernesto looked at the still thick smoke, then the Duke slowly appeared through the smoke.
"It seems like not only our household is serving a god."
Ernesto knitted his brows again and asked Watson using telepathy.
[god? What nonsense is he talking about?]
Watson avoided his gaze but still answered his question.
[Hehe, they worship me]
The children adopted by the higher beings a long time ago are half-bloods who had gone into hiding because of the human race and other pure-blooded races hunting them down.
The blue wolf rescued them and made them his children to manage the dukedom. The children believed God rescued them, and this belief has been passed down to the current generation.Since they have been breeding with humans since the first duke, the current generation of Ayam is mostly human, and their half-blood blood is nearly extinct.
"What the heck?"
A new set of annoyances formed in Ernesto, and he punched the blue wolf due to his extreme annoyance.
[I shouldn't have picked you up!]
Ernesto thought he should just search for minor beings to summon, since his only purpose is to open his vision to other realms. He regrets being involved with such a problematic blue wolf.
[Huhu! Don't be like that master.]
The blue wolf acted like he was crying and held onto his cheek that was swollen from Ernesto's punch. Because of this, he wanted to punch the wolf again.
"Ernesto!" his father shouted, which caused him to curse internally.
It was then that he realized the mess he had made. He immediately put both of his arms in the air and admitted his fault to his father so he wouldn't be punished severely.
"I apologize for breaking the wall, but that knight was the first one to attack me!"
Ernesto pointed at the still-beaten knight as if he were whining like a child and pointing at the people who bullied him.
The smoke was gone, and the broken walls, the defeated knight, and the stoic face of the duke were now visible.
José Oliva's eyes were shaking in confusion as he anxiously thought inwardly, "Why is the Duke here? Did they enter the castle without me knowing?"
He glared at his butler to confirm why he hadn't heard about the duke's visit.
Duke Allan Ayam knew what was running inside the Marquis's head and sighed internally. The Duke and his eldest daughter came to the marquis' castle last night to stealthily check if their Lord, Watson, was really here.
Upon observing everything, the Duke thought, "The Marquis doesn't have any idea of his son's powers, while Lord Watson is surprisingly subservient toward the Marquis's son." He recalled what Ernesto told them a while ago and concluded, "He said that he is the same age as Lord Watson, which means he's a godlike being too."
Of course, the dragon, the blue wolf, and the regressor know that two individuals are stealthily watching them. They just let them be because their power was not threatening enough for them to make a move.
Due to his confusion in the situation, Jose asked his son again. "Lady Serra attacked you first?"
He wondered why the eldest daughter of Duke Ayam would try to cause a commotion when, according to what he had heard, the eldest daughter was a respectable and amicable commander knight. He thought, "She wouldn't be this violent if Ernesto hadn't done something to offend the princess."
Jose looked at his son with discerning eyes. "Did you do something against them?"
Ernesto cursed internally and thought that Jose didn't trust his current behavior and that Ernesto had brought his trashy attitude again.
He exclaimed indignantly, "What else did I do? I just came out to talk to this shithead!" But the more he defended himself, the more people frowned.
"Damian, guide Ernesto back to his room."
Jose Oliva called his butler and ordered him to drag Ernesto back to his room. He said, "You're not allowed to go out until I tell you so."
Jose coldly glared at his son and walked past him to face the duke.
Ernesto was speechless after being grounded at the age of 100 years old. He saw the blue wolf sneering at him and waved at him happily.
[Fuck you]
He cursed at Watson through telepathy.
Ernesto stopped complaining and just followed the butler, Damian. It was the same butler that he sent flying in every regression he had.
Soon after Ernesto left the scene, the Marquis and the Duke were facing each other while having both of their arms crossed. The two of them had a calm gaze toward each other, but somehow the atmosphere around them was creating such sparks and thunder.
"Duke Ayam, I don't think you deserve my greetings." the marquis calmly specified.
The Duke slightly bowed his head and suddenly wore his business smile. The Duke looks intimidating, even with his business smile.
Duke Allan Ayam, who has his family trademark of blue hair and amber eyes, was wearing all black, simple clothes for the purpose of stealth infiltration into the Marquis castle. Still, there's no way you won't recognize him, mainly because of his unique shoulder-length cobalt blue hair, which he keeps the top of in a knot, leaving the rest to flow freely, and his sport-trimmed beard along his jawline.
"Yes, Marquis Oliva, you don't have to, since we are the ones who barged into your territory. We will pay for the damage we caused, as well as Serra..." Duke Allan called his eldest daughter, which forced the princess Serra to stand up.
She stood beside her father and glared at Jose.
"Apologize to the Marquis." he sternly commanded, but his daughter refused to comply.
"Why? That brat punched the young master!" she protested while still holding her body in pain.
Watson walked in front of her and cast a healing spell. In almost an instant, her injuries and the pain disappeared. He also healed his swollen cheeks.
"Princess, my older sister, it's weird to call me a young master, right, father?" Watson pointed out and looked at the duke warmly.
The duke and princess flinched and tried their best not to bow down to the child. "We are the wrong sister; please apologize."
The Princess, a lady knight, clenched her fist and slightly bowed to the Marquis. She could not fully bow down to the Marquis because her pride as a princess and commander knight of the Duchy told her not to. "I apologize for my wrongdoing and the inconvenience that I caused your castle."
The duke pushed down her head using his hand, so she ended in a 90-degree bow. He let go of his daughter's head after the marquis gestured with his hand.
"I also apologize for coming to your territory without prior announcement. We actually don't believe that you have my son, despite sending us a letter. We thought that this news was a hoax since we have been searching for my youngest child for a long time."
The Duke used this opportunity to make a background story to make Watson's return to the duchy easily. "He was separated from us years ago. That is why we were taking precautionary measures not to be swindled by others again."
The marquis didn't fully believe him and looked at the innocent-looking child, Watson.
"Why come here instead of going home, young master?" he asked the child.
The child smiled awkwardly and talked to the duke in his mind, asking, "An accident happened and I was separated from you, and you just found me here. That's the story, right?"
The Duke opened his mouth without saying anything, since he didn't know how to respond since Watson was talking in his mind.
"Actually, I was separated from my family, and Ernesto rescued me." Watson started to lure in his story.
"He saved you?" Jose said so in disbelief. He then thought about his child's extraordinary ability to perform magic.
Watson sneered internally before he responded, "Yes, sir, and in exchange he wants me to undo a curse."
The blue wolf thought to himself, "He will surely beat me, but this is so much fun."
"What is the curse?"
Jose stepped back and subconsciously looked at Nudlou, who was just silently standing behind him because he missed the chance to leave.
"Ah! I used the wrong word. it's sickness." Watson acted like he had unintentionally said the curse. "I am good at healing magic. That is why young master Ernesto wants me to improve the health of young master Ndulou." He then innocently smiled.
Hearing that, Ndulou felt guilty for being mean towards Ernesto after what Watson revealed, he realized he was being mean for no reason, whereas Ernesto was just thinking about him.
Watson was ecstatic when he noticed Ndulou's sudden change in expression and thought he had solved Ndulou and Ernesto's quarrel.
Feeling proud of what he did, Watson looked at Jose with an apologetic expression.
"We do not think it is right for us to stay here any longer. We will immediately send compensation for the damage, and we will also provide the materials for reconstruction. Again, we apologize for our deeds. We don't have any ill intentions." Duke Allan apologized as he took his leave.
Everyone present in the hallway, including the servants around them, was surprised at how the duke lowered his head towards the marquis.
"I hope we meet in a good environment next time, Duke Ayam."
Jose remained firmly standing and was not bothered by someone higher in rank than him bowing his head to him. He bid farewell to the blue-haired members of the Duchy, including Watson.
The three of them teleported away and left the marquis' castle in a mess. Of course, Watson sent a message to Ernesto saying that he would be leaving for a while, and that made Ernesto happy. After all, he was sick of the blue wolf.
However, the castle is still chaotic because of the recent incident, while the young master who caused it is sitting peacefully by his bedroom window, thinking about how he will punish his pet, a mischievous blue wolf.
A/N: Although Ayam are not of royal blood, their descendants also have the titles of prince and princess, not just lady and master, because of the (spoiler) change of royal family on the throne. It will be explained further in future chapters.