Camille (16)

It took a full two days to reach the Empire Capital, the destination.

The journey involved flying with breaks in between.

Upon entering the Empire’s airspace, the Empire’s Wyvern Knights began to escort me.

“Great Dragon-isiyeo, welcome to the skies of the Empire. We shall accompany you to the Empire Capital.”

A man who appeared to be the captain of the Wyvern Knights took the lead, enveloping me in a wedge formation and continuing the escort.

About half a day passed after crossing the Empire’s airspace.

Finally, I set foot on the Empire’s land via the Wyvern airfield located near the Empire Capital.

Kooong!!

“Kiiik!!”

“Kieeeek!!”

The Empire’s wyverns fell into confusion at my appearance, several times larger than themselves.

Each of them had jet-black scales and eyes that glowed golden.

Black Wyvern.

It was the primary model operated by the Imperial Army.

Feeling a sense of familiarity with their appearance, which somehow resembled mine, I activated Polymorph and changed my body into the form of a baby dragon.

“Kiiik.”

“Kiiik…!?”

The Empire’s wyverns showed various reactions upon seeing my transformed appearance.

Some were still afraid,

and some seemed curious, attempting to approach me.

One of them came closer and rubbed its snout against my head.

A unique wyvern expression of interest and affection.

Despite the ticklish sensation, I silently accepted its display of affection.

“Kiik.”

“Kiiik…”

What the, this guy’s a male though.

Why’s he rubbing?

What a strange fellow.

“Guardian-isiyeo of the Holy Dominion, and great Incarnation-isiyeo of God, we sincerely welcome your visit to the land of the Empire.”

Imperial soldiers in black uniforms approached and saluted me.

Had they been watching me use Polymorph just now?

There was surprise in the soldiers’ eyes.

Woowoong!!

I couldn’t converse in my dragon form.

I activated Polymorph again, transforming from a baby dragon into a human.

However, it wasn’t the familiar form of an adult man.

“A girl…? But I heard the Dragon-nim was male…”

Flowing black hair and bright, golden eyes.

My limbs were slender, and my cheeks were full of baby fat.

I had taken on the appearance of a girl, roughly ten years old.

The reason for taking this form was, of course, due to Camille’s earnest request.

‘Even if you’re a woman, that crazy woman might pounce on you. Stay in a child’s form.’

‘Oh, come on, surely not, no matter what…’

‘Promise me, you’ll only stay in a child’s form.’

‘Alright…’

I didn’t particularly want to take on the unfamiliar form of a young girl either.

But to soothe Camille’s anxiety, I had no choice.

“Dragon-isiyeo, what is that form…?”

“It’s not like I want to be like this. If I don’t, my wife nags me.”

At those words, a flicker of empathy crossed the eyes of some soldiers.

I thought the Empire, being military-centric, would be a society where men completely held sway, but perhaps that wasn’t entirely the case?

Indeed, seeing Vivian, a woman, hold power, it might be that whoever has strength ultimately holds the initiative.

“I see. By the way, Dragon-isiyeo, did you perhaps like our Empire’s wyverns?”

“Yeah, maybe because they look similar to me? They’re cute, like watching children.”

“In that case, would you like to take one with you on your way back?”

“No, I don’t have a hobby of impulsively raising things.”

Besides, I could clearly imagine Camille nagging me relentlessly if I were to accept a gift from Vivian.

The wyvern would also just be dragged to a foreign land and suffer needlessly.

“Understood. But if you change your mind later, please do not hesitate to tell us.”

“Okay. I will.”

“Then, shall we proceed directly to the Imperial Palace? Empress-jeonha is awaiting your greatness.”

“Alright, but how will we go? Shall we fly again?”

“No, you will travel in our Empire’s Magic Vehicle.”

Thus, guided by the Imperial soldiers, I headed towards the Imperial Palace.

They provided me with a vehicle that moved with a magic engine instead of a carriage for transportation.

“Cool. Do all people in the Empire ride in things like this?”

“Of course not. This is a ceremonial vehicle exclusively for the Imperial Nobility. We urgently dispatched it because the Dragon-nim was visiting our Empire.”

“Well, everyone must have gone through a lot of trouble.”

I watched the streets of the Empire Capital from outside the window.

The Empire’s streets felt alien yet sophisticated, as if their civilization was hundreds of years ahead of the Holy Dominion’s.

“The Empire has many things that run on magic engines. Even to me, a Dragon, they seem quite elaborate.”

“That’s right. It’s because we’ve invested heavily in magic engineering since the time of the previous Emperor. After all, our Empire is a country lacking in resources.”

“Lacking resources? For a country like that, it doesn’t seem so small.”

At those words, the Imperial Army officer gave a bitter smile and continued.

“To be precise, we only have abundant resources necessary for developing magic engineering. That’s why our country’s magic engineering technology inevitably had to develop.”

So, now that they have the technology, are they thinking of invading neighboring countries to secure those resources?

This might not just be Vivian’s unilateral action.

Perhaps what the Empire is preparing isn’t solely Vivian’s plan.

It could be a thirst etched into the genes of the Imperial people, who have yearned for resources for hundreds of years.

Vivian might merely have fanned the flames a little.

‘Still, I have to stop it.’

Even if this is an inevitable flow of history…

I don’t want it to happen by Vivian’s hand.

“Dragon-isiyeo, we will arrive shortly.”

“Already?”

Lost in thought, I hadn’t even realized we had arrived at the Imperial Palace.

The vehicle’s door opened, and figures who appeared to be Imperial soldiers or knights greeted me.

“Great Dragon-isiyeo, welcome to the Empire.”

The Imperial Army greeted me with the grand sound of ceremonial trumpets and drums.

Thousands of Imperial Army officers and generals in black uniforms stood in formation.

What the, are they trying to intimidate me from the start?

I silently moved forward, trying to hide my displeasure.

Vivian would be waiting at the end of it.

“Helix.”

The first thing that caught my eye was a splendid Imperial Nobility tiara.

And brilliant silver hair, along with a pair of eerily red eyes.

Vivian, whom I was seeing again after several years, looked a little thinner.

“I didn’t expect you to come looking for me first.”

However, the two eyes gazing at me shone even more vividly than before.

The intense possessiveness contained within them.

Instinctively noticing it, I…

subtly averted my gaze.

Because it was painful to meet her eyes.

“Where are you looking, Helix? You should be looking at me.”

Vivian wrapped her arms around my waist, supporting my bottom, and lifted me up.

“This is the first time I’ve seen that form? You’re cute. Is this what our daughter would look like if we had one?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“But why did you specifically come in the form of a girl?”

“You said you wanted to see me like this before.”

At my vague excuse, Vivian snorted.

“Lies. You vehemently refused back then, so why now?”

“…”

“It’s obvious the Saint-nyeo told you to, isn’t it? Are you saying you don’t even want to show me your male form?”

“Well, it’s roughly similar.”

Looking closely, Vivian was surprisingly good at understanding Camille’s psychology.

“That’s that woman’s shallow limit. Does she really believe I won’t lay a hand on you if you’re in a girl’s form?”

“No way, this was barely agreed upon. Camille didn’t want me to come to this Empire at all.”

“Hmph, but even so, what’s the reason you specifically ignored the Saint-nyeo’s dissuasion and came all this way?”

“To stop you.”

“Me? What have I done wrong?”

Vivian shrugged her shoulders, acting coyly.

Indeed, she had clearly done nothing wrong yet.

Of course, she had engaged in a bloody struggle for power with her siblings, but at least that had an unavoidable aspect to it, done to survive.

“That’s right, you haven’t done anything wrong yet, Vivian. So you have to stop now.”

“Hmph.”

“Stop preparing for war, Vivian. It’s not too late yet.”

At my words, Vivian’s eyes held a bored expression.

“Helix, even if it’s not me, war is bound to happen anyway.”

“…”

“You always say that, don’t you? That problems arise because of me. That I have to take responsibility. It feels like you always approach me with such a sense of duty.”

I couldn’t answer Vivian’s words, which hit the nail on the head.

Every time she said that, I had always approached Vivian from the perspective of responsibility.

But there was no guarantee that she would welcome it.

“Helix, the Empire is bound to wage war someday, even if it’s not me.”

“And not because you incited it?”

“Ah, of course, there’s an inciting aspect. I admit that. But do you know this? Anyone else who sat in this position, not me, would have incited war.”

I wanted to say no.

But such intense conviction was embedded in Vivian’s voice and eyes…

that I couldn’t say anything.

To the point where it made me doubt myself, thinking I was wrong.

“Do you know why? It’s very simple. Because all the people of the Empire want it.”

“Not everyone wants that…”

“Ah, of course, there will be people who oppose it. I’m not denying that. But Helix? Even if this country is an Empire centered on imperial authority, ultimately, what supports the nation isn’t the Imperial Nobility, but the citizens. I am the one who listens to their desires and makes them a reality. If I don’t, then I’ll be the next one to lose my head.”

Vivian made a gesture of slitting her own throat with her hand.

“Refute it if you can. But Helix, you know, don’t you? If you think about it with your brilliant Dragon mind, you can understand it so easily, can’t you? Do my words sound like mere sophistry?”

Vivian briefly set me down on the ground.

Instead, she grabbed my wrist and led me somewhere.

“Where are you suddenly going…?”

“I’ll show you something good. Something very interesting.”

It was Vivian’s office.

A space where countless documents were neatly arranged.

What on earth did she want to show me here?

“Ah, here it is. Look, Helix.”

“What is this?”

“You’ll know when you see it. It’s the aspirations of our Imperial citizens.”

What Vivian showed me were petitions.

Petitions sent to her, the acting Emperor of the Empire.

Could they be requests not to start a war?

I opened the documents with a small hope, but…

“Heh, how is it? Do you grasp reality a bit now?”

“…”

Such hopes were shattered and scattered all at once.

“Is this real…? You didn’t fabricate it, did you…?”

“Why would I bother with such useless fabrications? I have so many things to do.”

They were declarations of support for war, sent to Vivian.

Starting from the Imperial citizens’ unity rallies, to entrepreneurs, businessmen, or veteran organizations, and so on…

Even letters sent in shaky handwriting by elementary school children who had just learned to write…

They were declarations from numerous Imperial organizations, supporting this war and expressing absolute loyalty to the Imperial family and the Empire.

“Lately, sending me one of these seems to be a trend, doesn’t it? I guess if you don’t send one, you’re treated like a traitor?”

“All the people of the Empire want this…?”

“Yes, from elderly people to young children. This aspiration doesn’t discriminate by class or affiliation. It exists in everyone.”

I couldn’t believe it.

That the people of the Empire were unanimously supporting the war.

But on the other hand, I had to admit it.

That this whirlwind was brought about not by Vivian, but by the will of the people.

“Helix, the Imperial people haven’t forgotten the memories of anger and humiliation accumulated over hundreds of years. They were treated as barbarians in barren lands, sometimes exploited by powerful nations, and forced to endure the tragedy of fratricide. The fervor of this war burns using those memories of anger and hatred as fuel; it’s not something that can be stopped just by trying to stop it.”

“I know the Empire’s history to some extent, but even so, this isn’t right. The price people will pay later will be unimaginable.”

“Yes, it will certainly lead to countless sacrifices. I know that, okay? Do you think knowing it will stop anything? What difference will a cup of water make when poured on a fiercely burning lump of coal?”

Vivian strode towards me.

Then, she slipped her hands under my armpits, lifted me up, and sat me on the office desk.

Vivian’s gaze looked down at me intently.

Her eyes were fierce and arrogant, like a lioness stalking its prey.

“Don’t look down on me like that. I’m a Dragon. Someone you can’t do anything to.”

“Oh, I wasn’t really trying to scare you. My apologies?”

Coming in the form of a girl might have been a bad move after all.

Perhaps gaining confidence from my child-like appearance, she acted very unreservedly.

“Alright, let’s put aside the boring talk for now.”

“What are you doing?”

Vivian pressed her lips towards me, as if her nose would touch mine.

At that moment, I blocked Vivian with my palm as she tried to kiss my cheek.

Where are you trying to sneak another kiss from?

I’m already stressed out enough because of Camille, and you’re starting this from the get-go?

“You’re in a child’s form anyway, aren’t you? Is even this not allowed?”

“Conversely, have you ever considered that it’s precisely because I’m in a child’s form that it’s not allowed?”

“It doesn’t matter. Whether it’s a child’s form or a Dragon’s form, as long as it’s you, Helix, there’s no problem.”

“Haa, never mind.”

Red eyes gleaming with madness and desire.

Yes, no matter how much I think about it…

Vivian really does seem to be a crazy woman.