I ask the Japanese maids to prepare a hot bath for us while Ayala takes off my battle armour and Cien helps Gotrid out of his.
"I love you in a kimono," I try to smile as I untie Erik's knot myself.
"You love me naked, you love me in a suit...," Erik laughs, but it's a bit cringy.
We can't stop thinking about what happened. Nobody can. I can feel that everybody is tense. We're not afraid of humans anymore, not even another missile could hurt us because the mansion is protected against that. We're not particularly afraid of monsters anymore either. But I'm afraid of my father and my subjects subconsciously sense that. They realise that he's a real danger to us.
"The bath is ready, Your Majesty," one of the Japanese maids tells us. "Dinner will be served after that if that's okay with you."
"I'm not hungry," I say. "I'd rather go to bed earlier."
"Love, you know we can't allow that," Gotrid frowns. "Come, you will feel better after a bath and hopefully get your appetite back."
I doubt that, but I follow him to the bathroom nonetheless. Naturally, the mansion isn't an outdoor hot spa Japan is so famous for, but the bath still doesn't fail to impress. Three people can fit easily and even our huge wings shouldn't be a problem.
"Japanese bath is quite different from ours," I stop Erik from hopping in. "We should clean ourselves first."
"It's okay, Your Majesty, there's no way we would be reusing the water when it's for you," the Japanese maid, who was helping Erik to put on a kimono earlier, assures us.
"What's your name?" I ask. I remember blessing her and while it's almost impossible for me to forget somebody's telepathic imprint, I'm not very good with names.
"Dalia, Your Majesty," the maid bows. She has very long black hair, grey wings and all her movements are graceful and deliberate.
I'm way past being embarrassed in front of my maids, but Dalia is new and has never seen me naked before. The fact that she was allowed in here means that Liana made her my new permanent maid. I would get angry about it before, way too many things are decided for me. But, honestly, I don't care about trivialities anymore. I simply got a new maid.
"Come, hon," Erik helps me out of the last layer of my robe. It's not like I need help, but Erik likes doing that.
Gotrid throws our clothes to the maids and masterfully covers me with his wings in the process. Then we're finally given some privacy. I can still feel the guards all around us, but walls give some illusionary sense of enclosure even to a telepath.
We dive into the hot water and I land on Erik's chest. Then I spread my wings over the bathtub because I don't want to soak them. Gotrid starts kissing my back.
"Ryuu, don't fall asleep," Erik warns me because he can tell I'm making myself too comfortable on him. "There's no way you're skipping dinner."
"And there's also no way we're skipping making love tonight," Gotrid smirks and squeezes from behind.
"Maybe Ryuuto doesn't feel up to it considering...," Erik says, but I interrupt him.
"I feel up to it exactly for that reason," I puff. "I won't my father's sudden appearances to ruin our precious time together."
"Ryuu, why are you acting as if this is the last time we will able to enjoy ourselves?" Erik gets worried because it's hard for me to hide my fear.
"Is your father giving you such fright?" Gotrid caresses the feathers between my wings. "You're the Celestial Emperor, the most powerful being on Earth and I'm not exaggerating."
"Oh," that takes me by surprise because I've never really thought about it that way. But... I guess I am?
"You're so slow sometimes, hon," Erik laughs, this time for real.
We enjoy the evening to the fullest, trying to forget about the world. When it's just the three of us, there are no titles, responsibilities, monsters and politics. There's only love.
*****
Morning comes too soon and too abruptly.
"We're really sorry, Your Majesty, but we need you," Cien is gently shaking me. It wasn't the movement that woke up me, though, it was her turbulent emotions.
"It's only five twenty," Erik whines, yawning.
"Is something wrong?" I sit up, rubbing my eyes. Because I'm still half-asleep, I accidentally shove my feathers into Erik's face. Fortunately, Erik is used to it by now.
"An emergency?" Gotrid stands up first, ignoring the fact that he's naked.
"An emergency," Ayala confirms. "Let's get you dressed quickly."
"Battle armour?" I ask, suddenly wide awake.
"No, it's not anywhere near, Your Majesty," Ayala shakes her head and starts putting on me layers of my royal robe.
We're dressed in record time, have barely time to wash our faces at least and in just a few minutes, we're in the throne room. Celestials are pouring inside and there's a nervous flutter of countless wings. Liana is here already, her expression grim.
"A new monster has been spotted in three different places in the last four hours, Your Majesty," Vermiel positions a 3D projector in the middle of the room and shows us footage.
"It's a wyvern," Gotrid gasps for breath and adds just for Erik: "A level 30 beast."
"What's the average level of Draconians at the moment?" Liana asks Luviael.
"The average level is 18, but our battle units consist of warriors with an average level of 25," Luviael reports. "There's a five-level difference, but we have strength in numbers."
"Not in all countries," Vermiel says and shows us footage from Spain, Vietnam and Colorado.
I clutch the handles of my throne. The wyvern in Spain has been slain without any casualties, but countless people were injured and a whole city block was badly damaged. The fight in Vietnam had twenty-six casualties because the monster appeared in a highly-populated area, but the beast was killed rather quickly. As for Colorado...
"It's still on the loose?! When did the rift open?" I ask, horrified by the carnage it has done so far.
"Thirty minutes ago," Vermiel informs. "Because we don't have any battle units in the States, or rather we don't have any Draconians there at all, the President called for the army."
"Where are they then?" I don't understand.
"Still getting there, Your Majesty," Vermiel bites his lip. "I didn't happen near any military bases and the local police couldn't do anything."
"Maybe they will finally see why cooperating with us is a necessity," Gavreel clicks his tongue.
"Not at this price," I give him a wrathful look, so he shuts up immediately, but most Celestials gathered here have the same opinion on the matter.
The police drone finally finds the wyvern which took roost on the roof of one of the high buildings and, fortunately, isn't doing anything for a while. It looks confused by where it has emerged.
The army finally makes their grand entrance, but it couldn't be more obvious that they simply aren't equipped and trained to fight monsters. The helicopters are too slow in their turns while the agitated wyvern isn't, so they miss more often than not. Because machine guns aren't harming the wyvern much, they are forced to switch to rockets which is never good in a populated area.
The first two rockets miss because the wyvern is simply too quick and evades them, but the third finally hits and the wyvern starts falling down, damaging the building in the process and I can only hope there isn't anyone standing below. Americans managed to kill their first beast without Draconian help, but there will be many casualties.
"Your Majesty, the race rulers are calling," Luviael announces.
"Connect them," I nod.
Holographic projections of Deminas, Emi, Twyla and even Werden, who looks recovered enough, appear in the middle of the room.
"We demand those dead wyverns for research purposes," Twyla blurts out without any greeting.
"The Dragonkin need their skin and bones for crafting," Deminas grunts. "It will benefit all races in the end."
"Our research will also benefit all races," Twyla insists.
I frown. Did they call just to argue over new resources? Do they feel nothing towards humans who lost their lives?
"What about our battle units? Was anyone injured?" I ask.
"Six Draconians lightly injured, two more seriously," Werden says. "Our people are tending their wounds as we speak."
"I'm afraid you will have to decide, Aefener," Emi sighs. "The Dragonkin and the Earthborn will never find a reasonable compromise when it comes to biological resources. On the other hand, Celestials are neutral in the matter, you're not interested in monster loot."
"We have to trust each other and cooperate," I say firmly. "I suggest we let the Earthborn do their job first because we need those samples fresh, but everything that remains can go to the Dragonkin. Clawfangs can help with the transport and oversee the process. My people will focus on damage control and after-battle evaluation."
It seems everybody is pretty content with my suggestion. Are Celestials really a neutral party here? Or is this just their excuse to push all responsibility on me again? I hope they won't start considering me to be the Draconian Emperor for real. It's supposed to be a purely representative function when it comes to human-Draconian political relations.
"Our battle units proved highly effective even when fighting a foe above their level," Deminas reports proudly.
"Don't forget that we had three attacks in just four hours," I point out because it's too early to celebrate. "We might have a problem with keeping up should monster attacks become this frequent."
"We have battle units in all cities of allied countries, they will finally have a chance to earn their pay," Emi isn't concerned much. "We're twitching to fight. Training is one thing, but honing our skills in real battles is what matters the most."
She's right. She couldn't be more right. If only that battle experience wasn't built on innocent casualties. Why do monsters appear only in populated areas, though? There's never been a monster spotted in the wilderness. And what force has the power to tear the fabric of reality itself? Does my father have answers to those questions?