Talon's eyes widened, but a big smile appeared, "Great! We have many resources that your kingdom can use, son; we can chat about it over dinner," he said while putting his arm around his shoulder. "My fourth wife is cooking, and she is brilliant at it, ain't that right, Aria?"
"Yes, you lewd shark! You fell in love with the woman's cooking and married her, then she pops out pups that love the sa thing," Aria replied in a fed-up tone, causing everyone to laugh.
The group entered the palace and was guided to the dining room by a maid. While walking, Detra grabbed his left arm while Mary took it with a love-filled smile as she spoke, "I heard your Item Box is full of Manaheart Stones; what are your plans with them?"
"They will power the trains, airships, and ships, my love," Archer answered excitedly. "Dagny's report also said they can power the apartnt blocks across the kingdom."
When Mary and Detra heard this, they both smiled. Detra asked, "What happens when you mine the seafloor around Draconia?"
Mary replied, "It will take nearly a decade to explore and extract resources fully. The seafloor is riddled with underground mazes. Not to ntion, there's the Underrealm beneath it, where we can gather even more valuable materials."
"Well, the oceans of Thrylos are so large that no one ever explored it," Mary comnted happily as the group entered the dining hall. "Maybe our children will be the ones to achieve it."
As they all sat down, Archer heard a giggle in his ear before his consciousness was dragged sowhere, but the voice spoke in a friendly manner, "Don't worry, white dragon. You saved many of my children and gave them hos; I want to show you a snippet of the future as a thank you."
Once Archer ca to, he realized he was standing on military docks as three odd-looking ships were being loaded with supplies as sailors boarded. His gaze swept over the Dragon Marines aboard the ships, but his attention was suddenly caught by five young won who took his breath away.
One of them stood out in particular-she was the spitting image of Edith, with the sa white hair but adorned with horns erging just above her ears. Her violet eyes mirrored his own, and she was dressed in a Draconian Marine uniform.
Archer's heart skipped a beat. 'Is that... our daughter?'
The next girl had the sa striking white hair but with cat ears perched atop her head and a tail that swayed rhythmically behind her. Her srizing green cat eyes glowed in the morning sun, creating a captivating contrast with her features.
She resembled a female version of himself, seamlessly blending his traits with Leira's. The third girl had rich chocolate brown skin, white hair, and glowing red lion eyes reminiscent of Nala's, but her skin was much darker than the lion princess.
Archer watched as her lion ears twitched and her tail swayed with excitent. 'Who is this girl? I don't recall eting any brown-skinned lionesses.'
Suddenly, a na flashed in his mind, 'Inara, the gorgeous lioness from the Lionheart Kingdom on Pluoria.'
As Archer rembered Inara, a smile spread across his face. He made a ntal note to visit her when he had the chance. His attention shifted to the fourth girl, who stood out with her striking blood-red hair, dark skin, and violet dragon eyes.
'I need to go see her when we're back from the Shadowborne empire,' he mused.
She bounced energetically while chatting with her sisters. Archer couldn't help but smile as he watched her dragon tail sway rhythmically behind her, "Sera's daughter, just like her mother,' he chuckled internally.
Next, Archer's gaze settled on the last girl. She had short white hair, striking blue cat eyes, and a pair of lion ears similar to the other lioness, 'who is this? Another lioness who isn't Inara or Nala,'
As that thought appeared, he rembered his jokes with Lioran about his Grandmother Malaika Lionheart, 'We t and had a daughter?' Archer thought in utter shock.
Following that scene, it suddenly changed to one of the ships sailing through a storm as two girls stood chatting on the deck. One was Edith's daughter, and the other was Inara's, which caught his interest.
"Sahara, did you see Father before we left?" the white-haired girl comnted. "I know you two argued, but he loves you dearly."
The lioness tutted before speaking, "Elyse. Why are you getting involved? His jokes go to far, he nearly burned my hair! Even Mother Ella scolded him for it."
Elyse nodded thoughtfully. "I know he can be annoying sotis, but the Mothers shared stories about his tough childhood. He wanted to offer us sothing different, and he has," she said warmly.
The white-haired girl put her hand on the lioness one, who took it with a smile as Elyse continued, "Father may be an emperor, but he treats all of us equally, even with our small army of sisters. You know he adores and loves us all the sa, Sahara. Rember how he has dispatched the mythical First with Sister Ava at the helm to protect us? You know how dedicated she is and how much he values that fleet."
Archer chuckled at this, his heartwarming as he listened to the two girls. Sothing about their conversation touched a deep, unhealed part of him. He realized, almost unknowingly, that their words were beginning to nd a broken part of his soul.
Yet, he knew this healing was only the beginning, 'Am I still broken then? Maybe,' he shrugged before turning back to the girls.
"I know Ely; I love him wholeheartedly, but he can sotis be overbearing. He seems to forget where his daughters inherited his strength, but I understand, and he is just being stubborn,'' Sahara replied with a smile.
Archer bead, but the air changed, and an older version of him appeared behind the lioness. In the future, he spoke, "I'm sorry, Sahara, I will stop teasing you."
The two girls scread in fright, but the lioness quickly spun around and lunged forward, embracing the future version of Archer. She buried her head in his chest, mumbling apologies. Archer's face softened into a smile at the heartfelt gesture.
The scene shifted abruptly, and he found himself in a pristine white room. A figure was seated at a table, and as it stood up, it spoke in a mature woman's voice. "Thank you for saving my children, Archer Wyldheart. I hope this has been of so help to you."
Archer regarded the stranger with a thoughtful nod. "It has indeed," he replied. "It's brought to light so things I had forgotten."
The figure nodded, "Now return to your dinner. This is the last ti we shall et, as my people are flourishing under your care."
He was just about to ask who her people were, but he reappeared in the dining room as Detra shook him, "Are you okay, Arch? You just went still," she asked in a concerned tone.
Archer shook his head, "I'll tell you, ladies, later; I'm hungry and need to eat,'' he replied with a charming smile.
After that, the maids brought out sea dishes. Archer found them all interesting and started eating so fish that tasted like cod from Earth but spicy, which he enjoyed. While everyone ate, Talon questioned, "Does your kingdom trade food, Arch?"
"Yes. We've been told it's good by the other kingdom representatives who visit our kingdom," Archer replied while taking a bite of so sweet beard. "There are too many foods to na, but I will get a list to you once I'm back ho."
Talon nodded with a knowing smile, "I have read so of my scout's reports that you have
set up strange platforms that cast a shield under the surface, allowing your people to mine the
resources."
"Yes, that's the Deep Sea Mining Platform that I and a cousin of mine created," he responded in an honest tone. "It will make Draconia wealth among the surface kingdoms."' Following that, the two hashed out a simple trade agreent, which ant the Shadowborne Empire would supply rare minerals for the food of their choice. Archer agreed to this and offered to bring so of his ministers to his kingdom when returning.
Talon agreed and selected two older n and won to sit on his council. Once they were done with the food, Archer, Detra, and Mary said their goodbyes and left to prepare for the Ruler eting that was happening soon.
Archer jumped on Detra's head alongside Mary before swimming out of the Shadowborne Empire, followed by the four people housed in a single mansion because they were two
married couples.
It took a couple of hours to reach Draconia, and when the Shadowborne officials saw everything, they were amazed. One of the n nad Theodore asked about the farms, which Archer showed him on the carriage ride back to Dragonheart City.
Derta and Mary found the older Demon Shark's reactions funny as they looked out the windows, but one of the won looked at Archer with narrow eyes before questioning, "Are you charming them all? Why do your people look so happy?"
He was about to respond, but Mary spoke with a proud smile, "He cares for the little people, Jane; he has ensured there are no holess or poor Draconians as everyone has jobs and a roof over their heads, making them happy."
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