#1257 The Dragon Imperial Princess Visits

It’s me. 
The otherworldly railway project of the Demon Capital-Royal Capital line has finally been nailed down, and things are settling for the moment. 

...No, settling down now would be a mistake. The plan’s complete, which means execution is next, and the truly hard stage is right in front of us. 

Even so, there’s still a long stretch of prep work before the actual construction can begin. So I guess there’s no harm in taking it easy in the meantime. 

And right in that little gap, unannounced guests drop in on me... 

The Dragon King himself. 
Ardheg, the Geyser Dragon, together with his wife, Bloody Mary. 

“Make way, make way, kneel before her! The Dragon Imperial Princess, heir to our proud future, graces you with her presence! For lowly humans to gaze directly upon her is blasphemy! Prostrate yourselves and show your fealty!!!” 
“Mary, calm down. Don’t go charging off again...!” 

Bloody Mary is quick to go overboard as always. 

Cradled against her chest is a baby, staring at me with wide-eyed curiosity. 
That pure, unfiltered gaze only infants have. 

This child is the daughter born to Ardheg and Bloody Mary, their next-generation hope. 

Her name is Bowa. 
And she’s a girl. 

Wow... it’s been a while since I last saw her, and she’s grown so much already. 

“Hey! Don’t you dare speak so casually to the imperial princess!!!” 

Mary’s intensity is overwhelming.  
She’s bristling with the ferocity of a mother beast defending her young. 

“I-I apologize...! Mary tends to get especially... volatile when it comes to Bowa...!” 
“Of course I do! Bowa is destined to be the new Dragon Empress who’ll rule the world! How could I risk letting some suspicious human get close to her?!” 
“She’s like this all the time...!” 

Well... mothers are like that everywhere.  
Maybe she’s a little more extreme than most, but still... 

“...Haa. Honestly, Sis Mary... getting so emotionally unstable just because of a child.” 

I even called in Veil, since this is dragon business... Hey, you were just as unstable yourself when your own junior was born, weren’t you? 

Ardheg forces a strained smile... 

“My apologies for taking so long to drop by...! Caring for Bowa is far more demanding than we ever imagined, and we could barely keep up with correspondence...!” 

No, no, please, no need to apologize! 
 

After all, this is the first time in dragon history that they’ve reproduced through sexual reproduction. Of course they’d be confused and overwhelmed. 

And honestly, with all my own parenting experience, maybe I could have helped somehow, but I’ve let the distance grow and now I feel kind of guilty... 

“Come on, you just had your third kid, Master. Things are chaotic enough here with the Farm Kingdom and everything else. Like you had time to be worrying about these guys.” 

Veil cut in with the timely assist...! 

“Yes, exactly! We already owe you more than we can ever repay. It would be shameless to ask for more. Besides, Sis Veil has been checking in on us regularly, so...!” 

Wait, Veil has? 
So those times she’d vanish without a word... she was keeping an eye on the dragon couple?  
Even with everything going on with Alexander and Typhon, she still made time to look after them? 

“And since Bowa’s grown enough to be a bit sturdier now, we wanted to bring her along to pay our respects.” 
“I told him it was still too soon! Sure, she can hold her head up now and she’s stopped crying through the night, but she’s still so tiny and fragile! What if something happened on the way?!” 

Yet here they are, regardless...! 

At least one thing’s clear: Mary treasures her daughter more than anything. 
Especially with a first child, it’s impossible to know what “safe enough” really means, so the fear never goes away. 

I remember how it was with Junior, my firstborn. Everything was trial and error, and I never had a moment’s peace.  
It was only thanks to that experience that I could stay calmer with Norito and Shotaro... 
If I had to go through that level of anxiety every time a new kid came along, I’d be burnt out beyond repair. 

So yeah, I get where Mary’s coming from... 

“Raaahhh! Any threat that dares approach my Bowa will be slain!!!” 

...Though in her case, that beastly instinct might be a little too cranked up. 

Anyway, the star of the day is Bowa herself. 

At first glance, she just looks like an ordinary human baby.  
Round, plump, and absolutely adorable...! 

But she’s a dragon, so I expected her to still be in dragon form as a newborn... 

“Yes, she was. Right after birth, she was in the shape of a baby dragon. You saw her, didn’t you?” 

Uh... 
Maybe I did? Maybe I didn’t? 

“We also thought she’d remain in dragon form until she grew old enough to consciously learn transformation magic...” 
“But before we knew it, she had shifted. It’s like it was instinctive.” 

The imperial couple exchange uneasy looks. 

“From a parenting perspective, it makes things much easier... If we want to raise her with a civilized upbringing, we have to rely on human methods.” 
“Exactly! Proud dragons aren’t about to crawl around pretending to be lizards! If we’re doing this, we’ll raise her the human way!” 
 

And so, with guidance from Veil and others, they’ve been raising her more or less the “human style.” 
After trial and error, one day they simply found Bowa sleeping in her crib in human form. 

“The first time I saw it, I nearly had a heart attack.” 

I mean, any parent would panic if their baby suddenly turned into somebody else. 

“We can still sense her spirit and soul wavelength, so it was obvious right away it was Bowa. But those first few seconds, I was completely panicking...!” 
“I’m sure I lost a few years of life.” 

So dragons have their own set of parenting struggles too, huh? 

But Bowa keeps growing, and now she’s even made the trip here to the farm. 

Humans, dragons...kids grow fast either way. 
My youngest, Shotaro, just passed his first birthday and is more energetic than ever. Junior and Norito are thriving, too. 

Life’s only going to get livelier from here on out. And as I’m musing about the future... 

“That’s actually why we wanted to ask your advice today,” Bloody Mary says. 

...Advice? 

Well, sure. That’s usually why people come to me. 

“Our shining star Bowa is growing by the day, and we can’t take our eyes off her for even a moment. Every day, her growth is breathtaking. If I missed even one, I’d regret it for the rest of my life!” 

I get you. At that age, it’s like watching someone fast-forward through life.  
Blink, and they’ve changed again. 

“New frienddd. Let’s playyyy.” 
“Gyaaaahhh! That brat! In the few seconds I looked away, he snatched my Boa!!!” 

Oh no! Junior! Sorry about my son! 
He spotted a new friend and of course he had to drag her off to play with him! 
The way he smoothly swept her away... is my eldest some kind of natural-born social ace?! 

Mary snatches Bowa back from him, bristling. 

Sorry, Junior. You’ll get to play later, after the adults are done talking. 

“...Anyway, it’s time we start thinking seriously about Boa’s future.” 

Huh? 
She’s only one year old, though. 

Sure, planning ahead is fine, but if you overdo it, you risk coming off less like a devoted parent and more like... well, a toxic one. 

“I want Bowa to grow up free-spirited, too!” 
“Better wild than weak! I want her strong!” 
“But the truth is, she’s the first dragon ever born from parents. She’s a pioneer, and that means trials are bound to come her way!” 

If I think about it that way, maybe it really is important for us adults to take the initiative and prepare for the hardships that are bound to come. 
Just dumping everything on the next generation to deal with… that doesn’t exactly make for a cool story. 

“From now on, every dragon born will have a father and a mother. Unlike us, who were all just clones of the Geyser Dragon. Their lives will be different from ours. That’s why we need to create at least a prototype lifestyle for them to follow!” 

I see what she’s getting at. 
So what kind of prototype are they planning to make? 

“Well... I think our lives are going to grow closer and closer to those of humans. The fact that Bowa instinctively shifted into human form proves it. So, I believe the future of dragonkind should follow humanity’s example! Which is why...” 

Which is why...? 

“...I want to create a nation for dragons!” 

...Hm?