117 Part 2

“I’m going to find someone who I’d take care of in the future too.”

“Hehe, that’s nice. I’m sure that girl will be blissful, being loved by Sara. I was loved by that person and gave birth to Sara, so please be happy like us.”

“Yes!”

The ten-year-old Saravia replied to his mother energetically. That’s right, at that time he’s very happy, and he told her to take a look at the country after he became the king himself.

However, all of those changed when his mother passed away.

“…K-King Saravia! It’s morning.”

Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes.

The morning light shone in from the windows and it seemed like he woke up later than usual. Usually, he’d be awake before Izzet comes to wake him up.

Saravia raised his body and sighed.

“Good morning, Izzet.”

“Good morning, King Saravia… You were making noises, did you have a nightmare?”

Ginger tea was brought to wake Saravia up, he did not attempt to hide his tired expression as he looked at Izzet.

“…I dreamt about the time when mother passed away.”

“That is…”

Izzet did not know what to reply and he’s at a loss for words.

“You have many things to do recently. I’m sure you must have been so tired that it led to emotional disturbance. Please relax and take a break.”

Izzet opened the windows to let in fresh air and the wind ruffled Saravia’s golden hair.

He sipped onto the ginger tea and looked at the scenery outside the window while muttering “things aren’t going too well…”

“I didn’t expect the fairy king to be here with them.”

“That’s right. The plans were messed up since the involvement of Rose.”

“I agree.”

Saravia laughed and finished up his ginger tea in one shot.

“At first, I thought of receiving the magical power I lack from Rose secretly, but that didn’t go well; I don’t want to become someone with such a petty mindset.”

“King Saravia.”

“I’m sure mother doesn’t want me to be like that too.”

“However, I’m sure she’d be sad if you pass away like that!”

Izzet interrupted Saravia’s words and told him not to choose the path of death so easily.

Indeed, it’s the royal family role to pass the magical power to the awakened Salamander. However, that’s the responsibility of the previous king who only have one wife as he took the incident, which happened several hundreds of years back, lightly.

“It’s only after mother’s death that I realized I have to fulfil the duty of appeasing the awakened Salamander… The intention of Salamander’s flowing within me, and I became aware of what I ought to do.”

At that moment-

“I’m disappointed. I mean I wasn’t able to provide the Salamander the required magical power by myself. In the first place, it’s difficult for a single person to fill up the Salamander’s stomach.”

That’s why, Saravia immediately told his father to get a new consort. If this continues, they would not be able to deal with the Salamander once it wakes up; they needed more children to provide the Salamander magical power.

However, his opinion was not taken into account.

At the same time, Saravia could not reject his father’s refusal.

That’s because he could not forget his wife, the only person he loved.

In that case, he thought that he would take in multiple consorts and expand the royal family, in place of his father.

That’s the motivation behind Saravia’s behaviour up till now.

“Up till now, there were some kings who have given up their lives to fill the Salamander’s stomach. It’s not for sure that I’ll die so I think it’s worth giving it a try.”

“Of course that’s not good. If you die, there’ll be no more royal family members of Sandrose.”

“…that’s true.”

However, there are some optimistic parts to that.

Looking back at the history, Sandrose has many royal family members; some of the royal blood was probably mixed among the civilians secretly.

In other words, the king of the far past might have done some preparations in case something like this happens.

No, that’s probably the case.

As the king, there’re some things Saravia’s convinced about. After all, Saravia’s doing the same thing now. It wouldn’t be strange if someone else shared the same thoughts as him. No, it’d be strange if there’s no one who thought like him.

That’s why he decided to take the bold move.

“Ah, speaking of which… King Aquasteed mentioned that he wanted permission to visit all of the libraries.”

“Libraries?”

The topic changed and Saravia raised a voice of surprise.

“Why… ah, I see. He probably wanted to find some clues to return Rose’s body to normal.”

“That’s probably the case. However, the entry to the underground storage’s pretty strictly managed. Even people of this country would not be able to enter in easily, what’s more the king of another country-”

“No, I don’t mind so please tell him I grant him the permission”

Izzet was about to tell Saravia to reject the request but he immediately agreed to it.

Indeed, thinking about what has happened, he has no choice but to agree to it… but was it really a good idea? While finding ways to return Tiararose to normal, they might come across other confidential military documents.

However, Saravia’s someone who would not change his mind. Izzet had no choice but to reply that he got it.

“Well then, I’ll inform King Aquasteed about that.”

“Yes, please. However, the festival will take place the day after tomorrow. I don’t think they’ll find a way to return Rose’s body back to normal by then… but I have a feeling something would be different if it’s Rose.”

Saravia laughed jovially, got up his bed and put his arms through the sleeves of the clothes Izzet has prepared.

***

Tiararose and Aquasteed tried to find ways to restore the magical power while Saravia prepared for the festival; time passed as they were busy with their tasks, and it’s finally the day of the Festival of Fire and Water.

They could not come up with any good idea-