Apollonia raised an eyebrow at Tafel. “Does this mean you approve of my plan?” She glanced at Vur before smiling at Tafel. “Since it seems like you’re the one who makes the decisions.”

“By plan, you mean the one involving”—Tafel motioned at Mary with her head—“and…, wait. Why am I even trying to hide it? She thought I was a devil coming to kill her. She knows about the plan, doesn’t she?”

“The one where Apollonia tries to take my throne from me by summoning a devil to kill me?” Mary asked. She nodded. “I know about it.”

Tafel stared at Mary with a blank expression. “And that’s something you’re alright with?”

“Yes,” Mary said. “I’ve never killed a devil before. I’m looking forward to it.”

“And that’s how it is,” Apollonia said. “You’re not going to interfere, right? It’s her wish.”

“That’s….” Tafel bit her lower lip. “But does she know about the other part?”

“What other part?” Apollonia asked, raising an eyebrow. “There is no other part.”

“Aren’t you forgetting the human wave?” Mary asked as she picked up a dried mango. “Of course, I know about it. After I kill the devil in one strike, I’ll run away. I’m very fast.”

Tafel’s expression darkened. “You’re—”

“Um?” Mary made a small sound as she reached out for another mango but grasped empty air with her hand instead. She looked down just in time to see Vur stuff the last slice into his mouth. “You did it again! My mangoes….” She hung her head before glaring at Vur, clenching the hilt of her sword. “I’m going to train. Goodbye.”

Vur made a face as he swallowed the mango slice. “Like I thought, mangoes still taste bad.”

“Then why’d you eat it?” Tafel asked with a sigh. She pursed her lips as Mary left the room. “I’m going to follow her. I want to see what kind of training she puts herself through.” Vur yawned and leaned back, resting his head against the back of the couch. He was just about to close his eyes when Tafel grabbed his hand. “You’re coming too.”

“Eh?” Vur’s eyes widened. “Me? Why? Dragons don’t train. We naturally grow stronger.”

Tafel’s eye twitched as she dragged Vur out of the room. “You’re going to train with me!”

“Should we go too?” Mr. Skelly asked Alice.

“Nah,” Alice said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to be made fun of after not being able to keep up with those two. There’s other ways for us to be useful.” She turned her head and gestured at Apollonia, waving her down. “Do you have a library?”

“Ah, yes,” Apollonia said. “I’ll show you where it is.”

Mr. Skelly and Alice followed Apollonia out of the room, leaving behind a woman with blue hair all alone on a couch in front of a table filled with empty plates. Alora blinked as her head swiveled around. “Wow. It’s so quiet. This is amazing!” She curled up into a ball and closed her eyes before chuckling to herself. “I wonder if Dad can sleep with the annoying trio bothering him now that I’m not there.”

***

“Can I observe your training session?” Tafel asked. She stood next to Vur, facing Mary who was standing under a tree.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Mary said. She grabbed a flat rock nearby and placed it by her feet. She pressed her forehead against the rock and kicked her feet off the ground, balancing on her head without using her hands. She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. Somehow, the sword on her waist wasn’t affected by gravity and didn’t fall out of its sheath. Mary took in a deep breath and exhaled, her body stiffening up like a statue.

Tafel tilted her head. “What are you doing?”

Mary didn’t respond.

“Hello?” Tafel asked, crouching down to see eye to eye with the empress. Unfortunately, Mary’s eyes were closed.

Vur walked up to Mary and pushed her knee, causing her to topple over. The empress yelped as she scrambled to her feet, glaring at Vur with glistening eyes. Her lips quivered as if she were about to cry. “It’s you again! Why do you always oppose me!?”

Vur coughed and shifted Tafel in front of himself, using her as a shield. Tafel scratched her neck. “Um, so, what kind of training was that?”

“I was becoming one with a carrot,” Mary said with a pout. Her hand trembled as she pointed at Vur. “I had I feeling I was about to experience a breakthrough until he pushed me over!”

“Wait,” Tafel said. “Becoming one with a carrot? Shouldn’t it be one with a sword?”

Mary shook her head, her hair whipping about. “I’ve already become one with the sword. Becoming one with a carrot is the next obvious step.”

“What part of that is obvious?”

Mary furrowed her brow. “No one likes carrots. Carrots are always avoided. No one notices a carrot when they walk past one. If I can become as unnoticeable as a carrot, then no one will be able to read my attacks.”

“…Are you sure it works that way?” Tafel asked, her voice tinged with doubt. She raised an eyebrow as she took a step backwards. “I was expecting, um, a lot from your training methods, but I guess not….”

Mary snorted. “As someone who’s lost to me, you have no right to criticize my training methods at all,” she said. “For as long as I’ve been able to wield a sword, I’ve swung it ten thousand times every day until it was as natural as breathing. If you can’t even do ten thousand swings, your opinion doesn’t matter to me.” She bit her lower lip as she glared at Vur. “Though I hate to say this, I’m sure your husband knows what I’m talking about. No one can be that strong without going through intense training.”

Vur cleared his throat while puffing his chest out, a smug smile on his face.

“Hey,” Tafel said as she pinched her husband’s waist, her eyes lukewarm. “What happened to dragons cannot lie?”

Vur patted Tafel’s head. “It’s not lying if I haven’t said anything.”

“No, lying by omission’s a thing, you know?” Tafel asked. “If you don’t correct someone’s obviously wrong interpretation about yourself, you’re basically lying.”

Vur scratched his nose. “Grimmy didn’t have anything about lying by omission in his code of honor, so I think it’s okay.” He nodded at Tafel’s defeated expression. “But I’ll ask him to be sure next time.”