The Dragon Princess (Part 2)

“Ah, my cute niece! How have you been?!”

Before I could say a word, Olive stormed into our house, ran over to my daughter and scooped her up into a tight hug. Needless to say, Yelena was not too happy and rather confused.

“…Princess Olive.”

“Oh, Alex! Been a while! You look just as beautiful as when we met!”

“T-thank-”

“Marriage didn’t destroy you like I thought it would,” the dragon joked, laughing obnoxiously loud.

We both gave each other a silent look of resignation, before Alex clawed Yelena free of the dragon’s grip.

Truly, time had not helped Princess Olive mature.

She was still loud, rash and didn’t know when to hold back or keep her mouth shut. She was several thousands of years old, but acted like a teenage brat with no manners - not that I’d ever say that to her face, of course.

“Since when was Olive my sister?” I asked.

“Since the day you were born?”

“...”

“Haruki, you okay? It looks like your soul just left your body.”

“…Just your imagination.”

Alex gently rubbed the teary-eyed Yelena’s head to calm her down. “Olive, I appreciate that you understand just how irresistible adorable our children are, but you can’t just grab them like that.”

“Why not? I did it with George and he loved it!”

“George likes dragons and he saw you transform into-”

“You’re a dragon?!” Yelena screamed excitedly.

Oh, right - I forgot.

For kids, dragons are nice and exciting, and cool; for adults like me who have fought them and lived to tell the tale, they’re terrifying.

That said - I did still find dragons super cool, even as an adult.

I mean, who wouldn’t?!

Alex wouldn’t - that’s who.

She doesn’t understand the appeal apparently.

“So, why have you come to visit?” Alex asked while struggling to hold back the now energetic Yelena in her arms. Eventually, Alex gave up and set our daughter down, allowing her to run over and hug Olive’s leg tightly.

“Do you have scales?”

“Where are your wings?”

The children asked many questions as Olive stroked their heads and spoke with us.

“What? Can’t an old friend just visit and catch up?” The dragon asked us. “It’s been ages since we last saw each other and I wanted to see my niece and nephew.”

“Again, that’s not-”

“Mummy, can we ride on the dragon?” George asked, his eyes sparkling like stars.

“Oh! Oh! I wanna ride the dragon too, mummy!”

“Alright, then it’s settled!” Olive put her fists on her sides and grinned. “Let’s go outside and-!”

“Don’t even think about it!”

The hectic day with Olive continued much in that same sort of fashion for hours and hours.

Time passed quickly as it always did with Olive and, before we knew it, the children couldn’t keep their eyelids open any longer. Alex and I went to put them to bed, but Olive tried to help, so I had to stay and keep her contained while Alex tucked the children in for the night.

Once she was back, the three of us went outside with a bottle of wine and a glass each.

“Ah! The fine red wine of Tythe! How I missed thee!”

“Can’t you get it back home?”

“Of course, but there’s a difference in its quality,” Olive said. “Here, it’s fresh, vibrant and tasty! Back home, it’s colder and drier.”

“Just don’t drink too much and set our house on fire,” Alex lightly teased.

“I only did that once to you guys!”

“You burnt the inn we were staying in to the ground.”

“Also, what do you mean by us guys?” I followed up.

“Ah, shut up, shut up! Drink! Smile, laugh, be happy and talk! That’s my motto in life!”

“…And you wonder why your mother sighs so much.”

“Shut up, Haruki!” She ‘lightly’ flicked my forehead, knocking 10% of my HP off as she did. My Pain Resistance skill kicked in and numbed it, but I still saw the number drop.

After laughing and joking for a little bit longer, my wife finally asked the question both she and I had longed to ask since Olive first arrived in Kappen.

“…You didn’t come here just to play, did you?”

Alexandria’s words polluted the otherwise pleasant crisp night air, souring all of our moods at once.

Of course, we’d all known that was the truth - despite how Olive acts, she’s still a princess of a powerful country. It’s hard for her to have a few hours to herself, let alone an entire day where she can chat and play with old friends and their children.

With a small smile of resignation, Olive put down the glass of wine and said, “There’s been some troubling rumours surrounding Tythe as of late.”

“Rumours?”

Olive nodded. “Whispers of secret plans and plots, of schemes to expand the Holy Kingdom’s territory and influence across Lys, by force or intimidation.”

“Really?” Alex was, understandably, much more surprised than I was. “When father last visited us, he told us that there could be an invasion from the south or that a famine could spread across the Holy Kingdom.”

“I’ve heard those rumblings too, but I don’t believe them,” Olive said quite matter-of-factly. “Perseus isn’t an idiot; he’d have had plans in place for decades to repel invasions or stop famines. He knows that, right now, his country is considered to be the strongest in all of Lys, aside from the Dragon Country. Sure, the other nations could outnumber them if they put all their troops, ships and horses together, but…”

“But…he has us.” I finished Olive’s thought for her.

“As long as the heroes who slew the Demon Lord are in his kingdom, he has much more authority than any other leader in Lys. Not only was he the one directly responsible for summoning Haruki, his daughter also married him, making your children his grandchildren, and they are expected to be as strong as you two, if not even stronger.

“If King Perseus really wanted to, he could start trying to bully the smaller countries around him into submission.”

“Father isn’t that sort of-!”

“When was the last time you attended court, Alex?”

Olive’s blunt words shut my wife down instantly.

“…I told him we won’t have any part in things like that.”

“That’s what you told him, Haruki, but that’s not what he’s told everyone else. Or, I guess more accurately, no one else but you three know that. Well, four now that you told me,” Olive continued. “The perception remains the same, annoyingly; the heroes are his family, by law, and their strength is his strength.”

“Ridiculous.”

“I know it is, and that’s why I came to visit. Dad asked if you really were going to take up your sword again after swearing never to fight after the Demon Lord’s death, oh and if you’ve considered my offer to be your mistress.”

“He’s still saying that?!”

“Of course he is!” Olive shouted, leaping onto her feet with great fervour. “For us dragons, creating offspring with the strongest mate we know is-!”

“Olive.”

The air turned ice cold as we both slowly turned to look at Alex’s terrifying smile.

Even the great dragon princess knew fear, and Alex was one of two people that could inspire it in her.

Sadly, I wasn’t the other one - her dad was.

“J-just a joke, Alex, that’s all…probably.”

“…Olive.”

“A-Alex, your hand’s hurting-Ouch, ouch, ouch!”

Ever since I came to Lys, there’s been many ups and downs in my life, but I like to think that meeting and befriending Olive was one of the better moments in my time here.

Sure, she wasn’t the easiest person to deal with, and I always had a massive headache after she was gone, but I enjoyed her company nonetheless.

I did, however, wonder if Olive had realised what I had when we first met.

We were friends, but she was much older than us - and our time was much shorter than hers in this world.

I swore never to bring that up to her ever.