Chapter 182

Chapter 182 – Interlude: Maiden of the Peachy Sea

The light diffused through the clear crystal and hit my eyelids.

“…Mhmn~”

It’s too bright.

Please stop.

“Let me sleep a little longer.”

The light caused my drowsiness to withdraw, and I slowly woke up.

Eh… is it morning already?

I just fell asleep a few minutes ago.

Mr. sun, you can rise up a little slower, you know?

Why is the world so busy? Let’s take it easy, let’s take it easy.

“Alice-sama, are you awake?”

“I’m asleep.”

I heard the voice of my attendant, Tesserae, from outside.

She’s a hard worker, too.

The Sea Dragon tribe is always too serious.

I think it’s important to slack off once in a while.

It’s not good to overwork.

“You’re awake. The Dragon King wants to see you.”

Tesserae came into my room, her long golden hair swaying along with her bouncy breasts.

The long silk dress that we both knitted and made the other day looked great on her, and I was very jealous.

I get more frustrated every time I see it.

My mom is so mean to make such a mature Tesserae as my attendant.

“Come on, come on, everyone else is already up and at work.”

Tesserae’s hand ripped off the thin sheet covering me.

Stop it.

I’m cold. I’m sleepy. It’s too bright. It’s so annoying.

“Hmm… what does mom want?”

I scratched my shaggy hair and sat up.

I wonder.

I’m sure she knows I’m still recuperating, but she went out of her way to call me.

“You have a guest. You should greet them.”

“A guest? That’s unusual.”

What could they possibly want in such a remote place?

“Come on, don’t look so immodest all the time. Put some clothes on.”

It’s comfortable and it’s my bed, so I don’t have any problem with being naked.

“Why doesn’t mom just deal with the guests, I’m sure I’ll make a mistake if I go.”

Tesserae knows that.

I find everything bothersome, and I’ll only end up doing something rude and pissing off the guests.

“Alice-sama, please don’t be so selfish. You are the proud next Dragon King.”

“Mom is still active, you know. It will be thousands of years before I become the Dragon King.”

That’s if I’m still alive by then.

You are so kind, Tesserae. You care for me?

“I’ve heard that the princesses of the Earth Dragon and Sky Dragon tribes are already independent. You’re older than them, Alic-sama, so you should be more responsible.”

Really?

That’s early.

I’ve only heard their names, the earth dragon tribe one… was it Ru-chan?

I think she was 200 years younger than me, but she’s already left the nest.

The earth dragons are strong. I’m sure they can do well on their own.

I think the daughter of the Sky Dragon was the youngest.

Well, that’s impressive.

I’m no good at that, aren’t I?

I’m at the age where I just want to laze around and do nothing.

I just want to spend all day long reading books.

It’s just so bothersome.

“Hey, hey, hey! How long are you going to be naked? Please wash your face quickly and wake up! Your guests are waiting for you!”

“Ehhhh…”

Mom and Tesserae have been taking care of all the visitors until now.

I don’t know why this time you’re dragging me into this.

There are so many books I haven’t read yet.

“Come on! Quickly!”

“Okay, okay. Pass me those clothes.”

How annoying, you’ll get old if you keep lecturing me like that.

You’re only four hundred years older than me, but the other races think you’re a lot older.

I pointed to the pure white dress at Tesserae’s feet.

It’s a little short, but it’s comfortable.

“Is this okay? Wait, Alice-sama! Please wear underwear! It’s improper!”

I don’t care who sees me.

What’s there to be embarrassed about when there are only women here?

Or is it that?

Is Tesserae a pervert who lusts after my body?

For a little girl like me?

“Nooo, Tesserae’s perverted.”

“Where did you learn to say that? It’s a matter of etiquette!”

If you ask me where, it’s knowledge from books written by humans and demons.

Didn’t the girls who went to town before buy a bunch of stuff?

Everything from erotic books and phone books to novels and dictionaries.

It’s been a big help since I can’t leave the island.

You know what?

I wonder why we dragons, who have no males, have any sense of chastity.

Ultimately, the idea of wearing clothes is questionable to me.

I wonder why dragons, who are so strong that they don’t even need to protect themselves, have to wear clothes.

We don’t have to worry about the eyes of the opposite sex, and manners are defined by beastmen and humans, right?

I wonder.

“No time to relax! Hurry up and get dressed!”

“R-o-g-e-r.”

What a nag. Tesserae.

I mean, the guests are probably dragons of other species anyway, right?

This island is protected by purifying waters and a torrent that even dolphins and aquatic monsters can drown in. The only ones that can enter are their own people or the demon tribe that my mom invited in.

I shoved my head through the dress.

My peach-colored hair, which has not been groomed at all, became puffy and unkempt.

“Oh my! Alice-sama! You’ve ruined your beautiful hair! If you combed your hair properly on a regular basis, it wouldn’t look so shaggy!”

“I do.”

“This is what happens when you don’t do it!”

The scales on Tesserae’s tail shone in rainbow colors as the diffused sunlight shone on it.

“Sit here! Good grief!”

“You’ll do it? Yay~”

I sat down at a dressing table with a mirror stand that was given to me by the King of Dailan several generations ago.

The reflection in the mirror is of me as a child, having stopped growing long ago.

“You’re pretty cute when you’re like this.”

While brushing my hair, Tesserae’s didn’t stop lecturing me.

“You make it sound like I’m not usually cute.”

“You’re not cute when you’re always complaining and making excuses.”

Mmm.

I can’t say anything back.

“… How are you feeling?”

Tesserae lowered the tone of her voice and asked me through the mirror.

She’s worried about me.

I’m glad.

I’m fine. The rat sage said, didn’t he? He said I’ll be fine for the time being.”

“For the time being?”

Yeah.

For a while.

I don’t know if it’ll be ten years or a hundred years.

What I do know is that I’ll never be completely cured.

I don’t know how long this period of time the sage is talking about will last, but eventually, I’ll fall ill again.

The pain that tore me apart and the heat that burned.

Those days of hell will come again.

“Thank you.”

On the other side of the mirror, Tesseara was looking at me with shadows in her beautiful eyes.

I think it was hard for her to keep seeing me like that.

Even so, she never left me and nursed me all this time.

That’s why I love her.

“… No, I can’t do anything for you. I can’t do anything for Alice-sama, who is in so much pain.”

Still, I honestly appreciate that you’re worried about me.

The other daughters of the Sea Dragon tribe, and my mom, too.

I am blessed to be surrounded by people who love me so much, and I am able to live my life peacefully.

That’s why I’m going to do my best at what I can do.

As the Sea Dragon King, mom’s job is to protect and cleanse the seas that cover this planet, to calm the seas that are dirty, muddy, and raging due to the collision of worlds.

I am too inexperienced, too sickly, and too weak to even leave this island to help.

That’s why I continue to learn.

Knowledge of demons, beastmen, and humans.

I spend most of my time reading books on magic and science, hoping that I can find something useful for my mom from a perspective that she has never had before.

Well, it’s mostly a hobby, isn’t it?

The best thing I can do is to heal this troublesome body, but it is difficult.

Even the rat sage can only alleviate the symptoms of my disease.

The sage calls this disease ‘Spirit Deficiency’.

He said.

“You, like Hilda the Dragon Princess, have a close relationship with the spirits. You are directly affected by this abnormal flow of spirits that is no longer circulating normally due to the world clash.”

Or something like that.

Well, I’ve already figured out that it’s just a trick.

The fact that he’s not lying is what makes him so cunning.

The wind dragon and I have completely different processes and results.

Dragon Princess, Hildegarde, the Wind Dragon, has a completely different body mechanism from the other dragon species.

Because she is so assimilated with the spirits, the concept of ‘growth’ is completely missing from her body.

But even though they don’t grow, it doesn’t mean they don’t die.

As proof of this, the Dragon Princess is the fifth generation from the generation of the originator. All the previous generations of princesses have died very young.

Those wind dragons don’t age.

We dragons are unnatural creatures.

The wind dragons are the strongest embodiment of this.

A life with power and a loss of aging.

I wonder if we can really call it life.

And then there’s me.

I am the most powerful in the history of the sea dragons, able to resonate strongly with the spirits.

This body has resonated so much that it has almost been assimilated.

A cursed body, deprived of the concept of growth.

And then, forty-two years ago, I suddenly developed this disease.

This is due to the fact that it was taken away from me when the worlds collided.

My power, which was immature and lacking to begin with, was forcibly taken away to compensate for the broken world.

That’s probably why I’m already…

Oh, no, no, no!

It’s not like me to be negative!

I’m laid back, I’m relaxed. It’s me to be positive and lazy!

“Okay, it’s done.”

“Ah, my head feels lighter.”

“Your hair was too tangled! Come on, let’s go! The Dragon Kings are waiting.”

“Dragon Kings?”

Why the plural?

“Ah, I forgot to tell you. The guest who is here today is the Sky Dragon King. I’m sure you’ll understand.

… What on earth does the violent Sky Dragon King want?

I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“I have a book I need to read.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

I was lifted up and carried away.

I struggled, but my small body could not stop Tesserae at all.

“No, no, no! I’ve heard that the Sky Dragon King is very scary!”

“It’s just a rumor. It’s a rumor, but it’s not so bad when you meet her in person.”

“You’ve never even met her either, Tesserae!”

“That’s why I’m going with you, Alice-sama! Do you want me to deal with the Sky Dragon King by myself?”

“Ah! So you’re going to use me as a sacrifice! Mother is there too!”

“How can you say that to the Dragon King?”

“Is it fine if it’s me!”

“Of course!”

I was dragged out of my room while screaming noisily.