26 - Chapter 26
“Then why did the Princess send an invitation in my name?”
“……Perhaps it’s because I rejected the political marriage proposal.”
“What? Political marriage?”
Elkai looked dumbfounded.
“The Third Princess to you?”
“Yes.”
Edenber replied calmly, lowering his gaze. It was a sign that he didn't want to talk about it further.
“Seeing her send something like this, it seems her intentions haven’t waned.”
Elkai frowned and clicked his tongue. Tsk, this has become troublesome.
Iokaste was famous for her violent personality.
Despite being known as the most beautiful among the Princesses, she rarely received party invitations because of it.
‘If it becomes known that Edenber received a marriage proposal from the Princess, his own marriage prospects won’t be smooth either.’
Everyone would be wary of incurring the Third Princess's wrath.
In fact, even now, he was considered quite late to be without a betrothed among the high-ranking nobles.
He had planned to find someone slowly once the Divine Beast appeared and the family stabilized, but he never expected something like this to happen.
Edenber, sensing Elkai's worried expression, cut him off firmly.
“You don’t have to worry. I already have someone promised in marriage.”
At those words, Ashil covered its mouth with its front paws. Oh my. To think he would say it so confidently!
Meanwhile, Elkai, not seeing Ashil's reaction, stopped the hand that was reaching for his teacup.
His expression was filled with bewilderment and surprise.
“Ma-marriage? To whom?”
“I haven’t been able to draw up the contract yet, so I’ll tell you after everything is settled.”
“……A contract, you say? Just who is it? Tell me which family they’re from.”
Elkai’s hand reached for the sword at his waist.
“I’ll go and see them.”
“Pii……”
He’s going to go and kill them, isn’t he?
Ashil, frightened, slowly moved away from Elkai.
Then, startled by Elkai's following words, it jumped up from its chair.
“Don’t you think it’s outrageous? A marriage contract, indeed. Marriage is difficult enough even when people like each other, but a contract?!”
“……Pii, ppiya ppi. Ppiya. Ppiyaa!” (……Ri-right, outrageous. A very outrageous person!)
Ashil, feeling guilty, nodded its head so vigorously that its neck ached.
Edenber stared silently at Ashil's behavior.
“No. I think this marriage is quite good.”
As he slightly relaxed his stiff expression, Elkai momentarily became genuinely curious.
Just who was this young lady who could make his grandson's usually rigid face so soft?
Judging by his words, it didn't seem like they had been seeing each other for long, but if she could bring about such a change in such a short time, he could forget about the outrageous contract talk and accept her as his grandson's bride.
Just what kind of child from what family could it be…… Wait a minute.
“Are you perhaps talking about the Novice priest from the Temple?”
“No.”
Edenber quickly became serious.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to reveal matters that haven’t been decided yet, so please understand.”
“I understand. But even so, we can’t ignore the Princess’s invitation.”
“I plan to go to the capital.”
Edenber, relaxing his expression, let out a light sigh.
“I need to report on this civil war and announce the birth of the new Divine Beast, so I’ll have to attend the Princess’s banquet.”
“Yes. But I don’t know if this little one can withstand that violent Princess.”
“……Ppiit?” (……Violent?)
Ashil, its ears perked up, covered its mouth with its front paws again. A violent human?
“Ppiyatppi ppiya!” (Ashil wants to meet the Princess human!)
“Hmm?”
“You want to meet the Third Princess?”
Edenber asked back in surprise. Ashil nodded vigorously.
“Ppi!” (Yes!)
It was already troubled by the humans who kept preparing to attack it in front of it.
If it imitated the Princess, who was said to be violent to humans, it could also become a violent dragon.
‘This time, I’ll definitely become a violent dragon!’
Ashil, greatly excited, puffed out air from its nose.
Edenber and Elkai, seeing its excited appearance, had no idea what was going on.
Some time later, Ashil headed to the capital with Edenber.
Elkai, uneasy about sending the two youngsters alone, joined them on their journey, and Selena joined to treat Elkai's poison.
Dylan and a few other knights accompanied them as escorts.
Taking the entire knight order to the capital would be seen as an act of treason, so they only brought the minimum number of people.
“Who’s going to the capital this time?”
“Me!”
“Me, me, me!”
Just a year ago, they had been reluctant to go, but now they were playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go.
In the past, they had felt intimidated just by encountering people from the capital because they didn’t have a Divine Beast to serve, but not anymore.
The winner and loser experienced contrasting emotions.
The winners performed gestures such as punching the sky.
The losers drooped their shoulders and mourned.
“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll brag about you to the fullest.”
“Yeah……. Make sure to brag that our Lizard-nim has a cute appearance but possesses unmatched power.”
“Especially to the Starabbit Duchy. Make sure to let those unlucky kids know!”
The knights who were going to the capital were so excited that they couldn’t even sleep.
Of course, there were also those who couldn’t sleep for other reasons, like Dylan, who had been haunted by lizard ghosts for days.
He didn’t want to go, but he couldn’t avoid it because he was Ashil’s escort.
Unaware of this situation, Ashil headed to the capital.
And the moment it arrived in the capital through the Warp Gate, it was so surprised that its mouth dropped open.
“Ppii!”
The human city was very fascinating to Ashil.
Since the Beast-man forest prioritized harmony with nature above all else, it was quiet wherever one went, so seeing a city developed for humans was a great stimulus.
And this reached its peak the moment it arrived in the capital.
The capital was a place where the latest trends of the empire gathered.
It was all sparkling, dizzying, deafeningly loud, and full of chaotic things.
Its open mouth wouldn’t close.
“Ppihyaa!”
Look at that sparkling white castle over there. And what about that golden castle that looks like it’s touching the top of the sky!
Because the buildings were so dazzling, Ashil mistook ordinary buildings for castles.
The sights weren’t limited to just this.
“Ppiihya!”
As a noble lady wearing a dress with all sorts of lace and adorned with jewels passed by, Ashil stuck to the carriage window like a bat.
Edenber, who was sitting across from it, was so surprised that he approached it.
“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”
“Ppii.” (Jewels are so pretty.)
As a dragon who was born liking sparkling things, Ashil loved jewels.
Ashil’s excited tail spun around like a windmill.
Edenber, unintentionally hit by it, slightly pressed down on it with a cushion to narrow the range of the tail’s movement.
Then, he looked at the noble lady outside the window.
Even to him, who didn’t know much about jewels, she was adorning her entire body with very flashy and luxurious things.
‘Although our financial situation isn’t good, I’ll have to try to get them even if it means overdoing it.’
He should be able to buy at least one store in the capital somehow.
From defeating the Bear Holy Beast to the civil war, there wasn’t a single place where Ashil’s influence hadn’t reached.
He felt a great sense of indebtedness towards Ashil.
‘I want to do everything I can for it.’
What should he do?
Lost in his own thoughts, he turned to Ashil at the sudden question.
“Ppiyappi ppiya?” (Do you need a lot of money to have something like that?)
Ashil was pointing at a white scarf that a certain noble lady was wearing with its fern-like front paws.
‘A scarf……’
Edenber recalled the time when he first met Ashil.
Back then, it was definitely wearing a plain white scarf around its neck. But it wasn’t wearing anything now.
It wasn’t that it was tired of wearing it, well, he didn’t think so based on his intuition.
