I refused the crown prince's proposal because I'm gay!

Chapter 17

"I heard you've successfully hatched a dragon's egg."

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'Why has it come to this? How in all the realms of hell did this old fart know? Which one of my hundred paparazzi snitched on me? I should have sensed anyone within a ten-mile radius. Is it because I got sloppy? Have I been making far too frequent trips with the Saintess to the egg?'

Although she did well to keep every shred of emotion from her face, Blanca was panicking. She smiles stiffly, curtsied, and politely spoke, "I am honored by your words, Your Majesty"

Serena stared blankly at the imperial presence and quickly followed Blanca's example, mimicking the movements, and said nothing.

'Well, I did tell her to not say anything unnecessary.'

Now then, before we continue with this random side plot of the arc, let's take a huge step back... back to that egg. God, I hate that egg.

"This thing devours too much magic." Blanca slumped against the cave wall glittered with crystals, mildly exhausted. The multicolored crystals swayed gently, creating off rhythmic jingles. "I swear, Its reservoir's an endless pit."

"Really? I feel great." The saintess playfully laughed, stretching her waist. "It didn't drain much of my magic."

Along with keeping up with our charade of playing the cruel villainess and the poor innocent heroine with sweet little Rose tidying up any rough edges(I really should give her a raise after this... or maybe a vacation) and our tiresome duties in our respective areas. We would ensure that outside of our performance, we would make frequent visits to the dragon egg. Courtesy of the Saintess' daily efforts, the once dusty old cave is now a vibrant sanctuary. Vines hanging from the ceiling burst with purple and red berries. Even the cave floor is covered in a layer of soft moss, along with a tidy walkway from the entrance to the dragon egg lined by plants that glowed like lanterns.

"Animals are naturally attracted to Saints." Blanca scowls at the centerpiece of the cave. Tucked cozily in a nest made of grass, with variations of flowers weaving in between. A thin white veil draped above is held by wooden poles acting like a canopy.

"Of course, I'd be popular with animals," Serena jokingly replies with a light laugh, "I'm a cliche icon with a boatload of light magic~" the Saintess continued as she spread another layer of fresh grass around the base of the nest which was starting to look like a nursery straight out of a painting.

Unfortunately, the platinum blonde was too much in a foul mood to appreciate the art, Blanca swats annoyingly at the multicolored crystals swaying about in her face.

"Hmph." Blanca huffs, then leisurely approach the Saintess. She glanced once at the nest and sighed, taking some of the greenery from Serena's arm and haphazardly sprinkling it about.

"Hey." The Saintess protests with a pout, snatching back the plantation from Blanca's hands. "If you're not going to be helpful, at least don't make it worse."

"Why would you even bother making this place look pretty?" Blanca sighs, picking the wilted vines off the pile of plants that's cradling the egg, and tossing it aside.

"Why not?" Serena responds with a shrug, carefully pruning the flowers along the floor.

"There's no sunlight or water," Blanca said, holding a hand out to the Saintess who gratefully accepts and is hoisted to her feet. "Everything is just going to be wilted on our next visit anyways." Blanca glanced over to the pile of dried-up weeds.

"Oh? There's a next visit?" the Saintess playfully smirks using her light magic to will the vines to gracefully curl around the egg securing it so it doesn't roll off as it did during a previous visit.