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WHEN Natalie arrived in a tailor-made dress, the Kratos prince was readjusting his glasses. The prince of integrity was clad in a white and blue attire with an open stand collar. He was so handsome that Natalie was secretly satisfied, happy to know that she had a good eye.
“How is it?” Natalie asked with a smile. “Does it fit right?”
“It’s fine,” Gerald replied. “Are these threads weaved with a spell that limits my magic?”
It seemed the prince, who hailed from a kingdom of magic, was well aware of what he was wearing.
“I don’t know the details,” Natalie replied curtly. “I don’t have any magic.”
“The effects last around six hours,” Gerald guessed. “The festivities take less than two, but I guess you’re all rather cautious of me.”
Gerald left his iron prison. Tension ran through the soldiers on guard. It’d been a while since Natalie had been so close to the prince, and she pursed her lips. The prince in question casually glanced around.
“Escort me,” he requested.
A soldier stood tall and encouraged the royal to follow. It was clear that Gerald was used to giving out orders, fitting for a prince. Natalie, however, was disappointed as she stayed where she stood, causing Gerald to turn around and cast her a dubious look.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I suppose Kratos Kingdom knows nothing about escorting a lady,” Natalie said.
Gerald gave a mocking laugh through his nose for only a moment. He immediately turned expressionless once more and politely offered his arm.
“Your hand, my lady,” he said.
“Thank you,” Natalie replied, wrapping her hand around his arm.
As the two walked together, Gerald’s escort was perfect—he matched her stride, and she gave a look of triumph. He didn’t smile, nor did he try to strike up a conversation with her, but she didn’t mind for now. What was important was to take control of this situation. The prince would eventually have to be returned to his gilded birdcage.
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TODAY was an important day. They were going to see their master’s big moment, and they had no idea why they were running around during such a special occasion.
“Argh! We won’t make it in time!” Camila wailed. “We’ll miss the parade and the ceremony and everything!”
“Where’d that geezer go?” Zeke grumbled with a glare, looking around like a predator in search of prey.
Camila was ready to pack it up and call it a day. Recently, the Knights of the Dragon Consort had been tasked with capturing Rolf, the caretaker of the Dragon Consort’s Palace, so that he’d become Jill’s third knight. Rolf, possibly intuiting this, ran around and evaded his capture.
Today, he’d unusually shown himself leaving through the back entrance of the palace on horseback. If he left the Empress’s Palace, there was nothing Zeke and Camila could do. They had no time to explain as they hastily borrowed horses and chased after him. Before they knew it, they had left the imperial castle—in fact, they were a good distance away from the imperial capital.
“Where are we? The mountains, right?” Camila asked.
The knights had been on the paved city streets after leaving the Empress’s Palace, but midway through their chase, they entered a mountain that barely had any footing. They found Rolf’s horse tied in place and jumped off theirs. They marked a few trees so that they wouldn’t get lost, but as they ventured deeper inside the woods, they were unsure if they could make it back.
“What business does that geezer have here?” Zeke muttered. “This isn’t the season for mountain climbing.”
Patches of snow could still be found in the shade, and the temperature was chilly.
“Maybe he’s got a secret house like His Majesty,” Camila suggested.
“Hey! Over ’ere!” a voice called out from behind them.
“Aaahhh!” Camila shrieked, hiding behind Zeke.
He also froze in place, but Rolf appeared upside-down, his legs hooked over a branch.
“Here? Were you guiding us here?” Zeke asked.
“Quit yer yappin’ and follow me. Since youse came all the way here, I’ll get all the help I can get,” Rolf replied.
Camila and Zeke exchanged glances, but Rolf hopped down and walked forward without turning around. Left with no other choice, the knights prepared themselves for the worst and quietly followed.
As they made their way through the thickets, they were met with a clearing. They were at quite a high elevation, on a steep cliff. Below were the meandering city streets that continued to the back of the Empress’s Palace gates.
“It’ll come soon. Sit back and wait,” Rolf ordered.
“Uh… Are we waiting for the carriage transporting the previous emperor?” Camila asked.
To prevent it from catching any attention, a carriage was scheduled to arrive behind the Empress’s Palace at around the start of the parade to lead Meruonis out. It would arrive at any moment now.
While the parade and the festivities required personnel to guard the streets and escort important guests, there was a low chance of Meruonis being targeted. The man had been abandoned by the Empress’s Palace and the Three Dukes; he wielded no power. Even Kratos or those against the Dragon Emperor would find Prince Gerald, who was touring the jubilee, a far more valuable target. Thus, it was decided to leave Meruonis with the fewest guards possible so that he’d quietly leave without causing a stir.
“Is there a reason that he’d be targeted?” Camila asked. “Will Duke Verrat fake an accident and kill him off?”
“I hope that’ll happen; it’d take a load off my shoulders,” Rolf replied. “Duke Verrat can’t be underestimated. I’m guessing the story’ll be that Meruonis turns sickly out of anxiety and will die due to illness in a year or so. A pity, but he gets what he deserves.”
“Then why’re we keeping watch?” Zeke asked.
Rolf sat on the ground with a thud. “Youse remember the dragon that Minerd rode on? It ain’t a normal dragon. It didn’t greet the Dragon Emperor, and it flew around this place.” He was astute for noticing at all.
Zeke frowned. “Are we gonna find that dragon? What does that have anything to do with the previous emperor?”
“Remember the Draco Flute in Laika? Minerd entered Kratos with that flute as a souvenir and became the Ambassador of Friendship. Smells mighty fishy, if ye ask me,” Rolf said.
“But I heard that Dragon God Rave personally saw to it that the flute becomes useless,” Camila chimed in. “I heard it’s unusable now.”
“Ah, but who knows if it’s in the hands of Goddess Kratos. Even if it don’t got the exact same effects as the previous one…” Rolf muttered.
The Goddess was capable of creating the exact same miracles as the Dragon God. The knights grew tense.
“So, you think that dragon was created by the goddess?” Zeke asked.
“Dragons are the messengers of the Dragon God,” Rolf replied. “Even the Goddess can’t create one so easily. But I won’t be surprised if there was a lad or a lass out there trying to toe that line. I’ve been thinkin’ about it myself, youse see, about the borders of love and logic—about the boundaries that the deities can push.”
At once, Camila and Zeke thought of a certain shrewd boy, who’d been affectionately nicknamed “Raccoon Boy.”
“Kratos’s magic and Rave’s dragons that can burn magic are rival powers,” Rolf explained. “Tryin’ to fiddle with dragons will break that balance. Minerd’s beast is just a diversion. Kratos doesn’t really expect that thing to cause any destruction.”
“Then why did Kratos make Prince Minerd the Ambassador of Friendship?” Camila asked.
“My guess is that they’re tryin’ to take our attention away from the dragon. Minerd didn’t seem to realize it himself, either. In other words, the moment he rode that beast and descended upon the imperial capital, Kratos’s plans were completed, regardless of the lad’s actions.”
It wasn’t just the temperature that chilled the knights to the bone.
“Any buffoon can cook up a reason to start a war,” Rolf reasoned. “The previous emperor was troubled by the fact that there wasn’t a Dragon Emperor for three centuries and turned to Kratos for help since they constantly possessed a Goddess’s vessel. He did some ass-kissin’ toward the Kratos royal family and tried to form a contract that was practically treason, sparking the war twenty-five years ago. And I said no, but that fool pushed me to the frontlines to be a strategist! Bah! He said that he was fine if the third son turned up dead!”
Rolf suddenly opened his eyes wide and complained to the skies. “I’m through with that, ye hear? I don’t wanna be put in that situation again! House Cervel, especially, chased after me like their lives depended on it! Good grief! They were so annoying, I tell youse! I hate her gaze! It’s like she believes she can catch up to me if she never gives up! Ain’t no way that’s possible! She needs to catch a hint! Also, I don’t wanna ride dragons!”
“Oh, I agree with you on that end…” Camila replied.
“Then pray nothing happens!” Rolf cried before he paused. “They’re here.”
Camila and Zeke looked up as Rolf stood, his sharp gaze chasing after the fast-approaching carriage.