The Konuari family was ready to visit the zoo.
Well. Almost ready.
Elena was definitely ready.
"Papa! Papa! Let's go! Let's go!" She bounced around the living room like a tiny silver-haired meteor, wings fluttering, tail wagging with excitement. "Zoo! Zoo! Zoo!"
Her energy was immense.
Yuuta watched her with a mixture of awe and exhaustion. How could something so small contain so much movement?
"Zoo, Elena," he corrected gently. "Not 'zoo zoo zoo.' Just zoo."
"ZOO ZOO ZOO!" she agreed happily.
Yuuta gave up.
In the corner, Erza sat on the floor—still refusing the couch—with Yuuta's phone in her hands. Her violet eyes moved rapidly across the screen, absorbing article after article about Earth's animals.
Don't ask how she figured out the phone, Yuuta had decided earlier. Dragons are just... blessed with understanding things. Apparently.
"Fascinating," Erza murmured, scrolling. "This 'lion' creature... it has only one head, yet it rules its domain through pure strength. Primitive, but effective."
She swiped.
"And this 'elephant'... massive. No elemental powers, no magical defenses, yet it fears almost nothing. Purely physical dominance."
Another swipe.
"The 'tiger' stalks alone. The 'wolf' hunts in packs. Each has evolved to survive without magic, without mana, without anything but flesh and instinct."
She looked up, something like respect flickering in her cold eyes.
"Your world's beasts are... impressive in their own way."
Yuuta blinked.
Did the Dragon Queen just compliment Earth?
Before he could respond, she added: "Pathetic compared to real monsters, of course. But impressive for creatures with no magical essence."
And there it is.
Yuuta turned back to his closet, searching for something decent to wear. A simple outing. A normal day. He wanted to look presentable—
Wait.
He froze.
Wait a second.
He looked at Erza.
Then at Elena.
Then back at Erza.
"Hey," Yuuta said slowly, still standing in the doorway between his bedroom and the living room. "Do you guys have... clothes to change into?"
Erza looked up from the phone she had been examining with intense curiosity, her finger hovering over the screen as if she expected it to bite her.
Elena stopped bouncing on the cushions mid-jump, freezing in place like a small statue.
Silence settled over the room like morning fog.
"...What." Erza's voice wasn't loud. It never was when she was truly dangerous. It dropped low and flat, carrying weight that had nothing to do with volume.
Yuuta recognized that tone immediately. He had heard it before—right before she grabbed his throat and lifted him off the ground.
He held up his hands anyway.
"I mean, you've been wearing the same things since you got here." He kept his voice calm, measured. "Your Majesty, that imperial dress is beautiful—"
Her eyes narrowed.
"—but it's the only thing you have." He pressed on before she could interrupt. "And Elena's little dress—"
He glanced at his daughter. She wore a cute black frock with tiny snow crystal patterns stitched into the fabric. Adorable. Impractical for long-term wear.
"—she can't wear that forever. Neither can you."
Erza stared at him.
The temperature in the room didn't drop. That was the strange part. She simply looked at him, and he felt the full weight of her attention pressing against his chest.
"You believe," she said slowly, each word deliberate, "that I packed luggage for this journey?"
Yuuta blinked.
"What?"
"You believe that I, a queen of Atlantis, prepared for an extended stay on this world by selecting multiple outfits and folding them neatly into trunks?" Her voice carried no heat—just the cold precision of someone correcting a child's misunderstanding. "You believe that when I stepped through a dimensional rift, tracking the father of my child across the boundaries between worlds, I paused to consider my wardrobe?"
Yuuta's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"I... no, that's not what I—"
"I arrived with nothing." She cut him off smoothly. "The clothes on my body. The child at my side. That is all. I did not plan to stay. I did not plan to sit on your inadequate furniture or breathe your stale air or tolerate your existence for more than the moments needed to end it."
Elena, sensing the shift in atmosphere, quietly slid off the sofa and moved closer to her father.
Erza noticed. Something flickered behind her eyes.
"But you asked for a year." Her voice softened almost imperceptibly. "And I gave it. So here I remain. In the same clothes. On the same sofa. In the same world I never intended to visit."
Yuuta absorbed her words.
For once, he didn't feel attacked. He felt... understood.
She wasn't trying to be difficult. She was explaining. For the first time, actually explaining instead of just threatening.
"I get it," he said quietly. "I really do. You didn't plan to be here. None of this is what you wanted."
Erza said nothing.
"But you're here now." He gestured vaguely at the apartment. "And you're staying. For a year. You can't wear the same dress for a year. Even queens need clean clothes."
Something shifted in her expression. Not softening—Erza didn't soften. But the sharp edges retreated slightly.
"And you propose to solve this problem how?" she asked. "Will you weave garments from moonlight? Conjure fabric with your human hands?"
Yuuta almost laughed. Almost.
"No." He held out his hand toward her. "Can I have the phone?"
Erza's eyes dropped to his open palm. Then back to his face.
"Why?"
"I need to buy clothes. For you and Elena. With money. Through the internet."
She stared at him like he had just offered to build a palace from toothpicks.
"Buy clothes," she repeated flatly. "Through the internet."
"Yes."
"With money."
"That's how it works, yeah."
Erza looked at the phone in her hands. Then at him. Then at Elena, who had wrapped herself around Yuuta's leg like a small koala.
"You would spend your resources on us?" The question came out different than before. Quieter. Less accusatory. Almost... uncertain.
"You need clothes." Yuuta shrugged. "I have money. It's not complicated."
"But I am going to kill you."
The words hung in the air between them, naked and honest.
Yuuta looked at her.
"Yes," he said. "You are. In a year. I haven't forgotten."
"Then why?"
He considered the question.
Why spend his limited money on someone who planned to end his life? Why care about her comfort? Why do any of this?
"I don't know," he admitted finally. "Maybe because Elena needs you to be comfortable. Maybe because you're stuck here whether either of us likes it. Maybe because—" He paused, searching for words. "—because you're here. In my home. And I can't just watch you suffer in the same dress for a year. It's not who I am."
Erza held his gaze for a long moment.
Then, without another word, she held out the phone.
Yuuta took it carefully, as if accepting a fragile artifact.
"Okay." He sat on the edge of the sofa, motioning for them to join him. Elena immediately scrambled up beside him, pressing close. Erza remained standing for a moment, then slowly lowered herself onto the other end of the cushion.
The distance between them was significant. Three people on a two-person sofa.
No one commented.
Yuuta opened the shopping app. The page loaded slowly—his internet connection had never been great—but eventually the screen filled with colors and images and endless options.
"See?" He tilted the screen toward them. "This is how we buy clothes here. Everything is online now."
Erza leaned forward slightly, studying the display.
"These are paintings," she said. "Illustrations of garments. What purpose do they serve?"
Yuuta blinked.
"No, they're—they're photos. Photographs. Of real clothes that exist in warehouses."
"Then where are the clothes?" Her brow furrowed. "You show me images, not actual fabric. How can I judge quality from a picture? How can I feel the texture, test the durability, assess the craftsmanship?"
Yuuta opened his mouth. Closed it. Rubbed the back of his neck.
"Okay, that's... that's a fair point actually. But this is how we do it here. You look at the pictures, read the description, check the reviews—"
"Reviews?"
"Other people who bought the same thing. They write about whether it's good or not."
Erza's eyes widened slightly.
"Strangers," she said slowly, "provide testimony about the quality of garments. And you trust this?"
"It's not about trust, it's about—look, it works, okay? Mostly."
Elena, who had been squinting at the screen with intense concentration, suddenly pointed.
"Papa! That one! The pink one with the shiny things!"
Yuuta looked. A small girl's dress, covered in sequins, glittering even in the tiny thumbnail image.
"That's very sparkly, little one."
"Elena wants that! Elena wants all the sparkly ones!"
Yuuta smiled despite himself.
"Okay. Sparkly ones. We can find sparkly ones."
He scrolled through the children's section, showing her different options. Elena gasped at each one, her excitement building with every page.
Erza watched.
Not the screen.
Him.
The way he angled the phone so Elena could see better. The way he explained each dress in simple words she could understand. The way he laughed softly at her reactions instead of growing impatient.
She had never seen anything quite like it.
After several minutes of browsing, Yuuta turned to her.
"Okay, Your Majesty. Your turn. What kind of clothes do you usually wear? Besides the imperial dress, I mean."
Erza considered the question.
"Silk. Velvet. Materials worthy of my station. Deep colors—crimson, violet, midnight blue. Nothing gaudy. Nothing common."
Yuuta nodded, scrolling through the women's section.
"Got it. Elegant. Rich colors. Quality fabrics." He paused. "I'm going to need your measurements though. For sizing."
Erza's expression didn't change.
But something in the air shifted.
Erza looked up.
"Measurements?"
"Yeah, you know chest size, waist size, height."
Silence.
Yuuta kept scrolling.
"Elena first, I guess. She's small, so probably—"
CRACK.
Yuuta's head snapped forward.
His vision went white.
His body described a graceful arc through the air before crashing into the floor in a heap of limbs and suffering.
"OW—!" He clutched his skull. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
Erza stood over him.
Towering.
Furious.
Her fist was still raised. Frost gathered at her fingertips. Her violet eyes blazed with something between outrage and utter contempt.
"You perverted human!" Her voice could have shattered glass. "How dare you ask a queen about her personal body measurements! Do you think I am some common tavern wench to be sized up like livestock?!"
Yuuta groaned from the floor.
"I—you—that's not—"
"Did you imagine I would simply tell you such intimate details? Did you think I would allow you to know the contours of my—my—" She couldn't even finish. "DISGUSTING MORTAL!"
"YOU GOT IT WRONG!" Yuuta shouted, still clutching his head.
The room went silent.
Erza's eyes narrowed.
"Explain." The word was a blade.
Yuuta pushed himself up slowly, rubbing the growing lump on his skull.
"I need your measurements," he said through gritted teeth, "to register them. On the website. So the clothes fit you properly. Different sizes for different bodies. If I just guess, you'll end up with something too small or too big."
He pointed at the phone, still lying on the floor.
"That's how online shopping works. You need to know chest size, waist size, height—otherwise nothing fits."
Erza stared at him.
Her expression didn't change.
But something in her eyes—something almost imperceptible—flickered.
"...Oh."
"Yeah. Oh. " Yuuta rubbed his head. "I wasn't trying to be a pervert. I was trying to buy you clothes that actually fit. "
Silence stretched.
Elena, who had watched the entire exchange with wide eyes, tugged at her mother's dress again.
"Mama hit Papa," she observed.
"Yes," Erza said slowly. "I did."
"Mama shouldn't hit Papa."
Erza looked down at her daughter.
Then at Yuuta.
Still on the floor. Still rubbing his head. Still looking thoroughly abused.
For the first time since she'd arrived—
Erza looked almost... embarrassed.
"Tch."
She turned away.
"You should have explained properly from the start, mortal. This is your fault for being unclear."
Yuuta gaped.
"MY fault?! Yes your highness."
"Do you have a measuring tool?" she interrupted coldly. "I will provide the numbers myself. Without your... involvement. "
Yuuta sighed.
Defeated. Again.
"Yeah," he muttered. "I have a measuring tape. In the bathroom."
"Get it."
He got it.
Because arguing with a Dragon Queen was apparently a hobby he couldn't afford.
---
To be continued...