“Hey, Mom,” Vur said as he stepped inside of a cave. Tafel followed behind him with Floofykins in her arms. Moonlight shone into the cave from behind the two, illuminating a small mountain of blue scales ahead of them. The mountain twitched and stirred, revealing a pair of golden eyes.

“Vur. You’re back,” Sera said and yawned, revealing rows of foot-long teeth. A tiny puff of smoke trailed out of her nostrils. She eyed the lopsided crown on Vur’s head. “You’re already king? It doesn’t feel like I’ve slept for that long.”

Vur nodded. “It was easy,” he said and straightened the crown. “Is Dad around? I wanted to talk to both of you.”

Sera grunted and swished her tail. It thumped against a wall of golden scales hidden behind her. A snorting sound came out of the wall, followed by a mumble. “Just two more months.” Lips smacked and snoring sounds followed. Sera thumped her tail against Vernon’s back again.

“Huh?” Vernon’s eyes shot open. His nictitating membrane flickered a few times as he raised his head. “Oh. Long time no see, Vur. Is that Tafel? You’re both less tiny now.”

“Vur wants to speak with us, pay attention,” Sera said as she crawled onto her haunches. Vernon stretched his front paws forwards and arched his back before crawling next to Sera. Tafel gulped and squeezed Floofykins tighter.

“I want to marry Tafel,” Vur said. The two dragons blinked and stared in silence as if they were waiting for more. A few seconds passed.

“That’s it?” Vernon asked as he let out another yawn. Sera tilted her head.

“Yes,” Vur said and nodded. The two dragons exchanged glances.

“Then marry her?” Sera asked as she tilted her head the other way. “Is someone stopping you?”

Vur scratched his head. “No, no one’s stopping us,” Vur said. “It’s just that Tafel said I had to talk to you two first before we could get married.” He turned towards Tafel. The two dragons’ gazes shifted towards Tafel.

“Y-yeah,” Tafel said and nodded as Floofykins squealed from her tightening grip. “Usually the parents want a say in who their children marry…”

Sera snorted. “Humans and their weird traditions,” she said and crawled back onto her belly. “Isn’t it enough for Vur to just kill all his potential rivals? Why do we have to do anything?” Tafel’s face blanched. Vernon grinned and nuzzled Sera’s neck with his snout.

“Is that what Dad did?” Vur asked.

Vernon chuckled and shook his head. “It was your Mom who claimed me,” he said and focused his gaze on Tafel. “Don’t let anyone steal Vur from you now.”

Tafel nodded with her face still pale. “I won’t,” she said and raised her chin. “Does this mean you approve of me?”

“We’ll approve of whoever Vur chooses,” Sera said and rested one finger on Vur’s head. “Does this mean you’re going to hold a human wedding?”

“Or demon,” Tafel said and breathed a sigh of relief. “It doesn’t matter really. It’d be great if you two showed up. I’ll be sure to prepare a lot of food.”

Sera smiled. “If my child decides he wants to have a wedding, then I suppose it’s my duty to show up,” she said and retracted her claw from Vur’s head, “even if I think it’s silly. If Prika comes back from her journey, I’ll let her know. She always had an odd fascination for the romance of humans.”

“Thank you,” Tafel said and smiled. “I’ll send a message with the details later on. We still have to talk to my mom about this.”

Sera grunted and lowered her head onto her claws. She yawned and snapped her jaws shut. Her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep as Tafel and Vur made their way out of the cave. Floofykins escaped from Tafel’s arms and crawled onto Sera’s head. A silver light enveloped Tafel and Vur as their bodies disappeared from the cave entrance. After multiple teleports, they reappeared in a hallway with an oak door in front of them. Tafel took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Mom? Are you awake?”

“Tafel?! Just a minute,” Mina’s voice said from behind the door. Tafel and Vur glanced at each other as they waited. The door creaked open and Mina stepped out, closing the door behind her. Her face was slightly flushed and her hair was disheveled with her pajama buttons mismatching. She flinched as she saw Vur, but clasped her hands behind her back and nodded. “What is it, Tafel?”

Tafel lowered her head and wrung her hands. “Can we go inside? It’s a bit sensi—“

“I want to marry Tafel,” Vur said and wrapped his arm around Tafel’s shoulder. “Please give me your blessing.” Tafel froze with her mouth still open as her face heated up. Mina also froze before staring at Vur with wide eyes. Silence ensued.

A voice broke the silence. “Mina? Is everything okay out there? I suddenly felt uneasy.”

Tafel blinked a few times as she regained her senses. “Is that Dustin?” she asked. She gasped and raised her head to look at Mina. “Were you two…?”

“No!” Mina said and shook her head, causing her hair to become even more disheveled. “We were just discussing about… demon lord things. Since you’re never home after all.” Tafel opened her mouth, but closed it again before nodding.

“I’m marrying Tafel,” Vur said and stared into Mina’s eyes. “My parents already agreed.”

Mina shivered as a chill ran down her spine. She sighed and closed her eyes. “I had a feeling that this would happen one day,” she said. “If that’s what Tafel wants, then I can’t refuse. Thank you for letting me know.” She turned towards Tafel and smiled. “Am I invited to the wedding?”

Tafel paused before nodding. “I’ll let you know the details later. We still haven’t really decided on anything,” she said and scratched her head.

Mina chuckled. “You should go see Prim [1]. She’s very good at planning weddings. I bet she’ll be delighted to see how you’ve grown.”

“We’ll do that,” Tafel said and curtsied. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

“Have fun discussing war tactics in bed with Dustin," Vur said. Mina’s hand stopped mid-wave and she let out a sigh as Tafel and Vur walked down the hallway. She opened the door behind her and walked back inside.

“You should’ve stayed silent.”

Dustin scratched his head.

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[1]Prim was Tafel’s etiquette teacher from her childhood.