I’m full.
Me too!
I’m quite full as well.
Having finished our meal, all three of us collapsed onto the desk.
Ugh… I’m so sleepy.
“Are you feeling sleepy, Princess?”
“…Yes.”
“Oh dear, I shall escort you.”
To think my body would be overcome with sleepiness the moment I finished eating.
It seems there’s no helping it when you’re a baby.
“What about me?”
“I will escort Ramir Silvadir as well.”
“See you tomorrow, Ramir Silvadir…”
“Yes, Mino.”
Waving a light goodbye to Ramir Silvadir, I drifted off to sleep.
****
“Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
Ramir Silvadir bowed her head to Hazel, who had guided her to her room.
Hazel gazed at her, offering a small smile, and gently stroked Ramir Silvadir’s hair.
“It seems you’ve endured much hardship.”
“…Yes.”
“Please submit your residency documents officially tomorrow; for today, you should rest.”
“…Yes.”
“You know the location, don’t you?”
“I do, it’s in front of the castle gates…”
“That’s right.”
Hazel, with a crescent-eyed smile, carried Mino Lascaris on her back and departed.
Watching Hazel leave, Ramir Silvadir wiped away a few stray tears.
****
“Are you awake?”
“…Mother?”
“It’s Mother~”
Upon waking, I found Mother lifting me into her arms.
“There we go, did you sleep well?”
“…Yes.”
“Mother, has Mino Lascaris woken up?”
“Yes, Mino Lascaris just woke up~”
As if knowing I had woken, Noona rushed over and took me from Mother’s embrace.
“…Traitors! I thought you’d wake me when we ate yesterday!”
“I-I’m sorry, you were just too adorable sleeping…”
“Mother couldn’t bear to wake our Mino Lascaris.”
“Noona couldn’t either…”
Even so, they could have at least given me food.
“Didn’t you have a late-night snack with Hazel this evening?”
“Hazel?”
“Maid Commander Hazel.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Good job!”
“Does Maid Commander Hazel not have a baby?”
“Oh? She’s still too young to get married~”
I see, so a thousand years old is still too young for marriage.
Good heavens. What kind of age concept is this?
As I stood dumbfounded, Mother stroked my head and continued.
“Our Mino Lascaris is still so young, it seems she doesn’t have a concept of age yet~”
“It seems so~”
‘Why is Noona agreeing with that? She’s also a baby here.’
While I wanted to argue the point, I refrained from doing so.
It seemed she had simply blurted it out without much thought.
Her grinning, carefree expression was a hundred percent proof.
Seeing Noona’s face, I was on the verge of laughter myself, struggling to hold it in.
“Our Mino Lascaris, do you know what day today is?”
Mother suddenly posed a question.
‘What could her intention be?’
It didn’t seem like anyone’s birthday.
‘Could it be their wedding anniversary?’
“W-wedding anniversary?”
I answered thus because the attendants were dressing Mother in her going-out clothes and applying her makeup.
It was with the thought that perhaps they were going on a date.
“No, today is our Mino Lascaris’s first flight day~”
“Huh?”
“Today, Mino Lascaris is going to unfurl her wings and fly!”
“M-me?!”
“Yes, you, Mino Lascaris!”
Mother looked at me with an expression of immense anticipation.
“Mino Lascaris, you can do it, right?”
‘Wh-what do you mean?’
‘I’ve never even unfurled my wings before now?!’
“…I haven’t ever unfurled my wings before.”
“So you’ve never released your Polymorph (TL Note: A magical ability to change one’s form) before…”
“…Yes, I polymorphed right after I was born…”
“Our Mino Lascaris is a genius?!”
“Heh, heheh.”
‘Me, a genius?’
‘No, this isn’t right.’
Pleased by Mother’s praise, I inadvertently let out a foolish laugh.
‘Whether I’m a genius or not isn’t what’s important right now.’
‘I can fly?’
‘Through the sky?!’
Excitement, tension, and a hint of fear washed over me all at once.
Because of this, I unconsciously clenched my tiny fists tightly.
“Oh my, how adorable! Are you nervous?”
“…Yes!”
“Ah! So cute!”
Noona began rubbing her cheek against mine.
“O-Onoo… Ughb-b-b!!”
“So cute…”
-*Squishysquishysquishysquishy.*
‘Hey, stop that. What are you doing right now?’
Though I tried diligently to push Noona’s cheek with both hands, conveying my desire for her to stop, my strength proved insufficient.
“Ughb-b-b! Ub-b-b!”
“Heh, heheh, are you pressing Noona’s cheek too?!”
Noona, belatedly coming to her senses, turned red and pulled her cheek away from me.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“You two get along well, don’t you?”
I was sulking, and Noona was flustered.
Observing us, Mother simply chuckled softly.
At the sight, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
Seeing my reaction, Noona also let out an embarrassed laugh.
“Noona, put me down.”
“Oh, right, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s alright now.”
When I gave a wide grin, assuring her it was fine, the awkwardness finally vanished from Noona’s face.
Just then.
“Alright, my Princesses?!”
Father opened the door and entered.
It was precisely the moment Mother had finished changing her clothes and tidying her undergarments.
“Albi, please don’t open the door so forcefully.”
“My apologies, I’m just so nervous because it’s our daughter’s first flight.”
Father scratched the back of his head, offering an awkward smile.
I smiled back at Father.
“Ugh, she’s too cute.”
“A-Father?”
Father lay on the ground, feigning death.
‘…Is it truly alright for a King to act like this?’
‘I had always thought dragons were a more dignified, supreme race.’
Many things had changed compared to the game.
‘Like the unified kingdom forming, or dragons becoming weaker.’
“Shall we go, my daughter?”
“Ah, yes.”
Putting those thoughts aside for a moment, I decided it was time to leave for my flight.
Since Mother was still feeling unwell, Father helped her, and I took Noona’s hand.
“Are you excited?”
“Yes, a little?”
“I’m envious, Mino Lascaris gets to fly through the sky.”
“N-no, can’t Noona do it?”
“No, I can’t. Half-Dragons don’t show many dragon characteristics outwardly, do they? You’d know that from the game, wouldn’t you?”
‘This person, saying something that could cause big trouble.’
“Shh, shush! No talking about the game!”
“Oh.”
Noona, realizing her mistake, quickly covered her mouth.
Turning around, I saw Mother and Father smiling contentedly as they watched us.
They probably hadn’t understood.
“Um, Mother. Do I have to show the common folk my flight again this time?”
“No, it’s fine. We’re just going by ourselves. It’s something dragons simply must do.”
“I see…”
So it was just going to be us.
I had only brought it up to see if Mother and Father had overheard, but I ended up gaining some rather important information as well.
Honestly, last time I was so embarrassed I wanted to die.
At least that was a relief.
As we continued walking.
“…How do I get out of the castle?”
I spotted a familiar green-haired figure crouching in the middle of the hallway.
“Oh, Ramir Silvadir?”
“Ah! Mino Lascaris!”
The identity of the green-haired figure was none other than Ramir Silvadir.
-*Pat pat pat pat pat.*
Delighted to see Ramir Silvadir, I ran towards her, and she, seemingly just as pleased to see me, scurried towards me.
“Whoa!”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes! How about you, Mino Lascaris?”
“Me too!”
Just as I was thinking how quickly children form friendships, seeing our bond strengthen after sharing just one dinner,
“So you are Ramir Silvadir?”
“…Ah, hello.”
“You don’t need to be so nervous.”
“A-aren’t you the Queen?”
“I am, aren’t I?”
Ramir Silvadir, upon seeing Mother, began to tremble severely.
“…I-I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s alright. But what were you doing here?”
Mother, observing Ramir Silvadir, simply maintained her gentle smile as she inquired about what she was doing.
At that, Ramir Silvadir’s tension seemed to ease slightly, and her trembling ceased.
“…W-well, I need to submit my residency documents, but I can’t seem to get out of the castle right now…”
“Oh dear, why didn’t you ask the attendants?”
“W-well, they’re all dragons, so I was scared…”
Mother seemed slightly surprised by Ramir Silvadir’s words, but then maintained her smile and gestured for Father to come over.
“Then, Ramir Silvadir, would you give it to this *ajeossi* (TL Note: A Korean term for a middle-aged man, often used informally) here?”
“A-ajeossi?”
‘…Ajeossi?’
I looked up at Father with a dumbfounded expression.
‘…He’s incredibly handsome, and definitely doesn’t look old enough to be called *ajeossi*.’
‘Then again, the elder grandmothers and grandfathers also look very young, yet they’re called grandmothers and grandfathers, so perhaps it’s an appropriate term here.’
“Y-y-your Majesty, aren’t you!?”
Ramir Silvadir’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Hmm, I shall take good care of the documents.”
“Ah, th-th-thank you.”
Ramir Silvadir’s body began to tremble intensely once more.
‘Should I try to ease her tension a bit?’
“Ramir Silvadir! I’m going for my first flight today, do you want to watch?!”
“Huh, huh?!”
“You said ‘huh’?”
“Huh?!”
“Let’s go!”
I grabbed Ramir Silvadir’s wrist and ran straight towards outside the castle.
“Mino Lascaris! You’ll get hurt if you run!”
“Oh my, Yuri is doing a good job acting like an older sister, isn’t she?”
“Our eldest is so reliable.”
“Y-yes?! Ah, heheheh.”
“Let’s follow them before we lose them.”
Although I could hear three voices from behind, Ramir Silvadir’s noisy shouts beside me were even clearer.
“Uh, I don’t want to go because it’s awkward…!!”
“Huh, what do you mean? I thought we were friends!”
“…I-I’ll go…”
Having finally secured Ramir Silvadir’s surrender, I arrived at the room where Father, Mother, and I were originally supposed to go.
“Ta-da!”
“W-what is this?!”
It was a portal room, filled with teleportation magic circles leading to various regions of the dragon territory.
Magic circles that existed to allow one to travel to any region at any time, without the need for strenuous flight.
As magic circles were quite expensive, these were only usable within the castle.
It was impossible to use them from the other side to enter the castle.
This was said to be for security reasons.
Indeed, what if enemy forces used this to seize the castle first?
“Oh dear, Mino Lascaris!”
“Noona!”
“Hello…”
“Yes, hello?”
Noona, who had arrived first, stroked my head and then Ramir Silvadir’s in turn.
“How old is our Ramir Silvadir?”
“I am thirty years old.”
“Ah, aha! I-I see~”
Noona’s face clearly showed her surprise.
Indeed, it would be quite startling to hear that Ramir Silvadir, with her appearance, was thirty.
“Noona is thirty-four years old~”
“Aha~ Then I’ll call you Unnie (TL Note: A Korean term for an older sister or close older female friend).”
“Yes, thank you.”
As we exchanged trivial conversation, Mother and Father arrived.
“Alright, shall we go now?”
“Yes!”
“Mino Lascaris, let’s hold Mother’s hand.”
“Yes.”
Feeling awkward holding only one hand, I also took Noona’s hand.
Noona then took Ramir Silvadir’s hand.
Father, seeing that no one had taken his hand, wore a slightly disappointed expression.
Soon after, a brilliant light enveloped us.
-*Whoosh!*
When I opened my eyes again, we were at the very summit of a massive, towering stone mountain.
It was the stone mountain that was formerly the territory of the Wind Dragon.
“This is the Wind Dragon’s Stone Mountain Region!”
The flight training was about to begin in earnest.
