by Virlyce
Vur cleared his throat while puffing his chest out, a smug smile on his face.
“Hey,” Tafel said as she pinched her husband’s waist, her eyes lukewarm. “What happened to dragons cannot lie?”
Vur patted Tafel’s head. “It’s not lying if I haven’t said anything.”
“No, lying by omission’s a thing, you know?” Tafel asked. “If you don’t correct someone’s obviously wrong interpretation about yourself, you’re basically lying.”
Vur scratched his nose. “Grimmy didn’t have anything about lying by omission in his code of honor, so I think it’s okay.” He nodded at Tafel’s defeated expression. “But I’ll ask him to be sure next time.”
***
Tafel lay on the ground, panting for breath. She stared up at the sky, sweat running down her face, dripping onto the cold earth beneath her. Her sword lay by her side, and Vur was sitting next to her, munching on a muffin. Tafel glared at him. “Are you just going to watch?”
Vur nodded as he chewed.
Mary opened her eyes and brought her legs down to her face. She righted herself and dusted off her forehead with the tips of her gauntlet. Her hair flowed like red water as she shook her head, scattering the leaves that had piled up in her hair. She looked down at Tafel, her body casting a shadow along the demon’s face. “You gave up already?”
Tafel gritted her teeth as she sat up, clutching her sword. “I was just taking a short break. Breaks are necessary to prevent overexertion.”
“Are you sure?” Mary asked, tilting her head. “I never had to take any breaks.”
Tafel dug the tip of her sword into the ground and used it to support herself as she climbed to her feet, her body trembling. “I bet you couldn’t do ten thousand right off the bat,” she said and bit her lower lip. “I’m just getting started.”
“But you won’t finish,” Mary said. “It’s been six hours and you’ve only done two thousand swings. Even if you can keep up your current rate, you’ll only finish eight thousand. Now that you’re tired, you’re only going to slow down. And when will you find time to sleep and eat?” Mary tilted her head. “You’re half a magician too, aren’t you? How are you going to practice ten thousand spells as well?”
Tafel exhaled. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
“Can’t you draw a magic circle on the ground and teleport?” Vur asked. He crumpled up the paper used to hold the muffin and set it on fire, dusting the ashes off of his palm. “You can skip all the steps that way.”
Tafel narrowed her eyes at her husband. “You’re not helping.”
Vur shrugged. “Just saying.”
Mary crossed her arms over her chest. “Didn’t you want to know how I trained to catch up to me? Do you think I’m going to be waiting around for you to catch up? When you’re able to do ten thousand swings a day, I’ll have doubled that. When you catch up again, I’ll have doubled it again. As long as you try to compare yourself to me, you’ll never be satisfied.”
“I can do it,” Tafel said and bit her lower lip. “I’ll catch up, beat you, and make you eat your words. I promise.”
“You’re like a child telling an adult that she’ll one day be the same age as her,” Mary said. “The sooner you realize which tasks are futile, the more time you can devote to things that matter.” She sighed and shook her head. “When I was growing up, my father had me and my siblings tutored in many subjects: geography, math, economics, philosophy, ethics, literature, music, etiquette. It was to prepare us in case we succeeded the throne.” Mary puffed her chest out. “From the very start, I failed every single one of my courses. My tutors were famous individuals with multiple publications backing them, but they were perplexed by my inability to retain even the slightest bit of information. Once I realized I wasn’t suited for learning such trivial matters, I skipped all my lessons and devoted myself to training instead. While my brothers and sisters spent time learning, I spent my time training. When they spent time training, I spent my time training. They didn’t realize how inefficient it was to focus on two things when they should’ve picked the better one to focus on instead. That’s why I’m the empress.”
Tafel’s expression darkened. “You really shouldn’t sound so proud about being unable to run your empire properly.”
Mary snorted. “You’re paying attention to the wrong thing,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “Swordsmanship or magic, give up one of them and focus entirely on the other. Since your body is already so frail and it seems like you have a lot of mana, you should focus on magic. Why did you even pick up the sword in the first place?”
“That’s…,” Tafel said and lowered her head. Why had she picked up the sword in the first place? “You know, since I have a lot more mana and better mana control compared to the average magician, I’m basically a genius. I had time to focus on learning the sword while still being able to outperform my peers in magic. Wasn’t it better to strengthen my deficiencies in close combat by learning how to use a weapon?”
“When I engaged you in close combat, how much help was that sword to you?” Mary asked. “Instead of capitalizing on your talent, you chose to waste your time learning something you’re only mediocre at.”
“Is that true…?” Tafel muttered to herself. She glanced at Vur, but he was picking his nose and staring up at the clouds in the sky. Tafel pursed her lips and gripped the hilt of her sword. Was the decade she spent training with the Swirling Winds a waste? After receiving her phoenix imprint, the amount of mana she had had increased, but her strength barely budged. Wouldn’t it have been more effective to focus on magic the whole time?
Mary furrowed her brow upon seeing the expression on Tafel’s face. She drew her sword and tapped Tafel’s shoulder with the flat of her blade. Tafel looked up and met her eyes. “If you think you can do this one day, then continue training with your sword,” Mary said as she removed her left gauntlet. “If not, give up.”
Tafel blinked as Mary stabbed her sword into the palm of her left hand. Her already pale skin paled even further as her arm pulsed, her sword drinking her blood. Once her forehead became slick with sweat, Mary pulled the sword out of her hand and swung it at the sky with an underhand slice. A crashing sound echoed through Tafel’s ears as a line appeared in the air and extended towards the sky. Heat flooded Tafel’s body as the air was rapidly compressed and decompressed by Mary’s sword strike as if a thunderbolt had struck the ground beside her. A red line appeared in the sky as the air was set ablaze by the friction from Mary’s swing, but it disappeared almost as fast as it appeared. The clouds above dispersed, causing Vur to let out a small sound. He lowered his head and gestured at Tafel while pointing up. “The clouds are gone.”
Tafel nodded, her mouth hanging open. She raised her sword up to her face and sighed. “Sorry, Chi’Rururp. I don’t think I’ll be using you much longer.”
Mary exhaled as she slid her gauntlet back on and sheathed her sword. She wobbled before steadying herself by grabbing onto Tafel’s arm. “I want to take a bath.”
Tafel raised an eyebrow as she lowered her sword. “Then take one?”
“I’ll get lost if I try to find my way back,” Mary said. “Take me there.”
“You can literally see the roof of Apollonia’s mansion over there…,” Tafel said and pointed at the building peeking above the trees.
Mary pursed her lips. “Take me there.”
***
“We’re here,” Tafel said as she pushed open the door to the bathroom. Inside, there was a steaming pool with a fountain placed in the center with a statue of a two-headed lion adorning it. Water poured out of the lion’s mouths, crashing into the pool below. Tafel raised an eyebrow at the sight. “Wow. This bath is huge. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged by your clash with Vur.”
Mary nodded. “Good job. You’re useful for something,” she said, causing Tafel’s eye to twitch. The empress walked into the bathroom and leapt into the bath, submerging herself fully. A m
oment later, her head popped out of the water, and she whipped her hair behind her. “Good temperature.”
Tafel’s expression darkened. “Um…?”
“Yes?” Mary asked as she sat down and leaned back, resting her head against the edge of the bath.
“Your armor,” Tafel said.
Mary looked down. She raised her gauntleted hand out of the water. “What about it? You can’t have it.”
“No,” Tafel said, shaking her head. “I don’t want it. I mean, why didn’t you take your armor off before you went in? You’ll get the bath dirty. And you won’t be able to wash yourself, but more importantly, you’ll get the bath dirty.”
Mary scratched her head. Then she removed her gauntlets and sabatons, placing them on the floor behind her. She glared at Tafel as she approached and hugged her armor as if she were a mother hen protecting her chicks.
Tafel’s expression darkened even further. “I’m not going to steal your armor,” she said. “Do you want help removing the rest?”
“You can’t,” Mary said. As Tafel continued to come closer, Mary dragged the pieces of armor she took off into the water and stuffed her limbs back inside of them. “They’re mine.” She brushed her hair back with her armored hand and sank into the pool. “Besides, I can’t take off the rest.”
“That’s why I offered to help,” Tafel said. She had watched knights get dressed when she was little. They always had their squires around to remove their armor for them since it was almost impossible to do by themselves. She turned away to leave the bathroom. “Since you don’t need my help, I’ll be leaving.”
Mary shook her head. “You can’t remove my armor,” she said. “My uncle made it a part of me.”
Tafel stopped and turned back around. “What do you mean?”
“You have an imprint, right?” Mary asked, raising her head and meeting Tafel’s gaze. “Have you awakened yet?”
“No.”
“I have.”
Tafel’s eye twitched. “Are you picking a fight?”
“To awaken, you have to be in a near-death situation or driven by rage,” Mary said, ignoring Tafel’s question. “I received my imprint when I was eight. I couldn’t awaken for two years no matter how many times my uncle almost killed me.” Mary sighed as she leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. “He got frustrated.”
“What does—”
“Turtles’ spines and ribs are attached to their shells,” Mary said, cutting Tafel off. “My uncle thought making me more like a turtle would help awaken the turtlesnake imprint faster.” She tapped the armor covering her chest with her gauntlet. “This is my shell.”
The blood drained out of Tafel’s face. “You mean, you can’t take off your armor, ever?”
“No,” Mary said, shaking her head. “I can take it off, but I’ll die. And I don’t want to die yet, so I won’t. I’m happy my uncle used magic to let it grow with me, or I might’ve stayed small forever.”
“That’s not something you should be happy about!” Tafel shouted.
Mary flinched. “Indoor voices, please.”
Tafel ignored her as she stomped over. “Why did he do something like that!?”
Mary inched away from the edge of the pool and drifted towards the center, looking at Tafel with wary eyes. “He was in a hurry,” she said. “It was my fault for being too slow. It’s like he knew he was going to die soon, so he wanted to help me as much as possible.”
“Didn’t you say he died in an accident?” Tafel asked as she stood at the edge of the bath, her hands clenched.
Mary tilted her head. “Maybe he could see the future? He seemed to know everything,” she said and nodded. “That must be it.”
“Did it hurt?” Tafel asked, her voice low. “When he did … that.”
Mary bobbed her head up and down. “When he carved my spine out, it hurt so much I thought I was going to die,” she said. “The near-death situation helped my awakening.”
Tafel exhaled and sat down. “It’s a good thing your uncle died,” she said, shaking her head. She shuddered and snapped her head towards Mary.
“Why would you say something like that?” Mary asked, her eyes narrowed. “Without my uncle, I wouldn’t be empress. I would be dead. He gave me everything I have. How can you say it’s a good thing he died?”
“This is some next-level brainwashing,” Tafel muttered to herself as she retreated backwards while standing. She shook her head as metallic clinking sounds echoed from Mary’s waist despite being underwater, her thumb partially unsheathing and sheathing her sword. “No, you misheard me. I said, ‘It was a good thing your uncle tried.’ You know, tried that to help you awaken.” She gritted her teeth. “He sounds like a great person.”
“Oh,” Mary said, removing her hand from her sword’s hilt. “You’re right. He was a great person.” She smiled and sank into the water, submerging her head. She swam towards Tafel and resurfaced, beaming at the demon’s face. “My birthday is at the end of the month. Do you want to come celebrate it with me?”
Tafel made an odd expression.
Mary narrowed her eyes. “You can’t refuse.”
“I guess I have no choice then,” Tafel said. “I’ll bring Vur too.”
“No!” Mary said as she shot to her feet, splashing Tafel with water droplets. “I don’t like him. He makes me mad.”
“If he finds out I went to a party without him…,” Tafel said, biting her lower lip. She shook her head. “Anyways, you’re not afraid of fighting that devil at all, are you?”
“Not one bit,” Mary said, sinking back into the water. “My uncle used to summon devils to kill all the time. They looked so weak. He wouldn’t let me fight one though.”
10
Alice and Mr. Skelly walked into a dining room, their arms linked together by their elbows. Vur was sitting at a table, stuffing his face with food. Alora was sitting next to him, eating at an equally fast pace as if she were competing with him. Other than a few servants delivering trays to the table and Apollonia sitting at the head, no one else was in the room. Alice scratched her head as she took a seat across from Vur. “Where’s Tafel?”
“She’s in the yard,” Apollonia said. “She said she wouldn’t eat until she finished her training.”
“Oh,” Alice said and nodded. “The empress isn’t here?”
“Her Imperial Majesty is training in the yard as well.”
“Oh?” Mr. Skelly asked. “Those two are getting along awfully well, aren’t they?” He tapped the chin of his helmet and hummed. “But there’s no point in training on an empty stomach. I’ll bring those two in.” He patted Alice’s shoulder before turning to leave.
“I think the food will be gone before they arrive,” Alice said as she reached forward and snatched three plates away from Alora and Vur. They glared at her, causing her to shrink back, before competing against each other for the remaining dishes.
Right when Alice finished stocking the three plates, a portal appeared behind her and three people tumbled through: Tafel, Mary, and Mr. Skelly. Tafel hopped to her feet, her head swiveling around until her gaze finally landed on Vur. “Where’s the emergency?”
“Ah, yes, a terrible emergency,” Mr. Skelly said as he sat up and dusted off his armor. “Vur’s wife is starving herself, and we have to help her eat before she collapses and dies. It’d be a tragedy if Vur went berserk due to the loss of a loved one.”
Tafel punted Mr. Skelly’s helmet and skull off in one smooth motion.
“He’s right,” Alice said and handed Tafel a plate filled with food. “The less you eat, the less effective your training becomes.”
Tafel pursed her lips before letting out a sigh. “Thanks, I suppose,” she said as she sat down beside Alice. She turned towards Mary. “You’re not going to eat?”
“There’s no emergency?” Mary asked, furrowing her brow. “I wanted to challenge something….”
“You can compete in their eating contest,” Apollonia said, pointing at Vur a
nd Alora. The two hadn’t taken their eyes off of the plates on the table the whole time.
Mary took one glance at the two and shook her head. “Impossible,” she said. “There’s—”
“Grand Duchess! An emergency report!” A servant barged into the dining room. “Your clone left a message in your study. The devil’s disappeared!”
“Disappeared? What do you mean disappeared?” Apollonia asked. Her face paled as Mary glared at her like a tiger stalking its prey. “Give me the orb.”
The servant half-ran, half-walked up to Apollonia and handed her a blue crystal sphere. Apollonia peered into it, and an image of herself standing on a knight’s shoulder came into view. The miniature Apollonia jumped up and down. “A black dragon flew down from the sky and caught the devil with a net. Then the dragon stuffed the devil into a jar and flew away.”
Apollonia furrowed her brow as she placed the orb down and raised her head. “Hey,” she said towards Vur and Alora.
The two ignored her.
“Hey!” she said again, practically shouting. There was still no response. She gestured towards the servants bringing the trays into the dining room. “Stop supplying them with food.”
A moment later, Vur and Alora finished inhaling the contents on the table. When they reached out for more, they found that the plates were empty. Vur blinked before grinning. “I won,” he said and patted Alora’s shoulder. “Again.”
A low growl escaped from Alora’s throat as she trembled. “I’m not used to eating with such a tiny mouth!” She raised her hands in front of her face. “And these hands don’t even have claws; how am I supposed to tear my food into bits?”
Vur cleared his throat. “No excuses,” he said. “Here’s Grimmy’s next law: Honorable dragons never forget even the slightest slight. When a dragon is wronged, he must get revenge, but it’s not a priority. You can wait a thousand years or so and strike when the other party least suspects.”
“Wouldn’t an honorable dragon learn to forgive and forget?”
