Chapter 3: Adrian, the lightning dragon Part 2

Adrian’s POV, which will soon shift to Cedric's POV

Just as she started to slow down from running, she soon felt her body collide into soft fabric before feeling the sturdiness of the person she had bumped into. Upon her realization that she had bumped into someone, she quickly stepped backward.

“Ah, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going---“ Skyla started before the guy waved his hand dismissively, which caused her to stop talking mid-sentence.

“There isn’t anything for you to be sorry for; it was my honest mistake since it was me who wasn’t looking where I was going,” the guy said with a sweet smile on his lips, while his voice held a genuine kindness to it.

“But sir, she was the one who bumped into—“ the man spoke next to him, who appeared to be a guard of sorts in Skyla’s eyes. Skyla couldn't help but observe the stranger she had bumped into by accident in front of her; he was wearing a black button-up shirt along with gray pants that were tucked into black boots. The main thing that caught her eye was the golden chains that were attached to the front of his button-up shirt as well as the exquisite golden plates that were sewn upon the dark blue cape he was wearing that matched the golden swirls that were woven into the front of the cape. His attire was completed with a pair of black gloves that tied the whole outfit together. Skyla wondered if he was an aristocrat of sorts.

“Are you going against my word? Are you suggesting what I said was wrong?” the guy spoke before his blonde hair fell into his face a bit as he glanced over his shoulder to look at his guard with a threatening glare, and his cheerful tone had faded out to be replaced by a cold one.

“O-of course, not sir, I would never do such a thing,” his guard quickly spoke in a quiet voice, and it hadn’t taken his guard long to turn as pale as a ghost as soon as the blonde had opened his mouth. Even Skyla had been taken aback as well by the sudden change in the guy’s personality.

“Forgive me for any trouble I may have caused you. Though, I’m afraid I must be on my way now, if you’ll excuse me,” the blonde said as he soon placed his right hand upon his chest where his heart would be before giving her a slight bow, and his tone changed back to a polite one when he had been addressing Skyla again and not his guard.

“Err, it was really no trouble at all, really,” Skyla said with a politeness that matched his before her dark teal eyes focused on a silver lion head that was present upon the ring he was wearing on his right hand. She remembered it from somewhere, but she couldn’t quite place where exactly she had seen it. With that, he gave her a sweet smile before walking away from her along with his guard.

Once the blonde was in the distance, it had finally dawned on her that she had forgotten to ask the guy something important.

“I never asked him his name, but I guess I didn’t tell him my name either,” She whined to herself, placing her hands on her cheeks before she jumped forward when she heard an angry guy’s voice speak up from behind her that she knew all too well.

“Whose name? What the hell trouble did you get yourself into? I would appreciate it if you didn’t go running around town recklessly,” Adrian said in an unhappy tone as he crossed his arms. The piercing look that he was giving her would make anyone shiver on the spot.

“Eh, it really was nothing. Yeah..my bad,” Skyla stated, but Adrian raised an eyebrow at her when he realized she seemed to be drifting off in thought while she was speaking to him.

“What’s wrong? Something did happen, didn’t it?” Adrian said in a tone that he already figured that something was going to go wrong, so at this point, he wasn’t surprised.

“It’s nothing, I just thought I remembered something, but I guess not,” she said before softly smiling at him before she walked over to Adrian.

“So, shall we be going home now?” Skyla said once she was finally in front of him before giving him a playful wink that caused Adrian to sigh at her.

“Finally, it's about time,” Adrian said with relief, lacing his voice as he started to walk away with Skyla walking next to him.

If only he had more time, then he would’ve asked the girl who had bumped into him with light blue teal hair what her name was, but he was running short on time since his uncle had unexpectedly decided to pay him a visit and he was only informed this morning about his uncle's arrival.

“You know your guard was right, Cedric, about it not being your fault, yet I can’t seem to understand why someone like you would’ve apologized to a peasant girl like that, no matter how much I thought about it; it just doesn't make any sense in my book” A voice spoke out from an alleyway, which was all too familiar to Cedric. It belonged to his dear childhood friend, William, who he preferred to call Will for short.

“I didn’t know I had a babysitter today,” Cedric said as he tilted his head back to glance over at the alleyway where he heard his friend’s voice. It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of boots clicking against the concrete coming closer to him.

“Now, you’re just being cruel. How could you be mean to your dear best friend, and here I thought I was your favorite,” Will said with a pout upon his lips as he finally stood before his friend. He was a brunette whose bangs got longer as they approached the right side of his face. Will’s attire was similar to Cedric’s attire, except Will wore a white bottom-up shirt with black pants tucked into black boots with golden engraving towards the top of the boots. Will finished his attire with a black cape that was red on the underside with golden shoulder plates sewn onto the fabric, and he wore a pair of white gloves, which was the opposite of the black gloves that Cedric wore.

“Only because I wasn’t offered a refund, and I try not to be a troublemaker like you,” Cedric said with a soft sly grin upon his lips as soon as he saw Will’s right eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

“How dare you call me a troublemaker, as if I am one. And please, you would die without me as your friend; I'm just that valuable,” Will said, completely astonished that his friend would remotely call him a troublemaker even though he was one in Cedric’s eyes. But Will wasn’t entirely wrong; Cedric did value his friendship, and when he was at his all-time low, Will was there for him, but that wouldn’t stop Cedric from saying he didn’t need him.

“I’m surprised; I thought you didn’t care too much for my uncle, so why come along with me? It isn’t like I invited you,” Cedric said the first part based on the truth before he ended it playfully by stating it wasn’t like he invited Will to join him, so why would he bother torturing himself.

“Ah, so that’s who you’re going to see. You aren’t wrong; unlike you, he isn’t my favorite. I’m surprised he even paid a visit; why is your uncle here anyways, it's been awhile, hasn’t it?” Will said with curiosity lacing his voice as he looked over at his friend as the two of them walked together.

“It has been awhile since my uncle has paid a visit. I guess he wouldn’t really need to since I rule over this place pretty well after my parents passed. But, he did request me to bring him some basic magic materials, nothing major, of course,” Cedric said as he glanced over at his friend before looking straight ahead once Cedric's castle came into view.

“Well, I guess I can agree with your uncle on that; you are pretty amazing with running this place all by yourself. But~ I think you can do a lot better if you ask me; I guess you’re uncle must have low standards,” Will said with a grin as he walked past his friend as Cedric gave him an annoyed look. This was nothing new between the two of them and something that shouldn’t be taken seriously, but it would make sense if a stranger claimed it appeared that they hated each other by the way they could mock each other at times.

Upon reaching the throne room within the castle, Cedric turned his head to the red sofa that had golden stripes that were paired with golden lion heads, which was the symbol for Cedric’s royal family, on the edges of the sofa’s armrests to find his uncle who had been sitting patiently awaiting his arrival and it wasn’t long before a happy smile had graced his uncle’s lips.

“It’s been awhile, and I am happy to see my nephew is doing well, and your parents would be proud to see how their son has been running this kingdom, and I see that you brought your friend with you, William Swan,” his uncle said as he now stood up from the sofa.

“It’s nice seeing you again, Solomon Silvers, sir. May your visit here be a wonderful one. As always, the Swan kingdom welcomes you if you wish to pay our family a visit during your time here,” Will said politely as he placed his right hand on his chest where his heart would be before bowing.

“Ah, I will be sure to make time to pay your family a visit. After all, who would I be not to make time for one of our family’s valued allies, and I always appreciated you staying by my nephew's side to keep him company,” Soloman stated before his attention turned back to Cedric.

“Uncle, as you requested. I brought the materials you needed, and as happy as I am to have you visit after so long, if I may ask, why the sudden visit to Silverlya? I would’ve liked to know of your arrival beforehand so I could've made your visit more special,” Cedric stated before he heard his uncle chuckle.

“But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise, and there isn’t a need to make my arrival so special dear Cedric. Besides, I truly just wanted to see my dearest nephew, and who would I be if I didn’t stay around for the newest events that Silverlya will be hosting this year. It would be a shame if I missed out on them, wouldn't you say” Soloman said with a happy smile on his lips.

“Hmm, what’s this? Don’t think I’m afraid of some dragon now.”