JILL'S adjutant had a policy for the battlefield: if you're ever faced with danger, just start running until you can think of an effective strategy. He was an excellent adjutant. He had saved her both when she'd been pincered by the Rave imperial army and when she'd been cut off from the supply lines and isolated. And at this moment, he saved Jill once again.
She had no idea what was going on, but she knew that this was certainly a dangerous situation, so she fled.
"Dad! Mom! I'm feeling a little under the weather with all this commotion going on, so I'm going to go get some fresh air!" she announced in a flurry.
"Bye!"
"Dear, how about you eat something?" her mother suggested. "They even have your favorite: roast pork. You mustn't gobble it down, though."
"I'll get heartburn!" Jill cried.
"What? You, having heartburn?" her father asked, incredulous. "Are you seriously ill?"
Leaving her parents to worry about their daughter and her inability to eat roast pork, Jill fled to the terrace at full speed. Naturally, she remembered the layout of the castle perfectly. This made her head spin even faster.
Calm down, calm down! she instructed herself. Is this a dream? Or was that life a dream?
Just before Jill stepped out onto the terrace, she stopped for a moment and looked at her reflection in the glass once more. She softly touched it with her fingertips, confirming that this child was definitely her. Still feeling restless, she went out onto the terrace.
Did I de-age? No, that can't be it, because Mom and Dad are alive. The only thing out of place here are my memories…Does that mean I've gone back in time? That can't be! You'd have to be a god to turn back time! How could this have happened…?
As Jill went to cover her mouth, she looked at her hands. At this age, she was surely already fighting with swords, but her hands were still soft and small.
That's right… Her parents were still alive and well around this time, and Jill was just a very normal girl who, as the daughter of the House of Cervel, the so-called "people of battle," had a fondness for swordsmanship and the military arts.
Setting aside whether a normal girl would even have a fondness for the military arts in the first place, the thought that she was back to that time was the first ray of hope Jill had found in ages. If time really had turned back, she would not yet be called the god of war's daughter, nor would she be running around battlefields for Gerald. She wouldn't even be Gerald's fiancée yet.
"…Can I start over?" Jill muttered, although she had no idea how this had happened. She clenched her small hand tightly. On the battlefield, those who couldn't come to terms with their current situation would die. She took a deep breath.
At any rate, I'll act under the assumption that I've returned to the past. If Gerald asks me to marry him, and I don't accept… No, I wouldn't have that option. If the crown prince proposes to you, you can't say no.
Even though her father was a trusted margrave who defended the kingdom's border, their land was still a territory belonging to the Kratos Kingdom. If the margrave's daughter were to decline the prince's marriage proposal clumsily, it might be regarded as adversarial.
The best course of action would be to let the party pass by without being proposed to at all.
In that case, haven't I already let the opportunity pass by…?
If she were on the same course as before, Gerald would've made a beeline to Jill and proposed to her right after their eyes had met. So she had altered the past the moment she'd gone out on the terrace.
"Has the problem already been resolved because I ran away?!" she gasped.
"Lady Jill."
"He's…!" Jill shouted involuntarily.
Gerald, the prince who Jill had seen as a young man just ten minutes earlier but was now a young boy, tilted his head. "He's…?" he repeated her strange cry.
"N-N-No… It's not— It's nothing," she stammered. Her panicking had made her manner of speaking strange, but forcing herself to speak like a lady had made it sound even stranger.
Regardless, it was undoubtedly not normal that Gerald, the man of the hour, had come out onto the terrace even though the party had just begun. He was also, for some reason, holding a single rose in his hand. Jill recognized that rose.
He had given it to her when he'd proposed the first time. That memory brought on another one. When Jill had once asked him why he'd proposed to her, Gerald had smiled and said, "The moment I saw you, I thought, you're the one." Jill had been privately pleased by that comment, imagining their union was fate.
Was it too late the moment our eyes met?! she thought, terrified.
As Gerald's eyes softened, Jill wondered what he thought of her, cold sweat dripping down her back. It's like he's inspecting a product, she couldn't help but think. Her mind went in that direction because she knew he was already madly in love with his little sister by this point.
"Pardon me," he said, taking charge of the silence stretching between them. "I'm Gerald. Gerald der Kratos…the crown prince of this kingdom."
"Th-That's right."
"You're Lady Jill of the House of Cervel, correct?"
Gerald wiped his glasses somewhat nervously before putting them on again. That's right… The last time she found herself in this situation where a dashing prince had addressed her so formally, even though she wasn't a princess or anything, her heart had soared—
"…There's something important I need to tell you."
The prince stepped out under the twinkling, starry night sky. His proposal in the middle of the dance floor under the glittering chandeliers was wonderful, but this was a lovely setting in its own right.
Or it would be…if the person proposing to her wasn't a nasty sister-loving scumbag.
What if I just scream it and expose him here?! Oh, no, that won't end well—I got killed for just learning about it.
A lot of things would come to an end the moment she screamed. By this point in time, Gerald was already renowned as a child prodigy.
"I don't want you to be startled when you hear this. The moment I saw you, I—"
"Oh heavens, my mother and father must be so worried about me!" Jill interrupted him loudly, bolting away like a startled foal.
Gerald's dazed look of amazement was worth seeing, but Jill had much bigger problems at hand.
I have to run away! There's a chance this is a dream, but regardless, if this goes on…I will be reliving a nightmare, because this time I know everything! There's even a chance that my life will come to an early end! But it seems as though he's already zeroed in on me… What steps can I take now? Jill wondered, pushing her way through the crowd.
She caught a glimpse of Gerald leaving the terrace. She had hoped he would just give up there, but she supposed she ought to have known better. When Gerald saw her, he shouted: "Lady Jill Why are you running away?"
Jill wondered how good it would feel to shout back, "Because you're the man I've already left!" But eyes were already turning toward the prince since he had called out to her. She could probably only buy a few more moments pretending she couldn't hear him.
What's a good strategy to evade the prince's proposal without a fuss…? Pretend like I already have a boyfriend?! No, I'm a child right now, that would be impossible! Plus, unless it's a guy who would make the crown prince back down… There's no way there's someone like that just hanging around! At the very least, he'd have to have abnormally high magic power and be physically strong… But people like that come from my family, and Prince Gerald is strong too!
As her thoughts drifted into the realm of escapism, Jill desperately ran away. Her ten-year-old body, however, kept getting swept away by the waves of people. Jill pressed forward, pushing towards a spot with fewer people, but this also meant that it was easier for Gerald to shorten the distance between them.
"Lady Jill!"
Just as Jill managed to slip out of a circle of people, Gerald finally caught up with her.
That's right! If I propose… I'll accept responsibility for getting you involved! I'll make you happy!
As Gerald reached out for Jill's arm, she threw her hand behind her back and grabbed whatever it reached. It was a very fine cloak, strangely pleasant to touch. Jill shrank backward, and her back came into contact with something—probably a knee. From this person's steadfast composure, she guessed that it was an adult man.
If that was the case, this might all be neatly tied up as a child's practical joke. The fact that Gerald gasped also gave Jill courage.
In any event, she needed to escape from this emergency situation—and with that one thought in her mind, she shouted: "I've fallen in love with this person at first sight! I'm going to marry him! I'm going to spend the rest of my life making him happy!"
"Jill?!"
Jill heard her parents' stunned voices as they shouted her name—they must have overheard the disturbance. The room was buzzing, and Gerald's lips were drawn together in a flatline, his expression displeased.
Jill blinked at the crowd's reaction, which was slightly more dramatic than brushing it aside as a child's practical joke—and then, she heard a voice from above her.
"Okay. Then I will take you as my wife."
That was not the response Jill had hoped for. It was not the response of an adult deflecting a child's practical joke.
The man's voice was low and pleasing to the ear. It was so alluring that a shiver went down her spine. It was a voice that, if whispered in a woman's ear, would make her knees buckle.
If you had savored that voice once, you would never be able to forget it.
I-I've heard…that voice…before, she realized. On the battlefield, just recently—or, maybe six years in the future… Jill was confused. In any event, in the future, when she engaged in a battle against the Rave imperial army, the person that voice belonged to had appeared before her.
"What's your name, miss?"
"Ji…Jill Cervel…" Jill replied without looking back.
The impressive voice answered: "The daughter of Margrave Cervel? No wonder you have high magic power. Most importantly, though you are young, you seem to have a discerning eye. To think that you proposed to me yourself!"
His glass made a soft thud when he put it on the table, and Jill could feel the man standing up. At the same time, he gently lifted her up with one arm. The cloak fell from her hand, which had lost its strength.
His glossy black hair reflected the light of the chandelier. Every feature, from the contour of his cheeks to the cut of his jaw—the shape of his eyebrow, the bridge of his nose, his thin lips—looked like it belonged to an intensely beautiful sculpture. The most captivating part of all were his golden eyes. They were as tranquil as the moon, but they also had a merciless, beast-like twinkle to them.
His mannerisms were kind as he looked into Jill's eyes, but she felt as tense, as if he had thrust a sword against her throat. Yet he was so beautiful, she couldn't take her eyes off him.
"I heard that on some island country there is a saying that goes: 'like a moth flying into a flame.' Are you familiar with it?" he asked.
Jill shook her head from side to side. That was exactly why she wanted him to let go of her. But the man's smile did not falter in the slightest.
"I see. But it's okay, you have nothing to worry about. I've decided to kneel for my wife."
Gerald said nothing. His face couldn't look more displeased. His fists were shaking. In that sense, Jill had intuitively chosen the right partner. She had been right in that way, perhaps, but in choosing her life's course, she had been hopelessly wrong.
"I, Hadis Teos Rave, accept your proposal. Please make me happy lady with lovely amethyst eyes."
With that, the young emperor of their neighboring country gracefully knelt in front of Jill, gave her a smile as sickly sweet as poison, and reverently bowed his head.
IT was just a flash.
The silver sword twisted and stretched out like a snake, mowing down the entire region. It was like a beast sloppily devouring the sky and the earth.
Mountains were shattered, the earth was split, and the supply lines were broken apart. Their battle lines had collapsed, and they were no longer able to rebuild their shattered formations. The flames of war illuminating the dark night stretched outwards in no time at all.
After the merciless assault from the air, their defeat was assured.
"Kill every last one of them," the enemy emperor ordered without emotion, looking down at them from the night sky that burned red. "Children, women, infants—it makes no difference. It's not worth letting that woman's family live. They're worthless. Insects. The fact that they're alive is a crime."
That voice was more callous than a blizzard in the dead of winter, freezing everything around him.
"But don't give them easy deaths. Gouge babies' eyes out in front of their mothers. Torment wives in front of their husbands. Force siblings to kill each other. Make them apologize for being born, make them scream for death. Crush everything—their hopes, their love, their dreams, their ties to one another. Leave nothing behind—just as they did to me!"
It was a massacre. Jill looked up, her eyes rounding into saucers at this unimaginable order. The enemy emperor's golden eyes gleamed at the angry shouts and shrieks rising up underneath him, a vicious laugh spilling from his lips.
This heinous, cursed emperor… This insane ruler, who enjoyed crushing and tormenting others, never caring about anyone… The reality that Jill had refused to believe before she saw it for herself was right before her eyes.
I'll stop him!
Gripping her sword, she kicked off the ground with all the magic power she could muster, aiming for the emperor far above her. This was war, but she wouldn't stand for a massacre involving innocent civilians. But there was something she wouldn't stand for even more.
This man wasn't that kind of enemy.
His silver magic soaring across the night sky, only to protect his people, had once been a truly beautiful sight to behold. Although this man had been her enemy, she had been captivated by the brilliant way he secured victories, executing the finishing blow with the fewest casualties, and then ordering a retreat with a calm smile on his face… He even looked noble.
When did he become like this?
The emperor suddenly looked up. As Jill rushed towards him, he made a gesture like he was swatting away an insect and shot a blast of condensed magic power towards her. Jill caught it with both arms outstretched, clenching her teeth. She concentrated power into her arms, and just as she shouted with effort, the blast of magic in her arms vanished, popping like a balloon.
At the loud bursting sound, everyone on the earth and in the sky fell completely silent, almost as if they had come to their senses. Even the emperor who had ordered this tragedy stared at her with a surprised look on his face.
She had made him look back. Jill felt such a boost from this that she forgot that she had almost died. "We lost!" she shouted. "I admit it! So, pull your troops out of here!"
The emperor furrowed his beautiful eyebrows slightly. "Why are you giving orders when you're at a disadvantage?"
Jill hoped that she could reason with him. He turned his extraordinarily good-looking face towards her, and Jill stood tall.
"If you really want to torment someone, just torment me. I'll be your prisoner of war—so don't lay a hand on anyone else."
The emperor looked Jill up and down, as if he were observing a living curiosity.
"The god of war's daughter," he muttered, a mocking sneer on his thin lips. "Very admirable. But in the end, you'll be pathetically crying and screaming, 'Why me?'"
"A weak man like you could never make me cry."
"Weak? Me? You have some nerve saying that to the Dragon Emperor. I've had enough. I'm going to kill you, here and now."
"Then are you a stronger man than me?"
The upper corners of the Dragon Emperor's lips lifted, but he failed to smile. He looked Jill directly in the eyes for the first time. Jill thrust the tip of her sword straight at his golden, ferocious eyes.
"How can you truly be stronger than me when you bury your sorrows like this?!" she shouted.
For just a split second, those gold eyes shone, almost meaningfully—but then that light went out. "I've lost interest," the emperor said abruptly in a flat voice. "Troops, pull back!"
Jill, who hadn't thought he would actually pull his troops out, spoke without thinking. "Really…? Hey, answer me! You're really not going to capture me?!"
"What's the fun in capturing a woman with no sexual allure like you?"
Then the Dragon Emperor vanished into thin air like a mirage, leaving behind Jill, dumbstruck.
The only other thing left behind were the vestiges of the emperor's magic power, fluttering around like the flapping wings of butterflies. The Rave imperial soldiers had all vanished too. The battle was over shockingly quick.
Jill's mind, however, could not be calmed. After a beat of silence, she flew into a rage.
"I-I-I have no sexual allure?!"
All of Jill's subordinates tried to pacify her. This battle had been just a few days before Gerald had charged her with a litany of false accusations.
And, maybe, six years in the future.
Well, it doesn't matter if it was yesterday or six years in the future. This is all a dream, after all. It must be a dream…
Jill hoped that when she woke up, she would be alive.
If such a thing were possible, she hoped that she had miraculously gotten caught up in some tree branches or something and had passed out. If her brilliant adjutant was actually safe and had carried her away, all the better.
But the place where Jill was laying now was so warm and soft… She awoke with a jolt. She jumped upright, as if she were waking up in the military barracks.
The large flower that had been adorning her hair fell, and her tied-back hair came undone, spilling down over her shoulders. She opened her clenched hand, but it was smaller than it had been in her memory of the battle. Her legs, buried in a deep crimson down quilt with a gold embroidery design, were short too.
Jill suddenly felt a breeze and climbed down from the bed barefoot. Sunlight was streaming in through a gap in the thick curtains on the window. She stood on her tiptoes and looked outside. It was a familiar courtyard.
"…Is this a castle…guest room?" she wondered aloud.
"Oh, good. You're awake."
The man who entered from the adjoining back room was the man who had just been in her dream.
Hadis Teos Rave—younger than in her dream, but there was no mistaking it. This was the beautiful emperor of the neighboring Rave Empire.
Jill involuntarily clenched both hands into fists. If this was six years earlier, they were not yet at war with the Rave Empire. So right now, he was not an enemy. She knew this, but with the memory of her personal experience with the emperor's devastating power on the battlefield fresh in her mind, she couldn't relax.
Jill was unsure if he knew how she was feeling or not, but Hadis walked up to her with brisk steps and crouched down in front of her.
Silence stretched throughout the room, broken only by the ticking sound of the second hand on the clock. As this extraordinarily good-looking man stared her down, Jill tried very hard to keep her cheeks from twitching, and after a while, Hadis spoke.
"I want you to propose to me again."
"…What?"
"I want to make sure this isn't a dream."
Jill was so stunned that she accidentally let her guard down. But Hadis was staring unwaveringly at her, waiting for her response. As Jill looked back at his determined eyes, for some reason the battle dog that lived in her parent's house sprang to mind.
H-He gives off a very different impression than he did six years in the future…
As Jill fretted over what to do, Hadis furrowed his eyebrows, looking suspicious.
"Why aren't you answering me…? Do you still feel unwell, perhaps?"
"Uh… Erm… Wh-Why am I here…?" she stammered. "M-My memory's a little fuzzy."
"You fainted… I'd better not push you too hard yet. Excuse me."
"Huh?!"
Jill found herself suddenly plucked up and peremptorily carried over to the bed she had just gotten out of.
"You may not be able to sleep, but you should at least lie down." Hadis's movements were full of consideration for her. He carefully lowered her onto the bed. "Or perhaps I should prepare you something light that you can stomach? Oh, and if you're going to stay awake, then wear these. Otherwise, your feet will probably get cold."
Hadis grabbed a pair of indoor shoes that had been placed right by the bed and kneeled beside her. Jill watched in awe. When he grabbed her bare foot to put the shoe on for her, she almost screamed.
This man was an emperor. Even if she were a child, this was going too far.
"Y-Your Majesty! You don't have to do that for me, I can do it myself!"
"You don't have to be so modest. I take the knee before my wife. Stay still… There. All done."
Hadis smiled at her from below, looking content, and Jill felt a jolt run through her whole body, like she had been struck by lightning. A smile from a man of such unparalleled beauty was a devastating attack, and Jill's chest had been pierced. She clutched at it, gritting her teeth.
I-It's true that a man is more than just his looks, but I must admit, I do like his looks… Everything's perfect! And it's not just his face, either. He looks slender, but his posture and his muscles are impeccable. Every part of his body resonates power…! Why is a man like this kneeling for me?!
Jill suddenly came back to her senses. She had proposed to this man, and then… What had happened?
"Um…"
But the sounds of the doors being thrown open interrupted Jill's question. She heard armor clanging around the room, and then armored soldiers lined up on either side of the double doors. The atmosphere was so imposing that Hadis stood up from where he had been kneeling before her.
"It appears he's been waiting for you to wake up, too," he said.
"What…?"
"Jill Cervel! Could you please tell me what this is all about?"
It was Gerald—he stepped into the room without so much as a hello, heading straight towards Jill with a wild gait, perhaps not registering Hadis's presence at all.
"What were you thinking? Running away without even listening to what I—"
"Prince Gerald, it's impolite to accost a young child with questions without any warning," Hadis interrupted from the side.
"My apologies," Gerald replied coldly. "However, this has nothing to do with the Rave Empire. Your guest room should be elsewhere, in any case. Why are you here?"
"When one's fiancée collapses, isn't it natural to get worried and to be by her side?"
"You are not engaged to her. Neither the king nor her parents would approve. Besides, she's engaged to me—this has already been decided in private."
Jill looked up, astonished. She never remembered hearing such a thing, but then the faces of her parents popped into her mind's eye.
I totally forgot about Mom and Dad…
Jill's easygoing parents lacked any political power. Therefore, despite the Cervel family's great accomplishments, they were not wealthy. But if Jill and Gerald's engagement had been decided in private, it would be incredibly difficult for Jill to refuse him. The crown prince would be totally disgraced.
"I don't want you barging into this kingdom's business like you know anything about it, just because you're an emperor," Gerald said, not hiding the venom in his voice. "You're interfering in our internal affairs."
"Interfering in your internal affairs? You're just upset that she turned you down, aren't you?" Hadis smiled faintly.
Gerald looked furious. Jill started to feel uneasy in the room's crackling atmosphere. Gerald was already renowned as a fighter by this time, and he had brought soldiers with him. If anything happened, Hadis would be fighting several people at once, all on his own. Hadis was clearly at a disadvantage, but he looked calm.
"Shouldn't you be focusing on more important things?" Hadis asked Gerald. "You're going to become the king of this kingdom one day."
"I graciously accept your advice. Although, I can't use your skills, cursed emperor, as much of a reference," Gerald spat back, his tone full of annoyance and disdain.
Hadis's fearless smile didn't even twitch. "As long as you understand, that's fine by me. It's foolish to oppose an adversary you cannot win against. You and I are not on the same level."
"Watch it. If you're going to insult me—"
Hadis's gold eyes widened suddenly, as if he had just woken up. The atmosphere completely changed. "Back down."
The gravity in the entire room immediately increased.
Clanging sounds echoed around the room as the soldiers dropped their weapons and fell to their knees, one after the other. They couldn't get to their feet. Some of them had even lost consciousness—maybe they had fainted.
I-It's not magic power. It's just his intimidating presence…!
Hadis's spiritual energy was overwhelming. Even Jill, who wasn't facing the pressure head-on, felt her hair stand on end. Fighting back the desire to jump aside, she looked at Hadis's profile. Gerald was staring at him, still standing, though sweating. Hadis reached out to him.
"I'll leave you to clean up the mess." As Hadis tapped Gerald on the shoulder, the younger man fell onto his backside.
"You're a monster, just like the rumors said…" Gerald said through gritted teeth, but Hadis just smiled calmly. Then the pressure that had prevented Jill from even taking a breath of air suddenly vanished. Jill let out a relieved sigh, and Hadis picked her up.
"I'm sorry for startling you," he said apologetically. "Let's change locations."
Jill nodded, subduing the elation which felt a lot like her heart fluttering.
I knew this guy was strong…!
Catching Jill's searching gaze, Hadis gave her a broad smile. "You seem fine. I knew my judgment was right."
"If I couldn't make it through that, I couldn't survive on the battlefield—" Jill quickly covered her mouth, remembering that she wasn't the god of war's daughter yet, but Hadis didn't seem to mind as he calmly weaved through the heaps of crumpled soldiers out into the hallway.
"However, it seems unlikely that we'll be able to talk leisurely here," Hadis said. "I can't imagine that Prince Gerald would give up after that… Maybe this was inevitable. I read in a book that love and trouble go hand in hand."
"L-Love… Wait, a book?"
"You'll be fine. I won't let him lay a finger on you," said the handsome man.
Jill nodded without thinking. But then it suddenly hit her.
…I'm ten years old right now, aren't I?
And Hadis ought to have been around twenty at this point in time.
How can an adult man with no political motives become engaged to a ten-year-old child, unless he likes little girls…?!
The blood drained from Jill's head at once, and at the same time, the view in front of her changed completely.
"Your magic power doesn't seem to be stable, so we'll travel by boat. I'm glad I brought it, just in case."
"Huh?! What?!"
Jill quickly looked around. The ceiling, which had been high before, was now low. She saw a bed, a small table, and chairs too. The room they were in was not small, but it wasn't exactly large, either. There were distinctive small, round windows, and the wooden floor creaked—no, they were swaying.
They had been transported somewhere. Hadis smiled, leaving Jill stunned.
"We'll be fine. If we fly with magic, we'll enter the territory of the Rave Empire in a few hours."
"WHAT?!"
As Jill shouted, the boat began to sail, almost as if it were gliding over the surface of the water, and out of the round window, she could see the port of her homeland growing smaller in no time at all.
DESPITE Jill's unconventional upbringing, she was still an aristocratic lady. Emergency or not, she couldn't just stay in her nightdress in front of a man forever.
When Jill began fidgeting, Hadis immediately sensed the issue and opened the cabin's wardrobe, showing her its contents. "I thought something like this might happen," he explained. He had prepared all sorts of girls' clothing in Jill's approximate size, from evening gowns to dresses and even riding outfits.
Jill was at a loss for words. Hadis left, telling her she could wear whatever she liked. But that wasn't the problem…
Why did he prepare these?! Did he visit Kratos intending to kidnap a little girl from the beginning…? No, stop thinking about that. It's too terrifying.
Jill also wanted to avoid facing the reality that she might be a kidnapped little girl. She picked out a uniform that resembled riding clothes. It was probably a uniform of a school for soldiers or knights. No matter what was about to happen, her ease of movement would be paramount. The set even included leather shoes, so she borrowed those as well. Luckily, they were the perfect size.
She had, at least, succeeded in escaping Gerald for now. These circumstances were a change for the better—probably.
But whether things would stay that way was a different story.
Gerald was the crown prince of the Kratos Kingdom—he was a serious young man with a strong sense of responsibility. Because of his brilliance, he was already involved in politics, and his reputation alone was even higher than that of the current king. The quickest and easiest way to reject a proposal of marriage from a man like that was being shielded by a man his equal or better.
Therefore, Jill's engagement to Hadis was the greatest shield she could have. She knew this—and once she reached this point in her thoughts, she circled back to her original problem.
What's going on? So, he likes little girls? From one pervert to the next… She shuddered. Just how terrible is my luck with men?! Or maybe all the powerful men on this continent are actually perverts!
And the biggest problem of all was…could Jill love a man like that?
Jill hadn't intended on being incredibly picky and choosey. After all, you can't tell what somebody's like without spending time with them, and even when she had spent a prolonged period of time with a man, she had still been deceived.
"This next challenge might also be too hard for me to overcome…! Is there no salvation for me?!" she cried.
"Is it okay if I come in?" came a voice alongside a knock at the cabin door.
Jill quickly told him he could. Hadis entered, carrying a teapot and teacups he had fetched.
"I brought you a drink infused with medicine to prevent sickness during travel," he explained. "You should have some."
Jill was making the emperor prepare her tea. She snapped back to her senses so quickly at this, it felt as if she had been slapped in the face.
"If it's tea, I'll prepare it for you!" she said loudly.
"That would be dangerous, wouldn't it?"
At that brief question, Jill realized…the table where the tea was going to be brewed came to her neck in height. She couldn't prepare the tea unless she stood on her tiptoes.
"You don't have to worry about me being the emperor," he assured her. "Relax. We're going to be husband and wife, after all."
"Th-That's a little hasty…don't you think…? W-We're not even officially engaged yet," she reminded him.
"It's best to be fully mindful of your circumstances as quickly as possible. Besides, this is a medicinal infusion, it's not so formal as having tea. It's a little bitter, so have some of this to get the bad taste out of your mouth."
With a pop, a small cake appeared out of thin air on top of Hadis's palm. The pure-white whipped cream looked like snow and the surface was covered in strawberries that glittered like jewels.
The cake is shining…! I've never seen anything like it!
Now that Jill thought of it, she hadn't had anything to eat since the party the night before… Her sense of time was a little jarring, but the last time she had eaten was in jail, six years in the future. She pressed a hand over her stomach, which rumbled as if it had remembered itself.
"I really wanted to prepare something a little lighter, but unfortunately, this was all I had," Hadis told her.
"Th-That's more than enough! In fact, it's great! M-M-May I have some?!" she requested, barely restraining her excitement.
"That's why I made it. Dig in."
Jill's appetite had pushed out every other thought. She stuffed her face with a slice of the cake, her eyes shining. The delicate sweetness of the whipped cream mellowed the sourness of the strawberries. The sponge cake was fluffy and bouncy, and when she put it in her mouth, its aroma lingered faintly around her.
It was incredibly delicious.
"Do you like it?" Hadis asked, watching her. Jill simply nodded, speechless from happiness. "I'm glad, then." He took a seat diagonally in front of her.
I'm so glad I'm alive…! Come to think of it, I've never had food from the Rave Empire, have I?
If Jill were to become the wife of the emperor, she could probably eat all the food from the Rave Empire she wanted. Rather unexpectedly, Jill realized that if she had good food, she could ride out this life, even if it was a loveless one.
Just as her heart started to lean towards readily marrying him, a shadow appeared out of the corner of her eye.
"You've got whipped cream on you." Hadis wiped his thumb over the corner of Jill's lips, and then, of all things, licked the whipped cream off his thumb.
Steam nearly burst from Jill's head, but she quickly snapped out of it.
H-He did that so casually with a child… Isn't this moving a little fast?!
This was no time to start getting flustered. Jill gulped, replenishing her body with sugar, and looked up with a fire in her eyes.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty, how serious are you about this engagement?"
Hadis placed his cup on the saucer, blinked several times, and then tilted his head. "I don't understand your question. Could you be more specific?"
"…I'm just ten years old."
"The ideal age." Jill immediately got goosebumps, but Hadis looked satisfied and continued, "You have that much magic power before you even turn fourteen… You're the ideal woman—exactly what I've been looking for."
"...…"
"And you proposed to me. Th-That means you like me, right…?!"
"...…"
"I would have preferred even two or three years younger if I had the time, but…I won't be choosey. That little detail won't upset my perfect happy family plan."
"…I-Is the emperor really a pervert who likes little girls…? I can't believe he's such a fool that he'd take a child's practical joke seriously and then kidnap them…"
As soon as Jill's thoughts unintentionally came spilling out of her mouth, she slapped a hand over it. She was speaking to the emperor. Not even children were allowed to be disrespectful to an emperor. Hadis's kind features shifted, and his expression became rather cold.
"…A practical joke…?" he asked in a crisp voice.
"W-Well, it's…a c-common pastime for nobles, isn't it?!" she replied.
"Does this mean the proposal was a lie?" he questioned, eyes narrowed.
That's the part he cares about?
But then Hadis muttered to himself in a disbelieving and self-deprecating tone, "Impossible. Me, getting tricked by a child… Nonsense…"
Hadis pondered this seriously with a hand on his chin. Then he looked at Jill. "I'm going to make sure, just in case… Was it true?"
"…Um…"
"Was it true or not? Which is it? Please, clarify it for me."
"Well…I do have reasons for doing it, but…! I'm very sorry, Your Majesty, I don't have any feelings for you! The proposal was a lie!"
After a few moments of silence, Hadis slowly slumped in his chair. The next second, he suddenly opened his gold eyes and roared, "…Rave, stop laughing and come out!"
A mist of magic power rose from around Hadis's shoulders. Jill instinctively stood at the ready. In front of her, the silver magic began to take the form of a shining white creature.
…A dragon… No, a snake?
It looked like a snake with wings, to be exact. The creature was very strangely shaped. It peacefully opened its gold eyes and then this creature—with its shining silver, lithe form, overflowing with magic power, so celestial it would bring anyone to their knees—started to laugh.
"BAHAHAHAHA! I told you, didn't I?! I told you there was no way such a convenient story was real! But you got so happy and took it seriously, and then, because you have zero intelligence when it comes to love, you went ahead and—FWAH?!"
Hadis threw the god-like creature on the floor with a whack, stood up from his chair, and took out the sword at his waist and brandished it. "Tonight's dinner will be grilled Dragon God skewers."
"Be a little more considerate!" the creature squeaked. "I was finally able to come out after we crossed the border!"
"And those are your final words?" Hadis asked.
"Yeah, you did great. You probably thought really hard about that amethyst line!" the creature teased.
Hadis turned bright red and tried to stab the creature with his sword, but it evaded him, slithering away like a snake. "That was because you told me to woo her…! You said it was necessary to make sure I didn't let her get away!"
"I mean, it wasn't so bad, right, Missy?" the creature asked Jill. "His face, at least, is a work of art."
Jill watched the scene before her, which lacked any shred of divinity. Then the creature, avoiding being skewered, slithered up Jill's legs. It plopped onto her shoulder and stared at her.
"You can hear me and see me, can't you?" it asked. "And you're not even surprised. You've got guts."
"I-I'm actually pretty surprised…" she admitted.
"Don't be modest!" the creature said with a laugh. "Most people would scream. Or lose their wits or faint…"
"…She could withstand my pressure back there, so that much is obvious," said Hadis. "Most importantly, with that much magic power, an unnatural phenomenon like this is probably an everyday occurrence for her."
The sight of Jill in between him and the creature must have calmed Hadis down, because he sheathed his sword.
"Unnatural phenomenon?! You're treating the Dragon God like he's some unnatural phenomenon?!" the creature said, sounding aghast. "This is why I can't stand humans these days!"
"Excuse me, you're the Dragon God…? The Dragon God Rave?" Jill asked daringly before the conversation could get derailed again.
Hadis scoffed. "By all appearances, he's a snake, but that's what he says."
"Who's a snake?! I'm a dragon! I'm the Dragon God Rave!"
Hadis had a point—he just looked like a snake with wings.
S-So it wasn't a fairy tale…? That legend…
The legend spoke of how the continent of Platy was created from the battle between the Goddess of love and the earth, Kratos, and the Dragon God of logic and the sky, Rave. It was said that some of the gods' powers were bestowed upon the Kratos royal family and the Rave imperial family. Children of both countries grew up listening to lullabies about their thousand-year conflict, often involving humans, from their myths to the founding of the nations.
The Kratos Kingdom was a powerful nation with magic, which was under the divine protection of the Goddess. Naturally, most of its citizens possessed magic power to some degree, and many of them possessed powerful magic. However, not many people in the Rave Empire were born with magic power. Instead, dragons were born there—creatures that did not exist in Kratos.
There were other small differences, such as variations in the lands' respective crops, so it wasn't as if Jill had thought the legend and the existence of the gods had been a total lie. But it had been a thousand years since the founding of the nations. She didn't think the gods still existed.
Rave circled around Jill's collarbone and then climbed onto the top of her head. "She can see me, talk to me… Hmm… She ticks all the boxes, huh? Her age is… Hadis, you're nineteen, right? What about this girl?"
"She's ten years old. It's a difference of nine years, which isn't uncommon. That's a generally accepted age difference."
"What?!" Jill shouted instinctively.
Hadis, who had his arms crossed, looked back at her and frowned. "It is accepted. My mother married my father when she was sixteen, and he was forty."
"B-But I'm just ten…! Wh-What about the problem of an heir?!" Jill pointed out.
"…An heir," Hadis repeated, carefully considering the words. Suddenly, his cheeks flushed pink. "I-I don't know if we should be talking about having children when we've just met…!"
Hadis looked angry, but the way his eyes raced around the room screamed of his innocence. He was reacting as if he were a young woman being dragged off into her marital chambers for the first time, and it made Jill want to perish right then and there. But then he launched into an explanation with wild gestures, as if his life depended on it.
"Th-The process of things is very important for that kind of stuff! It was written that we need to do things like talk more, have tea together, and exchange letters to take the time to get to know each other!"
"Um, excuse me, is it just me, or do his looks not exactly match his personality?" Jill asked Rave.
"Hmm… I knew just making him read that book would skew his perspective!" Rave giggled and stuck his tongue out. So, the Dragon God had been the one responsible for making him this way.
Just as Jill felt the urge to bury her head in her hands, Hadis's gaze suddenly fell. "My looks and personality are different…? You're saying you're disappointed by me?"
"What?"
"…So, your proposal really was a lie."
His voice, so full of grief, pricked at Jill's conscience. But she couldn't let herself be overcome by it, either. She answered nervously. "It's not something most people would take so seriously… I-I mean, look at me. I'm just a kid."
"You're right… I mean, I knew… There was no way a girl under fourteen with unusual magic power and who liked a cursed emperor like me could show up so conveniently… So I was deceived, after all… I'm always like this…"
His melancholy eyes trembled and darkened, the gold swimming with tears that threatened to spill over. An overwhelming sense of guilt surged up inside Jill.
"Yep," Rave muttered on top of Jill's head. "You made him sad. This is all because you proposed to him so carelessly, Missy. You ought to accept responsibility for this!"
"Th-This is my fault?!" she cried.
"Of course! This man is very frail, both physically and mentally."
"Don't blame her, Rave. This is my fault. Taking a ten-year-old's proposal seriously… I've got to be out of my mind. No matter how much I tried to put on a tough front, I always knew I'd never get that kind of happiness…" Hadis continued to speak self-deprecatingly, his hands on the table and his gold eyes filled with anguish. "I really got excited… No one had ever said that they'd spend the rest of their life making me happy before…"
Jill had said that. She had told him that.
"No… It's fine," he continued sadly. "You let me live in a pleasant dream, if only for a little while. That's how I'll think of it."
"…I mean… I'm a kid, you know, so I acted childish and behaved carelessly…" Jill mumbled.
"One day, I will repay this debt in some way. I won't forget your name." Hadis smiled, his eyes slightly unfocused. "The bordering territory of Cervel, right? I'll never forget…never."
"What do you mean by that?!" Jill asked, a little scared.
"That's not important right now, is it? I'll get you back home to Kratos," he told her.
There was no way Jill had imagined the dangerous flash she saw in his gold eyes. Unless she did something, the Rave Empire would be keeping an eye on her family's territory. She also remembered something very important.
If Jill were to agree to this and go back to Kratos, Gerald would be the one waiting for her.
"But I was truly happy," Hadis continued. Jill looked up with a start. Hadis was smiling, his eyes shockingly calm. "Thank you."
Jill wondered if Gerald had been this happy when she had agreed to marry him. Would she ever meet someone this happy with her in the future?
Y-You resolved to accept responsibility for this before you proposed to him, didn't you, Jill Cervel…?!
No matter how many excuses Jill came up with, she could not betray herself. Worst of all, she had proposed to this man to use him, and now, when she didn't need him anymore, she was throwing him away… Wasn't that the same thing Gerald had done to her?
This emperor wasn't bad. He possibly wasn't bad. He definitely wasn't bad. He probably wasn't bad.
"Kill every last one of them," an older, more bitter version of his voice echoed in her mind.
Th-That was six years in the future…! she told herself. He seems sensible right now, so there's still time. So, what if he likes little girls and is going to turn to the dark side? Unlike a certain sister-lover I know, his proclivities are still just a suspicion of mine. Love is war too! A part of me feels like I should devise a plan to rehabilitate him and launch my attack to conquer him, but another part of me feels like I shouldn't…!
"You should take the rest of the cake home as a souvenir," Hadis told her with a sad smile.
All right—he's a good man!
"I take back what I said! If you'll have me, please marry me, Your Majesty!"
Hadis dropped the cup he had been holding with a clatter. "What…? Wh-Why are you saying that again?"
"I'm sorry if I made you worried. Is it too late to take it back?"
"But you weren't serious, right?" asked Hadis, totally bewildered.
Jill looked up at him sharply. "You should take me seriously from now on. I'm as serious as the effort you put into this cake!"
"S-Stop this. You're trying to mislead me again." He shook his head.
"My word is my bond!" said Jill with her chest puffed out.
Hadis's eyes widened.
"Believe me," she insisted. "I am absolutely going to rehabili—I mean, make you happy. For the rest of my life!"
"S-So you'll finally do it? You'll become my wife…?" Hadis asked. "Rave, did you hear that?!"
"Yep, I'm listening, I'm listening. You and this lady are both a bit strange, eh? How nice. What's the phrase that describes this… 'Every Jack has his Jill'?"
"But, um, since I'm still so young, could we not have a relationship of love or romance for a while and just be a married couple in name only— Eep?!"
Hadis had suddenly swept her up, spun her around, and hugged her closely. "In name only is fine. Thank you. I'll cherish you, my amethyst."
Jill could tell by his voice that Hadis was truly, genuinely happy, and her cheeks flushed with heat. But Hadis immediately gasped and put her down. "I-I'm sorry. I just got so happy, I got carried away. Our relationship only just reached the tea-drinking stage."
Jill felt slightly weak when a man with such sharp features said those words to her. He's a weird guy… But then again, he said a marriage in name only would be fine… She suddenly felt calm again.
Hadis took her hand. "To be honest with you, I don't know anything about love or romance, but I can show you that I'm serious."
Jill looked up just in time to see his lips lower onto her hand. She jumped back with a squeal, but then she looked at her left ring finger, which had just been kissed, in amazement. It was glittering. A small halo was gently floating above it, made of incredibly pure magic power.
"Rave, bless my wife."
"Righto!"
Rave circled above Jill's head. Glittering beads of light rained down over her—and then, the halo above her left ring finger smoothly slid onto it and transformed into a gold ring.
"What's this…?" she asked.
"The woman who will one day become the true consort of the Dragon Emperor receives this blessing from the Dragon God—the Dragon Consort's ring. It's also a mark."
The ring was the same shade of unclouded gold as Hadis's eyes. Jill tried to remove the ring to look at it, but she realized it wouldn't come off.
"Um… It's not coming off…"
"If it could come off that easily, it would be useless as a mark, wouldn't it?" Hadis said. "Until we have our wedding ceremony, you'll be my fiancée to everyone else, but as long as you have that ring, you'll be my wife from here on out, no matter what. I'll protect you to the end."
It didn't sound like Hadis was lying. Jill looked at the ring with mixed feelings.
A mark, huh…? If it's harmless, then it's fine. So, this means he's serious… But this time, I'll be careful, Jill quietly resolved deep in her heart.
Hadis would sometimes break out into a callous smile out of nowhere. Although he had said the proposal made him happy, he had also said that he would be fine with a relationship in name only—that he would cherish Jill and protect her. And with that same mouth, he had said that he didn't know anything about love or romance. He was candid, but not sincere.
There was no way this man was in love with Jill.
Love makes you blind. Jill knew that painfully well. In which case, she wasn't going to fall for him until she made sure that he was the right man to be her next pick.
At the very least, there's no way I'm going to fall in love before he does.
That was the only strategy Jill decided to follow. This was her learning from her life-ending mistakes. This time, no one was going to take advantage of her love. This time, she wasn't going to make any mistakes.
Just as Jill pressed her lips together into a line and brushed a finger against her gold ring, an explosion roared from overhead.
"What the—?"
But it wasn't just one explosion. A second, and then a third blast rang out. The ship rocked from side to side, creaking loudly, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
"Is this…a-an attack?!" she asked. "It can't be…"
Could the people from her hometown have caught wind that Jill had been abducted and scrambled to pursue them? Rave, however, having moved from Jill's head to Hadis's shoulder, offered a different perspective: "Attacking us the moment we enter the Rave Empire? Has someone planted a detection device on the ship?"
"Y-You mean it's an attack from your own people?" she asked. "Don't tell me it's the Crown Prince Vissel faction…"
It was common knowledge, even in Kratos, that a political conflict had been unfolding in the Rave Empire between two factions—Emperor Hadis's supporters and supporters of his older brother, Crown Prince Vissel.
But Hadis's answer was not one Jill had expected.
"My brother wouldn't do something like this… Speculating about it is a waste of time. Let's go take a look," he proposed, sounding as if he were suggesting they go on a stroll.
But just as Jill heard those words, the entire scene in front of her changed. She could see the sky and the deep blue horizon of the ocean. They were on the deck of the ship.
The sun, making its climb into the sky, was dazzling. It was an ordinary, peaceful sky, but Jill sensed magic power on the other side of the horizon.
One, two, three… There's not a lot of people, but…
Jill closed her eyes and searched with her senses. If the attackers were approaching them, they were probably close enough that she could observe them with her magic. As she searched above the water, she spotted several shadows. They had their backs to the morning sun and were heading directly towards them—a group of people wearing head covering that were like masks, concealing their heads down to their mouths, and wearing grimy, moss-colored protective clothing. The outfits were ones hired mercenaries would wear. These weren't ordinary armed forces.
But the fact that these people were soaring through the air on dragons meant that they were probably from the Rave Empire. They were also flying in a neat, tight formation.
They're skilled, but it doesn't look like they have enough magic power to be able to fly on their own.
They would probably reach the ship in just a few minutes. They could surely sink this ship—nothing more than a massive target—with ease.
"Um, shouldn't we return fire?" Jill asked Hadis, who was holding her in his arms. "How many people are on this ship—Your Majesty?!"
All of a sudden, Hadis fell to one knee. He quickly put her down and covered his mouth. His complexion had changed dramatically.
"Damn it… What came over me…?!" he cursed.
"Wh-What's wrong?" Jill asked. "Oh no! Did they attack you in some way—"
"I was careless and exposed myself to sunlight."
Jill's mouth opened, her voice dying in her throat. Hadis fell to both knees and continued in a gravely serious voice, "And I forgot I didn't get enough sleep last night…!"
"Ah, yes, now that you mention it, you didn't take your medicine on time yesterday either," Rave added.
"What? Listen, stop joking around."
Then, just as Jill was about to scold him, Hadis spewed blood from his mouth.
Jill froze in shock. Hadis sunk into the puddle of his own blood in front of her. His fingers were shaking. "This is as far as I go… Rave, take the girl to the harbor."
"Righto."
"What?" asked Jill.
"It's okay, you don't have to worry about me. I'm a monster, so leave me here… I just need to sleep and recover my strength…"
"What?" she repeated.
Hadis closed his eyes, looking like he was drawing his last breath. With a strange thud sound, the ship stopped moving.
"Huh…? WHAAAT?! H-Hold on! What do you mean?!" asked Jill, grabbing Hadis's lapels without thinking and screaming in his face. "Wake up! The enemy is coming! What are you going to do?! And shouldn't you have teleported us from the cabin to shore, not to the deck?! Was this ship running on your magic power?! Is there really no one else on board?! You said you'd cherish me and protect me! How do you explain this mess?!"
"That was an impressive verbal barrage," said Rave.
"I can't help it!" she snapped at him.
But no matter how much Jill shook Hadis, he still looked like a corpse—his face was pale, and his eyes never opened. And even though the ship had stopped, no one else had appeared on deck. The blood drained from Jill's face at the eerie stillness.
She was out at sea on a boat that wasn't moving with a completely useless emperor and a Dragon God that looked like a snake. It couldn't get any worse.
What's wrong with me?! I can't believe I didn't get any information out of him…!
Both Rave and Hadis had suggested that the attack had been committed by their own people. That meant that this had to do with the Rave Empire's political conflict. Jill was sure there would have been a way to avoid this conflict if she had been able to get information out of Hadis, but she had been so focused on him liking little girls and cake and relationship strategies, she had fumbled that opportunity.
"Ah, for the sake of Hadis's honor, I will explain," said Rave. "The reason why he chose to take a ship instead of teleporting was because your magic power isn't stable."
"…He said that to me before too, but I don't understand what that means."
"You could also call it your soul. Miss, is that your true form?"
Jill twitched in surprise. Rave stretched out his spine and met Jill's gaze.
"Both your magic power and your soul are gradually taking hold inside that body. Unless something unexpected happens, everything should be fine. But during this unstable time, doing something like teleporting you long distances might make your soul split from your body."
"So then the emperor didn't teleport for my sake, at his own peril…" she muttered.
"No, this is because he's an idiot who doesn't take care of himself. He was so excited after you proposed to him yesterday, he didn't get a wink of sleep."
I see… He was really that happy? I don't know whether I should feel pleased or exasperated…
"His body's weak," Rave continued. "The magic power of the Dragon God isn't something that can be contained in a human vessel."
"…Do you take on another form like that to disperse some of the magic power?" Jill asked.
"Hmm, well, it's for a lot of reasons. Anyway, we'll talk about it later. I'll teleport you myself. But who should I leave you with…? This guy's got enemies around every corner."
"Please, wait! If I leave, what's going to happen to the emperor?" she asked.
"He told you himself, didn't he? If we just leave him here like this, he'll be fine." These words made Jill question her sanity. She looked back at Rave's tiny eyes. "He'll operate on his defensive instincts. It'll all end in a blazing inferno… He and I are monsters, after all."
That was a label Jill was very familiar with.
She had been the god of war's daughter, so she had always been fine. She had been the god of war's daughter, so they had been able to rely on her. But Jill knew—she knew that behind her back, people had called her a monster.
And she knew that as the god of war's daughter (synonymous with "monster"), they had used Jill as much as they possibly could.
"…I'm going to do something," she announced.
"Huh?"
Clenching her hands into fists, Jill got to her feet on the deck of the ship. It was probably too optimistic to think that she could wield the same amount of magic power in this body that she could in her sixteen-year-old body. She wasn't even sure whether she could move her body the way she wanted.
But the emperor tried to help me.
Wasn't that enough of a reason to help him and have faith in him here and now?
She propped Hadis up, leaned him against the iron railing, and tied him there with some rope so that he wouldn't get thrown off the ship. Halfway through her work, Hadis suddenly opened his eyes.
"…Why are you still here? Rave, what are you…?"
"It seems that she intends to help you, Hadis."
"Don't worry," said Jill. "I'll protect you."
Hadis blinked in mute surprise. His clear gold eyes were perfect circles, which was quite gratifying for Jill to see. It reminded her of how proud she had felt when she had made those eyes turn to look at her that night he had ordered the massacre.
It feels good to have those on me and me alone.
She looked at both eyes in turn and reiterated her promise. "I told you I'd make you happy, didn't I?"
With a thud, Jill kicked off the deck. Floating lightly in the air, she headed towards the stern of the ship. They had been heading towards the Rave Empire, so Jill assumed they were still pointing in the right direction.
Teleportation was magic that distorted time. Magic that moved time—that stopped it, reversed it, or advanced it—was closer to the handiwork of the gods. Most normal people, therefore, weren't capable of using those spells.
But…
Jill prepared herself for the worst and took a deep breath. She lifted the stern of the ship. If was lighter than she had expected. If it was this light, she could probably make it work with the same senses she had at sixteen years old.
"Ready, and…!"
With both hands, Jill hurled the ship as if she were throwing a ball. The ship sailed across the sky, faster and higher than a bird flying across the sea, cutting through the ocean breeze. She was worried about Hadis slipping off the deck, but she could see that he was still secured to the iron railing with rope. The moment she let out a sigh of relief, an arrow grazed her cheek.
She immediately turned around and instinctively reached for her sword at her waist, but there wasn't one there. She clicked her tongue.
Bare hands, huh? Oh well.
A bullet came flying straight for her. She grabbed it out of the air with a magic-coated hand and crushed it. Jill was familiar with the smell of battle. She was totally undaunted by it. It's what made her who she was.
"Now, are you a stronger man than me?"
This was the phrase typically uttered by the god of war's daughter as she soared out onto the battlefield. Smiling fearlessly, Jill charged headfirst into a hailstorm of arrows.
MAGIC sparkled in the midday sky.
Leaning his back against the iron railing, Hadis watched it in a daze.
"Heh heh! Looking sharp, Dragon Emperor. What kind of game involves binding with rope? She wasted no time in putting on the pants in this relationship!"
"…Rave. Could it be that I'm being protected right now?"
"Aren't you?"
"…I can't believe it… My chest hurts…"
"Dying from a few flutters of the heart would be way too idiotic of you. The game's just getting started, after all."
I know that. That's why I want my heart to stop throbbing, but it won't stop. What's wrong with me? Hadis wondered.
Jill soared through the air, dropping his enemies into the ocean. The image of her fighting was beautiful—it was priceless.
"…I'm doomed. It's probably hopeless, I mean… A girl like that…"
"You just get overemotional when you're not feeling well… Hang in there. Don't lose to yourself."
"But Rave… I feel hot all over… I feel light-headed and dizzy…"
"Wait, are you being serious? Stop! That's Hell! What's the Dragon Consort for, then?!"
"Hell… You're right, it is Hell… I can't believe my chest hurts this much…"
Hadis could see the back of a refined woman superimposed onto the child's back. Was that the girl's true form?
No—that didn't matter. Child or not, as long as it was her, that was enough.
In short…Hadis just couldn't help but feel dazzled at the sight of her, looking like a goddess of justice running out onto the battlefield.
"This is definitely seasickness…" Hadis said.
"That's what it is?!"
Hadis was going to cherish her. This girl would be the Dragon Emperor's consort.
Because the poor girl was his lure who would die unless he protected her till the end.
THE ship, gliding on the surface of the water, finally reached the naval port and looked like it was going to crash into it. Jill landed beside Hadis under the cover of the splash and screams and then shouted: "His Majesty the Emperor is on this ship! He was attacked by someone and escaped! Hurry and get His Majesty to a treatment room!"
A soldier timidly approached, but then quickly ran off to call for backup. Because Jill had used Hadis's title—His Majesty the Emperor—news of the disturbance spread quickly, and people started coming aboard the ship.
"Th-This is His Majesty the Emperor? Then…why is he tied up…?!"
"This must be the work of an enemy!"
"Who in the world are you?!"
"She's the woman…who will be…my wife…" Hadis answered, pausing to gasp for air.
Chatter broke out around them.
"Don't be impolite to…my fiancée…my Lady of Amethyst…"
Is he still carrying on with that?
But just as that thought formed in Jill's mind, Hadis fainted and was loaded onto a stretcher.
"Ah, with the seasickness, lack of sleep, and the way he's been neglecting his health, he's going to be out for a while," said Rave from above the hustle and bustle of people on deck. Using his tiny wings, Rave flew over and landed on Jill's shoulder. She opened her mouth, but he cut her off in warning. "They'll think you're a crazy girl who talks to herself."
Jill looked forward to avoid looking him in the eye and spoke imperceptibly. "It's true, then, that no one else can see you…? What about your voice?"
"They can't hear me, and they probably can't feel me, either. If I were in my true form, though, it would probably be a different story. But then again, if you can see and hear something so easily, you lose a sense of appreciation for it. I'm still the Dragon God!"
"Are you sure you don't want to stay with the emperor?" she whispered.
"I can't stay away for too long, but he'll be fine for a few hours. Thanks for saving that idiot."
"I just did what was right."
Rave whistled. "That's incredible! Cool as ice! I like you, including the fact that you don't seem like a kid. It took Hadis a long, long time to find his consort, so I'll help you for a while, Missy. If you're that idiot's consort, that means you're my consort too, after all!"
Is that how it's going to be?
"Right," Jill replied listlessly.
"Do you know where we are?"
Jill pulled up a map in her mind's eye.
The continent of Platy was divided in two, split between the Kratos Kingdom and the Rave Empire. The continent was shaped like a butterfly's outstretched wings, with the sacred Rakia Mountains in the middle dividing the east and west. Jill thought about them crossing the sea from the royal capital in the Kratos Kingdom to the west and arriving at the Rave Empire in the east.
"A place with a harbor that can be used when leaving or arriving from the Kratos Kingdom… The floating city of Beilburg?" she guessed.
"Oh, correct! How do you know this place?" Rave asked.
"I've known about it for a while. The murder-suicide of Beilburg—" Jill stopped herself mid-sentence. That hadn't happened yet.
This floating city would go up in flames and vanish. It would ignite the wrath of the young Emperor Hadis. Jill suddenly stopped walking on the deck. Rave looked up at her, but she shook her head.
"Never mind, it's nothing… Um, what significance does this place have for the emperor?"
"That's just the thing, you see. Hadis said you were his fiancée back there, remember? That might cause a bit of trouble."
Just as Jill was going to follow up with a question, she heard a shrill voice at the end of the pier where they would be getting off the boat.
"Is Hadis safe?!"
"P-Please calm down, Lady Sphere… We're currently checking on that ourselves."
Wondering what all the fuss was about, Jill walked off the gangplank and finally set foot on shore. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pier, the young woman continued to hound the soldier.
Jill could tell just from the look of her that she was the daughter of a noble family. The well-tailored silk dress she wore nicely suited her lovely, still somewhat girlish, facial features. Her hair, which had some gold to it, looked soft and fluffy. Jill thought the girl resembled cotton candy.
"Where is he now? Please, let me talk to Hadis…!"
"I-I know you want to, but I'm no better than a foot soldier, so I can't just… Why don't you talk to your father, Marquess Beil, about it?"
"But—but—I just heard he returned from Kratos with a little girl… I don't know what to do…!"
The woman, her eyes shimmering with anxious tears, caught sight of Jill in her peripheral vision.
Jill came to a halt, unsure how to respond. Rave whispered in her ear: "That girl is one of your rivals in love, Missy. Her name's Sphere, and she's the daughter of the lord who governs this entire region, including this town. The daughter of a marquess…and one of Hadis' fiancée candidates."
"What…?!" Jill exclaimed.
"I-I can't believe it… You're the child Hadis returned with?!"
Trembling, Jill's head shot up, and she saw Sphere walking up to her. The grim yet brave expression on her face, however, had crumpled into sadness.
"S-Such a little girl…! This is so typical of Hadis!"
Isn't it? Jill thought, her cheek twitching.
But Sphere was very serious. She clutched her handkerchief and screamed with all her might: "I-I'm not going to give you Hadis! You…you little homewrecker!"
With that being perhaps the best insult Sphere could come up with, she burst into tears and turned on her heel with a little too much force, falling flat onto the ground with a slam.
"...…"
"D-Don't you forget! I-I won't lose…!" she shrieked.
But what was Jill not supposed to forget? Sphere hadn't done or said anything yet. But then Sphere, her face red, ran off at an incredible speed. She was running away, probably.
Standing there in a stunned daze, Jill muttered: "…A rival in love?"
"Yes, a rival in love. Don't go teasing her too much!"
Jill hoped the Dragon God wasn't going to give a ten-year-old child the tall order of understanding the finer points of men and women just because he was the Dragon God.
But picking me over such a lovely woman…. It's that bad, huh? I knew it.
Jill felt like the road to his rehabilitation was going to be quite a difficult one. She sighed, and a gust of wind blew over her feet.