33.1. Reality of Being the Emperor - Part 1

"Ryuu..."

I wake up with familiar hands caressing my wings. And there's only one person whose touch brings me so much pleasure. Am I still dreaming? But then Erik's mind hits me and I gobble it like an addict. Which I am.

"Coming out of your cute cocoon anytime soon?" he tickles me under my feathers.

I open myself but only to envelop him as well and clutch him tight.

"I'm sorry," I murmur apologetically and aloud because it feels more real than using telepathy. "I'm selfish and never consider your feelings. I'll understand if you want to leave."

"Stupid!" Erik pokes my ribs. "Don't say things like that so easily. I just needed some time to think out of your influence, that's all."

"A-and?" I'm afraid to ask.

"I talked to Zetraya," he says as if I should know that name.

"Who?"

"That psychologist Liana hired," he explains. "I had a long session with him in the evening and that's why I came so late."

"And?" I'm still afraid of his answer even though I feel that he's regained his balance.

"Well, we just talked," he wraps his free arm around my back and finds my sweet spot between the wings. He starts rubbing it gently to relax me, not arouse.

"Did he help you?" I moan because his touch gives me pleasure nonetheless.

"He's also Celestial so he provided me with his point of view. While I do have your point of view all the time, you have to admit that you're not a typical representative of your species."

"Right," I reluctantly second that. "And?"

"At first, he was taken aback that Celestials will most probably live as long as your lore states but he came to terms with it quickly. Then we talked about my human feelings concerning that my boyfriend is almost immortal while I'll age and die normally. For a Celestial, he was very understanding. I guess he developed some level of detachment thanks to his profession."

"I should definitely make an appointment if he's so good," I nod.

"I already made one for you actually. Tomorrow at five," Erik announced nonchalantly. "I didn't want to do it without you but now I'm glad I did. You had another panic attack episode while I was away, right?"

"Ehm...," I don't want to admit it but since we're connected, he just knows.

"We seriously have to do something about it," he says softly. "We can't have the Emperor panicking when his Royal Consort isn't by his side, can we?"

"Y-you!" now I poke him.

"I'm not joking, though," he objects. "You do fully realise that all races have been acknowledged as nations, right? I wasn't present at the conference but everyone I met today was overly eager to tell me the happy news. Which means that you officially are the Celestial Emperor. Which also means that I officially am the Royal Consort."

"Do you hate it?" my voice fails me because I catch several conflicting emotions within him.

"Well... not really," he shakes his head. "It's obviously a game changer to date royalty and I won't say that I'm all confident about it but my love for you isn't any different because of that."

I answer him with a kiss. He answers back by caressing the spot between my wings harder so we're both really annoyed when someone urgently knocks on the door.

"Come in," Erik allows with a sigh but isn't willing to change his position into a more decent one. He only slips his hand out of my robe.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Luviael peeks inside and turns red when she sees us cuddling. "But His Majesty didn't eat his dinner. I'm afraid we have to insist he does."

"You didn't?" Erik raises his eyebrow at me. "It's nine already."

"Not hungry," I look sideways.

"We reheated the food for you," Luviael presses on. "Please?"

Erik tickles me under my feathers so I sit up with a growl. Part of the reason why I'm not hungry is because I lose appetite when stressed and the prospect of losing my boyfriend stressed me to astronomical heights. I relaxed a bit when he turned up but I still don't feel like eating. Should I talk about this with that psychologist as well?

In the end, Erik persuades me to eat at least half of my dinner but I can tell that Luviael isn't happy about it and will probably report it to Julia. Will they terrorise me with it from now on? I guess keeping their Emperor healthy should be a state priority or something. I'm not looking forward to that. We don't feel like having sex tonight so we just cuddle a bit and fall asleep under my wings.

*****

"Why the hell are they here?" I say immediately after I open my eyes in the morning.

"Whooo?" Erik yawns.

"There're people in our living room," I say, irritated. "I feel Vermiel, Luviael and two others. What the hell?"

"Seriously?" Erik frowns, fully awake now and also annoyed.

I quickly put on a light kimono over my nightrobe and discover that I feel strong enough to finally walk without support. I slowly move all my weight on my feet and devote a few moments getting used to my wings which got bigger again overnight.

"Are you okay?" Erik asks because he can see I'm struggling a bit.

My wings now reach all the way to my knees and they aren't as light as they might seem. There're strong bones, muscles, arteries and skin under all those fluffy feathers.

"I think my back will hurt if I don't exercise daily," I say with a worry. "And by exercise, I mean flying."

"Makes sense," he nods and is also worried. "How will we ensure your safety in the air?"

"No idea," I sigh and finally open the door. There's Vermiel and one other Celestial I know only by his face standing in front.

"Good morning Your Majesty, Royal Consort," they beam at us which is too much energy so early in the morning.

"Did something happen? Why aren't you standing in front of our apartment?" Erik asks, maddened that we don't have any privacy in our own living room.

"Lord Fefnir was concerned for your safety after that incident with intrusion so he had us posted closer," Vermiel explains. "Should we call for breakfast right away?"

I stare at him for a moment. He's behaving exactly as the Celestial royal guard should in the game but this isn't our game anymore and he isn't role-playing. I analyse his feelings and he isn't pushing himself either—this is simply natural behaviour of someone who takes pride in his job.

"Maybe you would like to visit Her Excellency first? I got a message that she woke up an hour ago and is feeling much better," Luviael speaks up, sitting on our sofa with a laptop open. "We can go through your today's agenda a bit later. I'm sure you're concerned about our Viceroy's health."

"That I am," I admit, uneasy about everything that's unfolding in front of me. It seems everyone is really comfortable with their new roles and they don't question the new order of things. Or maybe they do but they don't care as much as me.

"You can go right away then," Luviael says and nods at a Celestial woman I've seen before helping moving our stuff. She comes to us and puts an ornamented cloak on me and a light housecoat on Erik. We also get warm slippers.

I frown because we're both capable of doing that ourselves but nobody else seems to think it's weird that we got a personal maid. But I let it go for now because I do feel worried about Liana. I can tell she's okay but her mental state is quite disarrayed.

We leave our apartment only to find more guards patrolling the corridor. Fefnir did tighten the security. The guards standing in front of Liana's door bow to us and let us in. I expect to find Liana in her bedroom but she's sitting on the sofa, discussing something with Ingri.

"Li, you should be resting," I berate her instead of greeting because no one else has the courage to do so. Not even Julia.

"Oh, Aefener, good morning," she waves at me. "Good to see you walking on your own. I still can't but otherwise I feel okay today."

She nervously flutters her so much bigger black wings as if she doesn't know what to do with them all of a sudden. I can relate—our feathered limbs tend to be cumbersome on the ground and their size is problematic, especially when it comes to human furniture.

"I overslept establishing our embassy!" she cries. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been there to support you. Bennett is a nasty politician even if one knows how to deal with him and you have no experience. He toyed with you, didn't he?"

"I'm afraid he did," I sigh and sit down on a stool. There're several armchairs but I wouldn't fit into them.

"But we got our embassy," Ingri says positively. "We're officially nations."

"Which means even more work awaits us," Liana cools down her enthusiasm. "And not only paperwork and organisation, we'll be making laws for our people from now on."

My heart sinks. Making laws. Draconian governments aren't democratic, the rulers hold all powers: legislative, executive and judicial. We can transfer some of that power to officials we appoint, of course, but something tells me that even if we made a referendum, Draconians wouldn't want to establish real democracy. It simply isn't in our nature. We don't think human anymore to want human things.

"Thank God the Draconian rulers are reasonable people then," Erik stands behind me and starts massaging my shoulders.

"Don't you think it's weird? We live in the 22nd century," I mumble but enjoy his handiwork. It seems my back will become stiff easily, the wings are quite heavy.

"I do but those are my human standards," he says. "You're not human and the world has to get used to that."

Breakfast for all of us arrives so we eat it in Liana's apartment. Julia comes to check up on her and I'm glad that she forbids my Viceroy to work. It means more tasks for me but I don't mind. She was doing my work when I was indisposed so now's my turn.

"Oh, you think we will?" she's genuinely astonished when I tell her about the possible longevity of Draconian races.

"Only time will tell for sure but I can feel mana repairing my body," I say and look at my boyfriend. He somehow came to terms with this new discovery but that doesn't mean he's happy about it.

"Which will be problematic for intermixed couples, I see," Liana catches why I'm staring at Erik.

"One breaking news after another," Julia says, packing her medical suitcase after Liana's examination. "It doesn't surprise me as much, though, considering how different your bodies are now."

Because it's only our gang present, I also tell Liana about my Mom conditioning me not to inquire about my father. And the dread just thinking about him is causing me.

"Damn, Aefener," Liana bites her lip. "It seems your mother was desperately trying to hide you from him. She must have had a very good reason."

"Maybe he's an evil scientist who wouldn't think twice about dissecting his own son," Erik thinks out loud. "Maybe he's part of the equation why you're a telepath in the first place."

"So... should we look for him?" Ingri asks carefully.

"N-no!" I cry out, acting on pure instinct.

"Ryuu," Erik hugs me from behind. "It's okay, Liana can protect you."

"I... I wanted to say yes but...," I mumble and my wings shiver.

"Instilling such strong fear in a small child had to be done with a very good reason," Liana repeats. "But we have to crack it, Aefener, your origin might be somehow connected to the Great Evolution."

"I know," I admit, "but how do we go about it without everyone finding out?"

"Simple, we do the investigation ourselves," Liana says self-assuredly. "Vermiel and Miruel can help as well. And you'd be surprised how resourceful Hana is. Calling her a housekeeper isn't doing her justice, she's literally my Alfred."

A knocking at the door and Luviael emerges, looking nervous.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Your Majesty, but you should have been in your office twenty minutes ago," she says. "We wanted to give you a bit more time to talk to the Viceroy and eat breakfast in peace but several people are waiting for you and we can't proceed without you."

It's funny how one can get used to crazy stuff happening. Just a few weeks ago I would be scared shitless that something so important is depending on me—and we're talking about global politics here—but while I still feel nervous because I don't have any experience, I'm managing. This is my reality now and there's nothing I can do to change that so I might as well just accept it.