Oriana and Emil spent most of the day together, and only separated once Kyra came to inform the Princess that the Dragon Emperor and Dragon Princess arrived at the Palace. As the heiress to the Aelian throne, she was expected to be a part of the greeting committee.

It was already dusk when the carriage with the Liung-Mun royal family arrived at the main entrance of the Golden Palace. All of the staff had gathered there alongside their masters to greet the guests. King Lucius II, Queen Hester, and Oriana were at the forefront of the group, while Valeria and Gideon were directly behind them, as the second highest ranking inhabitants of the Palace.

Kyra, on the other hand, was standing further back, among other maids. Her position as a personal maid to the Princess raised her slightly above other palace maids, but there was still the Head Maid and Head Butler, who were superior to her.

Nonetheless, she didn’t mind having to stand somewhere in the back. If anything, she was glad she didn’t have to be at the front and worry about all of the formalities. Being one of the heads in the background crowd felt the most appropriate for her. After all, she never was anyone special, and it was already enough for her to be able to see those important guests with her own eyes, even if from afar.

One of the servant boys jumped down from the carriage seat and opened the door for the Emperor.

Lin Cao, a dignified looking man with an elegant long mustache, a beard, and a pair of black horns that decorated his head, stepped out from the carriage and held out his hand to help his daughter.

When the Dragon Princess Lin Xuelan came out of the carriage, Kyra felt like her entire world changed. Suddenly there was no one else and nothing else around her. There was no Palace, no sky, no grass, no wind. Even the time had stopped, as if it wanted to keep this moment from passing.

Kyra had heard about the Dragon Princess’ outstanding looks, but even the most flowery praises sung by others couldn’t prepare her for this moment. Lin Xuelan was the most beautiful person she had ever seen.

Her face was like a perfect mixture of proud elegance and a charming softness. Her peach-colored lips and eyes like black pearls contrasted against her porcelain skin. Smooth dark hair flowed down her hanfu, adorned with a detailed depiction of HeiLong - the patron deity of Liung-Mun. The Princess’ temples were decorated with a pair of graceful, antler-like jade horns.

Seeing someone, she could only describe as “perfect”, Kyra was stunned. All reason had left her, and she couldn’t do anything but gaze at this divine being as she was approaching the crowd. Only after she felt a jab at her ribs she realized that everyone was bowing in a greeting to the Emperor and his daughter.

Kyra quickly followed suit after the rest of the staff and bowed deeply, silently yelling at herself to wake up from the daze. She felt her heart racing in her chest and her cheeks burning.

— Your Majesty, Your Imperial Highness. Welcome to the Golden Palace.

— Lucius, it’s been too long. — the Emperor shook the King’s hand and patted his shoulder. It has been many years since he saw the young ruler of Aelius. The timid boy from his memory has become a formidable man. — You’ve grown, friend.

— It must have been over 20 years now, Your Majesty. I would hope so! — the King reciprocated the Emperor’s gesture — I hope your trip was pleasant?

— We had a run-in with the Sirens, but fortunately we managed to get out without harm. The rest of the road was peaceful.

— Sirens? We’ve heard from our fishermen that they have been quite aggressive lately, but to attack the Imperial ship… Gideon, send someone to investigate it tomorrow. There might be more trouble in the future.

The adviser nodded in agreement. He already started planning the best course of action.

At the same time, the King moved on to introducing his wife and daughter to Lin Cao. Last time they saw each other, he wasn’t married yet, so for Queen Hester and Oriana it was the first time meeting the Liung-Mun Emperor.

While exchanging pleasantries with the Princess, Lin Cao noticed someone else who he wasn’t familiar with before.

He had never met the white-haired woman standing by Oriana’s side, and yet there was something weirdly familiar in her face. Her stern expression and piercing silver eyes reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago. Someone, who perished alongside his family and people. Someone, who had one daughter, whose body was never found.

Could she be…?

— Ah, where are my manners. — The King followed the Emperor’s gaze and realized he forgot to introduce someone — This is Commander Valeria. She’s in charge of the Royal Guards, and since recently, she became Oriana’s guardian. She’s one of the best swordsmen I’ve known.

Valeria bowed courtly to Lin Cao.

— It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.

— Are you from Aelius, child?

— Yes. Me and my sister come from Piscis in the Lucetta Province.

Sister? As far as I can tell, Conall and Aoife had only one daughter. Then this woman can’t be Eira. But the similarity is far too great to be a coincidence.

— I see. Lucius wouldn’t praise you like this, if he didn’t have a good reason. I’ll humbly ask you to look after my daughter during our stay here. She always gets into trouble and leaves this poor father worried sick.

Hearing her father mentioning her, Lin Xuelan finally shifted her focus to the conversation he was having.

Up till that point, she was way too absorbed in observing one of the maids furiously blushing after being caught staring. The frantic head movement while looking away, caused a few strands of her chestnut hair to slide from her neatly tied bun. Her big green eyes were roaming, desperately trying to avoid looking at Lin Xuelan any more, but to no avail. Every time she was caught in the act, a blush on her pretty freckled face got even redder.

Cute~.

It wasn’t anything new for the Dragon Princess to be admired. She was fully aware of her looks and what effect it had on people. Many favored her and desired her. Many tried to be noticed by her and hoped to stand by her side as her partner. Too bad for them, the Dragon Princess of Liung-Mun wasn’t really interested in any of them. She wouldn’t shy from some harmless flirting, but she would always back out before things got too far. She liked her independence, after all. And more than anything, she hated the thought of being someone’s prized possession, valued only because of her looks.

This time, however, she felt drawn to the Blushing Girl. She, too, had a hard time not staring at her, but unlike the girl, she was a bit better at hiding her emotions.

— Please, father, you’re giving everyone a bad first impression of me. - Lin Xuelan forced herself to look away from the girl - Don’t listen to my father, Commander. I can assure you, I won’t cause you any trouble… Or at least not too much.

— Thankfully, Princess Oriana made sure I have a lot of experience, so you can rest assured, Your Majesty. — Valeria tried to smile, but a surprisingly strong jab in the ribs interrupted her halfway through.

— What is that supposed to mean? Stop spewing nonsense about me in front of people. — Oriana puffed her cheeks at this blatant slander.

This Bastard. Keep talking like this and I’ll show you the real “experience”.