Former Village Girl And The Flag Crusher Prince Volume 1 Chapter 8

Former village girl and the Flag Crusher Prince

Chapter 08: Picnic (Part 2)

A dragon is a proud creature.
A solitary existence that is never overpowered by humans.
In the founding myth of the Kingdom of Kabos, the Holy Dragon is also described as some kind of G.o.d who can bring disaster and good fortune.
What is spewed out of its mouth is > and >.
What is produced from its wings is > and >.
What flows from its eyes is > and >.
And that its apparition can be a sign of the end of the world or the beginning of one.
There is a nursery rhyme that says,
"The King of the end is waking up,
the King of the Dawn and
the King of the beginning is waking up," and it is common knowledge in this world that dragons are both sacred and terrifying.
There's no way in h.e.l.l you could pilot such a creature.

--Well, His Highness Lotus is a man who defies common sense.

"Ahahaha!　It's so fun, Azalea!"

His Highness gazed at the ground far below and said amusingly to me, sitting next to him.

The top of the dragon's back was covered with enough rugs for two people to sit on, and soft cus.h.i.+ons and such were placed so that they wouldn't get tired after sitting for a long time. 

I sit down in that s.p.a.ce, which is enchanted with >, with the city as a view just beneath my feet.

"Wow, it's so beautiful."

I don't have the time to feel that way.
I clung to his arm and braced myself for the next impact.

"No, stop, Your Highness, it's too much!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh."

He paused for a moment, then swooped down, giving the dragon a "light" kick as sign for the next movement.
I felt sick at the sensation of my guts being left behind and something in my chest moving of places.
All thanks to this dragon that has been flying through the air falling, rising, and circling for some time now, His Highness Lotus is in a frenzy and I am in a state of despair.

As I was wondering if we hadn't reached the summit of our destination yet, His Highness informed me.

"Azalea. After these clouds, we will reach the summit of our destination. We'll have lunch when we get there. I'm already starving!"

His Highness rubs his own belly as he says this.
Normally, I would think of it with a smile on my face, but now... I, who is currently watching her short life pa.s.s through her eyes, heard it as something coming from a human being from another dimension.
I'm starving...?　In this situation, you're still hungry...?
I've reached my limit...
At that moment that I was not able to think about it any longer, my body was pulled further downward.

It wasn't a steep drop like the previous one, but a gentle drop.
Slowing down more and more, the dragon finally landed on the spot after flapping its wings a few times.

"We reached the desired summit. "
 

His Highness Lotus jumped down, reaching out his hand towards me from below.

"Azalea. We're here. Take my hand, watch your step and get down."

However, I could not take His Highness' hand.
When I looked down at him, His Highness tilted his head curiously.

"...Azalea?"

His Highness rode the dragon once more and peered into my face.

"Your Highness. I'm sorry---"

I said with the last of my strength as I looked away so that he wouldn't be harmed.

"I'm going to throw up."

********

I don't want to remember much about what happened afterwards.
I was resting in the shade of a tree, having been a bit of a nuisance to His Highness Lotus and the poor Dragon's back.
 

Ugh... my vision is still whirling. It's disgusting.
 

I let out a sigh as I rest my body against the tree trunk.
My head is clearer than it was earlier, but I still can't get the swelling out of my chest.

It's a good thing no one but His Highness has seen this scene.
At first, when I was told we wouldn't be escorted, I was worried, but if dragons were nearby, the inferior beasts and demons wouldn't come near us anyway.
 

Rather it's more rea.s.suring than a poor escort guard and now, that's a relief for me now.
That said, it sucks that we're here for an picnic and it turn out like this.
As I let out a second sigh, His Highness, who had gone to get some water, returned.

"Azalea, are you okay?"

His Highness offers me a water bottle. I took it gratefully and bowed my head.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness."
"Don't apologize. In the meantime, it was my fault for forcing you to do something you weren't accustomed."

His Highness lowered his eyebrows and made a worried face.

"...Isn't the trunk of the tree to hard for you to rest?"
"No. It's all right, Your Highness. Don't worry about it."

I shook my head slowly.
Sure, the tree trunks are solid and hard, but the cus.h.i.+ons can't be used since I ruined them.
I wasn't going to complain about the trunk now.

"Hmm,"

with his hand on his chin, His Highness immerse in his thoughts. Then, with a flash of inspiration, he said to me

"Oh, I wish I'd thought of this before"

His Highness sat down next to me, sat upright, and patted his own lap.

"Azalea. You can use my knees as a pillow."
"............ hmm?"

At first I didn't understand and His Highness said 
 

"Mmm, don't you know how to do it?"

and with a polite gesture guided my head to his own lap and made me lie down.

As I rested my head on His Highness's lap, I had some questions in my mind.
 

What?

Is His Highness giving me a "lap-pillow" at the moment?　
Is it me,your fiance, who's resting on your lap?　
It's not the other way usually?
Just as I was confused, His Highness' voice came from overhead.

"You should lie down a little and rest... a man's lap may be more comfortable than the trunks of a tree."

His Highness' voice is gentle as he says so.
I looked up and saw him and his eyes.
His face was a little red, perhaps because he was embarra.s.sed by this posture.
His Highness said impatiently as I stared at him wordlessly.

"What is it? Is there something that's not right?"
"Oh, no...I was wondering why you're going to do this for me"

When asked frankly, His Highness Lotus replied

"Well, Of course... It was my fault for not paying attention to Azalea's condition and it's a good idea to make sure that you're able to get a good rest so you can recover faster"

His Highness hangs out in a daze.

I guess he didn't expect me to get sick from riding the dragon.
The atmosphere of genuine concern for me made my heart ache.
In the same way, I feel sorry to have acted like that. I should have told His Highness clearly when I was starting to feel sick.
His Highness Lotus is somehow slow to catch up with the circ.u.mstances of others.
It was my job to point it out, but I didn't want to ruin his good mood, so I hid my discomfort and held back.
I should have scolded him, even if he didn't like it.
That's right. The word I would give to His Highness who is depressed is remembering this....

I have to say it.
I reached out and touched His Highness' cheek.
I tell him, stroking his red hair lazily.

"Don't worry, this will be a reminder for you. A reminder not to let the same that happened to me happen to others. I have no other intentions."

So, when His Highness suddenly shook my hand, this time, I didn't flinched.
 

"Of course I will."

His Highness Lotus smiled and my heart skipped a beat as I stared into those sun-red eyes.I couldn't look apart, I was gazing directly at His Highness' expression of maturity. 

Unexpectedly, his belly purred as I struggled to not laugh.

"Ughhhh...."

As I alternately looked at His Highness' belly and face, he began to stammer and make excuses at the pathetic sounds that had broken the atmosphere earlier.

"Oh, no, this is...it's not like I'm hungry...Ugh..."
 

His Highness's excuses were stifling, and the sounds of his stomach wouldn't stop.
At the sound of hunger for the second time, His Highness gradually reddened his face.
He turned bright red up to his neck, even his ears, and shyly turned his face away from me.

"Your Highness"

I get up and call out to him.

"I hope you're hungry, Your Highness. You mentioned it when we were riding the dragon."

I lift the basket, that contained the lunch I prepared, next my face while desperately tried to keep my cheeks from laughing.

"Let's have dinner, shall we?"

Now are you looking at me or at the lunch box?
I'm sure that my thoughts were clear to him because His Highness glanced at the lunch box later to my eyes and nodded slowly in embarra.s.sment.

"... Thank you, I'll take it."

He's so cute!!!

I removed my lunch from the basket, being careful not to let my heart's voice be heard loud.

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