āIām going to find someone who Iād take care of in the future too.ā
āHehe, thatās nice. Iām 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.ā
āYes!ā
The ten-year-old Saravia replied to his mother energetically. Thatās right, at that time heās 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.
āā¦K-King Saravia! Itās morning.ā
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, heād be awake before Izzet comes to wake him up.
Saravia raised his body and sighed.
āGood morning, Izzet.ā
āGood morning, King Saravia⦠You were making noises, did you have a nightmare?ā
Ginger tea was brought to wake Saravia up, he did not attempt to hide his tired expression as he looked at Izzet.
āā¦I dreamt about the time when mother passed away.ā
āThat isā¦ā
Izzet did not know what to reply and heās at a loss for words.
āYou have many things to do recently. Iām sure you must have been so tired that it led to emotional disturbance. Please relax and take a break.ā
Izzet opened the windows to let in fresh air and the wind ruffled Saraviaās golden hair.
He sipped onto the ginger tea and looked at the scenery outside the window while muttering āthings arenāt going too wellā¦ā
āI didnāt expect the fairy king to be here with them.ā
āThatās right. The plans were messed up since the involvement of Rose.ā
āI agree.ā
Saravia laughed and finished up his ginger tea in one shot.
āAt first, I thought of receiving the magical power I lack from Rose secretly, but that didnāt go well; I donāt want to become someone with such a petty mindset.ā
āKing Saravia.ā
āIām sure mother doesnāt want me to be like that too.ā
āHowever, Iām sure sheād be sad if you pass away like that!ā
Izzet interrupted Saraviaās words and told him not to choose the path of death so easily.
Indeed, itās the royal family role to pass the magical power to the awakened Salamander. However, thatās the responsibility of the previous king who only have one wife as he took the incident, which happened several hundreds of years back, lightly.
āItās only after motherās death that I realized I have to fulfil the duty of appeasing the awakened Salamander⦠The intention of Salamanderās flowing within me, and I became aware of what I ought to do.ā
At that moment-
āIām disappointed. I mean I wasnāt able to provide the Salamander the required magical power by myself. In the first place, itās difficult for a single person to fill up the Salamanderās stomach.ā
Thatās 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 fatherās refusal.
Thatās 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.
Thatās the motivation behind Saraviaās behaviour up till now.
āUp till now, there were some kings who have given up their lives to fill the Salamanderās stomach. Itās not for sure that Iāll die so I think itās worth giving it a try.ā
āOf course thatās not good. If you die, thereāll be no more royal family members of Sandrose.ā
āā¦thatās true.ā
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, thatās probably the case.
As the king, thereāre some things Saraviaās convinced about. After all, Saraviaās doing the same thing now. It wouldnāt be strange if someone else shared the same thoughts as him. No, itād be strange if thereās no one who thought like him.
Thatās why he decided to take the bold move.
āAh, speaking of which⦠King Aquasteed mentioned that he wanted permission to visit all of the libraries.ā
āLibraries?ā
The topic changed and Saravia raised a voice of surprise.
āWhy⦠ah, I see. He probably wanted to find some clues to return Roseās body to normal.ā
āThatās probably the case. However, the entry to the underground storageās pretty strictly managed. Even people of this country would not be able to enter in easily, whatās more the king of another country-ā
āNo, I donāt mind so please tell him I grant him the permissionā
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, Saraviaās someone who would not change his mind. Izzet had no choice but to reply that he got it.
āWell then, Iāll inform King Aquasteed about that.ā
āYes, please. However, the festival will take place the day after tomorrow. I donāt think theyāll find a way to return Roseās body back to normal by then⦠but I have a feeling something would be different if itās Rose.ā
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 itās finally the day of the Festival of Fire and Water.