“—Why, you—!! Straighten your back—!! C’mon, do it properly—!!”

“It hurts, ouch—!! What if my skull shrinks to my spine—!!”                

“As if that would happen, you moron—!!”

“Listeard, don’t overdo it, look, Hadith’s hair has gotten messy again.”

“Older sister, tell Listeard off more.”

“Stop referring to me that way, call me ‘older brother’—!”

Jill watched the three people, whom were making a fuss from morning to noon regarding the Imperial Capital’s Crowning Parade. Camila and Zeke also stood by the wall with bitter smiles.

“I’m glad that those three are on good terms.”

“On the surface, it may appear like that, but they seem a little overwhelmed.”

“It’ll be fine, I’m sure they’ll come to terms with it.”

Jill, who sat in a chair while swinging her legs, wouldn’t be participating in that parade. Hadith protested that they should go together, but Listeard preached that there were orders to be followed. Elynsia also advised him to not go against the flow. Thus, the announcement of Hadith’s fiancée was postponed.

The empire was about to divide due to the sudden, fake, uproar. Moreover, the Imperial Capital was being attacked by a monster. It made sense that the return of Hadith and the unity of the Rave royal family must be shown first.

“But Jill seems dissatisfied. Did you want to attend the parade?”

“I’m too short… as such, I shouldn’t attend. If His Majesty were to appear in the parade while holding me, that would be an embarrassing sight.”

She wanted to grow taller quickly. As she recalled, it was about time her growth spurt began.

“I can’t even have a feast because I won’t be able to participate in the banquet!”

“That’s the main reason for your dissatisfaction, right, Captain?”

“Well, be patient. There are no other members of the royal family other than those three, right? If a little girl were to attend and start feasting from one end to another, it’d be hard to accompany you without becoming the center of the attention~!”

Even though what Camila said was ridiculous, Zeke agreed with her while crouching beside Jill.

“That’s right. Besides, I don’t really like banquets, so I want to avoid participating.”

“…If it’s that child, he’d be good at it~”

She realized Camila was referring to Lawrence. Despite so, Jill didn’t answer and only stared at her feet.

After slaying Georg in an instant, Hadith returned to the Imperial Capital as the emperor along with Listeard and Elynsia. The townspeople cheered and accepted him, treating him like the hero who saved the city from a monster—

—that didn’t happen.

What happened was the contrary.

The Imperial Capital was quiet.

Most of the aristocrats and officials had fled to their homeland, and all that remained were those with nowhere to go. Most of the imperial troops who followed Georg, including the generals, were missing.

It was confirmed that the remaining members of the royal family were safe, but it seemed that some of them were recuperating. Georg appeared to have placed them under house arrest. Hadith’s older brother, Vissel, the one whom Jill was the wariest about, had bought Georg’s distrust. As such, Vissel was deported to the territory of Duke Fairert where his fiancée was. In short, Vissel wasn’t in the royal castle. They had missed him.

I’m not sure how much of that is the truth…

Princess Faelis, whom had been captured but otherwise treated as a guest, was safe. In her journey from Noitral to the Imperial Capital, her condition had worsened. As such, she only greeted them for a few minutes—despite so, she seemed to truly congratulate Hadith on his survival.

It seemed that everyone was preoccupied with their own business.

Immediately after delivering a formal greeting from Kratos, Princess Faelis decided to return home. It was merely a hassle to doubt Princess Faelis—as such, Jill decided to just forgo without saying anything. Naturally, Lawrence accompanied Faelis and left the Imperial Capital.

…They should’ve reached Veilburg, already. Will Geraldo be picking them up…?

The black dragon would be overseeing Princess Faelis’ departure. After checking up on the dragon nest, the black dragon flew away. The fact that there had been no particular contact meant that the black dragon would be leaving Rave—for the time being.

When she glanced back, Hadith was still arguing with Listeard. Elynsia had a bitter smile. However, she also seemed amused.

As Zeke had pointed, she was probably trying to make that warm atmosphere stay somehow.

During that day’s Imperial Capital’s Crowning Parade, Hadith was to announce that the former emperor wasn’t the direct descendant of the Dragon God Rave.

With the long marriages between the royal family and the three dukes as a shield, the Rave royal family would be maintaining its current form. However, there might be some backlash. There might be people appearing and claiming to be the true royalty of Rave. For all Jill knew, the news might even spread to Kratos—but they were also prepared for that.

Neither Jill nor Hadith had replenished their original magical power. However, Hadith was already able to pull out the heavenly sword, hence she could see Rave. However, it seemed that it was impossible for him to maintain that snake-like Dragon God form for a long time.

Perched on Hadith’s shoulder, Rave seemed happy to see that Hadith was enjoying his time with others.

The appearance of Rave was invisible to Listeard and Elynsia. However, even if Rave wasn’t able to participate in the conversation, Jill was sure he was most pleased with that scene.

---

***T/N: The siblings finally got along with each other… well ain’t that great…

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