"Aurora, the decision is yours. Whatever you choose, I will support you."
Aurora looked at Puss with softness in her eyes, and after letting out a low, gentle dragon hum, she pondered.
Scratching the ground with her claw, she began to write.
["Isn't it possible to speed up the process of transforming into pureblood?"]
After writing, she lifted her head and looked at Vivianne with doubt.
The little fairy, who had just read it, curious at seeing a dragon write, shook her head.
"Many magical creatures have gone extinct, and finding high-quality magical materials has become difficult. Weakening your human lineage to extinction in 50 years is already the limit of what I can do with ordinary magical materials," she explained with regret.
Magical materials were becoming increasingly rare and expensive, which deeply troubled her as well.
Aurora then went back to writing, pressing her claw into the earth.
["If I become a being half dragon and half human, what will that form be like?"]
That was the greatest fear in her heart. Imagining being human from the waist up and dragon from the waist down—or the reverse—seemed terrible, and she would rather remain a full dragon if that were the case.
This time Vivianne didn't answer so quickly, and she put her hand on her chin.
"Well… it's a little hard to say. Since I'll be compensating for your missing human part using part of your dragon blood, your final form will be predominantly human, but you'll inherit dragon traits. Maybe some dragon wings, or something like that," she explained, tapping her cheek cutely with her finger, thoughtful.
Aurora's eyes sparkled at hearing that, but there was still a bit of fear, after all, even Vivianne wasn't certain what she might transform into.
["Is it reversible?"]
She asked her final question.
The little fairy nodded at her.
"Just like we would do with your pure human lineage. You only need to weaken it and let the pure dragon lineage destroy it. But because of the merging and strengthening, the process to destroy it will be much slower. Instead of 50 years, at least 3 centuries will be necessary."
With the full explanation, Aurora took a deep breath and unconsciously looked at Puss.
'His lifespan isn't as long as mine. If I lose these 50 years, almost an entire lifetime with him, I may never get them back…' As she thought about these facts, her decision solidified.
Even if he said he didn't mind her being a dragon, she felt that Puss's unconscious desire was for a more humanoid form, rather than a huge dragon.
And with her enormous body, it was even difficult to show the affection she felt for him, or to feel the warmth of his caresses through her thick scales.
With determination, she wrote on the ground.
["Please, help me become half human, half dragon."]
The little fairy, seeing her answer, nodded with a small smile.
"Don't worry, I'll help you, and that guy will be paying," she said playfully, pointing her thumb at Puss.
The cat rolled his eyes playfully. After all, the dragon used gold as a bed and didn't need his financial help—though he would pay anyway.
He turned and smiled at Aurora.
"Everything will be fine," Puss reassured her, knowing that even though she had chosen, there was still a bit of hesitation and fear in her draconic green eyes.
Aurora nodded to him with her red head, but this time she couldn't calm down so easily. After all, this decision could bring a lifetime of regret depending on the outcome.
"Well, I need to gather some things and prepare a potion. And I'll need money, it won't be cheap," the little fairy said, flapping her wings quickly as she thought about what she needed, blinking her beautiful light green eyes.
Puss nodded, but stopped her suddenly when he saw she intended to leave, raising his hand.
"Vivianne, before that, there's another person I want you to check on."
He told her, then turned to Fiona, staring at her with firm eyes.
"If you don't mind, of course."
Hearing his words, and seeing his worried eyes on her, Fiona's heart warmed, and she smiled softly at him, her beautiful blue eyes growing even more beautiful when she gently narrowed them.
Puss was a little enchanted by her youthful and gentle beauty.
Fiona blushed when she saw him staring in a daze, and quickly turned to Vivianne, who had a smile of "Oh, I see youth!" She even raised her eyebrows suggestively at Fiona, making the red-haired princess even more embarrassed.
"Miss Vivianne, can you take a look at my situation?" she asked, wanting to change the subject, as her cheeks were growing too hot.
The orange cat watching the embarrassed princess also amused himself with her reaction, while a gentle warmth grew in his heart.
"Of course, dear!" Vivianne didn't embarrass her further, she only laughed a little behind her hand, raising her little bottom as she flew, like the mischievous fairy she was, and then flew in circles above Fiona's head, covering her with golden dust.
But as the dust fell, her smile disappeared, and her expression grew heavy.
"This is a problem…" she murmured, frightening Fiona, Puss, and Aurora, who stared at her intensely, wanting answers.
"Señora Vivianne, is there a big problem?" Puss asked with a furrowed brow, confused.
He had already told her that the two of them had transformed on the way, and Vivianne shouldn't be reacting like this, which left him anxious.
Puss already liked both girls and feared for them.
"Err… well, let's start with the origin of the problem."
The little fairy scratched her eyebrow, strangely a bit nervous, and continued under their confused gazes.
"In the girl's body, there is dragon blood, human blood, and errr… frog?" she said with a strange look when she reached the last part.
"Frog?!" Fiona cried out softly, surprised, and then reacted with incredulity, golden light covering her face. "Impossible!"
Vivianne shrugged.
"It is what it is, believe it or not. There is frog blood in your body, and judging by the purity, it's a very direct addition to your lineage… probably your father or your mother," she explained, but her right eye pulsed with unspoken gossip.
She had already guessed Fiona's origin, and now, in light of this fact, an incredible scenario unfolded before her. Her will to gossip was unstoppable.
Then, she spoke mercilessly, her eyes shining.
"Your mother probably cheated on your father with a frog, and you were born." She declared with certainty and sighed in relief at letting out the bottled-up gossip. 'Royal family gossip really is the best!' she thought excitedly.
But as for the target of the gossip, poor Fiona, she froze and stared at her in disbelief, mouth open.
"Pfffff!! Cough, cough, cough!!" Puss also choked, caught off guard by her absurd response, and frantically beat his chest with his wide green eyes.
"My— My mother would never do that!" Fiona struggled to retort and shifted uncomfortably, but in the end, inwardly, she wasn't sure.
Aside from the letters she received later, her memory of her parents was stuck at the age of 7, and she was simply too young to know how to judge whether something like that could have happened.
Seeing Fiona stunned, Puss couldn't help but massage his head and look speechlessly at Vivianne, who blinked curiously, her face full of gossip directed at the girl.
Aurora looked strangely at Fiona, wondering if the descendants her parents left behind after her had all gone completely mad.
"Vivianne, could you think things through better before you speak?" Puss decided to interrupt, before the image of Fiona's parents shattered in the poor girl's mind — and everyone else's.
His voice caught the attention of the three girls. Fiona was the one who looked most intensely, hoping that Puss could give her hope that her parents weren't like that.
"Huh? Is there another possibility?" The little fairy asked, tilting her head with a finger on her cheek, thoughtful.
"Of course there is," he spoke firmly, Fiona's eyes shining when she heard it. "Just like Aurora's father was a dragon and became a human, isn't it much easier to turn a frog into a human? King Harold isn't from the Pendragon lineage, but Queen Lillian is, and she married him for love, so betrayal can almost be ruled out… so, probably…"
He didn't finish, but the girls immediately understood.
Vivianne's eyes shone with dazzling gossip.
"The king/My father is a frog!" Fiona and the fairy shouted in unison, stunned.
This time, Fiona wasn't so incredulous.
Memories of her childhood flashed through her mind.
Her father, who loved water lilies, got distracted by flies, and even licked his lips a bit when he saw them — among many other traits — really did bring him close to the idea of being a former frog.
Normally, such things wouldn't make Fiona believe such a scandalous truth, but she saw that Vivianne, playful as she was, spoke seriously about things and could perfectly read Aurora's problems, so she had some trust in the fairy.
And lying about her father being a frog didn't seem to bring the fairy any benefit at all, so in the end, she believed about 70% that it might be true.
Puss, seeing the girl dazed, shook his head helplessly and turned to the fairy, whose eyes sparkled as her little wings flapped even faster in place, overjoyed with the enormous gossip.
Helpless, he decided to bring the conversation back to the main topic.
"I don't think the problem you mentioned earlier has to do with Fiona's father being a frog. Señora Vivianne, what is the real problem?"