"Oh, my son is so cute."

Bethsha cooed at Jason kindly, and Kai immediately exclaimed in jealousy!

"Huh? But what about me!?"

Queen Bethsha huffed.

"Those who run away from home aren't cute at all."

Kai's face immediately turned red as he ducked his head shamefully, and Bethsha grinned as she finally ruffled his hair as well, making him laugh in response. Jason chuckled at the whole interaction, and Queen Bethsha smiled at Jason before studying him for a moment. Out of all the half-children that Queen Bethsha had seen from her other sister-wives, Queen Bethsha couldn't deny that Jason was the one child that looked the most like Richard, and it was not only that, but Jason also had a magical Essence that was nearly identical to what Richard possessed. It is true that the Avaran gene was very strong, so all the children of Richard had more genetic resemblance to him than they did to their mothers, but it was almost unheard of for them to have almost no relation to their mother's race at all. Right now, it almost seemed like Jason was a hundred percent Avaran. Queen Bethsha didn't know if this was just a coincidence or if there was a greater reason behind such a similarity, but she was certain that this boy was special. Richard would want her to protect Jason and watch him grow, and that was exactly what Bethsha would do.

….

In a dark hallway within the castle, two figures were having a heated conversation in low voices. One of them was a small, old woman who was covered in a long scarf, and the other one was a bulky man with a gruff and deep voice. The old woman glared up at the large man as she spoke in anger.

"What is the meaning of this? I gave you everything you needed, and you still weren't able to get rid of the boy?"

The large man huffed in irritation.

"Don't question me. No one could have predicted the plan being foiled like this. And besides, you told me that the boy would be alone, and yet he was there with his handmaiden. You should be thankful that I haven't killed you for giving me the wrong information."

The old woman took a step back in fear when she heard this from the man, and she swallowed before she quickly tried to change the topic.

"So now what will you do? The boy is back home and under his mother's protection, and from what I hear, there is no chance he will be allowed out alone anymore. You might not get another chance to get rid of him. And what of the buyer who wanted to have the boy? Did you contact him yet?"

"Keep your nose out of my business, old woman. The buyer is of no concern to you. As for the boy, I intended to hand him off because I didn't want blood on my hands, but now that things have gotten to this point, I don't think I have much of a choice. Security will be tight around the boy from tomorrow, and it'll be hard to see him outside the castle anymore, so tonight will be the only opportunity we have to get rid of him. I'll contact you when I need you to carry out your portion of the plan, but until then, you will continue your regular duties. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

The large man nodded, and both of them began to go their separate ways, but unknown to either one of them, a piece of darkness shifted away from the man's shadow and attached itself to the old woman.

….

Jason hummed from his place at the head of a long table in the central dining area of the Vanta Royal Castle. Since Queen Bethsha managed to convince Jason and Gina to stay behind for the night, they were currently having a feast with all of Queen Bethsha's extended family, as well as some of the high-ranking members of the Vanta council. At first, Jason was a little skeptical about being introduced to so many new people – especially since he was supposed to be in hiding – but Queen Bethsha assured him that she would only introduce him to the people that she trusted to stay quiet about his presence here.

"Oh my god, that ring is so beautiful. It matches your eyes really well."

"Did you ever see a Floudring when travelling? They say it's the largest sea animal in the Primordial Expanse. Almost a thousand miles across!"

"Hey, Jason. I have a friend who researches dragons, and he told me that there's a new Kingslayer that shook up the dragon hierarchy in a distant world by killing one of the most powerful dragons. Don't tell me that's actually you."

"Hey, pass the butter."

"This shark is divine! Nom! Nom! Nom! Why haven't we eaten this before now!?"

"Stop stuffing your face and slow down!"

The table was an absolute madhouse of conversation and questions from all different angles! On Jason's left side, there were multiple cousins and uncles who were discussing the various situations around the Primordial Expanse and trying to get Jason to tell them more about his travels, and on Jason's right side, there were various aunts and nieces who were drilling Gina on her relationship with Jason and cooing over the ring that Jason had given her. Queen Bethsha was sitting at the other end of the table opposite Jason, and she was also talking with some of the family members close to her. This was all completely new to Jason. Even though Jason was used to eating dinner with family, this was the first time that he would have so many people at the dinner table at the same time, causing so much chaos. And in a strange way, Jason couldn't deny that he liked it. This was the liveliest dinner that Jason had ever had, and from the looks on the faces of everyone there, as well as the way they laughed and enjoyed themselves freely, Jason could tell that this was a very tight-knit family.

At the other end of the table, Queen Bethsha was having a conversation with an older couple beside her as they glanced towards Jason curiously. The older couple were Queen Bethsha's aunt and uncle, who had taken care of her for a long time after her parents died, and they couldn't help the shock they felt when they got a close look at Jason.

"How is this even possible? The similarity is unbelievable. It's like I'm sitting right in front of Richard right now."

The older woman spoke up in awe as she put a hand over her cheek, and Queen Bethsha nodded and told them about how shocked she had been the first time she saw him.

"If he didn't tell me he was Richard's son, I would've thought Richard just got de-aged and appeared in front of me. I couldn't believe it either. And you can feel his Essence as well, right?"

The older woman nodded and said that it was very similar to Richard, but the older man let out a gruff sound in response and shook his head.

"The Essence is not just similar, it's identical. The only reason we notice any difference at all is because of the minor addition of his mother's genes. If we only consider his Avaran essence, then that boy is an exact clone of Richard. He even looks more like him than Gregory. I hope you don't intend to say anything about this to the first family."

Queen Bethsha's eyes narrowed, and she immediately shook her head. The first family that the old man was talking about was the first wife and children of Richard Marc. Talking about them was a very delicate thing. All the sister-wives were careful not to come in contact with the first wife because the first wife and her children have always been known to be unwelcoming to the rest of the family.

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