A few days later.
Morning.
After deciding that a trip to Rōran should be safe enough, Seiryū brought Kurenai with him.
The two of them arrived at Tsunade's home.
They quickly packed and prepared to set off. Team Tsunade was finally heading out together again, though whether this counted as a real mission was debatable.
Helping Seiryū master the Dragon Vein Chakra was important, of course, but everyone was mostly treating it as a chance to relax.
Neither Kurenai nor Shizune had ever been to Rōran, so both of them were eager to see what it was like.
With a single use of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Seiryū brought the group to Rōran.
"Is this Rōran?"
Kurenai looked around at the city, taking in the architecture so different from Konoha's. Towering buildings rose all around them, making her eyes widen.
"It really is different from Konoha. Everything is so tall."
Shizune also looked around curiously. "Mm. It really is impressive."
Compared to Konoha, Rōran looked more prosperous and abundant.
Of course, part of that was because Rōran was only a small country.
Tsunade had been here before, so she was not as amazed. She simply said, "Let's find the Konoha garrison first."
Rōran was an ally of Konoha.
Since Rōran itself was not particularly strong, Konoha had stationed troops there to help protect it.
Seiryū waved a hand. "The people here should recognize me, the Prince Regent. Let's just find someone to lead the way and notify Queen Sāra while we're at it."
In truth, Seiryū had left a Flying Thunder God mark on Sāra. If he wanted, he could appear beside her with a single thought.
However, he still needed to be mindful of appearances.
If he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear beside her and she happened to be bathing, that would be a problem.
Not long after he first learned the technique, Seiryū had once made that mistake.
He had flashed straight into Tsunade's bathroom and seen things he absolutely should not have seen.
Naturally, he had received a thorough beating afterward.
Since he had been guilty, Seiryū had not dared to fight back. At the time, he could not have fought back anyway, so he had ended up with bumps all over his head.
Since then, Seiryū had become much more careful.
That was experience.
And also a painful lesson.
Tsunade fell silent.
She still had doubts about whether the title he had bought with money was actually useful.
But what happened next proved that it really was.
A guard on patrol recognized Seiryū at once and treated him with great respect.
"Lord Prince Regent, Her Majesty is currently in the central palace. I will escort you there."
Seiryū smiled. "Sorry for the trouble."
The guard lowered his head respectfully. "Not at all. It is my duty."
Under the guard's guidance, they soon arrived at the central palace.
Though it was called a palace, it was actually a tall building.
The tallest building in Rōran, in fact.
It served as the heart of the country and also as the queen's residence.
"Long time no see, Seiryū. Lady Tsunade."
Queen Sāra of Rōran walked over gracefully.
She was dressed in formal attire that outlined her beautiful figure. Her long red hair was tied up, with a few loose strands falling beside her temples. She looked dignified and regal, yet still youthful.
When she saw Seiryū and Tsunade, a smile appeared on her face.
Establishing trade routes with Konoha and becoming its ally had allowed Rōran to develop far better than before.
And all of that was thanks to Seiryū and Tsunade.
They were Rōran's benefactors.
"Yo, Sāra. Long time no see. You're even more beautiful than before."
Seeing Sāra in her formal attire, Seiryū's eyes lit up.
It had been quite some time since they last met, and Queen Sāra had become even more beautiful and captivating.
Especially her presence.
She had developed an even stronger royal bearing.
She looked every bit like a true queen.
Sāra giggled. "You always know exactly what to say."
At some point, Sāra had begun treating Seiryū like family.
After all, they both had red hair, and both of them were remarkably good-looking. If they told people they were related, plenty would probably believe it.
Besides, Seiryū was not just close to her.
He was also the Prince Regent of Rōran, a title recognized by the people themselves.
Sāra approached and looked at Seiryū more carefully. A flash of surprise appeared in her eyes.
"As expected of you, Seiryū. You've grown even more handsome. The last time I saw you, you still looked so young, but now you're starting to look like a proper young man."
It had been a while since they had last met.
Back then, Seiryū had still looked younger and more childish. Now, although he still had a youthful air, he had clearly grown into his looks.
His appearance and presence had changed quite a bit.
To put it simply, he had become even more striking.
Seiryū gave her a thumbs-up. "Not bad. You have a good eye. I like honest people."
Sāra chuckled. "I'm only telling the truth."
"Exactly. That's what makes your judgment so good."
"Mm-hmm."
Watching the two of them chat as if no one else was present, Tsunade's mouth twitched. She suddenly felt very tired.
She cut into their conversation and said, "Long time no see, Queen Sāra. Has anything unusual happened in Rōran recently?"
Sāra finally came back to her senses. Realizing that she had ignored the others for a moment, she looked a little embarrassed.
Then she answered Tsunade's question.
"No incidents have occurred. Everything in Rōran is stable, and the war has not reached us."
After that, she looked at Kurenai and Shizune, waved in greeting, and introduced herself.
"You must be Seiryū's teammates. I am Sāra, Queen of Rōran."
"Hello, Queen Sāra."
As the ruler of a country, Sāra held a position comparable in dignity to a Kage, so Kurenai and Shizune responded politely.
Afterward, the two briefly introduced themselves.
Once the greetings were over, Sāra asked curiously, "What brings you to Rōran this time?"
Seiryū immediately stepped forward and patted his chest with a firm thump.
"I have come to fulfill my duties as Prince Regent of Rōran. Restoring Rōran's glory is my responsibility."
"Really?"
Sāra's eyes lit up.
A long time ago, she had wanted to bring Seiryū to Rōran.
She simply had not succeeded.
Now Seiryū was saying that he wanted to restore Rōran's glory.
Granted, Rōran had not had much glory to restore in the first place, but there was no way she would refuse.
She had given Seiryū the title of Prince Regent sincerely.
And not merely because of those three million ryō.
Smack.
Tsunade slapped Seiryū on the back of the head, glared at him, then turned to Sāra.
"We came to ask for your help with something."
Tsunade then explained the purpose of their visit.
"I see."
After hearing the reason, Sāra looked a little disappointed.
It really was not easy to lure Seiryū away.
After thinking for a moment, she said hesitantly, "Of course I am willing to help Seiryū master the Dragon Vein. He is not only close to me, but also the Prince Prince Regent. However..."
"However?"
Seiryū looked at Sāra curiously when he noticed her hesitation.
Then he began guessing based on her reaction.
"Could there be a special requirement for completely mastering the Dragon Vein? For example, do I need to formally marry into Rōran and become your husband?"
Kurenai's eyes narrowed instantly.
Marry into Rōran?
Become her husband?
Absolutely not.
Tsunade's face darkened as well. She slapped Seiryū on the head again.
"You brat, how does your mind even come up with things like that? There is no way..."
As she spoke, Tsunade noticed the strange expression on Sāra's face.
She paused.
Then, with a dark expression, she asked, "Queen Sāra, don't tell me this brat actually guessed correctly."
"Uh... well... how should I put this?"
Sāra's expression turned complicated.
After organizing her thoughts, she explained, "The royal line of Rōran does possess the ability to control the Dragon Vein, but that ability is not very effective once the Dragon Vein goes out of control."
"To restrain a rampaging Dragon Vein, two people who possess that ability must act together."
"The Dragon Vein has its own will. It does not allow anyone to fully control its power. If someone tries, its consciousness will resist, and that resistance can cause it to go berserk."
A rampaging Dragon Vein was extremely difficult to control.
In the past, Sāra had failed to control it, which had led to the Dragon Vein being sealed inside Seiryū's body.
To control the Dragon Vein in its berserk state, two queens of Rōran would have to work together.
And even then, that would only restrain it.
It would not mean completely mastering the Dragon Vein.
As for why Sāra's expression was so strange, that was because of Seiryū's guess.
The royal line of Rōran possessed a special technique that could share its ability to control the Dragon Vein with another person.
And that person was traditionally the queen's husband.
Rōran permitted both kings and queens to have more than one spouse, though in practice, most queens only had one consort.
Because of the special nature of Rōran's royal bloodline, if Sāra shared that ability with Seiryū, then the two of them working together, combined with Seiryū's own strength, might truly make it possible for him to master the Dragon Vein completely.
But there was a problem.
By ancestral law, the ability to control the Dragon Vein could only be shared with the queen's chosen consort.
In other words...
Was Seiryū ready?
Ready to fulfill the duties of Rōran's Consort?
Seiryū's mind worked quickly, and he vaguely pieced things together.
"To fully master the Dragon Vein, it has to resist. Once it resists, you alone won't be able to control it."
"That makes it sound impossible."
"But your expression is really strange, Sāra. Taking that together with what I just said, I must have guessed something important."
Seiryū pushed up a pair of glasses that did not exist, looking like a great detective making his final deduction.
"Your ability might make it possible for me to fully master the Dragon Vein."
"No, more accurately, you have a way to let me gain the royal family's ability to control the Dragon Vein, don't you?"
"And the condition is something like marrying into Rōran or becoming your husband?"
Seiryū felt his reasoning was sound.
After all, stories often developed this way.
The heroine, in order to help the male lead master a power he could not control, would choose to sacrifice herself.
Well, sacrifice might be too dramatic.
It was more like paying a price.
Reasonable.
Completely reasonable.
Seiryū nodded solemnly. "In order to perfectly control the Dragon Vein, I am willing to pay that price."
Then he quickly shook his head. "No, wait. Marrying into the royal family is impossible. That would make my future incomplete. But becoming your husband is acceptable."
Marrying into the royal family and giving up everything else was impossible.
His happiness had to remain intact.
But becoming a husband?
That was fine.
Rōran's system allowed it.
"Uh..."
Sāra was stunned by Seiryū's reasoning.
Although some of the details were off, he had somehow gotten very close to the truth.
How had he even guessed that?
But that sentence, "becoming your husband is acceptable," made it sound as if Seiryū had already prepared himself.
Sāra looked at him with beautiful eyes and smiled meaningfully.
"Seiryū, you're surprisingly good at guessing. And yes, you're more or less right."
"We do have a special technique that can share the royal family's ability with another person."
"And that person must be the queen's consort."
She paused, then smiled even more deeply.
"By the way, I forgot to mention something. In Rōran, the title of Prince Regent belongs to the queen's husband."
"When you asked for that title back then, it was essentially a proposal."
"And I accepted."
"So, here in Rōran, Seiryū, you are already recognized as my future husband."
Sāra did not mind that at all.
Seiryū was handsome, charismatic, powerful, and he had saved both her and Rōran.
He was the best possible choice to stand beside her and help govern the country.
Moreover, the title of Prince Regent had always belonged to the queen's chosen partner.
When Seiryū said he wanted to become Prince Regent, that had been no different from proposing to her.
Otherwise, Sāra would not have said things like needing him to grow up first.
When it came to bringing Seiryū to Rōran, she had always been serious.
Seiryū stared at her.
Tsunade stared harder.
Kurenai stared the hardest.
Shizune's mouth fell open. "Ah?"
The Prince Regent of Rōran was the queen's husband?
Did that mean Seiryū was already considered Queen Sāra's future husband?
And everyone in Rōran knew it?
Oh.
This was bad.
Kurenai immediately bristled like a cat whose fur had stood on end. She pulled Seiryū behind her protectively and glared at Sāra with fierce vigilance.
"No. Absolutely not. How can Seiryū be someone else's husband? I won't allow it."
Seeing Kurenai's reaction, Sāra's eyes flashed with amusement.
She smiled calmly. "I never said he could only be my husband. Rōran is not bound by monogamy, and I don't mind if Seiryū has other wives in the future."
Generally speaking, a queen only had one consort.
But exceptions existed.
A queen could also choose more than one partner.
In the end, she was the queen. Her word carried weight.
Sāra understood Seiryū's status very clearly. Strictly speaking, his position was even higher than hers.
She did not believe she could truly tie him down.
Besides, Rōran's laws already allowed multiple spouses. She did not care if Seiryū had other wives.
As long as his status as Rōran's Prince Consort remained unchanged, that was enough.
"Huh?"
Kurenai was completely stunned.
Sāra's answer had gone far beyond anything she expected.
Something felt wrong, but she could not figure out exactly what.
Tsunade remained silent.
She felt exhausted.
Could things really work this way?
Was Sāra not being far too generous?
No.
This was a scheme.
A blatant scheme to lure Seiryū to Rōran.
Perhaps from the moment Seiryū asked for the title of Prince Consort, Sāra had already anticipated something like this.
Why did it feel as if Sāra had gotten ahead of everyone else?
That made Tsunade feel strangely displeased.
Even Seiryū himself felt that the situation was odd.
Had he somehow become Sāra's future husband without realizing it?
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
What a surprise.
But it was a good surprise.
There was no need to court Sāra at all. She had laid everything out herself.
It was like being handed a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.
Thinking this, Seiryū glanced at Tsunade with a look that clearly said, "See? This is normal in Rōran."
Tsunade understood his look at once and rubbed her temples.
Sāra narrowed her eyes and smiled like a little fox.
"Seiryū, you must not disappoint me. You need to fulfill your responsibilities as Prince Regent."
"Otherwise, I won't be able to face my people."
"Of course."
Seiryū nodded seriously.
"I said it before. Restoring Rōran's glory is my duty."
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)