"...Lady Vivienne, Your Majesty is in her private quarters!" A maid said, bowing to me. Two days ago, the servants called "shadows" appeared at my mansion during my training.

They managed to breach the mansion’s barrier, get past the guards, infiltrate the safe room, and reach my private training area without anyone noticing, showcasing their skills.

I had heard of these so-called "shadows," the Demon King’s secret servants. To ordinary nobles, they’re just rumors, but it seems the rumors had a grain of truth, since they came to tell me my daughter had summoned me.

Being up on the news, I’d learned that Evelyn had become queen, which was shocking. Many nobles started showing up to try and make connections with me just because of it.

Reading the reports, I know roughly what Evelyn did, and it was truly a risky move on her part, initiating a battle for the throne. Regardless, given the urgency with which I was summoned, Evelyn seems to want to see me immediately.

"Thank you for the courtesy. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see my little girl," I tell the servant, while feeling uneasy about something I sense in the castle.

’Is that Esther? In the Ruler’s personal office? And what the hell is that...’ I sense a dangerous power coming from her, far greater than what I felt when she married Evelyn.

It’s an abnormal growth for just a few months of training. Truly a monster. I have no idea how she lost the throne being this strong. She has as much power as I do now, and she’s between 18 and 19 years old, while I’m already 409 to 410.

’How bizarre... she could fight both me and Ecatherine...’ Ecatherine and I are two nobles who highly value personal strength, so we train hard to always stay at our peak.

I myself have a routine of 4 hours of daily physical training and 2 hours of daily magical training, starting from two in the morning onwards.

"...Evelyn let Esther make decisions that only she could?" Seems like Evelyn’s love life has become dangerously critical if she’s allowing such an absurdity.

"Evelyn!! Mommy’s here!" I knock on her door. Even though I want to barge in, she’s the Queen now, I still owe her some respect as a demon.

"Y-You can come in..." I hear her voice through the door, and then I open it, immediately seeing the room. There are several mirrors; it seems she likes looking at herself.

"Daughter, I was summoned by you! So, what do you have for me? I’m kind of busy! I have a lot of deals to close! And recently the trade routes have become a problem..."

"Vivienne..."

"Mommy," I say, not wanting to be called by my name by my daughter.

"...Mother... I need your help with something. Close the door first," Evelyn, covered by a sheet, murmured as I obeyed her request.

’Impressive room.’ This room has as much defensive magic as my personal vault, which is truly impressive.

"I can try to help, daughter! As long as you don’t ask for money, hahaha," I say, serious with her. I won’t give her a single coin; it’s my treasure, and I don’t share it.

"I don’t want your treasure! I have my own! My personal vault is growing..." She says, getting up from the bed but still holding the sheet, as if she wants to hide her body.

"Then I’ll help you! What do you need... what are you hiding back there?" Evelyn looks like a child who did something wrong and is trying to hide it with a sheet. That brings a smile to my face because it’s a moment we never had, since I was never able to take care of her. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Look, something problematic happened, because of Esther, so... I want help."

"Of course, I’ll help, just say it already, Evelyn. Stalling doesn’t help."

’What did that girl do?’ I take a deep breath, keeping my smile. Evelyn is still my daughter; I’ll clearly get angry if that woman did something really bad.

"Hmmm... haaa... haaa..." She pants as she lets go of the sheet. Almost dramatically, the sheet falls, revealing nothing special. I stare at her, confused.

"And?"

"..." She seems tense, staring at me, before turning slightly to the side, revealing her tail that was hidden. When I see her tail, I freeze, looking at the complete lack of scales.

"My tail is weird, and I have... doubts about it, and about being a dragon... since you’re my mother, I thought you could tell me things about this and explain more about dragons."

"..." I stare at her totally unprotected and bare tail and then look at mine, alternating my gaze, confused for a moment.

"Mother?"

"Mother...? Mother!? Mother, what are you doing?" Evelyn asks as I approach her.

"W-Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait! Mother, don’t- Hyaaa!" She lets out a little moan, collapsing onto the bed when I grab her tail. The sensation is smooth and soft, as expected of a tail without scales.

"Who did this?" I ask Evelyn, who is scratching the bed, her nails tearing the sheet with considerable depth, going through the mattress, a sign I recognize well.

"Th-This?"

"The scales. Who tore them off?"

"E-Esther..." She speaks with difficulty, panting from my hands holding her tail. I examine the tail, feeling the electricity that runs through every fiber of it.

"Hmmm..."

’Damn bitch. I should kill that damned cold sociopath, just like her mother.’ I stare to see if there’s any problem.

"Evelyn, it seems you’ve hit puberty."

"?" Evelyn stares at me, confused.

"We are Storm Demon Dragons. Our race doesn’t reach puberty with time; it normally happens when we suffer a ’natural’ electrical overload that occurs when our bodies are ready."

"What I mean is, when a dragon is ready, a lightning bolt strikes them on the head. Simple as that. The horns generate an attractive field that draws intense lightning to overload the body." I touch her tail carefully, seeing how far it’s acceptable and where the tail becomes too sensitive to my touch.

"However, puberty can also be forced. In your case, from what I can see, it’s not negative, but it’s also not good because you weren’t quite ready." I can already imagine what answers Evelyn wants.

"Haaa... looks like I’ll have to explain how sex works more clearly. What an irresponsible daughter." I never expected to have to talk about sexuality and boundaries. I guess in the end, that’s it; I’m the mother, and she needs to know.

"As you’ve probably already guessed, the tail is a sexual organ, or rather, it’s a support that dragons use in intimate relations with each other." I begin to explain, stroking her tail gently, ignoring her faint moans and the sound of tearing sheets.

"Each dragon’s tail has its own decision-making system, like a small brain of its own. This means that some dragon tails can even have consciousness and can speak and use magic, although that’s not our case, and such cases are rare for specific species of dragons."

"But in short, your tail is intelligent. It can read the room, it can react, and it also knows when you’re being mean to it, and can become skittish." I remember my chaotic past with my own tail.

One memory in particular is strong: my tail slapping me for several minutes after I repeatedly beat it against a door trying to break the scales. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, and it hit me the exact number of times I’d hit it on that door.

"However, the tail depends on context. It depends on your current emotions and thoughts to understand what is happening to it." The tail doesn’t understand on its own what is really happening.

"This is where we get to the sexual part. A dragon’s tail is a Hikishin battery. During intimate relations, the tail will try to take Hikishin from its partner, coiling around them."

"Normally between two dragons, both tails coil around each other, sharing magic. Between different species, the tail will only coil around the partner to catch whatever escapes from their body." I run my fingers softly up to the base of her tail, circling around, while Evelyn tears the bedsheets, biting them, her body having small shivers from my touch.

"When your body is under stress from overload, the body tries to get rid of it. Your claws—it’s not just a reflex. You’re scratching things to discharge excess energy or magic. It’s the same as cats scratching things to release muscle tension."

"Dragons normally shed scales frequently, but procedurally. That is, scales fall randomly, never compromising the armor."

"Your current case is more complex. You lost them all, so you must be very sensitive. That’s when you enter the puberty I mentioned." Her tail doesn’t recoil from my touch, seeking affection despite trembling with sensitivity.

"It happens once in a dragon’s life. They lose all their scales for a few weeks. They will grow back, and afterwards you’ll have greater control over them."

"So for now, you’ll have to get used to living without them. But when they grow back, the next ones you lose will grow back quickly, in an average time of 2 to 4 days."

"That’s why losing them again won’t be as exhausting as it is now. Your new scales will be stronger, harder, more resistant, and will hold more energy."

"Now, about the tail as something relatable... well, it’s sexually active. There is no more sexually sensitive part than your tail. And I must say, after you go through puberty, you’ll never see sex as enough again." Her tail tries to coil around my hand, but I slide my hand away, not letting it, after all, I don’t want anything sexual with her tail, I’m just helping.

"Other races tend to only have normal sexual organs as something stimulating. But for us dragons, the tail is the most intimate part possible. It’s generally only shown without scales to a loved one."

"Or to the closest relative, like me, your mother, who is explaining this to you." When I squeeze the base of her tail and move my hand up, maintaining constant pressure and grip, her tail writhes gently as if enjoying my touch.

And of course it’s enjoying it. It’s years of practice with my own tail. I know what the tail likes and what just makes it feel unnecessary pleasure.

"There are dragons that can expose their own internal bone structure, making the flesh open up like a flower, and can use the bones as a magical conductor."

"This type of dragon can create magical Hikishin fetishes that shoot from the tails at absurd speed and force. Of course, our race doesn’t do that, but I thought it important to tell you so you understand."

"Your tail is very functional for everything. It can grab objects, serve as a weapon and shield, can serve as a staff for casting magic. It’s like having an extra arm, so don’t fight it; use it as something useful." I look at her tail, which relaxes a little.

"By the way, in our culture it’s truly shameful to walk around with it exposed. So I suggest you don’t leave the room until new scales grow, or if you do go out, cover it with clothes until you have scales again."

"If any dragon saw you with your tail exposed like this, they’d call you indecent and feel a certain disgust at your lack of morality and respect. For us dragons, you walking around naked would be acceptable, because what really matters is the tail."

"Now, let’s move on to more intensive help. I’m helping your tail adjust and regulate itself properly to your body. Currently, from your tail’s behavior, it’s not in sync with you. That’s natural, since the tail only adjusts to the body during or after puberty, never before."

"This is a problem, because letting it behave out of sync means it could even attack you." Young dragons have died, suffocated by their own tails.

"Syncing is extremely important, because your tail only reacts based on what it ’interprets’ from the situation through what you feel. Without sync, the tail gets confused."

"So you can stay still, scratching the bed. Mommy here is going to help you release all this tension and help you become one with your tail."