Chapter 256: Aurora doing Politics.

“Y-You really want to look the part, huh, Mother?”

Scales floating around like glistening snow, enchanting scale accessories complementing her aloof beauty, and ice forming and disappearing in a deposition and sublimation process you wouldn’t really see naturally as often outside of special effects or shows. It’s almost as if Mother was showing off her complete control of her scales and magic.

“As you would expect, draconic fashion doesn’t exist, as we do not wear clothes, my whelpling. To attract mates, we must make sure that our scales and carapace shine healthily before we females assault the males,” Mother suddenly went into a tangent on dragon courtship.

“Hold on, the women attack the men?! What does any of that have to do with finding a partner?!” I was baffled. If I were to go out and attack some random dude, he would just call the police on me!

“Why, of course, Hestia! How else would you know your husband is competent and is able to protect your child? Dragons mate for a lifetime. Our tails stay linked even through the harshest times, never separating until one of us passes on. We must make sure they are as or stronger than ourselves. Even the males prefer strong and assertive females, as that will result in a strong hatchling.”

… This is my life now.

Speaking with Mother was fun, although admittedly, I did think some of the things she spoke about would be more suitable if I were, I dunno, 100 years older? At least when I’m interested in anything concerning boys, which I am not right now. I have an idol career to focus on, plus I had duties to fulfill for a Goddess, but that was beside the point.

This whole talk should have been about her attire.

When I brought us back to that topic, Mother nodded. “Oh right, I apologize. I got ahead of myself since you act older than your real age.”

‘Cause I am mentally older than my biological age, but I kept that thought to myself.

“Back to my point, we dragons did not develop our fashion style alone. We learned and adapted it from how dragonewts and levianewts clothed themselves. Even with their scales, their elven, dwarven, or human parents thought they were naked, so a clothing culture naturally developed afterward.”

Back on Earth, I was never really into fashion and clothing, as most of the stuff I wore was picked out by my Mama. I didn’t have to think about it. But after Saori drilled her whole “clothing is important” lecture into me, I began developing a mild interest in it. At least, I was curious as to why certain cultures clothed themselves.

In the case of the dragonewts, as Yorshka once told me, dragonewts took a lot of pride in their scales and other draconic features. Their sleeping wear, armor, even formal clothing all had their scales and features displayed. It was a mark of prestige and strength if your scales are impressive to look at.

“Since our scales are filled with our mana, they are, as a consequence, attuned to our mana. My scales are naturally attuned to ice. Hestia, yours is probably a mix between fire and light, due to your blessings and evolution path. You could have been born as a silver or ice dragon, but Kargryxmor’s blood overpowers ‘lesser’ lineages. Your siblings inherited more from the Emperor than from their mothers, too.”

Because they’re made mostly out of mana, dragons often possessed the ability to manipulate their scales, taking pride in their ability to control them. That’s why Mother pimped out her usual Empress outfit with more scale-blings with her control over mana.

On the other hand, I was wearing a modified version of my ballroom gown. Saori made sure to emphasize my regalness with a more draconic design while Mother created some accessories for me to wear from her own scales. Make-up came from Ellaine, giving Tasianna and Svena a fun time to pretty me up.

Unlike my meeting to mediate between King Drangleic and Muraina, this was an official conference. A meeting between two sovereign parties, and Mother and I were the representatives of Kargryx. If it were only me, this meeting would have been unofficial, but since Mother agreed to participate, it automatically turned into an important event.

We would be treated like any other imperial guests for this whole day, although properly now, as any minor grievances could cause a war. The problem was that I felt underdressed next to Mother.

While I could copy — insert name of whomever the hell I could think of to copy — and act regal like a princess with the help of my skill [Royal Presence], Mother exuded majesty with every movement and action, naturally. She had this presence which told you straight to your face, “You are beneath me. I am beyond your comprehension.” She had an amazing cold shoulder look.

“I will teach you how to turn your scales into clothing, Hestia. Mother’s promise,” Mother comforted me. And just like that, she switched from being a dragon to a mother. Simple as that.

I did see her talking extensively with Yorshka about how to be a mother. Ehehe, I guess she has a good enough mentor?

With both of us dressed and ready, we said goodbye to everybody in our company except for Saori, who would be accompanying us as our aide.

“Hesti-chan, good luck! Break a leg!” Kazumi encouraged me, looking anxious as she helped me memorize the proper etiquette with Ellaine’s mother, Marianne.

“Sensei, please, don’t forget to raise those topics we went over. Our classmates who went to the Empire will be a sore subject. And please, make sure everybody sticks to decorum,” Nishio reminded Saori.

“You worry too much, Nishio-kun. You should know how I work, especially when you were one of my class’s representatives.” Saori tapped her satchel with documents before waving goodbye to everybody else.

The three of us then left the RV and were confronted with a large retinue of griffon knights, all surrounding an ornamented griffon carriage. There wasn’t a need for it, since we could all traverse the sky in one way or another, but we were supposed to be VVIPs right now.

“Your Imperial Majesty, Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor, and Your Imperial Highness, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor. I, Duke Isaac Albreus Greenveil, shall be your escort to His Majesty’s, King Drangelic var Artorias’s, citadel. Please, allow me and my knights the honor to guide you there.”

According to decorum, only those of high status may act as escorts for an empress and imperial princess. Either the Knight-Commander of a Knight Order, the highest-ranking member of the royal guards, or somebody of the second-highest rank just below the royal family. That’s why Duke Greenveil introduced himself like that, despite knowing me personally.

Without further ado, we boarded the carriage and sat down. From the looks of it, they seemed to have made modifications to the seats in order to accommodate our tails and wings. Thanks to that, this was the first carriage ride where I felt completely comfortable.

We eventually made it to the royal palace and were greeted by the head butler. With Duke Greenveil accompanying us, we were led into a waiting room where he excused himself to prepare for the meeting. A little bit later, the butler returned and told us it was time.

“It’s time. Here, for you, Hestia.” Mother handed me a circlet made from her ice and my scales, making the latter look like rubies shining under the light.

“…” I took it, but all I could do was look at it with a frown. I was conflicted on this. Not only was the thought of wearing a princess circlet suuuuper cringe, I just thought it would look stupid on me.

… But, idols had to learn how to sacrifice some things for success. Wearing things they didn’t like, performing songs they didn’t want to, or working out for ungodly hours. Somethings just had to be done.

There was still a part of me who was still trying to reject this whole princess stuff; however, I also had to learn to use this to my advantage. Being a princess was a double-edged sword — you get dragged into this political stuff, but the influence I would hold was pretty huge.

Reluctantly, I handed Saori my circlet and positioned myself for her to put it on me. Without speaking, she understood my intent.

“Okay, let’s go.”

The butler led our group through a long hallway before ending up in the same room I held my mediation session. The butler rang the bell, prompting the door to be opened for us to enter.

“May I present — Sixth Empress of the Dragon Empire Kargryx, the SS rank [Diamond-Powder Fimbulvetr Dragon], Empress Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor.”

Oh, Mother’s race is [Diamond-Powder Fimbulvetr Dragon]? I haven’t asked her about that yet. Her silver powder certainly does have a diamond-like brilliance sometimes.

“And accompanying her is her daughter — Third Princess of the Dragon Empire Kargryx, the B rank [Young Sunfang Dragon], Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor. Their presence has been announced!”

King Drangleic and his aides, the seven dukes, Muraina, and two unfamiliar faces — one man, one woman — all stood up from their seats, bowing as we were led to our spot at the table. As we sat down directly opposite from the king’s position, everybody said in unison, “We welcome the winged frost and fire from the Empire of the God of Dragon, Kargryxmor. May he bless our auspicious meeting this day.”

Holy crap.

When it’s an official diplomatic meeting, those used to it really knew what they were doing. The magnificent presentation of the meeting room, the coordinated announcement and greeting, and the respect for somebody of a higher social status. It made me feel more out of place than I thought.

Also, as you heard, I was the third princess. Mother had told me I was the eighth child of the imperial family, having two half-sisters and five half-brothers. Problem was that she only knew the other empresses well, not their children. Then again, learning I had seven half-siblings was already informative enough.

In any case, back to reality. After Mother, Saori, and I sat down, the others did too. Looking at the people before me, I had to take a deep breath to prepare myself. It was nerve-wracking.

As mentioned before, King Drangleic with his aides — Ulquint Myrrdin and Armado Lifcio — sat directly opposite from us, a sign that our two sides were the most important members of this discussion. To my right were all seven dukes of Artorias, while to my left, Muraina and, I presume, two of Shaturein’s leaders were seated.

I knew that Muraina joined the meeting as a representative of Saelariel and ally of Kargryx the moment she heard of our participation, while Saori only informed me this morning that Shaturein was also joining. It was surprising to see King Drangleic accept their presence here. There was a political reason not to allow them to participate, since it could endanger Mother, Saori, and me. I mean, not that it was likely, but it was politics, dude.

“As the King of Artorias, I would like to personally welcome you to my kingdom, Empress Melloxtressa. I apologize if my first introduction was lacking in any way,” King Drangleic started out.

“There is no need, King Drangleic. I merely came for my daughter on that day, so there was no need for any sort of decorum. In fact, your city was endangered and you just survived through a perilous battle with that insect. There is no need for you to worry. I am not fickle when it comes to human or elven etiquette.” Seated right in the middle of our spot, Mother replied with a cooling calmness as she told everybody she wasn’t in any way perturbed by any sort of “human” mistakes — minor mistakes, to her.

King Drangleic caught on to it and nodded. “I thank you for your consideration, Empress. Before we begin, allow me to introduce the people participating here.”

King Drangleic first started with his two aides before leading into his dukes. I also noticed that “Duke Equevanna” was somebody else, and when King Drnagleic introduced him, I learned it was his son, Fillion Bastois Equevanna.

As Saori said, not only was Charleslyt executed but his father was stripped of his title, ordered to hand it over to his heir. Just by looking at him, I could see him hiding his anxiousness behind his smile.

After the dukes and Duchess Morgiana were presented, King Drangleic allowed those on the left to present themselves. First, it was Muraina, who gave a long-winded greeting fitting for an ally of Kargryx. Mother and Muraina already knew each other over drinks, so it seemed they were happy to see each other.

After that, it was time for our surprise guests.

“My name is Jenghil Grengar, one of the three pillars of Shaturein, the underground city beneath Griffonpeak. I am not personally acquainted with your daughter, Empress Melloxtressa, but Princess Hestia has done much to help me and my city. It is an honor to meet you, Your Imperial Majesty.”

Jenghil Grengar, described to me, was the madam who owned all the brothels inside Artorias, using them as her spy network. With a guild name like “The Heartful Dance,” I imagined she would be a bit more, uhm, daring with her appearance.

However, to my surprise, she shared some similarities to Thyra, in fact. Like an older sister. Since she was the bastard child of Duchess Morgiana’s brother, Jenghil was a half-elf with long, sharp ears and House Morgiana’s distinctive “double circled eyes.” She gave off the aura of an overworked businesswoman.

Now, the person next to her was exactly how I imagined him. The boss of a whole underground society. Wearing a fashionable suit with a cape, the tall man stood up and bowed his head, letting his medium-length dark hair fall.

“Vangrim Blackreach. Representative as one of Shaturein’s three pillars. A blessing to the Gods for the honor of meeting you today, Empress Melloxtressa, and your daughter, Princess Hestia. If possible, Shaturein would like to partake in this meeting as a neighbor of Griffonpeak. To speak terms through them with you for our city’s future.”

The dukes naturally scoffed at the notion that Shaturein was a “neighbor” of Griffonpeak. Shaturein technically was an independent force but it also historically belonged to Artorias’s land. Whatever grievances they had with each other, I hoped they could drop it for today.

“You are already here. I have no complaints,” Mother said, ignoring the glares the dukes directed at Jenghil and Vangrim. I guess to her, this wasn’t her problem.

After the introductions, King Drangleic began explaining the reason for this meeting. Essentially, he had decided that it was time for him to reveal certain “specifics” to everybody in attendance and to have everybody be equally informed. This was intended to put everybody at the same level, as the discussion would involve Artorias’s diplomatic future.

And to begin, he dropped the bombshell that was the demonkin’s infiltration of the Empire and the Church, specifically, all the information I have given to him from Aurena. To nobody’s surprise, everybody but Muraina and my group was flabbergasted at this revelation. In fact, Duke Lecartiglio, Groushia, and Olivus even doubted King Drangleic due to how absolutely insane this sounded.

But, not with me around.

“Duke Lecartiglio, Duke Groushia, and Duke Olivus, as you are well aware, I am a champion of Aurena. I am a reincarnator who was blessed by two gods’ blessing the moment I was born. I am not interpreting the words of the gods as most other blessed would do, I can actually listen and even banter with Goddess Aurena if I wanted to. I can send my soul to meet her in her divine realm.”

This was new information to the Shaturein folks, but since King Drangleic allowed them to come today despite what he was planning with this meeting, it meant he was okay with them knowing about it. Although, I have to admit it was a bit dangerous since they managed criminals.

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“Princess Hestia, do you mean to say that you heard all this face to face with Goddess Aurena?” Duchess Morgiana asked.

I nodded. “I have visited Goddess Aurena’s divine realm three times now and seen my Kramps, once. Oh, Kramps is my nickname for Kargryxmor, since he technically is my grandfather. In any case, I know this might sound pretty heretical, but there is a reason for which King Drangleic received all the information about the insurgencies in your duchies.”

“So it was from you, Princess Hestia?” Duke Olivus still looked doubtful. “I… I must admit, this is hard to accept. A-Although, I do not question your ability to listen to Her Holiness! Of course, it must be so, since she was the reason for your reincarnation.”

That’s good enough, I guess?

“Hmm.” Duke Groushia stroked his beard, looking doubtful, before nodding vigorously as if those doubts disappeared in an instant. “My fellow dukes, I shall choose to believe Princess Hestia. If the information His Majesty has given us truly came from Princess Hestia, then I have no reason to doubt her. If those issues hadn’t been resolved, the fallout would have been far more troublesome. As all of you must be aware, it cannot be a coincidence that all dukes except for Duke Greenveil had to depart from the capital a day before the attack.”

“I agree,” Duke Greenveil agreed. “During her stay in my duchy, Princess Hestia has managed to solve three major events — the incident with Davison, the attack by the grimgarian battalion, and the extermination of the rachonoid queen. If any of them had occurred while I was away, I most likely would have left at the same time as with all of you.”

“Hmph!” While everybody else was starting to realize things, only Duke Lecartiglio seemed displeased. “So… if this information is to be believed as truth, this would mean all the soldiers I sent to the Empire as ‘Imperial tribute’ for our kingdom’s ‘participation in the war’ were sent to the demonkin? All those young soldiers who died and those who are still fighting on the frontlines? Your Majesty, this is an outrage!”

Duke Lecartiglio was the kingdom’s marshal. He was responsible for all the soldiers’ deaths. The notion that he sent all of them to their enemy made him weep a single tear as he spoke with a quiet rage.

“… My Duke, unfortunately, this most likely is the case. The person who killed Saintess Eshe… this information I had kept from you, telling you I will reveal it later. We have our witness before us.” King Drangelic gestured to me. “Princess Hestia was the one to avenge the Saintess after her death. All traces of the assassin were vaporized by Her Imperial Highness, but we have the evidence coming from Sir Pestrodus as you are aware.”

“Your Majesty, are you saying the demonkin who murdered King Assurfel wasn’t the only one?!” Duke Myrrdin's eyes widened.

“A demonkin of envy,” I answered. “He took on the appearance of Pestrodus’s nephew. He was the one I found while I was mourning for Eshe. I can confirm, he definitely was a demonkin.”

Duke Lecartiglio smashed the table with his fist, unable to hold back his rage despite the situation. As King Drangleic was about to lecture him, the duke didn’t let him continue.

“My King, if you had known this information all along, how can you even think of allowing those imperial swines to leave the capital! You should have imprisoned them!”

“And possibly cause our rocky relationship with the Empire to deteriorate even more? You fool, think about it. If we had done that, all of this would have escalated into a war!” King Drangelic’s military advisor, Lord Armado, rebuked the duke.

“Fine! It would have been better as such! I’ve been talking about how it was impossible to appease the Empire at this point. The fact that they continuously demand more tribute and conscription from us compared to the other countries is because they know we are not loyal! If we continue down this road, our country will soon be weak enough for Atadoro to overtake us.”

“You battle fool, must you only think about war?” Duchess Morgiana chided him. “Artorias is not capable of any large-scale battle after everything that happened. Our duchies are still in need of repairs and, after King Assurfel fell — may the light guide his soul to Goddess Ilsaphone — our mightiest weapon has been destroyed. Our talons have been removed.”

The dukes began to argue amongst themselves with all this information. As expected, things like this caused an uproar. I could even see Vangrim and Jenghil discussing it under the guise of all this noise. Looking at Mother, she had little to no care if this discussion continued or not.

I looked over to King Drangleic and nodded with him. We had to do something about this.

Ordering everybody to be silent, King Drangleic attempted to calm the dukes down. “Duke Lecartiglio, while I do understand your feelings, imprisoning the lycerepth agents was not the correct move.”

“How so? Maybe one of them was another demonkin?”

“That is because we have good reason to believe that none of them is a demonkin. If you wish to know my source, you may request it from Princess Hestia.” In other words, Ellaine’s secret was still taboo for now. “Second, it is because I cannot afford the Kingdom to go to war that I had to leave them be. If we were to antagonize the Empire even further, there would have been no way for us to attend the alliance meeting between Artorias, the dwarves, Saelariel, and Loatryx.”

The dukes’ eyes and ears were completely turned to King Drangleic. Talk about the demonkin was gone.

“Your Majesty, do you mean—?”

“Yes, Duke Myrrdin, there has been progress. We will begin the process of separating ourselves from our vassalage to the Folschreck Empire. Lady Muraina, if you please?”

“Of course, King Drangleic,” Muraina pulled out a piece of document. “As you must have seen before we removed it, the corpse of the geisenlarg king, or what remained of it, was frozen solid by Empress Melloxtressa. She was the one to end the attack on that day. Under the advice of Miss Saori, I had ordered Krymdar and a few alchemists amongst the elven community of Griffonpeak to appraise its blood.”

Saori had mentioned something about that in the past week. Since the geisenlarg king went full-on eldritch mode, there had to be something in the blood. I was only curious about the black potion Davison and the demonkin drank to go eldritch mode, so Saori believed there had been information from it.

And she was right.

“From our results, the blood of the geisenlarg was completely corrupted with demonic mana. The energy a demonkin requires to activate their demonic powers from their blood. According to Imperial Alchemist Krymdar, this is very similar to the process that a demonkin contractor would undergo, only that whatever caused this corruption was imperfect. An imitation, or if we were to follow his theory, something to draw out the full power of a demonkin contractor.”

“Did he find out how the geisenlarg’s blood was corrupted?” King Drangleic asked.

“Presumably during birth. Geisenlarg kings do not live for long, and, if I were to guess, this one most likely came from the colony underneath our outpost. After reflecting on it, I presume the demonkin most likely also planted that colony there, readying themselves for the attack on the capital.”

It was the logical conclusion. If it was a sabotage or threat, the demonkin most likely planned on it. A geisenlarg invasion would have given the demonkin enough time to attack Assurfel also.

“Now, what caused it? Was there a substance they injected into the egg? Well… King Drangleic, you should have the honor to reveal what Charleslyt said.”

“My brother?” Duke Equevanna blurted out, earning him a pitiful stare from his king.

King Drangleic did not leave a single detail out. He informed everybody about how Charleslyt consumed a tonic and even shared it with the nobles who attacked Ellaine. That tonic gave them powers they believed came from the Goddess, but in truth, was a cruder version of the tonic Davison dranked.

“No…” The young duke clutched his head, dismayed from the news. The other dukes even began looking away from him, almost as if this news just killed all trust they had for the Equevanna duchy.

This was a political death, even worse than what happened with his brother and father. All of this, after he just assumed his father’s position as duke.

Politics is cruel. But this information had to come out some way.

“I am sure all of you must now understand the situation at hand,” Muraina continued, not allowing the young duke to digest this information. “I have already discussed this with King Drangleic, and we have concluded that an alliance is needed. Or at least, it is worth talking about.”

King Drangleic nodded. “As such, a summit will be held. The information we have gathered was sent to the respective leaders, to gain their attendance. All but the Ankoran King have not answered yet, but the dwarves were all we needed to schedule this summit. In five months, on the 30th of AutumnSun, when the dwarves celebrate the birthday of the Revolution Queen and Goddess of Change, Ingenuity, and Ambition, Chihiro.”

So that is the date. Got it.

I went to ask him why it was scheduled at that late of a date and the king answered, “The Ankoran King expected the answers of the Saelari and Loatryxian to be slow, due to their reluctance to work with us. As such, we required a reason for them to come. Also, because of the recent attacks, I am needed here to oversee the repairs for some time yet.”

“What is the reason?” I questioned, but I already had a feeling what it was.

“I had Lady Muraina not tell them about your existence, Princess Hestia. After all, I never really got a firm stance from Kargryx. Your confirmation to help us was appreciated, but as this will demand proper diplomatic procedures, I require an answer from you as a representative of your home. I require your agreement not as ‘Lady Hestia,’ but as ‘Princess Hestia.’”

He then turned to Mother.

“But, I will also need the answer from your Mother. Empress Melloxtressa, Artorias humbly requests your aide to mediate the summit we will hold.”

Mother smiled. This is what we wanted to hear. Seeing her like this, the dukes were relieved.

Only, there was a problem.

“I decline.”

It was all crushed into dust.

“B-But, Empress Melloxtressa—” Duchess Morgiana looked mortified, as if her goals were just squashed right before her. She and Duke Myrrdin wished for Artorias to make amends with the elves of Saelariel, so seeing the key to solving this problem reject them must have been heartbreaking.

“You cannot persuade me. Do you have any ideas what we dragons have done to ensure the world developed to this point? How many dragons have died to fight back the demonkin? How much we had to suffer during the aftermath of all these events? Our Emperor, our glorious leader, Eltharion, has enacted a law to prevent Kargryx from interfering with the world. A law of neutrality.”

“But what about the humans and elves who fought and died during that war?” I presumed some of the dukes wanted to say, but they knew better than to anger someone like Mother. She could snap her fingers and they would turn into popsicles.

“Would there be no way to persuade you? Is there anything you need?” King Drangleic urged her to reconsider, but she did not sway. Even the Shaturein representatives showed signs of being nervous. Letting a potential ally as Mother and Kargryx go would be a disastrous situation. If they were to separate from the Empire, they needed a strong ally.

“… However, while I cannot and will not allow Kargryx to participate in any of this squabble between you, I must admit that my daughter had been unruly for a while now. Only a year old, but she has already decided on becoming an adult. Oh, woe is me, but a mother should still support her rebellious daughter… no?”

And hope was brought back into the dukes’ and Shaturein pillar’s eyes. King Drangleic smirked.

“I understand. It is a shame that Kargryx cannot help us.” He then turned to Saori and me. “As such, if possible, I would like to speak with your daughter, who is currently acting as a separate faction. However, as she is still a princess and has the backing of Your Imperial Majesty, her words must still be influential, correct?”

“Of course, she is my daughter, after all.”

He nodded firmly. “As such, Princess Hestia, shall we discuss terms? Now, in an official diplomatic capacity between royalty.”

Saori smiled and unpacked the documents inside her satchel. She glanced at the Shaturein representative before saying, “We are ready, King Drangleic.” Their eyes immediately sharpened, fully understanding what they had to do now.

Gael, Yorshka, and Muraina. All of them are tricky.

From what Nishio and Kazumi explained to me, business meetings were a battle between factions to gain the terms they wanted. And this battle began the moment the meeting was scheduled. We needed allies and we had to make sure these allies thrived to work for us. Even if we had to make preparations and talk behind the curtains.

I smiled. The Aurora brand will spread well with our new team.

“Let us hear what you can do for us, King Drangleic.”

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