Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1159: Chapter 1158: By Chance and Coincidence

The atmosphere in the main hall of Cecil Palace was somewhat peculiar ten minutes later.

Gawain stood expressionlessly, with the two familiar dragons—Blue Dragon Melita Ponia and White Dragon Noreta—a bit ahead of him. Behind him, Aunt Heidi and Rebecca were present in the capacity of ”Royal Family Members,” while Amber hid nearby, soaking in the drama. In the center of everyone, a large dragon egg quietly rested on the ground, with the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the high windows, casting dappled shadows across the upper half of its shell.

”I might not have heard clearly just now...” After a period of silence in the hall, Gawain finally broke the quiet, ”Could you introduce this again?”

”This is the dragon egg Noreta and I adopted,” Melita Ponia said earnestly, ”It hasn’t been named yet. The embassy side still needs some time to prepare, and the environment over at the Autumn Palace isn’t quite suitable for egg hatching, so we decided to bring it here for you to see. We’re wondering if you could make some arrangements for it...”

”Alright, I understand.” Gawain waved his hand and covered his forehead before the other could finish speaking, finally confirming he hadn’t misheard—a fact he had been doubtful of earlier. The Blue Dragon lady had returned home briefly and surprisingly brought back a dragon egg along with White Dragon Noreta... Earlier, he was concerned about any ”surprises” that might leave him at a loss brought by the Blue Dragon lady, but now he’s determined that for the rest of his life, he shouldn’t dwell on unnecessary thoughts when there’s nothing amiss...

”You seem somewhat troubled?” White Dragon Noreta’s keen observation and delicate mind quickly caught something from Gawain’s subtle expression. ”Apologies for the impulsiveness; as diplomats, bringing up such a personal matter with a head of state like you is indeed unorthodox...”

”Oh, it’s not that, I’m just a bit surprised,” Gawain hurriedly waved his hand, realizing the other had misunderstood his demeanor, ”I didn’t expect you to... bring a dragon egg over. Honestly, I never associated such a matter with Melita Ponia.”

”You were quite surprised too, weren’t you?” Rebecca finally found the chance to speak and energetically stepped forward a few paces. ”Let me tell you, Aunt and I were even more surprised than you when welcoming the diplomatic envoy! Miss Noreta landed with a dragon egg directly—this wasn’t mentioned in the diplomat roster sent from Talronde! But later, Aunt explained it to me, and I found it reasonable too, since the egg hasn’t hatched yet, it can be considered as luggage, no problem...”

”Rebecca,” Aunt Heidi finally stepped forward two steps before the girl’s mouth ran completely out of control and placed a hand on her shoulder, ”You can quieten down for a moment.”

Rebecca glanced at the veins faintly appearing on Aunt’s hand, causing her neck to feel an unexpected chill. Her entire being shrank like a startled squirrel, falling silent.

”Sorry, the child’s imagination is overly fertile,” Gawain said, embarrassedly nodding towards Melita Ponia and Noreta. Fortunately, Rebecca’s interruption eased the odd atmosphere, allowing Gawain to focus on Melita Ponia. ”Arranging this for you isn’t a problem, but I’m a bit curious; what suddenly prompted you to raise a... um, a young dragon? I truly can’t imagine this happening to you, especially considering that such ’customized’ upper echelons of Dragonkin are quite indifferent to familial tendencies. You should have no inclination to rear young dragons...”

”Because Talronde needs more young dragons; we need more of the next generation,” Melita Ponia stated calmly. ”There are young dragons that haven’t undergone implant modifications, whose nervous systems haven’t been deteriorated by enhancers, and whose world views can be freshly built—Talronde needs these healthy offspring to extend a healthy dragon civilization.”

She paused momentarily, her gaze falling on the dragon egg nearby, her face showing a gentle smile. ”Additionally, you were somewhat misleading; ’customized’ upper echelons of Dragonkin might indeed be indifferent to familial concepts, but we’re not emotionless ’commodities’... That war altered many things. If we can break the chains of gods, what else can’t be changed?”

Following Melita Ponia’s speech, Gawain’s expression became considerably earnest, the absurd and helpless emotions he felt earlier vanished. At this moment, he seemed to truly realize this somewhat unreliable ”agent lady” has gone through much... She adopted a dragon egg, and behind this seemingly abrupt action lies a reason deserving of respect and blessing.

”I understand now,” he solemnly nodded, ”I’ll ensure proper arrangements for you... Moreover, I wish more young dragons could hatch smoothly and healthily. One day, Talronde will thrive again.”

”Thank you very much for your blessings.” Melita Ponia sincerely bowed her head, formally accepting Gawain’s wish, while an inquisitive expression appeared on Noreta’s face. ”How do you plan to arrange our dragon egg? We need a stable environment suitable for hatching, and considering the embassy’s duties, we might also require...”

”Actually, I happen to have a place here that meets the requirements,” Gawain smiled and nodded before the other could finish speaking, feeling a sense of wonder at life’s coincidences—he thought of the hatching room where Enya resides, believing the hatching system there was out of use, yet it found purpose at this moment. ”Not only does it have a suitable hatching environment, but it might even have a ’roommate’ that can accompany your dragon egg.”

He paused suddenly, cautiously adding, ”Of course, whether it’s feasible requires asking the concerned ’person’ for their opinion, but based on what I’ve gathered recently, it shouldn’t pose any issue.”

”You mean...” Noreta clearly couldn’t grasp what Gawain was saying. She looked puzzled, glancing at Gawain, then at her friend next to her, catching a thoughtful expression on Melita Ponia’s face. ”Melita, do you have any idea?”

Melita Ponia, awakened from her musings, slightly twitched her face, her eyes instantly showing tension as she stared directly into Gawain’s eyes. ”Wait, the one you mentioned is...”

”She wants to meet you,” Gawain interrupted Melita Ponia with a slight smile, ”Coincidentally, now we have ample reason for a visit. No time like the present, shall we go now?”

Noreta was completely bewildered, her gaze shifting between Gawain and Melita Ponia. ”So what exactly are you talking about? I don’t understand a word!”

”Just consider it a surprise,” Gawain maintained the mysterious smile and stopped Melita Ponia from speaking further with a glance. ”Once we’re there, you’ll understand.”

From the surprises he received today, it felt apt now to present others with a bit of surprise too.

”Do you want to come along?” Gawain turned to Aunt Heidi and Rebecca, asking, ”If you don’t have any plans afterward...”

”Me me me! I’ll join in the fun!” Before Gawain could finish speaking, Rebecca had already jumped up, and Aunt Heidi beside her didn’t even have time to stop her. ”Just thinking about it feels interesting, they’re all eggs... hey!”

The girl had barely taken a few jumps before her aunt slapped her on the back, making her wilt immediately. Heidi’s voice came from beside her, ”Do you have to join in every fun? This kind of thing should be handled by the ancestors!”

”Actually, it’s nothing much... but having fewer people is also good,” Gawain looked at Rebecca, who had her head down, and the visibly troubled Aunt Heidi with some helplessness, shook his head with a smile, and said, ”Then you all take a rest first, I’ll take them to the Hatching Room. Oh, right, Amber, you stay too.”

As he spoke, he reached out towards the air beside him and grabbed. The Shadow Assault Goose, who was invisibly trying to sneak over to the dragon egg, was pulled out by him, struggling and flailing in the air before being tossed aside.

...

Two minutes later, Gawain was walking down the corridor leading to the Hatching Room with two ”envoys” from Talronde. Nuoletta kept turning back to look towards the main hall. After hesitating several times, she finally couldn’t help but break the silence: ”I always thought you were a very serious and dignified person, maybe even a bit... rigid. The way you interact with your family and friends surprised me.”

”In private, I’m always like this. Rather than a serious and hierarchically strict ’royal atmosphere,’ I prefer a relatively relaxed family atmosphere and friendships,” Gawain said with a smile. ”Melita should also have some understanding of this.”

”I don’t feel much about that,” Melita smirked and said, ”My strongest impression is constantly having to monitor my heart’s health when talking to you.”

Upon hearing this, Gawain immediately cleared his throat — he now knew many secrets about Talronde’s once divine shackles, and naturally understood what the physical anomalies Melita Ponia experienced during their deep conversations were all about. This topic inevitably embarrassed him, but luckily, there were plenty of other topics to switch to:

At this moment, the dragon egg was floating beside Melita, surrounded by numerous Dragon Language Runes on its surface. Melita was controlling the egg’s levitation through these runes, a unique ”carrying the young” solution.

”You two are co-adopting this dragon egg, so when it hatches... who’s the young dragon supposed to call mom?” he asked with some curiosity. ”Or have you not thought about this?”

”It’s simple, two mothers,” Melita said quite naturally. ”Why not? Both Noreta and I are female, do we have to draw lots to decide who gets to be ’father’?”

Gawain was momentarily stunned, and within those few seconds of being dazed, he heard Noreta continue, ”The social order in Talronde hasn’t fully rebuilt yet. To ensure basic management functions, we’ve formed many ’temporary families.’ But rather than calling it a ’family,’ it’s more like banding together for mutual support in a harsh survival environment. The original concept of family in Talronde was already different from that in Loren Continent. After the disaster, things became more complicated. Situations like Melita’s and mine are quite common there — some dragon eggs even face having three fathers upon hatching!”

”This...” Gawain was dumbfounded. He had envisioned the various situations Talronde would face in the upcoming social reconstruction but had not expected such a scenario to occur. He could only express his amazement at the ”truly being a people from the Cyber Era” and shook his head, ”This is unprecedented... complex.”

”Yes, complex and chaotic, but at this stage, our resources are limited, and more importantly... with the implants and enhancers’ long-term erosion and transformation, coupled with the final trauma from the battle of the gods, it’s hard to say how many dragons left in Talronde can form stable, normal families. You have seen our current dragon forms. You find the scars on me and Melita alarming, right? But in reality... in today’s Talronde, we are even considered ’healthy’ ones, which is why we were sent out for such an important diplomatic mission, while most of our compatriots... their physiological and psychological wounds are irreparable for life.

”Talronde’s dragons might still appear strong, especially compared to most creatures on Loren Continent. But by dragon standards, over ninety percent of our members are almost permanently disabled — without the Omega System, implants can’t repair themselves, biological modifications can’t be reversed, and enhancers can’t be replenished. All these traumas will accompany ninety percent of the dragons for life. This is the future we are destined to face.

”That’s why we’re so eager to hatch more young dragons because today’s Talronde... really needs more healthy generations.”

Noreta calmly described the dire situation the ”remaining generation” of Talronde was facing, which also made Gawain’s expression turn serious. When this topic came to an end, they had already stopped at the corridor’s end.

The door to the Hatching Room stood silently before them.

Melita’s expression instantly became somewhat tense, while Noreta’s gaze towards the door was slightly puzzled and contemplative. Gawain stepped forward, placing his hand on the door: ”Let’s go in — she’s been waiting for you two for a long time.”

The door, covered in magic symbols, slowly opened, and a bright, temperature-controlled Hatching Room appeared before the two Talronde envoys.

In the sunlight, the surface of the pale golden giant egg shimmered with a layer of warm and gentle glow. She stood in the middle of the room as if she were a hostess welcoming guests. A gentle but slightly laughing voice came from within the eggshell: ”You have arrived — Melita, and Noreta. Long time no see.”

”...It’s really you,” after a few seconds of silence, Melita finally calmed her emotions, took a light breath, and stepped forward, ”When Gawain mentioned it earlier, I guessed it...”

”This...” Noreta was still in tremendous shock, but she was gradually coming to her senses — although when Melita first returned to Talronde, she was not yet privy to the information that ”the Dragon God’s humanity still remains in the world,” after being chosen as a mission member and designated as a liaison officer, she had already learned about the existence of ”Dragon Egg Enya” from Speaker Andar. However, knowing is one thing, and seeing it with her own eyes is another. She stared at the golden giant egg in the center of the room for a long time, finally continuing nervously, ”Are you...?”

”I am, but also not,” the voice from the golden egg carried a smile, exuding a calm-inducing power. ”Relax, child, here you can call me by my name — just call me Enya.”