“Everybody out,” Rhekkraxus commanded the restaurant’s patrons and staff, prompting all of them to rush out of the building as if their life depended on it. Which it probably did. Their rumbling footsteps and panicked breathing as the humanized dragons stared at them only worsened my mood, making me fully believe these dragons were nothing more than bullies.

I took in a deep breath, but the chilly air only stung my lungs. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”

“You want me to repeat myself for the third time? You’re our princess, daughter of our de facto Dragon Ruler of ice, which makes you—”

“Yeah, exactly that!” I shoved the man right out of my face, using enough strength to push him right on his back. The dragonkin didn’t react to me. “I will repeat myself for the third time as well! I’ve barely adapted to Frozen Nest, I barely understand Draconic, and I still have no real idea about anything concerning Miononbolax, but you still can’t get it into your head that I don’t want to get involved with the succession crisis?”

“Flying away from the truth won’t make it better. You’re here and now you have to defend the honor of our home fr—”

“Shut up!” I demanded. “I’ve explained my situation to you. Please, tell me you didn’t survive until your forties without growing a brain. Tell me, please, I would love to confirm this. I don’t care if you’re a dragon and to you, 47 is still the age of a ‘young adolescent.’ To me, you’re a goddamn adult! Yet, here you are, trying to strong arm me with all these pathetic idiots!”

The dragonkin squinted their eyes.

I continued, “If you ask me, Frozen Nest isn’t my home. Not yet. It’s my mother’s home, and I do want to get the chance for it to become my home, but there are a couple of people making this extremely hard on me. What’s so urgent? Huh? Why can’t you give me some time so I can structure my schedule to match this frozen hell? I’m freezing my tail off every day! Every night! The only reason I can endure any of this is due to my evolution and a skill!”

I pulled out my catalyst. “I’m not shivering because I’m using my mana to control the temperature inside my body and around me. Do all of you think this will magically stop with just a little bit of hazing? Forcing me to take all this crap seriously? Why the hell should I, a stranger to Miononbolax, even care about any of you or even the fact I’m a princess? Right now, I wish I wasn’t here! I wish I was back on Altrust with my friends, and all of you are making it even harder on me because I want to be here for my mother!”

I slammed the table, feeling the heat rising to my head. “I got something better to do on the mainland. All of this is a distraction from what I want to do, but because I made a promise with my mother, I’m staying here like the good girl that I am. Want to know what I want from all of you? Stop treating me like a princess; I’m only in name. So, once again, fuck off!”

I sat right down and used a spoon to scoop up a ceviche-looking dish, freezing in place when the taste assaulted my tongue. It was cold, like eating an ice cube, which made it extremely uncomfortable to eat at first, but as I continued to chew it, it quickly turned warm in my mouth.

The fish was so fresh I could taste the warm blood coming out of it, yet the cut, salty seaweed masked the gaminess of it. Some lemon was added for that hint of refreshness, but this really was ceviche. No spices of any kind could be tasted, but I still liked this quite a lot. Eating this one dish already made me crave for some sushi.

“Yeah, this is quite nice. Shay, Beth, come on, eat. I didn’t catch it, but did you order a vegetarian dish, Tasianna?” I said, trying my best to treat everything as normal. Sadly, none of my friends loosened their guards, making this almost impossible to ignore. “Guys. Please. Eat.”

I tried to plead, hoping that I could just have a moment to relax. Miononbolax couldn’t be so bad, right? Dragon culture couldn’t be that rough, right? The fact I was a princess couldn’t have any large repercussions, right? … Why did all of these questions need to lead into a “Yes?”

Okay, I understand your point, Kramps. Kargryx sucks, I admitted, remembering what Kramps told when I first met him in his divine realm.

Kramps finally spoke; it was the first time he said anything after my coma. It did hurt a bit that he only now found it right to speak, but this, probably, was his intention the entire time. The reason why he even asked Aurena for a reincarnator was to fix dragon culture and the fact the dragons weren’t doing what he wanted—to be Peolynca’s defenders.

Naturally, such a random demand for his entire race sounded entirely selfish and negligent of a population’s wishes and wants. Mom, especially, despised Kramps since he caused the first succession crisis with his apotheosis and the elevation of countless ancient dragons into his aides. Not to mention, it was clear Rhekkraxus disliked the Kargryxmor family due to Kramps’s actions.

With all this context, didn’t I have enough arguments to not want to get involved in any of this? I didn’t want another succession crisis, and I, especially, didn’t want to be trapped in the eye of the storm of this conflict. I already had enough to deal with on Altrust, yet, the demonkin weren’t enough. Why were these people trying to drag me into another issue?

“Do you think we’re doing this out of pettiness this time? To test you?” Rhekkraxus stated while still sitting on the ground. His tail was tucked in between his legs. “To send a rank A against a whelpling, no matter if she’s a rank B or not, is already embarrassing enough. This is the second time. Tell me, do you think you can stay out of the succession crisis?”

I placed a hand on my face, massaging it. I tried to take another bite, but I’ve lost my appetite to the point I felt nauseous. “I will speak with them. Princess Fargryneill told me the disposition of my half-siblings. The truth will work.”

“It would if it was a normal situation. You don’t know anything. Your mother has not told you anything about the situation, yet you’re still trying to fly away from it.” His voice was losing power, sounding solemn. “This is my tip as your elder scale and the one who you defeated in a fair fight. You can’t.”

… He’s reasoning with me?

“You’ve finally understood what my lady wishes,” Tasianna, surprisingly, snapped back.

Yet, aside from the rank A and Rhekk, the latter’s posse didn’t stand up to Tasianna’s sudden attitude. They snarled at her, belittling her as nothing more than an “insect” lucky enough to serve me.

“This is the truth, no, fae?” a dragon sneered. “Even in your new position, you cannot hide those wings of yours. You are nothing but an insect maidservant for our princess’s human form. You don’t deserve to be here. At least the wyverns are dragonkin. If you care about her, bring dragonewts in, or scout true dragonkin to protect—”

“Say one more word, and I—” I tried to say, but Tasianna raised her hand to stop me. I stared at her in confusion, widening my eyes when I saw those proud, focused, and unwavering eyes. No anger, fear, or anxiety could be seen in her expression. Was this a poker face or what exactly was she thinking?

“Yet, none of them are her retainers. I am Princess [Hestia’s Imperial Guard]. The only one she had fully acknowledged, yet I am supposed to vacate this position?”

A catalyst suddenly dropped out of the left sleeve of her new sorceress dress. It wasn’t her usual crystal ball she obsessively used a year ago, but an entirely new one. Not only was its appearance different, as it looked like a jagged ice crystal, but it also kept exuding a cold mist like that of liquid nitrogen.

Seeing this, all the dragons took a step back. Their faces and eyes suggested they were afraid of the catalyst, yet for what reason? I was about to appraise out of curiosity only to stop myself when I saw Tasianna conjure up a cyan spell circle.

“Leecher!” The dragons insulted her, but Tasianna kept her emotions in check.

“My lady only deserves to smile without any worries when she sips her morning tea,” Tasianna declared. “Article five: Loatryx and Dragonkin Interactions. Section 17. ‘The announcement of a dragonkin’s form upon approaching a Loatryxian habitat must be upheld until their departure.’ In other words, you cannot transform here. Section 5. ‘True Dragonkin may not begin a fight in a Loatryxian habitat in their proper form, unless provoked by an opposing force.’ The moment any of you transform, then, Her Majesty, Empress Melloxtressa will be allowed to punish you under the law. Nay, the current Dragon Ruler of Ice will be responsible.”

“Yes, good thing you read that law book, Icy Wings.” Vifi cackled in glee as she swung her rapier in front of the table. The air was ripped apart as red lightning followed along her blade. “We already gave our second warning, right? Tell me, our mistress’s top retainer, what should we do when they dare insult the retainer she personally recruited to serve and protect her?”

“Her enemies must be eliminated before they disturb her tea. They have disturbed us, they are not listening to us, and they even used a roundabout way to insult her. What better use of our one year training than to finally unleash it.” Tasianna glared at the dragonkin, almost in a creepy manner.

“A year of insults endured … Can we finally release our anger, Tasianna?” Shay asked.

What the hell did they experience in the year I was gone?

“‘Fly under Her Majesty’s wing. Stay under her shadow for protection,’” Beth added. “We do not need Her Majesty’s tailwins any longer, for our princess has returned. As Her Majesty’s retainers, we must protect what is hers.”

No! They are rearing up for a fight as well!

“However—”Tasianna eyed the still sitting Rhekkraxus—“They are being reasonable. We need not fight. Please, leave, you are disrupting a Frozen Nest establishment.”

Rhekkraxus looked at me, but I was more surprised at my friends’ behavior. All of them have once or twice stood up for me, protecting my pride or self with full confidence, but there was always this feeling I had where I had to fight with them.

Sure, if they were random thugs, I wouldn’t worry either but these were dragons. Five of them were rank A, as well! Yet, here I was, thinking, “Wait, they can take care of this themselves?” Something told me not only Vifi, but Tasianna, Shay, and Beth would tell me to just sit back and enjoy the beating they were about to inflict.

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I guess with the rank As staying in their humanoid form, Vifi alone could probably threaten them with her arsenal. Tasianna is stronger than a rank B monster, and this isn’t even including the twins.

This thought caused curiosity.

I want to see them fight.

Once again, that competitive drive awakened. Hearing about all the things they’ve done during the year I’ve been in coma wasn’t enough any longer. I had to see them!

Should I escalate this into an actual fight? I thought, but kept my cool, instead, I directed my attention back to Rhekk.

He was sighing. “‘Third time’s the charm,’ was it? If pressuring and threatening you doesn’t work, then I’ll try to act like those humanoids you seem to like so much. You cannot run from the succession crisis. You must become stronger. Do you think your half-siblings will truly not involve you? Can you truly say that without a shred of doubt?”

I couldn’t.

“You can’t because, just like the kirin princess, you did not experience everything that has been building up until this succession crisis. It wasn’t supposed to happen any time soon with the emperor being in good health, but do you know why it’s a ‘crisis,’ now?” He pointed at me. “It’s because Her Majesty reported your arrival on Kargryx.”

“Me?”

“Being the daughter of the strongest ice dragon makes you our princess. The ice dragon flight only listens to you. The news of your feats from Altrust have spread on Kargryx because we were curious about you. The holy dragon flight does not have an heir they support, but you are a holy dragon and are a Champion of Aurena,” he clarified with the same info Mom gave me. “Two flights will surely support your claim against the others. You can ask the holy dragon their reason, but I just told you what ours is. We do not want another ‘Kargryxmor’ ruling over us. We want a ‘Nordor.’ We want someone with the blood of a Frozen Nest-native. We will not tuck our tails and share scales with the killer of Thalaxarus!”

“Haven’t you said enough?”

A voice entered from the front door, where I saw three dragonewts leaning against the door. Instead of wings, they all had longer whiskers, fins, and shimmering scales. Their horns were smaller and less prominent than any of the dragons here, yet their looks were far more intimidating than even Rhekk’s.

At the same time, all of them smelled like true dragonkin. These weren’t dragonewts or levianewts. These were humanoid leviathans.

“Remain outside,” one of the rank A ice dragons snarled, causing the three, still wet, leviathans to smile and back off as if they were teasing them. “We are speaking with our princess.”

“I told you three to give us a moment,” Rhekk growled. “We aren’t done yet. She doesn’t know anything of what’s happening on Kargryx, so go back into your ‘lakes.’ Kleesha’s like you should stay silent and let yourself pickle before us dragons.”

“What rulers would let ‘birds’ annoy them with their droppings? They’d just shoot them out of the sky; let them understand the true terror the deep sea can bring.” The leader of the leviathan group smiled. “You took your time and we heard the commotion. You’re making no progress and we heard our third princess won’t be a bother to her eldest sister, right?”

My sister?

He then turned me and bowed his head. “We retract our fins under a daughter of the Black Tyrant of the Skies. As you can smell, we are leviathans. Actually fighters under one of the three pillars of Frozen Nest, Lord Karydrinos. May we ask, did we hear correctly that you have no plans on joining the succession crisis?”

His words were laced with venom. His ulterior motive oozed through his eyes, yet I couldn’t understand it despite how obvious it was. I didn’t know what to say at this moment, but before I could, Shay and Beth blocked his sight with their wings. Vifi, Tasianna, and Rhekk all stood up and moved in front of our table, not only guarding me but also readying themselves for a fight.

“Can we not get an answer?” the leviathans sneered. “Princess Hestia! Will you stand at your sister’s, Eldest Imperial Princess of Kargryx, Wendriosa, side or will you stand against her like your eldest brother, Kahalameet?”

“My lady, do not give your answer to a random dragonkin,” Tasianna warned me. “This is something you must discuss with your siblings first and foremost!”

“She should give an answer to us first!” Rhekk snapped. “We are her people. Her flight. We deserve a proper answer before those black dragons befuddle her brain!”

“Ha, if you ask me, she should try to pry a proper answer from her mother, first,” Vifi, too, continued fueling the flame. “With all the crap this empire is facing, she deserves to actually know the truth, yet her mother is too scared to say the words. A mother who wants to be seen as a caring mother, tsk tsk.”

What is this? They tried to kill each other a moment ago, but now they’re talking smack against each other? Also, why did Vifi send a stray bullet to Mom and me? Keep it aimed forward!

Seeing all these people revving up for a fight, the leviathans nodded their heads. “We’re outnumbered and overpowered. Nothing to do here for us … But, hey, don’t you also smell other dragonkin? You ice dragons probably can smell it too, no? That charcoal stench of burning scales! Oh, there’s the signal! Bye!”

The leviathans rushed from the entrance as I felt [Foresight] activate, following Hikari activating [Mana Eyes] for me to see a distant red-colored mana signal quickly approaching us. It wasn’t a threat for me, but I wasn’t sure about everybody else around here, or even the building!

Casting [Sanctuary] around the building, the holy barrier cracked the moment three giant flame balls cracked against it. The screams of people erupted from outside, while the ice dragons gasped at the sudden attack. Meanwhile, my party and I rushed outside, where we saw ten red, brown, and orange dragonewts gaze down at us from the top of a building.

Dragonewt guards were rushing into the scene, trying to understand what was happening, only for the culprits responsible for this to shout, “Remove yourselves!” [Draconic Aura] exuded into the area, scaring some while causing others to faint from the pressure.

“Princess Hestia, third daughter of our glorious Emperor, Eltharion!” They called me out. “Do not listen to those leviathans! Your place is not with Princess Wendriosa and her self-serving decrees! Prince Khalameet, the first born and strongest of the Kargryxmor spawns, is the one you must defend! He is the one to maintain Kargryx’s glory!”

What? W-why is this happening to me!

As I was agonizing at this chaotic situation, my body snapped around as I felt a chilly hand touch my shoulder, slapping it away from me. Looking up, I saw it was Rhekk.

“Get back in,” he demanded, earning him a grimace from me. “Don’t you see what is happening? Fire dragons have suddenly invaded our lands. Get back inside and keep yourself safe, we’re handling this.”

“Invading? W-we got attacked, this isn—”

“No foreigner is allowed to enter Frozen Nest without permission from somebody with a native’s blood. The blizzard barrier my ancestor created should have blocked their entry. Somebody here let them in,” he explained. “The leviathans were workers, but these aren’t! They got their eyes on your—our princess! Get your retainers to get you to safety, we’ll deal with this.”

“This involves me, what do you even mean you have to deal with this? If you’re saying they’re here for me, then we can talk this out. Stop trying to drag this into a fight!” I argued, but this only annoyed Rhekk even further.

With a reddening face, he scowled at me. “Stop it! This is what I meant with you being ignorant of everything going on our continent! They aren’t asking, they are demanding you to support your damn brother! They’re demanding you to step down from the succession war and to placate us and the holy dragon flight from supporting anybody else!”

“Kriiehk!”

A growl came from my left, where I saw the ten fire dragonewts fly down to the streets. Fire and lava, respectively, seeped out of their mouths before their scales flared up. Some even arched their necks backward, readying themselves for a breath attack.

“Sghuiek rthuusi krohaall rethes shaak!” the one in the front roared in draconic, saying something akin to “get away from me.”

“Rghuuarrk!” Rhekk growled, commanding every single ice dragon to rush out of the restaurant, getting ready to reciprocate the breath attack. He then turned to me. “Remove the barrier! There is no talking; if you wish to settle a dispute, you clip their wings!”

You have to be kidding me, I just wanted to eat sashimi! I thought, to the point I wanted to punch every single dragon around me.

“Lady Hestia!” Tasianna shouted, waking me up from anger. “Your commands.”

“Say the words, and our wings will fly for you!” Shay declared with Beth and Vifi nodding along.

I clutched my hands as Rhekk took the front. “If you wish to settle a dispute, you clip their wings!” he told me. I was still too confused to fully comprehend the whole situation and why this was happening to me, but I understood now why Rhekk was urging me so much to follow their demands. The succession crisis had already begun, and these dragonkin all wanted to establish the foundation of their preferred heir.

No choice then.

“Defend my mother’s home and Iceskale!” I ordered!

“By your orders, Princess Hestia!” my companions shouted in unison, surprising Rhekk, however, before he could say anything, I already had Hikari get to work.

This is our first fight together, let’s do this!

‘Got it! [Aerokinesis] is ready, get going! Full buffs, ready.’

“Kriffiek kllk gaaung!”

“In the midst of the desert ♫

A bright ray of light shines ♫

Pure and brave, that she was, as she walked ♫

Shining bright, all for your smiles ♫

This is me, my music will rage like fire ♫

Open up! ♫

Listen here! Hoo hoo woah! ♫”

[Battle Frenzy (Minor)] [Music Resonation (Moderate] [Stage Fever (Moderate)] [Shield of [The Light]] [Various Spell Buffs] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Energy surged through my body as [Battle Frenzy] raised my senses and draconic instincts. The heat caused my scale-dust to spark, creating a veil of flames while my hair and scales turned yellow-white.

With [Slave to my Love] playing, a wide-range taunt effect captured not only the attention of the ice dragons, but also the fire one, promptly stopping the former group’s breath attack. I then activated [Flash Fire] and teleported right in front of the leading fire dragon by using the flames coming from his mouth as my destination. Catching him off-guard, I activated my rocket boosters and launched myself downward, grabbing his neck.

[“Leave!”] I ordered, before I gnashed my fangs, causing the scale-dust inside my scale to explode, igniting me on fire as well.

Damaged, as I used [Corrosive Fire] instead of my usual crimson flames, the dragons unleashed their fire breaths at me, but with [Shield of [The Light]] shielding me while I had [Solar Core], [Volcanic Blaze], [Drakonian Sunlight Edge], and my catalyst’s, [Heart of the Volcano], [Flame Furnace Aura] skill, I was practically invulnerable to fire attacks.

Still, with three confirmed rank A inside this group, it still singed me slightly.

Ignoring the damage, I cast both [Hydra] and [Quartz Regen], grabbing onto the dragons and using acid to weaken their scales with the former spell, while the latter began shooting quartz outside the city. I then had [Hydra] attached itself onto me before I used [Flash Fire] once again, this time dragging all the fire dragons into the fire cloud above.

Krrrk! I groaned as I felt my right arm completely dislocate from my shoulder. The weight of ten adult dragonewt men with [Flash Fire]’s extreme speed “teleportation” wasn’t a great combo.

Yet, I had to do it once again, this time targeting the crystal-like quartz in the open grey-dirt fields outside of Iceskale. Slamming the dragons down, I then used [Hydra] like a giant tsunami and pushed all of them as far away as possible, hoping they choked and went unconscious from the toxin.

Sadly, among the ten dragons, only four began coughing on the ground, while the other six stood up as mana mist seeped out of their body. As the mist grew into the size of the mammoth I hunted today, I gulped a bit before I started to regret my decision a bit.

Three of the dragonkin took to the skies, flapping their red wings to flank the three giants that appeared out of the mana mist. One pounded their giant lava-covered feet into the ground and roared as they raised their body up, while another was an orange-scaled fire dragon with so many spikes on their back they might as well be a needle bed. The last one, the one I attacked first, looked the most like a stereotypical dragon with its komodo dragon-like build and two yellow-glowing eyes staring me down.

[“You should have this much strength, even as a hatchling, to be considered a Kargryxmor. Glory to his Majesty!”] the front-most dragon said as he reared his head up. [“Take flight with pride, Princess! Youngest tyrant!”]

[“Show us your true form, Princess! I bid you for this honor,”] the lava dragon growled before licking his lava-drooling lips. [“That toxin you produce was phenomenal. Almost as delicious as the ones at home. Better tasting seasoning, though.”]

The spikey one growled with a nodding head. [“A young flame—[Battle Frenzy]; the mark of Emperor Eltharion’s bloodline. Empress Melloxtressa has done well bringing you back to Kargryx. Now, eligible successor, will you lock horns with your fellow siblings and fight for your birthright, or will you share your scale with the true heir, Prince Kahalameet?”]

… Humanize.

[“You can get your answer later on,”] I said before I spread my wings out, now back in my dragon form. [“To be exact, in three days when I go meet my family! Now, leave before I turn you into cinders!”]