Editing Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 6 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 2===
When the two of them arrived at Julius Hall, most of Eco’s anger had dissipated. However, as soon as she took one step into the meeting room, her mood turned sour again. Ash was also frozen in place.

“Yo, Ash and Eco, I’ve been waiting for you two for a long time.”

That Oscar Brailsford occupied the sofa that was used for resting, and cordially greeted the two of them. The way that she elegantly sat with her legs crossed seemed much like a noble, and seeing that simply aroused a sense of loathing within them. As for the maid with the eye patch — Celes stood behind Oscar with a frown on her face. Only she and her maid were in the room, no one else was present. It seemed as though Ash’s group had come too early this time.

“Why are you here!?”

Although he asked rather bluntly, Ash was thinking about the incident which had occurred in the depths of the forest. Furthermore, it was Oscar’s carelessness which lead to her being seen in that state whilst straddled on top of Ash, a dreamlike appearance… The instant that Oscar’s and Ash’s eyes met, the same scene probably emerged in their minds. Her cheeks reddened, but she still looked calm as usual.

“I am the Vice-President of the Student Council after all, you couldn’t have forgotten that, right?”

“The class-skipper has the nerve to say that huh, so what has brought you here today?”

Ash quietly stood in front of Eco. Oscar desired Eco’s power. He did not forget this. However, Oscar’s reply was outside of Ash’s expectations.

“My purpose here today was not to seek out Eco, I came here for you. Ash Blake.”

“For me?”

Ash frowned.

“Ah, that’s right — my future second queen.”

“Who the hell is your second queen!?”

“Yes, when it comes to your name as the queen…how does ‘Ashley’ sound?”

“Please don’t say any more…just thinking about it makes me want to die…”

“You’re so unromantic…I see, I understand now! Are you unhappy that Rebecca is the first queen?”

“That’s not the problem!”

“Whew, I really can’t persuade you. I’ll let you be the first queen as you want, and as for Rebecca, all I can do is to ask her to take the position of second queen. Rebecca is very generous, so she wouldn’t care about such trifles with me.”

“Can you please listen to me seriously!?”

After Ash showed an impatient look, Oscar’s face suddenly tensed. Ash felt like a chill ran down his spine, and he stood there frozen in place.

“As long as you become one of my people, Eco will also fall into my hands. In this way, the throne of the next Chevron King will easily become mine.”

Oscar composedly pushed her fringe upwards.

“Ah geez, I’m sick of this, what the hell are you guys saying! What’s going on between you two!? T-Two men getting married, how disgusting!”

Eco’s patience finally wore out, and she stuck her face out from behind Ash. Her cheeks were dyed bright red in annoyance. Ash was unsure of how to explain the situation to Eco. In fact, up until now, he still had not told her about the secret that Oscar was actually a woman.

“Oh. I thought that you surely would’ve told Eco, I didn’t expect you to actually keep my secret.”

Oscar looked at Ash with a gaze of admiration.

“Don’t look down on me. I’m not so low that I’d go around distributing other people’s secrets.”

“Hey! What secret!”

Eco snappishly asked, and Ash hesitantly replied

“Umm, that is…y-yeah, you could call it an agreement between men. Sorry, but it’s inconvenient for me to disclose it to you. I hope you can understand.”

Ash placed both of his hands on top of Eco’s shoulders.

“Hmm…between men huh. So you can’t be forced to speak about it then? But I just heard that — that guy wants to marry you as his bride?”

“T-That’s actually a secret code that only men will understand! It can’t be judged from its literal meaning!”

“…Really.”

Although she was still dubious of Ash’s explanation, Eco gave up on pursuing the matter.

“You really are a good person. I’m starting to like you even more now!”

Oscar snapped his fingers with a ‘click’, and gave an order to Celes who was behind him

“Celes! Prepare project A!”

“…So bothersome.”

From beginning to end, Celes continued to have a displeased look on her face. Please reject Oscar’s orders…Ash silently hoped to himself.

“Fine, I’ll take it as a way to kill time.”

Unfortunately, Celes instantly made a decision that was contrary to his expectations. She abruptly stepped forward, and extended her hand out towards Ash. Her movements looked as though she were naturally petting a dog’s head, but—

“—Wh-!”

Ash’s vision suddenly tipped upside down, immensely startling him. In just the blink of an eye, Ash was grabbed onto and was being held underneath Celes’ arm.

“H-Hey! Let me down!”

Ash constantly swung his limbs around in a struggle, but it was helpless as his body was being firmly held onto, and he was unable to break free from the predicament. It was almost as if his entire body was suspended in mid-air right now.

“Hey, you filthy insect. Who allowed you to order me around! Shut up and stay quiet! Stop struggling for me! Do you want me to throw you out the window?”

After Celes made such threats with a fearsome tone, Ash became silent. It was because her cold tone showed that she was clearly not joking around.

 

“Hold on! What are you trying to do to Ash!?”

Seeing Celes about to leave the room with Ash captured, Eco hurriedly tried to catch up and stop her, but her path was blocked by Oscar, who calmly stood in the doorway. The sound of Celes’ footsteps gradually receded.

“Move aside!”

“Don’t worry, I promise you that we won’t hurt Ash Blake. Anyway, let us sit down and have a cup of tea while we wait first. Don’t look at me like that, my tea-making skills are actually first-class. Since you’re a dragon, how about a cup of Ansal tea?”

Oscar held a teapot in her hand as she smiled.

“Ansal tea?”

Eco swallowed as she began to salivate. The Ansal herb was too strongly stimulating for a young dragon like Eco, so simply ingesting a small amount would make her immediately drunk. That was why Ash normally prohibited her from having it. But her great desire for Ansal wasn’t something that could be satiated with just words. It was a dragon’s nature, so Eco couldn’t be blamed.

“I can’t! I’ll get drunk!”

Mobilising all of her rationality, Eco finally rejected the temptation. ''If Ash heard me say that, he would praise me''…such thoughts floated into Eco’s mind. Even so, Oscar continued to smile as she persuaded her

“You don’t need to worry. The Ansal content of this tea is very low, so young dragons won’t be affected by drinking it.”

After saying so, Oscar indifferently began to brew the tea. After pouring water into a kettle which had a Bright Dragon Crystal installed in it, she then activated the Dragon Magic. A few minutes later, the piping hot Ansal tea which let off white steam and many pastries with fresh cream were placed in front of Eco.

“Will I really be fine after having it?”

“Trust me.”

Oscar nodded confidently as confirmation.

“Hmm…”

Eco remained highly sceptical as she frowned. She put her nose close to the cup, and sniffed the scent of it like a puppy.

“Ah. It has a delicious fragrance…”

A rose-like aroma entered her nostrils, captivating Eco. It was an aroma that would naturally appeal to a dragon. Eco could no longer withstand the temptation, and she lifted up the teacup for a sip.

“Mmm, it has a very mellow and rich taste…it’s delicious!”

“Of course. That’s because this tea uses the highest grade of Ansal.”

Oscar smiled widely as she replied.

“So this is what the adult taste refers to! It is perfectly suited for a dragon of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family to have!”

“I’m very glad that you like it. Would you like a refill?”

“Of course!”

Eco beamed with joy as she pushed her cup out. This time, she carefully savoured the flavour of the tea while she enjoyed the pastries.

“Fuwaa, I’m so happy~”

The flavour of the Ansal tea and the sweet pastries were in perfect harmony on her tongue, when the two of them were put together, they were both delicious and smooth.

“…?”

After a while, Eco found that her own body was becoming very hot. A familiar sensation surged forth from her mind. Her vision became began to spin for a moment, and it then became blurry. Eco could no longer hold the cup up, and it fell onto the floor with a slip of her hand. The shattered fragments of the cup scattered near her feet.

“Y-You…lied to me…didn’t you…?”

Eco finally realised that she had taken the bait. The so-called ‘Ansal content is very low, so young dragons won’t be affected by drinking it’ was a big lie. Eco’s consciousness went completely hazy, and she lost her ability to understand the situation.