"I'm honored to meet you." Leegaain bowed as Faluel introduced them, slightly embarrassed by Elina's kind words.
She was the first person treating him courteously despite his appearance and yet he would trick her nonetheless to further his agenda. It was one of those moments where he didn't feel proud of himself, but the end justified the means.
Raaz looked at Elina in confusion as he tried to remember why such a name rang a bell while she looked at their guest with eyes wide open. She remembered all too well Leegaain.
Lith had told her that he was one of the original six Guardians, the Father of all Dragons, and maybe even the god of knowledge, but all she could see was the bastard who had endangered the life of her babies.
By giving Lith's group the translating pin, Leegaain knew that the moment they stepped inside Kolga, they would learn and experience all of its horrors. Even worse, he knew that going there would have triggered Lith's world tribulation.
The images of Tista crying while telling Elina how she had been forced to kill Khalia in cold blood to put her out of her misery and of Lith taking in all the suffering of dead souls haunting Kolga to survive, still pierced Elina's heart.
The moment Leegaain bowed, his chin went exactly where she wanted it to be. A mean right hook to the side of his head made it almost turn of a full 90 degrees and threw Leegaain off balance.
Then, before Raaz could stop her, Elina yanked up her gown enough to kick the Father of all Dragons in the gonads with all the strength she could muster. Life in the countryside was harsh for women, but especially for the pretty ones.
They all had to learn how to defend themselves from a young age, but Elina always favored attacking rather than reacting. She had taught her children that he who strikes first strikes twice.
Leegaain fell on the floor, writhing in alleged pain. With his mass and abilities, Elina's hits were barely a joke. Yet dodging would only enrage her more while taking the hits would break her limbs.
If either thing happened, he would have had more chances to bring world peace than to get even a drop of her blood. Leegaain let Elina hit him to vent her anger but moved so that each strike barely grazed him to keep her from getting hurt.
'I don't know what's worse. Being decked by someone who barely weighs 58 kilograms (127 pounds) or the fact that everyone thinks I deserved it without even knowing the facts.' Leegaain could see with Soul Vision the dining hall giving her a standing ovation, even the staff.
On top of that, Faluel had yet to move a muscle to help him. Yet he could resent neither woman since, in their shoes, Leegaain would have done the same.
"Calm down, dear. Think of our kids." Raaz said while holding her by the shoulders to stop Elina from attempting a finishing stomp with her heels.
"That's exactly what I'm thinking about." She half said and half snarled, barely containing her fury to not turn Raaz into collateral damage.
"No, I mean remember everyone knows who we are. What would people think if the mother of an Archmage beats someone in front of so many witnesses? What if Lith gets banned from the establishment because of what you did?"
Raaz had yet no idea who Leegaain was, but he was certain that the stranger deserved the beating. He knew Elina enough to know she wouldn't see red for petty reasons and what to say to calm her down.
Elina froze in place as those words made her maternal instinct fight against itself and forced her to weigh her priorities.
"Why did you bring him here? Don't you know what he did?" Elina looked at Faluel as if she had betrayed her.
"I know and I'm sorry, but you should listen to him. Grampa acts like a jerk from time to time but he always means well. I wouldn't have accompanied him here just to ruin your vacation, I did it because it should benefit Lith." Faluel replied.
He s.u.c.k.e.d it up and waited for the opportunity to give the Father of all Assholes a piece of his mind.
Leegaain stood straight while dusting his clothes, showing the spectators that he was alright. Then, he apologized for the inconvenience with the director of the resort who had run to the dining hall the moment the fuss had started.
The nobles stared at them a bit longer, hoping for some more juicy gossip. Yet once the poorly dressed man took the full blame for the accident and everything seemed to be resolved, they lost interest.
The noble guests started to criticize their peers for being so cowardly that they had done nothing to help a woman in need as if any of them had done otherwise.
"What do you mean, he can benefit Lith?" Elina asked.
After they sat at their table and ordered their lunch, Leegaain explained to Raaz and Elina that being a Guardian's offspring was a dangerous business. How his enemies might target Lith while those who sought Leegaain's help would cajole his alleged descendant.
"If everything is so nice and simple, why didn't you go straight to Lith for his blood?" Elina didn't trust one word he said and tried to refute his reasoning.
"Because Lith would never give it to me. He has too much to lose." Leegaain shook his head.
"Then why should I do otherwise?" Elina said with a snarl. Her inability to follow the Guardian's reasoning only made her angrier.
"Because I hope that, as his parents, you know what's best for him. If I were to speak with him, Lith would reply that a few more enemies are irrelevant compared to the gifts he might gain by pretending to be my offspring.
"On top of that, I'm quite sure he would try and guilt me into helping him in the case something happened to him since it would be my fault." Leegaain replied.
"It does sound like something Lith would do." Raaz nodded.
"If you give me your blood, instead, I can prove that he and Tista are not part of my bloodline. Lith would not get a few magical trinkets for free but my enemies would leave him alone, making his life easier." Leegaain said.
"Is he telling the truth?" Elina asked Faluel.
"Well, yes." The Hydra nodded. "Now everyone knows about Lith's world tribulations and the idea that someone from a Guardian's bloodline might become one as well is bound to stir up a lot of troubles.
"Guardians are solitary creatures which limits their area of influence but if two of them were to become allies, they would become unstoppable. I don't know how sincere Grandpa's worries are, but I can vouch for his reasoning."
"And so do I." Tyris said.
"What are you doing here?" Leegaain asked while the rest of the room stood up and gave the First Queen a deep bow.
She was wearing a simple lilac day dress, but the Royal Family's insignia wasn't something that could be ignored.
