The Vain Princess and Her Dragon Knight

Chapter 10

"Rori, must your knight follow us everywhere?"

Inside Gloria's palace, Cui was trying to soothe a baby rabbit nestled in his arms. Yet the rabbit's ears remained rigidly alert, its red eyes darting with anxiety. Cui glanced awkwardly toward the towering silver figure standing nearby. "There's really no need for a knight here, among the three of us. Perhaps he could take a rest?"

Cui chose his words carefully. He sensed something emanating from Elstar—a fierce, predatory presence unlike any of the other guards he'd encountered in the Royal City. It carried an undertone of blood, s*******r, and cold indifference, even a disquieting grayness that was neither light nor dark. Like a rogue who lived outside law and order.

"Elstar is my Guardian Knight. He follows me like a shadow," Gloria said, blinking. "If his presence bothers you, I can have him wait outside."

"No, Rori. That's not what I meant." The gentle elf offered an apologetic smile toward the distant knight. "Sir Knight is formidable, simply fulfilling his duty. I shouldn't disturb him."

Gloria tilted her head. "Oh. Alright then." She had no idea what the elf was circling around, so she simply agreed. "Yes, my knight is the best. I chose him myself." Whatever her private thoughts, a princess praised her knight in public—praising him was praising herself.

Suka, however, had no patience for elven delicacy. The blunt wolf spoke directly. "Your knight's presence is too strong. It's scaring the rabbits."

The black wolf's neck arched, his sharp gaze fixed on Elstar as if trying to pierce through that silver armor. Swordsman? Warrior? Suka assessed him coldly. This man was far more formidable than he let on. Earlier, no one had truly noticed him—he'd been practically invisible, despite his towering frame and the ornate heavy sword at his waist. Only the newborn rabbits, with their acute sensitivity, had detected something. Elstar must have relaxed his guard for a single moment during last night's watch, stirring their panic.

Suddenly, Suka rose from the carpet. Both Gloria, still cradling a rabbit, and Cui looked up. The wolf-eared youth gripped his sword, voice icy. "Your Highness, I request permission to test my skills against your knight."

Gloria blinked, bewildered. "Why on earth would you want to fight?"

"It's my Way of the Sword." Suka drew his blade slowly. The gleaming steel bisected his face—one half in light, the other in shadow, the eye in darkness burning with fierce intensity. "To relentlessly challenge whoever is stronger."

A sharp wind gathered around him. He sprang forward.

"Suka!" Cui threw up a protective barrier around Gloria, shielding her from the killing intent. "You cannot be so reckless!"

Gloria's mind went blank. She'd never witnessed real combat before—not in her peaceful past life, nor here, sheltered by the two most powerful men in the kingdom. The blade arced toward Elstar's face—and her knight still hadn't moved. A statue. Silent. As if he couldn't see the steel bearing down on him.

"Elstar!" Gloria shot to her feet. "Throw Suka into the fountain! Let him cool off!"

A deafening *clang*—and no one saw what happened. The next sound was an enormous splash. Both Suka and Elstar had vanished from the room.

Gloria set down the rabbit, grabbed her skirts, and ran. Only when her golden figure disappeared through the doorway did Cui slowly place his own rabbit back in its basket. His gentle gaze traced the fading shimmer of his shattered barrier in the air.

"This Princess Gloria seems far more formidable than we imagined."

An elven barrier couldn't be broken by high-level warriors or mages. The elves created them with an innate drive to protect their young—designed to block both external attacks and keep inquisitive little ones safely inside. A perfect, bidirectional lock. Yet this delicate human princess had shattered it as effortlessly as popping a soap bubble. The broken barrier dissolved completely.

---

Gloria reached the fountain in the rear courtyard and stopped, stunned.

She'd expected a fierce, chaotic fight. Instead—complete domination. The towering silver knight had Suka pinned in the ruined fountain basin. His heavy sword, normally ornamental, was pressed against the wolf's throat. The crushing weight had turned Suka's face purple, his body twisted at an unnatural angle, a thin line of blood seeping along his neck. The fountain itself was destroyed—its crowning cherub statue had flown clear into a distant tree, shattered beyond recognition. That was the force Suka had been struck with.

Swallowing, Gloria crept forward, careful not to step on any debris. "Is he... is his spine broken?"

Without a word, Elstar pressed his free hand against Suka and rotated. A sickening *c***k* echoed. The wolf's twisted body snapped back into alignment. His breathing steadied.

Suka gasped, dragging air into his lungs as if surfacing from near-drowning. His wolf eyes fixed on Elstar, blazing with shock and something like hunger. "A Great Swordsman... No. No—a Holy Swordsman!" His voice shook with disbelief, then raw excitement. "That speed, that force—you must be a Holy Swordsman!"

Holy Swordsman? Gloria gaped. Behind her, Cui, who had just arrived after settling the rabbits, also froze. She looked up at Elstar. "Are you a Holy Swordsman?"

"No," Elstar said flatly.

Suka cut him off, voice feverish. "You are! You have to be—!"

His excitement was triggering a deeper transformation. From the wolf ears down, fur was spreading. Fangs emerged. His clothes tore as a massive, pure-black wolf tail burst free, bristling with tension. Just as his face was about to twist into something savage, Cui swiftly covered Gloria's eyes. The elf's cool body temperature brushed her lashes. He held her loosely, a protective yet respectfully distant embrace.

"Shh. Don't be afraid, little one."

Gloria opened her mouth to say she wasn't afraid at all. In fact, she was fascinated. She'd never seen a beastman transition between forms. But Cui's hand was in the way. "Cui," she tried to push his fingers aside, "I'm just curious..."

The next sound swallowed her words. Another *c***k*—even more brutal than before, bone grinding against bone. A howl of pure agony split the sky.

"AHH—MY LEG!"

Gloria and Cui looked up, startled. Elstar had risen from Suka's body, lifting his knee off him. "My apologies. I misjudged my strength."

---

Leaving the twice-injured Suka groaning on the ground, his beastly transformation forcibly halted, only his ears still rigid with tension, Elstar walked toward Gloria. He stopped before the slender elf who was still holding her—barely, with a gap of several centimeters. Elstar studied them. Then, satisfied that Cui wasn't truly embracing her, his tension eased.

"Your Highness, I regret you were alarmed."

Gloria finally surfaced from the absurd chaos. She shook her head, pointing at the soaked, groaning Suka and his unnaturally bent leg. "Is he... going to be alright?"

"Yes. Beastmen regenerate quickly. No physician needed." Elstar's calm manner, his easy familiarity with beastmen physiology, gradually settled her nerves. Still, she hesitated. "You're really not a Holy Swordsman?"

"No. I am merely your Guardian Knight."

His voice, ordinarily low and careless, brushed past her ear with the resonance of a cello. Gloria's cheeks heated. Flustered—she didn't know why—she strode over to Suka, almost as if fleeing Elstar. But facing the downed wolf, her expression hardened. She looked down at him coldly, all traces of the soft, demure princess gone.

"Everything that happened here today will be reported to my father in full. I trust you, Suka, as heir to the Eastern Wolf Tribe, will offer a reasonable explanation for your reckless conduct." She surveyed the fountain's ruin—well, at least half the excavation for a hot spring was done. "You will also compensate for the damage to my palace. One hundred thousand gold coins. Or equivalent."

Suka looked up at her from the ground. This was the first time he'd heard her abandon the soft, coquettish tones of a sheltered girl. Stripped of those irritating layers of lace and silk, the steel beneath was showing. He'd assumed she was just a decorative princess who cried in her father's arms. But now—golden sunlight blazing behind her, her hair streaming in the wind—she looked like an untouchable goddess. Those rare golden eyes, cool and clear, delivered judgment.

"And most importantly—you will apologize to my knight. A proper apology."

Staring at the hem of her skirt, Suka felt an inexplicable urge to kiss it. Then sense returned. He really had been hit too hard in the head. Groaning, he forced himself upright despite the agony. Then, for the first time, he bowed his proud head.

"I apologize." A pause. His fierce, battle-hungry eyes lifted to Elstar. "Next time, I will be stronger. And I will defeat you."

Elstar ignored him entirely. He walked past the wolf and stopped before Gloria. "Your Highness, shall we return?" He extended one arm, hovering, for her to steady herself.

After a moment's hesitation—the rubble-strewn courtyard was treacherous in heels—Gloria accepted, her soft fingers resting on his hard vambrace. The contrast between cold silver and warm pearl-toned skin made Elstar pause.

Passing Cui, she stopped and smiled. "Thank you for earlier."

Cui returned her smile. "It was nothing. I have a responsibility to protect you." Gloria assumed he meant gentlemanly duty and didn't dwell on it. "The rabbits' behavior is explained now, thanks to you. I'll make proper arrangements for them." The implication was clear: the rabbits would go. Elstar would stay. The bond between the princess and her knight ran deeper than anyone had guessed.

Cui hesitated, then said, "Rori, the academy forbids students from bringing servants. Even guards."

"Is that so?" Gloria looked up at her silent knight, frowning. Then she asked thoughtfully, "But if my knight has abilities on par with a Holy Swordsman... how hard would it be for him to pass an entrance exam? He could be a classmate on campus, and my knight off campus. As his master, I'm quite generous."

Cui paused, then nodded. "You're right. I was being narrow-minded."

---

After Cui and Suka left, Gloria summoned workers to repair the courtyard—and dig that hot spring right where Suka had helpfully provided the crater. Elstar stayed to assist. His strength was practically limitless. The fountain's base, which several grown men struggled to lift together, he shifted with one arm, as if it weighed nothing.

Gloria, who should have been resting after the day's chaos, found herself walking back out wrapped in a thick fox-fur cloak. She stopped beside him.

"Elstar, you're amazing." She meant it with complete sincerity. He was powerful—no matter how many times he denied being a Holy Swordsman.

Elstar stood silent beside her. She didn't need a reply. He'd always been quiet. That was part of why she was satisfied. Still, a girl couldn't help being curious. She tilted her head, eyes sparkling. "The Knight Corps must have been brutal. You must have suffered so much."

"No." It was the truth. As a dragon, he hadn't suffered one bit.

But Gloria didn't believe him. She remembered that frail, pitiful boy half-drowned in a muddy ditch, seconds from death. Now he'd grown into someone even a wolf tribe heir feared. Seeing her brimming with admiration—and clearly constructing a backstory far from reality—Elstar scrambled for a change of subject.

"Your Highness, when I was moving debris earlier, I noticed something shining in the garden. Perhaps a lost necklace?"

Gloria's jewelry was too numerous to track. She didn't bother keeping count, nor did she mind losing pieces. Still, she nodded. "Let's go look."

---

Elstar led her to a tree. A small mound of disturbed earth lay near its base, not far from the earlier fight. Gloria marveled, "The two of you really can fight—the damage spread this far." She should have charged Suka extra. Two more zeroes, at least.

Crouching, Elstar gestured at the mound. "Shall we dig and see? Perhaps a necklace is buried here."

"Alright. Who knows—maybe we'll find a little surprise."

He began digging with brisk efficiency. First, a glint of gold peeked through the soil. Gloria leaned forward, holding her skirts, searching her memory. "A gold chain... no, too thick for a necklace. A bracelet?" As the knight dug deeper, her confusion mounted—then morphed into stunned silence. When Elstar finally lifted the object from the earth and set it before her, she had lost the power of speech entirely. A pure gold egg. Even through the dirt, its inner radiance gleamed. Its surface was smooth, traced with scale-like patterns—sharp, hard, impossibly solid.

"Who... laid an egg in my garden?" Her eyes slowly drifted to Elstar. Their gazes met. Gloria flailed. "I didn't mean *you* laid it! I just—" She was too shocked to form a coherent explanation.

"Your Highness," Elstar said, "this is a dragon's egg."

Gloria repeated in a daze, "Oh. Yes. A dragon laid an egg in my garden."

Then she froze. "Wait—what did you say?!"

She jumped back, skirts clutched in her fists, her eyes impossibly wide. Her shriek echoed through the garden.

"THIS IS A DRAGON'S EGG?!"