Erza disappeared into the bathroom with the measuring tape.
Yuuta waited.
Elena waited.
The TV played some cartoon about a yellow sponge who lived in a pineapple. Elena was absolutely captivated. "Papa! This creature lives under water! In a fruit!"
"Yeah," Yuuta said absently. "That's... that's exactly what happens."
The bathroom door opened.
Erza emerged.
She walked with the same regal grace as always—back straight, chin high, eyes cold as winter. In one hand, she held the measuring tape. In the other, a small piece of paper she'd found somewhere.
She didn't look at Yuuta.
Didn't acknowledge him.
Simply held out the paper like she was handing a command to a servant.
"Mortal."
Yuuta took the paper.
Read it.
"Okay... height, five foot ten... weight, seventy kilograms... chest..."
He stopped.
Blinked.
Looked up at Erza.
Looked back at the paper.
"Seventy kilograms?" he said slowly.
Erza's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem, it's just—" Yuuta did the mental math. "You're five ten and seventy kilos? That's... that's actually really—"
His tablet slipped from his fingers.
CLATTER.
It hit the floor.
"Oh my," Yuuta breathed. "You're so heavy for your height."
The room temperature dropped twenty degrees.
Erza's expression didn't change.
It remained perfectly cold, perfectly composed, perfectly deadly.
But her fist moved.
CRACK.
Yuuta's head snapped sideways. He hit the floor for the third time that day—at least—his skull ringing like a church bell. Stars exploded behind his eyes. The taste of copper flooded his mouth.
"I am perfectly well -weighted," Erza said coldly, towering over him like an executioner. "By my world's standards. Your primitive human measurements mean nothing to me."
She didn't shout.
Didn't raise her voice.
That was what made it terrifying.
Yuuta groaned from the floor, clutching his skull. "OW—can you please stop hitting me?! It's so painful!"
"Then stop talking rubbish in my presence." Erza crossed her arms, frost curling visibly from her fingertips now. The air around her shimmered with cold. "Just because I tolerate your existence does not mean I tolerate your opinions. You are not my equal, mortal. You are not my friend. You are not even my host. You are a variable I am currently observing. Nothing more."
Her violet eyes bored into him.
"Do not confuse my temporary patience with permission to speak freely."
Yuuta, still on the floor, still clutching his head: "...Noted."
Elena watched from the couch.
"Mama hit Papa again," she observed.
"Yes." Erza didn't look away from Yuuta's crumpled form. "Papa said something stupid. Again."
"Papa says stupid things a lot," Elena agreed cheerfully.
Yuuta, voice muffled by the floor: "I can hear you both."
"Good." Erza's lips curved—not a smile, but something sharper. "Then you know I expect better. Now get up. Order the clothes. And if you comment on my weight again, I will remove your tongue and feed it to whatever beasts inhabit your pathetic 'zoo.' "
Yuuta got up.
Very quickly.
He entered the measurements with trembling fingers.
No comments. No reactions. Just silent, terrified data entry.
Chest size: entered.
Waist size: entered.
Height: entered.
Weight: mentally filed under "things to never mention again or die."
"Okay," he said, voice carefully neutral. "Orders placed. Should arrive soon."
Elena bounced. "Soon! Soon! My sparkly dress is coming!"
Erza said nothing.
She simply took a seat on the floor—still refusing the couch—and resumed studying the phone. Articles about Earth's animals. Absorbing information like a scholar preparing for war.
Yuuta watched her for a moment.
She's always learning, he realized. Always watching. Always calculating.
A queen didn't survive without understanding her environment.
And right now, Yuuta's tiny apartment was her environment.
The thought was... unsettling.
Thirty minutes later—
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Yuuta's head snapped up.
"That's fast," he muttered, crossing to the door.
He opened it.
A young man in a uniform smiled at him, holding two neatly packaged boxes.
"Package for Yuuta Tanaka?"
"That's me."
Yuuta signed, took the boxes, and closed the door.
He turned around.
Erza and Elena were staring.
Both of them. Frozen. Eyes locked on the boxes in his hands.
Elena's expression was pure wonder.
Erza's was something else entirely.
She studied the boxes like they might explode. Like they might contain a trap. Like this entire situation might be some elaborate human scheme she hadn't yet deciphered.
"It... came," she said slowly. Not a question. An observation. Testing the words.
"THE CLOTHES CAME!" Elena shrieked.
Yuuta carried the boxes to the table. Elena scrambled onto a chair, vibrating. Erza rose gracefully and approached—not with Elena's excitement, but with the careful wariness of someone who trusted nothing.
"Open it," she commanded.
Yuuta sliced through the tape.
Opened the first box.
Inside, nestled in tissue paper, was a dress of deep violet—dark purple with sparkling white droplets scattered across the fabric like stars in a night sky. The material was soft. Elegant. Perfect.
Erza's expression didn't change.
But her eyes... her eyes studied it. Every detail. Every stitch. Every sparkling droplet.
She reached out.
Touched the fabric.
Once. Lightly. Like she expected it to burn her.
"...Acceptable," she said flatly.
Yuuta hid his smile.
Acceptable. Sure.
He opened the second box.
Elena's outfit exploded out in a puff of white fluff.
A puffy rabbit costume. White. Fluffy. With long floppy ears attached to the hood and a tiny pom-pom tail on the back.
"PAPA!" Elena screeched. "PAPA LOOK! IT'S HERE! IT'S THE SAME ONE!"
She grabbed the costume and hugged it like it was made of starlight.
"When Elena clicked, it became real! " she shouted, eyes wide with wonder. "PAPA, IT'S MAGIC!"
Yuuta laughed.
Couldn't help it.
Watching his daughter clutch a fluffy rabbit costume like it was the greatest treasure in existence—it warmed something inside him.
Erza watched too.
Watched Elena's joy.
Watched Yuuta's smile.
Her expression remained cold, but something flickered behind her eyes. Something she quickly suppressed.
"This is..." She held up her dress again. Studied it with those calculating eyes. "High quality fabric. Intricate stitching. Precise coloring." She looked at Yuuta. "How much did this cost? Did you pay gold for it?"
Yuuta blinked.
Then laughed again.
"Gold?! No—no, it's just regular money. Paper money. Digital money."
Erza's eyes narrowed.
"Then why is the quality so high? In my world, garments of this craftsmanship require gold. Or favors. Or blood."
Yuuta's laugh died.
Blood? For a dress?
"It's... it's just how things work here," he said carefully. "You pay money, you get clothes. No blood required."
Erza stared at him.
Long and hard.
"Your world is strange," she finally said. "You have no magic. No monsters. No blood debts. Yet you produce garments that would cost a minor noble's ransom in my realm." She shook her head slowly. "I do not understand it."
"You don't have to understand it," Yuuta said. "Just... wear it. Enjoy it."
"Enjoy." She repeated the word like it was foreign. "I do not 'enjoy' things, mortal. I assess them. Determine their value. Decide whether they are worthy of my presence."
She looked at the dress again.
"This... may be worthy."
Yuuta counted that as a win.
"Elena," Erza said crisply. "Put on your costume. We have a zoo to observe."
"YAY!"
Elena grabbed her rabbit costume and ran for the bathroom.
Yuuta turned to Erza.
"You're really coming?"
Erza's eyes flicked to him.
Cold. Dismissive.
"I told you already, Idoit mortal. I am not coming for you. I am coming to ensure Elena's safety. And..." She paused. Barely perceptible. "...to observe these 'beasts' your world has produced. For research purposes."
Research purposes.
Yuuta nodded solemnly.
"Of course. Research."
"Do not mock me, mortal."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Erza's eyes narrowed.
But she said nothing.
And as she turned away, dress in hand, Yuuta could have sworn—
Just for a second—
Her lips twitched.
Probably imagined it, he decided.
Definitely imagined it.
(FEW HOUR LATER).
Erza stood before the mirror.
The modern clothes felt strange against her skin—lighter than her imperial dress, less restrictive. The deep violet fabric draped elegantly over her frame, the white sparkling droplets catching the light like scattered stars.
She turned.
Then turned again.
For the first time since arriving on this miserable little planet—
Erza acted like a normal girl.
Adjusting the shoulder. Smoothing the waist. Tilting her head to see how the fabric moved. A small, almost imperceptible smile tugged at her lips.
Not bad, she thought. For primitive human clothing.
Behind her, in the doorway—
Yuuta forgot how to breathe.
He'd seen Erza in her imperial dress. He'd seen her in moonlight. He'd seen her asleep, vulnerable, soft.
But this?
This was different.
The violet dress hugged her curves in ways that made his brain short-circuit. Her silver hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall of starlight. Without the formal robes, without the queenly armor of her usual attire—
She looked...
"Beautiful."
The word escaped his mouth before he could stop it.
Erza froze.
Yuuta froze.
Their eyes met in the mirror.
His face was crimson.
Hers—
Her eyes widened. Slightly. Barely perceptibly. But enough.
That strange feeling.
That overwhelming feeling.
It crashed into her chest like a wave, so powerful she nearly placed her hand over her heart to slow its sudden racing.
What IS this? she thought desperately. What is he doing to me?
She spun around.
Eyes cold.
Voice colder.
"You cast a spell on me again, didn't you?" She pointed an accusing finger. "How DARE you use magic on a queen!"
Yuuta blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Oh, come ON." He threw his hands up. "Do you really think I learned black magic just to cast spells on you? The woman who can literally end this world with a thought?!"
Erza's eyes narrowed.
"Then why do I feel this way?!"
The words burst out before she could stop them.
Silence.
Yuuta stared at her.
Erza stared back.
Why did I say that? she thought desperately. Why did I admit that? What is wrong with me?!
Yuuta scratched his cheek nervously.
"Uh..." He shifted his weight. "Do you... have your period or something?"
CRACK.
Yuuta hit the floor.
Again.
"IT WAS A GENUINE QUESTION!" he shouted from the ground.
"It was a STUPID question!" Erza's face was burning now—with embarrassment, with anger, with emotions she couldn't name and refused to acknowledge. "It was my FOOLISHNESS to ask YOU anything in the first place!"
She crossed her arms.
Turned away.
"Hmph."
Elena, who had watched the entire exchange while wearing her rabbit costume, knelt beside her father.
"Papa," she said seriously. "You should stop teasing Mama."
Yuuta groaned, rubbing his head.
"I'm sorry, Elena," he muttered. "Papa is... Papa is trying his best."
He pushed himself up.
Looked at his daughter—floppy ears and all—and managed a smile.
"Come on." He raised his hand. "Let's go to the zoo!"
Elena's face lit up.
She copied his gesture perfectly, tiny fist in the air.
"TO ZOOO!"
Behind them, Erza watched.
And for just a moment—
She smiled.
A tiny thing. Unconscious. Uncontrolled.
She caught herself immediately. Slapped a hand over her mouth.
What...!
I was smiling?!
Why was I smiling?!
"Mama! Come!" Elena grabbed her hand. "We go to zoo! Together! Family!"
Family.
The word hit Erza like a physical blow.
She looked at Elena's eager face.
At Yuuta's stupid, earnest, annoying back as he walked toward the door.
And despite everything—
She followed.
---
They descended the stairs together.
Elena held Yuuta's hand, swinging it back and forth with the boundless energy of a child who had discovered that "zoo" meant "animals" and "animals" meant "happiness." Her tiny rabbit costume—the one Yuuta had ordered specifically because she'd pointed at it with sparkling eyes—bounced with each step.
Fluffy ears. Soft brown fabric. Little paws on the sleeves.
She looked ridiculous.
She looked perfect.
Erza walked behind them, maintaining her regal distance. Her new clothes—a simple white blouse and dark pants that Yuuta had estimated into existence—fit surprisingly well. She'd complained about the lack of gold embroidery, the absence of imperial symbols, the peasant-like simplicity of it all.
But she wore them.
And she hadn't frozen him.
Progress, Yuuta thought.
Her violet eyes watched everything—the narrow windows on the stairwell, the flickering light on the second floor, the graffiti on the wall near the exit. This strange concrete world. This human city. She drank it in with the same intensity she'd given the National Geographic channel.
Soon they reached the parking lot.
Yuuta stopped.
Before them sat a car.
It was blue. Faded in places. The paint had long since given up hope near the driver's side door. A dent adorned the rear bumper like a beauty mark on an aging actress. The tires were slightly worn. The windows had a permanent haze.
The kind of vehicle that screamed second-hand and barely hanging on and please don't look too closely at the rust.
Yuuta approached it like it was an old friend.
He placed his hand on the hood.
"My sweetheart," he said softly. "It's been a while since I took you for a walk, right?"
Silence.
Absolute, deafening silence.
Erza stared.
Elena stared.
The wind blew. A leaf tumbled past.
"Did I hit you too hard earlier?" Erza asked slowly.
Her voice carried something new—a flicker of actual concern. It was buried deep beneath layers of ice and disdain, but it was there.
"Are you... hallucinating? " she continued. "Talking to inanimate objects?"
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
Her bottom lip trembled.
"Mama..." she whispered. "Papa has gone crazy..."
"BOTH OF YOU STOP!"
Yuuta spun around, his face burning crimson.
"It's just my old companion! It's called sentimental value! "
Erza looked at him like he was a patient in a mental hospital.
That specific look. The one that said I'm observing a fascinating case of human deterioration and taking notes for future reference.
"Don't look at me like that!" Yuuta protested. "Before you two showed up, this car was the only thing I talked to! I shared my feelings with it! It listened! "
"It's a machine, mortal."
"It's a friend! "
Erza pinched the bridge of her nose.
Hard.
"I have officially lost control of this situation."
Yuuta turned back to the car. His voice softened—not the defensive shout from before, but something quieter. Something older.
"This was my eighteenth birthday gift."
His hand rested on the hood. Gentle. Familiar.
"From Father Elijah."
Erza's hand stopped mid-pinch.
"At the orphanage."
The words landed like stones in still water.
Orphanage.
Yuuta continued, not looking at them.
"No one adopted me." A small, humorless laugh. "Guess I wasn't cute enough. Or maybe my eyes freaked people out. Either way." He patted the hood. "When I turned eighteen, I had to leave. That's the rule. You age out. You're on your own."
Elena's grip on his other hand tightened.
"Father Elijah gave me this car. Said every man needs a companion." His voice roughened slightly. "I slept in this car for months. Until I saved enough for that apartment."
The words hung in the air.
Heavy.
Real.
Erza's throat tightened.
Orphanage.
No one adopted him.
Slept in a car.
She looked at the vehicle with new eyes.
Not a machine. Not a joke. Not a punchline for her cold commentary.
A lifeline.
The only thing between a boy and the cold streets.
Like me.
The thought came unbidden, unwelcome, impossible to stop.
Alone. Surviving. No one to rely on but yourself.
She remembered her own childhood. The weight of the crown before she was ready. The endless lessons. The expectations. The loneliness at the top of a frozen palace where everyone wanted something from her and no one just... saw her.
This mortal.
This child.
He'd been alone too.
The burden in her chest grew heavier.
Why?
Why did his pain feel like her pain?
Why did knowing he'd suffered make her want to—
"PAPA!"
Elena's cry cut through her thoughts like a knife.
The little girl—still in her rabbit costume, floppy ears and all—had wrapped herself around Yuuta's leg. Tears streamed down her cheeks, cutting tracks through her silver-fair skin.
"Papa! Papa! I'm sorry!" She sobbed. "Papa was lonely! Papa had no one! But Elena is here now! Elena will never leave Papa alone!"
Yuuta's face crumbled.
Whatever wall he'd built around that memory—whatever distance he'd tried to maintain—Elena's words shattered it completely.
He knelt down.
Gathered his daughter in his arms.
Held her tiny, fluffy, perfect body against his chest.
"Hey," he whispered.
His voice was rough. Broken. Human.
"Hey, little one. Papa's okay."
Elena sniffled against his shirt.
"Papa's not lonely anymore. Look."
He pulled back slightly. Gestured at Erza.
"Papa has you. Papa has..." He hesitated. "...Mama. Papa has family. "
Family.
The word hit Erza like a physical blow.
"Really?" Elena's voice was small. Hopeful.
"Really."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Elena hugged him tighter.
Over her head, Yuuta's eyes met Erza's.
She didn't look away.
Couldn't look away.
Something passed between them—fragile, unnamed, terrifying. A thread pulled taut across the distance. A question neither of them knew how to ask.
Then Erza straightened.
"This is sentimentally inefficient," she said coldly.
Her voice was ice.
But beneath it—beneath the frost and the distance and the queen—something else trembled.
"The zoo will close if we continue wasting time."
She didn't move to separate them.
Didn't mock.
Didn't sneer.
She just... waited.
Yuuta smiled.
A real smile. Not his usual nervous grin. Not the desperate humor he used as armor. Something warmer. Something that reached his eyes.
"Right." He stood, still holding Elena. "Let's go. Zoo awaits."
He opened the car door.
Elena scrambled inside, rabbit ears flopping, tears already forgotten in the excitement of new thing new place new adventure.
"This... vehicle is safe?" Erza asked.
"Safe enough."
"That is not reassuring."
"It's all we've got, Your Highness."
Erza sighed.
A long, suffering, universe-why-me sigh.
She got in.
Yuuta slid into the driver's seat. Turned the key.
The car roared to life.
Then sputtered.
Then made a sound like a dying demon gargling gravel while being strangled by a very angry cat.
"See?" Yuuta said cheerfully. "She's greeting you."
Erza closed her eyes.
"I have made a terrible mistake to let this fool spare."
In the back seat, Elena bounced.
"ZOO ZOO ZOO ZOO ZOO!"
The car pulled away.
Rattling. Sputtering. Definitely on the verge of collapse.
And somewhere in the back of her frozen heart—
The Dragon Queen smiled.
Just a little.
To be continued...