—I'm a Dragon Lord—
Alone in a regal room permeating with the fragrant scent of casia and littered with numbers of empty and unopened bottles of exquisite wine was a buxom woman standing in front of a wall, staring at the reflection of her nude curvaceous body in a long mirror. She raised the right delicate hand of her slender arm and softly combed her golden hair with her elegant fingers. It was silky soft.
The woman caressed her pinkish cheek through her cleft chin down to her breast. The body felt foreign from her touch together with its look and smell. She gently hugged herself with the comfort of her pleasant embrace as the form she had endured for the past decades of her life as the little queen was gone. She dropped a tear, knowing what she had to do for the apocalypse to come.
The end of her kingdom was near and everything would vanish and her suffering would finally end unless the toadman, the emissary of the Sorcerer Kingdom would hold to the promise of his words.
The queen could simply hope.
Barefoot, she walked to her closet and grabbed a white-colored cloth, donning it in her slender body. It was a gambeson with unique customization for the queen, made out of thin yet sturdy quilted linen and stuffed with layers upon layers of horsehair.
Draudillon took a few steps headed for the wall, looking back at the reflection of herself in the mirror. She made a swift turn around and after a couple of random taps on her undergarment, she nodded in approval.
"Is this the end?"
Draudillon asked the beautiful woman in the mirror. She got no answer, she was not insane after all.
A sudden sound was heard. A knock came through the door of her room. She immediately perked up in response, what she had been waiting for had finally arrived. Draudillon walked her way just before the door, grabbing a white cloak as she passed her closet and loosely knotted its cotton rope around her neck to cover her body.
As Draudillon arrived in front of the door, she drew in a deep breath and opened the door, seeing a man standing with a cold face bearing small, thin lips in between his well-formed nose and rounded chin.
Draudillon hummed as she stared at the brown irises of the man with whom she had always enjoyed the company— the Prime Minister of the Draconic Kingdom.
"Y-Your Majesty."
Micard stuttered, startled by the woman he saw as he knelt, offering the treasure of the Draconic Kingdom. He felt nervous, realizing the little girl was no more and now in front of him was the queen in her real form though it was merely a guess since he was not sure and it was his first time to witness the queen's change of form.
"Thank you, Micard. Please stand and come inside my humble room."
Draudillon said as she acquired the big ornate box and stepped aside to make a way for the kneeling man to enter.
"I'm in your care, Your Majesty."
Micard stood and entered the room and waited for the queen's command. It was not his first time in the queen's room, having to accompany her as the Prime Minister, and as a trusted friend, however, now was completely different, he could purely conceive he was together with a stranger.
Draudillon closed the door and proceeded to the balcony of her room followed by the Prime Minister but now she considered him just as a friend and as they reached the wide balcony overlooking a big part of the overpopulated capital city of Lux Clara, Draudillon laid the ornate box on top of a small table beside her and swiftly spun around, facing Micard.
"How do I look?"
Draudillon bluntly asked, thrusting out her chin with a proud smile on her lips.
"Hmm."
Micard put his index finger to his rounded chin and inclined his head to his right and blinked a couple of times, glancing at the queen from her head to toe.
Moistening his lips with his tongue, he repeatedly nodded as he met the blue irises of the queen with his teasing lecherous brown eyes.
"You look... sober, Your Majesty!"
Draudillon groaned in response to the frustrating answer of the cold-hearted Prime MInister. "Of course I'm sober! I don't want to die drunk."
As she said the words in an irritated voice, she seized the elongated ornate box from her side and dumped it into Micard.
Draudillon was a bit disappointed with the uninteresting comment of the man.
"Help me don the armor."
She ordered and stripped off her cloak, revealing the entirety of her curved body with protruding attractive breasts, an alluring wide waist, well-toned slender arms, and sultry long legs.
The cute little girl of the past had become a perfect woman for every man's desire.
The brown irises of Mircard's eyes widened as he gasped in surprise. His queen was beautiful. Truly beautiful but what caught his eyes were the glimmering dark purple scales with hues of silver glints in Draudillon's wrists and ankles including her neck through her rounded jaws.
"A-Alright, Your Majesty."
Micard gently laid back the box on the table and opened its cover, pulling out a magnificent enchanted armor made out of the powerful wild magic of the Brightness Dragon Lord and as he clasped the armor on his sweating hands and held closer to his chest which contained his uncontrollably fast-beating heart, Micard took hesitant steps in the direction of the queen.
"Micard..." Draudillon said in a gentle whispering voice, stunning the Prime Minister.
"Do you not find me attractive?"
Micard furrowed the brown hairs of his thin brows. "As a man, my impression of you will always be the same... you're attractive, Your Majesty." He purred, unsure where the queen was going.
"Then as a man, would you take my hand in marriage? Even if… you're not obliged to as per your duties..." Draudillon asked and eventually mumbled her words as she blushed and turned her back from Micard, facing the warm atmosphere of the capital city.
"Your Majesty?" Micard blurted, hearing the unexpected question of her queen as if it was an unintended joke.
"I said, as a man, would you take my hand in marriage?" Dradudillon reiterated in an impatient voice.
"Ahh. Of course, Your Majesty!"
Hearing the cold but sincere word of the Prime Minister, a dimpled smile escaped from the queen's gorgeous face as she looked at the sky.
"But…" Micard muttered, breaking the happiness of the queen. "Only if I'm obliged to as my 'duty' dictates." He added, emphasizing his pledge as a Prime Minister.
"Right, right." Draudillon listlessly agreed, waving her right hand to the cold-hearted man.
Micard sighed. "Now is no time for jokes, Your Majesty. With your age, I could consider you as my grandmother."
Draudillon inhaled in exaggeration to calm her nerves as if she was an angry dragon and rotated to face the man. "What? I have the blood of a Dragon Lord so I'm still young and with your age as a pure human, you could be considered as a child if ever I had one."
Micard bowed and weakly shook his head, desperately trying to stop the laughter from escaping his now flushed face. "That's not what I mean, Your Majesty. I'm wondering if ever we get married and with your age, is it still possible for you to give birth to our child?"
"Yes?" Draudillon quickly shrugged as she guessed more than answered. "To be honest, I don't know. Wild magic is there if ever we need to… wait, why are we talking about all this?"
Micard shook his head and rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Then Your Majesty, should I give the notice for the adventurers and the workers to mobilize?" He inquired, changing the fruitless topic.
Draudillon lowered her head and pursed her elegant lips as she looked at her toes.
"Inform them of the upcoming beastmen army but order them to stay here in the capital."
Draudillin swiftly whirled her back, holding the wooden rails of the balcony. She looked at the wide horizon from afar.
"The people of Lufhsem are in the full evacuation. Gather those who are willing to be sacrificed. We will make our last stand here in the city of Lux Clara. I didn't revert to this form with no purpose. This body could now perfectly wield Wild Magic."
"Yes, Your Majesty but would his Majesty, the Brightness Dragon Lord, come to help us?"
In response to the question of her Prime Minister, Draudillon solely shook her head. It was her usual answer every time the name of her great grandfather was mentioned as a ray of hope for her dying kingdom.
"Your Majesty, how about the tribes of the Wyvern Riders? We could send a messenger. Surely, they would answer your call."
Draudillon snorted and shifted her gaze, far away in the direction of the northern mountainous region, bordering the Draconic Kingdom.
"If the old man was still alive, surely they would come with a price but his son, the new Esqueterian King is a brat, even sharing the same blood of a Dragon Lord, he has different goals and principles, and helping us is not one of them."
"Such a shame. We are left with no choice but the Sorcerer Kingdom." Micard conceded and loudly exhaled with a defeated sigh. "Your Majesty, we know how the world works, our friends today might be our enemies tomorrow, and if they could effortlessly defeat the beastmen for us as the emissary has promised, then we will have the kingdom back… easily and in exchange for what? A priceless seal of approval. But what if an 'unfortunate' incident like what happened with the Re-Estize Kingdom will also happen in our kingdom and the undead king who massacred two hundred thousand humans in the war in Katze Plains will take it as their casus belli for an invasion, then we will be just specks of dust for them to sweep away… easily."
Draudillon hummed and turned her head, glancing at the man. "What are you implying, Micard?"
In response, Micard gazed at the queen with weighty eyes. "Are you willing to offer yourself for the undead king, Your Majesty? If ever..."
"If ever they would ask for it?" Draudillon prompted with a scornful chuckle. "No… I will offer myself together with the kingdom but only after they have conquered the Beastman Kingdom and the safety of the Draconic Kingdom is ensured."
Micard shakily laughed. "Your Majesty must be drunk, now is not the time for jokes."
"No, I'm perfectly sober and I'm not in the mood for jokes." Draudillon shook her head. "If the reports you presented were true about what the Sorcerer King did for the Northern Holy Kingdom, I will do everything for our kingdom to survive even offering it to an undead king just to acquire the help that our people badly needed."
Micard lowered his head in silence.
"The kingdom has nothing left to offer for our people. We have no resources for them to live well, we don't have enough soldiers to protect them. We have nothing except for an incompetent and drunkard queen who was betrayed by all of the human nations and deprived with all the light of hope."
"It is as you say, Your Majesty."
After she heard the words, Draudillon turned around and faced the man and in response, Micard slowly lifted his head and saw the glaring blue eyes of the queen.
The Prime Minister frantically cleared his throat.
"Yes, Your Majesty, our kingdom has nothing but you are not incompetent at all and as far as I'm concern, the kingdom must have been gone long before this day if not for you as our queen."
"Don't try to comfort me because the word queen ultimately adds insult and raining guilt upon me. Burning my soul every single day seeing the kingdom's situation under my cursed reign." Draudillon snorted. "You're not even willing to take my hand for marriage. But of course, I completely understand... an incompetent queen will just be an incompetent wife..." She mumbled as she lowered her head in bashfulness.
"Your Majesty!"
Micard yelped in response as he tried to reach for the queen but failed due to the awkward feelings that were wildly surging in his heart.
"I… I…"
Draudillon gracefully waved her hand. "You need not worry," She reassured as the Prime Minister stumbled in his words. "If you're lucky, the Sorcerer King might take my life and body and I will gladly offer it in exchange for their help."
"B-But, Your Majesty, they only wanted the seal of approval in exchange for helping us against the beastmen."
"Yes, but I wanted more and I'm not sure if they would require my life for it." Draudillon groaned as she clenched her fist and pursed her lips. "We don't even have enough grains to last until the next harvest, how much more if the emissary could successfully rescue our captured citizens? If there is no food to eat, no ration to give, no resources, and everything needed to sustain life then all we have done was meaningless, and rescuing our people from the beastmen would be pointless. That is why I wanted to offer the kingdom together with myself in exchange for everyone's safety and all the necessities to sustain the life of our people."
"I… I need not worry then..." Micard mumbled in a weak voice.
"Of course, worrying is not a part of you in the first place. The kingdom will survive! " Draudillon cracked a mocking laugh. "And if you're unlucky and the Sorcerer King will not take me, I will change the Prime Minister's traditional pledge of duty but only if we are lucky and survive this… apocalypse."
"But you need not do such a thing, Your Majesty. I'm obliged to take your hand in marriage as your tenth Prime Minister, it is… a part of my job."
Draudillon tiredly sighed "No… no…. I will not accept a marriage unless… you are willing."
Micard leaned over towards the queen. "But…"
"But we are out of time." Draudillon prompted. "After we survive, we can take our time to decide on everything and for now, I gave you the honor to don me with the armor of Sacred Dragon Ivory." Draudillon smiled.
Micard returned with a warm smile of his own and after a slight nod, he deeply bowed.
"Thank you for the honor, Your Majesty."
Disclaimer: I don't own the Overlord Universe.