Lunatea brought Kaze to one of the palace rooms that had been kept occupied for the dragonkins' stay. Maintaining secrecy of their actions were necessary at the moment, even though they had already openly 'participated' in the bandit fighting before.
Arriving at one of the rooms in the west hall of the palace, Lunatea used magic to deactivate whatever barriers or charms in place so she and Kaze could take refuge inside. Upon entering, Kaze was surprised to see that the rest of his friends who showed up at the graveyard were already inside.
"Kaze!" Surprisingly, Lucentia, of all people, was the first of the group to jump at him.
Hugging him tightly, Kaze nearly choked from the strength of her dragonkin's grip crushing his lungs. Despite the two soft moulds pressing against him from the front, Lucentia still put in strength that was normally unachievable by a human into her hug, expressing both relief and pain from seeing him.
"I-I'm sorry. I was worried because I was unable to get you out in time," Lucentia muttered, letting go of him. "It seems like Lunatea-nee got you instead."
"It's good to see you got out unscathed," Yuuji sighed in relief as the others crowded over Kaze as well.
"Everyone…" Kaze smiled as soon as he saw the others. "Albert, Mitsui, Chris, Irene…"
"Sera, Rena and Noel are here too," Shoko stated. "But they just left. Sera and Rena went to scout the situation while Noel has her guard duties."
After ensuring that nobody was injured, the group quietly settled down and went over the situation. Since everything happened so quickly, it was hard to comprehend the full scale of it without clarification. Those providing different perspectives were Kaze, Lunatea and Lucentia. Lunaea and Luniel weren't present at the moment despite being there when the battle took place for unknown reasons, so they could not provide their viewpoint to the others. Even without them, it was still enough for everyone to grasp what happened.
Sitting in silence, the pressure was now on the dragonkin sisters. After a rather vivid description of the scene that took place, it was obvious the group wanted an explanation, which could only be provided by people who were familiar with dragonkin culture like Lunatea and Lucentia. At the same time, they felt reluctant to do so since it could be considered impolite to pry on certain matters, as they have learnt with Lunaria before. Furthermore, this involved consulting the princesses of another nation, causing them to feel even more overwhelmed. Often times, Lunaria's family felt more like a normal family than royalties until the fact itself crossed their minds or when they acted the part.
As royalties, both Lunatea and Lucentia had expected something like this to happen sooner or later. They had developed this unconscious habit to pick up signs from others due to their background. When the entire group went silent, they could only sigh for they could not keep Lunaria's friends in the dark anytime longer. They were going to find out, sooner or later, hence why it was best to provide an earlier explanation to avoid unnecessary conflict.
"… I think we are going to need to provide a fair explanation, Lucentia," Lunatea looked at her younger sister for confirmation.
"Yes, I agree," Lucentia sighed, feeling tired that everything needed to be told to her new friends. "Everyone, please keep whatever you are about to be told secret. It's not that it is something that special, but rather we would appreciate if you didn't let it be known."
"Um, I'm pretty sure everyone here is fine with that," Shoko offered a sympathetic pat on her friend's shoulder, being the representative of the group as someone who knew the dragonkin sisters the longest. "This isn't the first time we have been told something secretive or dragonkin-related."
"Well, where to start?" Lucentia thought about it while taking a sip of her tea. "Alright. Maybe it would be easier if we have questions from each of you that could be answered together."
"I'll start first," Irene, who had been quiet and cuddling next to Chris this entire time, spoke out. "Um… I will be asking what is on everyone's mind now: What was that?"
"If… you are referring to the dragon, that was Lunaria," Lucentia answered with a slow nod, unsure of what Irene was asking. "If you are referring to the attack, that was the devils we suspected to be the ones who kidnapped Lunaria."
"Um, the dragon actually, but thanks for clarifying once again," Irene gulped. "We knew it was the devils. I have never felt a being radiating such malicious energy from their magic attack."
"I will go next," Chris took the person asking after his girlfriend. "Why did Lunaria transform all of a sudden?"
"That we don't know. But if you are asking why Lunaria could transform, that is a whole different issue," Lunatea confirmed. "The question is whether you want to hear the long-winded answer or the simple answer."
"Give them the long answer," Shoko helped Chris to make the decision. "They will end up with more questions if you don't explain the full picture."
"Mm. Us dragonkins are… well, originally dragons, if you haven't figured that out by now. Each of us were born as dragons before gradually changing into our human form," Lunatea started, wording herself carefully to avoid confusion. "It might sound weird for you, since other beastkins like Shoko gets born naturally, the way you humans do. Dragonkins give birth in the form of eggs, in which the mother would have to transform into a dragon once the baby inside of her is 6 months old. From then on, it's another gruelling 6-month process of wait for the egg to reach maturity inside of her before the mother dragon can release it."
"It sounds like an easy job of just sitting and waiting, but it really isn't," Shoko added some info for the rest. "Think about it: being unable to transform into a dragonkin for the next 6 months when you are so accustomed to it already. You can't eat the way you want, can't sleep the way you want, can't move around as you wish. Dragonkins have a 'nest' of sort for the mother to stay for the latter 6 months in preparation for their eggs releasing."
"From there, the eggs take another week or so to hatch with the mother's warmth," Lunatea nodded at what Shoko said. "So, being born as dragons from young, turning into a dragonkin form would take a year or so. From there, once we get old enough, we would be taught to transform into our dragon self again. It is often times a process we naturally are able to do, but confusion occurs for processes like turning back from a dragon to dragonkin or vice versa."
"Now, while we have emphasized how dragonkins can freely transform between our 'human' form to our natural form, there are restrictions and laws for this. I will only be explaining the few relevant ones because of the circumstance, and because it is not necessary for you to know everything. As you may have guessed, we are restricted from transforming when leaving the nation of Aravel. The reason for this is correlated to how foreign nations might view us to be threats if we were to get close to the borders of the nations or suddenly appear as dragons. Another restriction from transforming would be when the Emperor is present. As our father is the Emperor of Aravel, unless he commands it, we are restricted from doing so."
"What Lunaria-nee did was obviously against the law, for reasons unknown. She isn't the type of person to transform suddenly. Of course, if the situation was necessary or in an emergency we are permitted without discretion, but Lunaria-nee chose not to when she first fought the devils, if you remember, Kaze. One, devils are targets whom size would be an issue with since they fight with power instead; two, the area of the fight did not make it suitable for her to unleash her dragon form; three, there were people nearby, namely us, so it would prove detrimental for her to do so."
"Considering all the above, we can conclude that she had no reason to transform, even if it meant protecting us from the attack conjured by the devils. What's more, she lost control. This has never happened before to any of those who had transformed, nor has it happened to Lunaria-nee. We can infer that since Lunaria-nee would know to hold back her attacks even after transforming to protect us, yet she went and destroyed a quarter of the city with her blast."
After hearing the rather lengthy answer, everyone felt a little stunned that the reasoning behind the attack earlier was so in-depth. They never thought that far ahead, which went to show how much the dragonkin sisters considered their situation to be abnormal.
"Em… follow-up question to that," Yuuji raised his hand. "Based on that logic earlier, wouldn't Lunaria transforming and going out of control warrant as an emergency, which would provide authority for either Lunatea or Lucentia to transform to stop her?"
"That's a good point, but the answer is clear for us," Lucentia shook her head. "You see, firstborn dragonkin royalties are born with a passive skill that would only be activated once they are in dragon form. I mean, technically, it is not ONLY acquired upon birth nor is it unable to be acquired elsewhere but spare me from explaining. What is important would be the skill itself. The official name for it is 'Ruler's Dominion', or what it is roughly translated from our dragonkin tongue language."
"You see, being the firstborn, Lunaria-nee is naturally gifted with it," Lunatea made a small smile at this, which gradually faded as she continued speaking. "She had received tutorials from father since young on how to control it, when to use it, and why to use it. The skill only activates when she is in dragon form, immediately putting the rest of us under a submissive state of sort that would abide by the orders of the one with the skill."
"The extent which we would follow the orders has a very limited range. As seen earlier, we could still run away or cast magic despite Lunaria-nee being in dragon form. What the skill really prevents us dragonkins from doing is transforming. Under Lunaria-nee's 'orders' of sort, we can't transform at will unless Lunaria-nee permits us to do so. Since Lunaria-nee lost control of herself and went on a rampage, we were restricted from transforming since her skill dominated us all. Whether we like it or not, there is nothing we could have done to stop Lunaria-nee in that state."
After hearing such an explanation, it got everyone back to pondering for a different reason. Now they understood why Lunatea and Lucentia acted so helpless against Lunaria in dragon form. It was worse knowing that the cause of Lunaria's rampage was unknown, even to the dragonkin sisters.
Moving on to Mitsui, she was more curious at what Lunatea and Lucentia were doing that involved them joining the soldiers earlier. This was a simpler question for the dragonkin sisters to answer, starting with rescuing Kaze from the dungeon. Everyone felt relieved knowing both rulers sided with Kaze being innocent for causing Lunaria's disappearance, yet tense upon learning that the situation would not be resolved quickly.
Halfway through Albert's own question, Lunaea and Luniel came in through the window. They were soon accompanied by Sera and Rena, both elves entering normally through the door. Their absence was justified with the reason of scouting the situation, as stated earlier by Lunatea. This did not deter the others from expressing their doubts, with more people this time to provide their insights.
Now all that was left was Kaze. He had been listening carefully to whatever was said by the dragonkin sisters the whole time out of concern for Lunaria's wellbeing. Being at the centre of most things as well, it was hard to imagine what was going through his head. The others could only empathise with him as they had not been through what he had, even for Sera, Rena and Shoko. When it was his turn, everyone had mixed emotions. They tried not to stare at him out of concern it would turn into pressure, rather chose to wait patiently for him to form his question.
"… How is the situation outside?" Kaze asked first, looking at Sera and Rena for confirmation.
"Well… not good," Sera shook her head. "To be frank, it has gotten worse. It turned out the bandits causing chaos all over the place were not just there as distraction. The ultimate goal, according to one of the magicians, was for the devils to use them as a human detonation to cause explosions all over Tristania."
"As we speak, this information had already been spread to the soldiers of the nation," Rena sighed. "However, controlling the situation is another issue…"
"What?! That means father just found out about this," Yuuji stood up out of agitation when this was told. "T-Then, the city…"
"… Laevia-sama has offered to help, but only time will tell whether or not the situation is under control," Rena averted her eyes from Yuuji's. "I'm sorry, this is as much as we know."
Slumping back into the chair, Yuuji had a devastated look on his face. As the crown prince of the nation, he was fully aware of the difficulty in quelling such a situation. If word had spread about the true danger the bandits currently posed, that meant there was no way to cancel the magic effect yet. The bandits being 'buffed' by magic was in truth a binding spell that provided the devil control over when to detonate them. It must be something complex that could not be undone within a short span of time, otherwise there would be a way to prevent this from occurring being spread.
Just as the group started to feel depressed again, a sudden rumble echoing from afar jolted everyone in the room. This was accompanied by a faint cry that they were all too familiar with before absolute silence took over.
"Lunaria-nee!" Lunatea jumped out of the window, soaring through the air towards the direction of the graveyard.
"Uhh, what happened?" Irene asked, clutching Chris' arms even tigher now. "Why did Lunatea react so rashly?"
"My guess would be that something happened to Lunaria-nee," Lucentia muttered, her eyes glued outside of the window as she spoke. "Her overwhelming presence suddenly dissipated. Father had probably managed to subdue her."
"Reginsleif-sama?" Shoko raised an eyebrow at this, feeling surprised. "I haven't seen him in action for decades now. I guess it did require him to make a move when involving Lunaria."
"Is the Emperor really that amazing?" Chris asked nervously. "I mean… we barely know anything about Aravel and the dragonkin race in the first place, so I don't know how great the Emperor is."
"That's not surprising. You did just get to meet us a few days ago anyway," Luniel made a weak smile at his words. "If it's father, he has a way of stopping Lunaria-nee."
"Simply put, Reginsleif-sama helped shift the tide of the war 500 years ago," Sera explained. "Along with Laevia-sama, they were one of the few iconic members of the war. Most of the others already passed away of old age, but Reginsleif-sama and Laevia-sama lived to this day thanks to them being dragonkins."
"As the Emperor, he would also have the Dominion skill. Against Lunaria, he would definitely stand a chance," Rena agreed. "It's not like he will have a hard time but facing Lunaria in dragon form would still take quite a bit of effort."
"Well, don't you think this is the best time for us to aid with gathering or capturing any bandits?" Kaze asked everyone. "Now that we don't have to fear Lunaria's rampage, that should be our priority."
"I was going to suggest that, but seeing how traumatized everyone, I wasn't sure if it was a good idea," Yuuji picked up his shield, ready to move out. "But since Kaze just suggested it, I would like to put an official request for everyone's help here. It is going to be a dangerous job since we have no idea when the bandits could detonate, so feel free to reject my request."
"But you'll be going yourself, right?" Shoko raised an eyebrow at this and patted his shoulder. "Then those of us who are at least capable of moving should go. We will help to minimize the damage taken. If students from our school like Freya is taking part in this chaos, we should too."
Quickly, Shoko and some of the other more capable members of the group left with Yuuji to aid soldiers of Tristania. Since they decided on a no-kill policy in the case that stopping the detonation was possible, their hands would be free of guilt from killing. Most of them were only students after all, unlike Sera and the others being trained individuals.
Those who stayed back were Kaze and Lucentia. When accounting for those wanting to help, Kaze was forced to stay back. If Reginsleif was truly capable of subduing Lunaria, he wanted to be the first of the group to see how she was doing. For that reason, Lucentia remained with him. Lunatea was still gone from earlier, so they had no way of contacting her for the time being. Not to mention that he was instructed to hide by Laevia and Ethan, Kaze's movements were limited in the first place and could not do much. Lucentia was there as a safeguard of sort for him.
While they waited for any sign or notion regarding Lunaria's situation, Lucentia started a conversation with Kaze to break the awkward waiting silence.
"Hey… you alright?" Lucentia asked him. "You have been pacing around non-stop since the others left."
"W-Well, thinking about Lunaria made me nervous," Kaze grimaced. "I feel guilty for allowing this to happen."
"Hm, if you are referring to the events of the night before, it's safe to say no one saw this coming," Lucentia felt curious by his statement. "In what way did you contribute to the events leading up to now?"
"For instance, preventing Lunaria from leaving," Kaze sighed and shook his head. "That night I met you on the streets, I was with Lunaria previously. We were just leaving the school party when she sensed something and left on her own. If I had stopped her then…"
"How were you going to stop her? How did you know that she was heading into trouble? How could you expect to have faced two devils with their army of bandits?" Lucentia pressured Kaze to provide an answer for her questions.
"I-I don't know," Kaze muttered, staring at the floor.
"When we fought the devils for the first time, did we know how to beat them? Were we able to predict what they would do to Lunaria-nee?"
"No…"
"Was it possible, based on explanation earlier, that Lunaria-nee would transform into a dragon? Could we have known the bandits were rigged bombs?"
"No…"
"If we aren't even able to predict all of the above, how could we have prevented Lunaria-nee from falling into this situation, much less feel guilty about it?" Lucentia concluded, leaving Kaze speechless. "You have to think logically, Kaze. Just because you failed at saving her doesn't make you automatically at fault. You aren't a hero or someone with ridiculously overpowered strength that slipped up over a dumb mistake; you are a student. How much control were you expecting over the situation?"
"That's not what I meant, okay?!" Kaze shouted out of frustration. "I know I couldn't have prevented this no matter what! I know that I am not of much help right now! I know that complaining won't get me anywhere!"
Lucentia calmly listened to him complaining without getting fazed, despite the fact he was shouting at her. If anyone else saw this, Kaze would have been incriminated as his actions were considered an offence. Acting disrespectful towards a royalty was one thing, but towards the royalty of a foreign nation was something that would disgrace the face of Tristania by itself.
The only reason Lucentia ignored this insolent act was because she felt guilty as well. Just like Kaze, twice she was given the chance to save her eldest sister, once when she was with Kaze the night before and the second when she and Lunatea charged right into the bandits' hideout to rescue Lunaria. Despite their best efforts, Lucentia felt like whatever they did was never going to change the fact that Lunaria ended up suffering in the end. They couldn't have saved her, or rather, the chance was given but they did not make use of it.
She waited until Kaze was done before speaking. Lucentia knew that they were going to have to come to terms with their weakness that contributed to them not doing anything major this time round. It was hard to determine how she should feel about this: shameful for involving her father and mother or being glad that help was provided for the situation obviously went beyond their control.
Taking a deep breath, Lucentia controlled her emotions and stared at Kaze.
"… You done?" She asked softly after Kaze ran out of steam from shouting. "Are you done complaining?"
Kaze dropped to his knees and sobbed silently. All his venting had made him realize that he had not managed to accomplish anything. All this persistent and stubbornness of his did nothing to help. Everything was done by others, he just so happened to be involved with it. When Lucentia fought off the devil for him to take Lunaria and escape, he got caught instantly; when they helped him escape from the palace, he did nothing; when looking for Lunaria, he was simply following the dragonkin sisters; when fighting the bandits, he just stood by. What exactly did he accomplish up till now?
To his surprise, Lucentia wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Since he was on the floor, Lucentia had to bend down and hug him instead of simply giving him a standing hug. It was unexpected since Kaze had always thought of Lucentia to be the cold calculative type.
Unlike her other sisters who displayed more personality, Lucentia always kept to herself and barely spoke when needed. Lunaria was the typical cheerful type who would act in accordance with the mood, being strict when it counted and kind when people deserved it. For someone who showed up from time to time, it was easy for Kaze to determine what type of person Lunatea was. More commonly referred to as a tsundere by Lunaria, Lunatea still had redeemable traits that made her distinct from her sisters, such as showing concern in the most unexpected place.
Kaze still had not gotten close enough with Lunaea and Luniel to understand them, but upon base interactions he was able to get a glimpse of who they were. That wasn't as important as his current shock, for Lucentia showed 'humane' interaction to someone else other than towards Lunaria. There were few moments where Lucentia had chatted with the others, but it wasn't to the point of exposing her personal emotions.
"I know you are upset, I really do," Lucentia muttered softly into his ear, not breaking the hug yet. "Most of us are too. Have you thought about how I felt knowing that I lost Lunaria-nee yet again…? Do you know how Lunatea-nee, Lunaea, and Luniel feel?"
Gasping softly at this, Kaze could feel Lucentia's body trembling, though it wasn't clear whether it was out of fear or sadness. He wanted to get a look at her face to confirm her emotions, but the way she was hugging him hinted that she did not want her weak self to be exposed.
"I-I'm sorry… I have been selfish," Kaze answered. "I didn't take you and your sisters into consideration…"
Letting go of him, Lucentia got to her feet and pulled him up in the process. For a split second, Kaze caught a glimpse of a tear in her eye before she got rid of it. With a small smile on her face this time, she pinched his cheek.
"What are you apologising for? Don't say sorry to me. If you truly want to feel responsible, tell that to Lunaria-nee. She trusts you a lot, from what I can tell, so perhaps apologising to her would serve to console her for your incompetence," Lucentia sighed. "If you have the chance, that is."
At the same time, the sound of wings flapping could be heard from outside their window. Kaze and Lucentia immediately recognised the heavy yet matching rhythm the wings made when beating in the air, causing them to look out. Sure enough, the army of dragonkins Kaze saw earlier when retreating with Lunatea had reappeared.
With Shiina and Sakuya leading the army, the numerous dragonkin soldiers surrounded the Emperor, whose figure stood out among the group due to his overwhelming presence, tall stature, and elevated fighting armour. Along with him was Lunatea, who had left earlier, now returning with Lunaria in her arms. As they got closer, Kaze noticed the reason the dragonkins were maintaining a certain defensive formation while two other dragonkins helped Lunatea with some emergency magical healing casted on Lunaria. Most likely, those wounds were sustained from whatever happened to her when she was mistreated by the devils.
"Father!" Lucentia jumped out of the window as soon as she saw them and fluttered over. "Are you alright?"
"Hm, Lucentia, I'm doing good," Reginsleif noticed his daughter and gave her a headpat. "Your eldest sister, on the other hand… I had to get a tad bit rough with her to stop her rampage."
"Lucentia, help us," Lunatea urged her younger sister. "We need to get Lunaria-nee to safety."
While watching the interaction happening a few metres away from him in the air, Kaze suddenly shivered. He realized that the Emperor had shifted his gaze from his daughters over to him, sending shivers down Kaze's spine. It wasn't like Reginsleif had radiated anger or any emotions of sort to Kaze, rather the effect of the stare was something Kaze felt from being looked at directly. As the legendary hero of the war and the Emperor of Aravel, it was only normal that Kaze felt pressured by a simple stare, so much so that Kaze began trembling.
Stroking his short beard thoughtfully, Reginsleif turned to Sakuya and began addressing something to her. Sakuya gave a curt nod before flying to Kaze's window. This caused Kaze to gulp nervously for fear of what that he would hear from her.
"Reginsleif-sama has ordered me to deliver this message in his stead," Sakuya declared in a direct tone. "Once the situation is settled, we shall be returning to Aravel with Lunaria-sama. For any other enquiries, you may direct them to Sir Ethan, Lunatea-sama, Lucentia-sama, Lunaea-sama, or Luniel-sama. This concludes the message."
The message hit Kaze like a brick. Watching Sakuya fly away to rejoin the group at the courtyard, he felt weak in the knees and slumped to the floor once more. As if unable to process the message given to him, Kaze stumbled to his feet and ran out of the room.
Rushing down the hallway, he quickly found the dragonkin group moving uniformly. They were still grouped together and moving uniformly such that there was no gap in their defence, especially when involving their nation's royalty and Emperor. Despite this, all Kaze could focus on was trying to get to any of the dragonkin sisters for an explanation straight away. He didn't know when they would leave, hence not wanting to miss his chance.
Before he could charge towards the group, a loud explosion rocked the palace grounds. Consecutively, explosions of different magnitudes occurred one after another at a rapid pace. It wasn't until the fifth or sixth explosion later that everyone in the palace started moving about. Screams of terror and things collapsing to the ground echoed throughout the hallway that Kaze was in, further preventing him from advancing on the dragonkin group.
Amidst the chaos within the palace, explosions continued throughout the city of Tristania, some places affected more so than the rest.
This would later be dubbed one of the most serious incidents towards the nation of Czech as a whole involving espionage and terror attacks, otherwise known as the Moon Festival Disaster.