Click.

The lock gave a soft sound and clicked shut. Standing outside, leaning against the wall, Aya let out a long breath. That sudden heart-to-heart with Lady Mimi about life… yeah, that was kind of beyond comment. Still, she’d managed to clear a quarter of her mission: through careful probing, she’d finally figured out what gift Mimi wanted.

As for the content… Just picturing Her Highness the Princess preparing that gift, Aya pressed a hand over her mouth and laughed in a very unseemly way. Anyway, she was only in charge of intel gathering. The whole gift thing was Tiran’s headache.

Three people left. She had to decide who to visit first.

“Do I even need to think about it? Of course it’s my own little Chirp Angel! No matter what, my own daughter’s definitely the easiest to ask! I’m the legendary strongest golden dragon who even handled Mimi! Charge, wroooaaar!”

Suddenly fired up for no reason—or maybe just brain short-circuited—Aya ran up the stairs toward the study, her shoes going da-da-da on the steps, one line short of yelling “Oli-gay!” like some meme.

Normally, when she and Tiran weren’t around, Chirp only had two modes. If Mimi wasn’t with her, she’d absolutely be in the study reading.

Though Aya really wanted to rant about this part too. It hadn’t even been that long since they rescued Chirp from the heart of that mountain giant core, and she’d already mastered the common tongue of the Western Continent. What even was this child…

At first Aya thought she was some kind of Orc variant. But with this kind of learning ability and insane mana reserves—if beast-mark races had this level of talent, they’d probably be ruling the world by now.

Chirp’s study was Her Highness’s private study, in the tower where Tiran’s room was. From here, Aya either had to go all the way down to the first floor and back up, or take a longer route along the upper skybridge.

There were too many people in the main banquet hall below, and she might run into His Majesty. Better to take the long way.

Not being able to use her wings really was a pain…

Climbing the stairs to the skybridge entrance, Aya rubbed her back and sighed. She was used to flying. Suddenly being stuck walking everywhere felt stifling.

“My dearest Princess, when are you gonna undo this damned seal?!”

Stepping onto the skybridge, Aya couldn’t help but shout.

“Who?!”

With a voice full of surprise—or maybe panic—a figure suddenly lunged out and slammed into her. Before Aya could react, she was shoved up against the railing, the impact forcing a sharp little yelp out of her.

What the hell? An ambush? Wasn’t this supposed to be a heavily guarded royal palace? She’d gotten spotted just for hopping a wall earlier, so how was someone attacking her here? Anyone who could pin her down before she could react had to be seriously strong.

But when she saw who it was, one hand on her shoulder and the other clamped over her mouth, Aya went blank. Her muffled voice squeezed past his fingers.

“Your Majesty the King?”

The expression on the silver-haired pretty boy’s face instantly froze. He snatched his hand away from her mouth to hide his face.

“No, no, you got the wrong guy! I’m just a passing Kamen Rider!”

“There’s no way I’m wrong… even your ‘I totally don’t know you’ routine is exactly the same as Lady Tiran’s…” Aya’s face darkened, then panic crept in. Why would His Majesty the King ambush her here? Did he still remember how she’d kicked him several meters away when they first met and come to take revenge?

“You really got the wrong—wait, Little Tiran?” His Majesty frowned, noticing something off. He dropped his hand and looked Aya up and down. “You, you, you—you’re Little Tiran’s new maid!”

“Can you not use the word ‘took’ like she ‘took me in’… makes it sound like I’m part of her harem or something!” Aya’s eyebrow twitched in irritation.

“Uh… aren’t you?”

“…”

Aya fell silent for a moment, then stepped forward, twisted, and grabbed both of the king’s hands, glaring at him with the same emerald eyes as Tiran.

“Of course I’m not!”

“So tell me—did you secretly call me out of the banquet just so I could watch you flirt with the maid, my dear?”

A chill-laced voice came from the right. Aya and Granzon both froze, turning their heads toward that side of the bridge like wind-up dolls.

A very beautiful woman stood there—blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a pure white formal gown. A brilliant, star-like necklace rested on her pale neck. Her entire presence screamed “elegance,” yet there was a hint of playful liveliness between her brows.

And her face… her features were very similar to the princess’s. So Aya really did know her. They’d only met a few times, but this was Tiran’s birth mother.

Guess her memory was doing fine. Aya nodded to herself, then finally realized just how bad the situation looked when she glanced back at herself and the king.

Their fingers were interlaced. The step she’d taken forward had put her right leg neatly between his legs. Even if she’d been glaring in anger over his choice of words, to an outsider it looked like…

A deep, passionate gaze?

“Ara ara, can you explain who that little fox over there is, dear husband?”

Cradling one cheek with her hand, the queen smiled, her voice sweet, her aura glacial, as she slowly walked toward them. Her steps were unhurried, but Aya and Granzon didn’t dare so much as turn to run.

So this was… what they called pressure?

“Oh my, you do look very cute up close. No wonder you could seduce him.” The queen’s smile never left her face as she stopped beside them. One finger lightly traced down Aya’s cheek, then she patted Granzon’s shoulder and sauntered past them, leaving through the other end of the bridge.

“Dear, you’re going to give me a proper explanation tonight, okay? Just the two of us.”

Leaving that line behind, the queen’s figure vanished at the far end of the skybridge. Aya let out a long breath.

“Scared me to death, I thought she was gonna kill me… Huh, Your Majesty, why the long face?”

Seeing the king drop to his knees like his soul had left his body, collapsing into a full-on orz pose, Aya couldn’t help asking.

“It’s over, it’s over, this is absolutely, totally misunderstood!”

Granzon’s hand on the floor trembled slightly. “All I did was sneak out of the banquet to ask her out because I didn’t want anyone to notice…”

“Um… Your Majesty?”

“It’s been so long since we were intimate. I wanted to use this chance… damn it all!”

His Majesty had completely tuned her out. As he muttered in a hollow voice, his whole being seemed to fade into a black-and-white sketch.

Yeah… there was no way she was getting any gift intel out of him anytime soon.

Aya stood off to the side, shrinking into herself, not sure whether to comfort him or not. After all, this really had been kind of her fault. She’d suddenly shown up and snapped his already taut nerves, and then the queen, who was coming to their date, had walked in on the whole scene.

So at a time like this, what she should obviously do was—

Run. Run now.

Doing something bad and then bolting really was her style… No, no, no, this was Tiran’s bad influence. A sweet, innocent dragon maid like her would never pull this kind of stunt on her own.

Anyway, if she could think of some gift that would help smooth things over between those two, that’d be a perfect present. Bingo—mission three-quarters complete!

Too lucky. She’d just picked a random route and advanced the quest that much, and the last one—her little angel Chirp—would definitely be the easiest. Long live, long live!

In a very good mood, Aya picked up her skirt and sped up, running toward the study.

“Chirp?”

She gently pushed the door open and poked her head into the room. The double wooden doors were thick, but properly oiled, so they didn’t make a sound.

Nice. Let’s just sneak a little peek first.

A cute little loli, fully absorbed in her book. Her tiny body and that thick tome made a striking contrast, giving off this random fairy-tale vibe. Yeah, that kind of scene was so rewatchable.

…Huh? Nobody?

Aya pushed the door all the way open and confirmed there was no one by the desk. But the open book on the desk and the lit lamp made it clear someone had been reading just now.

Emmm… an enclosed empty room, a book left open… I get it now. There’s only one truth!

Like hell there is! So where did Chirp disappear to?!

“Chirp, Mama!”

Aya’s shoulders dipped under a sudden weight, and a soft, sweet voice sounded behind her, nearly making her jump out of her skin.

“Why’d you jump down from up there?” She helplessly reached both hands behind her, grabbed the beast-eared loli clinging to her back, and swung her around upside down to the front, half laughing, half crying.

“Because I smelled Mama, so I wanted to scare Mama!”

That nose though… She might not be beast-marked, but she was definitely related to them somehow, right? Also, little Angel Chirp, you’ve changed. Since when did “scaring people” become a plan?

“It’s because Papa and Mama go out playing by yourselves every day. The only one who keeps Chirp company is Big Sister Mimi!”

Chirp shook her little fists, cheeks puffed up in protest.

“Sorry…” Aya’s momentum instantly tanked. She felt guilty, but there really wasn’t much she could do. Everyone knew what that princess’s hobbies were. Aya had even seen stuff like “Girl’s Education: First-Print Limited Edition,” a manga so bad she’d almost called the cops for the sake of her daughter’s lifelong safety and had Tiran locked up.

Good at nothing, number one at “refining copper,” huh? The princess had solemnly told her she was only appreciating the art and composition with a pure heart, but who would believe that? Even if it was true, she still couldn’t let Chirp see it.

If Chirp saw that, it’d absolutely corrupt her.

Especially when Chirp’s learning ability was freakishly strong. If she really started imitating what she saw…

“That’d turn into something seriously unhealthy and downright despised…”

Aya couldn’t help recalling the scene of Chirp hatching naked out of that “stone egg” and curling up in her arms. She covered her face and shook her head hard.

“Mama, your face is red.”

“Ahem!” Aya coughed hard and plopped Chirp down onto the chair by the desk. No, no, she couldn’t keep thinking about it. Too sinful. Tiran had already dragged her down; Chirp was still just a kid.

“Chirp, can we talk about something?”

After thinking it over, Aya decided Chirp wasn’t the newborn from the stone egg anymore. She understood basic common sense now. So—

“Um, could you maybe stop calling me ‘Mama’?”

“Chirp?”

Chirp froze for a moment. Then her big bright eyes instantly filled with tears.

“Mama… Mama doesn’t want Chirp anymore?”

“That’s not it at all! I love Chirp the most!”

Aya flailed, trying to calm her down, like a clumsy dad… or mom.

“Right, the present!” She finally remembered why she’d come here and grabbed onto the perfect way to distract Chirp. “Chirp, have you thought about what you want for your Holy Rest Day present?”

“Chirp… Holy Rest Day?” Chirp’s little eyes were full of big confusion.

“It’s a big human holiday. Um, legend says there’s an old man in red clothes with a white beard who rides a reindeer sleigh, climbs in through the chimney, and brings good kids the presents they want.”

Aya put on a serious face as she explained this weird tradition she herself barely understood and that sounded suspiciously like breaking and entering.

“Whoa!”

Kids were at least easy to handle. At the very least, she could ask directly like this.

“So, Chirp, is there any holiday present you want?”