Aster sat down obediently as his mother and sister decorated him with ribbons and gave him a dress to wear.
He now looked like a really beautiful boy.
However, while they had been preoccupied with this, Sara had hidden herself, with a camera in her hands.
Vivian had ordered one of her Knights to hand the camera over to Sara, then she passed on the instruction to subtly take pictures of the Queen's children without letting them know.
Vivian had brought back a camera from the human realm because she really liked it, especially after discovering that humans used it to capture special moments they never wanted to forget.
Moreover, the pictures would be the perfect reminder of how her children had looked while they were young, so she had seen no reason why she shouldn't bring them over to the supernatural world.
Vivian's desire was to have as many pictures as possible, with the hope of one day looking at them together with Aster and Lily once they were all grown-up.
But for now, her mind was focused on making her little prince look beautiful, and so she continued to do just that.
Meanwhile, Sara had never seen the device in her hand before, so she didn't really know how to use it.
Still, with a little guidance from one of Vivian's jack-o'-lantern knights, Sara was soon clicking away and was instantly hooked on the idea of capturing her prince's every expression.
Vivian had instructed her to take as many pictures as possible and that was exactly what she was doing.
"This is amazing." Sara murmured excitedly as she carefully raised the camera to her face, to take more cute and embarrassing photos of Aster.
*Click* She pressed the shutter and a new photo was taken right after.
"Oh, I like this one." Sara swiftly shoved the picture into her pocket before resuming her task.
Since the queen wanted a lot of her children's photos saved for herself, Sara saw no harm in keeping one or two for herself as well.
Besides, the queen had actually permitted her to save a couple of photos for herself too, so Sara wasn't doing anything that might upset her Queen.
Resuming her task, Sara moved closer to them so she could get a different angle and take better photos.
Since she could turn invisible at will, she was able to subtly take more pictures without anyone even sensing her presence.
Well, everyone aside from Vivian, Hallie, and Cara, to be exact.
Once Aster's makeover was complete, the room was instantly filled with laughter.
Even Aster couldn't help but smile as he watched Lily smile and giggle cutely at his appearance.
After they had gotten over their amusement, everyone resumed trying on new clothes for the young prince and princess.
Marie had initially ordered her two assistants to bring over some new clothes while Lily and Vivian had been preoccupied with giving Aster a makeover, so now, Marie and the mirror demon had returned with a new set of clothes that were perfectly suited for the young dragon prince and princess.
And this was how everyone spent the rest of the evening together, with Aster and Lily trying out new clothes and shoes.
But while the floating citadel of the dragon queen was currently filled with laughter and excitement, a certain mansion, faraway in the deepest part of the kingdom, was filled with silence and a tense atmosphere.
******
The hurried steps of someone running through a long corridor echoed loudly in the Elders' mansion.
A middle-aged demon, dressed in red, was panting heavily as he sprinted past the torches, flickering weakly along the walls.
His boots struck the floor with a hurried rhythm as he clutched a bundle of notes to his chest.
His destination was a certain room where the elders were gathered, as they waited for the arrival of the dragon queen.
But since she had clearly not arrived yet, it was safe to assume that she wouldn't be attending the meeting at all.
Inside the room were ten elder demons sitting around a circular obsidian table.
The chamber was shrouded in darkness, yet every one of them could see perfectly well, as if their eyes had long since adapted to the lack of light.
Well, since they were demons, there was no surprise about them being able to do this.
"Hmm," One of the male elders hummed softly as he tapped his fingers on the table. "So the Queen won't be attending this meeting?" He asked.
"Yes. I heard she rejected our offer for a meeting today." A female demon replied. She had pale skin and a pair of golden colored eyes.
"Hmph " A third demon scoffed. "And why wouldn't she? We all know why she took that little vacation of hers in the first place."
"What are you trying to say?" A different female demon snapped as she glared at the third demon. "Are you blaming me for caring about our kingdom's future?"
"Yeah, right. You really expect us to believe you care about the kingdom?" The second demon shot back. "If you hadn't pushed such a stupid suggestion to the Queen, she wouldn't have left in the first place!"
"So what would you have us do then?" The fourth demon retorted. "You would rather sit around and do nothing, while the throne stays–"
"It's not about sitting around. It's about letting the Queen make her own choices. We're supposed to advise her, not satisfy our own greed. Yet, your stinky ass self went ahead to curry favor with that Pyro Demon King because he promised you–"
"Hey!! My butt isn't stinky!!" The fourth demon shouted back as she slammed her fist on the table. It's the prettiest little thing you'll ever see, and males love it when they–."
"That's enough!!" A deep, masculine voice suddenly interrupted and the room fell quiet.
The male demon was the eldest of them all, and he was also the tallest and strongest in the room, so everyone naturally respected him the most.
"The two of you are members of this circle, and as such, many young demons look up to you, so can you please act your age?"
The eldest demon suggested to the two female elders, but both women immediately pointed at each other.
"Don't blame me, she started it!!"
"No, you started it!"
"I don't care who started it!! Just stop before I—" The eldest demon began cautioning them before he was interrupted by the sound of the door being burst open.
The middle-aged demon stumbled inside with a gasp, as he tried to catch his breath. "Forgive me, Elders....but---."
"Speak up, boy," One of the elders demanded.
"It's the Queen!!" He blurted out. "She's returned with children!!!"
"What?!!!" All ten elders roared in unison as the room instantly filled up with a cacophony of sounds, as all of the demons argued with each other.