King Thorvald, Crown Prince Azar, and the Marquis of Colchia.

　They were the only three people I could identify by name and face at the awards table.

　As far as His Majesty the King is concerned, it's great that he kept the ceremony simple. Compared to the disgustingly extravagant, flamboyant and lengthy ceremonies of the Ad Astera Empire, I felt less than half as tired.



　The crown prince's first words were strong. As soon as he looked at me, he said, "Present the indigo wyvern. The thirteen-year-old boy prince wanted to make Klau Solas his future horseman.

　The indigo wyvern is one of the most powerful wyverns in the world, and the wild-raised claw solas are far more powerful than any other man-raised wyvern.

　As for how powerful they are, when Klau Solas was brought into the dragon knights' stables, all the wyverns present went silent and pressed their long necks to the ground in a posture of reverence.

　It was no wonder that the Dauphin had fallen in love with him at first sight.



　Of course, he doesn't have a shred of intention to offer up Klaus Solas.

　But the other party seemed to believe that we would nod, and did not doubt that we would nod.

　I don't sense any deep-seated meanness in the prince's words and actions. The words of wanting Crow Solas also conveys that it's because he really likes Crow Solas.

　But the attitude of not thinking that we would refuse their orders is something that can't be helped but be dismissed as arrogance.

　In a sense, he is indeed a prince-like prince with boyish high spirits and royal arrogance.

　Incidentally, this prince failed to say no when he found Duke Dragnaut and Astrid, as he hurriedly walked away from me in an awkward manner.



　I wondered what was wrong, but the Duke explained bitterly what had happened.

　I heard that just the other day the Dauphin broke off his engagement with Claudia Dragnaut, the Duke's second daughter.

　The breakup of the engagement was communicated to the Duke of Dragnaut by his father the King, but the Dauphin was silent to the Duke. He hasn't sent a single letter to Claudia, let alone come to see her.

　I see. Then it would be difficult to meet the dukes face to face.



　The last was the Marquis of Colchia. He is the number two of the Canarian aristocracy after the Duke of Drugnot.

　He claims to be on friendly terms with the Ad Astera Empire, and is said to be at odds with Duke Dragnaut, who has a policy of independence and self-respect, at every turn.


I heard that you are from the Empire. ''I will have a seat at the table in the near future, so I would like to hear some stories about your homeland.''


　The Marquis of Colchia's physique, who smiled in a friendly manner as he said this, reminded me of the number '1'. Thin as wire and high as a tree, he didn't have the warrior-like power of, say, the Duke of Dragnaut.

　On the other hand, his eyes were sharp, and his dusky eyes held a razor-sharp gleam, reminiscent of a freshly sharpened blade. He must be a resourceful bureaucratic type of person.

　The Marquis of Colchia also told me about the breakup of the engagement. It seems to be to distantly convey that the authority of the Drugnoth dukes' family is in decline.

　........I don't have any interest in the political disputes in the Canary Royal Palace, but the knowledge I don't need is increasing rapidly.

　I also spoke with some other count and the leader of the knightly order, but it was troublesome to remember anything else about that.



◆ ◆ ◆



And I want to get home as soon as possible.

Can I help you with that?　Oh, but I agree that the royal palace is cramped!


　The one who nodded vigorously even though she was puzzled was Claudia Duchess Dragnaut.

　The place was the stables for wyverns attached to the Duke of Dragnaut's residence.

　After the awards were finished, I asked the duke to move Klau Solas over here. Because I didn't know what that Dauphin would do if I left him in the direction of the palace.

　So, why is there a sick Claudia in that stable--


I've been feeling pretty good lately, so I'm taking a walk. I have to keep moving while I can, otherwise my body will only get weaker.


　The first thing I noticed about her was that she had

　Long blonde hair and light purple eyes. Her skin is too white to be white on her slender limbs. Claudia looks like a sickly princess, but she seems to have a very active personality.

　Her language is more like a commander's son than a young lady.

　That Claudia was gazing at Clau Solas with sparkling eyes.


It's beautiful, isn't it, these indigo scales. I can understand why your father is so obsessed with them.............um, may I touch them?

You should ask him about that, not me.

'Oh, yes!　Um, excuse me, Crow Solas, but can I have a little physical contact with you?

Pugi!

'There's got to be something in there!　Oh, my name is Claudia. People close to me call me Klau.

Pui?

'You're Clough, I'm Clough. This is no longer an exaggeration to say we're friends!

"...Pfft?


　Crow Solas looked like he was in some kind of distress, but the "same name" tag (card) seemed to work for the wyvern, which puts a lot of emphasis on names.

　He hit the ground with his tail once, as if to say, "It can't be helped.


'Thank you!'


　Claudia reaches for the scales after thanking him.

　The distance that Seal had spent dozens of days closing in on is reduced to zero in this short period of time, that's a horrible child.

　........By the way, is it the dragon knight's blood or something else that allows you to talk to the wyvern naturally?

　Come to think of it, my sister Astrid also touched Claw Solas in Ishka's stables.　



　The wyvern that the dragon knight rides on is basically the property of the state, but as evidenced by the fact that they have stables at home, the Dukes of Dragnaut own two wyverns of their own.

　Perhaps it was only the sisters who had grown up in such a house that Clau Solas felt the same way.



''By the way, Sola-san,''

What is this?

'Aza what did His Highness the Crown Prince say to you?　About this dragon.

You were the first one to ask me to present it.

I knew it........well, please don't think badly of her. I'm a bit foul-mouthed, I get carried away easily, and I have a weakness for coaxing, but other than that I'm a good person. I've always loved dragons and always said that I would become a dragon knight, so when I saw the indigo pterodactyl (indigo) pterodactyl (wyvern), I think I couldn't help but want the arrows and shield.


　After saying that, Claudia seemed to realize that this explanation didn't follow up in any way, so Claudia hurriedly continued her words.


''I'm sure you won't use your power to forcibly call me up or anything like that, so please don't worry about that!

Oh, really?


　Indeed, to see him avoid the Duke of Dragnaut over the broken engagement, "I'll take whatever I want! I don't feel the acquaintance of the acquaintance of a person who is not.

　Such a thick-skinned person would have greeted the dukes without caring about breaking the engagement.


''Yes, that's right!　If the Marquis of Colchia gives you any mischief, I'll have it fixed for you.　Even though he looked like this, he was a better swordsman than His Highness.　And I was better with dragons than you were with me!


　Apparently, the previous Claudia was quite the tomboy princess.

　Thinking about that, the duchess continued a bit rustily.


''That's why His Highness doesn't actually like me very much. The reason why his highness doesn't like me very much is because he likes ladylike girls. I've tried to grow my hair long and change my tone, but it's not something I can change inside.


　After saying that, Claudia looked up with a huff.

　She shook her head from side to side, shaking her head as if she was in a hurry. Her dull golden hair swayed from side to side like a tail in response to the movement.


''Oh, I'm sorry, that was none of Sola's business.

'No, no, I'm relieved to learn about His Highness Azar's character. To be honest, I was wondering what I would do if the royal family tried to force me to call Klau Solas. At that point, I'll ask Claudia-sama to tame the greedy Crown Prince.

Oh yes, yes, I'll take care of it!


　Claudia's expression lights up from her momentary confusion.

　Seeing such a Claudia, naturally my face breaks into a smile.

　The same was true for her sister, Astrid, but Claudia is a duchess, yet she has no place for greatness.

　It's not impossible to say that it's because of Jiria Ochs's debt of gratitude, but looking at the words and actions up to this point, this is probably Claudia's innate character.



　Superior in status, superior in ability. Nevertheless, he treats me as an equal, and he treats me favorably. I'm not a fan of that kind of opponent.

　I'm sure you'll find that most of them have been unfriendly to me.

　That's why you can't help but develop an unconditional affection for someone like Astrid or Claudia.



　-- if it were possible, I wanted to do something about the curse that was eating away at the girl in front of me.

　My eyes show Claudia's abnormality. Her soul has been reduced to the extreme.

　This is just what Miroslav looked like after I had eaten his soul.



　That's why at first I suspected that there were people with abilities similar to mine in Claudia's surroundings.

　However, from what I saw, there is no such person in the duke's family. In the first place, it would be impossible to eat a soul from Claudia, who is protected by her family and vassals all day long.




　Claudia didn't have her soul eaten by someone else.

　If that is the case, why has her soul been so diminished?

　It was because the vessel that could hold Claudia's soul was missing.

　It would be easier to understand if you imagine a tea cup with a hole in the bottom.



　Even if the soul is lost for some reason, it can be recovered. This was confirmed by Miroslav. No matter how many times I ate it, as long as I gave it time, Miroslav recovered.

　So Claudia's soul should be recovering day by day as well.

　However, if the amount of spillover is greater than the amount of recovery, the contents of the vessel will diminish, the reasoning goes.



　Perhaps this is the true nature of the curse that consumes Claudia. All of the physical and mental abnormalities are merely the aftermath of the depletion of the soul. This also explains why even if he recovers temporarily with a miracle or panacea, his symptoms will soon return.

　If you continue as you are now, your soul will not be far from being depleted. In order to make it completely healed, the hole in the bottom of the vessel must be closed up - or else.


　I didn't know how to do that.

　All I could do was eat it. I can't fix it.


　Then I should ask for the wisdom of others, but to begin with, all of this soul stuff is about my senses. I'm just applying existing words to my senses.

　How am I supposed to explain such things to others? I can't just eat a soul for the sake of it.


　Besides, there is one thing I heard from Lunamaria along the way. If the same source (anima), an illusory species, is even affecting my flesh and blood, I can't let others know about it.

　My future as a guinea pig is assured.

　On the other hand, I don't want to use that as an excuse to turn a blind eye to Claudia's abnormalities.




　Oh, my God, what should I do!

　Why don't you just mix my blood and spirit with the advanced healing potion and have Claudia drink it? It might work better than you think.

　Lunamaria and Seal said that their physical abilities have improved dramatically after being held by me.

　It doesn't seem to work on their soulfulness since their levels haven't increased, but it could be at least a replacement for the elixir (elixir).

　However, this is not a fundamental solution to the problem.

　How do we stop the leakage of souls, which is the most important thing?　


　-- In this case, the only thing left to do was to pour my soul into Claudia.


　Of course, I've never tried such a thing before. I've never even thought about trying it.

　So I don't know if I can do it, and even if I did, it's still unclear what would happen to Claudia.

　Pouring a large amount of souls into it could break the vessel instead.

　Besides, in order to pour out a soul, you need to put your lips together, so you can't just try it out for a while. If I said that, Duke Dragnaut would kill me.



　That's right. Let's try one thing here, Lunamaria - no, let's go back to Ishka and try it in Miroslav.

　If I succeed in Miroslav, I'll pontoon back to King's Landing and persuade Duke Dragnaut - I'm not confident that I can do it, so I'll sneak in at night and attack the young lady in her sleep. If we decide to do that, we must establish a route of entry while we're at it.

　



　While thinking about this, I returned to the mansion with Claudia. The one who greeted me was a group of maids with worried faces.

　The reason why Claudia didn't take her valet with her was apparently to keep Clau Solas from getting excited. Yeah, she's a good girl after all.

　This must go back to Ishka as soon as possible. From the way Claudia's looking right now, I was thinking that there was that much grace.



　--I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about.