“Yes, I know.”
But as he stood and brought his lips to hers, Agnes quickly slid her hand into the gap between them to block him.
“Claude. I want to talk to you about something.”
“You do?”
Agnes nodded, and Claude sat down beside her, with Ciel jumping up beside them.
“I’m having trouble getting my feelings in order…” she began.
“It’s okay. Just take your time and say what you feel.”
Claude was always so kind. Earlier, his seductive manner had frazzled her, but now she felt she could talk.
“I don’t feel that I belong to the Oreille royal family, but I can’t say I have no connection to them. I don’t want to be a burden to you, but I want to help. In any way I can.” She’d spoken her feelings, and she was sure it was confusing. Still, she was encouraged by the way Claude stayed quiet and listened to her. “I know I’ve caused trouble. My kidnapping caused a lot of bother, to lots of people…”
Claude shook his head, but it was an undeniable fact. Of course, the kidnappers were responsible. However, Agnes was still at the center of it all.
“It would be different if I could at least use a sword, but all I can use is a garden hoe,” she continued. “I’m grateful for Ciel’s protection, but even that ultimately means I’m relying on you so heavily.”
Agnes felt her reality was pathetic—regardless, she had to face it.
“I can’t be the princess in the fairy tale who just lets herself be protected by the prince. That’s not me. I know I don’t have power of my own, I know this might seem selfish of me…” Agnes exhaled slowly before she looked right into Claude’s eyes. “Let me go with you, too.”
A loud pop like a handclap preceded the appearance of a mushroom with a red cap and white warts on Claude’s arm. Balls of light started floating around the Amanita muscaria.
“Rawr!”
“Call on us, they’re saying apparently,” Claude nodded to himself as Ciel made entreating eyes behind him.
“Call on them… Erm… Okay… Er, come out?”
A Panellus serotinus, a pale yellowish-brown mushroom with a semicircular cap, grew on Claude’s shoulder after a series of loud pops. Looking around, a wide variety of mushrooms seemed to have grown on the surfaces of the tables and sofas.
Ciel growled and tugged at Claude’s clothes, who was entranced by the spectacle. The beast seemed to be some sort of mushroom or spirit translator, but it looked like an innocent pampered kitten.
“They want to help you, it seems,” Claude interpreted.
“The mushroom powers…”
Agnes had wondered about her ability. They must be very strong, seeing as how they’d all but destroyed that church in the Kingdom of Oreille.
“The spirits and the mushrooms want to help you. And I, too, want to make your desires come true, Agnes. Before that, I want you to promise me.” Claude held Agnes’s hand, his gaze intense, telling her that he’d prefer if she didn’t come with him to the wall, but he would respect her wishes—despite his mixed feelings. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Prioritize your own safety. Don’t leave Ciel’s side, even for a moment. And make use of your mushroom powers. Are you okay with all that?”
“Yes.”
Let me be useful. She couldn’t say that. Her first priority was to avoid getting in the way, then she’d figure out what she could do to help—even if in the end all she could really do was lift Claude’s spirit with mushrooms.
Agnes nodded with determination, and Claude gave her another worried smile.
“Honestly, I’d be grateful for the assistance of the Oreillian spirits in this matter. With things as they are there, Prince Nathan—oh, I mean King Nathan—he can’t possibly come to assist us at the wall. I’ve heard none of the other Oreillian royals have even half his power.”
In Oreille, the blessings of the spirits came in four tiered ranks, which affected the order of succession to the throne: mushrooms, roots, leaves, and flowers.
As Nathan was the King of Oreille, that meant there was no King of Roots.
Nathan was a King of Leaves, so anyone else with the blessing of leaves would no doubt be less powerful than him. Theoretically, as a Queen of Mushrooms, Agnes had the strongest spirit blessing among all the Oreillian royals.
Still, Agnes’s father, the previous King of Mushrooms, was actually not blessed with a vast amount of magical power and was unable to use much magic. It seemed like divine spirit protection wasn’t everything.
“Thinking only of the hole in the wall, then yes, having you along will help,” Claude said. “But I’ll be fine going alone. I hate to think of burdening you with this. Plus, it’s going to be dangerous no matter what.”
“I just want to help in any way I can,” Agnes told him. “You’ve always helped me so much, Claude. I want to do something for you in return.”
Claude let go of Agnes’s hand and stroked her hair. The gesture was soothing and made her feel safe.
“Just having you around strengthens me, Agnes. Though your safety is my top priority. I do understand it would be selfish of me to try to keep you away; I don’t want to be the one who prevents you from doing what it is you desire.”
Like Ceasar had said, “They prioritize protecting their Dragonmate, even more so than their own lives. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s what’s best for their partner.”
Claude always tried to prioritize Agnes’s safety above all else. More than that, he was also trying to respect Agnes’s free will. Perhaps this was what it truly meant to prioritize one’s Dragonmate.
“Thank you. The expedition to the hole in the wall will be quite a long one, won’t it?” she asked.
“Right. Based on past expeditions, we will probably be away for a month, including the travel time.”
Goodness. It will take that long?
Agnes had expected about that much. Still, actually hearing it, the reality seemed to hit harder. Or maybe it hit harder for a different reason.
“Maybe I just don’t want to be away from you, Claude…” she whispered.
Wanting to be helpful, wanting to give back, and wanting to fulfill her role, Agnes was earnest about all these things. At the same time, she couldn’t deny that the thought of being away from Claude for so long was awful.
Agnes tried to smile wryly to herself. It’s not like I’m a child, she told herself, but then she froze.
Claude covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes burning once more with a red-hot flame of passion.
“Now, now, that’s underhanded of you, Agnes…”
His sweet words, his hot breath—Agnes couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to. He pulled her into his arms without any further hesitation, their lips meeting as if pulled by some irresistible magnetic force.