Chapter 203: Goodbye, again

The D day arrived particularly quickly, two weeks gone in the blink of an eye. Jacob was already done preparing himself as he sat on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath and staring into space.

He was ready, to see what else this world had in store for him. He placed his hands on his laps and tapped them before getting up slowly.

His body was already accustomed to regality by this point so he moved in such a fluid manner, one befitting only of a Prince.

Jacob strolled out of his room casually, neglecting to carry anything heavy as it would taint his grand entrance, or descent—considering he was going down towards the entrance of the castle, and he was going to fly down towards the school grounds—if anyone were to see him carrying heavy loads.

No, everything he needed was safely tucked in his pocket space, neatly filed and arranged, and easily accessible with nothing but a simple thought,

Jacob looked outside, watching the large dragon purr as hit shook its body and its tail simultaneously.

He was abruptly stopped by a maiden whom he immediately recognized. Sara. She stood there with both hands clutching her chest like someone who was trying to prevent themselves from having a heart attack.

Her face was beet red, the color of a bright red apple, laced with utter embarrassment at what she was about to do, or what she was thinking.

"Young master.... I... I... don’t...." She started, biting her lips and shuffling her feet, her mind and mouth unable to perfectly sync together to string a coherent sentence.

"Sara, what is it?" He asked her, of course he already knew what she was about to say, but he needed her to work up the courage to actually say it herself, and his patience was running thin. He was about ten seconds away from completely walking away if she wasn’t able to say what was on her mind.

"Young master...." She took a deep breath and paused for a second. "I love you so much please come back to me when you’re done I’m going to miss you so much and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with the fact that you’re not here..."

She just began yapping uncontrollably, no punctuations or stops to take a breath either, this was her manner of confessing her love.

’Crazy girl,’ Jacob thought to himself as he bent down to her eye level and touched her hand. "I’ll be back." He said simply and walked away gracefully, leaving her with the scent of his impossibly expensive perfume on the back of her hand.

She sniffed the back of her hand for a prolonged period and promised to never wash it again, at least not until he returned.

***

When he got downstairs, the entire family was already waiting for him, lined up for his departure. It reminded him of the time when he left off to see the world, except then he was going by road, and with people. Now it was just him and his dragon, off to have his own experiences, and meet new people on his own.

"Mother, Father, Grandpa, Grandma, Xenia, Luke." It was exhausting having to say all of this, but it was necessary to acknowledge all the family members that had come out to see him off. As far as he was concerned, these were the most important people in his life, and they would continue to be.

"My boy, May the heavens be with you." Elena grabbed his cheeks after dropping Luke to the ground, she had fewer words to say than the last time he left. Most likely because she had already said most of what she needed to during the two week duration, and Rhoarin had managed to convince her that the boy wasn’t going off to war, or dying, he was only going to school. She burst into tears regardless, she was an emotional woman.

Jacob hugged her and placed his hands on her cheeks. "I’ll come see you from time to time, mother."

"You better." She responded in between sobs.

"Remember what you’re there for boy, don’t lose track, remain level-headed, and cool, my son. Just like your father." Rhoarin joked with a straight face as he pulled Jacob for a tight, manly hug and then they both nodded at each other.

Jacob moved to his grandparents.

"Whatever your hands find to do, is worth doing. I expect nothing but the absolute best from you boy! If you can’t give your best, then give them hell hohoho!" Alaric laughed with his stomach.

Jacob could not help but smile after he heard the man’s words. The old man hadn’t lost even a single inch of his funny bone after all this time.

"Heavens be with you my grandson, you’ll make a very fine young man." Esty said with a bright smile on her face, one that would knock Alaric off his high horse many a time.

He hugged them both simultaneously and quickly moved on to Xenia, who had her gaze plastered on the floor beneath him.

"Goodbye young master, I regret that I am unable to accompany you at this point of your life but I hope—"

He shut her up with a hug, a tight, warm hug. Causing her to wince in surprise, and then he let her go, her face completely red.

"Thank you, all of you. I will do my best and make you proud." Jacob took a step back as he placed his hands on his chest affectionately. Then he looked downwards. "And you!"

He picked Luke from the ground, the little boy was currently standing by his feet and pointing at the dragons, unable to properly articulate what he was seeing.

"I saved the best for last, haha. I’m going to miss you brother." Jacob kissed the little boy’s cheeks, causing the boy to bite his in return and then proceed to draw little lines on his face.

He put Luke back in his mother’s arms and waved at them, watching as they waved back. He then proceeded to walk towards Raijin, who was more than happy to see him as it shook its tail and lowered itself for the young man to climb aboard.

After two and a half years; It was time to leave the Ironfell castle, again.