A few months had passed since the intense aftermath of the battle.
Inside the grand throne chamber of the Loid Kingdom, King Miyi sat slouched upon his throne, while Princess Sliviy stood tall and vigilant by his right side.
Today, as with any other day, it was the King's duty to listen to the various proposals sent in by public figures and merchants, granting them either his royal approval or a swift rejection.
"Your Majesty, I humbly request your permission to build my new restaurant within your magnificent Kingdom," a traveling merchant pleaded, bowing low.
Miyi lazily raised a single hand. "Approved," he droned, his voice dripping with absolute apathy.
I have already been sitting here for four grueling hours, Miyi complained bitterly in his thoughts as his internal boredom reached critical mass. Please, just let me go back to bed. I am dying of boredom.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" the merchant beamed, completely oblivious to the king's internal crisis.
"If you ever find the time, please come by! The restaurant is called 'The Rising Sun.' You are always invited!"
"Yes, yes...
Yawn
..." Miyi waved his hand dismissively.
He desperately tried to maintain his focus, but the sheer weight of his boredom was rapidly taking over his brain.
"Father..." Sliviy muttered, her sharp eyes darting over to him.
"I know exactly what you are thinking. Let me guess. You are feeling sleepy right now, aren't you?" she asked, her voice laced with strict seriousness.
"Ah! No, no, no. I was... simply letting an old breath of air out of my chest!" Miyi lied through his teeth, doing everything in his power to avoid unleashing her infamous temper.
Just then, a very faint, stifled yawn echoed right beside Miyi's ears.
Yawn
Miyi immediately whipped his head around, trying to catch her in the act. "Sliviy, did
you
just yawn?"
"No! I certainly did not!" Sliviy snapped defensively.
To quickly divert his attention, she pointed a stern finger toward the entrance of the hall.
"Look, there are more merchants coming in. Focus."
Internally, Sliviy let out a massive sigh of relief.
"Your Majesty, here is my proposal. If it pleases your grace, I require your permission to-" another merchant began, but his speech was abruptly cut short.
The heavy doors flew open as a royal guard rushed headlong into the throne room.
"YOUR MAJESTY!" the guard screamed, breathlessly throwing himself down onto one knee.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Sliviy demanded, stepping forward as she noted how utterly panicked and out of breath the guard appeared.
"It's Princess Takao! Somehow... she just evolved!!" the guard yelled, frantically trying to explain a phenomenon that his own brain could barely process.
"Sister Takao has
evolved
!?" Sliviy repeated, her brow furrowing. She and Miyi exchanged deeply confused glances. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"Sh-she turned into something entirely different! Like a monster!!" the guard cried out in genuine terror.
"Takao turned into a monster!?" Miyi gasped, sitting up straight. "Is she okay?"
Sliviy froze. Slowly turning her head toward her father, she stared at him with an expression of pure, unadulterated disbelief.
"Seriously... Father? Of all the logical questions you could have asked first,
that
is what you come up with?" She was completely dumbfounded, wondering if he had even listened to a single word.
Embarrassed, Miyi quickly looked away, staring at the far wall to avoid making her any angrier. "Well... that was just the first question that popped into my head."
"Father... if something is fundamentally wrong with a person to the point where they are described as a monster, asking 'is she okay' is completely illogical, because it implies she was fine to begin with!" Sliviy lectured sharply, trying to correct his flawed reasoning.
"Erm, Your Majesty... Princess Sliviy..." the royal guard interrupted weakly from the floor, desperately trying to deliver his critical message while the two royals bickered. "Princess Takao might be in grave danger..."
Sliviy, however, was far too busy scolding Miyi to notice.
The guard let out a heavy, defeated sigh. "
Sigh
..."
He slumped his shoulders, entirely giving up on trying to intervene.
A few moments later, after their intense argument finally concluded, Miyi and Princess Sliviy decided to personally investigate the situation at the site of the report.
"
Dimensional Teleportation!
" Sliviy chanted, channeling her pink mana.
In a swift flash of light, space fractured, and both Miyi and Sliviy materialized directly inside Princess Takao's massive, high-tech laboratory.
The room was incredibly vast and spacious, featuring pristine white walls that pulsed with a vibrant, glowing cyan light.
Near the center of the room, Princess Takao was meticulously adjusting the wiring of what appeared to be a highly advanced mecha suit standing right in front of her.
"Phew. That's finally the last piece. Nice job, me," Takao whispered happily to herself, her voice so soft and gentle that it barely carried past her own ears.
Suddenly, a loud, authoritative voice boomed from right behind her.
"Sister Takao! What is the meaning of this!?" Sliviy asked.
Takao jumped nearly a foot into the air, startled half to death. Panicking, she instantly scrambled backward and hid herself entirely behind the towering mecha suit.
"Erm... I am incredibly sorry, Sister Takao. I did not mean to scare you like that," Sliviy apologized quickly, raising her hands in peace to show she meant no harm.
A tiny, incredibly faint whisper drifted out from behind the metal plating.
"Errm... errmm... wh-what c-can I-I help y-you with...?" Takao fumbled blindly over her words, her severe social anxiety completely taking the reins.
"What? Sorry, did you say something?" Sliviy asked, straining her ears. She had caught the faint vibration of a voice but couldn't decipher a single syllable.
Miyi stepped forward, puffing out his chest. "Sliviy, let me handle this," he said confidently.
Sliviy adjusted her glasses, a small glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes.
Finally, my father is standing up to take proper action.
Miyi slowly walked up to the mecha suit, examining it from top to bottom. He couldn't help but feel a profound wave of awe wash over him.
The machine was spectacular, constructed from sleek, heavy black armor plating that formed a towering, humanoid robot.
Bright, neon-cyan energy lines pulsed beautifully through the gaps in the armor. Even standing perfectly straight, the machine was the exact same height as the King himself.
Yet, despite the impressive tech, Takao remained tightly curled up in its shadow, entirely paralyzed by her own shyness.
"Heck, why on earth did the guards say she was evolving into a monster!?" Miyi complained within himself, completely baffled. "Which part of her is supposedly evolving? Her shyness, or your wild imaginations?"
He shook his head, entirely convinced the royal guards had panicked over nothing.
Nodding to himself, Miyi leaned over the side of the robot to look directly at the terrified princess.
"Takao, tell me, which part of you is actually evolving? Hmm?" Miyi asked curiously.
However, in his eagerness, he leaned in far too close, his shadow casting a massive, looming darkness over her face.
"Ermm... e-erm… y-you are t-too close.." Takao nervously squeaked.
Looking up to find her father's face mere inches from her own, the sheer sensory overload and anxiety became too much to bear.
Her eyes turned dark, and she promptly fainted, collapsing straight onto the floor.
"Eh?" Miyi blinked in shock, staring down at his unconscious daughter.
Sliviy stood a few paces back, her hand pressed firmly against her forehead as she pushed up her glasses.
The brief glimmer of hope she had felt was completely shattered. "Father... I actually looked forward to your assistance for once, but it seems I drastically overestimated you."
"But I just asked her what she was evolving into!" Miyi defended himself frantically.
"THAT IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM, YOU STUPID FATHER!" Sliviy screamed, aggressively throwing her finger at him in an angry point.
And right there in the middle of the advanced laboratory, Miyi found himself trapped in yet another relentless scolding from his furious daughter.