Third person POV
"Hello there, Caspian, my son," Kane greeted Caspian and hugged him back quickly. Russell and his group were stunned to see that.
"So that boy was his son…" Russell's mind said.
Kane's second wife, Eliza, came and kissed Kane on the cheeks. "Welcome back home, honey."
She was a slender woman with grey, long hair and reddish-orange eyes and was a nice and hospitable wife and mother.
"Yes, I am back, sweetie," Kane brightly replied back.
"How's the trip to the Zale Valleys Kingdom?" Eliza asked him as she took off Kane's outer coat.
"It went well," Kane responded back, before looking at Russell and his party and group. "Honey, we have guests here."
Eliza and Caspian then looked at them and were surprised at their presence.
"Welcome to our home, everyone." Eliza quickly bowed her head in greeting. "Make yourselves at home."
"Thank you, Miss Taqua," Adrian replied nicely.
"Yes, thank you," Ria added brightly.
"Yes, my name is Eliza," Eliza replied back, "and I am the wife of Kane."
"My name is Caspian Taqua," Caspian added brightly. "Nice to meet all of you."
Rai was distracted by looking at the tapestries on the walls, before snapping back.
Kane and his family then led them to the house's drawing room, where all of them had a seat and some snacks and drinks served by servants. The drawing room was big and had finely made furniture and elaborate decorations on the walls. It also included paintings of different people from Kane's lineage. And then, Kane said to them, "Lunch will be served later at noon. For now, can you tell us who you guys are?"
Russell and his party and group did so one by one.
Kelly, Rai, and Ria, luckily, hid the fact of their race as Silver Dragons.
Cassius didn't need to introduce himself because Kane and his family were his close acquaintances and clients.
After that, Kane and his family were stunned to hear Russell's strange occupation.
"Woah…"
"So those stories are true…"
"Amazing…"
Russell confidently replied back, "Yes, and here's my license as proof."
He then showed him his bus driver's license for a bit.
Kane was surprised, knowing that the stories of a youngster who manned a 'strange-looking and complex vehicle' and was driving with it across the kingdom.
Those stories are told by his subjects within his dukedom.
"So you're that youngster who was driving that strange-looking and complex vehicle of metal around the country?" Kane asked Russell.
Russell confirmed that it was him. "Yes, and as of now, I am currently 16 years old."
Russell knew that based on his looks and height.
"Man, kids at your age should be at the academy," Kane remarked. "But you're a special case."
Russell then smiled upon being complimented.
His party and group were a bit proud of their friend being a bus driver at such a young age.
After that, Kane explained his family to them, including his two children from his first marriage, Elai and Belius. It turned out that the duke and his family are a family of some of the fewest wielders of the Flaming Phoenix and Water Serpent, both strong magical creatures that can be summoned by those who have their bloodline. Furthermore, that family had a long lineage of some of the wielders of those magical creatures. It also turned out that Kane's first wife died when Elai and Belius were kids, and Kane remarried, this time to Eliza, who was the daughter of a blacksmith in Wallisville. Eliza explained that her former last name was Ironus before marrying Kane. She also mentioned that she has Metal Manipulation, a metal-based ability.
Russell and his group were surprised to hear that, and Caspian revealed that he had inherited her ability,
"And then, Caspian was born when Elai and Belius were 7 and 6 years old," Kane added.
Knowing that his unfinished mental hypothesis was right, Russell handed the letter from the Emerald Guild to Kane. "Here, this is from the Emerald Guild." Kane grabbed it and unfolded the vintage paper, before reading its contents. Then, the duke was shocked to find out what Elai and Belius did. Eliza took a peek at it and gasped in shock at what the letter contained.
That letter was a letter of information from Eloni.
"What the…" Kane commented in shock.
"How could they?" Eliza covered her mouth with her right hand.
Russell saw their faces and thought, "Wait, don't tell me Denali-chan's father wrote about the wrongdoings committed by the Elai and her party…"
Azalea then said to him, "Man, that was unexpected."
Adrian felt a bit anxious by this, prompting Cassius to pat his back gently for a bit to ease his anxiety.
Kane and his wife were furious at their children's prideful stupidity and apologized to Adrian and Russell directly. "Wait, what?" Adrian and Russell replied at the same time.
"We're sorry for Elai and Belius' stupidity," Kane responded back while looking at them.
"Wait, the letter is about their stupidity and such?" Azalea asked.
Kane then nodded. "Yes, we didn't know that both of our children are capable of doing those things."
"We're sorry," Eliza repeated.
"It's okay, you two," Adrian calmly reassured in response. "That wasn't a big deal to me now."
However, the noble couple still felt bad about Elai and Belius' actions against Russell and Adrian.
And then, curious at his parents' apology, Caspian asked them, "What elder sister and big brother did to make you two apologize to Mr. Russell and Mr. Adrian?"
Kane then looked at his son. "Your elder sister and big brother betrayed and hurt Adrian, as well as insulting Russell as well."
Caspian was shocked to hear what his older half-siblings did to them, feeling bad for Russell and Adrian.
The young boy 14 years old, who had, spiky, grey hair and reddish-orange eyes, apologized to Russell and Adrian, who then both said that it was okay and that it wasn't his fault either.
"Thank you, you two," Caspian replied back.
This young schoolboy is nice, kind, humble, and determined.
Furthermore, Russell decided to cement his proof that the Elai party did their dark, treason-level deed on Adrian by playing A Heretic's Heresy audio recording in his bus's navigation system with loudspeakers on so anyone would hear it. so, Russell did so, and the noble family was even more shocked to hear all that. Russell eventually got some points for his true justice-driven deed.
Because of this, Kane promised to send Elai and Belius back home from the guild and discipline them for their disgraceful and shameful stupidity, before asking Russell and Adrian if they wanted any compensation. But, Russell and Adrian declined the offer, saying that an apology was enough already. "Just do what you can do so those two will learn their lesson," Cassius added towards Russell and his party's behalf.
"Thank you, Mr. Russell, we will," Eliza responded on her family's behalf, too.
And so, Kane stood up and left the room while saying, "All of you may stay here or go around my estate or this town if you want. I'll be writing a letter to the Emerald Guild to tell them to send Elai and Belius home on disciplinary grounds."
"Okay!" Russell replied back brightly.
With that, Kane went upstairs to his study on the second floor to write a letter to the Emerald Guild.
He will send it via one of his two messengers, Sylas Aresius.