Chapter 3: Love Is Stronger than Mycelium
“IT’S not all good news. We’ve been getting reports that the hole in the wall is getting bigger.”
The atmosphere grew tense at Xavier’s words, but what was this about a hole in the wall? Even if there was a hole in the royal palace, they’d just call on the servants and craftsmen to fix it? No need to worry, surely.
But the king’s face darkened as he spoke, “I have Armand stationed there, and I’ve prepared backup, but… Recently, with our Dragon Crest Bearer away…”
“I think it would be good to stop by there at least once, before the wedding,” Claude said.
“Agreed,” the king replied.
Claude was looking serious too, but Agnes still didn’t understand what was being discussed. Then, as if sensing her silent questions, Claude smiled at her.
“Father, is it all right if I discuss this with Agnes now?” he asked.
“Yes,” the king nodded. “The wedding hasn’t taken place yet, but she is your Dragonmate, Claude, which means she is already royalty; she should learn what that means.”
“Agnes, have you ever seen a monster?” Claude began, shifting his gaze back to Agnes.
“No. But I’ve heard of people encountering them outside of the city, and of the damage they can cause.” Agnes had thought they were discussing a hole in a wall somewhere, but the topic seemed to have shifted again.
“That’s right. The capital is also protected by knights, so monster victims are rare. Well then, do you know where those monsters come from?” Claude asked.
“Huh? Where? Aren’t they just wild animals?” she assumed. Agnes had never given it much thought, but certainly humans weren’t raising these monsters as livestock. Ergo, they must live naturally in the wild.
“It’s a little different. They are…separate, from our world’s ecosystem,” Claude explained.
“What do you mean?”
“It may be similar to when you summon a spirit, or when I summon a sacred beast,” Claude replied. “Entities that don’t exist in this world suddenly appear. As for the monsters, we don’t summon them, but there are spots where they tend to appear.”
Agnes had never seen a monster, so this didn’t sound quite real to her, but it was true that the spirits didn’t naturally exist in this world. Agnes needed to summon them for them to appear.
It wouldn’t be so strange if something else, something similar, also existed.
…In which case.
“So, the place where the monsters appear, it’s this hole in the wall?” she ventured.
“Correct. There is a border between different worlds, right at the border with Oreille, and we call it the hole in the wall. Monsters come from there.”
So then, it wasn’t a hole in the palace wall after all? Agnes nodded as she digested the new information, and Gerome laughed wryly.
“The hole in the wall itself is always monitored by knights, so we can deal with a certain amount of monster appearances,” Gerome chimed in. “However, the monsters’ spawning—or should I say, the width of the hole in the wall—is variable. Still, I’m not a Crest Bearer, so I’ve only seen it myself once. But Armand is stationed there. Do you understand the significance of this?”
“Prince Armand is not a knight like Claude,” Agnes followed. “He’s not stationed there simply to provide a reinforcement of military power, right?”
“Precisely,” Gerome affirmed. “He’s a thinker, not a soldier. He’s not of great use to us in the physical sense.”
Agnes felt confident in her understanding of the weight of the situation. If Gerome was right, then that meant Armand provided some other benefit, something besides brute force.
“So then… Him being a royal, that’s a significant factor?” she guessed.
“Right. By using Visage dragon blood and the blessings of the Oreillian spirits, we have created something like a set of bars to block off the hole,” Claude answered. “Monster prevention is made possible thanks to royal dragon blood.”
Agnes tried to visualize this based on his explanation, but all she could think of was a crumbling rock wall barred with cut-off tree branches. Such a barrier didn’t seem strong enough to deter even a lone thief, let alone a ferocious monster.
“Crest Bearers, who have inherited strong dragon blood, protect the hole in the wall and thus, by extension, the nation. This is why Crest Bearers are given priority in succession to the throne,” Claude continued explaining. “They protect the land with their great power, and we believe only such a great man has the right to become king.”
Agnes knew Crest Bearers had priority, but she had just assumed it was because of their superior vitality and special magical powers. It wasn’t just about inherent gifts, but about an actual role they played.
“If a Crest Bearer is harmed, it could lead to the destruction of our nation. This is why we keep their existence a secret from the general public,” Claude clarified.
At his words, an Auricularia auricula-judae popped its black-brown, fluttering cap as if in agreement.
“Oh! Look how wonderfully gelatinous it is!” Claude proclaimed as he plucked the mushroom growing on his upper arm with shining eyes.
“…Does mushroom obsession come with dragon’s blood, too?” Agnes couldn’t help blurting this out, and Gerome snorted with laughter.
“If so, then His Majesty and Xavier would be mushroom fanciers too, right?” Gerome chuckled.
“Oh, please excuse me! I never meant to infer…”
The king had invited Agnes not to stand on ceremony around the royal family now that she was engaged to Claude, but to insinuate that any royal was into anything weird like mushroom fetishism seemed incredibly rude of her.
Despite all this mushroom fuss, the real fungus freak in question was distracted, happily stroking the frills of the Auricularia auricula-judae as he stood beside Agnes.
Though she apologized immediately, Xavier looked a little disgruntled. Oh dear, would Agnes be scolded now for her disrespect?
“When did…His Highness Josselin, die?” Xavier asked hesitantly.
“Huh? It’d be about seven years ago.”
Agnes was worried Xavier would scold her, but instead, his question took her by surprise. She hoped he was going to let things slide, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
“Claude wasn’t always into mushrooms. As I recall, one day he just suddenly started talking about them out of the blue.”
“Now that I think about it, that’s right. If I remember correctly, he said something odd, like, ‘The mycelium of fate has descended,’” the king recalled nostalgically, but Agnes didn’t think a prince’s insane ramblings really warranted looking back on with a wistful sigh.
Just then, Claude stopped stroking the mushroom and looked up, almost startled, with shining eyes as if he’d had a divine revelation. “So, you’re saying the mushrooms are…for me? As her Dragonmate…so that I will protect her always and assure her happiness?”
“Er, no, I don’t think the mushrooms work like that,” Gerome let out as he rolled his eyes.
“No, but…my father did wish me happiness,” Agnes began weakly as she tried to re-steer the course of conversation, “and the spirits followed his words to protect me.”
“Agnes suffered from the mushroom sprouting, but I was made to love mushrooms as her destined Dragonmate,” Claude concluded. “Guided by the mycelium of fate, sent to me by the King of Mushrooms, I was destined to meet Agnes…”
“Does that mean you were remotely brainwashed by the mushrooms?” Xavier joked as he rolled his eyes as well, inciting Claude to smile in a dreamy manner.
“My love transcends mycelium. The mushroom didn’t trick me into loving Agnes. I chose mushrooms for myself. I am the one who imbued the force of mycelium into Agnes!” Claude raised his fist triumphantly, and everyone present shifted around awkwardly, unsure of how to react.
“I don’t get how mycelium factors into any of this,” Xavier spoke after a pause, and Agnes was inclined to agree. She wasn’t convinced by Claude’s guesses, anyhow.
“It sounds like it’s supposed to be romantic, but I’m not really getting it? Is it just me?” Gerome chimed in with a confused look, and Agnes shook her head in agreement, smiling wryly.
“It’s okay. It’s hard to understand the rationalizations of a mushroom enthusiast… Only…” Agnes noted weakly.
Just then, Josse’s final words from that day when they were parted forever, rang through Agnes’s mind: “Agnes. My treasure. You have blessed eyes and hair the color of peach blossoms, my sweet Mushroom Princess… Please, be happy, always.”
It also served as a request to the spirits from the King of Mushrooms.
“I’ve always had the protection of my father’s love,” Agnes thought aloud. “Perhaps the mycelium fates really did spread.”
“Rawr!”
Ciel, who had been quiet until then, mewed loudly as if to agree.
With a popping sound, the red and white warty-capped Amanita muscaria appeared on Ciel’s head, swaying as if in affirmation as well. The red mushroom looked dashing against the tiger’s white fur.
No, no. Agnes wasn’t going full mushroom fangirl. This was simple…color theory.
Absolutely.
Agnes sighed, trying not to think fungal thoughts anymore. Then Claude smiled a mysterious smile.
“Going forward, both I and the mushrooms will be protecting you, Agnes.”
A handsome prince, smiling and telling her he would protect her. Who could blame Agnes for a swoon or two? Although…
“Prince Gerome, I’m not quite convinced by this theory either, though,” she said.
“Hmm, yes. Well, the love of a Crest Bearer is a serious thing. Though he may get a little overexcited about mushrooms, Claude’s love is a more playful sort.”
“Er… I see.”
Agnes didn’t even know what a normal Crest Bearer’s love was supposed to be like, but she got the impression everyone was saying that Claude’s was special.
Come to think of it, Crown Princess Zenaide once said, “The love of a Dragon Crest Bearer is an intense thing.”
Zenaide’s husband, Xavier, was a calm and rational sort of man, not a mushroom fetishist like Claude.
Claude’s love was playful? The same Claude who had summoned a sacred beast, entered Oreille under a magical contract, and flame-roasted a king for her?
Agnes gulped, wondering again what the future had in store for her.