"Son... That is not a.. um.. you know.. "
"A pet?"
Ale's father was having a hard time just accepting the fact that there was a dragon in front of him, much less that his son wanted to keep it like it was some pet.
"So you know.."
"Of course I do father. It's just that.. the circumstances are a bit unavoidable, it also won't leave my side, and I may be partially responsible for its early hatching."
Ale tried to sum everything up and deliver it to his father in the simplest term possible so he could see the full picture. But it really wasn't helping.
"Brother, are you sure..? Is it really safe to keep a dragon with you?"
Josh was thinking about all the trouble it was going to bring for Ale, including hunters, smugglers, the black market and even the attention of the royal family if they ever get the news.
"Of course it's safe. Even if the news leak, I'll have a dragon as my bodyguard, who in their right mind would mess with me?"
"Hmm..."
Ale was as thorough as one could be. He had already thought about all the possible outcomes, the pros and cons, and even the furthest possibilities. That's all he did during their journey back home.
"Well.. It's your decision son. I'll be by your side no matter what you decide."
The Duke gave in quite easily. It was only normal. After all Ale accomplished during the last three years, he was more than capable of handling his own mess.
"Thanks dad. I'll go freshen up then. See you at dinner!"
Ale hopped back to his room, all happy and giggly, as if he had accomplished a hard mission just now. On the other hand, the Duke was almost left in tears by his last words.
*Sniff*
"Father? Are you crying?"
Josh asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He called me dad." *Sniff*
That day, the Duke's palace was the loudest, busiest and brightest one in town, as he ordered the maids to prepare a feast to celebrate the return of his son and his first outing. Everyone happily complied since Ale was such a lovable person after all.
In his room, Ale finally sat down and placed the dragon on his bed. It started looking around, even sniffing the air once in a while.
"This is my home, my room. You understand, right?"
Ale knew it was already capable of holding a conversation, since it was a dragon, and it was smart. The dragon nodded as he kept looking around curiously.
"Smells. Like. Ale."
Although he still wasn't that fluent, at least he could form sentences now. And this all happened within four days. It was a growth rate that was only possible for dragons to achieve.
"Now, there's something important I need you to do."
He grabbed the dragon and went to his table. There was a picture book in one of his drawers. Ale pulled it out and started flipping through the pages.
"Can you shapeshift? Change your body and turn into something else?"
One of the most popular skills that a dragon owned was the skill to shapeshift. It wasn't just the outside that they changed, but rather their whole being.
"Shapeshift? Light.Can.Try."
Ale found a picture of a cat inside the book and showed it to the dragon.
"This is a cat. Can you try to look like this?"
"Yes."
As soon as the dragon started using his mana, Ale covered the whole room with his own mana so the people outside won't be able to enter or feel the change in mana inside the room.
"Well.. That should do it."
He watched the dragon concentrate and transform its body bit by bit. But since it looked like it'll take a while, he decided to go and take a quick shower in the meantime.
"Keep at it. I'll be back soon."
The turquoise scales turned black, and soon, hair started sprouting from all over the Dragon's body. Slowly, his body changed, and turned into that of a cat.
"Ale.Likes.Cats."
The dragon mumbled to himself as it looked at its reflection on a nearby mirror.
"They.Are.Cute."
He could tell why Ale liked them. With a form like that, there was no way someone would hate him or find him scary. It bothered the baby dragon a little when Ale's father and brother freaked out after seeing him. He was a little hurt.
At the dinner, everyone gathered in time except for one person. The person who had decided to take a late evening bath and fell asleep on his bath, only to be awakened by his baby dragon one hour later.
Ale ran to the dining room once he realized he was keeping everyone waiting, Light following him behind. Just before entering the room, he picked Light up and put him inside his shirt so as to not warn the others.
"Stay there till I say it's okay."
Light nodded his head and shrunk his body even more so it wouldn't bother Ale much. But of course, Ale had no idea.
"Heeey everyone! Sorry I'm late."
"Son.. It's fine with us.. but you shouldn't keep your guests waiting."
The Duke looked at Ale with a hopeless gaze, while the others smiled, saying it wasn't a big deal. Ale, as a noble, was terrible at his job. He often forgot social etiquettes, could never be on time, nor dress as a noble and he also wasn't very proficient in the noble's way of speaking.
"Did you just shower? Won't you catch a cold?"
Josh looked at his half dry hair and sighed. Next moment, he used his wind attribute to dry Ale's hair as if it was something he did a hundred times in the past. Ale's lack of reaction also showed how he was used to this type of stuff.
"You guys are very close."
Rudy couldn't help but comment. It felt good to see such brotherly love in a noble household, specially one with such high rank.
"Of course we are. I'm the one who raised him!"
Ale boasted as if he was very proud of what he did. And looking at the way Josh pouted but didn't refute, they could all guess that it wasn't a lie either.
"Then again, I guess I'm being cared for more nowadays."
"We can see that."
Ale ruffled and tried to fix his hair which was left in a mess after Josh's wind dried it properly. It wasn't that much of a success though; it made his hair look like he just took a nap.
"Oh and I have someone to introduce."
Ale spoke all of a sudden, gathering the attention of everyone at the dining table. While they all wondered who it was going to be, something started squirming inside Ale's shirt.
"Uh.. Ale? There's a little something..."
"Yeah, you can come out now."
Light jumped out of the shirt, his size turning back to normal in an instant. The black cat that had the aura of a dragon looked as majestic as a black leopard.
"This is Light, my new friend."
"Light? Him?"
"Wow.. Unbelievable.."
They all realized instantly what the true identity of the cat was, but it was still a huge shock. Ale grabbed a nearby empty chair and put Light there so he could also join the dinner with them.
"Nice.To.Meet.You."
The baby dragon even managed to greet everyone. The look of pride in Ale's face was incomparable. Everyone welcomed this sudden, shocking, but definitely in a good way, new addition to the dinner party as they all greeted him back.
Rudy and his party, Phil, Gary and even Kevin who was invited to join the dinner all filled their belly while talking about many things. The Duke was very interested in their journey and even excused the maids and servants so they could speak freely.
After their dinner, Rudy asked if he could have a private chat with Ale and the others excused themselves. It was already late at night because none of them realized how much time had passed since they were busy chatting and drinking.
"Let's go somewhere quiet."
Ale took Rudy to the roof since it was the only quiet place in the whole mansion. Light grew a pair of wings as soon as they reached the roof and started flying around happily.
The countless starts above their head and the lively city in the distance made a great view as they stood by the railing and enjoyed the night breeze. The two of them enjoyed the fresh air for a while before Rudy finally decided to open his mouth.
"We're leaving tomorrow."