Seig and Camilla had once lived with Hades in a hideout after he had been driven out of the imperial capital.  It had only lasted for about a month, but because of that experience, they had no opposition to sharing a dining table with the Emperor.

“Ya—n, it’s been so long.  Your Majesty’s warm soup, it’s delicious~!”

Camilla smiled the moment she took a spoonful of soup from one of the bowls lining the kitchen table.  Seig was eating bread beside her, savoring every bite without a word.

“In the end, we could use the kitchen after all.  I’m glad we were able to heat it up.  We were able to add some ingredients too… except, isn’t this meal a bit lacking?  Then again, it was originally for a picnic.”
“Not at all, the food is delicious!  It reminds me of Noitoral.”
“Ahh, you’re right, how nostalgic~. The Dragon Consort’s Palace is pretty big, couldn’t we get some hunting done here?”
“The waterfall turns into a river in the far back area.  There might be some fish in there.”

Seig and Camilla got excited as they relived their memories of living self-sufficiently in Noitoral.  Jill, recalling those times with nostalgia, admonished them.

“For the record, this is the inner palace.  Do not start a hunting lifestyle.”
“Ehh, but there’s nothing here.  If we’re going to do something, why don’t we make a field or something?”
“We might as well reuse everything that’s broken.  How about making something like an oven?”
“I suppose we could make pizza.”
“Let’s make one, an oven!”

Hades laughed at Jill’s immediate decision.

“Her Highness the Dragon Consort has granted permission.  Dragons also used to directly come and go from the Dragon Consort’s Palace, so the grounds are quite large.  Apparently, there are also lodgings for the Dragon Consort’s knights to be stationed.  That’s what Rave said.”
“Rave-sama did?  Come to think of it, where is he?”
“He felt nostalgic and left to see the surroundings.  It’s been long time since he last came here.”

Jill nodded in acknowledgement.  She then found a piece of meat in her soup and tossed it into her mouth.

“Come to think of it, Rave-sama doesn’t really talk much about the past.”
“I don’t remember to well, but… a long time ago he said something about not letting it affect me too much.  Even if I am a vessel, I don’t need to be identical to the original.  Apparently, that goes against the natural order.  It’s the same as not being allowed to turn back time.”

Startled, Jill’s hand stopped just as she was about to tear off a piece of bread.

Although not by her own will, she was most likely experiencing a reversal of time.  She had been brushing it off as something only possible because the goddess had done it, but she had never considered the perspective that it might be against order.

“He does tell us what we need to know, though.  He also said that long ago this place was built so that it’d be something like a fortress.”
“A… fortress?  For the Dragon Consort and the Dragon Consort’s knights?
“Yeah.  It was something like… a garrison for the Dragon Consort’s knight order?”

“Eh?  Then could we possibly live here?”

“Yeah,” Hades casually nodded to Camilla.  Seig let out a whistle and she snapped her fingers.

“Nice.  We were going to make an oven anyway, so we might as well move in.”
“Agreeed, let’s just start living here today.”

“Aren’t you two renting a house in the imperial capital?”
“…Jill-chan, I don’t really want to say this, but…”

Camilla rarely lowered her voice, and now she had a serious expression.

“The Dragon Consort’s knights are an honorary position… and the pay, it’s low…”
“Eh, for real!?”
“About a little higher than an apprentice knight’s.  You can manage, but just barely.”

She looked at Hades and he gave her a wry smile.

“They were likely provided food, clothing, and shelter here three hundred years ago… Ah, but the survivor’s pension is high.”

“That doesn’t make me happy.”
“I mean, that is important, but before that, it’s barely enough to support a wife and kids.”

Camilla and Seig laughed freely, but for Jill, it wasn’t something she could joke about.

“I-if that’s how it is… then we can’t just let that caretaker do whatever he wants, either.”
“If it’s about him, I ran into him outside.  Got away though.”

Camilla, having torn off some bread at Seig’s side, laughed at his report.

“Ahh, he got you quite good.  You were dropped right into a pit.”
“Shut it, he got behind me.  Didn’t have any presence, either… Seriously, who was that old man?”

“Apparently, he’s a relative of Duke Leilsatz.  His name was, etto, what was it again… Either way, if Jill doesn’t like him, we can dismiss him.”
“No, there’s no need for that.”

Her answer might have been unexpected because everyone looked at her.

“At present, that old man knows this place the best.  We should make him an ally.  All those traps were probably made by him.  Considering this place used to something like a garrison for a knight’s order in the past, I doubt it would have traps like those… Ah, then again the Saber family house also has them, so maybe they’re commonplace…?”
“No, let’s set aside the stories about you family home.”
“In that case, he really isn’t an ordinary person.  He made all those traps, arranged them, used them, and was able to escape from me.”

Now that she thought about it calmly, she considered that he might have simply been more skilled than she was being careless.

“I didn’t sense all that much magical power, but I think he was using it in a specialized way, like erasing his own presence or for deception.”
“Sounds like catching him will be a pain.”
“But it’s worth doing.  He may also have seen something regarding the secret meetings of the First Empress.”
“No objections here.  I’m definitely going to catch that old geezer.”

Seig grinned as though he had found a worthy rival.  Camila set down her tableware and placed a hand on her chest.

“I’m on board too, our Dragon Consort Highness. Jill-chan coming and going from here too often is likely to invite troublesome rumors, after all. People might think she’s spending time around the Dragon Burial Flower Field.”
“Eh?  Is that a problem?”

Jill and her dragon knights exchanged glances at Hades’ blank and puzzled expression.

That’s right, as it started with the Dragon Consort from three hundred years ago, not even Rave-sama knows about this.

And Hades, having never visited the inner palace, probably had not heard such stories either.  It was also possible that no one wanted to pass along rumors that insulted the Dragon God.

The perceptive Camila casually relayed what she had heard from Natalie.  Hades’ eyes opened wide, then spoke with a smile.

“Let’s burn down that entire flower field.”
“You can’t!  The investigation into the First Empress’ secret meetings would be completely ruined!  Besides, I want to use those flowers for a flower crown if possible.”
“But if even just a rumor about Jill being unfaithful were to start spreading, I wouldn’t be able to go on living…!”
“Please don’t die over a mere rumor.  A Dragon Emperor burning flowers connected to dragons would be unacceptable!”

“Indeed.  Those are the one and only flowers in Rave that bloom through magic power.”

Jill froze at that voice that came from beside them.

“The only flowers in Rave—where the blessing of the goddess upon the earth was rejected—that were permitted to bloom through magic power.  They’re flowers that go against reason.  Their very existence is unimaginably precious, and you would burn them over the reputation of some puny girl?  How sacrilegious.”

Hades, Camila, and Seig were left staring, none of them moved.  Slowly, very slowly, Jill carefully turned around.

The man had boldly occupied in an empty seat at the table.  He grabbed some bread from the serving basket while scooping the remaining stew from the pot to his mouth.

“There are any number of ways to deal with it.  Honestly, this is why… This is amazing.”
“…Sei—”
“To begin with, no one else has the right to decide my future.  Really, how can you discuss it while acting as though all decision-making authority belongs to you?  Mu, this is rather good, dipped in the soup.”
“Seize him— — — — — — —!”

Seig and Camilla sprang into action at Jill’s command.

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