The following day the three of us were being shown around the castle grounds by Han. I must say, the resemblance to China is uncanny, but not that what you would see in movies or in real life, but in fairytales and such. The people were certainly interesting. Dragonborn. A humanoid much smaller dragon, scaly skin and reptilian eyes with long snouts and horns on their heads. A long thick tail that they did have control over. The castle dwellers looked at us, talked in whispers, commenting about our appearances. Our ships had gained a fair bit of attention too, their size and different look set them apart from the rest. We were finally led to the central building and into a room in which a table had been set up with all sorts of food and drinks. One thing however certainly wasn't there, chairs. Now, for Atsuko, that wouldn't be a problem, but for me and Estrella, it would be immensely uncomfortable.  Nevertheless, we sit down with our legs crossed in stead of the usual kneeling position. The Han fellow is certainly an interesting man, knows many things. It does not take long for the Emperor and the Empress to come. A tall regal being wearing traditional clothing and behind him the Empress, she emits an aura of confidence and authority. I stand up to greet the Emperor. 

Yuan: Ahh, Han, these must be our new guests. It is an honor to meet you and to have you come King Draven. I hope you are enjoying your stay in our humble city. This is my wife, Xian. 

She bows down at us.  

Draven: I certainly am, such a beautiful and interesting land you have here. As you know, my name is Draven, King of Prussia. Next to me is my wife, Atsuko and my great friend Estrella. 

They stand up and bow and get a bow in return. To me, this is all strange, I normally don't bow, instead I shake my hands. 

Yuan: I must say, you have certainly a beautiful woman with you. 

Draven: Indeed, beautiful, brave and tough as a diamond. I am grateful to have her by my side. 

Yuan: Good qualities of a woman I must say. Please, sit, you must be hungry. 

Draven: A little food could never hurt anyone. 

He chuckles as we all sit down around the table. The servant pouring us a clear liquid drink into a cup as we each fill our plates with what we deem fit to our liking. 

Draven: I must say, it is always exciting to see dragons fly above in the sky. Especially for one that had not seen them before. 

Yuan: Yes. And even for us who have seen them many a times, one can't help but always marvel at their beauty and might. 

Draven: May I ask? Are these dragons related to your people in any way apart from being their ancestors?

Yuan: Some are born like dragons, but most were our people who finally reached their full potential and transformed into one. Only the pure blooded Dragonborn are able to morph in-between both forms. 

Draven: Truly fascinating. 

Yuan: You are fascinating by yourself. Tell me, you are a stranger among your people. All of them are demi humans, humans and monster folk, yet, you are different. How did it come to this? Are you a demon or some other being? 

Draven: Me. I guess one could consider me a monster, maybe a demon. But I can assure you, that deep under this skin, is a human at mind. I was a young man but I changed into what I am today. Am I ashamed? I don't think so. 

Yuan: No person should be ashamed of how they look. Especially for a man of your power and might, you shouldn't care. I have heard many stories of you and I do wonder if it is true. 

Draven: Like what? 

Yuan: Is it true that you conquered a country that was vastly larger than you and more known. And that you unified your continents through word. 

I take a sip of the drink, it is strong, eating at your throat, caught me by surprise. And took a bite of the meat before me. 

Draven: Yes and no. I did conquer a country large than mine, not through long war but through wit, or some might call it cowardice. And yes, I did unify my continent but not through word, but force. It was deemed necessary. Some people are quite fanatical following their leaders and only way is death.

Xian: We have heard that you used strange weaponry. 

Draven: You have heard quite a lot, hmmm. You wouldn't happen to have spies in my country?

The couple goes silent for a moment, a awkwardness fills the air, making me chuckle. 

Draven: Haha, don't worry. I am not mad, it is to be expected. If you take interest in some country you need to find out about it more and what better way than to use spies. But you need to know, our doors are open, you can come and go whenever you please. 

Yuan: So having spies is alright with you? Why? Wouldn't this be counted as betrayal or a danger to your nation. 

Draven: Spies are to be expected, it is uninventable. You didn't cause me no damage, no security threat, you are curious and that is all. There is no danger in being a little curious. 

Xian: You mentioned that your borders are open to all, what do you mean by that?  

Atsuko: That our borders are welcome to anyone who does not wish to cause trouble. We do not care for you appearance, it is your intention that we do care about. Draven is keen on having people come to Prussia as tourists, to exchange students and such. He is an open minded man. 

Xian: I have heard that you allow poets and writers to criticize you government and leadership. Why would you allow that? 

Draven: Because we have laws, such as democratic vote, access to free speech, to land, to education and other essential and none essential things. 

Yuan: Democratic? 

Draven: It gives the people power to choose. To vote on something that they wish to vote for. Be it a new hospital, a temple or something as small as having a street sign replaced. 

Yuan: Why would you do that? Wouldn't it obstruct your rule and decision making?

Draven: Firstly, it makes the people content as they realize that they aren't worthless, that they are actually a part of a large body. And it actually does free up quite a bit of work, you don't really have to deal with such little things. 

Yuan: That is such a odd thing to do, to say. You certainly are unique, one of a kind. I do have to compliment not only you and your friends attire, so interesting and complex but also your ships. They dwarf ours. 

Draven: Thank you, we do take pride in our navy. 

Xian: We heard that you have an extensive culture. That you allow all sorts of literature paths, that you have things called an 'orchestra'. Is that true? 

Estrella: Correct. We have not eradicated cultures we deemed beneficial and not a danger. Our literature is diverse and wide spread, covering many topics, some more 'lustrous' than others. We take pride in our music and constantly create new ones. We have many composers composing many different music genres. 

Yuan: I would certainly wish to see that some day. 

Draven: You are always welcome. Like we said, anyone is welcome. Excuse me for a second but I forgot to bring something over. Please feel free to ask Atsuko and Estrella any question you have. 

With that I  get up and exit the building, walking over to one of my soldiers. 

Draven: Bring me the small chest from my room. 

The soldier nods and runs off and is gone for quite some time, giving me time to glance around. I can feel the eyes of onlookers on me, while uncomfortable I have dealt with far worse. The soldiers soon comes and I open the chest to see if he brought the right one. Inside is a bottle of a copy of Bailey's and golden flower and leaf hairpin. I head back inside as I enter back into the room the Emperor and Empress look in curiosity. 

Draven: I have brought you a small gift, it is nothing too much, but I hope you accept it. There is more but this is the smallest I have currently. 

I place down the chest on the table and open it. The Empress looks at the hairpin in wonder. She takes a hold of the hairpin, marveling at it's beauty. Yuan takes a look at the bottle wondering what it is. 

Yuan: May I ask, what kind of fluid is this? 

Draven: It is Baileys, would you like to taste it? 

Yuan: Baileys? What is that? 

Draven: An alcoholic beverage. In the chest there are a couple glasses, so if you would wish to try, they are there for you. 

He takes a hold of the glasses, looking at them. To him this is otherworldly, to achieve this kind of clearance with glass. They do have glass here, but it is murky and unrefined. 

Yuan: Such clear glass. How did you achieve it? 

Atsuko: Through trial and error and a lot of technological advancements and some magic of course.

Yuan: How do I open the bottle? 

Draven: Estrella, mind pouring us each a glass? 

Estrella: With honor. 

She takes the bottle and unscrews the cap and pours each one of us a glass of Baileys. Both the Emperor and Empress smell the liquid first, surprised by the nice smell coming from it. If they weren't told, they would never believe it was an alcoholic drink. As they take a sip their eyes go wide open, shock and disbelief. 

Xian: Wow, this is, wow. It is unlike anything I have ever tasted. So smooth, so gentle, like a spring breeze inside my throat. 

Yuan: My wife put it to words perfectly. This drink, it is divine. Such a flavorful and gentle drink, one could mistake it for water. But I must ask, we are used to stronger drink....

Draven: I am glad that you like it and yes, we do have much stronger alcohols, but I brought this because it was gentle and was not to make an impression you were drinking poison. 

The Emperor chuckles at my comment. 

Draven: I am truly sorry if I did offend you with the hairpin. I truly did not know. 

Xian: Haha, don't worry, please. It is beautiful as it is and would make for a beautiful decoration on my dress. 

From there we eat and engage in more conversation, downing the entire bottle. We laugh and exchange stories and words. Plan on many things, they are to give us a small tour, a walk around. But Emperor Yuan is certainly interested in a trade agreement and I would be really happy if we managed to sing one. It would certainly help us quite a lot and would make fog a good alliance against our enemies. Especially against the bastards that killed Miriam. I will have my revenge and it is going to be spectacular. Kahoda and me will have a tough schedule in front of us, but the more allies  we are able to gather the better. For our safety and for my revenge.