"You are a red dragon, and Seleria is, accordingly, half-dragon?" I asked the queen, and she nodded silently. Gasps echoed all around. Apart from me, only Ragni remained unsurprised, and Rizel managed to conceal her emotions.
"But I thought dragons, especially the red ones, cannot marry ordinary people, let alone a king!?" Katrina exclaimed indignantly.
"That...," Sheraza hesitated for a moment and hurriedly pulled her hood over her head. Just as she concealed her face, three figures appeared in the passage.
They all wore richly embroidered crimson mantles adorned with rubies, and their hair was bright red with yellow eyes featuring narrow pupils, an uncommon eye and hair color in our lands, but it harmoniously complemented the rows of sharp crimson horns adorning the guests' temples.
Leading the way was a man who seemed to be around thirty-five, with nine pairs of horns arranged in three rows on each side of his head, and a small golden diadem with a ruby on his forehead. He appeared to be the leader, but the two companions at his side carried themselves as equals.
On his right walked a younger-looking guy, about twenty-five in appearance, but he seemed much older. Five pairs of horns adorned his head. His gaze betrayed obvious hostility towards everyone present and the unfolding events, yet he remained silent, trying not to interfere with his senior comrade.
To the left, there was a beautiful woman in her early thirties. Her hair cascaded down to her waist, and she had eight pairs of horns. Unlike her younger companion, her gaze was kind, or at least it didn't give the impression that she would tear us apart at the first opportunity.
"Rector, we came to express our respects, but unfortunately, we cannot stay any longer," the elder dragon stepped forward. "Urgent matters have arisen at home, so please excuse us."
"What a pity that you can't stay a little longer," I replied.
"I don't think we'll miss out on much," the younger dragon made a sarcastic comment and nodded in farewell.
"Farewell, Rector, Queen Ignis," the elder dragon bowed slightly and turned towards the exit. The dragoness also bowed and cast a barely noticeable caring glance at Seleria.
The younger dragon lingered in the passage for a while, then turned and cast a disdainful look at Seleria and Sheraza, who sat with her back to him.
"I'm beginning to feel sick of this atmosphere," the dragon snorted and hurried to catch up with the others.
Ten minutes later, we witnessed three colossal dragons, each comparable in size to Ignis, soar into the sky in their true forms, making a circle over the Arena before flying off to the south.
The atmosphere in the royal box was tense. After the appearance of the "relatives," Sheraza fell silent, and it was evident that she was trembling ever so slightly.
"Mother?" Seleria approached the queen and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me."
"Hmm, I wouldn't call that a warm reception, and they definitely recognized you," I said as I took my seat. "Queen Sheraza, can you explain to us what just happened?"
"U-Uh, okay, I'll tell you," Sheraza hesitated.
"Mother, you don't have to."
"No. You've already hidden a lot from your friends, and I'll explain why," Sheraza insisted.
"Cough, as I understand, you are a dragoness from the red house, and they treat you with great contempt, which is especially strange considering their thirst for power and the fact that you are the Queen of Leran."
"Yes, power means a lot to them, but traditions and purity matter even more. The main tradition of the red house is maintaining blood purity and a hierarchical family structure. They reveal very few details to outsiders, but in reality, younger dragons are essentially slaves to the elders."
"That's terrible," Katrina lowered her head.
"Kat, in Verania, there is a similar kind of slavery, only with a different name," Seleria interjected, pulling back the princess. "And in my country, we have slavery, but compared to the laws of the red house, it's not even comparable. In Leran, people become slaves either as prisoners of war or if they owe an enormous amount of money. If the debt is substantial, the whole family can become slaves for life, or they can sell their daughter or son, and if they are attractive enough, they may be able to pay off the entire debt. But the children of slaves become free people. Of course, there are illegal slaves, often brought from other countries, mainly from Verania, but the vilest nobles keep them locked up in secret so that the authorities don't find out, or they face enormous fines."
"But in the red house, everything is much worse," Sheraza sadly cast her eyes downward. "Strict hierarchy and absolute subservience govern everything. The higher your lineage, the more rights you have. Firstborn dragons are the grand dragons, who rule the red house; they hold all the power. Five grand dragons make up the council that governs the house."
"Wait, what about the other grands?" I recalled that each race was governed by ten grand dragons.
"Two grand red dragons died during the first war, and two more moved to the Empire. Although I don't know why, considering that after the war, most red dragons hated humans. You've just seen three out of the five rulers of the red house. The ruler of the red house, Saraza's second son, the grand dragon Serezar, is the current head of the house."
"Head, not ruler?" Vague thoughts about the structure of the red house continued to torment me.
"The second daughter of Saraza, the leader of the female dragons in the red house, and possibly the only grand dragon who unconditionally supports peaceful coexistence with humans, Lady Siferina," Sheraza's face hinted at a faint smile, "also, my great-grandmother."
"So, Sheraza is from one of the leading families, but she doesn't introduce herself as Sheraza, daughter of Siferina. Quite strange."
"And the last one, the youngest of the grands, Saraz's fifth son, Valraz. Unfortunately, he is the most ardent human-hater in the family. It's terrifying to think what would happen if he became the head of the house. Although he has garnered a lot of followers, and if he were to run for the position of head, he might even win," the queen flinched and clenched her teeth in anger. "If he becomes the head, he will start a new dragon war no matter what. But thank the gods he will never have the courage to challenge Serezar."
"And whose side is he on?" If Valraz is against humans, and Siferina is for us, then Serezar should be on the humans' side; otherwise, things would be dire.
"The head tries to maintain neutrality. Out of the five council members, two always support humans, and two are against, regardless of the situation. Therefore, it is Serezar who decides everything. He always acts in favor of the interests of the red house, unless a deal with humans promises much greater benefits in the future," Sheraza took out a small map of the continent from her pocket and pointed southward. "The red house holds the largest territories in Leran. Three tropical islands rich in gold veins belong to THEM. In fact, THEY are the wealthiest clan in Leran, but by law, they cannot claim the Leranian throne, and that's probably the best decision the ancient kings ever made."
On the map of Leran, a chain of volcanic islands encircled the south side. Starting from a large island to the west, not far from the capital, where Seleria's uncle once lived, the chain spread out into three enormous islands in the center. Dragon head marks indicated the territories of the red house, and then the chain continued with several smaller islands. At the border between Leran and Verania, the chain briefly broke and continued with large underwater craters, some of which were close to my native island. At the end of the chain, there was a huge snow-covered volcano, on the slopes of which Asura's ancestral lands were located.
"Regarding the grand dragons, the generations of their descendants are counted according to gender. So, the mother of the fifth generation will give birth to sons of the fourth generation and daughters of the sixth," Sheraza explained.
"A rather precise inequality," I remarked.
"Exactly. Inequalities there are not only numerical. The system developed over the years to honor the elders now serves to indulge the nobility. The first generation consists of Grand Dragons—our rulers. From the second to the fifth generation are the noble dragons, who place themselves above others, although most of them don't deserve it. From the sixth to the tenth generation are the servants of the nobles; they have no privileges except personal freedom. And the last ones, older than the eleventh generation, are the slaves of the red house. They have no personal freedom, rights, or any privileges. Slaves must obey all the whims of the nobles, and when they reach sexual maturity..." Sheraza fell silent and made a disgusted expression. "The nobles can use them as they see fit, for their pleasure."
A lump formed in my throat, and I wanted to catch up to those three and express everything I thought, but Sheraza continued her tale.
"That's not all. As much as they hate humans, they still form alliances with them for money and power, which is the second step for the red dragons. And for this purpose, they even sold slaves to humans for their use. In my childhood, one of the nobles simply lost my friend in a card game to a visiting merchant. Of course, he had to pay the price to the house for the loss, but that didn't bring the girl back."
"I never thought that dragon slaves would be so popular among you," Katrina squinted her eyes in doubt.
"They are much more popular than you think. Sometimes, prices reach up to a million gold coins."
"A MILLION?!" Vine's eyes widened. "You can buy a small town with peasants for the same amount."
"Only two conditions are followed. A female or male dragon slave cannot enter into a lawful marriage, and if mixed-race children are born, they belong to the red house! For this reason, red dragons give their slaves collars to keep them perpetually under the control of their new owners. They are skilled in making enchanted items, and these collars force you to obey your master's will one way or another."
"But you said that in Leran, the children of slaves are free!"
"Children of humans—yes, but dragons, in life and in death, belong to their lineage. Half-blood children in the house are treated even worse than slaves. They cannot use their powers and live locked away, forbidden from contacting other slaves. Many of them end their lives before reaching twenty years old."
The horrifying details of the lives of the red dragons painted a rather disgusting picture before us.
"Many distinguished nobles of Leran are willing to engage in any deal with the red house to obtain one or two slave girls. Having an eternally youthful and beautiful girl by their side grants them certain advantages. It is customary at grand gatherings within closed circles to bring concubines and adorn them with jewelry. If a nobleman is generous enough with jewels for his mistresses, then he can be dealt with. And dragonesses have an important trait; they can carry much more jewelry than human girls.
"Remember, I told you about the Alley of Vanity in the capital? Vanity and greed manifest in all actions of Leranian nobles; it's one of their distinctive features."
"There is also a belief that the best way to prolong life is to forcibly take the blood of a virgin dragoness, and the more suffering she experiences, the stronger the effect."
"It's revolting," Katrina clenched her teeth so tightly that a drop of blood appeared on her lips.
"That's not the worst fate. To live as a rich man's concubine and then pass on to his children as an inheritance is not the worst treatment. Dragon body parts are important for many alchemical recipes, and thus, some slaves are sold for dissection," Sheraza smirked and looked up at the sky. "Many dragons believe that dying that way is even better than living in eternal slavery."
I felt a strong urge to punch someone, the clan heads, the repugnant self-centered nobles, or the kings who allowed all this. But I was unable to change any of it, even if I beat up all the nobles.