The heavy gates swung open, allowing the sunlight from outside to flood the first floor of the Imperial Palace.
At this very moment, the members of the Dragon Race had already been waiting outside for a long time.
“What?! Now?!”
“Yes, right now. You need to walk through there with Mother to meet everyone, and then walk back to the gate.”
“Huh?! I—I’m not ready yet!”
Hearing that they were about to leave, Zhu Qiu became incredibly hesitant and fidgety.
“No can do. If you run away now, they’ll treat you like a child forever. Mother will hold your hand as we walk.”
“Maybe I should just let them treat me like a child then… I—I’m really scared…”
“Being scared won’t work either. We’re leaving now. Come on, follow Mother.”
Zhu Xiaxia took Zhu Qiu’s hand and began her performance.
“Ugh…”
The moment Zhu Qiu stepped out the door, countless pairs of eyes fixed on her.
At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to find a hole in the ground and crawl into it.
Seeing the Queen and the Princess preparing to walk through, the dragons in the clearing parted to create a path for them.
Furthermore, every time Zhu Xiaxia and Zhu Qiu passed a group, the dragons there would bow in respect.
Although the entire process was brief, Zhu Qiu was deathly nervous the entire time.
It felt as though her whole life was flashing before her eyes.
She had turned into a dragon, was being led by the hand by a dragon, and was wearing a magnificent dress while walking through a crowd of dragons for them to admire.
‘Waah! If I ever go back to the Human Race, how am I supposed to explain this to my dad and brother?!’
‘Sob…’
Zhu Qiu wanted to cry but had no tears.
More importantly, she couldn’t cry right now.
Even if she had become a dragon, she had to maintain her public image!
They returned to the main entrance.
In front of the gates was one small section level with the first floor of the palace, leading to a flight of stairs that descended into the palace clearing.
With this design, there was no need for a specialized stage.
Having finished the walk, Zhu Qiu was so frightened by the sheer number of gazes that she quietly shrank behind Zhu Xiaxia, hiding her head.
‘As long as I can’t see them, they can’t see me.’
“Fellow dragons, I am the Queen of the Dragon Tribe, Zhu Xiaxia Gracia. I have invited you all to the Imperial Palace today for the purpose of introducing my daughter, Zhu Qiu Gracia.”
Immediately afterward, Zhu Xiaxia pushed Zhu Qiu out from behind her.
“Come on, say hello to everyone,” Zhu Xiaxia whispered to Zhu Qiu.
There was no retreat.
She had to give it her all; if she failed, she would just die of embarrassment.
“He… hello, everyone.”
In the next second, the dragons below burst into applause, celebrating the birth of Her Royal Highness the Princess.
“Quick, keep going. Introduce yourself. Say you are my daughter, the Princess of the Dragon Race.”
“I… my name is Zhu Qiu Gracia. I am the daughter of the Dragon Queen and the Princess of the Dragon Race.”
Applause rang out from the crowd once more.
‘Wait…’
‘Something’s not right. Who is your daughter? Who is a princess?!’
However, in front of so many dragons, Zhu Qiu only dared to grumble in her head.
These dragons looked incredibly powerful.
If she revealed her identity as the Human Sword Saint, she would probably be torn to pieces.
“Alright, fellow dragons. This Birth Introduction Ceremony for my daughter concludes here.”
‘That’s it?’
‘Zhu Xiaxia summoned so many dragons just to introduce me? Honestly, was that necessary?’
‘Well, it’s good that it’s over. It saves me from being embarrassed in front of all these dragons.’
Just as Zhu Qiu turned to leave, she heard the dragons in the crowd discussing things amongst themselves.
All sorts of voices reached her ears.
“The Princess is so cute! She’s practically a miniature version of Her Majesty the Queen. If I were given the chance to take care of her, I would definitely give her a big kiss!”
‘Huh?’
‘Go away!’
“I really want to pick the Princess up and kiss her!”
‘???’
“I really envy Her Majesty for giving birth to such a cute daughter. She gets to kiss her every day.”
‘????’
‘Are all these female dragons mentally ill? Just because I’m cute doesn’t mean you should get to kiss me! Can’t you just kiss each other?!’
If she had known, she would have hidden in her room and never come out.
She hadn’t expected dragons to be such terrifying creatures.
It would be better to stay far away from them in the future.
At that moment, a heavy voice called out from the crowd.
“Princess, please wait.”
‘?’
Zhu Xiaxia walked back toward the palace.
As she passed by Zhu Qiu, she whispered a single sentence.
“As the Dragon Princess, you must answer the questions of your fellow dragons one by one. You cannot run away. If you do, your image will crumble~”
“Don’t leave me!”
After saying that, Zhu Xiaxia left and even shut the main doors.
“Don’t leave me here alone! I—I’m scared! There are so many dragons here, waah…”
‘Why didn’t I go inside earlier? Why did I have to stop here and listen to those female dragons chirping?’
There was no other way.
To maintain her image, she had to force herself to stay calm.
Zhu Qiu forced a smile, her body trembling as she slowly turned around.
“Does… does everyone have any other questions? If—if not, I’m going home.”
“I do!”
It was that same heavy voice.
Zhu Qiu looked toward the source.
It was a dragon man who was 1.9 meters tall.
He was large, dignified, and serious, with short black hair and mismatched red and black dragon horns and tail.
He was dressed in a black tailcoat and was currently scrutinizing her closely.
“Princess, let me introduce myself. I am Nidhogg Holtz, a Dark-Fire Dual Element Dragon and the District Manager of the Second Major District.”
“He… hello. I am Zhu Qiu, the Dragon Princess.”
“Do I need to walk up onto the stage to speak to you?”
Nidhogg frowned slightly.
The two horns atop his head began to spark with flames.
For a fire dragon, flaming horns were a sign of anger.
“Huh?”
Zhu Qiu obviously didn’t understand what Nidhogg meant.
In the next second, Nidhogg used Magic Teleportation to appear right in front of Zhu Qiu, leaving a few lingering embers in the air.
“Did Her Majesty the Queen not teach you that as the Dragon Princess, you should maintain a respectful attitude when facing highly respected elders of the Dragon Race? Instead of acting all high and mighty on this stage like you are now!”
Nidhogg’s statement caused an uproar among the dragons below.
“That’s true. How could the Princess forget basic Etiquette? That is not a good princess.”
“I didn’t expect the Princess to start acting so superior at such a young age. That really isn’t a good princess.”
“Actually, I think the Princess is still young. It’s normal for her to forget. We shouldn’t make things difficult for her.”
“The Princess is so cute, what does it matter if she makes a little mistake?”
“I traveled all this way and still got to see some drama? Not a bad deal at all.”
The clearing became noisy as all sorts of opinions were voiced.
“SILENCE!”
Nidhogg couldn’t stand the noise from the crowd and let out a roar.
The crowd fell silent instantly.
“Princess, don’t you think you should show some respect now?”
‘Huh?’
‘Show what?!’
Because Nidhogg was over half a meter taller than Zhu Qiu, his presence was incredibly oppressive.
In her nervousness, Zhu Qiu’s mind went blank.
“I… I don’t know, ugh…”
“You don’t know? You can already take human form, so you must be at least 100 years old. In all these years, have you never even learned how to apologize?!”
‘Waah! Zhu Xiaxia, come save me! Not only are the female dragons scary, the males are even worse!’