“What?! Someone’s trying to force himself on Aya?!”

Aya probably never would’ve guessed that Little Fei had such a miraculous talent for summing things up. And while there wasn’t really anything wrong with the way she’d put it, anyone could’ve guessed that Her Highness wouldn’t be happy to hear it.

And sure enough, she wasn’t.

“Who does that guy think he is, laying a hand on my Dragon?!”

Antikas, who’d been following behind Tiran with Luko on his back, stared blankly as the princess abruptly stopped in her tracks. Then, without a hint of warning, she started shouting incomprehensible things and sprinted off like she’d gone berserk. Completely baffled, he looked back at his wife.

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s follow her and see. This looks pretty interesting.” Miss Luko patted her husband on the head.

“Good point. You’d better hold on tight, then. I’m speeding up too!”

Luko leaned forward, pressed tightly against Antikas’s back, and felt his back muscles tense. The next second, the Golden Dragon couple took off after them at a full sprint, moving every bit as fast as Tiran.

The manor’s weather was a little dusty today. That’s all.

The road to the villa wasn’t hard to find. After crossing the stone bridge over a stream fed by the snowmelt from the last mountaintop, Tiran charged into the garden in front of the villa where they were staying and flung open the front door.

“Aya! I’m here to save you!”

“You’re back already? I thought Miss Tiran was going to spend another whole day playing outside.”

But the first person Tiran saw when she stepped inside was Aya, wearing a robe and a pair of wooden clogs, with a freshly made cup of café au lait in hand. He looked exactly like someone who’d just gotten up on an ordinary morning.

“Aya, are you still alive?”

“…Hey, all I did last night was threaten you with my bathrobe so I could get first dibs on the bath for a few days. Do you really have to curse me?”

Aya raised an eyebrow and said irritably.

“That’s not what I meant! I-I mean, Little Fei just told me someone was trying to force himself on you!”

“Oh, that.” Aya suddenly understood. “If you’re looking for that kid, there she is.”

Tiran followed Aya’s gesture and saw the red-haired girl pinned down by the little Angel’s glowing rings, wriggling and struggling on the sofa like a worm.

……

A little earlier.

When Aya saw the little Angel, it was like seeing a lifeline. Struggling against Doris, she shouted to her, “Little Fei, help me hold this kid down!”

“Oh, right!”

The little Angel was Holy Rank, so her speed was naturally beyond what anyone at an ordinary level—human or Dragon—could react to. And Doris had all her attention focused on pulling Aya’s pants off…

She raised a hand and pointed. Two binding rings of light shot out and fastened precisely around Doris’s hands and legs. They tightened, and the girl was instantly unable to move.

“Huh? I can’t move!”

Unable to control her body while bound, the girl toppled onto the bed, ending up lying beside Aya.

Aya finally let out a sigh of relief, quickly straightened his clothes, and stood up.

“That was a huge help, Little Fei.”

“More importantly, Senior Aya, who is this girl?”

What she’d just witnessed had been quite a shock to the little Angel. Even she couldn’t help being curious.

“Good question. I wish I knew…” Aya shook his head helplessly.

“Doris is Big Brother’s bride!”

“Eh?! Senior Aya? But you’re already—”

“I told you, I’m not! Don’t just declare that on your own, you little brat!”

Even if she was a kid, that kind of unreasonable sneak attack was too much! I could get angry too, you know!

Unable to take it anymore, Aya reached out and pinched the girl’s cheek. Since she was a Dragon, she had to have impressive resistance to all sorts of things, just like him—so it was fine to squeeze a little harder, right?

But Doris didn’t cry out in pain like he’d expected. Instead, she tried very hard to hold back her tears, her little face twisting into a rather comical expression as she endured it.

Why do I feel so guilty…? I can’t bring myself to keep going.

……

“Wow… Aya, you actually went after a kid this small. That’s awful.”

Standing in front of the sofa, Tiran nudged Aya with her elbow and teased him with a mischievous grin.

“Cut it out. You didn’t see how she pinned me to the bed. If I hadn’t restrained her, who knows when she might’ve pounced on me again.”

“Tch, give me a break. How old is this kid? You’re definitely imagining things.”

Tiran spread her hands dismissively.

“It’s true! Little Fei can vouch for me!”

“Senior Aya is telling the truth. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have used force against a child so readily.”

“Even so, you didn’t have to seal the girl’s mouth too, did you? She looks so pitiful like this.”

Tiran bent down to get a closer look at Doris.

A girl from the Dragon race, too? Hmm. No wonder—they’re a naturally gifted race. Every one of them is so good-looking.

“It looks like she’s trying to say something, Little Fei. How about you undo the seal on her mouth for now?”

The girl’s facial muscles were moving as if she were struggling to speak, and her eyes had been fixed on Tiran the whole time. Tiran called over to the little Angel.

“Maybe it’s better not to listen. You might regret it.”

Aya seemed to have an idea of what was coming. He leaned toward Tiran and quietly warned her.

“Regret it?”

The princess looked a little puzzled, but the little Angel had already followed Tiran’s request and lifted the spell sealing Doris’s mouth.

“Are you the fox spirit who seduced Big Brother? Tch, you’ve got nothing to be proud of besides your face—and even then, Doris is cuter!”

As she said this, the girl deliberately puffed out her chest, making her already impressive curves stand out even more.

“Where did this brat come from? She’s got no manners at all! (▼ヘ▼#)”

“That’s why I said not to undo the seal… As for where she came from, I’d really like to know too.”

Aya sighed. The girl had called him “Big Brother” the moment they met, and he had no idea what to do with that. Could she be a second child from his unreliable parents?

…Even if that were true, there was no way she’d meet him and immediately want to get with her own brother, right? That’d be incest.

Wait. Parents?

The princess suddenly grabbed Aya by the shoulder and dragged him toward the door.

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you suddenly doing?!”

“Don’t ask. Anyway, Aya, you need to get out of here right now! We’re almost out of time!”

“Today’s already been a headache. Why are you suddenly making me do something so ridiculous?”

Aya instinctively tried to resist, but mostly he was just completely baffled.

But there clearly wasn’t enough time. They hadn’t put much distance between themselves and the others, and Antikas could run every bit as fast as Tiran.

“Is this the place? Miss Tiran, are you in there?”

“We’ve come to visit~”

Antikas and Luko’s voices came from outside the door.

“Huh? That voice sounds kind of familiar… Hey, hey, Miss, what are you doing?”

It was too late to make a getaway. Even if they left in a hurry, the others would notice—and that might draw even more attention.

In that case—

The princess looked at Aya and at Doris, still struggling on the sofa. A fierce glint entered her eyes.