Lian had raised the matter of physical affection with her followers more than once, yet had never received so much as an encouraging response.
Ordinary humans trembled at the mere name of a True Dragon, quaked at the sight of one's face, let alone at the prospect of actual contact.
Even those of the imperial bloodline who had bathed in dragon's blood could manage nothing closer than face-to-face conversation at close range, and any greater intimacy than that was liable to trigger a visceral reaction in them.
This had nothing to do with rank or power; it was a curse laid down by the Wheel of Fate itself.
A fallen Fae had committed the unforgivable sin of defying Fate, and so she was meant to be the uncontested demon king of the script, the villain beyond all sympathy. How could she be looked upon with reverence? How could she be loved?
Even now, countless people within the Second Empire lived in abject terror of the True Dragon's existence, and only their ingrained deference and devotion to the imperial family kept them from falling apart entirely.
Lian understood this perfectly well, yet it was a source of genuine anguish.
I couldn't cuddle humans before I fell, and now that I've fallen I still can't cuddle the sons of men. So what exactly was the point of falling at all?!
Seraphina, relieved that Lord Lian had not pressed the matter further, collected herself and said:
"Yes. After receiving your assignment, I departed immediately for the Kingdom of Aurum and established contact with the prince you designated..."
The imperial princess began from the very beginning, recounting everything she had seen and heard with meticulous care, without a single embellishment.
The blue-haired dragon girl rested her cheek in one hand, lying on her side across the chaise, listening with evident delight.
"...After that, we concluded our pact. On the way to the station, the prince of Aurum requested to look upon your visage."
Seraphina paused there. Her hand moved instinctively to the pocket watch she kept pressed against her chest, and she gripped it tight, biting down on her silver teeth.
Lian's brow arched with curiosity.
"And then? What was his reaction when he saw my face?"
The one the senior Mephisto had declared the most adorable of humanity's children. She was genuinely curious what opinion he might have formed of her.
The imperial princess clutched the apricot-gold hair at her shoulder, her voice wavering.
"It is... it is too profane to repeat. Please forgive me. It was not my intention to bring such words before you."
She drew a long, steadying breath before continuing.
"That prince of Aurum, upon beholding your august countenance, actually... actually said he wanted to become a dragon knight!"
The words fell, and Seraphina immediately lowered her head. A peculiar silence descended over the entire bedchamber.
The princess said nothing. The dragon said nothing. Only after a long, stretched quiet did Lian finally speak.
"I see."
There was no telling what emotion lay behind those words, yet Seraphina could only imagine that even a dragon of Lian's patient and indulgent temperament would feel some measure of displeasure at such irreverence.
Seraphina lifted her eyes toward the dragon girl, who sat with her head tilted to one side, idly swirling her wine glass.
"Lord Lian, can he truly be the one to counter the Hero? He has some talent and insight, I'll grant that, but from everything I observed, he is still far from a match."
"Who can say?"
To the princess's surprise, Lian offered no definitive answer. Instead, she smiled faintly and said:
"Perhaps he can. Perhaps he cannot. I am only trying."
Seraphina clenched her fists. "Then surely we should continue seeking other awakened allies, or simply let us deal with the Hero ourselves. As long as we remain, we will never allow you to suffer..."
"There is no need for that, child. No need at all."
Lian raised a hand to cut her off, and said quietly:
"There is no need for such vows. We will do what we can, without troubling ourselves over whether the end brings victory or defeat. What matters most is the road we travel before the final chapter arrives."
The blue-haired dragon girl rose to her feet and tipped the honey wine from her glass onto the floor.
"So long as in every day from this one forward, we dance as we please and drink as we please, that is enough."
Seraphina held great reverence for the True Dragon, but she could not quite bring herself to fully agree with Lian's philosophy of seizing pleasure in the moment. She only bowed her head and said:
"Vulgar pleasures lost their appeal to us of the imperial line long ago. Following you in defiance of the Supreme Heaven is the only cause worthy of our devotion.
Lord Lian, may our efforts never disappoint you. May we shatter the fetters of Fate at last!"
With that, having received no further tasks, the imperial princess withdrew from the bedchamber.
Once Seraphina had gone, Lian stared out at the empty hall, then seized the wine flagon from the side table and poured it straight down her throat. In no time at all, color had bloomed across her cheeks.
On nights when no followers came to pay their respects, she would lean against the windowsill and watch the lives of ordinary humans, letting the long hours pass that way.
But tonight she had no such intention. After draining several flagons of honey wine, she threw herself onto the bed and rolled back and forth across it, her long elegant dragon tail slapping against the carpet with a series of sharp, satisfying cracks.
She buried her face in a pillow, her flawless pale skin visibly flushing warmer by the second, and broke into a giddy, delighted laugh.
"Dragon knight, dragon knight... dragon knight..."
"Hehehe, hehehehehe... really, how can a child be this adorable. Senior was right all along. She found the finest son of man in all the world!"
"I'm so jealous of that Mephisto... the senior members really do keep all the best things for themselves!"
"I want to meet that boy so badly. If it's him..."
Just as Lian was lost in her reverie, she stopped abruptly and sat up straight, turning to face what appeared to be empty air before her. A subtle smile curved her lips.
"Senior Mephisto, is this your way of... warning me?"
The dragon girl spread her hands wide and gave a shrug.
"What a pity. It was you who told me once that I was allowed to be greedy, that I was allowed to indulge my own desires. I am, after all, a hopeless case when it comes to humans. You've always known that, haven't you?"
"Even if he is your contractor, if I happen to like him, I could simply take him. After all, you have no body and no vessel as yet, do you? Between a Fae and a dragon, there lies a pitifully thick wall."
"I won't go to him now, of course. The children here still need me. But according to your own plans, the day will come eventually when I meet that boy, and when it does, the choice will be his."
"An primordial Fae who can almost never fall to become a dragon, or a True Dragon already in possession of boundless power?"
With that, Lian snapped her fingers, settled back onto the chaise, and closed her enchanting eyes to rest.
...
Kingdom of Aurum. Faust was in the process of selecting a mount for his upcoming journey into the wider world.
As the prince of Aurum strolled through the royal stables, carefully inspecting the horses on offer, a sharp, piercing sound erupted without warning inside his mind. It was Mephisto.
"Nnnnnng..."
[Fae Profanity]
It was a language utterly beyond human comprehension, like the sound of fingernails dragged hard across a chalkboard, only dozens of times louder and more piercing.
Even as Mephisto's contractor, bound to her by an almost telepathic connection, Faust could not make out a single word of what she was saying. The one thing he could say with absolute certainty was this:
It was cursing. Unquestionably cursing. And it was thoroughly unpleasant to hear.
Faust blinked in genuine astonishment.
"You actually swear? Who broke through your defenses?"