“Miko has been chosen as Tiamat’s Proxy?!”

A shout echoed in the ceremonial halls.

Miko stood there in misbelief, as a holy light shone upon him. He immediately started to recall how this had happened.

It was a little after Momo had met up with him. The two of them decided to return to the city and prepare for the ceremony that was later in the evening.

“Seriously, we should give it up already. Tiamat clearly doesn’t want to take part in this stupid game for the throne. That’s why she hasn’t chosen a single Proxy since the implementation of the system.”

Miko said while heading towards the city with Momo from the rural areas.

“We insisting on making every member of the clan do a ceremony of worship when they reach 15 in hopes of her choosing one of us, is plainly stupid and insane if you ask me.”

“Complaining will do no good. We all had to do it, so you should too.”

Momo replied.

“If you don’t, I’ll tell Aunty that you skipped the academy again.”

“?!”

Miko’s body flinched when he heard that.

“I’ve already had to deal with you, pissing off my mother would seriously kill me right now. That’s overkill.”

Momo laughed when she heard that.

“Well, Aunty, can turn into a devil sometimes.”

“All the women in this clan are Devils.”

“Well, at least it means that we aren’t weak damsels in distress, so I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about the ceremony. If what you said is the truth, Tiamat won’t pick you and you can carry on with your life.”

“My life as a koala?”

“No, a person, idiot.”

The two then walked until they came across a gigantic city that was surrounded by tall black walls with the design of a golden dragon stretching around it. This was the Imperial City of the Dragna Empire, Dragna City. This city has been standing for almost 10,000 after being rebuilt when it was destroyed during a battle between the Dragna Clan and numerous Higher Beings.

“Ah, Princess Momo.”

There were some guards who greeted Momo after seeing her approaching the gate.

“Are you just coming back? We’ll open the gates for you immediately.”

The guard then shouted for the gates to be opened. The sounds of heavy locks being undone resounded in the area. Soon, the gigantic gates that led to the city slowly opened up.

“You can enter at will, Princess.”

Said the guard.

“Thank you.”

Momo started walking towards the gate. It was at that moment that the guard, who was captivated by Momo, finally noticed Miko.

“?!”

The moment he saw Miko, his face ashen and his body started to tremble, despite Miko not even looking in his direction.

The guard felt like his heart was at his throat as he watched Miko walk further and further away from him. After Miko left, he fell on his butt as if he had lost all the strength in his legs.

“What’s wrong?”

His juniors all rushed to him when they saw him so frightened.

“D-Didn’t you see who that was?”

The guard pointed in Miko’s direction and asked with a trembling voice.

“Princess Momo of the Dragna Clan.”

“No, fool! I’m talking about the person with her!”

“Ah, I assumed that it was another member of the royal family. She looks so much like the emperor, so that must be the case.”

The guard shook his head.

“That’s a male, and he doesn’t just look like the emperor he’s his grandson.”

“Really? Then we just saw someone that could possibly inherit the throne!”

The young guards suddenly became excited.

“Inherit the throne?”

The guard started laughing.

“That thing can never become emperor.”

“That thing….?!”

That’s when the guards finally understood why their senior was so freaked out.

“Wait….Don’t tell me that’s the rumored Black Beast?!”

The guard nodded.

“?!”

When they heard that, they all felt like they had just witnessed death itself walked past them.

“B-But he looks so normal…”

“You fool! That’s just his human skin that he uses to fool people! That thing’s true form is far more terrifying than that!”

All of the guards looked in Miko’s and Momo’s direction and gulped.

“Black Rose’s Child….”

Meanwhile Miko and Momo were walking deeper into the city.

“……..”

Momo’s hands were trembling as she clenched them. She had heard the conversation between the guards and was burning with rage.

“Leave them.”

Miko said beside her with no expression on his face.

“I’m used to it.”

“But..!”

“I’m used to it.”

He said again.

He didn’t seem to care in the least as he kept walking. Seeing that, Momo decided to let it go and walked beside him. However, it didn’t take long before her anger was reignited.

“Is that?”

“Yeah, the Cursed Dragna.”

“It’s the Black Beast…”

“The monster who turned all the roses in the country black with his birth….”

“The Black Rose’s Child.”

“The Dragna Clan’s Calamity.”

“….!”

Hearing all the whispers from the people around her, Momo’s rage reached the breaking point.

“I’m going to slaughter them all!”

She said.

“Calm down.”

Miko remained indifferent beside her.

“I’m used it.”

However, when he spoke this time his voice was abnormally cold and unattached.

When Momo looked at him, she saw that his eyes looked completely lifeless. It was as if he was already numb towards everything.

These eyes caused her anger to be replaced with sadness.

“I heard that when he was born the sky immediately overcast and black rain fell from the sky.”

“Ah, I remember that day. It was really scary. I thought that the world was going to end.”

The whispers continued as they walked.

“I also heard that the wet nurse that helped with the delivery lost her eyesight when she first laid eyes on him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I heard that all the servants that were there, soon committed suicide one after the other. There are countless horrifying events that happened the day he was born.”

“Scary~. Why don’t the emperor get rid of such an abomination? Because he’s his grandson?”

“I heard a rumor that he’s incredibly talented and powerful for his age. Apparently the clan wants to raise him as a weapon to kill their enemies.”

“I heard that he turns into a black monster when angered too.”

“How terrifying. Ah! Our eyes just met, run away!”

Momo clenched her fists tightly as the whispers stabbed her ears like daggers. She wanted to make everyone pay for what they’re saying, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t because she would be punished, it’s just that Miko would be the blame.

Every time someone stuck up for Miko, the people would say that he’s manipulating their minds and making them act like that. They couldn’t accept that people actually loved someone like him, and came up with obscured reasons.

There was also the fact that Miko did indeed possess the ability to tamper with the mind, but that was only on a minor scale. However, that was enough for people to buy that stupid story.

Miko was cursed, that was how everyone including himself saw him. But strangely enough, no matter what he achieves or accomplish he would never receive praise. They all would say the same thing every time-

“As expected of a monster. He surpasses common sense.”

Whenever she heard that, Momo would feel like a hammer had struck her heart.

“Don’t let it bother you.”

Miko spoke beside her again with a detached tone.

“What they say is true after all.”

“But…”

“Also, don’t tell anyone else about this. I don’t want our citizens to die because of something as trivial as this.”

He looked around and saw frightened faces wherever he looked.

“This is why I don’t like coming here in the day. Too many people who can easily lose their lives by the slip of the tongue. Socializing is a pain.”

He sighed sometimes.

“This is why I prefer high places where no one can reach me, and I can be at peace."

He absentmindedly stretched his hand towards the sky towards a raven flying in the sky. After the bird was outside of his vision he brought his hand down.

“Let’s hurry, so that we don’t cause too much of a commotion.”

Momo looked at his nonchalant expression and nodded after awhile. They increased their speed and quickly reached the Royal District where the clan resided.

“Is the old man still out?”

Miko asked after reaching the district.

“Yeah, he and uncle are in their own words ‘Checking out beauties before the wife comes back’. Also there's the annual meeting. So I don’t think that they’ll make them ceremony.”

“The emperor is out chasing women. I swear, we probably have the weirdest ruler and grandfather.”

“I’m freed from their nonstop photo section of me, so I’m glad for the break. As cute as I am, even I don’t need to have my photo taken 1000 times a day.”

Momo said with a sigh.

“Besides, Miko; you don’t just look like them, you were pretty similar personality wise when you were younger. The only difference is that you ‘matured’ over time.”

“While our 10,000 year old grandfather and 5,000 year old uncle haven’t.”

The two soon came across the royal palace that was at the center of the district. Upon entering there, they drew the attention of all those present. Whether it be servants, guards, visitors, or clan members everyone looked at Miko with a negative look on their faces. This immediately upset Momo.

Seeing her upset, everyone looked the other way. She was a core member of the clan and had a lot of authority, despite having her rights to inherit the throne stripped. Pissing her off was a death sentence.

“You have anger issues.”

Miko said while walking behind her smiling.

“I only get angry because you don’t.”

“Me getting angry and you getting angry lead to different repercussions.”

He then spoke with a straight face-

“Every time I get angry, the death toll reaches the hundreds. I don’t think that’s good for anyone. Besides, why should I care about what those beneath me thinks?"

“……….”

Momo remained silent after hearing that. The two soon arrived at the where the ceremony would be held. It was a secret room below the palace. This room had a gigantic statue of a woman sitting on a dragon’s head, made of solid gold. This was a statue of the dragon goddess of the sea, and mother of all dragons, Tiamat.

“There aren’t a lot of people here.”

Miko said while looking at the almost empty room.

“Most people believe that you won’t be accepted by Tiamat no matter what, so they didn’t bother to come despite it being a grand ceremony.”

Momo said.

“My parents and siblings are all out of the country as well because of the annual meeting, so even less people would want to come.”

Miko smiled after saying that.

“Good. This way I won’t have worry about the results.”

He started walking towards the statue.

“I thought you said that you definitely won’t be chosen?”

Asked Momo.

“Nothing is set in stone. Tiamat might be an idiot and choose me.”

Miko stood before the statue and immediately placed his hand on it. This action shocked Momo and those watching. This was because Miko skipped the ceremony to celebrate Tiamat as his god, by bowing down to her and present an offering. Only then can you try to connect with Tiamat and ask her to make you her Proxy.

“Oh, all that bowing and praising the heavens thing….Yeah, I’m not doing it.”

Miko said casually.

“I hate the heavens for making me this way and causing me a lot of trouble. So I will not bow to no god, not even our own.”

That’s when a huge grin appeared on his face.

“I don’t have any ambitions, but the idea of spitting on the dignity of God sure is exciting.”

After saying that, he immediately started pouring his magic into the statue. The statue then started to lit up as if responding to him.

“Huh?”

This caught Miko off guard because he’d never seen the statue react at the ceremonies before this.

“It can’t be….”

He shook his head.

“No, she can’t be that stupid…”

A nervous smile appeared on his face.

“There’s just no-”

(You, I like you.)

A voice came from the statue and interrupted him.

(I’ve decided. You’ll be my Proxy.)

A huge uproar resulted from her words. Miko was speechless as he stood in front of the statue.

“S-S-S…”

He started to stutter.

“She really is an idiot!”