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The Tale of the Wizrain Kingdom

The Dragon Girl is in the Castle

Translated by: S3

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

In the past, there was a dragon in this country.

The dragon possessed scales like glass, carried a Hero on its back to protect the country, and flew endlessly high in the sky.

People loved the dragon, and even after she left the country, they passed down her name. For they longed for the day when the dragon would return. A long, long time passed, and then—

***

「Apparently, there's a rumor spreading in town lately that the reincarnation of Elnalfia is living in the castle.」

The one speaking with amusement was a handsome man with blonde hair. He had a glittering face and the appearance of a prince, but in reality, he was the King of this country—the Kingdom of Wizrain—and possessed extraordinary brute strength. Because he had a very, very long real name, the citizens called him Vaid, the name of the deceased Hero, and those close to him called him Cross.

The moment Elna heard Cross's words, spoken casually as he looked up from the documents in his hands, she nearly spat out the tea in her mouth.

「Cough, cough, cough, wh-what...?」

「Hmm? Were you that surprised?」

「No, it's not that, this tea is incredibly bitter!」

As she desperately covered her mouth with teary eyes, the Hamster Spirit sitting on her head worriedly patted Elna's apricot-colored hair with its small hands, going ham-ham. Being called to the office like this at tea time had gradually become routine, and now it was Elna's role to bring the sweets and tea Cross would snack on.

Usually, Cross would somehow end up stuffing sweets into his mouth, but just for today, because Elna had been looking at the contents of Cross's cup with a curious expression, he asked, 「Do you want to try it?」 and she had nodded eagerly.

...The strange drink, like black soup, was bitter beyond belief.

Seeing Elna grimacing and pushing the cup away with both hands, Cross shook his shoulders, chuckling. Gradually, she started to feel suspicious.

「...Was this really a drink?」

「It is definitely a drink. Though not tea.」

Saying so, Cross placed a finger on the handle of his cup and elegantly lifted it to enjoy the aroma. Seeing this, Elna frowned and brought the cup close again. Then she immediately shook her head violently and distanced herself. The Hamster Spirit, who sniffed it with her, twitched the tip of its pink nose and froze with its mouth wide open.

Let's not touch things we're not used to, she decided, placing the cup on a table at the edge of the room.

「So, what does it mean that there's a rumor about Elnalfia's reincarnation being here?」

Asking herself, she could vaguely imagine the cause.

—The origin was the commotion caused by Elna's stepsister, Laura.

Laura claimed in front of many people that she was the reincarnation of Elnalfia, the guardian dragon of the Kingdom of Wizrain. But the truth was different. The girl who was the dragon's reincarnation was not Laura, but Elna.

Laura's lie was immediately seen through by Cross, but Laura clutched the proof of being the dragon's reincarnation—a Dragon Scale—which she had stolen from Elna. Laura and her family were charged with crimes and secretly transferred to an appropriate place, but the fact that Laura possessed a Dragon Scale remained unchanged.

Even if it wasn't known that Elna was the dragon's reincarnation, the ripples Laura caused were quietly spreading. That's why she could have imagined rumors in town, but.

「...Setting aside the reincarnation part, saying she's living in the castle is quite specific, isn't it?」

If the rumor pointed to Laura, it was true she had stayed at the castle for a period, so it wasn't wrong. But her stay wasn't that long, and ostensibly she had returned to her territory with her parents, so it felt strange.

Seeing Elna tilt her head, Cross made a childlike smile. Since Cross occasionally made faces like this, Elna instinctively bit her lip and looked away slightly.

「I thought it was odd too, so I investigated... but there seems to be no need to worry that much.」

「What do you mean?」

「It seems the wish that it would be nice if it were so just changed part of the rumor.」

She wondered if information about her had leaked from somewhere... but the circumstances seemed different. When she furrowed her brows, unable to grasp the meaning of his words, Cross, still with an amused look, twirled his slender but much larger finger in the air.

「It appears that the reincarnation of Lady Elnalfia has come to the castle.」

Perhaps speaking for the people, his tone was flatter than usual. 「However, we don't know who it is.」 Twirl, his finger spun again. 「But if the reincarnation has come, surely she must be near us. No, we want her to be.」 The finger was still moving. 「Then where is she? —Of course, there is only one place.」 His finger stopped, pointing at the ceiling.

「Surely, Lady Elnalfia must be in the castle right now.」

After a long pause, Elna murmured, 「...I see.」

It was a feeling she couldn't quite describe.

「Elna. You are loved, aren't you?」

And yet, Cross accurately verbalized the feelings deep in Elna's heart.

「Stop it,」 she said in a cold voice, knowing full well that it was partly because she felt shy.

「Of course, by me as well.」

「I-I said stop it!」

At his smoothly added words, she shouted, her cheeks turning as red as her hair. Lately, it was always like this.

Elna had decided to become Cross's wife. When she made that decision, they both had hopeless expressions, and she felt like she might have had a slight upper hand. Yet, before she knew it, they had returned to their usual relationship, and she was teased by Cross every day.

Honestly, she felt a bit dissatisfied, but she also thought it couldn't be helped. After all, she thought for a moment.

「Well, there's probably no need to be overly anxious about this rumor, but even if it's a coincidence, they've guessed the truth. It wouldn't hurt to keep it in mind.」

「Yeah...」

Looking away, she saw the strange drink from earlier still sitting on the edge of the table. It was so bitter she almost spat it out, but she was glad she managed to hold it in... Elna's chest tightened painfully whenever she was in front of Cross.

She couldn't show Cross such a side of herself, she thought, feeling embarrassed that it welled up from deep in her heart, but she didn't dislike that part of herself. Rather, she cooled her surprisingly hot neck with her palms, thinking even further.

But perhaps because Elna wielded fire magic, her body temperature was higher than others, so it was completely meaningless.

Cross frowned at Elna, who was moving suspiciously and flapping about oddly, and asked, 「Is something wrong?」 Even though it seemed like he could see through everything about Elna, it seemed difficult even for Cross to consider Elna's wildly changing emotions. That made her feel even more embarrassed.

Cross stood up abruptly from his chair. 「Really, is something wrong?」 he said, walking briskly around the desk toward Elna. 「It's nothing, it's nothing,」 Elna repeated in a voice that sounded like she was saying it's everything, and finally, he was close enough to look down on her. Ah, she thought.

His beautiful golden eyes, shining brightly, stared straight at her. Cross's large palm slowly but firmly grasped Elna's wrist. She was pulled gently, drawing closer. Unconsciously, Elna tilted her face up. Then she softly closed her eyes. She felt Cross move smoothly. Tense at the slight sound of fabric rustling, Elna closed her eyelids even tighter. —And just when she had steeled herself.

Suddenly, a presence of magic flew into the room. She hurriedly opened her eyes and looked around. She intended to move to protect Cross, but for some reason, she ended up being the one protected, which was frustrating, but this wasn't the time to think about that. As Elna deepened the blue of her eyes to search for the magic's presence, she noticed a single white dove on the table that hadn't been there before, flapping its wings. And the moment the dove flapped its wings once more, poof, it transformed into a piece of paper as if untying itself.

「Message magic, huh.」

「...Message, magic?」

「It's a type of wind spirit art. A technique created relatively recently.」

Answering Elna, who repeated the unfamiliar term, Cross gently reached for the paper placed on the table. It probably contained some kind of written message. She could see Cross's gaze sliding over the characters.

Just like the relics of the past that were now called ancient artifacts, people created new technologies over long periods of time, Elna thought deeply, recalling a nostalgic figure in her memory, when she suddenly gasped. And trembled. Until just a moment ago, she had been incredibly... accepting.

She wouldn't say what. But she was accepting it. Taking advantage of the fact that she wasn't in Cross's field of view as he looked at the paper, she covered her face with both hands and shook.

(K-Kissing Cross isn't exactly a first for me, but still!)

Even though she said she wouldn't say it, the back of her ears grew even hotter at the word she had clearly thought of.

(It feels wrong to just let it happen like this without thinking! Good! I'm glad it stopped!)

Elna breathed a sigh of heartfelt relief, but the one most relieved at that moment was probably the Hamster Spirit, who had frozen helplessly on top of Elna's head.

G-Gonsu... it let out a sad sound, thinking it should hide in her pocket whenever Elna met Cross... something Elna didn't know.

「I see.」

It didn't take long for Cross to say that and look up from the paper delivered by message magic. But it was enough time for Elna and the Hamster Spirit to recover from their agitation, and Elna looked up at Cross with a nonchalant expression.

「A message means a letter from someone? Like a personal letter?」

Thinking about it, this was the office Cross usually used. The Kingdom of Wizrain was protected by a barrier that was an ancient artifact, and all rooms, especially those used by the King, including his private chambers, were strictly guarded. The fact that it arrived through that defense meant it was likely from someone who was originally authorized.

「A letter... well, yes. It's a letter.」

With the warm sunlight from the window at his back, Cross glanced at Elna's voice. Then he raised the corner of his mouth somewhat meaningfully, but it was a strangely unbalanced sight, and she couldn't quite tell what he was thinking.

「...From whom?」

So she inadvertently asked. Afterward, she denied it, saying, 「Ah, no. Never mind.」 She thought it was boorish to pry into someone's letter, and besides, Cross was the King of this country. There must be plenty of confidential matters he couldn't tell Elna... or so she thought when she reconsidered.

「If you're curious, you may read it.」

Since he replied so casually, her arms, which she had unknowingly crossed, uncrossed.

Half anti-climactic, half curiosity.

「Is it okay for me to see?」

「Mhm.」

Here, Elna should have noticed. That Cross's mouth was curling in a strangely mischievous way.

Cross's past life, Vaid—the Hero who created this country—was actually a mischievous man. Elnalfia used to get headaches over it, but even with her past memories, Elna, currently just a sixteen-year-old girl, easily took the letter and read its contents.

And slowly, she lost her expression. Just like dropping her emotions one by one.