Standing beside the dragon queen was Hallie, dressed in an elegant butler's outfit with a magician's hat on the top of her head.
Since Hallie wasn't really a human, one could easily mistake her for a male if they didn't notice her perfectly shaped chest.
Hallie had noticed Aster the moment he stepped into the room and she bowed politely with a smile on her face.
She could still recall how Aster had desperately implored her to save him some time ago, and Hallie couldn't help but smile even more as she replayed his horrified look in her mind and how he had laughed out loud and so cutely with tears gathering at the edge of his eyes.
She understood that he was here to spend time with his mother, so she turned her attention to Vivian.
"Your Majesty, may I take these scrolls away?" Hallie asked as she gestured to a few scrolls on Vivian's desk.
These were the scrolls Vivian had already reviewed and attended to, so Hallie wanted to know if she should take them away, to give the dragon queen some time alone with Aster.
Knowing this, Vivian nodded in response without looking away from the parchment she was holding.
"You may." She replied and at that moment, a circle of flame suddenly appeared behind Hallie.
The fiery circle was like a huge ring wrapped in flames, and it was just a few inches taller than Hallie.
However, it was actually a portal and two male jack-o'-lanterns with glowing heads stepped out of the portal before bowing respectfully to Vivian.
Both of them collected the scrolls from Hallie before stepping back into the portal with Hallie walking behind them.
The fiery circle vanished right after they went through the portal and Aster couldn't help but notice something very important about the two male jack-o'-lanterns in particular.
"Were those two…?" Aster tried to ask, but before he could finish, Vivian finally lifted her head to reply to his question. "Yes, they're knights."
"So, you have knights here? But there were none in the castle when I checked this morning." Aster asked as he walked closer to Vivian's huge desk.
Vivian chuckled softly before replying. "Well, that's because they're currently watching over the empire rather than staying here.
Besides, most of them are stationed in the garrison, so you won't find them wandering around the castle."
"Oh, I see…." Aster said as his gaze flickered briefly toward the mountain of scrolls again.
Vivian set the scroll in her hand down before leaning back into her chair. "So, what brings my little dragon all the way here? Were you missing Mommy already? Or perhaps, you were missing Mommy's kisses and you couldn't help but seek her out?" She asked with a teasing smile.
Aster let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help the smile on his face. "I was just wondering why you hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch. So I came to check up on you."
Vivian blinked in surprise when she realized how concerned and worried Aster was about her well-being, and she couldn't help but feel a certain warmth spreading to her heart.
In fact, she wanted to lift him up and shower kisses all over his face again for being the best and most adorable son in the world but she decided to restrain herself for now.
The kisses would definitely happen in the future, but not now.
For now, Vivian wanted to remain serious while showing her gratitude to her little dragon prince. "Thank you, dear. But Hallie already made sure I ate earlier," she replied before gesturing toward the mountain of scrolls with a small sigh escaping her lips.
"As you can see, dear. Mommy has been busy all day cause it's been two decades since I left the continent, and now, I have so many unattended tasks that have been waiting for me over the years. Even now, Mommy really wishes she could abandon them and just play with you and Lily all day long, but… sighs."
Vivian sighed deeply again and Aster couldn't help but feel sorry for the dragon queen.
Despite standing at a towering height of over ten feet tall, it was nice to see that the magnificent dragon queen also had a few things that she was worried about, which strangely made her feel more approachable.
And so, Aster finally walked up to her and stood beside her massive desk.
"If you want, I would be happy to help you."
"Really?" Vivian asked, with a smile on her face as she looked at her little dragon with a deep feeling of fondness.
"Yes, if you don't mind. I would be happy to assist you while you work."
Although he had the physical body of a fifteen-year-old, he was still twenty-five years old mentally, and Aster couldn't help but feel curious about the duties of a dragon queen, which was why he wanted to help her.
"Then come here, my little prince ."
Vivian finally agreed, and her smile widened even more as her long crimson tail slowly appeared from behind her to gently wrap itself around Aster's waist.
It lifted him off the ground before drawing him toward her soft, comfortable lap.
Since Vivian was naturally tall, her curvaceous and well-developed body was extremely soft and warm.
Even her laps were as soft as a pillow and Aster couldn't help but feel extremely comfortable as Vivian clicked her fingers, commanding the wind to bring one of the sealed scrolls toward her.
The scroll floated towards them before stopping midair in front of the dragon prince.
Then it slowly unrolled itself and Aster reached out to carefully take hold of it.
"Alright, dear. Now tell Mommy what you think I should do in this situation?"
Aster looked down to read the content of the scroll in his hands, but the moment his eyes scanned through the words on the scroll, his smile immediately disappeared and a small shadow crossed his face as he slowly placed the scroll down on the table.