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“Hmm….”

Amidst the chirping of birds outside the window, a muffled voice could be heard. Perhaps it was already time for the sun to rise, as bright sunlight was seeping through the gap in the curtains covering the large window.

However, unlike her who seemed to be peacefully asleep, I had spent the entire night struggling to chase away my worries and was unable to sleep at all. Whenever she stirred in her sleep, her chest pressed against my back made it impossible for me to find rest.

And it didn’t stop there. She was tightly hugging me, burying her head into the nape of my neck, causing her soft breathing to tickle me.

Yet, I couldn’t bear to disturb her sleep and risk waking her up due to my own discomfort after she had endured a whole day of distress.

As a result, the fatigue I felt was beyond simple tiredness—it was far too overwhelming to be expressed in words.

However, this effort would soon reach its conclusion. Once she woke up, I could finally escape this situation.

Just yesterday, I had taken it upon myself to guard Cecilia in place of Ferrent, who had been injured, and today, I planned to hand back the role of protection to him and catch up on a nap.

“Good morning, Elysia.”

A morning greeting came from her as I turned my back to her. She seemed entirely confident that I was still asleep without bothering to check.

“Hope you didn’t have any discomfort.”

I wasn’t sure if her intuition was good, but since I was already awake, I had no reason to pretend otherwise, and I responded to her greeting.

“I don’t feel any discomfort, if anything, it’s a fragrant morning.”

“Isn’t it usually called a refreshing morning?”

Even the perfect Emperor couldn’t resist the allure of morning sleep, as her choice of words was rather clumsy. But I thought that if someone were too perfect, it would lose its charm; her human side made her more relatable.

Knock, knock, knock!

Just as I was ruminating on this from my half-awake state, I heard loud knocks on the door. Ordinarily, one wouldn’t dare disturb the Emperor’s room in the morning while they might still be asleep with such noise.

If I didn’t act, it seemed like they would continue to knock, so I rose from my place instead of Cecilia to open the door.

“Y-y-your majesty!”

The moment the door opened, a panicked voice frantically called Cecilia. She was so flustered that she didn’t even realize I was the one who opened the door.

“A-a-dragon…! A dragon has appeared!”

But there was a very good reason for the maid’s urgency. What kind of being is a dragon? They usually don’t show themselves much, and there are hardly any who have seen one in person, but when they do, it’s always tied to events worthy of being recorded in history.

Of course, there was the dragon named Olivier Drania whom I had encountered once. But even she had stayed quietly in her lair without revealing herself.

What could possibly bring a dragon to the capital of the Empire at this time? For dragons, an Empire is just one among the many nations humans have made, not something to be particularly concerned about.

“…Call Isis and Ferrent. Elysia, you’ll come with me.”

“Yes, understood.”

Perhaps realizing the gravity of the situation, the Emperor changed clothes in an instant and spoke in a firm voice. If we delayed any longer, a truly irreversible situation could arise, so I too hastily changed my clothes and followed her out of the room.

…

…Huh? Weren’t we just at the bathhouse yesterday?

“What are you doing? Hurry up and follow!”

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

*

Even without asking where it was, it wasn’t difficult to find the place where the dragon was. Aside from the injured, the royal knights who had taken a day’s rest and were recovering were surrounding one area.

“Your majesty. It’s dangerous.”

As I tried to squeeze through, one of the knights recognized the Emperor and, surprised, expressed concern that she might be attacked by the dragon. However, Cecilia merely waved her hand to dismiss the knights trying to warn her.

“So we…!”

“Just knock them all out….”

The closer I got to where the commotion was, the more I heard voices arguing. For a dragon’s voice, it was surprisingly familiar and filled with multiple tones.

“Ugh, really! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Wait a sec, Anne! Let’s talk before you start going wild….”

So it’s confirmed that Anne is going to lose her mind, huh? But more importantly, why are they here? Even if they crossed the mountain range and used the Teleport Gate after stopping by a village, it should have taken them several days to arrive.

“How dare you point a weapon at the princess? You’ve got some guts. I never thought a dragon’s name would fall this low. It seems it’s time to teach you a lesson again.”

With her massive figure… well, she was somewhat smaller than a typical dragon, but Olivier, assuming her dragon form, flared her wings and rose. Even so, as she spread her wings, she looked quite majestic and intimidating, causing the knights to falter and step back.

“Wack, wack! They are my friends! It’s fine, so everyone put down your weapons!”

Seeing where all of this was heading, I rushed in and intervened.

“She may look like this, but she’s not scary! Look!”

Upon my entrance, both the friends and the knights looked bewildered. My friends were probably shocked to see me appear so calmly, while the knights were anxious due to their memory of being hit by me yesterday.

The important thing is that these two have no reason to fight. To reassure the knights, I quickly approached Olivier and began to pet her tail.

“Whoa…!”

See? She’s friendly enough to be petted like this. Of course, unless you’re a professional like me, you can’t really guarantee you won’t get bitten while petting her.

Of course, I wasn’t just petting randomly; I was carefully stroking her tail while being considerate of her mood.

“E-Els…?”

“Hero?”

Both sides looked flustered by my sudden intrusion. The Selian side was probably worried about me, and they were flabbergasted to see me appear unharmed, while the knights were astonished to see someone carelessly handling a legendary dragon.

Amidst all this, Olivier transformed from her dragon form back into her human appearance, yet I didn’t cease my touches.

“Haha… so you all came?”

*

As one could tell from Olivier being with us, my friends had crossed the mountain range with her assistance. After all, even though Olivier may appear somewhat arrogant and rough on the outside, she surprisingly listens well when you ask her for help.

Just like when I fell from the cliff, I asked for her help, and she promptly lifted me back up.

So, what is Olivier doing now?

“Oh… Although it’s smaller than I’ve heard, it truly is a dragon.”

“Huh? Do you dare doubt the princess?”

Unmatched arrogance from both sides.

Cecilia showed no signs of fear as she examined Olivier’s true form, inspecting her wings and tail, while Olivier seemed more intimidated by Cecilia’s characteristic boldness, muttering under her breath.

“Hm… The citizens saw her flying in the sky… This actually works out well. It’ll be great for publicity.”

Moreover, Cecilia was mumbling to herself while stroking her chin, as if she had some scheme in mind.

“Are you really unhurt? If there is even a minor issue, please tell me immediately.”

“I told you a while ago, the Saint has checked multiple times. I’m really fine.”

In contrast, Selian clung to me and repeatedly checked if I was hurt.

No less than the Saint herself! Not only did she check, but she even cast a sacred spell despite me being fine.

“Well, that’s a relief….”

While she said it was a relief, Selian still wore a worried expression and took a step back. But just as Selian stepped back, someone approached.

“Cough, cough….”

“…Anne?”

Anne, tilting her head in confusion about the situation, approached me and leaned in close, starting to sniff around with her eyes closed like a puppy.

She circled around me, sniffing once, then twice.

Then she slowly moved away, heading towards an entirely random spot.

“Uh, um… Anne? Where are you going….”

Anne, still with her eyes closed, was headed straight for where Cecilia and Olivier were.

Before I could intervene, Anne approached them, leaning in just like she had with me, starting to sniff them.

Worried that this behavior might irritate Cecilia, I quickly checked her expression, but fortunately, she showed no sign of anger—just a puzzled look as if she was trying to figure out what was happening.

After circling around Cecilia a couple of times and sniffing, Anne’s eyes suddenly shot wide open.

“Smells!”

What a rude thing to say! Even if I jumped out the door right after waking up without washing up, I shouldn’t smell that bad.

And even if there was an odor, it was not something one should casually say to an Emperor.

“There’s the same smell coming from both of you!”

But for some reason, as Anne cried out, everyone’s gaze swiftly turned towards me.

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, I felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down my neck.