“Ugh, ugh, ugh-! That bastard, I’ll kill him with my own hands! I have to find him first!”
Melanie shouted, rubbing her arms, which were tied tightly with rope and numb from the lack of blood flow.
“Ah, Hetor!”
She pushed the chair close to Hetor’s side and stroked his still unconscious face.
“Hetor, His Majesty is here. Come to your senses, yes?”
“He’s still breathing, so why are you like this?”
Linel approached and placed his index finger on the tip of Hetor’s nose.
“What did they do to him? He’s been unconscious since I got here.”
“A knight? What kind of knight did this to him?”
“He was Emperor Adrian’s knight, so ugly.”
“...Is that all?”
“Oh, he’s got a thumbnail-sized mole in the middle of his forehead, perfect for sticking a sword or arrow into!”
Melanie pointed to the center of her forehead with her hand, explaining the knight's appearance and the whole story.
"They said we'd all die tonight anyway, so they told us to wait a few hours and leave."
"Tonight?"
Linel met the Master's eyes.
"Your Majesty, it seems they've changed their plans. I think the night they're releasing Galaco is tonight?"
"It must be the time of the shipboard party. Damn it!"
Most of the guests were on deck, enjoying dinner and sipping wine.
Zelda was among them.
And Emperor Adrian and Roxana, who had orchestrated this, were likely among them.
"Why the change in plans? Has something changed in Roxana's mind?"
Details would only be known once Hetor regained consciousness.
"Master, wake Hetor. We've unlocked him, so removing the anesthesia shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"But it's not as easy as playing games, Your Majesty."
Bellos retorted sullenly, but as soon as he gave the order, he placed both hands on Hetor's head and began purifying him.
“Your Majesty, I can go to the wedding, right?”
Melanie, who was watching the purification ritual, asked in a sad voice.
“...As long as I don’t become food for Galaco tonight,”
Linel replied calmly.
Melanie swallowed hard and muttered quietly.
“I think it would have been safer to just stay tied up here with Hetor.”
“Then you’ll be food for the silver hairtail in a few hours.”
“Emperor Adrian?”
“Yes. He’s a man who goes crazy over blood.”
“It’s not about a beautiful woman, but blood?”
Melanie frowned and tilted her head.
As the two exchanged a few words, Hetor regained consciousness.
“Your Majesty...”
Hetor, now awake from anesthesia, held his head with both hands and struggled to speak.
Then his eyes met Melanie’s, who was looking down at him with a worried look.
“Melanie?! Why are you here!”
Even though Emperor Linel was standing right next to him, Hetor was so startled that he forgot to use honorifics toward Melanie.
“I came down to look for Aoshi, and some spotted knight bastard tied me up. Fortunately, I survived thanks to His Majesty and the Lord of the Magic Tower. Actually, Aoshi is the one who saved my life.”
What was all this?
His head was already spinning and dizzy, and Melanie’s explanation, which was so vague about the circumstances, was impossible to understand.
Moreover.
“That spotted knight said he would send us both to the Underworld Road? Do you know which country it is?”
“...”
If Melanie had laughed at the end of her question, everyone would have thought she was joking.
But Melanie seemed genuinely curious.
What country is the Underworld Road in?
Hetor, who had almost accompanied her on that road, as well as Linel and Bellos, stared at her with dumbfounded expressions.
“Ugh.”
Hetor tried to rise from his chair, but then staggered back down, feeling dizzy.
“You will have blurred vision and a headache for a few minutes. Your mind will gradually clear up, so it’s best to remain still and sit there for a while.”
Bellos stopped Hetor from rising again.
“Do as the Magic Tower Master says. Sit down and tell me what happened. What on earth happened?”
“Your Majesty, what time is it now?”
Hetor asked seriously, not answering.
“Eight o’clock in the evening. Why?”
Linel took a pocket watch from his uniform pocket and checked the time.
“Haa, there’s no time. We need to evacuate everyone to their cabins!”
“So the plan has changed to tonight.”
“Yes.”
Hetor was on his way to attend a secret meeting when he was summoned by Emperor Adrian and came down here, but he was struck by an accident and was unable to convey the changed plan, and he was distressed.
“Adrian is the one who is urging orders...”
Linel muttered with a murderous expression, gripping the handle of his sword tightly.
“Galaco will be flying in at 8 o’clock. No, they must have started attacking the people on board right now!”
“Hetor, what are you going to do with your army?”
“My soldiers are scheduled to board this ship in 30 minutes.”
“Until then, the knights on board, and we will have to deal with Galaco.”
“Fortunately, only one of Galaco’s heads remains, so it will be relatively easy,”
Bellos said, rolling his shoulders as if to relax.
“Good. Then, let’s begin the hunt.”
Linel’s aura as he drew his sword was fierce.
“Ah, everyone, don’t touch the silver hairtail! It’ll catch him!”
He shouted as he ran toward the door.
“What are you guys...”
The voices of the adorable guys could be heard vividly above the pitch-black night sky.
“Master~ Let’s play together, Moiya~?”
Moiya’s excited voice made the pupils of the people around me shake wildly like a boat hit by rough waves.
“Shh, be quiet. We can’t let people see us, right, Moni~?”
Moni was no exception.
The thread would follow where the needle goes.
When the voices came from the dark sky, the people seemed to feel a greater fear than the Galaco.
Even as the two guys talked, flames appeared and disappeared here and there, in time with the Galaco’s screams.
Aside from the terrifying sound, it was reminiscent of fireworks.
The flames were exploding simultaneously, no less than firecrackers.
The fact that there were so many flames meant that other wyverns had arrived.
“I told you not to stand out. Seriously, you’re disobedient...”
“Kwaaak-!”
“Kkieeeek-!”
The wyverns spewed fire here and there, and the sound of the Galacos being torn apart continued.
I hadn’t planned on revealing my identity as the Wyvern Lord like this...
I had no choice.
Saving people’s lives from the Galacos was the priority.
I had no choice but to put down the sword I had received from the knight earlier and concentrate my mind to gather the energy of the fire.
A red light began to emanate from my heart.
I formed a small ball of red light with my hand and began to throw it at the Galacos along with the fire from my fingertips.
“Oh my God! Look at that!”
“Isn’t that Her Highness Zelda? What the heck is that?”
The celebratory delegation that had been wandering around all at once came out and looked up at the red light rising into the sky, unable to hide their shock.
“Wow, it’s a festival, isn’t it~?”
Moiya, who had been clapping as she watched me cast the red light toward the Galaco, suddenly grumbled and continued.
“Oh, right, Master. Moiya is really upset because those things were making so much noise, and she lost the presents she had already caught.”
“I’ll definitely give the sharks to you as a present later, Master, Moni~!”
Moni’s determined words, following Moiya’s, caught me off guard.
...What were you going to give me?
A shark?!
If anyone else had said those words, I probably wouldn’t have believed my ears.
But if it was Moiya and Moni, there was no doubt that they were sincere.
Kids, if there are Galacos in the sky, there are sharks in the sea.
To humans, they’re both similar!
I felt like I should at least thank the Galacos for interfering with my shark hunt.
“Instead, I’ve prepared another present, right, Moiya~?”
Moiya threw something at me.
It landed so accurately in front of me that I had no choice but to snatch the thing he claimed was a present.
“This!”
It was a red jewel that Roxana had thrown into the sea.
As I held it in my hand, light gathered around it, and the body of the Avatar Sword appeared.
"Now I'm feeling cool."
I held the Avatar Sword upright and waited for Galaco to fly towards me fiercely.
Dinner on board was delicious, but the fight was going to be even better.
"Come at me, you noisy snakeheads!"
Something was wrong.
"Without the red jewel, I wouldn't be able to use the Avatar Sword?"
Roxana doubted her eyes as she saw Zelda holding the Avatar Sword on the platform in the distance.
Was the one Empress Elan had stolen from Zelda's room a fake?
However, the red jewel Empress Elan had brought was identical in shape and size to the one embedded in the Avatar Sword's handle.
And judging by the occasional warmth emanating from within, she knew it was definitely the one embedded in the Avatar Sword's handle.
"I clearly dropped it in the sea earlier? What happened to it?"
The Avatar Sword's blade glowed red, as if it had been dipped in and out of the sun.
Having witnessed the power of fire manifest before her eyes, she couldn't help but believe it.
"The Galacos are coming! I think we should take cover for a moment. Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"
Nancy's urgent voice brought Roxana back to her senses.
"Are you alright?"
As always, her servant, who had been with her since childhood, was worried about her.
"Nancy."
"Yes."
“Follow me.”
Roxana took Nancy’s hand and led her down the stairs to her guest room.
The urgency and chaos prevented anyone from blocking their path.
Roxana, having successfully navigated the crowd and reached her own room, removed her crown and placed it on Nancy’s head.
“?!”
Nancy froze as the crown rested on her head.
Before she could even compose herself, Roxana commanded,
“Take it off.”
“What are you saying all of a sudden...?”
“Take off your dress!”
Roxana urged, holding her back to Nancy.
“Oh, yes!”
Nancy was taken aback, but she complied and began to undress her own dress.
After removing her own, Roxana quickly unzipped Nancy’s dress.
The dresses worn by servants were much easier to put on and take off than those worn by nobles.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
Nancy flinched as her own dress was unzipped in an instant.
She had no idea what was happening.
“You wear this.”
“!”
Roxana tossed the dress she was wearing.
Only then did Nancy begin to grasp the situation.
The Empress’s crown on her head felt like it was weighing down her neck.
“It’ll be nothing. But just in case...”
Roxana, who had changed into Nancy’s dress first, trailed off as she put her own on Nancy.
It wasn’t that she didn’t feel sorry.
But she desperately wanted to survive.
She was pregnant.
The baby would become her power.
Even if things went awry tonight, if Emperor Linel was eliminated, everything would be resolved.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
First, she needed to find and talk to Hetor’s adjutant, Palto.
Since she didn’t know what would happen, securing her safety was crucial. She planned to say that Emperor Adrian had killed Hetor. And she's pregnant with his master’s child.
They must work together to make Hetor’s child the ruler of the Lapion Empire.
She'll convince him that if he just helps her, he'll find wealth, fame, and even a place as a nobleman of the highest rank.
If he wants, she'll even offer him a seat next to her...
"Just while I find Palto."
So, she added, you could either cover yourself with the blanket in bed, sit on a chair with your back to the guestroom door, or even hide in the bathroom.
"You have to come back quickly..."
Nancy sobbed, pleading.
"Of course,"
Roxana said, hugging her tightly.
Even though she said it, her arms tightened as she thought it might be their last hug.
"Take care,"
Nancy said in a trembling voice as Roxana was about to leave the guestroom.
"I will..."
He was more like a friend than a servant, the one who would cry and pour healing water on her after being whipped by her father, Duke Haymitch, when they were young.
Sometimes, she would step in and protect Roxana while she was being whipped, and she would end up getting whipped in her stead.
"Me!"
As Nancy spoke urgently, Roxana, about to open the guest room door, hesitated.
"I... have always been on Your Majesty's side..."
It was past tense.
"You know that, Nancy."
This might be her last.
That she wouldn't be back.
Roxana couldn't bring herself to look back.
"Thank you. Thank you so much..."
Thank you, Nancy...
Watching her back as she opened the guest room door and left, she suddenly wondered what Nancy was thinking, what expression she was making.
She felt sorry, but she had no choice.
Roxana mingled with the crowd and headed toward the stairs to find Palto.
She wore not only the maid's uniform, but also the hood worn by the kitchen attendants, obscuring her red hair. That's why no one recognized her.
In the dire situation, with their lives already in danger, no one paid attention to Roxana in her maid's uniform.
The moment she climbed the stairs, the profile of a person passing by caught her eye.
He was dressed in a dark brown robe with the hood pulled down low, but Roxana knew him instantly.
'Logan...?'
Logan was heading towards her cabin.
How did he get here?
He seemed to have followed Hetor's forces from the Principality of Aklatto.
"Are you going to meet me?"
Logan, being a wizard himself, would surely help protect her.
Roxana turned back, having climbed onto the deck to find Palto.
Melanie shouted, rubbing her arms, which were tied tightly with rope and numb from the lack of blood flow.
“Ah, Hetor!”
She pushed the chair close to Hetor’s side and stroked his still unconscious face.
“Hetor, His Majesty is here. Come to your senses, yes?”
“He’s still breathing, so why are you like this?”
Linel approached and placed his index finger on the tip of Hetor’s nose.
“What did they do to him? He’s been unconscious since I got here.”
“A knight? What kind of knight did this to him?”
“He was Emperor Adrian’s knight, so ugly.”
“...Is that all?”
“Oh, he’s got a thumbnail-sized mole in the middle of his forehead, perfect for sticking a sword or arrow into!”
Melanie pointed to the center of her forehead with her hand, explaining the knight's appearance and the whole story.
"They said we'd all die tonight anyway, so they told us to wait a few hours and leave."
"Tonight?"
Linel met the Master's eyes.
"Your Majesty, it seems they've changed their plans. I think the night they're releasing Galaco is tonight?"
"It must be the time of the shipboard party. Damn it!"
Most of the guests were on deck, enjoying dinner and sipping wine.
Zelda was among them.
And Emperor Adrian and Roxana, who had orchestrated this, were likely among them.
"Why the change in plans? Has something changed in Roxana's mind?"
Details would only be known once Hetor regained consciousness.
"Master, wake Hetor. We've unlocked him, so removing the anesthesia shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"But it's not as easy as playing games, Your Majesty."
Bellos retorted sullenly, but as soon as he gave the order, he placed both hands on Hetor's head and began purifying him.
“Your Majesty, I can go to the wedding, right?”
Melanie, who was watching the purification ritual, asked in a sad voice.
“...As long as I don’t become food for Galaco tonight,”
Linel replied calmly.
Melanie swallowed hard and muttered quietly.
“I think it would have been safer to just stay tied up here with Hetor.”
“Then you’ll be food for the silver hairtail in a few hours.”
“Emperor Adrian?”
“Yes. He’s a man who goes crazy over blood.”
“It’s not about a beautiful woman, but blood?”
Melanie frowned and tilted her head.
As the two exchanged a few words, Hetor regained consciousness.
“Your Majesty...”
Hetor, now awake from anesthesia, held his head with both hands and struggled to speak.
Then his eyes met Melanie’s, who was looking down at him with a worried look.
“Melanie?! Why are you here!”
Even though Emperor Linel was standing right next to him, Hetor was so startled that he forgot to use honorifics toward Melanie.
“I came down to look for Aoshi, and some spotted knight bastard tied me up. Fortunately, I survived thanks to His Majesty and the Lord of the Magic Tower. Actually, Aoshi is the one who saved my life.”
What was all this?
His head was already spinning and dizzy, and Melanie’s explanation, which was so vague about the circumstances, was impossible to understand.
Moreover.
“That spotted knight said he would send us both to the Underworld Road? Do you know which country it is?”
“...”
If Melanie had laughed at the end of her question, everyone would have thought she was joking.
But Melanie seemed genuinely curious.
What country is the Underworld Road in?
Hetor, who had almost accompanied her on that road, as well as Linel and Bellos, stared at her with dumbfounded expressions.
“Ugh.”
Hetor tried to rise from his chair, but then staggered back down, feeling dizzy.
“You will have blurred vision and a headache for a few minutes. Your mind will gradually clear up, so it’s best to remain still and sit there for a while.”
Bellos stopped Hetor from rising again.
“Do as the Magic Tower Master says. Sit down and tell me what happened. What on earth happened?”
“Your Majesty, what time is it now?”
Hetor asked seriously, not answering.
“Eight o’clock in the evening. Why?”
Linel took a pocket watch from his uniform pocket and checked the time.
“Haa, there’s no time. We need to evacuate everyone to their cabins!”
“So the plan has changed to tonight.”
“Yes.”
Hetor was on his way to attend a secret meeting when he was summoned by Emperor Adrian and came down here, but he was struck by an accident and was unable to convey the changed plan, and he was distressed.
“Adrian is the one who is urging orders...”
Linel muttered with a murderous expression, gripping the handle of his sword tightly.
“Galaco will be flying in at 8 o’clock. No, they must have started attacking the people on board right now!”
“Hetor, what are you going to do with your army?”
“My soldiers are scheduled to board this ship in 30 minutes.”
“Until then, the knights on board, and we will have to deal with Galaco.”
“Fortunately, only one of Galaco’s heads remains, so it will be relatively easy,”
Bellos said, rolling his shoulders as if to relax.
“Good. Then, let’s begin the hunt.”
Linel’s aura as he drew his sword was fierce.
“Ah, everyone, don’t touch the silver hairtail! It’ll catch him!”
He shouted as he ran toward the door.
***
“What are you guys...”
The voices of the adorable guys could be heard vividly above the pitch-black night sky.
“Master~ Let’s play together, Moiya~?”
Moiya’s excited voice made the pupils of the people around me shake wildly like a boat hit by rough waves.
“Shh, be quiet. We can’t let people see us, right, Moni~?”
Moni was no exception.
The thread would follow where the needle goes.
When the voices came from the dark sky, the people seemed to feel a greater fear than the Galaco.
Even as the two guys talked, flames appeared and disappeared here and there, in time with the Galaco’s screams.
Aside from the terrifying sound, it was reminiscent of fireworks.
The flames were exploding simultaneously, no less than firecrackers.
The fact that there were so many flames meant that other wyverns had arrived.
“I told you not to stand out. Seriously, you’re disobedient...”
“Kwaaak-!”
“Kkieeeek-!”
The wyverns spewed fire here and there, and the sound of the Galacos being torn apart continued.
I hadn’t planned on revealing my identity as the Wyvern Lord like this...
I had no choice.
Saving people’s lives from the Galacos was the priority.
I had no choice but to put down the sword I had received from the knight earlier and concentrate my mind to gather the energy of the fire.
A red light began to emanate from my heart.
I formed a small ball of red light with my hand and began to throw it at the Galacos along with the fire from my fingertips.
“Oh my God! Look at that!”
“Isn’t that Her Highness Zelda? What the heck is that?”
The celebratory delegation that had been wandering around all at once came out and looked up at the red light rising into the sky, unable to hide their shock.
“Wow, it’s a festival, isn’t it~?”
Moiya, who had been clapping as she watched me cast the red light toward the Galaco, suddenly grumbled and continued.
“Oh, right, Master. Moiya is really upset because those things were making so much noise, and she lost the presents she had already caught.”
“I’ll definitely give the sharks to you as a present later, Master, Moni~!”
Moni’s determined words, following Moiya’s, caught me off guard.
...What were you going to give me?
A shark?!
If anyone else had said those words, I probably wouldn’t have believed my ears.
But if it was Moiya and Moni, there was no doubt that they were sincere.
Kids, if there are Galacos in the sky, there are sharks in the sea.
To humans, they’re both similar!
I felt like I should at least thank the Galacos for interfering with my shark hunt.
“Instead, I’ve prepared another present, right, Moiya~?”
Moiya threw something at me.
It landed so accurately in front of me that I had no choice but to snatch the thing he claimed was a present.
“This!”
It was a red jewel that Roxana had thrown into the sea.
As I held it in my hand, light gathered around it, and the body of the Avatar Sword appeared.
"Now I'm feeling cool."
I held the Avatar Sword upright and waited for Galaco to fly towards me fiercely.
Dinner on board was delicious, but the fight was going to be even better.
"Come at me, you noisy snakeheads!"
***
Something was wrong.
"Without the red jewel, I wouldn't be able to use the Avatar Sword?"
Roxana doubted her eyes as she saw Zelda holding the Avatar Sword on the platform in the distance.
Was the one Empress Elan had stolen from Zelda's room a fake?
However, the red jewel Empress Elan had brought was identical in shape and size to the one embedded in the Avatar Sword's handle.
And judging by the occasional warmth emanating from within, she knew it was definitely the one embedded in the Avatar Sword's handle.
"I clearly dropped it in the sea earlier? What happened to it?"
The Avatar Sword's blade glowed red, as if it had been dipped in and out of the sun.
Having witnessed the power of fire manifest before her eyes, she couldn't help but believe it.
"The Galacos are coming! I think we should take cover for a moment. Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"
Nancy's urgent voice brought Roxana back to her senses.
"Are you alright?"
As always, her servant, who had been with her since childhood, was worried about her.
"Nancy."
"Yes."
“Follow me.”
Roxana took Nancy’s hand and led her down the stairs to her guest room.
The urgency and chaos prevented anyone from blocking their path.
Roxana, having successfully navigated the crowd and reached her own room, removed her crown and placed it on Nancy’s head.
“?!”
Nancy froze as the crown rested on her head.
Before she could even compose herself, Roxana commanded,
“Take it off.”
“What are you saying all of a sudden...?”
“Take off your dress!”
Roxana urged, holding her back to Nancy.
“Oh, yes!”
Nancy was taken aback, but she complied and began to undress her own dress.
After removing her own, Roxana quickly unzipped Nancy’s dress.
The dresses worn by servants were much easier to put on and take off than those worn by nobles.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
Nancy flinched as her own dress was unzipped in an instant.
She had no idea what was happening.
“You wear this.”
“!”
Roxana tossed the dress she was wearing.
Only then did Nancy begin to grasp the situation.
The Empress’s crown on her head felt like it was weighing down her neck.
“It’ll be nothing. But just in case...”
Roxana, who had changed into Nancy’s dress first, trailed off as she put her own on Nancy.
It wasn’t that she didn’t feel sorry.
But she desperately wanted to survive.
She was pregnant.
The baby would become her power.
Even if things went awry tonight, if Emperor Linel was eliminated, everything would be resolved.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
First, she needed to find and talk to Hetor’s adjutant, Palto.
Since she didn’t know what would happen, securing her safety was crucial. She planned to say that Emperor Adrian had killed Hetor. And she's pregnant with his master’s child.
They must work together to make Hetor’s child the ruler of the Lapion Empire.
She'll convince him that if he just helps her, he'll find wealth, fame, and even a place as a nobleman of the highest rank.
If he wants, she'll even offer him a seat next to her...
"Just while I find Palto."
So, she added, you could either cover yourself with the blanket in bed, sit on a chair with your back to the guestroom door, or even hide in the bathroom.
"You have to come back quickly..."
Nancy sobbed, pleading.
"Of course,"
Roxana said, hugging her tightly.
Even though she said it, her arms tightened as she thought it might be their last hug.
"Take care,"
Nancy said in a trembling voice as Roxana was about to leave the guestroom.
"I will..."
He was more like a friend than a servant, the one who would cry and pour healing water on her after being whipped by her father, Duke Haymitch, when they were young.
Sometimes, she would step in and protect Roxana while she was being whipped, and she would end up getting whipped in her stead.
"Me!"
As Nancy spoke urgently, Roxana, about to open the guest room door, hesitated.
"I... have always been on Your Majesty's side..."
It was past tense.
"You know that, Nancy."
This might be her last.
That she wouldn't be back.
Roxana couldn't bring herself to look back.
"Thank you. Thank you so much..."
Thank you, Nancy...
Watching her back as she opened the guest room door and left, she suddenly wondered what Nancy was thinking, what expression she was making.
She felt sorry, but she had no choice.
Roxana mingled with the crowd and headed toward the stairs to find Palto.
She wore not only the maid's uniform, but also the hood worn by the kitchen attendants, obscuring her red hair. That's why no one recognized her.
In the dire situation, with their lives already in danger, no one paid attention to Roxana in her maid's uniform.
The moment she climbed the stairs, the profile of a person passing by caught her eye.
He was dressed in a dark brown robe with the hood pulled down low, but Roxana knew him instantly.
'Logan...?'
Logan was heading towards her cabin.
How did he get here?
He seemed to have followed Hetor's forces from the Principality of Aklatto.
"Are you going to meet me?"
Logan, being a wizard himself, would surely help protect her.
Roxana turned back, having climbed onto the deck to find Palto.
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