The dragon's harem

"Sir Arad," A man in clergy clothes approached with Merlin at his side, "I have a letter from the church,"

Arad smiled, "Excuse me for a moment," He stood, walking away with Merlin and the cleric.

"Is it done?" Arad asked with a smile.

The cleric smiled, "It is done. Feel free to drop by any day except Sundays. It's the day of the prayers to the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu. That's why we call it sun-day."

"Are the other days named the same?" Arad asked.

"They are, each named after a god. But not all gods have the days of the week named after them. There are only seven, after all." The cleric smiled.

"You heard him. We can go tomorrow." Merlin smiled, "The preparations are done after all."

"You're right. We've been waiting for the clearance, but I would love to give the guests at least one day ahead." Merlin said as she thought, "It would be best if we held Aella's ceremony in the Elvish capital, but getting people there is a problem."

"Since we don't know that many people there, it could end up as an empty marriage." He sighed.

"We could attract people by dragging the queen alongside. The elvish citizens are bound to flock to a wedding that their queen attends."

"It won't feel the same. They are coming for the queen. I need them coming for Aella's wedding," He stared at her.

"It's your wedding as well," Merlin smiled.

"I honestly won't care if people attended or not as long as I'm marrying Aella. She's the important one. But, she seems to care about how the marriage looks, so I can't let it be bland."

"ARAD!" Zephyr flew toward him, sitting on his head, "Go to the bath, someone wants to talk with you,"

"Who?" Arad stared up at her, confused, "Why the bath?"

"She's obsessed with staying clean and sparkly," Zephyr replied, "So go, I called her to help, so be thankful."

"If you say that, I guess, I'll give it a look." Arad walked upstairs, still confused. Why the bath of all the places?

"Who is it? A wind spirit doesn't call normal people." Merlin looked at Zephyr, "Who and what did you pay this time?"

"I didn't pay anything this time. I called, and she said she'll do it for free," Zephyr replied, sitting on Merlin's head, "What are you looking at?" She glared at the cleric, "Want me to take your churches down?"

"Nothing at All," He bowed, "We won't want to offend the spirit of the land. Please excuse me." He turned to leave.

"So," Merlin looked at Zephyr, "Who is it?"

"Luminance,"

"Wait! That, how could calling her help in anything? Do you know who you're dealing with?" Merlin gasped.

"The Great Wyrm light dragon, she's a gold digger. But a decent drakaina." Zephyr looked away.

****

Click! Arad opened the bath's door and walked inside. Suddenly, he could feel his surroundings changing in the blink of an eye.

Blue, green, and red lights flashed out of the door separating the changing room and the bath, dancing in a blinding rainbow hue of colors. "Son of the void, come in," A voice called him, and he stepped forward. "It's you again, the one who made the mirrors."

"The woman of mirrors, the prismatic light great wyrm," She replied, "The shining light of this world,"

Arad opened the door and walked in, covering his eyes from the blinding light.

"This is still as uncomfortable as I remember it," Arad growled.

"I'm naked here in front of you, can't you look?" She said with a giggle.

"Can't you turn that light down?" Arad growled. "Looking at the sun is one hundred times easier than turning my face to you with my arm covering it.

She smiled, "For I'm the most beautiful drakaina in the world. Even the mountains burn and crumble, falling to their knees upon looking at my face."

"No one can confirm. We can't look at you." Arad sighed, "What do you want? I never used your mirrors, so you aren't going to ask me to pay for that."

"I'm a gold digger," She replied, "But my beauty is unmatched. I'll let you know that."

CHLOP! She switched her legs in the water, "Zephyr asked me to help you move people to the elvish kingdom for Aella's wedding," She said.

"That little fairy," Arad growled. ^I told her not to start troubles with powerful beings.^

"I'll grant you another pair of mirrors large enough to fit a large carriage. One will be at your house and the second one at Aella's mansion," Luminance said as she stood, "And I'll deliver them. Now." The light turned off for a split second before coming back as Arad felt a hand touching his chest, "I'm back,"

"What happened?" Arad growled.

"I flew to my lair, picked two mirrors, and dropped one at your house and another at Aella's house. It was that simple and that quick." Luminance giggled.

"That speed is ridiculous," Arad growled.

"Light is the fastest thing in the universe, and I move at that speed." She ran her fingers on his chest, "You're still young. You can't possibly fathom this speed until you become a great wyrm. But even then, I'll still be several times faster than you."

"Who said I'm going to race you?" Arad grunted, "Be ten times faster than me. I don't care." Arad thought, ^Even if she was that fast, I could just slow time to match her.^

"Go, they are waiting for you." She whispered, and the light faded. Arad fell on his face in his bath's changing room.

He growled, standing up and rubbing his burning eyes. Ahead of him, he found a note, it reads.

"Just to put it clearly, each time I carried you to my bath all the way from your house, and returned you. Even now, I flew with you back. Did you notice it?"

****

Luminance stood alone in her bath, glowing brighter than any star as she looked at her forearm, seeing a scratch. She lifted her hand and licked the wound, "Vasilissa's avatar was there. She managed to snipe me with a claw stroke out of the air," She giggled, "If he could only get as strong as his mother, that would be a dream."

"Mistress Luminance," A woman said in the changing room. Her head and body were covered in a reflective glass suit to protect her from the skin-burning light.

"It's time for work,"

TAP! TAP! Luminance walked out of the bath, standing before the woman, "Don't you hate work like me?"

"Not until the day I can gaze upon you, Mistress Luminance."

Tap! Luminance put her hand on the woman's head, "I love people like you, but don't push yourself too hard." She walked past her, "So, what shall adorn my body today?"

"Light absorbing fabric. We got a new batch made, and it's better than the last one." The woman replied, turning around while still bowing, since the light might pierce her protective suits and burn her eyes if she made the mistake of facing Luminance.

"Ho! This is the achievement of the century. With this, I can stop 6.85% of the light emitted naturally by my body. Last time it was 6.70%." She giggled.

"You're right," The woman replied, "Grandma told me. An advancement of more than 0.02% is a cause of celebration. Advancing a whole 0.15% is unheard of."

"Quadruple the research team salary and their research funds." Luminance said with a smile, "Inform them that if they get another achievement close to this, I'll raise their salary tenfold. Making it forty times the current one."

"You're a generous."

"I'm not. I don't want to waste the chance." She looked back, "As long as those mages are alive, I'll suck all their power and intellect to make fabric powerful enough to hold my light."

"You're still generous,"

"Even though I'm using you?"

"If you're paying, no one would care. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear you like their work."

"Money is temporary, and light is eternal. What do you think of that man?" Luminance looked at the woman.

"To be able to stand in your presence with only his forearm protecting his eye. I couldn't have been more shocked. Last time, I wasn't here when you brought him."

"You're right. Your mother was here, and she couldn't believe it as well." Luminance giggled, "Void dragons have an endless void inside their bodies. They could absorb my light,"

"Won't his scales make good material for the research?"

"That isn't an option," Luminance replied, "For now. I'll keep my eyes on him. I have no need for his mother, and his brother is too skinny for me."

"Ha..." The woman sighed with a smile, "Mistress Luminance, you're so Ill-natured."

****

Vasilissa looked around the ballroom, a sore smile adorning her face. ^I just missed her face. Predicting that woman's movements is almost impossible.^

She could see Arad walking out of the bath, his skin slightly sunburnt.