It took Meilin two more months following the letter I sent him to finish the war. Even then, General Keung had escaped from Meilin's clutches. During those two months, however, I was bored beyond comprehension and the only solace I had was with Jia, Kang, and the few moments Vita wanted to talk to me. Meilin hadn't written to me save for the first letter, and although I had been practicing how to write—with Vita's and Jia's help—I still couldn't read and I only barely knew how to write a few words, namely my name and my family's names.
"The war is finally over," I said to Jia as we sat in my room. "Meilin and everyone will finally come back."
"Are you excited? Your wedding is coming soon," Jia said as she nudged me. Kang was playing in the corner with his wooden dirk. He was swinging it around and pretending to fight with shadows, jumping and running across the room. Vita was stationary by the window of the room and was grazing at the outdoors with her usual neutral expression.
I shrugged. "It's hard for me to think about marriage, but after being stuck here for so long, I've come to terms with it. However, coming to terms with Meilin and his . . . dark side is a harder thing for me to accept. I still don't understand him and hopefully being near him and learning of his life will help."
"Hopefully," Jia said. "Anyhow, you'll be Empress soon. That must be exciting."
"I don't think the concept of it has fully sunken in yet," I replied truthfully.
"Meilin and Fang and everyone will be coming back home in around ten or so days," Jia mused. "Are you excited to meet the rest of the Peccata?"
I paused, tilting my head to the side. "They'll be coming?"
"Of course, remember they're all going to be attending the wedding! Besides, all of them, save for Vita, participated in the war and ensured that it was finished as soon as possible." Jia smoothed down her hanfu with her fingers, casting a glance at Kang before turning back to me. "You've never met Minos, Remus, or Thera, right?"
I nodded.
"Remus is probably going to be the most troublesome to handle," she said. "Thera is easy going and Minos is relatively . . . nice, I suppose, if you cast aside his arrogance and narcissism."
"You don't need to worry about Remus," Vita suddenly interjected, watching us with a calm expression. "Master will never allow you alone with him, so you'll be safe."
I hesitated at her words, my brows coming together. "What do you mean? Is he dangerous?"
"He's known to hurt many people and he doesn't listen to Master that often," she said with a shrug. "Do you know of that scar of Master's face? The three claw marks on his cheek, running down to his collar bone? Remus gave him that when he was throwing a tantrum. He may be the youngest, but he's the most troublesome to handle."
Remus had given that scar to Meilin? It was hard to believe someone hurting Meilin like that, and even stranger to think that a human had dealt that to him. I had thought that he had been attacked by a monster or an animal, not by a person.
Upon seeing my expression, Vita continued, "Remus is not human. He's a demon. We don't know how much of a demon he is and how much demon's blood he has—since we know next to nothing about his family—but he isn't completely human."
My eyes widened and I gasped. "A demon? I've only heard rumors and stories about them."
Vita nodded. "There are apparently ten demon clans around the world. Though, they're very reserved and stay away from humans. They're not known to meddle with humans and they think they're superior to humans, which is why we think he's completely demon. Demons don't like humans and will kill and enslave them, so it's hard to imagine a demon having a child with a human, which is why we believe he's completely demon and most likely abandoned. Thera believes he might be half demon and he might've been abandoned due to his human blood, but we're not sure."
This new knowledge intrigued me and I couldn't believe that I was going to meet a real life demon. I had only heard stories of them and how they were superbly powerful compared to humans, and how they possessed dark magic. I also heard that their appearances were different than humans as well.
"That's so interesting," I breathed, my eyes alight. "I would love to meet him."
Vita and Jia stared at me for the longest moment, as if they couldn't believe that I wanted to meet a demon.
"How old is he?" I asked. "I know that Nikator is sixteen and Atreus and you are seventeen, so how old is he? Minos and Thera are eighteen, right?"
Vita nodded. "Minos and Thera are eighteen, Atreus and I are seventeen, Nikator is sixteen, and Remus is fifteen."
"My sister, Lanfen, is fifteen," I said with a wide smile. "Hopefully my siblings will attend the wedding and will be able to meet the Peccata. I'm sure Wen and Yunru would be really excited to meet Atreus and Nikator, since they both are excellent fighters."
"Wen and Yunru, are they the twins you were telling me about?" Jia asked.
I nodded enthusiastically. "They both are seventeen and they always argue with each other over the littlest things. They both love swords-play and I've seen them spar countless times, though we were never rich enough to buy proper weaponry. They always used to use twigs and branches as swords." I smiled at the memory. "I'm sure they would be excited to see the Peccata fight."
Vita went back to staring out the window.
"And Enlai would love to meet Yat-sen," I said. "They both are fourteen and I'm sure they would make great friends. They both are very similar."
Before I could continue my rambling about my family and my excitement at meeting the other members of the Peccata, Kang touched Jia's shoulder. "Momma, when is Papa coming home? I want to show him my word-play."
"You mean sword-play?" she said with a gentle smile.
"Yah." He nodded.
"He'll be coming home really soon," she said as she ran a hand through his messy hair. "Since Uncle Meilin has finished the war, Papa is coming home as soon as possible."
His eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Can we go home and wait for him? What if he's already there!" Kang said, tugging at the sleeve of her hanfu. "Come on, Momma, let's go to Papa."
Jia glanced at my apologetically before turning back to her son. "Kang, Papa isn't going to be home right now."
"But I want to go home!"
She sighed. "Kang—"
"It's alright, Jia," I said with a wave. "If you want you can go home."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Alright then." We both rose to our feet and Jia clasped onto Kang's hand. "Say goodbye to Aunt Daiyu."
Kang smiled at me toothily, swinging his and Jia's hands. "Bye, Aunt Daiyu."
"Bye, Kang," I said with a wave. "I'll see you later then."
After a while, the both of them left, Kang loud and excited while Jia was laughing and smiling, amused at her child's enthusiasm. Vita looked unaffected by all of it while I couldn't help but smile.
Children truly were special.