“Hey, Rare!” Rave called out. “Can you hear me? Yeah, so the other dragons are troubled. Raw ordered the others to never tell you, so watch over him, will you? He said he’ll try to work things out himself. But keep your eyes peeled. Missy’s currently gone missing, and I’m not sure what Hadis will do right now.”
“Calm down,” Lutiya said. “Prince Gerald’s whereabouts will be an excellent tool for negotiations. I’m sure Miss Jill just—”
“I don’t care about that!” Hadis shouted. “J-Jill’s always like this! She always tells me I’m the most important to her, yet she always keeps me on the sidelines! I’m taller than that stupid prince, and I’m stronger, and I’ve got the Heavenly Sword! I’m an emperor, and I can even cook! I doubt that prince will ever wear an apron, you know!”
“I thought you just liked to wear aprons, Brother,” Lutiya said dryly.
“I’m doing it for Jill’s sake!”
Lutiya shrugged his shoulders at Hadis’s shouting and turned to Frida. “He’s a lost cause,” Lutiya mumbled.
“Um, Sister Jill once sided with Prince Gerald,” Frida said, trying to explain to Lutiya. “So, I think…that traumatized Brother Hadis…”
“Huh, I didn’t know that happened. Serves you right, Brother.”
“Shut up!” Hadis cried. “Jill doesn’t even see you as a potential partner!”
“E-Excuse me for intruding on this conversation, Your Majesty,” Millay said as she jogged back. “Um, I’d like to hear your thoughts about something.”
As Millay glanced around worriedly, Frida immediately stood up and tugged on Lutiya’s sleeve.
“Brother Lutiya…we should go,” Frida said. “I think we’re a nuisance here.”
“Not one bit, Princess Frida!” Millay gasped. “Er, but I’m terribly sorry…”
“I don’t mind, as long as it’s of use to Brother Hadis,” Frida replied. “Isn’t that right, Brother?”
She expertly flashed an intimidating smile at Hadis before she dragged Lutiya away. The young prince cast an icy glare at his brother before following his sister.
“I thought I should tell you about this as soon as possible,” Millay said. “It’s about the fuss we heard earlier. It was because a bunch of these were scattered around the castle.” She handed Hadis a piece of paper.
“We’ve got the Dragon Consort. If you want her back safe, the Dragon Emperor must obey Goddess Kratos,” the note read. Hadis was glad that his siblings weren’t here, for fear that he would strike terror in them. Rave scowled as he returned to Hadis’s shoulder.
“Whoa… You’re thinking of something crazy again,” Rave muttered.
Not true, Hadis thought. We finally caught a hold of them.
It hadn’t been too long since Raw was separated from Jill. And yet, almost immediately, Jill’s kidnappers had slipped in this note. That implied that her kidnappers had already snuck into the imperial castle. As Hadis thought about how one could get into contact with others so swiftly and slide this paper into the depths of the castle, he began to draw his own conclusions and smiled. Obey the Goddess?
That was likely to cast doubt upon Kratos. It likely held no deeper meaning, but the audacity was palpable. Rave picked up on Hadis’s wicked smile, sighed, and slithered into the Dragon Emperor.
“Any chaos within the castle?” Hadis asked.
“N-None,” Millay replied. “I found this paper with the imperial soldiers, but they seem to find this kidnapping as some kind of joke and refuse to believe it.”
“Makes sense. No one would believe the Dragon Consort was kidnapped.”
“B-But the Dragon Consort is younger than me and is just a normal little girl. Kratos likely laid some sort of despicable trap for their meeting. We should presume that Kratos abducted Her Highness, and form a squad to investigate just in case.”
Millay’s logic was sound, but as Hadis disregarded her, a gruff voice entered his ear.
“Y-Your Majesty!” Despite having lost his right arm, General South ran fast enough to kick up clouds of dust. “I-I heard all about it!” he gasped. “Her Highness feigned her travels to the meeting and ran away from home after being infuriated with you, Your Majesty!”
“Huh?” Hadis asked.
“What did you do, Your Majesty? Please tell me. The imperial army shall do its utmost best to find Her Highness and apologize on your behalf! We swear to bring her back, so if you have any sort of leads at all, please let me know!”
“How did you come to that conclusion?”
South blinked, snapped back to his senses, and straightened. “I understand that a mysterious document regarding the Dragon Consort’s kidnapping has made its rounds in the castle, causing a bit of a stir. His Highness Lutiya confirmed that the Dragon Consort was missing, and mentioned that her love for you had waned…”
That brat… This is his way of getting back at me, huh? Hadis felt a vein pop on his temple. Rave cackled with delight.
“Are these rumors all false?” South asked.
“Do I look like a man Jill would abandon?” Hadis asked.
“No. Her Highness is a very generous lady, but I understand you always go against expectations, Your Majesty. I believe her love for you waning isn’t off the table,” South solemnly replied.
Hadis closed his eyes and opened them again, a smile painted on his face. “I see. Well, then, why not? Let’s just go with that.”
“Aw, crap, you’re mad,” Rave said. “C’mon, Missy won’t desert you after all this time.” After Rave had his fair share of laughs, he tried to calm Hadis down, but it was too late.
“Yep, Jill deserted me,” Hadis said. “She went in search of Prince Gerald and disappeared. She might be having an affair.” As Hadis thought back, puzzlingly enough, the pieces fit together well.
“Prince Gerald?” South asked. “Then the Dragon Consort commenced her search for your sake. I’m relieved to—”
“I didn’t ask for it, though!” Hadis shouted. “You don’t have to go searching for her.”
“Huh?!” Millay gasped in astonishment.
Hadis ignored her and gave his order to South. “Call for my older brother. I’ll cancel all my future plans and head for Lehrsatz.”
Millay and South felt compelled to refute, but they snapped their mouths shut. Hadis turned toward his trusted lady-in-waiting-in-training.
“Millay, I’ll have you tag along with me,” Hadis said.
“O-Of course. I shall gladly do so,” Millay stammered. “But how can we rescue the Dragon Consort?”
“It’d trouble me to have the Dragon Consort rely on me so much.”
“Huh? What do you—”
Hadis grabbed a confused Millay’s hands and tried to smile as gently as possible. “As my future empress candidate, I’d like you to focus on making this meeting a success,” Hadis said.
Millay and South were at a loss for words.
“I can’t believe you can think of so many ways to make Missy mad at you…” Rave said wearily.
I don’t care. Hadis just wanted the women who gathered around him to crush each other of their own volition. It was an act of self-defense. Paying no heed to etiquette, he grabbed a slice of cake with his bare hand and devoured it in one bite. He neatly licked off a bit of cream that was on his thumb.