We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Lyra’s Anguish.
I decided to let Prince Friel continue sleeping.
Eh?! Do I have to wake him up?
But it’ll be a pain if he wakes up and starts talking about it again, and right now, we’re already overwhelmed taking care of the Twin Princesses.
After the discussion settled down for a while, we decided to satisfy our hunger.
The bento box brought from Mistral’s village was delicious, and coupled with our hunger, everyone focused on eating in silence.
It’s not like we were tired from talking, you know!
“Myaah.”
Priscilla-chan and Ares-chan seemed to like being on the Twin Princesses’ laps, and they were eating there, dropping a lot of food as they munched.
The Twin Princesses didn’t seem to mind their lovely clothes getting dirty at all; instead, they ate their meals while taking care of the little girls.
This is unexpected. I never thought the Twin Princesses would be so popular with children. And they’re surprisingly good at soothing them.
Mistral, who had been watching them with concern at first, had completely delegated the task to them by the second half.
Oh, Ruiseine looks unusually tense. Perhaps it’s because she’s eating with two princesses. Her movements are awkward. She keeps glancing at the Twin Princesses from time to time.
She seemed fine during the discussion, but as soon as things calmed down, she started being conscious of them, didn’t she?
And Lyra is looking a bit down again. I suspect it has something to do with Prince Friel. Indeed, Lyra was still staring at Prince Friel, who remained unconscious, with a complex expression.
In the end, we never directly asked Lyra about her status. However, everyone already knew without her having to say anything.
Lyra might still want to change the Yorttenitos Kingdom’s twisted values. In the future, she might even ask me for such requests.
But I don’t think she ever expected to meet a family member here.
What’s more, the other party is the only person she’s been friendly with, even if it was for a short period, and he’s her brother.
And that brother is about to face a great challenge.
Does she want to help him? At least, she wouldn’t reject him outright. If her intention was to remain indifferent or uncooperative, it would be easier to part ways while Prince Friel was unconscious.
Everyone except the Twin Princesses and Priscilla-chan understood that something would happen between Lyra and Prince Friel once he regained consciousness.
After the meal, it was playtime.
Even here, the Twin Princesses willingly took care of the little girls. They aren’t doing it to please us.
That’s because the Twin Princesses were enjoying themselves too!
At first, the Twin Princesses were afraid of Rim, who had four eyes and four wings of different sizes, and red scales, thinking he was a dangerous Wyvern like the tyrant. He was a young dragon and small, but it seemed like their minds were completely imprinted with the image of him being a fearsome creature.
However, after seeing Rim’s adorable movements and his gentle nature, not getting angry no matter what the little girls did, they gradually warmed up to him.
And before they knew it, the little girls, the princesses, the young dragon, and the parent chicken dragons who were unfortunate enough to be involved were all playing together happily.
“Somehow, it’s quite anticlimactic,” Mistral, relaxing beside me, murmured.
Looking at them, it’s easy to forget that we’ve gotten ourselves into a situation that could develop into a troublesome problem.
“Speaking of which, Elnea-kun, you met the Twin Princesses before, didn’t you?”
The Great Wolf Demon had already blabbed about the tea party, and I had also explained the details later, so Mistral and Ruiseine were aware of the existence of the Twin Princesses.
“I never expected a princess to come into Dragon Peak herself. From what I heard in the past, I thought the royal families of the Human Race were people who just sat in their castles and acted arrogant.”
I wonder who they heard that from. It’s not entirely incorrect, but the royal family of the Armēdo Kingdom is much more proactive.
When I glanced at Ruiseine, she puffed out her cheeks in protest, as if to say, “That’s not true.”
“Thinking back, it makes sense that they could use Dragon Arts since they are from the royal family of the Armēdo Kingdom.”
“Yes, that Dragon Energy was incredible.”
If Mistral says it’s incredible, then Princess Yufilia’s Dragon Power is officially recognized.
Afterward, we set aside the Twin Princesses’ and the Prince’s problem for the time being and spent a pleasant afternoon, something we hadn’t done in a while.
The Chicken Dragons also seemed unconcerned about us humans being in their nest and continued their usual lives.
In the evening, the tyrant appeared in the sky again.
“The terrifying one has come.”
“The dangerous one has come.”
While saying that, the Twin Princesses tried to abduct me in the confusion. But Mistral and Ruiseine stood guard around me firmly, preventing them from doing so.
I wonder what my position is…
This time, the tyrant descended slowly.
The Twin Princesses had already become quite friendly with Rim. However, the tyrant, an adult dragon of the same species, was still frightening to them.
This fear wouldn’t disappear easily. I wonder if it’s the same for those who live in Dragon Peak.
When the Twin Princesses failed in their abduction attempt, they hid behind us and fearfully watched the tyrant land.
“You’re still here?”
“Yeah, we were just about to leave.”
The tyrant glanced at the Twin Princesses behind me.
“Those people will be staying with us for a while too, so you’d better not lay a hand on them.”
“Hmph. I don’t care about your acquaintances. But still… you always gather such strange people around you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Why is that? Normally, these kinds of special incidents would be handed over to the Hero, Listea.
The tyrant, showing no particular interest, averted his gaze from the Twin Princesses and called Rim over.
After saying farewell to the children, Rim went to the tyrant’s back. Once the tyrant confirmed Rim was on his back, he lightly said, “Thanks for your help,” and flew away.
Oh, he can say thank you properly now.
“Well then, we should be going too. If we don’t return before sunset, Ruiseine and the others won’t make it to the village.”
“Eh, we’re returning to Priscilla-chan’s village again tonight!?”
“Of course. If we don’t leave without a word, the villagers will worry.”
“But that’s…”
Ruiseine glanced at Lyra with a worried expression. Lyra was still looking at Prince Friel with that complex expression.
“This is troublesome.”
“Let’s just head back for now. We can still discuss it on the way.”
“Right.”
We hadn’t decided where Ruiseine and the others would stay tonight, but we had to return to Mistral’s village.
Sensing our intention to return, Nimia meowed and grew into a giant form.
“Yufi-nee-sama, you’re amazing.”
“Nina, it’s surprisingly cute!”
Unlike with the tyrant, the Twin Princesses approached the giant Nimia with great interest. They chattered excitedly like little girls and buried themselves in her long, beautiful fur, delighted.
“Playtime is over. We’re leaving.”
We took turns riding on Nimia’s back. The Twin Princesses and the unconscious Friel were personally invited to ride on Nimia’s back.
After expressing our gratitude to the Chicken Dragons, we soared into the sky.
“Wow, we’re flying!”
“This is amazing! I’ve never experienced anything like this before!”
The Twin Princesses were excited the entire time on Nimia’s back. In contrast, Lyra, who seemed dejected, was a cause for concern.
She met her family, but is she not happy? Even though they were close for a while, does she harbor ill feelings toward the prince she soon parted ways with? At first, I thought she was worried about Prince Friel, but it seems to be something different. This is the same kind of dejection I saw when I first met her.
“Lyra, are you alright?”
Lyra looked up, startled, at my voice.
“I-I’m fine. What are you worried about, Elnea-sama?”
“You just looked a bit down.”
“I’m just a little tired from using my abilities.”
Lyra smiled, trying not to worry me. But it only looked like a forced smile.
So, what will happen to the dejected Lyra and Ruiseine? I’m worried about Lyra, but this is also an important issue right now.
Ruiseine seems indifferent either way. After all, she’s living with the Mimicho Race to accompany Lyra, so it depends on Lyra. The fact that she doesn’t say she wants to return to Mistral’s village suggests she finds life among the Mimicho Race quite comfortable.
… Huh? Doesn’t she want to say she prefers it here with me?
Next are Priscilla-chan and Nimia. They were definitely in favor of returning to Mistral’s village. Priscilla-chan, you’re just scared of your mother, aren’t you? And Nimia is always with Priscilla-chan.
Or rather, it’s fine if only Priscilla-chan and Nimia go back, you know?
“That’s mean, nyan.”
Ah, but then there’s no one to escort us back to the village.
Mistral is in favor of staying at the Mimicho Race village. If Ruiseine and the others return, our sweet time alone together will end.
… That’s the reason, right?
The problem, as always, is Lyra. What is Lyra thinking? She, who always tells me she wants to be with me. In her heart of hearts, does she want to stay at Mistral’s village today? But there’s also Prince Friel, and this time, I really can’t tell.
“It seems we’ve overstayed our welcome,” Mistral murmured, gazing at the western sky.
The sun was beginning to set between the gaps in the mountain range.
“If we leave now, by rushing to the Mimicho Race village, will it be dark by the time we arrive?”
“Yeah. If we go back to Mistral’s village first, and then to Moss Garden, and then to the Mimicho Race village, we won’t have enough time.”
It seems our future will be decided by nature, not by our own decisions.
“I can’t be helped. I’ll consult with the Elder.”
Saying that, Mistral closed her eyes and turned her consciousness inward.
We waited, holding our breath.
After a short while, Mistral opened her eyes.
“Jiludo-sama has asked to relay a message.”
“Jiludo-sama?”
“That old man?”
At Mistral’s words, the Twin Princesses reacted for a brief moment.
“It seems Jiludo-sama was at Moss Garden, and he’s going to the Mimicho Race village now to tell them we’ll be staying here tonight.”
“Whoa, I have to thank him when I see him next.”
Jiludo-san is so kind. If he heads to the village now and then returns home, it will surely be completely dark.
Thanks to Jiludo-san’s kindness, it was decided that everyone would stay the night at Mistral’s village. Priscilla-chan, having gotten too excited, nearly fell off Nimia’s back. And Mistral scolded her severely.
When we returned to the village, the villagers were surprised to see more people than when we had left.
“Well, it concerns you. I suppose this is to be expected. I won’t ask for the reason.”
Zan easily accepted it, and Koa-san also allowed us to stay.
We immediately carried the unconscious Prince Friel into a room in the communal housing.
“But don’t you think we should wake him up soon? Isn’t it worrying?”
The prince has been unconscious due to the Twin Princesses’ magic, but will it have any adverse effects on his body?
“That’s right. We need to feed him too, so it’s time we woke him up.”
“He’ll likely be confused by the change in environment.”
The Princesses told us that he would wake up soon, implying the prince would wake up without any complex spellwork, so we all decided to wait for his awakening.
Since it’s the Twin Princesses’ magic, is this also Dragon Arts? I didn’t sense anything, but perhaps Ruiseine could see something.
Casually, I looked towards Ruiseine’s direction, and Lyra came into my field of vision.
She had a perplexed expression.
She looked like she didn’t know what to do, glancing at the prince and then at the door leading outside. Her restlessness was noticeable.
“What are you fidgeting about?”
“She’s shy. Are you embarrassed to see a boy wake up?”
“Th-that’s not it.”
When the Twin Princesses noticed Lyra, she became even more flustered.
“I-I think I’ll wait outside.”
“Oh, what are you saying? We’re all waiting together.”
“It’ll be more fun to surprise him by having everyone wait.”
No, no, I wonder if surprising him is appropriate.
I wanted to retort, but in the meantime, Prince Friel began to stir.
The Twin Princesses stopped Lyra from trying to leave the room.
“Please let me go. I’ll wait outside.”
Lyra wanted to go outside, but she was completely caught by the Twin Princesses and couldn’t move. Perhaps because she was making a fuss next to where Prince Friel was lying, the first thing he saw as he slowly opened his eyes was not the crowd of us surrounding him, but Lyra and the Twin Princesses.
“O-Older Sister? …Older Sister!!”
At Prince Friel’s words, Lyra’s body trembled. Then, Prince Friel sat up abruptly and embraced Lyra.
“Older Sister, I missed you!”
Prince Friel hugged Lyra tightly.
However.
“I-I am not your sister!”
Saying that, Lyra shook off the Twin Princesses and Prince Friel’s grasp and ran out of the room as if fleeing.
