"Son, is there really no chance we're doing this with as few people as possible?" my father sighs. "I acknowledge your Consorts as my sons-in-law, but your Viceroy has no connection to our family."
"Either she goes or I don't," I insist stubbornly. "She's like family to me."
"We have one vacancy at the table," Nyx saves the situation. "Let the Celestial Viceroy come if it makes your son happy."
"Alright then," he concedes in the end. "Let's meet in an hour so that we have some time to prepare and you can change your clothes. I'll send someone to pick you up."
We ride the elevator together, but we go our separate ways after that. My entourage and I are guided to our accommodation and my father with Nyx head towards their homes. I wonder what a Divementis home looks like. I guess I'll see that in an hour.
"There's no way I'd let you go the lion's den alone, but, gosh, I feel like I will be intruding," Liana laments.
"Li, I really consider you to be my family," I give her an encouraging smile. "My Divementis relatives will either accept you or I won't accept them."
"Fair enough," she laughs and because we arrive at our apartments, she goes to her room to prepare.
"I don't think that I need to change my clothes," I say to the maids because my guards messaged them in advance to let them know about my evening program.
"Don't talk nonsense, Your Majesty, of course, you need to change your clothes," the maids strongly disagree.
"I don't think you can beat this," I touch the crown on my head and add quickly: "Please, don't take it as a challenge."
"We finally have a chance to try an evening robe!" Cien celebrates. "Also, why would you wear the crown for a family dinner? That would be awkward and uncomfortable. You're not attending a business meeting, Your Majesty."
"I have an evening robe?" I tilt my head.
"Naturally, we just didn't have a chance to put it on you just yet," Ayame giggles. "Oh, I'm so glad we packed it after all."
I resist rolling my eyes. No wonder we had so much luggage. I want to turn to Erik, but he disappears in the bathroom. Right, he's the only one who needs to use the toilet from time to time.
"Do your worst then," I say resignedly because I stopped caring what they put on me months ago. I accepted that I have no power over my wardrobe. On the other hand, Gotrid seems excited that he also gets an evening robe.
At first, I don't see how it's different from my usual royal attire, but then the upper materials start to get glossy until I end up with a dark blue over-robe with silver spots that look like the night sky. I'd never wear something like this to a meeting, but the maids are right that it's perfect for dinner. They also take off my crown and give me a much smaller matching hairpiece.
"Do you like it, Your Majesty?" Ayame and Cien beam at me.
"I love it," I grin and inspect myself in the mirror.
I notice that Erik's tuxedo is still hanging on a rack and realise that he's not back yet even though the maids took their sweet time with me. I don't want to bother him in the bathroom, but I get worried. Erik has been unusually quiet on our way back.
"Ehm... Erik?" I softly knock on the door because I don't want to pry telepathically. "Are you okay?"
"Just a sec," he calls back.
I wait patiently until he's ready to come out. When he does, he looks normal, but I can sense that his emotions are jumbled and he feels anxious.
"A new robe?" he gives me a faint smile. "You look so beautiful, love."
"Erik, you're not okay," I shake my head and go for a comforting hug. "What's wrong? Talk to me. Are you upset about what my father said? About what I said?"
He hugs me around my back and clutches my feathers. I want to give him space, but I can't avoid connecting to him when he does that. His emotions intensify and flood my mind. I feel things I have never felt from him before because he kept them suppressed. He might not have been even aware of them, but he is now and it's tearing him apart. I've never seen him this insecure about being the only human among us.
"I'll cancel the dinner," I kiss him tenderly and shower him with my love.
"What? No!" he protests. "I'm not thrilled about it, but they are your family, Ryuu."
"You, Gotrid and Liana are my family," I assure him. "You don't feel okay and you're my absolute priority. Let's have a nice relaxing evening, what do you say? Just the three of us."
"No, I want to go," he insists. "Not because it's part of my obligations as the Royal Consort, but because they are your family and you should get to know them. I should get to know them. Damn, they are my in-laws!"
I watch him as he's dressing up in haste and my heart is aching. I feel his resolve, he genuinely does want to go, but he's pushing himself. It's no use telling him to stop, though, he's very stubborn once he decides on something.
"My modern prince," I hug him with my wings when he's done. "You're so handsome."
"I know," he finally smiles.
"My Emperor, what about me?" Gotrid joins us and covers us both with his feathers.
"That goes without saying," I tease him.
"Your Majesty, Her Excellency is waiting for you with the Divementis envoy," Luviael enters the room to convey the message and sees our feathered cocoon. "Ehm, what are you doing?"
"Comfort cuddling before the family drama," Gotrid jokes.
"No drama!" I whine and untangle my wings. "Let's go," I give them both a quick kiss and pray there won't be any drama.
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Draconia Offline vol. 2
الخيال (فانتازيا)Have you ever loved a videogame so much that you wished you were somehow magically transported into it? Tough luck, this isn't your typical isekai story where the protagonist ends up in a different world. The videogame becomes the new reality in thi...
