While looking at the dragons in the pens, Eva kept watching Ard across the way, who was casually holding a dragon's muzzle, and the dragon was occasionally licking his face. Ard also pulled Alicia and Milia to try and touch a dragon, which immediately jumped backward when Alicia and Milia stood in front of it.
Alicia looked like she was protesting to Ard because she, too, was startled to see a dragon, clearly much bigger than her, leap backward. Ard just laughed and tried to calm Alicia, while Milia merely laughed, watching the two of them.
"So he can get along with dragons, too... I'm really curious about him," Eva muttered to myself.
"Um... Princess Eva?" a man beside her called out.
Eva turned to see Irwin standing next to her and smiling. She then turned to look at Ard again.
"What is it?" Eva asked curtly.
"N-nothing, I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to attend this academy," Irwin said casually.
"Okay, you're welcome... anything else?" Eva asked sharply.
"N-no, Princess," Irwin replied.
"Alright, I'm going over there now," Eva said, walking away.
Eva immediately walked away, leaving Irwin, who looked annoyed and disappointed, and approached Ard across the way, who was talking to Alicia and Milia with his hand on a dragon's muzzle.
"Can you ride a dragon, Ard?" Eva asked suddenly.
Ard, Alicia, who instantly grew furious, and Milia, who was startled, turned to see Eva staring intently at Ard, ignoring Alicia and Milia, with a cold, unsmiling face.
"Um... no, Princess, haha," Ard said. "There's no way I can say I was a dragon knight in the Hellios Kingdom before I was made a royal knight guarding the princess in my sixth life," Ard muttered to myself.
"Lies. You can clearly calm the dragon near you. Come on, prove it, I want to see," Eva insisted.
"Uh... I can't, truly, Princess," Ard replied.
"Thump," suddenly Ard's back was clapped from behind. He turned to see Geoffrey patting his back.
"Come on, try it. I want to see too. I'm sure you can," Geoffrey said.
"Yes, Ard, I want to see too," Ainsley added, pushing up his glasses.
"Same here. I used to see the dragon knights training in my kingdom. The way you're stroking that red dragon and seeing how he respects you, I bet you can ride him," Rosalind added.
Ard looked at Alicia, who appeared anxious, and Milia, who was staring at him with sparkling eyes because she also wanted to see.
"Come on, Ard," Eva added one more time.
Seeing his friends pressuring him, Ard finally sighed. He turned and opened the red dragon pen. "Screeeak... graaah," the dragon immediately flapped its wings and looked happy that its pen was open. Ard immediately stroked its muzzle while discreetly pulling the reins. Rosalind looked at Ard and nodded because Ard looked respectful of the dragon he was slowly leading out.
"He's used to handling dragons," Rosalind murmured.
"Wow... really?" Geoffrey said beside her.
"H-he's amazing. This is the first time I've seen a dragon obey a human," Ainsley added, pushing up his glasses.
"Uuuh... my Prince... can you really ride a dragon?" Alicia asked anxiously in a very small voice.
"Huh... did you say something, Alicia?" Milia asked, startled, next to her.
"No... I didn't say anything," Alicia replied, shocked.
"A... Ard is truly amazing," Patricia murmured next to Alicia.
"Yep... he's a Pri... ah, I mean he's amazing," Alicia said proudly.
Irwin, walking at the very back, continued to watch Ard with fury. They all exited the large stable building and stood in the courtyard. Ard led the red dragon to the center and patted its neck three times. "Krieeek... groaaah," the dragon flapped its wings again, then lowered its legs as if bowing. Ard immediately jumped on, and the dragon stood back up.
"Let's go... Crimson," Ard said.
"Graaaaaaaaaah," "thump... thump... thump," Crimson immediately flapped its wings and shot up, flying with Ard on its back. Eva, watching him, was stunned; her hands were clenched, but a sense of pride was visible on her face. Alicia's eyes sparkled, watching Ard fly casually through the air, riding a dragon, as did Milia, whose mouth was wide open in awe. Rosalind didn't expect a man outside her kingdom to be able to skillfully fly a dragon right in front of her. Geoffrey, Ainsley, Patricia, and Irwin watched in admiration.
But suddenly, "Move it," a girl's voice ordered from behind. They all turned around to see Beatrice coming out, leading a brown dragon, accompanied by Minerva. Beatrice then walked to the center, passing Eva.
"I win... Ard is mine," Beatrice said, smiling scornfully at Eva.
"Grrrrr," Eva's ice-cold face immediately flushed red with emotion, even though her expression remained flat.
Beatrice immediately flew off on her dragon, chasing after Ard. Seeing Beatrice shoot away, Rosalind, who had been calm, immediately turned and spoke to Minerva, then ran into the stable. A short while later, she came out with a dragon and immediately flew off to follow Beatrice.
"Huh... why did Rosalind go too?" Alicia asked.
"She's actually Princess Beatrice's guard, so of course, she's worried something might happen to Princess Beatrice," Minerva replied, also looking up.
"Hooo... no wonder she's always watching Beatrice," Geoffrey muttered.
"Hmm... I didn't know that," Ainsley added, pushing up his glasses and looking up.
"Instructor Minerva... quickly teach me to ride a dragon," Eva yelled.
"Huh... th-that can't be done in a short time, Princess... we'll learn later," Minerva stammered in reply.
"Me too, Ma'am, I want to learn too," Alicia added, not wanting to be left out.
"H-hey... Alicia," Milia stammered, worried, looking at Alicia.
"Yes, we'll learn all about dragons and how to ride them later," Minerva said, overwhelmed.
***
Meanwhile, in the air, Ard continued to stroke Crimson's neck as it flew straight ahead. Suddenly, "swoooosh," a dragon appeared from below, right next to Ard. Ard's eyes widened when he saw Beatrice struggling hard to control the dragon beside him. "Kraaah," Ard looked back and saw Rosalind following them close behind with a worried expression.
"Why did Princess Beatrice come here... what does she want," Ard muttered to myself.
"Kraaaaah... groaaaah," suddenly, the dragon Beatrice was riding lost control because Beatrice wasn't actually very skilled at riding dragons, and the dragon's wing touched Crimson's wing. "Waaaaaa," Beatrice immediately swung, clinging to the saddle with her feet dangling in the air. Ard, seeing this, immediately stroked Crimson's neck and moved closer to the other dragon.
He jumped onto the other dragon, which was startled and tried to buck but immediately calmed down when Ard stroked its neck and brought his face close to the dragon's ear to whisper to it. He pulled Beatrice up onto his saddle, carrying her behind him.
Then Ard turned to see Crimson, who was looking at him. Ard nodded and "graaah," Crimson immediately plummeted down alone. Ard turned to see Beatrice behind him, who had wrapped her arms tightly around his stomach.
"It's okay, Princess. Let's go down," Ard said.
"Y-yes, thank you, Ard," Beatrice replied.
"Let's go, Stone," Ard said to the brown dragon.
"Graaaaah... krieeek," replied the dragon named Stone.
Stone immediately maneuvered and descended slowly. Ard gave Rosalind a thumbs-up and flipped it downward. Rosalind, who understood Ard's intention, immediately nodded, then spurred her dragon to follow them down.
When they landed, "graaaah... graaaah," Stone immediately roared as if talking to Crimson, who had already landed, and it roared back. Ard helped Beatrice dismount, and Beatrice immediately collapsed onto the ground. Then he jumped down.
Minerva and the others immediately ran to the center of the field to approach Ard and Beatrice. Rosalind, who had landed, also immediately joined them and crouched down to comfort Beatrice, holding both her shoulders.
"What happened?" Minerva asked, worried.
"Um... a little accident, haha," Ard replied casually, rubbing the back of his head.
"Y-yes, that's right," Rosalind added.
"Thank goodness nothing serious happened," Minerva said with relief.
Ard turned to see Eva and Alicia pouting, looking at him. When their eyes met, both immediately turned their faces away. And Milia was just smiling, looking at the two of them.
"What's wrong with them now? I understand why Alicia is mad... but Eva? She's the one who challenged me, right? That princess is truly weird," Ard muttered to myself.
Ard didn't realize that Beatrice and Rosalind were looking at him with immense admiration and high respect.
"Um... Rosa, is it allowed for a princess to marry a commoner?" Beatrice asked.
"It is not allowed, Princess," replied Rosalind, still staring at Ard.
"Oh... I see," Beatrice replied, also still staring at Ard.