Alan, who was completely lost in deep thought, instantly snapped out of it once he felt the comfortable warmth of the black-haired woman behind him. Soft to the touch, comfortable and warm, embracing him in its gentleness.
Thanks to the memories of Alan, He didn't need to turn around to know the identity of the woman behind him; she was his mother, the second daughter of the head elder of the Azure Flame clan of the kingdom of Aslis, Amelia.
Alan gently held onto her hand, surrendering himself to the warmth of his mother. How long has it been since he last felt this kind of warmth?
He couldn't remember; when adding his current age to the additional age of Ellard, he was more than a thousand years old.
His reborn self was no longer a demigod; he had lost most of his strength, if not all of it. But his memories were still fine.
But even so, remembering every event that had transpired in his life up until now was impossible.
"My sweet Alan, are you okay?" She asked, as she gently caressed his face affectionately.
"Y-Yes, I'm perfectly fine. I just had a light headache, that's all." Alan replied.
He tried his best to talk in the same manner as Alan did in the past; such an attempt was somewhat difficult as they both had completely different personalities.
From behind the two mother and son who were currently embracing each other, another young girl with short black hair came from the entrance.
She wore a black and white maid uniform, as her brown coloured eyes gazed inside the room curiously.
She bears the same striking resemblance as Trisa, who was also gazing at the mother and son who were embracing each other.
"How is he?" She asked her elder sister in a calm tone, "He seems fine, just a light headache, it seems." Trisa replied cheerfully.
".... I see." Suzu, the younger sister of Trisa, muttered.
"You two, can you tell the maids to bring out breakfast here? If he has a headache, I'll eat with him inside his room," Amelia said, turning to the two girls behind her.
"Y-yes ma'am!" Trisa replied in a fluster, "As you wish." Suzu replied calmly and stepped outside the room, heading in the direction of the kitchen.
"U-Umm! Mom, you don't have to do that, you know? I'm perfectly fine now... see, there is no need for us to eat together." Alan replied, slightly dumbfounded.
He actually wanted to come up with an excuse to move around the outside and see how strong he was currently; he won't be able to do that if his mother is following him from behind.
"Hmph! How cruel. Do you really hate your mother so much that you're trying to push her away? You don't want me beside you." Amelia said, pouting her lips cutesy. Hearing her statement, Alan's brow twitched slightly.
'This woman, how old is she? She's suddenly acting like a spoiled child instead of a mature adult.' Her behaviour caused Alan to sigh internally.
"Fine, let's eat together. It sounds fun." He said in a tired tone, causing her emerald eyes to brighten greatly.
...
Inside another room, an old man with white hair, dressed in a blue robe, could be seen going through various documents on the wooden table. Inside the room, there were also two others standing before the old man.
"Your majesty seems to be having trouble dealing with the kingdom of Malaru. Ever since their recent loss a few months ago, they have been pressuring his majesty to deal with the stray dragon attacks, which have become quite frequent lately." A blonde-haired man dressed in a white suit said, his face grimacing.
The three great clans usually split work between themselves. The dragon clan dealt with dragons, which usually come down from the mountain sometimes to attack, either for the purpose of searching for food or just to cause destruction.
While the sun clan dealt with the monsters lurking on the outer perimeter of the forest, to make it safe to traverse through.
The moon clan dealt with the domestic affairs of the country, while also dealing with the affairs within the country, however, after the dragon clan which was once one of the most powerful clan with the kingdom of Nahinil, it no longer had that position, instead it was given to the sun clan and the moon clan since the dragon clan lost most of its influence and had weakened after the fall of the previous head.
"Hahaha! Of course, it's not going to end well for the sun clan and the moon clan, after all, magic has very little effect on the tough skin of dragons in the first place. I bet those guys are shaking in their boots about now." Another man with dark brown hair chuckled pleasantly at that.
After dealing with the constant criticisms of the other two clans, he was happy to learn of their misfortune.
Meanwhile, the old man who was currently sitting down reading the reports on what had happened on the previous attacks from the dragons frowned deeply; the amount of damage that was caused by the stray dragons easily surpassed his expectations.
He had already known about the dragon's tough skin and how resilient they were to magic; he didn't expect things to take such an unexpected turn.
The number of lives which were taken had already exceeded hundreds, which caused him to sigh somewhat disappointedly, with this the power of their country was weakening. Even the kingdom of Malaru was having a hard time.
'Dragons don't usually come down from the mountain range; there should be plenty of food in the vast forest for them to feast on, so why?' The old man placed a hand beneath his chin as he pondered to himself.
"It seems his majesty is requesting our immediate summons at the royal castle. We shall head there first thing tomorrow morning, understand?" He asked, turning his gaze towards the men standing before him.
"Yes."
"Understood." They both replied respectfully.
...
Back inside Alan's room.
Alan and his mother, Amelia, were having breakfast.
The two finished their breakfast while talking together about various things. Amelia smiled happily while conversing with her son;
Meanwhile, Alan responded to each of her words perfectly, but he couldn't help but feel anxious on the inside.
After talking with her for a while and having the memories of Alan's entire life, it was clear Amelia was not a bad person; in fact, she was so kind that Ellard was having trouble talking with her, even though he responded to her without delay.
'This woman, I wonder how she would feel if she found out that I'm not entirely Alan, in the end, I am Ellard. A demigod who had been serving Lady Udea for thousands of years.'
Alan thought that even if he were reborn, it wouldn't change who he is at his core. He is someone who has years of life experience.
The number of lives he had taken was so large that he had lost count, or rather, he never had any interest in counting in the first place. Who was Ellard? He was cruel, he was relentless. He lived a cold and shallow life. But Alan Dragon is...?
'Oh well. No use thinking about it now. What's done is done. I have taken away the precious son of this family; I might as well play the part as much as I can. That is all I can do to not burden his family.' He thought, eyes narrowing.