Chapter 85 : Overseas Travel (6)

The Scene of Shock and Horror

I witnessed it with my own eyes—the nobles being dragged away one by one by the imperial guards.

“…What is this?”

When I looked at my mom and dad, my dad had a satisfied smile on his face, while my mom simply patted my head.

“They’re finally gone, that damned empire.”

“Right? It feels great. And they’re even calling us their allies.”

Mom chuckled, looking genuinely happy.

Beside me, Destiny sat with a blank expression, staring up at the princess standing above.

Then, as our eyes met, the princess gave me a bright smile.

She was quite far away, so it shouldn’t have been easy for a human to see me.

‘…Does she have really good eyesight?’

As she greeted me formally, I simply waved my hand once.

In response, the emperor smiled and descended below.

I blankly stared at the scene.

Then, Dad grinned and pressed down on my head.

“Shall we go now, my princess?”

“Huh? Go where?”

Tilting my head at his words, Mom ruffled my hair playfully and answered.

“Where else? We’re having a tea party together, remember?”

“Oh!”

Only then did I recall the contents of the letter we had received before coming here.

We had agreed to enjoy a tea time together.

Holding my parents’ hands, I bid farewell to Destiny.

“I have to go now; I’m quite busy.”

“See you next time.”

“Yes, Princess. Until then, please stay healthy and at peace.”

With a soft smile, Destiny transformed into black smoke and vanished.

What an exit—like a true demon king.

“Wow…”

“That was pretty cool.”

Dad also seemed to think it was an impressive departure.

With him, I made my way to the royal garden mentioned in the letter.

Along the way, soldiers approached, verifying our identities before escorting us.

“…Uh, are we that scary?”

“…N-No, not at all!”

“We’re not scary, and we don’t bite.”

“…U-Understood! Thank you!”

One of them, a rather clueless-looking private, was trembling excessively.

To ease the tension, I tried engaging in small talk—but that seemed to be a mistake.

The moment I spoke, he started shaking even more.

‘…Most people are captivated by my looks, yet he’s trembling like this after seeing me?’

He seemed so terrified it made me feel a bit sorry for him.

Anyway, we soon arrived at the spacious garden.

As expected from an empire that adored gold, golden flowers were spread all across the landscape.

At the center of this golden flower field stood a white gazebo.

Inside, there was a white table with exactly four chairs.

“…It seems my mother and I have no place to sit?”

My apostle sister had come along to guide us through the empire after the tea party, but there weren’t enough seats.

I was about to sit on my mom’s lap to make room, but—

“It’s fine. The queen must be tired as well.”

With that, my apostle sister snapped her fingers once.

Then, an identical chair appeared.

It seemed the space had expanded slightly, allowing for an extra chair without making the area feel cramped.

As we all stared in awe at the scene, the soldier who had been momentarily dazed came back to his senses and delivered a message.

“Her Highness, no, His Majesty the Emperor, will be arriving shortly.”

“We apologize for the humble reception despite having such esteemed guests. However, due to the current state of turmoil in the empire, we ask for your understanding.”

His intelligent gaze, the boldness to stand before dragons and yet request their patience—Dad seemed to like his attitude, as he smiled and nodded in agreement.

Without a change in expression, the soldier saluted with perfect discipline and left.

“…That was cool.”

“Soldiers are cool, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.”

Even though I had mumbled to myself, Mom somehow heard me and chimed in.

And so, we waited for the emperor.

On the far side, Ariel bowed her head toward the dragons who were surely watching from a distance.

“I can’t see them, but I should still show my respect. We’ll be having quite an important discussion today.”

She didn’t like the idea of showing respect to the Demon King, but the empire hadn’t been at war for a long time.

…And more than anything, the dragons despised the war between humans and demons.

There was no choice but to maintain peace.

Though Ariel personally resented demons, she knew very well that this was due to the empire’s long-standing indoctrination.

“After all, a peace treaty was established.”

The irony was that it was humans who broke it first.

How many heroes had been forcefully summoned, subjected to horrific experiments, lost their minds, and then perished in dragon fire?

All of it was the doing of the grand mage and the previous emperor—Ariel’s own father.

Tracing the roots, it was a wicked tradition that had persisted since her great-grandfather’s time. But now, it was time to put an end to it.

“…Someday, I’ll have to meet the Demon King in person.”

“Shall we send a letter to them?”

“Yes, that would be best.”

The emperor pulled a letter from her coat and handed it to her aide, who quickly sprinted away with it.

“…Well then, I should get going too.”

With that, Ariel burned the cape that symbolized the former empire and draped a newly designed one over her shoulders.

The image of a majestic golden dragon wrapped around a crimson cloak reflected the ideal she envisioned.

“For the Cria Empire to grow stably, we must establish a close relationship with the dragons.”

With a bright smile, Ariel resolved to put an end to the empire’s hostility toward dragons.

After all, the rulers of this land were still not humans—but dragons.

“…And now I hear the new princess can even speak the Dragon Tongue…”

“It wouldn’t hurt to lay some groundwork in advance.”

Ariel smirked, particularly intent on winning over Minho.

But an hour later, Ariel, who had planned to ‘strategically approach’ Minho, found herself in a completely different situation.

‘So cuteeeeeeee!!!!’

“E-Emp—Your Majesty… Please don’t just touch me like that…”

“S-Sorry! But… but!! You’re just too adorable?!”

With literal hearts in her eyes, Ariel was poking, squeezing, and even hugging Minho as if she were a stuffed doll.

Yes, Ariel had been conquered by Minho instead!!

“…Do you like our daughter that much?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. To have such an adorable daughter—I’m so envious.”

The sincerity in the praise made Albinus and Erses’ lips twitch with satisfaction.

‘As expected, our daughter is the best.’

‘The emperor has good taste. Of course she’s cute—she’s our daughter.’

Watching them, someone else had a different thought.

‘…None of them are in their right minds. Well, she is cute, though.’

‘…Hmph, but my son is cuter.’

Rose, alone, managed to keep her rationality intact.

“Umm…!”

“Oh, my baby~! Mommy’s here~! My sweet little boy, you’re sooo cute!”

…Or maybe not?

How long had we been waiting?

“Ohh…”

While admiring the flowers, a butterfly landed on my nose.

It looked much creepier than I had expected.

But I was too fascinated to shoo it away.

“What are you doing?” Minho asked.

“…Watching… the butterfly…” I replied in a daze.

Mom chuckled and nudged Dad. Seeing the butterfly perched on my nose, he, too, let out a quiet laugh.

“Wow… it tickles…”

The butterfly moved, making my nose itch. Without meaning to, I sneezed.

“Achoo!!”

—Whoosh!!

Before I knew it, a breath attack shot out of my mouth.

And that breath attack—

“…Oh dear.”

—was flying straight at Sister Sado.

Her eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment, but then—

—Hoo-whoosh!

She calmly sucked my golden breath attack into her palm as if it was nothing.

“Phew!… Your Highness, you need to be more careful from now on.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Feeling guilty, I lowered my head and apologized to Sister Sado, who gave me a warm yet firm smile.

“Looks like it’s time for you to learn how to control your breath attack,” Minho remarked.

“…Is that a thing?”

“Just like how you learned to fly last time, it won’t be too hard. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

Mom ruffled my belly with a fond smile, mumbling something about how fast kids grow.

I wasn’t sure what part of a dragon’s growth was supposed to be fast, but I just grinned.

And then, from afar, someone approached with graceful steps.

“Looks like today’s main guest has arrived,” Dad said with a smirk.

I turned my head to see an elegant woman walking toward us.

“Greetings, dragons,” she said.

“I am Ariel Cria, the first emperor of the new Cria Empire.”

Lifting the hem of her dress slightly, she gave a polite noble’s bow.

Our family exchanged smirks and gestured for her to join us.

“…I didn’t expect you to accept the invitation. I was caught off guard and ended up arriving a little late.”

The emperor seemed genuinely apologetic.

Dad smiled at her, and she turned to him with a question.

“…By the way, who is this beside you?”

She was asking about Sister Sado.

Dad answered with a smile.

“A guest of our kingdom.”

With just that one sentence, the emperor nodded, understanding there was no need to pry further.

“This emperor seems reasonable. That’s a relief.”

“How could I be disrespectful toward my benefactors?”

With a clap of her hands, maids appeared seemingly out of nowhere, quickly setting up refreshments.

‘…Macarons!’

Among them were my beloved macarons.

As my eyes lit up and I reached for one, Mom stopped me.

“Wait until the emperor finishes speaking.”

“…Okay.”

The emperor smiled at me before speaking.

“Then, let’s begin our tea party.”

“Please, enjoy.”

As soon as those words left her lips, I popped a macaron into my mouth.