"Lord Morax. Lady Velzard has arrived to answer your invitation," a cool and trained voice resounded beyond the door of Morax's private chambers. Despite being known as Velmorax, the Myriad Dragon who controlled both emptiness and fate, he much preferred being called Morax instead.
This strictly applied to his own government, his private circle, and his family. In the first place, it was his family's nickname of the then young dragon, which he had come to like and prefer over the long name that is Velmorax.
"Guide her to the balcony. I'll be right there," he responded, standing from his chair before a desk that contained a three-dimensional holographic map of the world.
His tied deep dark brown hair cascaded and waved down below his waist, his deep and sharp amber eyes shining through the elusive rays of light casting down his private office.
"As you wish," the feminine voice of his personal attendant replied as her footsteps vanished down the hallways of his personal palace.
He shut down his magic that presented a clear visual of the entire world and left the room. The doorknob clicked behind him as he strolled the expansive palace he built and owned with his own hands.
The occasional maids passing by sidestepped and practically kneeled as he made his way through the wide and tall corridor. Not saying or thinking of anything as he made his way to the balcony where the dragon empress waited, he finally arrived.
Testarossa, his personal secretary and butler—also the White Primordial Daemon, Blanc—was pouring tea for the woman sitting on the chair with graceful and almost unparalleled professionalism.
"You really made me wait after making me come all the way here," the seductive voice of a woman approaching adulthood called out. "You need to be more considerate of your visitors, Morax dear."
Sighing as he combed his hair with his hands, he showed her a smile. "You were never one to mind small stuff like those, sister, so why now?" He replied as he took a seat in front of her unwavering diamond-blue eyes, as fierce and sharp that didn't seem like how one looks at their youngest brother. "You know why I invited you here, right?"
Velzard crossed her legs as she leaned in. The chair that seemed too big for her suppressed human form seemed too big but simultaneously too small for her. A knowing smile emerged on her face. "You should be the one to tell me that."
"What's that idiot up to now?" Morax snapped, ignoring her statement. "After being thrashed by a human and sealed thereafter, he now vanished without a trace from his sealed cave. There's something more to that, don't you think, sister?"
Velzard's smile remained unchanged, devoid of surprise. "Compassion is usually your forte, Morax. Calling that woman, Chronoa I believe, a 'mere human' seems uncharacteristic. Didn't you two share a past? And after three centuries of ignoring me because I stopped you from freeing your dumb brother, all you can manage is talk about him? Can't you spare some of that love for your sister?"
"It's precisely because it's my dumb brother that I'm concerned, sis," Morax replied. "And you… I have no need to be concerned over you, don't I?"
"How cruel," she replied, just a hint of sadness in her face and voice. "I want some bonding time with you, too, you know? It's been a while, after all. Now back to the topic, I don't know, either. The hero's seal is not something that can be easily damaged, much less destroyed, and it's apparently been about… two or three years now? Since the seal was destroyed, I mean."
Morax was deep in thought as his amber eyes glowed fiercely, considering what could've happened. He didn't feel a trace of Veldora's presence, no matter how hard he looked.
"…I doubt the seal was destroyed. Would it be possible that someone put him in a separate space of their own?"
Velzard, meanwhile, pondered Morax's words. Her delicately small fingers rested on her chin as she rolled her eyes. "Maybe…? That's the only explanation aside from being inactive (dead), isn't it?"
"I'll have to go take a look for myself," Morax said with a smile, more to himself than to Velzard.
"Ara, you're going to leave your land behind? Are you sure you're not just looking to be as adventurous as you once were a thousand years ago?"
"Don't keep me out of it, sis," he replied. "It's been a while, as you said. Besides, I'm not really needed here that much. The only reason I can't openly go out is that these sovereigns of mine have begun forgetting their place. I might need to get rid of them soon and find new ones. It's such a pain honestly."
"That," Velzard pointed to Morax, her smile widening. "…is the reason I was against you building this country in the first place, wasn't I? Well, I'm proud to what you have accomplished. It's wonderful, really, but…" Velzard stood up and approached Morax, brushing her hand against his manly chest, a small tint of red in her porcelain-white cheeks adorning her face. "Hang out with me, too, Morax. Should we take a bath together? For old time's sake?"
Morax, meanwhile, was just exasperated. Not a single thing has changed despite a thousand years having passed. Velzard was too affectionate with him—frequently to the point of obsession—Velgrynd was very compassionate but slightly hostile against him, Veldora was overly protective and adoring of him.
He wanted to mend his relationship with Velgrynd, the sister he was most comfortable with, but they had a fall out since the last Tenma Great War when Morax refused Velgrynd's plead for help to fight against Demon Lord Guy Crimson.
Velmorax, the Myriad Dragon of emptiness and fate, is naturally among the strongest beings in the world as a dragon. But even amongst the dragons, and despite being the youngest with the least stores of energy, Morax's output and efficiency far outclassed his draconic siblings—even Velzard.
Velzard and Guy Crimson would've certainly lost a long time ago if Morax joined forces with Velgrynd and the Hero of the Beginning.
"We bonded enough, didn't we? I'd go for Veldora now since you practically always kept me from him."
Velzard's brow twitched as she frowned. "That's because he's reckless, impudent, violent. He's nothing but bad influence for you. Despite everything I and Velgrynd had done to educate him, he never learned…"
The frown on her face vanished as she cocked Morax's face to face her own, inches only separating their faces. She was practically sitting on his lap now. "And that's exactly why I love you so much, Morax dear. You're so talented, loving, and caring for us." The red tint grew deeper and deeper on her face until it reached the shade of an apple—the same fanatic smile on her face.
Morax leaned back from her face and stood up, scooping her off his lap. He was a true dragon with the highest insight into the systems of the world, but he can never wrap his draconic head around his sister Velzard's full-time obsession and overly fanatic brotherly-complex for him.
The door opened to reveal Testarossa bringing in a tray of Cair Paravel-exclusive sweets. "If I may, my lord and lady," she said politely as she distributed the sweets to both of the dragons. "I've recently sensed Noir's presence around the west a little while ago. Although I doubt it that he has set foot onto the living world, it seems very likely that there's something that piqued his interest for him to be observing."
"And you think that's related to what we were talking about?" Velzard frowned. She never liked Testarossa from the beginning, stemming from both jealousy and desire to be beside Morax all the time. The Frost Dragon yearned for Testarossa's place.
"Wait, I think that actually works," Morax replied, feigning ignorance to the tension between primal and dragon. "Veldora's disappearance was very likely due to the interference of an outside party, then around the same timeframe a few years back, Noir's been observing the living world very deeply."
Morax's eyes came to a spark with realization. "Tess, a sovereign said there's some ongoing tension in the west, right? What was it about again?"
"It was the kingdom of Falmuth and the Western Church amassing forces, my lord. It's very likely that the forces are going to march to attack the newly developed nation of monsters budding in the Jura Forest," came the cool reply of the aloof secretary.
"A nation of monsters? Is that the one who's been trying to establish human relations with the neighboring countries?"
"Yes, my lord," she replied and looked up, a smile on her face. "And it's apparently ruled by a slime."
Even that came as a surprise to Morax. He wasn't interested much on the affairs of the outside world, but he kept getting news of the Magic Continent whenever he attended the Cabinet Meeting of the sovereigns.
"Maybe that's it…" Morax muttered. Testarossa seemed to have put the puzzle together along with Velzard after seeing the look on Morax's face. "I really do need to pay a visit, after all." Morax smiled, a genuine and almost interested smile as his amber eyes flared amidst the rays of setting sun in the palace balcony.