The four people finished their meal in a harmonious atmosphere and Wen Ya hurriedly shooed the children away as soon as they stopped eating, lest her husband change his mind again.

Jinde looked up at Chun Yin, wondering where they would go. He hadn’t seen much of the palace yet, only ever walking from his room to the courtyard and back again. Unless their Master wanted to take them elsewhere, those were the only places he visited.

Chun Yin took his hand and carefully pulled him out of the suite of rooms the king and queen shared, making his way down the hall outside.

Jinde next to him turned his head this way and that, looking at everything curiously. He had seen a bit of the palace the day he moved in but it was very little and he hadn’t had the time to look carefully. It was only now that he got the chance to observe everything in detail.

Chun Yin slowed down when he saw him want to watch everything. Anyway, even though he had a destination in mind, it didn’t seem to matter much. He just wanted him to feel comfortable. After all, as his senior martial brother, he was responsible for him. While their Master wasn’t there, Jinde should listen to him and he would protect him. Yes, that was an important task.

Their Master and their Master’s wife had both stressed this to him and he also knew from his mother that you should take care of the people fighting at your side. Whether they were soldiers who fought against the demons with you or just someone studying under the same Master so you would become ferocious warriors in the future, it should be the same.

Although … Chun Yin glanced at the thin child holding his hand. Somehow, Jinde didn’t look like he could be ferocious at all. He knew that they were about fifty years apart so it might mean nothing but he was so short and so thin and half the time, he would silently follow him around, not even saying a word. ‘Ferocious’ really wasn’t a word he could associate with him.

Of course, if he thought of his mother, she also looked as if she was an elegant lady like their queen … until she opened her mouth or took out her weapon. Then suddenly, that whole image collapsed and she could be quite scary to people. That just went to prove that you should not judge people by their appearances.

The pair of disciples made their way down the winding hallways of the dragon king’s palace. In this place lived not just the king’s family but also those of his advisers, the generals, and many of the soldiers.

The set of rooms allocated to General Lin Cai was further to the back of the palace, close to the training grounds of the soldiers, and in a position that could be vital to defend the palace if it was under attack. Their family wasn’t big. Apart from Lin Cai herself, there was only her wife Yuan Yin, and their son, Chun Yin. Now, Chun Yin had been accepted as the king’s disciple and even though they still lived in the same building, the time the child and his mothers saw each other had dwindled a lot. Now, only the two women were left in the rooms that had already seemed generously spaced before.

Chun Yin pulled Jinde up to the door and opened it without bothering to knock. At this time, one of his mothers should be training while the other … eh, who knew what Yuan Yin would be busy with? Even her son couldn’t guess.

Looking around the room, Chun Yin found it to be empty. He hummed, and then led Jinde through the suite of rooms and out through the back. Past the square, the two of them could see the training grounds. A woman’s loud voice echoed at this moment, scolding someone.

Chun Yin’s lips twitched. “That’s my mom. Just ignore her.” He pulled Jinde’s hand again and led him in the other direction, down the path between the building and the training grounds. Soon, the ruckus was left behind and they came to a small grove.

Jinde still looked around curiously. Even though many of the soldiers’ families lived in the palace, that was only true for those who actually worked in the palace itself. His father, Jiang Li, had been a soldier as well but he had been assigned to the city so the place where they lived was also inside the city. Before his mother brought him to the palace to be taken in as the king’s disciple, he had never seen it up close. The same went for the training grounds or the other places close by. This was his first time coming here.

Chun Yin still walked slowly so he’d have enough time while his own gaze also brushed over their surroundings. He had grown up in the household of a general and these months since they started to learn under the tutelage of the king, had also impressed many things upon him. The most important lesson was likely that if you came to any new place, you had to observe closely, or bad things might happen. Right now, he was not just responsible for his own safety but also for Jinde’s so he had better pay even more attention. When they came back, there couldn’t be a single scratch on Jinde’s hair and not one of those golden hairs was allowed to be out of place. Otherwise, he would have failed his duty as his senior martial brother.

The two of them finally made their way to the middle of the grove. A small clearing opened up in front of their eyes, marked by a tiny pond lined by big stones. To the dragons who loved water, having ponds and small lakes throughout their capital city was a must. Chances were that this place had been chosen by them to settle down in precisely because of the abundance of water.

Chun Yin led Jinde over to the stones and helped him climb onto the smallest one. The temperature had dropped by a lot and it was cold. The surface of the pond was covered by a thin sheet of ice but even if it hadn’t been, it probably would have been too cold for a dragon child as young as Jinde to go inside. Dragons might be creatures of the air and water and could stand the cold quite well but … a child was still a child. It was better to be careful.

Having made sure that Jinde was sitting tight and wouldn’t fall in, Chun Yin sat down next to him and looked at the frozen lake. “I came here in the past sometimes when I wanted to be alone.”

Jinde turned to look at him, blinking his golden eyes in confusion. They clearly weren’t alone now so he couldn’t quite understand what Chun Yin meant to express.

The other dragon child turned to him, feeling lost on how to make him understand what he meant. “Well … I’ve shown you. Now, you can come here in the future as well if you want to be alone.”

Jinde still blinked his eyes in confusion. “Together?”

Chun Yin was stumped. If they went together, they’d hardly be alone … But then, he still nodded in the end. “Sure.” Anyway, he had come here alone because he didn’t have anyone to come here. He was his parents’ only child and when he came here, it was usually because someone had gotten on his nerves and he felt that neither of his mothers would understand. But Jinde had him, right?

In the future, if he wanted to get away from something because he felt sad or angry, then of course, he could accompany him here and they could slowly talk about everything. He’d certainly be super understanding and help him deal with his problems. As a qualified senior martial brother, that’s what he ought to do!

Chun Yin nodded to himself and then reached up, patting Jinde’s shoulder again. “You don’t have to worry at all. Since I’m your senior martial brother, I’ll always be there to help you. It’s also alright to just sit and listen to you.” He looked at the small face of the person next to him and pursed his lips. “There … Is there something you want to talk about?”

“Like what?”

“Like … how it is suddenly living in the palace or … how you like Master and his wife … or … how you’re doing with practice.”

Jinde blinked his eyes. “But aren’t you always there when we practice?”

Chun Yin gave a hum. “Yeah. So not that, I guess. What about the rest?” To be honest, he was more worried about the rest. His own parents lived in the palace and even though they weren’t seeing each other every day, both of them still came to take a look every now and then. He hadn’t seen Jinde’s mother around though and his father … well, he had died earlier this year from what he had overheard from their Master and his wife. That had to be tough for Jinde.

Jinde thought for a while. “Master is really strict. But Master’s wife is really nice.”

Chun Yin nodded. Their Master was indeed strict, although it had to be said that he went easier on Jinde compared to him. “It was nice of her to let us go in and have soup today.” To be honest, while he wouldn’t have minded continuing to practice, it was nice getting a break every now and then as well.

“Mn!” Jinde nodded happily. He wasn’t sure what else to say though. Everything had been very different these months and he still wasn’t sure when he’d go back. Anyway, it was alright for now. It was just … “I miss my mom a little.” He fell silent and looked down, pursing his lips. “I miss my dad a little more.” The two of them had always been closer even though he had spent less time with him. Whenever his father would come home though, he’d be fully focused on him, telling him stories or playing with him. He really missed that.

Chun Yin nodded, quietly thinking that he was a very qualified senior martial brother for having gotten that out of Jinde so fast. He reached out and patted his shoulder again in consolation. “I’m sorry he’s gone. He is a real hero though. Without him, our Master wouldn’t be around any longer. That would be bad.”

Jinde looked up. He still didn’t quite understand what had happened. He just felt that his father not being around any longer was bad as well so there didn’t seem to be much of a difference between these two.

Chun Yin didn’t know him for long and couldn’t really tell how Jinde was doing. He just felt that consoling him seemed the normal thing to do. As for how to console … he also didn’t know. In the end, he could only pat his shoulder again. “Anyway, you have me now. It’s not like you’re alone.”

Jinde nodded. “Mn.” He definitely wasn’t!

Chun Yin heaved a sigh of relief and looked around for something else to do. This was a good spot to be alone for a while and think but with the pond frozen, it was a bit boring. Since Jinde didn’t seem like he wanted to talk, it almost felt as if they had come here for nothing. He sighed again, this time in resignation, and then just picked up some snow, rolling it into a ball, and throwing it to the other side of the pond. Finally, he motioned over there. “You try it too.”

Jinde didn’t know why they were doing this but since Chun Yin said so, he followed suit.

Soon, the snow around them had been cleared, and on the other side of the pond was a mess of scattered snowballs that had broken upon impact. The thin layer of ice on the pond also hadn’t survived.

Looking at the several holes that had opened up with time, Chun Yin gave a hum. “Don’t worry. In the future, your senior martial brother will teach you how to shoot. You’ll see, under my guidance, you’ll definitely become great!” Anyway, he couldn’t really get any worse than this … He still patted Jinde’s shoulder in encouragement before pulling him down the big rock and back toward the palace. “It’s late today. Let’s go back for now. We can come here again in the future.”

“Mn!” Jinde nodded and hurried to follow him. By now, his little hands had turned cold again. “Do you think Master and his wife left us some soup?” It really had been nice and warm.

Chun Yin glanced at the wistful look that didn’t seem to fit onto that small face and then at the hand, he was holding and hummed. “I guess so. If they haven’t … just beg her. I’m sure she’d make you another bowl.” Clearly, Jinde had the kind of face that would make people feel like they should help out. And anyway, as a little junior or someone’s youngest disciple, naturally, people should take care of him. That was just a matter of course.