The journey back didn't take long, and as pnned, Draco arrived home by noon, a little over 35 minutes past the hour.

  'They should have finished updating their status by now,' Draco thought as he approached the door, unlocked it and twisted the knob.

  "I'm back!" Draco called out, pg his dungeon bag and gear on the floor.

  However, he was met with silenbsp;

  'Huh, is no one home? Where could they all have gone?' he wondered.

  Draco first went to Cir's room, then Bahamut's, but none of them were around.

  'Tsk, I shouldn't have trusted Michalis. Didn't he rey my o them?' Draco cursed under his breath.

  He wao go check the other two houses, but decided to take a cool, refreshing bath and wash away the sweat and grime accumuted from his time in the dungeon.

  After his bath, Draco ged into a fresh pair of clothes and headed door, where Eleni, Dimitra, and Vasiliki resided.

  Using the spare key, he stepped into the house, to find only the unscious Vasiliki, ying in bed.

  Making a quick run to the house, where Michalis, Nikoos, and Vasileios lived, Draco wasn't surprised to find them absent as well.

  "Just where did they all go?" he muttered, but he didn't dwell on it for long.

  Most things usually didn't always go as he pnned anyway.

  Gathering a stack of papers and invoices from his room, Draade his way back to Vasiliki's bedside.

  He hadn't spent much time with her since she had fallen unscious in the dungeon.

  Perf a quick che her dition, Draoted that she was on the right track of recovery.

  Her magic was flowing smoothly, and its density was normal.

  It was only a matter of time until she opened her eyes.

  Wiping the sweat from her body and ging her clothes, Draco settled into a chair at her bedside, ready to tackle the paperwork he o do.

  He o perform some bookkeeping for their finances, create usable pns for the familia's future, and address several other matters.

  He was also making pns for the treasures he had hidden outside Orario.

  The treasures were the loot that they had taken after wiping out the bandit fortress before arriving in Orario around 4-6 months ago.

  It hadn't been touched sihen, as farming magic stones in the dungeon had turned out to be more lucrative than he had expected, and the familia was somewhat financially stable.

  However, expenses were currently on the rise.

  A lot of the familia's dungeon gear o be ged and repaired after the level-up quest that each member had pleted the previous day.

  The familia had enough moo cover the cost of all that with their current source of ine, but more money was needed for his pns to grow and expand.

  Draco had initially po wait a few years before toug the bandit's loot, but retly, a new worry had been added to his colle of s.

  He had always pted whether the familia should recruit more members early on or proceed with the eight of them until everyone was at least, a level 4.

  The reason this was added to Draco's immediate list of worries was because of an upi that would lead to a prime time for recruiting.

  The Denatus, a crucial gathering of the gods in Orario, was fast approag, and Draco expected a lot of people to take positive i in the Bahamut familia, that was if they were able to survive the aftermath of the meeting.

  It rime time to recruit fresh blood, expand and secure their presen Orario.

  However, a list of problems came with recruiting.

  For ohe current members of the Bahamut Familia were all young children, so the addition of older adventurers could potentially disrupt the dynamics within the familia.

  Another problem was that the more people in the familia, the more people Draeeded to look after.

  There were already seven children he was responsible for, and the addition of any more might overwhelm him.

  Draco wahe Bahamut familia tress simir to a family, not the usual cutthroat type of familias.

  There were some familias whose members didn't bat an eye when killing a fellow familia member.

  petition, rivalry, jealousy, arguments, and various other things were all acceptable, as it was a natural characteristic of all mortal races.

  However, Draco didn't want it get to the point that one member would knowingly orchestrate the downfall of another.

  There was a saying that went, ‘It takes a feples to ruin the barrel.’.

  Draco didn’t believe that he was experienced and ready enough to deal with those potential bad apples.

  He could rule with an iron fist and a watchful eye, but living in such a way seemed rather exhausting to him.

  'Sigh, there I go letting my thoughts drift towards all the ives again,' Draco scolded himself, shaking his head.

  Throwing these distrag thoughts aside, Draco resumed w on the familia's paperwork.

  Occasionally, while w, Draco would gnce up at Vasiliki, using his hand to gently move the strands of hair blown by the wind through the open window.

  …………………………………………………………………………………

  Around an hour into the paperwork and his inner musings, Vasiliki's eyes suddenly fluttered open.

  'Ugh, my head,' she thought, clutg the warm cloth resting on her forehead.

  Her head ounding, and her vision was blurry; her seill hadn't fully recovered.

  Pushing against the bed with her weakened arms, Vasiliki tried to sit up but stumbled.

  "Take it easy," Draco said, stopping his work and rushing to her aid.

  "Draii," she called out, immediately reizing his voice.

  "Yes, I am here," Draco responded softly.

  "Hehe," Vasiliki squeezed out a light chuckle, much to Draco's fusion.

  She was just a bit happier that the person beside her was her Draii.

  'Did I say something funny?' Draco briefly pondered, before cheg her dition again.

  “Anyway, you expin what you are currently feeling” Draco asked.

  Vasiliki expined all she currently felt to him aook notes.

  ‘Hmmm, sleepy huh. Makes sehat her body would need more sleep to fully recover. A mind potion should speed things up’ Draco thought.

  "Do you think you drink a mind potion? It will help you feel a lot better," Draco asked, her carefully.

  "I , but you have to add sugar and feed me," Vasiliki replied, her voice slightly weak but pyful.

  "When did you revert to being such a baby?" Draco scolded, lightly flig her forehead.

  "But if you make jokes like that, you must be feeling well." he added.

  "Ouch! Is that how you treat a sick person?" Vasiliki protested, lightly rubbing her pained forehead.

  "True, but if that sick person is you, then..." Draco cut his sentence short, realizing that he was about to say something silly,

  "Then what?" Vasiliki asked, her eye gazing at him with expectation.

  "That aside, is there anything that you would like to eat?" Draco asked, ging the subject.

  Vasiliki pondered for a moment, her brow furrowing as she sidered Draco's offer.

  The furrow deepened, a crease f between her delicate eyebrows as she pted her options.

  "Hmm, how about some e with a bit of honey and amon?" she finally voiced, her tone slightly hoarse and raspy.

  Draodded, a small, reassuring smile tugging at the ers of his lips.

  "Alright, I prepare that for you. In the meantime, I need you to drink the mind potion," he said, gesturing towards the bottled liquid resting on her bedside table.

  Vasiliki's expression shifted, her features taking on a childlike petunbsp;

  "Do I have to?" she protested in a babyish tone, her lips f a slight pout.

  Draco raised an eyebrow, slightly taken aback by her rea.

  'Ugh, why is she ag like this?' he wondered, but he decided to py along.

  "Yes, if you want to get better quickly," Draco replied, his tole yet firm.

  Vasiliki let out a resigned sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly.

  "Hmmm," she responded, relutly reag for the bottle and downing its tents.

  "Ugh, tastes weird as always," Vasiliki muttered, pg the empty bottle ba the table.

  Seeing that she had drunk every st drop, Draodded in satisfa.

  "By the way, how long had I been unscious?" Vasiliki asked, her brow furrowing once more.

  "Less than a day," Draco reassured her.

  "Now, don't resist the sleepiness, and try to rest a bit more, okay?" he asked.

  Vasiliki nodded, her eyelids already beginning to feel heavy.

  "Okay, Draii," she murmured, snuggling deeper into the warm, f covers.

  As Draco turo leave, Vasiliki reached out and grasped the sleeve of his shirt, her grip surprisingly stroe her weakeate.

  "Draii?" she called out, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Draco paused and turned back to her, his expression softening.

  "Yes, Vasiliki?" he answered.

  " I also have pancakes when I wake up?" Vasiliki asked, her eyes shining with a hopeful glimmer.

  Draco raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his features.

  "Just pin pancakes?" he inquired.

  "No, with berries, cream, chocote, and that jam thing," Vasiliki replied, a note of childlike excitement creeping into her tone.

  Draco sidered her request, a small smile pying on his lips.

  "Hmmm, not sure we have all those at home, but I'll make it work," he assured her.

  "Draii," Vasiliki called out again, her voice even lower as she battled the pull of sleep.

  "Hmm?" Draco responded, his attention fully focused on her.

  "Thank you... for being here," Vasiliki said, her eyes shining with genuine gratitude.

  Draco's expression softened further, and he gently grasped then squeezed her hand.

  "Of course, silly girl. I'll always be here for you," he reassured her, his words ced with warmth and affe.

  With a tented sigh, Vasiliki closed her eyes, her fingers lightly iwined with Draco's.

  Draco watched over her for a moment, making sure she was resting fortably, before relutly pulling his hand away and gathering his papers.

  He took o g Vasiliki's peaceful, slumbering form before quietly making his way to the door.