Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

He pulled out his sword from its scabbard, his red eyes flashing to show his intentions of killing them.  However, the two shapeshifters flinched--they did not respond to his sword, but rather, to Aureus\' arrival.

The moment the young man with golden wings landed on the ground next to Drayce, the two men\'s bodies seemingly moved on their own and fell to their knees. Pure shock could be seen in their eyes, as if they were witnessing something impossible.

"A g-g-golden Divine Eagle?" one of them mumbled, while the other one spoke, "Is it really gold, or am I hallucinating?"

"You are not hallucinating," Aureus spoke as his wings folded behind his back.

Realizing the golden feathers on his wings, those gold-colored eyes, and that hair shining so bright it could rival the sun was something real and not an illusion or trick of eyes, the two shapeshifters immediately lowered their heads to properly pay their respects to him.

Aureus trembled upon seeing the devotion in their actions, and before he could ask anything, someone else spoke, "They are showing respect to the  Divine Eagle who is no less than a god for them."

Drayce and Aureus turned to look at the newcomer, and they were not surprised to see a familiar silver-haired elf.

"What do you mean by \'no less than a god\'?" Aureus asked, baffled by that statement.

The elf moved his gaze from those two shapeshifters to Aureus. "Are you not aware how important your existence is to your kind, the clan of Divine Eagles?"

Aureus was puzzled. One had to understand that he grew up living a nomadic life with his mother, then later as an orphan pitied by the previous Queen of Megaris. If he was truly an important existence, then that would make it seem like the life he was living was a lie.

"Let me explain to you," the elf said as he walked closer to them and stood in front of Aureus. "I believe you do know that not only the feathered races, the beastmen in general, strictly follow hierarchy based on the purity of their bloodlines."

Aureus nodded. "I know. For the Divine Eagle Clan, those with golden feathers are the most powerful, followed by the gray, brown and blue colors."

"Right!" the elf replied. "This is an absolute rank. Golden eagles are akin to royalty, gray eagles are nobles." He then looked at those two kneeling ones. "Brown eagles are like knights who are commonly turned into spies and informants, while blue eagles are like commoners. However, as divine beasts are superior to ordinary beastmen, even the lowest blue eagles have the strength of an average warrior because of their divine power."

Not only Aureus and Drayce, even the two surprised shapeshifters were listening intently to this elf who seemed extremely knowledgeable about the feathered race.

"In each generation, only one golden eagle can be born in the Divine Eagle clan. That means that you are not only the one with the strongest divine power, but you are also the one with the purest bloodline. Since Golden eagles are like their royalty, they are bowing to you as one even though they do not know you yet."

"You say in each generation...that means there is another golden eagle who is currently their king or queen?" Aureus asked with a bewildered gaze.

"There is no golden eagle in the current clan," one of the brown eagles spoke.

"The last one left more than a century ago." Based on their reaction, the elf seemed to know more than the eagles expected. He then turned his attention back to Aureus. "Your mother was the last golden eagle of the clan."

"My mother?"

The elf nodded. "Isn\'t that to be expected? Unless there are anomalies, a pureblood giving birth to a pureblood is a given. It is not wrong for them to bow to you as you should be their current king."

Aureus tried to calm himself, and asked the elf a question that bothered him. "You sound like you\'ve met my mother. Did you know my mother?"

The elf raised a brow. "Don\'t tell me Myra never mentioned me to you? Hah, I\'m offended. We belonged to the same side. Seems like, Myra also left Agartha after I did."

Hearing that name, all three Divine Eagles froze.

Drayce, who had been quietly listening to the entire time, spoke up. "That means these two belong to Agartha and someone from there had ordered these two to search for my wife."

Aureus had been shocked by this sudden revelation, but he got back to his senses when he heard Drayce\'s words. Seren\'s issue was more important, and for now, they needed to know why these people were searching for her.

Drayce asked them in a low voice, "Who ordered you? Is it a higher up from your clan?"

Neither eagle reacted, as if his question had fallen on deaf ears.

"Who ordered you to search for Seren Ivanov?" This time, Aureus took over the interrogation. "Answer me. If you are kneeling in front of me, that means you have submitted to me."

The two eagles shared a look and nodded, as if they made a decision.

"My Lord, there seems to be a misunderstanding," one of them spoke up in clarification. "We are not particularly targeting the Queen of this kingdom. We are merely informants dispatched under the orders of the King of Agartha to search for a purple-eyed woman."

"Why?" Aureus asked.

"That we don\'t know. We do not question the King\'s orders."

Before Aureus could force them, the elf came forward. "Do not be too harsh on them. These two are probably not lying. Even leaders such as this young king do not explain things to their subordinates, much less that arrogant Draven Aramis." The elf playfully glanced at Drayce\'s direction. "Incidentally, I see one arrogant king in front of me as well."

Drayce chose to ignore him and the elf continued to speak.

"Draven Aramis is annoying, but he\'s not unreasonable. Whatever is his reason, I hope both of you can solve it peacefully. Better if you two meet each other in person," the elf suggested.

Drayce had already heard about him from his mother and she always told him good things about him. It was reasonable of them to talk and find out the reason.

\'Agartha...\' Drayce looked at Aureus. "Do you want to go and see your homeland?"

Aureus felt his heart shake. "I guess I do."

Hearing that, the two kneeling men exclaimed with excitement, "My Lord, please come to Agartha with us!"

"The clan will surely rejoice to have you back home!"

Aureus stared at them with complicated feelings. He had so many questions in his mind. Why did his mother leave her homeland? Why did she not return to her kind and allow herself and her son to be put in danger? Why did she have to live like a poor wandering vagrant when she was the most powerful being among their kind, someone who could have lived a comfortable, luxurious life? Why didn\'t these people know of his existence? Did she hide her son from them?

And who were those hooded individuals after him and his mother?