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HE’D never seen flowers rain down on him like this before. The petals that fell into his hand were glittering beautifully, as though they were made of magic.
“Snow flowers…” Gerald murmured beside Natalie.
Natalie glanced at his side profile. They were currently seated above the outer walls of the castle, where they could look down at the stage. The castle walls weren’t a comfortable seating area, but there were plush seats for the honored guests, and rugs lined the ground.
“These aren’t snow flowers. They’re dragon’s flowers,” Natalie insisted.
“They’re the same thing. In Kratos, they’re called snow flowers,” Gerald replied, staring at the petal on his palm. “In our kingdom, it’s the only flower that doesn’t bloom with magic. You must give it ample water, sunshine, and fertilizer, or it’ll wilt. And it only blooms in the winter. It’s like a plant of Rave. The legend goes that it must’ve fled from the skies, and was given the name snow flower. It’s rarely seen in Kratos, but it was my mother’s favorite flower.”
The mention of a mother made Natalie wonder which mother he was referring to. She cheerfully changed topics to hide her thoughts. “It seems like Rave and Kratos have a lot of stuff like that. They were created equally, but they were originally the same thing.”
“How silly.”
He crushed the white flower in his hand and stood up. Natalie hastily got up and chased after him.
“Hey! Where are you going?!” she asked.
“Back. That’s not an issue, is it? I don’t know who the Ambassador of Friendship is, but I’m sure they were able to confirm my existence.”
“True…”
A good distance away from Natalie, but in a location where they could be seen from, was her older brother. He was likely watching them, though he refused to meet her eye. She nodded to Frida, who looked worried from a short distance away, and jogged after Gerald, who was swiftly walking ahead. The crown prince had memorized the path he had taken only once and didn’t hesitate. Natalie was anxious, but Rave was able to skillfully maneuver around Kratos’s requests. Still, this didn’t improve her situation. The flower that Gerald had crushed was seared into her mind.
Why am I acting so dejected? Of course things won’t go so easily, she thought. The two nations had been at odds for centuries. There had been several skirmishes with Kratos before she was even born. She felt blessed that they were able to lie about Gerald studying abroad at all. But how much time did they have left?
Gerald was still suppressed, but Kratos was busily working toward crowning his younger sister as the new queen. When Rave received the official notice, it was safe to assume that Kratos already had their bases covered. Perhaps the crown prince would never be allowed back to Kratos.
What would Gerald do then? Would he be freed from his sister, his kingdom, and the Goddess? Was this a good thing? Natalie didn’t hold any of the answers.
A breeze blew behind her as though to encourage her decision. The tower where he was locked up in was connected to a wall by a bridge. It was high in the air, and the dragon soaring through the sky seemed closer to her.
“U-Um, I…received something from your father,” Natalie started. Gerald, who had swiftly walked toward the iron gates of the tower entrance, stopped and turned around. “If you’d like, together we can…”
But a looming shadow obstructed her resolve. She quizzically looked up and was stunned to see a dragon. The sun was shining behind the beast, and the dark mist made it difficult to make out the dragon’s color. Its eyes were pitch-black and bumbled around awkwardly. Clearly, this was no normal dragon, but Natalie was more taken aback by the rider.
“I found you, Natalie,” a man said.
“Father?! How?!” she gasped.
The dragon let out a deafening roar and stomped on the bridge, causing it to crumble from the middle. The strong wind made Natalie stagger into the corridor toward the tower. She immediately looked up to confirm Gerald’s position—the crown prince was on the same side as her, in front of the tower entrance and crouching low. His glare of suspicion was pointed toward her father, former emperor Meruonis, who was descending from the dragon. She determined that this wasn’t Gerald’s plot and quickly shifted her gaze back to Meruonis.
She couldn’t see the other side of the split bridge, barred by the dragon’s back.
“As long as I’ve got you, I’ve still got a bud,” Meruonis said gleefully.
It’d been years since Natalie saw her father. The smiling man had lost weight, and his vacant eyes made her shudder. Why is he here? Why is he after me?
A myriad of questions swirled around in her mind, but now clearly wasn’t the time to be carefreely asking these questions. Gerald was with her. If the crown prince decided to use this opportunity to flee, she couldn’t stop him.
“Th-The crown prince of Kratos is with me right now,” Natalie said. “If you’d like to talk, we can do so later—”
“Crown prince? Hah! Princess Faris will be queen soon!” Meruonis scoffed.
She thought she felt Gerald hold his breath—this was the worst scenario. When Natalie turned around, Gerald had already taken a sword from a soldier who was blown back by the dragon’s attack. He pointed his blade at the soldiers who arrived when they heard the fuss. He could barely use any magic, but he was ready to flee.
“Wait, don’t go!” Natalie pleaded. “I’ll explain, so please—”
Her father grabbed her hair, effectively restraining her. She glared over her shoulder at her father.
“Father, stop doing—”
“Don’t worry. A war won’t occur,” Meruonis assured. “The Rave imperial family and the Kratos royal family will become one.”
As he stroked Natalie’s stomach from behind, the princess stopped thinking and shivered.
“You see, I’m not your father,” he said. “Your father is actually my father. Do you know what this means?”
Gerald had parried the final soldier’s sword and delivered a kick as he jumped toward the wall of the bridge. Natalie didn’t want to listen to her father’s words and wanted to at least shout as loud as she could, notifying the others of Gerald’s attempt to escape. However, her throat grew tight, and she couldn’t utter a sound.
“This is a secret plan that your mother concocted,” Meruonis continued. “Because Hadis returned and kicked me out of the castle before you turned fourteen, I went through quite a bit of trouble. The other consorts kept getting in my way out of jealousy.”
It was then that Natalie intuited that something awful was about to befall her, and for some reason, fireworks popped into the air as though to signal the beginning of this tragedy.
“You and I are half-siblings, Natalie!” Meruonis declared. “Now, I can get my hands on that Heavenly Sword! Just like how when an older brother desecrates his younger sister and plants his seed inside of her gets the Parrying Dagger, I can finally get the Heavenly Sword! It’s all mine! I’ll receive proof of being the Dragon Emperor!”
Natalie was grabbed by her neck and pushed into the corridor. She knew she had to fight back, but she couldn’t put strength into her trembling body. The words that entered one ear came out through the other.
“Offer the Heavenly Sword to me, Natalie, my sister,” Meruonis said lecherously.
Natalie knew about the secret of the Kratos royal family. Their family tree was created through the union of an older brother and younger sister. The current Kratos king laughed about it, claiming it to be a curse from the Dragon God. What was she supposed to feel? Even while she was about to commit this forbidden act against her will, she couldn’t think of an answer.
“Use your body to make me the Dragon Emperor, like Goddess Kratos had done!” Meruonis shrieked.
One thing was clear: she’d never get to meet Gerald again. So, when she saw a shadow looming over Meruonis, she had no idea who it was for a moment.
“You mangy cur!”
Another set of fireworks popped into the afternoon sky as Gerald’s sword pierced through Meruonis, who was trying to force himself on Natalie.