“If a Dragon Ruler were to ask you to break a law, would you do it? I will answer it for you: I will understand if you must break a law if you deem it necessary. As a father, I must trust your judgment when you are out. As I said when you admitted to your fault during your expedition, if it involves your life, and you are not in the wrong legally, then the law should not tether you. Here, though? Clench your teeth and accept that you must make compromises!” Father’s claws bit into his trembling, scaled hands, barely able to contain the anger he had after Wendriosa, and I reported what happened in Lecullius after we returned home. Neill, Nong, and Vifi were all still inside my subspace’s clinic to recuperate, so the two of us had to bear with Father’s and our Empress-Mothers’ chastisement.

This office of his has no right to be this big, but I guess it also serves as his throne room while he’s in Coral Beard. Urrgh.

As the imperial family, our mansion in Coral Beard was, understandably, huge. Our family, after all, included six other clans through our empress-mothers, not to mention the attendants belonging to my paternal clan. Though not to overly burden the sky city, the acres reserved for us were fewer than we could afford. After all, to us dragons, our mansions were more similar to vacation houses than symbols of prestige to human nobles. Our lair was where we flaunted our wealth and achievements.

And Father’s throne room was this very office room, large enough to contain a library and five large, rectangular tables for his bureaucrats to work and discuss at. A six was located just next to his desk, where his wives and their attendants would congregate. Naturally, our empress-mothers had their own offices, but when it came to important matters that required so much paperwork that the tables would be filled with it, they had to work here. They needed the help of our dragonewt beauracrats to get through their daily piles.

And although the room was emptied, excluding Father, the Empress-Mothers, Wendriosa, and me, it felt like so many eyes were staring at me from the back. Embarrassment, guilt, and maybe even a hint of impatience were causing my skin to sting and itch.

“I rescinded my, admittedly, unfair treatment of you, but that doesn’t mean you may ignore the laws governing our nation, especially when it comes to the laws pertaining to the safety of our newly hatched. I had them enact not to imprison our hatchlings, but to assure their safety,” Father continued, barely bottling up his anger. “Wendriosa, your youngest might be an adult in mind, but that is not the case for her physique. She is a whelpling. Even as a rank B, she is still growing a bit every other day, even if it isn’t too obvious. That results in higher stats, even if she were not to train. Eating, resting; her mother had tasked her to pass her trial, and yet you dare to allow her to exit her subspace when I told you not to let her into Lecullius? Have you no care for your youngest’s safety, when you, Nongramos, and Fargryneill knew Quasdrakeen’s intention?”

He switched to Wendriosa, but it’s clear he’s still lecturing me, as well. ‘You should know better because you are mentally an adult,’ is the context. I mean, he’s not wrong. I have a buncha excuses, but I can’t change the fact that I broke a rule, and not for a reason that could excuse it.

In my mind, my reasons made perfect sense. Nong and Wendriosa would get into trouble if the second warbringer were to die, and I saw firsthand how messed up his organs and bones were. You couldn’t fix that with just potions and water healing. I had to perform surgery and even regrow some of his organs.

While I could perform all of that inside my subspace, this was the mud-slinging guy, the same person who could hide in the ground and ambush people, killing them by drowning them inside his mud. Bringing that guy into the subspace after what he did to Akasht? Ha, I would rather crush his head and get into trouble with Lecullius at that point. I wasn’t about to risk him potentially leaving behind a “surprise.”

My parents could probably understand my intent when I gave my side of the report, but speaking up right now wasn’t smart. As mentioned, all of the empress-mothers were here. One mother nearly lost a daughter, two saw their only child heavily injured inside the subspace, and now the father had to manage the household’s current ill mood. With how the empress-mothers saw each other as battle sisters, in their view, what happened today affected them just as much.

Mom looks like she’s about to explode. If Father wasn’t acting as her mouth to voice her anger, I think Mom wouldn’t even deign to sit in that seat, I thought, considering how much Mom’s tail was slapping the ground. The handles on her chair were already torn and turned into ice.

Still, even if all of them were furious, it was cruel of them to allow Father to even say that last sentence.

“The Abyssal Warden gave her version of your recalling while you two were recuperating yesterday,” Father mentioned. Wendriosa and I had rested for two days, but Father had already received numerous reports about the incident. “I understand the meeting wasn’t intentional?”

Did he calm down?

“Their meeting was entirely coincidental,” Wendriosa stated. “From what I managed to extract from Kiedaceus, he mentioned they were already in the vicinity of Lecullius when they saw one of my followers kill Quasdrakeen’s. They didn’t have any plans to visit the city, nor do I believe from her reaction that Quasdrakeen expected Hestia to be outside the subspace. It was… pure misfortune.”

‘Kiedaceus.’ That’s the name of the usurper who killed Wendriosa’s aunt. The two of us didn’t get a good chance to talk about what happened as we recovered, but she did tell me the male ‘levianewt’ I saw was the person she intended to kill to regain control over her faction.

“The sharks sniffed out the blood, and it was our faction’s fault,” Wendriosa’s mom snapped, her fingers twitching as much as Mom’s. “She came to taunt Hestia, or to threaten her to bring Melloxtressa. What she found was the perfect chance to force Melloxtressa out of Miononbolax.”

“The fool hasn’t even evolved yet, but she still plans on provoking us? The ‘fool’… no, we demean an ancient like her, when you need guile to survive in the oceans,” Gaistrus stated, being the only one who kept her composure. “Her faction hired those demonkin. I still remember you mentioning something about a ‘dragon killer’ or something?”

Huh? She actually remembered? Did Mom tell her?

Being stared at, Mom let out a deep sigh that froze a bit of the table before her. Although she still grimaced, her shaking stopped. “My daughter’s retainer, Tasianna, mentioned it in passing when she told me about everything I missed when I fell into slumber after I slew Karhalantheel. A dwarven traitor built a manatech construction that is ‘supposedly’ capable of killing true dragonkin. I presume it was due to anti-dragon blood. Hestia?”

I stuttered a bit, feeling this mind-numbing want to scratch my back. The cold sweat was prickling me so much that I didn’t even feel comfortable looking at Mom. “The ‘dragon killer’ is what I would call a ‘gundum.’ A giant robotic—ahem, I meant a machine exosuit. The one the ‘traitor’ created was large enough to attack a rank A drake in Inkoran-Tazul. They had a drill, and it wounded him.”

“And the demonkin, probably, extracted the information, according to Vifi, her demonkin retainer,” Mom added. “The leviathans and adamantoises are no fools. That Kiedaceus, after all, seeks to start a war between us. He and Quasdrakeen are now enemies, but it doesn’t mean they must remain as such out of water.”

“A war would drag all of us out. Quasdrakeen wouldn’t have anything to lose if she were to ally with Kiedaceus,” Forminaxtrass stated. “If this were a normal situation, I would allow Melloxtressa to defend her daughter, but killing Quasdrakeen would eliminate Wendriosa’s chance to garner any followers for her cause. Unless Wendriosa forsakes this possible achievement for her goals, we cannot intervene with how we wrote the laws concerning the democratic process.”

“Our youngest step-daughter almost died, and you are more concerned about election integrity? I must be hearing things!” Yuilengreill barked, looking so enraged that it reminded me of how Neill would handle her anger. “As mothers, we have a responsibility to protect our children. As sisters, we have a duty to protect each other and the happiness of our entire family. As empresses, not giving a proper response to this clear casus belli besmirches our prestige as an empire!”

Seriously?

“Yuilengreill, the last thing we need is a true war between land and ocean! The Event Quest forces all ambitious Caedhulens to either support Quasdrakeen or Kiedaceus, so if we were to call for war, both of them could simply ally with each other to fight us. Their supporters are then forced to fight us, as they cannot afford to allow their preferred candidate to die. Even if one of them were to die, the Event Quest explicitly states that we cannot kill the other until they become a rank SS. Every Caedhulen, even the Abyssal Warden, will be obligated by faith to protect the surviving candidate,” Gyadiosa rebuked. “It would become a true all-out war. A tidal wave that we cannot just stop.”

“Your daughter was injured as well, Gyadiosa…” My head snapped over to Virrflax as I heard the sound of a strong wind whipping around me. Her green eyes started to glow as she leaned to the side, glaring at Wendriosa’s mom as if she had committed a taboo. “My son got a hole dug into his body, leaving him with only 10% of his health. Yuilengreill’s daughter had her head caved in, and we cannot say if that didn’t damage her brain. And if my son hadn’t acted as soon as he did, we would be mourning the death of Melloxtressa’s whelpling. We, their parents, have a DUTY to clean up their me—”

“Silence.”

All of us jerked up, straightening our backs as all of us felt Father’s aura stifling our breath like an ash cloud. It quickly retreated before it started choking me like back when we first met, but that jump scare probably took a year off my lifespan.

“Wendriosa… you have lost my support for your cause,” Father said, causing Wendriosa to bite her lips. “Fortunately for you, I am but one of many votes in this new process we are introducing. I do not count as a dragon ruler, so my vote will be similar in influence to that of a farmhand.”

No, it won’t. The fact that you said it out loud is already a punishment to Wendriosa’s mental health, Father.

“Hestia…” Father turned silent, closing his eyes as he tapped his finger on his handle rest. “You are officially forbidden from leaving Frozen Nest, unless excused through my authority, until you become a fledgling. Your subspace entry is still allowed, and you may see through it to visit outside Frozen Nest, but only after you reach [Battle Frenzy (Major)]. It is clear to me that you are not strong enough to survive outside of Miononbolax. You’ve made too many enemies too soon.”

That’s… surprisingly pretty tame compared to Wendriosa’s. I expected a bit more.

Noticing my surprise, Father elaborated, “If Quasdrakeen wasn’t playing with her prey, the three of you would have died two days ago. That is enough of a punishment. She reminded you that weakness is a sin in the world we live in. The horror of losing everything around you can be traumatizing enough to cause some dragons to stop flying.”

I couldn’t argue back. Seeing Nong and Neill unconscious felt like I was seeing Akasht and Eshe, again. I couldn’t even think correctly when I saw them lying in those bloodied ponds. This impatience I was feeling most likely was caused by the fact that I couldn’t get rid of Quasdrakeen’s face and eyes out of my head.

“And… Hikari, your punishment is similar to Hestia’s. You weren’t the one in control when you left through the subspace, I presume,” Father said in a slightly awkward tone.

Punishing Hikari and me would always lead to such a problem, where if you treated us as two individuals, we would be punished twice. That wouldn’t be fair. Besides, he was right that Hikari wasn’t the one who stepped out of the portal… even if she didn’t reject the idea.

He continued, “That is what I must say. Now… Melloxtressa, Virrflax, Yuilengreill, as much as we have reason to start a war after that altercation, I have no wish to act on it unless our children wish for it. I have already declared it thusly: the future belongs to them, and I shall not start a war without their opinion on the matter. For now, forbid entry for all newly arriving leviathans and adamantoises, and make sure to warn them that they will be perceived as a threat if they swim within our territory. All Caedhulens will be put under higher scrutiny if they wish to enter Miononbolax, and increase the funding for our coast guards to ensure no spies enter our land. Our youngest is now an assassination target. Melloxtressa, you are absolved of your punishment. Return to Frozen Nest and oversee its protection.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!” Mom shouted, louder than the other empresses.

“Wendriosa, you are to speak with your siblings. Obtain their opinions. Furthermore, as you are ambitious enough to continue with your plans to obtain my crown, I will also assume that you will have the consent of the people you drag into this plan. The democratic process can work in this situation as well.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to novelbuddy for the genuine story.

“I understand, but—”

“You have a duty to persuade your siblings because you are not the empress of Kargryx. Learn to make some compromises with your political rivals for the sake of the empire. You already did it once with Kahalameet, and you will be able to do it once again. Owing favors and returning them later is another aspect of ruling.” Father then waved his hand as if to tell us to go. It seemed he really had nothing left to say, but at least his mood had finally settled down. “Gyadiosa, have an attendant send everybody back in after they finish their lunch. There is much more to work with. Melloxtressa, you may leave at the end of the day.”

“Understood. Now, if you would excuse us.” Mom stood up and hurried Wendriosa and me out of the room, before she suddenly headbutted me, causing me to yelp before she grabbed my shoulder to keep her forehead against mine. “Hestia… my whelpling.”

“… I’m sorry, Mom,” I said, staring into Mom’s wavering, deep blue eyes. Her beautiful elven features started to wrinkle as the corners of her mouth widened into the shape of a crescent moon, shivering in pure joy.

I did see Mom as I rested in the clinic after Quasdrakeen attacked me, but she didn’t remain in the room long before she dashed out. It felt like she only came in to confirm if I had fallen into a coma or not, and was unable to keep her anger to herself. I guess Father and the other empresses had talked plenty enough in the last two days, allowing each to cool down before Wendriosa and I came to give our reports. What we recalled probably reawakened Mom’s, Virrflax’s, and Yuilengreill’s rage.

“You are not the one to say sorry, Hestia. You nearly dying is not your fault. You causing me to worry is also not your fault. It is Quasdrakeen’s. Plain and simple,” Mom declared as she grasped my face, holding me and probably feeling my warmth, only to suddenly pinch my cheeks and pull them as if I was made out of rubber.

“Yeeeeeooooowh! Muuuuuuuuuuuum!” I cried before she finally released me, leaving me to massage my poorly deformed face. “Okay, okay, I deserved that! Sorry.”

Mom sighed before she started smiling again. “I already told you that you bear no fault here. Well… despite the near tragedy, I am happy that Eltharion allowed me to go back home. I guess my threatening to go on a rampage again probably convinced my sisters that they should just compromise to keep me leashed to Kargryx. I’ll be able to personally oversee your training, and Hikari’s now.”

I nodded, being silent and obedient as I could tell Mom was about to give me a lecture.

“You are strong, Hestia, but you are weak at the same time. You are able to destroy anything below your level and can rise above those who outlevel you purely due to your assortment of unique skills, custom spells, divine blessings, and bloodline traits. Against humanoids, you can overcome challenges as long as you fight intelligently, but there is a limit until levels and stats are just too much to surmount. In humanoid terms, a fully leveled rank A is level 200, while a rank S would be 350. I outlevel you by over 200 levels, and with my long lifespan, my stats are beyond what you can defeat, even if you were to use your deadliest venom. My health, mana, and stamina can simply outlast it, even if [Dread Burn], somehow, burned through my true ice and mana barrier. Even anti-dragon blood has a limit to how much it can affect me. This is your situation against Quasdrakeen.”

She used herself as an example to fully illustrate the futility of fighting a rank S, but I already knew it well enough.

“In other words, in this battle, you may not fight Quasdrakeen or Kiedaceus. Kahalameet and Phsothophus are your most valuable weapons if you manage to persuade them to help you. Fortunately, your Profile has the privilege to weaken enemies and to empower your allies. All you need to do is survive at least a hit to allow your healing to save you. So when you get back to Frozen Nest, call your ‘suitor’—”

“Why are you calling him my suitor? Are you trying to matchmake me here?”

Mom’s face turned slightly red as she cleared her voice. “I meant, Galiladrak’s son. Bring him to our nest, because I will need him to help you learn more about how holy dragons fight. I will turn you into the strongest holy-ice dragon in the world.” She then turned to Wendriosa. “Dear, Eltharion might have given up his support, but that doesn’t mean we empresses have given up on you. Do not worry about having to kill Quasdrakeen or not. Let her become rank SS. If she dares to threaten my daughter, then I’ll decorate my lair with her bones and scales, just as I am doing with her father’s. So… go, make your ambition come true, step-daughter.”

“Thank you very much, Empress-Mother. Thank you for still trusting me. I swear in Father’s name that I will assure Hestia’s safety and survival.”

Mom nodded before she turned back to me. She embraced me, wrapping her arms around my neck to push her head closer to my ears, to the point I could hear her breathing.

“Don’t worry… once it starts, I will repay that fish-bitch for every single bone she broke. Her family, her children, her friends—they can all come and join the tomb I will make for her. Once this is done, Caedhul will payus back for every single disrespect they sent our way! Allies or not, if they don’t bow before Eltharion after all this is done, I’ll gladly remind them that the abyss will not protect them from a winter that will never end!”

Mom then let go and said goodbye to us, returning to the office while I shivered, as I was still stuck inside that cave at the glaciers. I touched my ears, feeling like the warmth was stolen by mom’s every single word. Yet… it felt good. Felt freakingly good.

The war sucks like hell, but it still feels good to hear her want to risk her life to protect mine. Mom, just stay safe, please… but I’ll be there when you beat the shit out of that fucking skink! I shouted in my head as I touched my neck, still imagining the pain of nearly losing my neck. Just thinking of Quasdrakeen made my heart race as if I had just run a marathon.

I let out a deep sigh of relief and mental exhaustion after all that. Even before, standing in front of my parents and reporting everything that happened in Lecullius, even if Wendriosa did most of it, was frying up my brain. Maaan, at least, Father didn’t seem like he was holding my mistake against me.

Though even after all that, my day wasn’t about to end with just some chastisement. I still had to speak with Wendriosa. After all, those two days in the clinic were just pure silence between us. I was so sure what she was thinking about after I saw her in her leviathan-dragon form.

“Sis?” I called, causing her to grunt as she turned around. She was about to leave without saying a word, huh? “Do you still want me to accept that offer you gave me when we first met at the Black Citadel?”

She nodded her head. “I still wish to be empress, so having you as my supporter is important. In fact, after what happened in Lecullius, my desire to end Kargryx’s political isolatinism had only grown. Those leviathans… do not know their place. Those demonkin dare bear their claws at us just because they found an ally in our rivals? ‘Birds pecking bugs off the backs of a drake, relying on them to protect them from griffons.’ That’s what they are to us, Hestia. Even if they have a ‘dragon killer’ or anti-dragon blood, we must reign supreme and remind Altrust why we once ruled the sky.”

“Ideologically, I disagree with you. Even if you aren’t aiming to expand our borders, you are planning on spreading our influence through martial threats. ‘If this human country accepted the dragons, we have to as well, otherwise we might be in danger if they wage war on us.’ I know you aren’t planning on giving them offensive support, but people are irrational, especially in front of somebody beyond their powers.” I narrowed my eyes, gripping my hands as Quasdrakeen’s gleeful face wouldn’t disappear from my mind. “I… cannot support you if you are still aiming to kill Kiedaceus. I need to kill Quasdrakeen, because she endangers everything I love. Because she supports the Bole’Tarian who are finally able to aim for my head!”

“And you will get to have your chance, even if you support me, Hestia,” Wendriosa rebuked, causing me to flinch in surprise. “However, the truth of the matter is that your mother is correct. Neither of us can kill her. Our second eldest is strong, but I do not believe he is worthy of her match. Kahalameet, though, I do believe in his might, because he is the strongest amongst us. Despite what our grandfather has to say about us, Kahalameet will become somebody great. He won’t need a crown for all to understand that.”

Oh, wow, you’re even more of a siscon than I thought, Sis… but I won’t say it out loud, don’t worry, I told myself as I could see the anger on her face, blazing so wildly with her shivering, straining eyes.

“I was confident that I could kill Kiedaceus because Mother managed to acquire his Profile for me. I know how to gain an advantage, despite the massive level difference. Even if it is a bit ‘undragon-like’, I have items prepared for my battle with him, though at least I’m not desperate enough to resort to anti-dragon blood or leviathan-specific toxins.” Wendriosa sighed, although I probably would have been okay with using toxins. “The point is, I know Kiedaceus enough. The issue with your goal is that we don’t know anything about Quasdrakeen. Mother could probably fish something up for us, but that will take time, just as she needed to go around hiring people who could use [Identify] and piece together countless barely legible Profiles to help me.”

Wait, hold on, that’s actually smart. Just appraise them a buncha times until you get their entire Profile, and then piece it together like a puzzle… wait, hold on, that’s actually dumb as heck to do during a battle.

“Setting aside our ideologies, an alliance doesn’t have to be maintained until each of our goals is achieved. It’s enough to simply maintain it until our common enemy is down. To be fair, I don’t have to kill Kiedaceus to prove myself to Kargryx. Quasdrakeen would qualify me as well, though I have more confidence in fighting the former. We can work together until we see which of the two leviathans will bow before us first,” she said. “And, besides, Goddess Plesia will not intervene if we were to kill both of us. It is no divine taboo. The Caedhulens only wish to keep one of them alive so they can benefit from the Event Quest. However, do you remember what was written at the very end of the Divine Quest?”

I shook my head, as I didn’t want Hikari to dig that information up, right now. Wendriosa was having her moment.

“‘The eyes of the Goddess of Water will follow everywhere there is water, and she, nor her Pantheon, shall accept an unworthy candidate.’ Kill one of the leviathans and make the other unworthy, and that will not only reduce the survivor’s chance to become a potential blessed, reducing the possibility of either Quasdrakeen harming Melloxtressa or Kiedaceus declaring war on Kargryx, but it will also strip Caedhul of a chance to improve their humanoid soldier’s potential. They will not be able to gain a unique Job like yours.”

<Support her, Hestia.>

Kramps?

<She has gained my attention. I accept her. You have the final choice, but I believe she will be able to help us the best. This is what I wanted to see in one of my grandchildren. You and Wendriosa… remind those fish lizards why we rule both sky and land, while they keep hiding in their dark puddles.>

Wincing, I massaged my temples before I said, “Kramps supports you.”

Letting out a baffled “huh?” Wendriosa grimaced as she heard this, clicking her tongue in annoyance, but it looked more like she wasn’t sure what to think about my comment. “Huh… you and that old man. Who cares about his opinion at this point? What’s yours? What’s yours, Hestia?”

You’re furious, but you don’t seem to dislike it entirely. I guess it makes sense. Kramps is still an asshole in your eyes, and it should remain as such until he apologizes to you.

“As long as we get a chance to fuck her over, then I’m in. No idea about Frozen Nest and Sacred Nest, but we can get past that bridge when we have to talk with them.”

“Thank you!” Wendriosa shot her tail forward, grabbing mine as she began shaking it. “Then, our first goal is for you to become strong enough to stand around to support me in a battle. As for me, I believe I should follow Father’s advice and make some people owe me favors. You should go back to Frozen Nest and speak with your Dragon Ruler. I’ll go meet our eldest, and hope he hasn’t started his battle with Maustoovaka just yet.”

“What about Nong and Neill?”

“Once they wake up, we will tell them about the alliance and see what they wish to do. Nongramos will likely continue supporting me, but we will need to hear Fargryneill’s answer. Taimatrak… I think he will support me with you joining.”

“Hmm? What about just supporting you because you took care of him when he was a kid? And why me specifically?”

“Because he can finally believe that my plan to kill Kiedaceus might come to fruition, when we have the best healer amongst us siblings. Kahalameet and I can use water magic to heal, but having a holy dragon at our side is invaluable to allow either of us to focus on fighting. He rejected me after Father made his announcement, stating that I should stop ‘dreaming.’ I will make it a reality.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Father asked me to help you.”

“It was not a guarantee. You officially joining me is different. Besides, Taimatrak doesn’t like fighting, similar to Ryranakus. He is more of a scholar like his mother, and his fascination spread to history and archeology. He will not attempt a battle he believes he will lose, and would rather wait for an opportune time. Four siblings uniting into one alliance to take down a threat to our nation seems like a just cause for him to fight in, don’t you think?”

I shrugged. I didn’t want to drag Taim into this mess, but it was his decision at the end of the day. What was more important was how both of us would get our factions to join in this problem. Was I even willing to involve Uncle Alex, Uncle Kary, and Uncle Guyul? They would definitely join in if I were to ask them… but I didn’t want to endanger them. It probably wasn’t even a choice I could make.

Regardless, with the new alliance between us settled, the two of us went our separate ways. Wendriosa probably had a lot of people to talk to. I, on the other hand, had a ton of time until I had to return to Frozen Nest in the evening, so I decided to do my healer duty and visit my patients.

“Lass!”

However, as I opened my subspace to enter the restaurant to grab something to bite, somebody stood in my way. Steam shot through the gaps of his armor as seams of mana glowed here and there like the runic letters of a magic circle. Instead of only reaching my shoulders, the man who called me now was casting a shadow on me.

Similar to the Earthshaker armor the dwarves wore, the canopy of war fully protected every bit of his body. Naturally, you got some thinner areas, but nothing those steam releases couldn’t solve.

Brazenly wearing crimson, black, and white, this metallic cage was a symbol of Aurora.

“Let’s spar. You should be healthy enough.”

“… The ‘dragon killer’ power armor is finally done, huh?”