I sent Void unnie to Dad’s office and leisurely left the scene.
Then, realizing I had forgotten to explain the situation to Dad, I ended up blurting out the truth in front of Void unnie, whose face had turned bright red.
“…I see…”
After hearing the whole story, Dad looked at Void unnie with a sympathetic expression.
Void unnie, on the other hand, lowered her head deeply, unable to lift it.
Dad must have felt at a loss for words, as he simply continued to gaze at her with a look of pity.
“…Ahem! W-Well, even I used to give the queen a hard time back in the day.”
“…You mean like how you manipulated your subordinates to the point where they were neither dead nor alive, took away their names, and left them on the verge of being forgotten by the world, right…?”
“Ugh.”
Dad had tried to comfort her, but Void unnie’s hollow response left him speechless.
‘…As expected of the Void Demon King…!!’
To think that she could completely drain Dad’s enthusiasm with just a single empty expression!
There really are a lot of powerful beings in this world.
It made me wonder—would I ever be able to surpass these monsters once I became an adult?
“…Well, hang in there.”
“…Your Majesty, do you not despise me?”
Void unnie suddenly spoke, seemingly out of nowhere.
It seemed that because of the whole “kidnapping law” incident, which had framed her as my abductor, she had earned the disfavor of the dragons.
“I may have disliked you in the past, but not at all now.”
“Rather, I’m actually grateful.”
“Thanks to you handling all of the affairs regarding Elder Nameless, administration has become much smoother.”
“And besides, aren’t you my daughter’s first friend? You should have more confidence in yourself.”
Dad’s every word was filled with sincerity.
Upon hearing them, a bit of life returned to Void unnie’s expression.
Though her eyes were still closed, so there wasn’t any dramatic change, she did seem a little calmer.
“…I’ll try to do my best.”
“That’s the spirit. Someday, even the Elder will acknowledge you.”
“Do you really think that day will come?”
“If he’s worn himself out and ended up in your room, doesn’t that mean he already relies on you in his own way?”
At those words, Void unnie’s eyes widened in surprise.
She quickly returned to her usual expression, though.
“…That would be nice.”
“If things go well, I’ll throw you a grand wedding.”
“…!!”
“So give it your best shot. You and I aren’t so different, after all.”
Dad chuckled warmly.
At that moment, he truly looked like a benevolent king.
Void unnie, seeming to have shaken off some of her gloom, smiled softly and bowed her head to Dad.
After he acknowledged her farewell, she walked away with a lighter step.
I sincerely hoped that Void unnie and Grandpa Hader would work things out.
‘…If it were before, I would’ve been completely against it.’
But seeing how much she liked him, what could I do?
If I had wanted to stop it, I should have done so much earlier.
It’s too late now.
At this point, all I can do is support them until they get together.
“…I just hope it doesn’t end up with some vague lip bump like it did for you, Dad.”
“M-Minho?”
“Hehe.”
As I grinned at him, Dad started questioning me about where I had learned such things.
“…Yuri unnie and Emila unnie…”
“…Yuri and Emila… Haah, what are you saying in front of a child…?”
With no other choice, I betrayed my unnies in my dad’s embrace, looking like a guilty puppy that had made a big mistake.
I thought he would press me further, but he just accepted it.
Since Dad had already been called “trash” countless times by Yuri unnie and Emila unnie, he seemed to understand right away.
“…I should tell them to be more careful in front of the kid from now on.”
“Heeheeng.”
“…Sigh, you shouldn’t learn or imitate those kinds of things, okay~?”
“Yep!”
At that moment, I decided I would keep doing it anyway.
After that, since I was already in Dad’s office, I had some tea and cookies on the sofa and even watched him work on his documents while staying in his arms.
Lately, he’d been finishing work faster, so I asked him about it.
“Your mom helps out with work from time to time now.”
“It’s because Mom is way better at it than Dad.”
…But Mom is napping right now.
“Mom is napping right now, though?”
“She finishes in ten minutes what takes me an hour. She’s probably been done for a while now.”
“Gasp.”
Is there really that much of a difference?
“…I used to give her a hard time in the past, so I guess she improved her paperwork skills back then…”
“ot.”
Wow, what a trash move.
Dad must have felt guilty because he looked at me and said,
“…Minho, don’t be too hard on your future boyfriend.”
“Got it.”
Not that I plan on dating anyone right now.
I’m still too young, and honestly, I feel more like a boy than a girl at the moment, so it’s not even an option.
‘Who knows? Maybe things will change when I grow up and enter the academy.’
Maybe, maybe not.
It’s too far in the future to worry about now.
“But I’m not going to have a boyfriend.”
“…Why?”
“Just because?”
When I tilted my head and looked at him, Dad patted my head.
“Just because?”
“I thought you were going to say, ‘I’m going to marry Dad when I grow up!'”
Ah, so he was expecting that.
That is something little girls say to their dads a lot.
Dad chuckled a little, stroking my hair as he continued.
“But what should we do? Minho has to have a boyfriend when she grows up.”
Aren’t most dads supposed to tell their daughters not to get a boyfriend?
Why is he encouraging it?
I listened closely to what he was saying.
“You need to continue the royal bloodline.”
“…Huh.”
Continuing the bloodline.
One of the main duties of royalty.
Right, if I want to be queen, I have to have kids.
“…!!”
My face instantly turned red.
Because of my past life, I had quite a bit of knowledge about that kind of thing.
“…Minho, are you feeling unwell?”
“…N-No…”
“Really? Your face is so red. Let me see.”
“…I-I’m not red…”
I was dying of embarrassment.
Dad placed his hand on my forehead to check for a fever.
“Hmm, you seem fine?”
“…D-Dragons don’t get sick that easily!”
Hearing my protest, Dad chuckled.
“That’s true, dragons don’t get sick.”
“Y-Yeah! We’re super strong!”
Dad kept laughing while looking at me, probably because my wording was a little silly.
It wasn’t a mocking laugh—it seemed more like he found me cute.
So I didn’t say anything.
My ears just got a little red.
Dad, after confirming that I was fine, laid me down on the baby bed next to him.
Lying in the cradle, I stared at a mobile that hadn’t been there before.
A gray dragon, the same color as Yuri unnie’s hair, flew around alongside a dusky purple dragon and a dragon that looked exactly like my dragon form.
“…Huh?”
“Minho must be really tired.”
“I-I’m not tired…”
“Still, get some rest. We’re going on an overseas trip tomorrow.”
“…Overseas trip?”
Out of nowhere?
In both my past and present life, I’ve never been on an overseas trip.
I mean, sure, I’ve been to the Demon Realm, but that was more of a kidnapping than a trip.
So technically, this is my first real overseas trip.
But why is our family suddenly traveling abroad?
“Where are we going?!”
“Excited?”
“…Yes…!!”
“We’re going to the Empire.”
“…Huh?”
The Empire?
Wouldn’t they hate us there?
I mean, we did storm in and free all the beastkin slaves.
Not to mention, we forcibly annexed the beastkin autonomous region they had taken over and then granted it independence.
Oh, and we also invaded the Imperial Palace and, uh… took the Emperor’s head.
And now we’re going there?!
“D-Dad.”
“Hm?”
“No matter how strong we are… picking on weaker countries is a bit much…”
I gathered my courage and voiced my opinion.
Dad, however, looked absolutely delighted.
“Really?”
“…Yes…”
I had no idea why he was smiling so much, so I shrank into myself and hugged my tail tightly on the bed.
“Don’t worry. We’re not just barging in uninvited.”
“Then…?”
“We got an invitation.”
“From the Imperial Princess.”
“The… Imperial Princess?”
“Yeah. She personally requested that we attend the coronation ceremony.”
Dad let out a slightly eerie smile.
I tilted my head, confused.
Imperial Capital.
The Emperor’s Office.
“…Finally… I’m finally free.”
Inside, Princess Ariel Creia was overflowing with joy.
Some might question why she was so happy after inheriting the throne due to her father’s death.
But for Chlorinde, it wasn’t about her father’s death at all.
She felt absolutely nothing about that.
Then why was she feeling such immense relief?
Because the two parasites who had been rotting the Empire from within—Grand Mage Logan and the former Emperor—had finally been uprooted.
No matter how much she had tried to advise him, the Emperor never listened.
He simply followed whatever the Grand Mage told him, becoming his puppet and committing countless atrocities.
Like setting up a mass breeding facility for beastkin slaves in the underground chambers of the castle—forcing them to reproduce illegally and turning them into playthings for the soldiers.
Even thinking about it made her stomach churn.
“…The dragons suffered a great deal because of us.”
“If we don’t treat them properly when they arrive…”
The Empire had repeatedly used Heroes to disrupt the Dragon Kingdom, and a formal apology was long overdue.
After all, it was the dragons who had effectively saved the Empire.
That’s why Ariel had hurriedly sent them an invitation to her coronation ceremony.
Feels like Minho will be abused again…
Also, premonition for the future?