Third person POV
Then, Adrian leads his party and group into the royal palace. Along the way, servants greeted him and his party warmly. "Hello there," Adrian said to them a few times. Russell and his party and group were very stunned to see that Adrian was being treated with respect as if he was a royal family member. But they couldn't grasp the idea that Adrian, a normal villager, could be a member of the royal family of the Southern Plains. Cassius, on the other hand, was optimistic about it.
And then, the crowned prince, a young man named Nicholas Passato, who had blond hair and green eyes and was dressed in his royal attire, came and greeted Adrian. "Welcome back, brother." Upon hearing that, Russell and his party are shocked, while Adrian addresses him as big brother. With a smile on his face, Nicholas responded, "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Adrian replied back.
Russell couldn't hold his silence, so he said to them, "Um…what is going on here?"
The crowned prince and his adoptive brother then looked at him and the others.
"Huh? Who are you?" the prince asked Russell.
"Oh! Big brother," Adrian said to the prince, "this one is my good friend. His name is Russell May."
He then turned to Russell. "Russell-kun, this is Prince Nicholas Passato. He's the crowned prince of this kingdom and my adoptive older brother."
Despite hearing the rumors that the crowned prince was a brutal person to his enemies from Kane earlier, Russell took a deep breath and gave him a handshake. "Nice to meet you, your Highness. My name is Russell May."
The prince then accepted it with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Russell-san. Welcome to our home."
Russell then smiled at him for a few seconds, before pulling back from handshaking.
Then, Azalea said to Nicholas, "Nice to meet you, your highness. My name is Azalea Barwon."
She said that with a respectful gesture towards the crowned prince while carrying John with her left arm.
"My name is Nathan Wolfstein," Nathan politely added.
"My name is Kelly," Kelly added with respect for the crowned prince, before looking at her twin kids, "and these two lovely kids are my twin daughters, Rai and Ria."
"Nice to meet you, your Highness," Rai and Ria positively added as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Nicholas responded back to them warmly. "Welcome to our home."
Then, John woke up from his nap and looked at the crowned prince. "Are we here?" The prince then looked at him. "Oh, you're a Dark wolf, right?"
"Yes, your Highness," Adrian responded to this, "this is John, our pet Dark wolf."
Nicholas was a bit stunned to see a Dark wolf being a pet to his adoptive brother and his friends. "Wow, I've never seen a Dark wolf being a pet. Typically, that type of wolf is always ferocious to intruders."
"Yes, I am, sir," replied John back while wagging its tail, "but after what my parents tried to do to these humans, I had decided to be nice and loyal to them instead."
The crowned prince then understood that.
At this point, Adrian decided not to tell his adoptive brother about what Elai and her party did to them back at the dungeon.
Instead, he focuses on how grateful he is for Russell and his small party for taking him in.
After that, Cassius came forward and said to the crowned prince with respect for him, "Greetings, Your Majesty. I had returned with reports and progress about Russell May,"
At this point, Russell remembered what Cassius said to him a couple of days ago and thought, "Right, the crowned prince must've found out my heroic deed at Snowyfield Village…"
"Welcome back, Cassius," Nicholas said to Cassius, "we will discuss that after a meal."
Cassius nodded with respect.
Then, Kelly said to Russell in a low voice, "That human surely is loyal to him."
Russell then nodded in agreement, before fixing his dark blue necktie.
After a moment of silence, someone came. That someone was George Passato, the current king of the Southern Plains. "Ah, Adrian, welcome back," he said to Adrian with a positive smile. Russell and the others then looked at him, a middle-aged man with brown hair and green eyes and dressed in his royal attire.
"Father!" Nicholas said to him positively.
"Dad!" Adrian ran to him and hugged him for a few seconds. "It's been so long..."
"Yes, I know, Adrian," George responded as he rubbed his back in response.
Russell and his party are amazed to see such a loving father-son relationship between them, and the crowned prince confirms that to them.
Then, the king and his adoptive son then pulled back from hugging.
Later, all of them are now walking to the dining hall of the royal palace. Along the way, George and Nicholas asked Adrian how his adventures as an adventurer were. "Oh, it's fine, fine," Adrian replied back steadily while hiding the fact that his former party had betrayed him, "even for a D-ranked adventurer like me."
"You'll eventually be promoted to A rank soon, my son," George said to him in assurance.
"Thanks!"
Then, Adrian introduced Russell and his party and group to his adoptive father as his friends instead of his new party.
"Nice to meet you, your Highness," Russell said to the king with a slight and quick bow.
Azalea and John did a similar thing, as did Nathan, Rai, Ria, and Kelly.
But Kelly and her two children hid the fact that they were dragons as humans.
"Nice to meet all of you, too," George responded back positively and brightly. "Welcome to our home."
They had arrived at the grand dining hall, where a meal was waiting for them.
"Shall we eat?" George said to them with a positive look on his face. "You guys might be hungry."
Russell and the others then nodded because they were a bit hungry after a long trip from the Dukedom of Geran.