Faust laughed and pressed his hands down on his childhood friend's shoulders.
"Stop drooling all over my face."
Viviana refused without a second thought.
"Mmm... this is my mark of possession. I'll do whatever I want."
Hold on, did you forget to switch back into character? Your whole persona just fell apart!
Just as Viviana was gleefully savoring her "spoils of war," a teasing voice drifted over from the side.
"So early in the morning, and already this cozy."
Seraphina had also made her way into the courtyard, hands clasped behind her back, watching the exchange between Faust and Viviana on the corridor with an amused, unreadable smile.
With an audience watching, even Viviana, lost as she was in her own little world, had no choice but to rein it in.
Unlike a certain Cinderella, this knight girl still cared at least a little about appearances.
The Imperial Princess gave an elegant bow.
"Please don't mind me. Carry on. I don't mind at all."
"Lord Lian has said that there is nothing more wonderful in this world than love. I don't understand it in the slightest, but that doesn't stop me from learning to appreciate it.
Fortunately, you're both rather easy on the eyes."
"And besides... watching this one pace endlessly around the courtyard, lost in thought, was entertaining in its own right."
Faust glanced at her. "Did you not sleep last night either?"
"Could you really sleep in a stable? That would be genuinely impressive."
Seraphina's words always carried a subtle edge, though her intent was probably not unkind. It was simply the natural arrogance that came with being who she was, so deeply marinated in imperial superiority that she'd half-convinced herself she was something divine.
Faust clicked his tongue. "Young people really shouldn't stay up all night."
"Thank you for the concern."
Seraphina smiled, one hand resting lightly over her chest.
"I hate to interrupt your little moment, but if you don't mind, shall we get to business first?"
"I've been away from the capital long enough. Since this was a covert operation, I can stay at most three days before I must head back. There are... more than enough petty schemers back in the Empire waiting to be dealt with."
"Then we'd better move things along."
Faust nodded in agreement.
Both sides were already committed to forming an alliance; the bridge of trust built between Fae needed no further proof. Faust and Mephisto could entrust their lives to one another without question, and the Imperial bloodline of the Second Empire went even further than that.
Their reverence for Lord Lian was plain to see, the kind of devotion that bordered on a willingness to die for her.
What remained to be worked out were the specific terms of the pact: how the two sides would support one another, and what they would share.
Seraphina's delegation was small, but each member was a highly accomplished official or mage. In remarkably little time, they had assessed and surveyed the state of the Kingdom of Aurum and drawn up an aid package within the limits of what the Second Empire could provide.
Industrial production lines. Energy weapons. Technical expertise. The list had it all. With resources being poured in at this scale, the most optimistic projections had the Kingdom of Aurum transformed within three years. Perhaps not elevated to the rank of a major world power, but more than capable of standing as the leading force among the smaller nations.
What the Prince of Aurum was expected to give in return was simple: grow, by any means necessary, and ideally bring every neighboring kingdom under his rule.
"If you can expand your territory all the way to the Empire's borders, the logistics problem solves itself, and support becomes essentially unlimited."
Seraphina waved her hand, waiting as Faust finished reviewing the entire aid list.
"No objections from me. This is professionally done. Even if we had taken the time to put it together ourselves, we couldn't have done better."
Faust tucked the list away. "I can see how much effort you've put into this. But an alliance should go both ways. What exactly do you need from me?"
Seraphina rested a hand on her hip, smiling.
"Honestly, we don't need much. According to Lord Lian's wishes, all that's really required is that you intercept the Hero when one appears. But after spending a few days with you, I've had another idea."
The Imperial Princess twirled the sky-blue tips of her hair. "Once you've consolidated the surrounding kingdoms, you'll be a force to be reckoned with in your own right. My less-capable siblings will probably come knocking, trying to recruit you into their dragon-slaying coalition."
Faust caught on immediately. "Play the spy, then. Not bad. I think that works."
The Kingdom of Aurum's geographic position was simply too awkward. Until Faust was truly unmatched under heaven, it was better to keep any open ties to the Second Empire out of sight.
"Then I look forward to seeing what you can do!"
Seraphina swept back her hair, then led the Imperial delegation toward the station to begin their return journey.
As the host, Faust naturally went to see them off.
Inside the carriage, the Imperial Princess leaned against the window, one hand propping up her flawless cheek, studying the Prince of Aurum seated across from her. She asked, almost out of nowhere:
"Do you still plan to search for a Fae willing to become a fallen dragon?"
"Of course. Nothing's changed on that front."
Faust nodded, then turned to look at Seraphina.
"Actually, there's one thing I'd like to ask, if it isn't too forward. Would it be possible to see what Lord Lian looks like?"
He was genuinely curious about what a dragon looked like. If he could get a sense of what an existing true dragon appeared to be, maybe he could form a better picture of Mephisto's mental projection.
Seraphina's eyes lit up.
"Oh? You find yourself drawn to Lord Lian? Ha, that's only natural. An awakened human, how could you not be drawn to the compassion and greatness of a true dragon? Common mortals have no right to an audience, but since you are the fortunate soul Lord Lian has chosen, this honor is yours by right."
With great care, the Imperial Princess produced a pocket watch from somewhere on her person, handling it as though it were a sacred relic, and opened it.
"Come, then. Behold the face of a true dragon."
Faust leaned in. One look was all it took before he let out a sincere murmur of admiration.
"That's stunning..."
"Mediocre, honestly. I think I look better."
Mephisto's voice surfaced in his mind, sounding suspiciously like jealousy.
Oh? Little Mephisto's mental projection looked even better than this? Faust couldn't help but laugh, and the thought slipped out before he could stop it.
"Looks like I really am going to become a dragon rider."
The words had barely left his mouth when he heard the Imperial Princess's voice tremble with shocked disbelief.
"A dragon... a dragon rider?!"
The concept was apparently something far beyond unusual. Simply putting those two words together was a form of supreme blasphemy, no matter which side of the dragon debate you stood on.
For the first time, Faust saw something crack on Seraphina's face.
Throughout everything they'd been through together, no matter how her emotions had swung, whether fired up or coldly detached, she had always maintained the composed, proper smile befitting imperial royalty.
But now, Seraphina's glass-colored eyes were wide and round, and the muscles around her lips twitched uncontrollably.
Her golden hair practically bristled. One hand shot to the short sword at her hip, half-drew it, then shoved it back. The other balled into a fist, then slowly unclenched.
Like conflicting lines of code running against each other, she wanted nothing more than to put her fist through this outrageously blasphemous person, yet the dragon's instructions held her back from doing anything that might bring him harm.
"You, you..."
She was shaking with rage, and utterly powerless to do a thing about it. All those words, all that fury, compressed down into a single low, strangled sound from the back of her throat.
"Ha!!"
She let out a breath.