Lunaria was lying on her bed with a book in hand when Kaze came into the room. Looking up from the page she was on to greet him, her smile was quickly replaced with a curious tilt of her head when Kaze looked dazed.
"Kaze? How was the talk?"
"… L-Lunaria…"
"Yes?"
For the next 20 minutes or so, Lunaria listened to Kaze's explanation about everything that happened, from the talk with her parents to meeting Goddess Tiel. Throughout his explanation, Lunaria remained silent with a serious expression on her face. With an occasional nod, Lunaria listened carefully to what Kaze had to say, knowing that he wouldn't make such an elaborate prank on her.
After he was done, Lunaria took a sip of water from the side of her bed before speaking.
"Hmm… first of all, I am not surprised that you met Goddess Tiel," Lunaria chose her words carefully. "It is sort of an open secret that mother is able to communicate with certain goddess, but I never thought that she would be regarded as a friend by Tiel-sama."
"Eh??? So you already knew?" Kaze widened his eyes.
"Yes, but not as detailed. Now that I have listened to your story, I can understand why mother kept it vague with us. In fact, this should be why mother has always been regarded as a Saint for so long," Lunaria nodded at Kaze. "Not to say that she has a lot of influence, but Tiel-sama must have intervened one way or the other. Next, I would agree that your existence being defined isn't something we should worry about. It might sound alarming, however your words on Tiel-sama's actions make sense. She also advised you that it shouldn't be something that would affect your daily activities. Leaving that aside, we can look at your experience with Tiel-sama being a fulfilling one. Maintaining a special sort of relationship with a goddess of all people… treasure this experience, Kaze."
Sighing, Lunaria floated her book back to the bookshelf and held his hands. Kaze sat right opposite her on the bed, allowing her to hold both of his hands while they talked.
"Back to the main topic about my parents, can I reconfirm again that the decision to get engaged is our decision?"
"Yes, Laevia-sama reaffirmed her and her husband's stance clearly."
"Alright. Then, I would want us to continue remaining lovers as of now."
"Tiel-sama did predict you would reject the suggestion."
"Tiel-sama's words or not, I have my reasons for disagreeing with mother. I can see where mother is coming from, proposing the benefits that would come with us getting engaged. However, more detriments would arise if our engagement was made public in Czech. Having a relationship together with me is already something we have to look out for; an engagement would result in something even worse."
"Oh man, I don't want to think about the reaction of the students…"
"Hehe, neither can I. What I am concerned is if you would become a political tool after our engagement is acknowledged. While you might be a commoner, political opponents of Sir Ethan's could manipulate the situation in their favour with a trick or two. This could result in you becoming involved with something unrelated. I am a princess by birth, I can't change that I would be involved in politics, but I don't want you to suffer."
"For now, we should reject Laevia-sama's offer."
"I would agree. Besides, I don't mind us continuing to be lovers. As long as you are with me, it doesn't matter what status we have."
"Even if we aren't lovers?"
"Mou, you don't have to use my words against me like that."
With a giggle, Lunaria pulled Kaze towards her and hugged him tightly. She made sure to bury her head into the crook of his neck before leaving tiny kisses on his cheek. Smiling at this, Kaze allowed himself to fall backwards onto the comfort of the bed. Lunaria followed his motion, gently lying on top of him with her arms loosely tied to him.
Unlike the day before, Kaze had gotten more confident in taking the lead when alone with Lunaria. While it hadn't gotten to the phase of proactively kissing, he at least understood what cuddling was like and automatically invited her into a cuddle without needing to ask. Lunaria accepted the invitation from her following after him.
"A-Ah, Lunaria…"
Kaze let out an embarrassed gasp when he felt her tail slithering to his inner thigh.
"Don't worry about it. Didn't I tell you? Dragonkins use their tail and wings as a sign of affection," Lunaria shook her head at this and pressed her lips on his mouth. "… You can touch it if you want, you know? Now that we are lovers, you have permission to touch me."
Kaze knew what she was referring to. When they met at Tristania, it was already clarified that touching a dragonkin's tail and wings without permission was taboo. It was only when a pair had become lovers that they could touch the wings and tail of their partner. For Lunaria, who was very clingy by nature, allowing Kaze to touch her tail was a given. She had already entrusted her entire self to him, much less allowing her lover to touch the taboo parts of a dragonkin.
Glancing at her tail, which had locked itself tightly around his thigh, Kaze couldn't deny he felt curious about it. Touching her wings and tail was definitely something he didn't want to approach without consulting her first. Now that she had given him her permission, especially without discretion, Kaze was going to take advantage of it.
The first thing he felt upon contact was the softness. It was rather unusual, considering that he expected to be able to feel her scales first. Grazing the white length that wrapped around his leg gently, Lunaria watched his curious expressions with a smile on her face.
"How is it? I want to know how you feel."
"It… is rather soft, almost like touching a human's skin."
"Oya? I thought you knew that from the few times you have accidentally touched me back in Tristania."
"Yes, but then having time to explore does leave me open to a lot of options."
"If you are expecting something course and rough, then you would be right. If I harden my tail, then of course it would feel like a lizard's body."
To show what she meant, Kaze gasped softly when he suddenly felt the rough spots perking up on the skin of her tail before it disappeared.
"Also, your tail is surprisingly white."
"What do you mean? Is it not up to your expectation?"
"No. I mean, I thought there would be like spots or patterns."
"Ah, you mean like stripes of different shades of colour? That would definitely apply for other dragonkins, but I mine is a rare shade of white. Nothing more, nothing less."
"… Also, how big are dragonkin tails supposed to grow? Yours feels pretty strong from just coiling around my leg."
"Usually it would be around a 10-centimetre diameter at its widest, b-but there are exceptions to it… Kaze, now that you mention it, I have a sort of complex about my tail."
"Eh?"
"I fear that it might be too fat…"
"Fat? For someone like you? Please, this is already super thin. When I refer to it as being strong, I did not mean that it is because of the size."
While trying to console Lunaria, Kaze patted her head gently as he watched her pout with a blush on her face. As much as Lunaria didn't seem like it, there were things about her body that she was worried too. Surprisingly, it was her tail.
For Kaze, who was simply human, he figured it would be more about her looks and her weight, but it seemed like emphasis was placed elsewhere for different races. When judging the dragonkin population as a whole, it was not a lie to say that all of the dragonkins were either good-looking or breath-taking. It was simply Lunaria and her family's lineage who had excessively good genes that made them stick out among the others. Perhaps it wasn't just Lunaria who cared about her tail, but the dragonkin population as a whole.
Still, the current Kaze thought that Lunaria's tail was great on its own. There was no need to change anything about it, despite Lunaria feeling self-conscious about how her tail looked. To prove that he was being honest, Kaze stroked the tail all the way to the base, reaching close to where it was connected under her sleepwear.
"Mm~~~~~" Lunaria purred softly in his ear, loving the feeling of joy that he brought her from a simple stroking.
"S-Sorry. Was that too much?" Kaze apologised and paused.
"No. Contrary to what you might think, it feels good to get stroked there too, albeit a bit unusual since I prefer the usual kissing and cuddling," Lunaria giggled. "Go on."
"Ah, but any further and I will…"
"You're worried about 'that'?"
"Yes…"
Simply offering him a smile, Lunaria snapped her fingers and she was instantly naked. Her breasts were pressed up against his chest that prevented him from seeing their complete form,, but that did not make him immune to her charm.
"A-Ah, Lunaria! Don't suddenly strip," Kaze blushed and shut his eyes tightly to prevent himself from staring. "Can you… put on your clothes again?"
"Nope. In the first place, I had already intended to surprise you by sleeping naked together."
"D-Don't you have sleepwear?"
"Yes. Normally I would wear them, but since we are sleeping together from now on, I don't mind going naked for the sake of getting closer to you."
"You decided that without telling me?!"
"I did say it was meant to be a surprise. Aren't you happy your girlfriend wants to be naked with you while asleep?"
"I am, b-but it is too stimulating for someone like me…"
"Hehe. Regardless, now you can touch my tail without a reason to stop. On that matter, you are also free to touch any part of my body~"
To her offer, Kaze could only sigh, knowing that she wouldn't give in despite anything he would try to attempt. In that sense, all he could do was submit to her forceful request for now and snuggle with her. His hand was still stroking her tail in an attempt to try to get her to give up more so than putting her at ease, with the latter being true as she kept purring silently while snuggling him from the top.
Glancing at her wings, which were folded neatly on her back, Kaze resisted the urge to touch them since he could already predict that it would lead to something messy. After all, Lunaria was already generous enough to offer her entire self to him without reserve. It wasn't the type of thing a normal couple would do after only a day. The fact that they already had sex made it all the more ironic that Kaze had such a mindset.
Perhaps the definition of a 'healthy relationship' had changed the moment he dated Lunaria.
- - - - - -
The next day, the group of friends set out on another mini excursion after breakfast.
"Due to the location of our destination, we shall be using a mode of transport we have promised you from day 1: wyverns," Lunaria proudly declared.
Currently, they were at the wyvern stable that Kaze had been to the day before. With the princesses managing to get approval for the wyvern ride, they would be guiding the group to ride together in order to travel to their original planned location.
It was also why the group were especially ecstatic, considering the opportunity to experience another unique offer that Aravel had. Wyverns, while terrifying at the sound of riding such a menacing creature to their limited knowledge, were considered bucket-list worthy for the simple fact that one could never hope to ride a live wyvern that had been properly tamed.
For safety purposes, each person would be accompanied by an experienced rider, namely the princesses and some of their friends. The pairs were Lunaria-Kaze, Lunatea-Yuuji, Lucentia-Noel, Lunaea-Chris, Luniel-Irene, Sera-Mitsui, Rena-Albert, and Shoko-Laevia. The Empress herself wanted to come along with them, namely because of the nature of the location they would be visiting that would require her presence to allow the group to enter. Naturally, Shiina would be flying along with some of the other guards as protection for allowing so many royalties to depart from the palace.
Before they could fly, the group had to learn to get close with the wyverns as well as learn the basics of wyvern-riding. As passengers, they only had to look out for safety and the dos-and-don'ts of riding such a magnificent beast. Especially since they were priority guests of the nation, they were given the utmost, best treatment that Aravel had to offer.
"Normally, wyvern-riding would not even be an option for visitors of the nation. Because you all are considered Lunaria-nee's close friends, we would not hesitate to lift certain restrictions for you," Luniel told the group happily. "Now, please choose your respective wyverns and we will depart!"
"Are you afraid?" Lunaria asked Kaze, who had his hand holding her by the waist.
"Not really. The experience from yesterday helped," Kaze answered honestly. "Though I am still a little worried about the lick."
Just like him, the others were a little nervous around the wyverns, whether it be on their back or in front of it. None of them suffered the same fate Kaze did with getting licked and drenched in wyvern saliva, which was a good start. Dozens of dragonkin soldiers surrounded the wyvern group, all minutes away from taking flight. With some final checks and confirmation, the group got clearance to fly.
With Lunaria's wyvern being the first off the ground, one by one the rest of the wyverns steadily soar to the sky, followed by the dragonkin soldiers.
"Everyone, this is Luniel speaking," Luniel's voice filled all of their heads once they were airborne. "My sisters and I will be communicating with everyone through telepathy. While we might not be able to have a two-way communication, just talk naturally to your wyvern rider to get any information you might want to know. Our destination's half an hour away, so please make yourself comfortable."
"Yuuji here has a question regarding concerns about leaving Aravel territory," Lunatea's voice followed, listing the prince's question for everyone to listen and learn. "The answer is yes and no. While it is true we would be leaving the Aravel nation, that does not mean we won't be heading to Aravel territory. We have a split location due to the effects of the war from a few hundred years ago."
"While this does not necessarily mean that we could be considered crossing other nation's borders, we just don't have the manpower needed to take care of such a large piece of land anymore," Laevia added in her opinion. "In the past, a nation before Aravel composed of a large gathering of different races, allowing the nation to prosper by taking care of large quantity of land without fear of getting taken over. Now that the war had split us up to much smaller and scattered nations, it is inevitable that Aravel, a nation formed from the remnant of the dragonkins of the past, would constitute of a much smaller overall land mass."
"Does that mean that most of the place we passed while travelling from Tristania to Aravel were previously an ancient kingdom's land?" Kaze asked Lunaria, who was already in front of him and controlling the wyvern's flight pattern and speed.
"It could be. Geographically speaking, most of the land that Czech constitutes currently were part of the past, but Aravel is simply dormant land untouched due to the difficulty of starting a town or city. Our ancestors were able to take up the mountain ranges for themselves due to the ease of transportation and movement with our wings," Lunaria told Kaze, transmitting her answer to the others at the same time. "Much has changed, with tensions between nations rising more dramatically than we ever had."
"The reason we haven't changed location from where we are currently headed to, despite reasons like accessibility and convenience, is due to the cultural background. For thousands of years, even before dragonkins existed, it was said that our ancestors had been using that place as their home. How could we, their predecessors, let go of our past?" Lucentia continued for Lunaria. "It is both the job of Aravel royalty and its citizens to never forget about our past, especially for the reason we are visiting the place now."
The place they were visiting was none other than the nesting sanctuary for dragonkins. It is also known as the place where pregnant dragonkin mothers give birth to their children. For the group, there wasn't a single shred of doubt that their dragonkin friends treated the sanctuary with utmost respect, hence why every one of them knew better than to intentionally screw things up. The fact they even got permission was already unbelievable.
For the rest of the trip, not much communication happened between the group. They made use of their precious time to get used to the passing land they flew by disappearing into a blur. The view alone was insane, for they never thought they would be able to experience the feeling of soaring through the sky in a way as special as riding on the back of a wyvern. To prevent each of them from feeling cold or uncomfortable due to the speed they were riding at, a wind barrier was cast around them to reduce the wind resistance and making it a much enjoyable fly.
Soaring past the ragged grounds and crossing fields, they soon came to a large open water area, also known as the ocean. It was rare that the group even managed to see the sea, for they have only learnt and heard about it from stories and lessons in school. This added yet another reason for excitement for the group, especially those who were longing to see what the ocean looked like. For the girls in particular, they were screaming happily while soaring past the bed of water. Even Noel had a rare joyful look plastered on her face.
The group continued far away from where land was. How they were able to navigate across the ocean, unidentifiable by map for their characteristics to prevent getting lost, depended on the magic crystals they had brought along.
Strung as a necklace around the necks of each of the dragonkins, the tiny fragment of crystal was melded together with a metallic ring so that it could be attached to the necklace. How it worked roughly relate to how a magic compass could be made by supplying a magical signature to a 'signal storage' and extracting a replicate of the signature into a magic crystal. That way, the crystal would be able to direct the user back to where the original storage was within a certain range.
For the type of crystal manufactured to locate the sanctuary, multiple enchantments had been made so that the range was amplified exponentially that the crystal would work from the seaside. That way, they only needed the guide of a map towards the sea whereas the crystal could take them the rest of the journey.
Only minutes later, in the middle of the ocean, the wyvern fleet began flying higher upwards. Previously, they were mainly sticking lower to the ground while flying since they needed to track their position. Now that they were flying across the ocean and nearing their destination, the wyverns were led in a steep climb upwards.
Zooming past the clouds, a huge rock came into view. Out of the blue, they found themselves facing a huge floating structure that looked like a floating mountain. With thick and course roots floating about from the bottom, multiple other huge and small rocks of various sizes and formation were seen floating around it.
Everyone got speechless as soon as they found themselves staring at the floating island. Never before had they heard of an actual island floating thousands of meters above in the sky without being spotted by anyone. It was like coming face-to-face with a setting from a legendary story they never knew till now.
"Surprised?" Lunaria's voice echoed in everyone's heads once more. "Let us land first before we continue talking."
With Shiina leading the group this time, Laevia's wyvern took priority to secure their lawful entry to the floating island itself. Once they settled on what looked to be a small platform for the wyvern riders and other dragonkin visitors at the southern-outer part, everyone got off and the wyverns were secured for their ride out.
"Lunaria, what is this place?" Yuuji was the first to ask once they had gathered. "Is this… the sanctuary?"
"Yep, it's Aravel's dragon's nest, also called a nesting sanctuary," Lunaria nodded. "We don't have an official name for it, so call it whatever you want."
"Y-You never told us it was on a huge floating island?!" Irene sputtered. "I figured it was just far away, which was why we needed the wyverns!"
"Hehe, it was meant to be a surprise for you," Laevia giggled at her daughters' friends' reaction. "I'm glad everyone here didn't know about this until now. Even you, Kaze."
"Mou… are you trying to imply Kaze has special privileges just because we are a couple?" Lunaria questioned her mother with a cute pout, causing some of her friends to laugh at her reaction to the implied meaning.
"Maybe, maybe not. While we are on the topic, Kaze, would you mind telling us what you think of the surroundings?" Laevia addressed Kaze, who was standing next to Lunaria and holding her hand. "You can be honest about it; criticism is always good to hear."
"Ah, um, I would say that it is unexpected," Kaze answered honestly, his friends nodding occasionally at certain parts of his answer they could agree with. "Compared to a rocky sanctuary where there are houses, this looks like it is simply nature without any outside interference because it's so big. It is almost like a forest on a hill on an island."
As he spoke, Laevia led the way into the island with the rest of the group.
"You have the right idea, but there are some misconceptions," Laevia corrected Kaze. "You see, the reason for it looking barren and unoccupied is due to us preserving such an environment. There are changes we have made for it to be suitable for nesting but left largely untouched."
"Laevia-sama, pardon me for asking. How did this huge rock formation come to be?" Mitsui pointed out. "It didn't look like a place that appeared out of nowhere…"
"For that, you will have to refer to the books in the library that records the history of our culture," Laevia apologetically smiled. "Even I don't have the exact answer to your question. Maybe you can ask some of the 'Caretakers' here."
"There are people on this island?" Chris widened his eyes at Laevia's words.
"Why not? If this is a nesting sanctuary, then wouldn't we require people to keep up with maintenance?" Lunaria smiled at Chris. "Not that they would always be here. Only when we have a mother pregnant would they need to be here. Otherwise, everyone just stays in Aravel."
"For the purpose of our visit today, we have invited a few Caretakers over beforehand to prepare and set up things," Laevia continued. "I don't believe I need to say this for you to realize, but everyone here is very lucky indeed to receive such an opportunity."
Nodding in agreement, the group moved in silent without much question asked. Other than the occasional chatter among themselves, they quickly arrived at the centre of the island by trudging through a dirt path, paving the way through the forest.
"The size of this island is roughly the same as the mountain housing the palace, in terms of width," Lunaria told Kaze, who had been keeping her company this whole time and exchanging their thoughts. "Don't feel surprised that it feels smaller than you would think."
"Heh~ I guess it does have to be at least that big to house a full-grown dragon," Kaze nodded. "Remind me again, how long do dragonkin mothers have to stay here?"
"After the 6th month of their pregnancy, they have to spend another 6 months in dragonkin form in maternity care for the dragon egg to construct inside of them," Lunaria referred back to the previous dragonkin knowledge shared by Lunatea and Lucentia during the devil attack. "For that reason, Caretakers would accompany the mother; feeding her, protecting her, looking after her in general."
"Sounds like a hard task," Albert, who was listening from the front, piped up. "Are the Caretakers selected randomly?"
"Nope. They receive special training and are chosen from the dragonkin academy," Lunaria rejected his guess. "Not all dragonkins want to be Caretakers. We have a special course for those who want to, and they receive education from the experienced."
Arriving at a clearing, they found themselves walking past a barrier from the watery feeling as though their bodies were temporarily submerged in water after walking past a certain point. Immediately, a huge wall with a crack could be seen appearing out of nowhere, forming a huge chasm that wasn't deep but simply stretching on longer than they expected. On both sides of the crack were paths strewn together with wood and ropes, leading up to various cave holes in the wall.
"Welcome to the sanctuary," Laevia officially greeted the group. "It probably doesn't look as grand as you would hope, but this is it."
"Laevia-sama, does the chasm lead straight to the end of the island?" Irene asked the Empress. "How is it that a floating island could have a huge crack in the land that look as though it is going to split the island apart?"
"Ah, you must probably be deceived," Laevia smiled. "Ever since arriving, we have been walking at an upward slope. It just so happens you didn't notice the slight change since we are in a forest. At the very bottom of the chasm, which you can probably hear, is a river leading to the back part of the island, where there is a small waterfall with a lake."
"It must be convenient having a water source so near to where the sanctuary is," Yuuji commented. "That way, the mother can easily be rehydrated."
"There have been plans to move from a traditional hatching place back to Aravel, where we already have ample space in the surrounding mountains, but we still hold on to this floating island out of sentiment and culture," Lunaria gave her friends some insight to the situation. "Honestly, I prefer the nesting to be back in Aravel where there is better security and resources compared to the island."
"What would happen if you really were to put all resource back in Aravel?" Sera, being one of the few who already know everything from her long-term friendship with the dragonkins, suddenly asked a question after considering the option. "Would this island be abandoned?"
"That… is the problem," Lunaea made a difficult smile at Sera's words. "We don't want to abandon this place, but we can't decide what other use we would have for it if we were to not use it as a nesting sanctuary anymore."
Regardless of how the conversation went, this was a difficult topic that had no answer yet. Whether it be used as a place of worship at certain times of the year or changing the purpose of the floating island, it would all be left up to the Council of Aravel to decide on what would be done. For now, they were simply guests who were here to visit an Aravelean heritage as well as to understand the background of long history dragonkins have.
Without further questions, the group were led into the chasm with the dragonkin soldiers guarding the entrance closely.