#3: The Two Grandpas
One day, a letter from his daughter, Riccia, arrived at the place Beryl was staying.
Since the letter had been sent through Lydia, the Spirit of Time, Beryl assumed it was from his granddaughter, Ruri, but he was wrong. He wondered why the letter had been sent by Riccia instead of Lydia’s contract-bearer, Ruri.
“Why didn’t Ruri send it?”
“Maybe Riccia has business with you?” Andal suggested.
“But shouldn’t she have gone through Ruri since she’s the contract-bearer?”
“Fair point. Well, maybe it’ll be clear once you read it. Open it up,” urged Andal.
Beryl took the paper out of the envelope and began to read. The more of the letter he read, the less capable he was of containing his excitement.
Beryl shouted his lungs out.
“Keep it down, will you?!” Andal shouted back, covering his ears. “What in the hell is it?”
Andal glanced at the letter Beryl was holding, but all he could see was a series of mysterious characters that he couldn’t read. It was only natural that he couldn’t read the writing from the other world. Giving up quickly, he decided to ask Beryl for an explanation.
“What did Riccia say?”
“That...Ruri is pregnant.”
“Wow, that’s wonderful news. I’m sure you’re in store for a strong grandchild. Right, that’s why Riccia contacted you instead of Ruri, huh? She’s probably busy preparing for the delivery.”
“She says to come back quick.”
“Well, yes. Your grandchild is going to be born, so you should get back there for it. Dragonkin children grow fast, after all. If you dawdle, you’ll miss them growing up, you know,” Andal said, like it was Beryl’s problem to deal with alone, but Beryl stared at him.
“What?”
“Riccia’s letter that your grandson is going to be born soon too.”
“Huh?” Andal’s voice cracked. He had no idea what Beryl was saying. He uttered again, “Huh?”
He snatched the letter from Beryl’s hands and tried to read it, but the otherworldly characters populated the page. “Grk, I can’t understand this damn thing!”
“Swearing at the letter isn’t going to accomplish anything,” Beryl said.
“What do you mean?! Me with a grandchild?! When?!” Andal went from an uninterested party to being more flustered than Beryl.
“It says, ‘Andal’s son’s wife is pregnant. She is waiting delivery at the Nation of the Dragon King castle, so bring him along with you.’”
“Which of his consorts?” asked Andal.
“Says his main one,” replied Beryl.
“He wasn’t supposed to have a main one. What is going on? No, it’ll be faster to see with my own two eyes. We’re heading to the Nation of the Dragon King at once!”
“But it’s already getting dark.”
“You’re a Beloved. As long as you’re around, we’ll be fine, even if we travel down an animal trail at night. Let’s hurry!”
“R-Right.”
Pressured by Andal, they rushed out of their inn. A few days later, they received word that Ruri’s baby had been born. Beryl complained about it being way too fast, carried Chi and Andal in both arms, and made a mad dash to the Nation of the Dragon King.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login