"Thank you," Nymeria said as she stepped closer to Renan, standing tall in front of him.
"Hello, little one. I don't know if these two have told you about me, but let me introduce myself properly," she said, her voice softening. "I am Nymeria Lunarisveil, the Grand Duchess of the Lunarisveil family and your grandmother."
"Nice to meet you, Grandmother. Also, my name is Renan Ryvern, not 'little one,' so please don't call me that," Renan said politely.
"Oh my, my," Nymeria said, covering her lips with her hand in mock surprise. "Alright, little one—oops, I mean Renan. From now on, I'll call you by your name. Don't be mad," she added in an amused tone.
Renan, who heard Nymeria's playful reply, didn't immediately respond. Instead, he thought inwardly, 'Well, I wasn't mad in the first place. I mean, if someone who's thousands of years old calls someone under fifty 'little one,' it makes sense. But I suppose there might be people out there who'd feel insulted by it... not me, though.'
He paused and glanced at his parents from the corner of his eyes. 'Also I just wanted to lighten the mood for them. After all, I went through something that even dragon kids don't experience yet. Even though my arm has been reattached, they might think I'm emotionally shaken. Seeing me acting normal might ease their worry.'
Noticing the small smiles forming on Namari and Gracen's faces, Renan turned his attention back to his grandmother and nodded. "Okay, I won't be mad."
"Aww, what a good boy," Nymeria said warmly, patting Renan's head.
'Argh, why does everyone pat me? Do I look like a dog to them?' Renan thought in frustration. He glanced at Nymeria, who was now standing closer. 'Now that I'm looking at her up close again, she has eight tails, unlike Father, who only has seven. Does the number of tails signify strength, or is everyone just born with a different number of tails?'
His gaze drifted to her tails, which looked soft and fluffy. 'Man, I want to hold them. They look so fluffy. Should I ask her?' he wondered, peeking at Nymeria, who was still patting him with a smile. 'Maybe she'd allow it…'
But just as he was about to ask, Nymeria stopped patting him. The smile on her face faded, and she straightened her posture. Renan noticed the sudden shift and started panicking inwardly while maintaining an outwardly composed demeanor. 'Why did she suddenly get serious? Don't tell me… did she read my thoughts? No, that's impossible.'
Before Renan could say anything, Nymeria spoke. "It looks like I have some urgent work to attend to," she said, turning her attention to Namari and Gracen.
Then, she turned back to Renan. Her serious expression softened, and she said gently, "I'm sorry, Renan. It seems I can't spend more time with you today. But don't worry; I'll come back tomorrow to see you again. I'll also bring your aunt along so you can meet her. Don't be sad, okay?"
"Aunt?" Renan asked, tilting his head in confusion while thinking inwardly, 'Thank goodness. So she didn't hear my thoughts. I almost had a heart attack.'
Nymeria smiled. "Yes, your father's younger sister—your aunt. I'll bring her with me tomorrow so you can get to know her," Nymeria explained to him.
Renan nodded silently, processing this new information. Nymeria turned to Namari and Gracen. "Good night to both of you. I'll see you tomorrow," she said before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
Just as Nymeria walked out of the room, Namari approached Renan; she again engulfed him in a tight hug. She said in a motherly tone, "Oh, my baby, since you've gone through such terrible things today, your mom and father won't go to the training ground tonight. Instead, we'll sleep with you."
'Hmm, now that I think about it, she really hasn't slept with me since the first week after I was born. She and father would always disappear at night. I thought it was because they wanted to do... other things. But instead of what I imagined, they were training all this time. Well, that's embarrassing... but can you blame me? They look so young, so my assumption seemed reasonable,' Renan thought inwardly, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Namari didn't wait for Renan to reply. She simply grabbed Gracen's hand, pulled him toward the bed, and placed Renan in the middle, settling herself on his left side and Gracen on his right. "Good night," she said softly.
Gracen echoed her, "Good night," before closing his eyes to sleep.
Renan, who was just going along with whatever Namari was doing, thought inwardly, 'Well, I guess I'll sleep for now. Honestly, this life isn't that bad,' he thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.