Camilla panicked and dropped the letter, to which Seig quickly caught and shoved into his shirt pocket.  Natalie stood up before Jill for no reason while Freida apparently bumped the table in her fluster and spilled her black tea.  The only one to remain calm was Lutiya, although he was throwing cushions.

“Don’t enter the rooms of others without even knocking, stupid aniki!”
“Th-th-th-that’s right, Your Majesty.  Your Majes—ty?”

Hades approached Jill without a glance at anyone else when upon reaching her chair, dropped to his knees without a word and clung to her waist.

“….Wh-what wrong, Your Majesty?”
“—Let’s elope, right now.”
“Eh?”
“If you love me, then elope with me!”

Just when he had finally lifted his head, he appealed to her with teary eyes.  “Ah,” Jill relaxed.  He hasn’t noticed the letter.

“Something unpleasant must have happened.  However, Your Majesty, simply running away won’t solve anything.”
“I don’t need a logical argument, what matters is if you like me or not!”
“Yes, yes, I like you.”
“You’re saying it too lightly!  More!  Say it properly with feeling!”
“Like I said, I like you.  How obstinate.”
“Don’t put in feelings of annoyance!”

He buries his face in Jill’s lap and laments about something.  Jill sighs out while stroking his head by running her fingers through his smooth black hair.

“So then?  What happened?  I can’t understand if you don’t tell me, Your Majesty.”
“Oya, Your Highness the Dragon Consort, in a place like this.”

Another person entered through the door Hades had left wide open.

“Moreover, what excellent timing.  Isn’t everyone already here?  This will make it quick.  Rejoice, there is work, for all of you.”

Vissel speaks with the air of a leader, more so than Hades who refuses to separate from Jill.

“It has been decided that a festival will be held one month from now.”
“A festival?  Is there time for one while we’re preparing for the wedding?”

Natalie’s hands stopped moving.  She had been cleaning up the spill on the table with Freida.

“This will apparently be a rehearsal for that wedding.  I nearly wept at the consideration of the Three Dukes.  If this goes well, they will gladly cooperate with the wedding.”

Even though Vissel was smiling, there was no light in his eyes.  This was him being angry.  However, with this Jill understood why Hades was upset.  Objections have been raised against the wedding.

Well, considering the circumstances, I never expected it to go smoothly…

The queen’s enthronement in Kratos nearly caused a riot in Laica, although it ended as only an attempt.  Still, being told, “Now isn’t the time for a wedding,” wouldn’t have been strange.

“I don’t quite understand, but in short, we will be allowed to marry if the festival is a success?”
“That’s correct.  Therefore, this festival serves as the Dragon Consort’s unveiling.”
“Ehh, me!?”

Hades’ grip with which he clung to Jill tightened.  Vissel bitterly spat out.

“Their target this time is you, Her Highness the Dragon Consort.  As expected of those old blights, they’ve set their sights on a strong issue.  Although it’s better than upright being demanded to create the magic shield of the Raika mountain range, it’s infuriating.  As if such an incompetent Dragon Consort could direct a festival!”
“Ho-how rude!  We won’t know unless we try, won’t we!?”
“I can tell without doing it!  It’s obvious!  There’s no way you can—”
“We have no choice but to do it, for I am His Majesty’s wife.”

Hades’ head twitched.  She slowly stroked his head, and spoke as if to make herself understood.

“That’s why, let’s do our best, You Majesty.  It wouldn’t be too late to elope after that, right?”

She had just been told the importance of increasing their allies.

Hades, as though resigned, lifted his head.  While his posture was unsightly with his chin resting on Jill’s lap, his tone was calm.

“…They want you to carry out the Dragon Flower Crown Festival.  The festival was originally started by the first Dragon Consort.  However, during times when there was no Dragon Consort, it was overseen by the empress.”

Speaking of flower crowns, Kratos also had a custom of presenting them to fourteen-year-old girls as proof of adulthood.  It’s probably something similar to that.  It may have been due to the circumstances at their founding, but the Kingdom of Kratos and the Rave Empire had many aspects that were similar but different.

“Sounds fun.  What exactly will I have to do?”
“Designing and selling flower crowns along with a theater-like service.  Former Dragon Consorts used to hand out flower crowns made from dragon flowers so you’ll probably emulate that… Ah, about dragon flowers, they are flowers that bloom in a place known as the Dragon Burial Flower Field.”

Jill somehow managed to suppress twitching.  Seig and Camilla stood by the wall with their backs straight, but their eyes were darting around.  Thankfully, Hades had his back to them, so he didn’t notice.

“I believe the Dragon Burial Flower Field is in the inner palace.  Even just entering the inner palace is already a pain, having to also request cooperation is going to be bothersome…”

Jill, as subtly as possible, moved only her gaze toward Natalie who shook her head.  She and Freida had been nervously watching and swallowing.

“Hee- heeh… so it’s… like that.”

Jill answered while averting her gaze.  Hades suddenly lifted Jill and stood up.

“Just now, you spoke in monotone?  Also, wasn’t the pause strange?”
“That is not the case in the slightest!  None whatsoever!  At all!”
“…”
“Wh-what’s with that look?  Are you accusing me of hiding something!?  There’s no way that’s true, and even if I were keeping a secret… that… would be for the sake of Your Majesty whom I deeply love!”
“Fo-for the sake of me whom you deeply love…!?”

Hades’ large golden eyes widened and then his cheeks dyed themselves pink.  Fidgeting in place, he spoke.

“I… I see.  If that’s how it, then it can’t be helped…!”
“Th-that’s right!”

Alright, I managed to deceive him.  Now to carry the conversation with this momentum.  With such a thought in mind, Jill raised a fist.

“Understood, so all we have to do is hold a festival!  “Please leave it to me, I’ll take care of it!  I’ll completely devour every last bit of food from the stalls!”
“Don’t do that, your reputation will get even worse!”
“My reputation?”

“Ah,” Hades covered his mouth and his gaze darted about.  Naturally, Jill wouldn’t overlook it.  She wasn’t someone who could easily be deceived by cheap phrases such as, “for your sake,” like her husband.

Above all, Hades had no chance of winning without anything sweet to give her.

T/N:   “The flower field where dragons are laid to rest” and “the Dragon Burial Flower Field” are two different translations for the same phrase.  I used the more poetic version in the previous chapter.

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