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"Hello, Prince Mydei!"
"Hm?" Mydei turned around to find the little girl running towards him. "Oh, hello, little Annie,"
"It's Anastasia!" The girl huffed. "Get my name right, Prince Mydei!"
"Haha, right," Mydei snorted and ruffled her hair.
"Who's this little one?" Dan Heng tilted his head.
"Hello, Cold Dragon Young!" The girl grinned and waved up. "I'm Anastasia!"
Dan Heng paused. Cold Dragon Young?
"I think you've met Professor Anaxagoras," Mydei crossed his arms. "This is his younger daughter, Anastasia,"
"Younger...?"
"Well, Hyacine is technically his daughter, though adopted," Mydei clarified. "And this is his blood daughter,"
"Mm..." Dan Heng's lips pursed, tilting his head. The girl's hair was a darker shade of aquamarine, with bits of white on the lower part of her hair. Her eyes were reddish-pink while her pupils were shaped like a diamond.
She looks rather... familiar.
Even how she spoke felt different from every other child in Amphoreus but familiar all at once.
She giggled. "You're from beyond the sky!" She pointed at him.
"Hey, hey!" Mydei knelt down to pick her up. "Not so loud, Anastasia. People could hear you, and Lady Aglaea might get upset,"
"Boo!" Anastasia pouted. "Who cares about what Lady Aglaea says?"
"...she's definitely Anaxagoras's daughter," Dan Heng sighed.
"Yep, no doubt about it," Mydei shook his head. "We better take her to the professor before she says anything else,"
"Would Aglaea really put a child in prison for talking about Beyond The Sky?" Dan Heng tilted his head as they made their way through the market.
"Nope!" Anastasia let out a laugh. "Dad and Papa will kill her if she tries to hurt me!"
...
A Dad and a Papa?
"Anastasia, please..." Mydei let out a sigh. He turned back to the other. "Aglaea can't, but she would get really upset, and it would start another war zone between her and the professor, and we don't really need them screaming at each other right now,"
"Ah," Dan Heng slowly nodded. "I see..."
His gaze returned to the girl, who gave a smug grin as she giggled in her hands. Her eyes sparkled with mischief, and Dan Heng felt a shudder down his spine at the familiar face staring up at him.
...
Oh my Aeons, please tell him that he was wrong.
"Anastasia!"
"Papa!" The girl jumped out of the prince's arms and ran to the severely slim man. "I met another one from Beyond the Sky, Papa!"
"I can see that," Anaxa picked her up and ruffled her hair. He turned to the pair. "Apologies for any trouble she caused,"
"Eh, it's fine," Mydei waved away the concern. "I did have to stop her from crying out too much about 'Beyond the Sky',"
Anaxa's gaze shifted to the man beside the Kremnoan. "Hm. I can see why,"
"Professor Anaxagoras," Dan Heng crossed his arms.
"Dan Heng," Anaxa acknowledged with a nod.
"It's not Dan Heng, Papa! It's Cold Dragon Young! Just like what Dad describes!" Anastasia claimed.
"Cold Dragon Young?" Anaxa blinked.
"Yeah, she's been calling Dan Heng that for a while," Mydei sighed, wrapping an arm around the Vidyadhara. "I'm assuming she's aware of his... dragon side,"
"Mm-hmm!" Anastasia beamed. "Cold Dragon Young!"
"..." Dan Heng's lips thinned. He turned to Anaxa. "You had a child with Sampo, of all people?"
Anaxa's face reddened, but his expression stayed neutral. He shrugged. "He was pretty charming when he came to Amphoreus,"
"Who?" Mydei scratched his head.
"Sampo Koski. A scammer, A Masked Fool from Beyond the Sky," Dan Heng leaned his head against him gently. "Caelus and I've met him in another planet called Belobog months ago,"
"I'm glad to know he's alright," Anaxa sighed in relief. "I lost contact with him years ago,"
"He was stranded in Belobog, I think," Dan Heng recalled. "The planet was kept in an Eternal Freeze for years, but luckily, we managed to free it from the Freeze,"
"Thank goodness," Anaxa breathed out in relief once more. "I'll expect to have some contact with him soon, hm?"
"Maybe," Dan Heng nodded.
"Yay! We'll get to see Dad again!" Anastasia cheered.
"Hopefully," Anaxa chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Now come on; Hyacine must be waiting for us,"
"Okay, Papa!" Anastasia chirped. "Bye bye, Prince Mydei! Bye bye, Cold Dragon Young!"
"Take care. Both of you," Mydei waved the father and daughter goodbye as they began to walk off. He hummed. "I... have no clue what just happened,"
"Don't worry, I'll help fill you in with everything else," Dan Heng kissed his cheek. "Now, back to our date?"
"Right," Mydei grinned. He picked up the smaller man in his arms. "Let's go!"
"GAH! MYDEI, PUT ME DOWN!"
"Nope," Mydei cackled, neverminding the flustered dragon's whines and screams as he ran off.