While Ryner’s group was enjoying the company of Maya’s family, Myra and Snow were escorted to the castle by the guards. They were then guided by servants to a room behind double doors where both the royal family and the prime minister were waiting at. It looked like a lounge with couches set around a table. Paintings adorned the walls and flower pots were placed in each corner of the room.

One thing stood out right away and it was the couch that was wide enough to fit five people. One man and three women sat there along with a child. A young man in his twenties sat on a one-seater couch next to them and two teenagers were seemingly hiding behind the big couch and peeking at the two foxkins.

“Dad!” [Snow]

Forgetting the other people present, Snow rushed to the man in his thirties that stood in front of the doors. Just like her, he had blonde hair with fox ears and a furry tail. His violet eyes widened for a moment when he saw her, but an expression of joy quickly replaced it and he spread his arms.

“Snow!” [Snow’s dad]

They hugged each other as Snow started crying. She was back. The wonderful view of her city, the fresh air that had a mix of flowers and green grass and the warmth of her father’s embrace once again reminded her that she had truly come back. She tightly wrapped her arms around him with tears streaming down her cheeks and a beaming smile on her face.

“Taniel.” [Myra]

Myra, who had gently watched over this scene with moist eyes, also approached the duo after a few seconds. Her husband, Taniel, welcomed her in his embrace as well and the three family members were finally reunited. They held onto each other in silence under the warm gaze of those present.

“Snow! Aunty!” [???]

“Aunty! Snow!” [???]

Two individuals who couldn’t endure any longer ran up to them. They also wanted to welcome the mother and daughter who were miraculously safe and sound.

“Tota! Tita!” [Snow]

Snow quickly went and hugged her two close friends. It was a guy and a girl with black hair and brownish red eyes that were of the same age as her. They had wolf ears on top of their heads and a tail that was furiously wagging left and right. Since these two were twins, they had similar, energetic looks.

“You two! Didn’t I tell you not to barge in on them?! It’s their long awaited reunion!” [???]

A woman in her late thirties scolded them and stared at them with reproach from the large couch. Aside from her pale green eyes, she looked just like them. Then again, it was a given considering that she was their mother.

“But mom, Snow’s finally back!” [Tota]

“Aunty’s finally back!” [Tita]

“Yeah! Aunty’s finally back!” [Tota]

“And Snow’s finally back!” [Tita]

They were hyper active, much like the fox-eared girl that they were happily hugging.

“It’s bad to get in their way!” [Twin’s mom]

“Isn’t it fine, Tali?” [???]

“Mom’s right. Isn’t it fine, aunty Tali?” [???]

A female’s easygoing voice followed by a male’s easygoing voice proceeded to soothe the wolf-eared woman who was about to lecture her kids.

“You two are much too relaxed.” [Tali]

Tali turned her head to stare at the one sitting next to her. It was a female beastman with lion ears and tail, light brown hair and blue eyes. She was a few years older than her, but was still very much beautiful. Her son, who was sitting by himself on the one-seater couch, also had lion ears and tail, but his hair was orange just like his father.

“Aunty Tali! Aunty Meireld! Kirial!” [Snow]

Before Tali could say anything else, Snow jumped in her arms and hugged her with all her might. She proceeded to do the same thing to the woman and son with calm smiles.

“Gahaha! You’re as energetic as ever!” [???]

The lion-eared man on the couch, who had been cheerfully watching in silence, laughed heartily and spread his huge arms out. His long orange hair was like a lion’s mane, his brownish red eyes seemingly glowed with vitality and his body that was filled with bulging muscles perfectly fitted the term macho.

“My brother’s not here, so I’ll do it in his stead. Now stop ignoring me and give your uncle a hug!” [???]

“Uncle Leodor!” [Snow]

Without hesitation, she jumped into his arms that were like logs. It would be easy to imagine her body snapping in two like a twig, but the man in his forties made sure to control his strength.

“Leodor, please be careful not to hurt her.” [???]

Even so, the gentle voice of the woman sitting next to him made sure to remind him to be careful. She had deep blue eyes which had corners that slightly drooped down, giving her an air of melancholy. From her shoulder-length black hair, two yellowish horns peeked out and there were cow ears on each side of her head. Above her buttocks was the slim tail of a cow that was white and black at the tip.

“Of course! In fact, why don’t you give this kid a hug too?” [Leodor]

Leodor let Snow go and she automatically went to the last two people that she hadn’t hugged yet.

“Aunty Sally! Mimi! *Sniff* I’m back!” [Snow]

The woman, Sally, lovingly embraced the crying girl while stroking her head which was buried in her huge breasts, a physical trait of the cowkin.

“Ueeehh~ Snow…! I’m glad you’re baaaack~!” [Mimi]

Her daughter that was sitting next to her was loudly crying, happy that she had returned. Besides her brownish red eyes, she looked like her mother, except that her hair was longer and she wasn’t well-developed since she was only nine years old.

“*Sniff* What are you standing there for, Myra? Come here so I can hug you too.” [Tali]

Discreetly wiping her cheek, Tali wore a smile and headed for Myra who was quietly standing next to her husband. Tears were streaming down her face as she watched her daughter reunited with these eight individuals. Because of her husband’s work, she had met them many times and they had grown close enough to be considered family.

Seeing them again made her feel warm and safe inside. Her husband was here. Her daughter was here. Her friends were here. They were undeniable proof that they had truly escaped that hellish situation and came back home. Still lost in her emotions, Myra stood still as Tali got hold of her and patted her head.

“Thank goodness you’re safe…” [Tali]

“…*Sniff* Y-yes…! I’m… really happy to see you all.” [Myra]

One by one, Meireld and Sally went to hug Myra as well. The fellow mothers greeted each other first and basked in joy and relief at Myra and Snow’s safe return. Then, the kids swarmed around the four of them and chirped like birds as they welcomed Myra back. The nosiest were the twins who were making a real cacophony of noise along with Snow who joined in for some reason.

In the end, with a lot of tears and heartfelt emotions, the family reunion continued on until everyone stopped hugging and crying. Once they were done and the two families settled down around the table, Leodor apologized for his uselessness.

“When you two went missing, I sent out my men to search for you, but we never found you.” [Leodor]

He combed the streets of his city and used his resources to search the lands of his kingdom. He sent out requests to other beastman nations and offered rewards, but nothing came up.

“I’m sorry.” [Leodor]

He said as he lowered his head.

“Please stop. As a king, you shouldn’t lower your head.” [Myra]

“That’s right, uncle! It’s not your fault!” [Snow]

“Gahahaha! If you say so!” [Leodor]

His regretful expression instantly turned into a jolly one, making it hard to tell if his apology was sincere.

“So…” [Leodor]

However, his eyes sharpened and the air around him changed once more to one where jokes weren’t allowed as he asked his next question.

“What happened?” [Leodor]

Myra began explaining how she disappeared with Snow chiming in here and there. This was an urgent matter that they had to discuss and they were all intently listening to her words.

“It was at night. I was at home, washing the dishes when I heard someone right behind me. Then, a hand covered my mouth. I struggled, but he didn’t let go and I got hit at the back of my head and… And I blacked out.” [Myra]

“Me too. I was in my room when the door opened and before I could see who it was, someone caught me from behind and knocked me out.” [Snow]

As these two explained how they were kidnapped from their own house and taken out of the city without anyone noticing, everyone’s expression grew either serious or scared. The king had an especially scary expression like a fierce animal. These two girls, who were like family to him, were so easily attacked while inside his city.

When they woke up, they were inside a cage on a rocking carriage that was rolling down the road. It was covered by a white cloth, so they couldn’t see outside, but they had probably left Ofauvra already. Also, riding with them was a hooded man wearing a thick mantle. He was keeping an eye on them to make sure that they wouldn’t cause a ruckus.

However, that was difficult to do since their hands as well as their legs were tied and their mouths were gagged. The man would change shift with his friends and they would watch over them with their swords at the ready. Their heads were covered by a hood, but she could see that their expressions were tense because they were in the middle of smuggling them outside of beastman territory.

If they were to get caught and these two’s identities were to be found out, they would be executed. That was why they stayed away from towns and the likes to avoid possible detection. With little food and water, their journey continued for months until they were sold off to another group composed of humans and became their slaves. It turned out that these men’s employer was a noble from Elea, which meant that they travelled all the way from Ofauvra to a human kingdom.

“How is that… How can no one notice? For humans to sneak inside our city…” [Tali]

“Relax, Tali. There’s no way humans can get in Ofauvra. They attract too much attention and would get spotted right away carrying Myra and little Snow.” [Meireld]

“… Beastmen, and an organized group to smuggle them out.” [Taniel]

The sharp-witted Meireld and Taniel both arrived at the same conclusion only for it to shock everyone even more.

“Traitors that would sell their own kind.” [Kirial]

Kirial muttered out with resentment. His lion ears twitched because of his anger.

“Did they target my family because of me?” [Taniel]

The prime minister said sadly. His wife that was sitting next to him placed her hand on top of his. His daughter who was on his other side patted his shoulder. Myra and Snow were interrogated for a while more to see if they didn’t remember anything that could identify their kidnappers. Unfortunately, no useful clues turned up.

“It’s almost like you said, Taniel. People did go after your wife and daughter to sell them off as slaves, but they weren’t humans. They were beastmen.” [Leodor]

“We don’t know that yet. However, beastmen and humans may be involved in this.” [Taniel]

Because of the quizzical gazes Myra and Snow were showing, the king told them that Taniel first thought they were kidnapped by humans and sold as slaves when they disappeared.

“Every day, he kept suggesting that we go to war. He was a man out for blood in his search for you two.” [Leodor]

“Like you can talk. You’d probably do the same thing.” [Tali]

With Tali’s joking remark, the serious talk on their kidnapping ended for now and they moved on to how the mother-daughter pair made it back.

“Arka reported to us already and he and his father should be meeting them now. But, I’d like to hear it from you two.” [Taniel]

“I’d say. You travelled with two humans and a Catallard?” [Leodor]

“Yeah! Tell us!” [Tota]

“Tell us!” [Tita]

“Then, I’ll explain!” [Snow]

Snow cheerfully raised her hand like an excited kid.

“Things were really bad for us, especially for me, but we were saved by this really strong human! It was a horrible first meeting, but he still saved us! He’s sometimes scary, sometimes weird, a bid childish and often lazy!” [Snow]

Through her experiences with him, she energetically described the man who saved her and her mother.

“His name is Ryner!” [Snow]

In a different kingdom, far away from Ofauvra, a maid was struggling to get away from a certain someone. She was on her way to do the laundry, but he had accosted her and had already dragged her in front of the door to his bedroom.

“P-please, I still have work to do!” [Maid]

“Is this any way to talk to your prince?” [Sirius]

The man, Sirius said as he put on a charming smile. However, it had little effect on the girl. The bad feeling she had whenever he looked at her was still present.

“Sirius, a servant she may be, it is certainly rude to get in the way of her work, don’t you think?” [???]

The voice of a man called out to him. Letting go of the maid’s shoulders, Sirius turned his sight to the source of the voice. There stood a man who had similar looks to him and who he saw quite often now that he had returned to Stornith. He had long brown hair and blue eyes as well as a moustache. His face was sharp and well-sculpted and he greatly resembled Sirius. It was his older brother.

“Please go about your work. I’ll be having a talk with my brother.” [Older brother]

“Y-yes! Excuse me!” [Maid]

The maid fled right away after bowing to the prince in gratitude and avoided eye contact with Sirius.

“What do you want, Promus?” [Sirius]

He asked with displeasure as his previous charming smile fell off his face.

“You’re good at smiling, but not at hiding your intentions. Some say women are more sensitive than men. If you don’t learn to disguise your desires in your eyes, they’ll keep fleeing from you.” [Promus]

For some reason, his older brother began to lecture him on the points he lacked.

“It’s because you can’t completely hide what you think that-.” [Promus]

“That what? That father won’t choose me to be the next emperor? Is that it? Huh? Is that what you were going to say?” [Sirius]

Annoyance and anger were clearly present in his voice.

“Just be glad that being confined in the castle was your only punishment.” [Promus]

Sirius opened his trembling mouth, but no word came out. He turned on his heels, opened the door to his bedroom, went inside and slammed the door shut. Standing still in the darkness, he took a few deep breaths to calm his violent impulses. He was tired of his brothers that were superior and of his father that never acknowledged his achievements. He had caused trouble to this family for what he did in Garroth, but he didn’t care.

What mattered was that he failed to become the king of that kingdom. He failed to get closer to his father. More importantly, he was horribly humiliated by that irksome man who came out of nowhere. He would never forget this shame for the rest of his life. His already wrathful face distorted even more with anger as his fists shook with fury.

“That man ruined everything.” [Sirius]

He murderously muttered under his breath as he recalled the one with the right, white eye. The royal family was at his mercy and he could have made it seem like he inherited the throne. Yet, with his appearance, all of his plans and hopes were destroyed.

“I should be king.” [Sirius]

“You can still be.” [???]

In this dark room where he should be alone, someone else spoke to him. Shocked and a bit frightened, he anxiously looked around him and vaguely saw the cloaked silhouette of a person kneeling on one knee in a corner of the opposite wall.

“Prince Sirius…” [???]

Eventually, as his fear dissipated, Sirius remembered who that person was from the sound of his voice.

“I have a proposition for you.” [Orga]

It was Orga.

*Author note* Chapter production will go back to normal, unless I post an elf chapter. Otherwise, it'll be a weekly release at the most.