#630 Regarding the Dragon Empress

Who leaked the information on the Dragon Empress, Gwynn Dragon?!

There can only be one suspect here!

I’m interrogating them right this instant!

“I know you’re here!!!”

I’m going to kick the door of a room in my dungeon!

There they are, the brazen couch potatoes!

“...Satsuriku (slaughter).”

“Ku? Ku... Ku, Kureen!”

“Nope, it ended with an N! Your loss, Seidour.”

“Aghhh! Shiritori is so hard! One more, Father! One more round, please!”

“Oh, all right. One more round... Gyakusatu (atrocity).”

“Tu, right? Tu...Tu...? I know! Tutankhamun!” 

“That ends with an N too. And what does that even mean?”

“Gyaaaaa! No! ...I actually wanted to say Tutankhamun-san! Yes!”

“Same thing.”

It’s Father, the previous Geyser Dragon, and my sister, Seidour, who has been frequenting my home for some reason!

They lounge all they want without even asking for permission!

Seidour’s shiritori skills baffled me, but that’s beside the point right now! 

“Are you the one behind this meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeess?! 

“Guooooh! Mary?! Using Neck Hanging Tree on your own father—are you even sane?!”

Strength is all that matters to dragons, and they will show no mercy, even to their own parents.

More importantly...

“You’re the one who told them all about the Gwynn Dragon, aren’t you, Father?!”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“The way you feign ignorance isn’t one bit convincing!”

In his human form, Father takes the appearance of a tender young boy unworthy of his age.

The way I lash out at him looks like I’m abusing a child; it’s a very misleading scene.

“The existence of the Dragon Empress Gwynn Dragon only slipped from Mother Gaia’s tongue once! In other words, no one but those who were present to hear it could know of its concept!”

If the Gwynn Dragon’s concept were known to others, it would have to come from those who were present during that moment!

The people on the farm have no contact with any other dragons than us, so there’s no way they did this!

That leaves the dragons who were there the most likely suspects!

“And I remember you being there too, Father! Mother Gaia descended to inaugurate Ardheg as the Geyser Dragon that day!”

“Gwah?! Yes, but other dragons like Veil and Alexander were there too!”

“You know they have no interest in matters like this! You’re just digging your grave deeper and deeper, Father!”

Yes, the previous Geyser Dragon and my father, Al Gor, was the ultimate in not only strength but also in terms of a wicked personality.

Although he was defeated and lost his strength as the Dragon Emperor, his wickedness persists! So much so that it’s a nuisance! 

“You just wanted to create a scene with your horrible personality, am I right?! Fess up, you snotty brat!” 

“As expected of you, Mary, you caught onto me. Befitting of a dragon who was once said to be the most promising candidate to become the next Geyser Dragon. But you’re just as bad, you know?”

See?!

The bad guy gets exposed for his evil deeds, and to lighten the blame as much as possible, he tries to make it seem like the other guy is at fault, too, so that both sides are on the same page!

As if I’m falling for that!

You’re always the one at fault!

“The way dragons live drastically changed from the time Ardheg became the Geyser Dragon. Our duties as ‘watchdogs and sanctioners of the gods’ were lifted, and we were free to live life as it is, like any other living creature.”

“I know that.”

“The highlight of that new system is the Geyser Dragon’s queen, the Gwynn Dragon. And her role is crucial. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the first Gwynn Dragon, the dragoness married to Ardheg, will determine the future of the dragon race.”

Ngh!

It’s hard to refute that when he makes a good point!

For someone who was once the most powerful dragon, how come he’s good with sophisms?

“The one who becomes the Gwynn Dragon must be carefully chosen among many candidates. We can never let anyone who happens to know about it keep the information to themselves and use it to their advantage.”

“I-Is that why you approached so many Grinzel dragons?”

“All out of concern for the future of dragons as a race. Even as a retired Geyser Dragon, I still have a responsibility to fulfill.”

“And your true intentions?”

“I wanted to see you upset and flustered since you’re already pretending to be Ardheg’s lawful wife.”

“DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

You shitty father!

If Ardheg and his team failed to strike you down, I’ll do it myself right here and now!

That is my duty as his queen!

“Ohhh, goody, I want to be that Green Green Dragon or whatever too!”

“Crap, there’s another dragon here who’s not supposed to hear any of this!” 

Seidour’s eyes lit up as she saw Father and me curse at each other up close!

I don’t want any more competition!

Even though she tends to be air-headed, her rack in her human form is distractingly huge, you know! 

“Not Green Green, Seidour. It’s Gwynn.”

“In the human world, the queen is the second highest after the king, isn’t she? If such a system has been introduced for dragons, I’d like to participate too! If I give up, nothing will happen!”

This is bad, she’s starting to get motivated too!

There must be many other dragonesses that Father approached.

If all of them will now march on and fight for the position of Ardheg’s wife...

Not even I, who have built my relationship with him...

“Father, you have a point!”

“Ardheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeg?!”

Why are you here?!

“I chased after you because you suddenly ran off somewhere! And by chance, I was able to hear Father’s profound thoughts!”

Noooooooooooooooo!

I can’t believe Ardheg heard all of that!

Knowing how serious he is, he would want to start some sort of ceremony to select the Gwynn Dragooooooooooooon!

“Father makes valid points despite being a retired Geyser Dragon!”

“Father makes valid points despite losing his powers!”

“Father makes valid points despite being sooo irrelevant!”

The homewreckers are here too!

“What do you think, Lord Ardheg? How about we do as Father says and pick a dragoness truly worthy of becoming the Gwynn Dragon?”

“We’ll do our best to win the Dragon Emperor’s favor!”

“Ooh! Me, me! Me too!”

Even Seidour wants to be part of thiiiiiiiiiiis!

This is bad! At this rate, the title of Gwynn Dragon... no, the title of Ardheg’s wife will be taken away from me by some other woman!

Frankly, I don’t care about the title of Dragon Empress! I want to stay by Ardheg’s side; that’s all that matters to me!

I was finally on the verge of having that happiness, but now everyone wants to take it away from me!

“I acknowledge your feelings. As the Geyser Dragon, I must do my duty.”

The earnest Ardheg takes the opinions of others seriously.

And so, according to their wishes...

“Sis Mary.”

“Yes?”

“Will you be my queen?”

.........

...

Hwha?!

W-What is this out of the blue?!

“I, as a dragon, have yet to understand what a queen is. I can only refer to my friends, Lord Arowana and Lady Puffer. If an ideal married couple supports each other and does things together as they do, then I can think of no one better than you to be my partner.”

“Heyheyheyheyheyhey, did he really just make that decision on the spot?”

Shut up, Father.

This is the best moment I’ve had in hundreds of years!

“You’ve been by my side, supporting me every step of the way. Will you continue to support me in the same way from here on out?”

“I-I will...!”

He beseeches, and I respond.

Does this officially make me the Dragon Emperor’s queen, the Gwynn Dragon, both in name and substance?!

“That’d be boring.”

“Gubwah!”

Who is it? Who dropkicked my Ardheg in the side?

Seidour?!

Have you no fear?!

“Even if we narrow down the candidates to you alone, Sis Mary! I think further deliberation is necessary! Is grave! This is the beginning of a new dragon history, something something!”

“If you’re going to say something, say it properly!”

Don’t fumble your way through just because you don’t know what to say!

“If it’s going to be this way, we must first ascertain if you really are worthy of being the queen, Sis Mary! A Queen Verification Test!”

“I like that! I was just thinking how boring it would be if everything fell into place without much drama! Nice sabotage, Seidour!”

Don’t just agree with her, Father!

Does no one else think there’s nothing better than settling things peacefully?! A sudden plot twist at the end is no longer the norm, you know!

“No, let’s do this!”

“In that case, we still have a chance!”

Shut up, you vixen homewreckers!

You just want to snatch the queen’s throne by any means necessary!

What a fierce battle this is! Humans have been fighting like this for generations?!

They surprisingly have it rough!