Two days had passed since the prince's departure for Hestia.
Elizabeth had slept little since.
The palace was quiet in the way only stone could manage—too orderly, too obedient. Servants moved as they were told. Courtiers spoke when spoken to. Everything behaved.
And still, unease sat beneath her ribs, heavy and unshakable.
She dismissed it as tension. As habit. As the residue of a thousand responsibilities layered over one another.
It did not occur to her that it might be instinct. Certainly not something as foolish as maternal concern.
When Johannes arrived, she was already irritated. The respectable ancient dragon never booked an appointment, did he need to? Elizabeth knew he thought of himself higher than her the queen.
The dragon entered the throne room with an envoy at his side, both bowing in perfect synchrony. The gesture was flawless. Empty.
Elizabeth did not rise. She did not want to come in any distance to the throne room these two forced her, she had to make them regret it.
"Why," she asked calmly, "have you taken part of your valuable time to visit my humble domain? It must have been urgent if you did not bother to book an appointment."
Johannes smiled. Thin. Polite. "I wished to make a proper introduction," he said. "This is Kepler. He was to accompany me in clerical duties, but I believe he would serve your son better."
"Sorry to disappoint you but as you have maybe heard the prince is on an expedition to the drawven land of Hestia." Elizabeth replied monitoring the young man beside him.
Kepler's expression tightened. He did not bow twice.
"A bodyguard, then. At first I thought that might have been overkill for doubting the skill of such a glorious existence as yourself but when I heard that his highness is embarking on such a perilous journey," he took a pause "I had to bring this young talent to help... There are many dangers unknown to us." Johannes replied, Elizabeth knew it was only a ploy to try and mind warp her so while young.
Elizabeth's fingers curled slightly against the armrest. "The prince already travels under protection."
"Yes," Johannes agreed. "The Azure Demon. Skilled, certainly. But Kepler has lived a thousand years longer than she has." His gaze flicked, briefly, to Elizabeth.
"Experience matters. Even for… Your Highness."
The insult was delicate. Intentional.
The room felt colder.
Elizabeth inhaled. Exhaled. Let the crown settle.
"Very well," she said. "A demonstration, then."
Johannes raised a brow. "A duel would be too trivial for her majesty I think Kepler being a millennia old dragon proves himself enough he is of a legendary Unique rank."
"A test," Elizabeth corrected. "If your envoy can block my attack, he may follow the prince. If not—" She smiled faintly. "Consider this my mercy."
She did not need to explain the law. Everyone present knew it. An insult delivered in a sovereign's throne room was grounds enough for execution.
Johannes hesitated. For some reason something told him that this 78 year old widow had some trick up her sleeve or else why would she blatantly.
"Do no.." He wanted to warn the young lad. But his bereaved expression served enough proof that he was thinking about it.
How dare this lowly human challenge me Kepler the star king.
Elizabeth knew why. Dragon pride would not allow refusal.
Kepler stepped forward before his master could speak. "I accept."
Confidence radiated from him—not arrogance, but certainty. He began casting immediately.
The air thickened.
One barrier formed. Then another. Then more, layered and interlocked, transparent planes folding into one another like crystal petals. The pressure alone forced several courtiers to retreat.
Kepler stood at the center of it all, breathing steadily.
Elizabeth rose from her throne.
"My son, my first disciple," she said idly, "has learned exactly one spell."
Murmurs rippled through the hall.
"To honor him," she continued, lifting one hand, "I will use the same."
Mana gathered.
Not violently. Not dramatically. In fact it felt natural in way that made Kepler's skin crawl, it wasn't much at her power level but he felt unexplainably nervous.
A small flame bloomed in her palm—no larger than a fist.
White. Most had never seen a flame of this color flames were always yellow.
The room fell silent.
Heat pressed outward without motion, without sound. Stone groaned beneath it. The barriers trembled, not cracking, but shrinking, as if trying to escape something they could not comprehend.
Kepler's confidence faltered.
He reinforced the layers. Added more. Forced mana where it did not want to go.
Elizabeth released the spell.
The fireball crossed the space between them floating haphazardly taunting him to run to ask for help anything.
No way I'm I going to actually die?
There was no explosion.
There was only light—and then nothing at all where Kepler had stood.
The barriers vanished. The heat lingered. The smell did not.
Elizabeth lowered her hand.
Johannes stared at the scorched marble, his expression unreadable. Anger flickered behind his eyes, quickly smothered beneath calculation.
"…I will select another guardian," he said at last. "One with better manners."
Elizabeth inclined her head. "Of course. Do not be in such a hurry that you do not book an appointment," she took a dramatic pause before smiling. "it is a bit brutish."
"Duly noted." Johannes turned and left without another word.
The throne room slowly exhaled.
Elizabeth sat again, her hand trembling faintly beneath the sleeve of her gown.
White fire.
Even after devouring a phoenix, she could not produce black flame.
Her mana conversion had always been… imprecise.
She stared at her palm.
Perhaps, she thought, the flaw is not in the spell.
Within the entire incident her nerves calmed she could not explain it but she felt more uncomfortable than when they were still there.