Erza disappeared into the bathroom with the measuring tape.
Yuuta waited.
Elena waited.
The TV played some cartoon about a yellow sponge who lived in a pineapple. Elena was absolutely captivated.
"Papa! This creature lives under water! In a fruit!"
"Yeah," Yuuta said absently. "He has a starfish best friend."
Elena gasped. "A starfish that talks? "
"And drives a boat."
Elena's brain seemed to short-circuit. She turned back to the screen with renewed reverence.
The bathroom door opened.
Erza emerged.
She walked with the same regal grace as always—back straight, chin high, eyes cold. In one hand, she held the measuring tape. In the other, a small piece of paper she'd found somewhere.
"Mortal." She held out the paper. "These are my measurements. Record them accurately. If the garments do not fit, I will hold you personally responsible."
Yuuta took the paper.
Read it.
"Okay... height, five foot ten... weight, seventy kilograms... chest, eighty-six... waist, fifty-eight..."
He stopped.
Blinked.
Looked up at Erza.
Looked back at the paper.
"Seventy kilograms?" he said slowly.
Erza's eyes narrowed. "Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem, it's just—" Yuuta did the mental math. "You're five ten and seventy kilos? That's... that's actually really—"
His tablet slipped from his fingers.
CLATTER.
It hit the floor.
"Oh my," Yuuta breathed. "You're so heavy for your height."
The room temperature dropped twenty degrees.
Erza's expression didn't change.
But her fist moved.
CRACK.
Yuuta's head snapped sideways. He hit the floor for the third time that day—at least—his skull ringing like a church bell.
"I am perfectly well -weighted," Erza said coldly, towering over him. "By my world's standards. Your primitive human measurements mean nothing to me."
Yuuta groaned from the floor.
"OW—can you please stop hitting me?! It's so painful!"
"Then stop talking rubbish in front of me." Erza crossed her arms, frost curling from her fingertips. "Just because I allow you to speak in my presence does not mean you can say anything. Know your place, mortal."
"But I just meant—"
"Did I ask for clarification?"
"No, but—"
"Then silence."
Yuuta shut his mouth.
Elena watched from the couch.
"Mama hit Papa again," she observed.
"Yes," Erza said flatly. "Papa said something stupid. Again."
"Papa says stupid things a lot," Elena agreed.
Yuuta, still on the floor: "I can hear you both."
"Good," Erza said. "Now get up and order the clothes. And if you comment on my weight again, I will remove your tongue. And other body parts. In order of decreasing importance."
Yuuta got up.
Quickly.
---
He entered the measurements carefully this time.
No comments. No reactions. Just silent, terrified data entry.
"Okay," he said, voice carefully neutral. "Orders placed. Should arrive soon."
Elena bounced. "Soon! Soon! My sparkly dress is coming!"
Erza said nothing.
But her eyes kept drifting to the phone.
Watching.
Waiting.
Curious.
"You know," Yuuta muttered, still rubbing his head, "in my world, it's normal to ask for measurements. It's not—"
Erza looked at him.
Just looked.
Yuuta's mouth snapped shut.
"I was just saying," he mumbled, "that it's normal. That's all. Normal human shopping behavior."
"In my world," Erza said icily, "asking a queen for her body measurements without a royal decree is punishable by death."
"Is it really?"
"No. But it should be."
Yuuta blinked.
Did she just... make a joke?
He looked at her face.
Stone cold. Completely serious.
Probably not a joke.
---
Thirty minutes later—
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Yuuta's head snapped up.
"That's fast," he muttered, crossing to the door.
He opened it.
A young man in a uniform smiled at him, holding two neatly packaged boxes.
"Package for Yuuta Konuari?"
"That's me."
Yuuta signed, took the boxes, and closed the door.
He turned around.
Erza and Elena were staring.
Both of them. Frozen. Eyes locked on the boxes in his hands.
"It... it came," Erza whispered.
"THE CLOTHES CAME!" Elena shrieked.
Yuuta grinned.
He carried the boxes to the table and set them down. Elena scrambled onto a chair, vibrating with excitement. Even Erza stepped closer—trying to look disinterested, but failing completely.
"Okay," Yuuta said. "Let's open them."
He sliced through the tape.
Opened the first box.
Inside, nestled in tissue paper, was a dress of deep violet—dark purple with sparkling white droplets scattered across the fabric like stars in a night sky. The material was soft. Elegant. Perfect.
Erza's breath caught.
Audibly.
Yuuta pretended not to notice.
He opened the second box.
Elena's outfit exploded out in a puff of white fluff.
It was a puffy rabbit costume. White. Fluffy. With long floppy ears attached to the hood and a tiny pom-pom tail on the back. Exactly the one she'd pointed at on the screen.
"PAPA!" Elena screeched. "PAPA LOOK! IT'S HERE! IT'S THE SAME ONE!"
She grabbed the costume and hugged it like it was made of gold.
"When Elena clicked, it became real! " she shouted, eyes wide with wonder. "PAPA, IT'S MAGIC!"
"It's not magic," Yuuta said, grinning. "It's called delivery service."
"DELIVERY SERVICE IS MAGIC!" Elena declared.
Yuuta couldn't argue with that logic.
He looked at Erza.
She was still staring at her dress.
Holding it carefully. Turning it over. Examining every seam, every stitch, every sparkling droplet.
"This is..." She looked up at Yuuta. "This is so good. Such high quality." Her eyes narrowed slightly—but not with suspicion. With genuine curiosity. "How much did it cost? Did you pay gold coins for this?"
Yuuta blinked.
Then burst out laughing.
"Gold coins?!" He clutched his stomach. "No—no, it's just—it's just regular money! Paper money! Digital money! Not gold!"
Erza's expression flickered.
Confusion. Embarrassment. And something else—something that might have been embarrassment that she'd been embarrassed.
"Well," she said stiffly, "in my world, garments of this quality would cost a small fortune. In gold. So forgive me for not understanding your primitive currency system."
"Primitive?" Yuuta snorted. "We have same-day delivery. You have to ride Wyrum to get anything."
"Riding Wyrum is honorable. Waiting for a stranger to bring you packages is lazy. "
"It's called efficiency. "
"It's called lazy. "
"Efficiently lazy?"
Erza's eye twitched.
"You are testing my patience, Disgusting mortal."
"I prefer to think of it as 'building character.' "
CRACK.
Yuuta hit the floor again.
"OW—WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"Building your character," Erza said calmly. "Consider it a lesson in knowing when to stop talking."
Elena, now wearing her rabbit costume (how had she put it on so fast?), bounced over.
"Papa, why are you on the floor?"
"Papa is... resting," Yuuta groaned.
"On the floor?"
"It's good for his back," Erza said.
"Oh." Elena nodded sagely. "Okay, Papa. Rest well. I will protect you from floor monsters."
She struck a heroic pose in her fluffy rabbit costume.
Yuuta looked at her.
At her determined face. Her puffed-up chest. Her floppy rabbit ears.
He started laughing.
Couldn't help it.
"You're... you're protecting me... in a rabbit costume..."
"RABBITS ARE FIERCE!" Elena declared.
"They're really not—"
"IN OUR WORLD THEY HAVE TWO HEADS!"
Yuuta's laughter died.
"...Right. Forgot about that."
Erza looked down at him—still on the floor, still defeated, still bewildered by his own life.
"Get up," she commanded. "We have a zoo to visit. And you," she pointed at Elena, "are not wearing that rabbit costume in public."
"BUT MAMA—"
"No."
"BUT THE TWO-HEADED RABBITS—"
"There are no Two-headed rabbits on this planet. You will wear something normal."
Elena's face crumpled.
Yuuta, still on the floor, raised a hand.
"Uh... actually, the zoo might have rabbits. In the petting zoo section. They only have one head, though."
Elena gasped. "ONE HEAD?! How do they see behind them?!"
"They... turn their heads? Like normal animals?"
Elena looked at Erza, horrified.
"Mama, Earth rabbits are disabled. "
Erza pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I regret everything," she muttered. "Everything that led to this moment."
Yuuta laughed from the floor.
And for once—
Erza didn't punch him.
(FEW HOUR LATER).
Erza stood before the mirror.
The modern clothes felt strange against her skin—lighter than her imperial dress, less restrictive. The deep violet fabric draped elegantly over her frame, the white sparkling droplets catching the light like scattered stars.
She turned.
Then turned again.
For the first time since arriving on this miserable little planet—
Erza acted like a normal girl.
Adjusting the shoulder. Smoothing the waist. Tilting her head to see how the fabric moved. A small, almost imperceptible smile tugged at her lips.
Not bad, she thought. For primitive human clothing.
Behind her, in the doorway—
Yuuta forgot how to breathe.
He'd seen Erza in her imperial dress. He'd seen her in moonlight. He'd seen her asleep, vulnerable, soft.
But this?
This was different.
The violet dress hugged her curves in ways that made his brain short-circuit. Her silver hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall of starlight. Without the formal robes, without the queenly armor of her usual attire—
She looked...
"Beautiful."
The word escaped his mouth before he could stop it.
Erza froze.
Yuuta froze.
Their eyes met in the mirror.
His face was crimson.
Hers—
Her eyes widened. Slightly. Barely perceptibly. But enough.
That strange feeling.
That overwhelming feeling.
It crashed into her chest like a wave, so powerful she nearly placed her hand over her heart to slow its sudden racing.
What IS this? she thought desperately. What is he doing to me?
She spun around.
Eyes cold.
Voice colder.
"You cast a spell on me again, didn't you?" She pointed an accusing finger. "How DARE you use magic on a queen!"
Yuuta blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Oh, come ON." He threw his hands up. "Do you really think I learned black magic just to cast spells on you? The woman who can literally end this world with a thought?!"
Erza's eyes narrowed.
"Then why do I feel this way?!"
The words burst out before she could stop them.
Silence.
Yuuta stared at her.
Erza stared back.
Why did I say that? she thought desperately. Why did I admit that? What is wrong with me?!
Yuuta scratched his cheek nervously.
"Uh..." He shifted his weight. "Do you... have your period or something?"
CRACK.
Yuuta hit the floor.
Again.
"IT WAS A GENUINE QUESTION!" he shouted from the ground.
"It was a STUPID question!" Erza's face was burning now—with embarrassment, with anger, with emotions she couldn't name and refused to acknowledge. "It was my FOOLISHNESS to ask YOU anything in the first place!"
She crossed her arms.
Turned away.
"Hmph."
Elena, who had watched the entire exchange while wearing her rabbit costume, knelt beside her father.
"Papa," she said seriously. "You should stop teasing Mama."
Yuuta groaned, rubbing his head.
"I'm sorry, Elena," he muttered. "Papa is... Papa is trying his best."
He pushed himself up.
Looked at his daughter—floppy ears and all—and managed a smile.
"Come on." He raised his hand. "Let's go to the zoo!"
Elena's face lit up.
She copied his gesture perfectly, tiny fist in the air.
"TO ZOOO!"
Behind them, Erza watched.
And for just a moment—
She smiled.
A tiny thing. Unconscious. Uncontrolled.
She caught herself immediately. Slapped a hand over her mouth.
What...!
I was smiling?!
Why was I smiling?!
"Mama! Come!" Elena grabbed her hand. "We go to zoo! Together! Family!"
Family.
The word hit Erza like a physical blow.
She looked at Elena's eager face.
At Yuuta's stupid, earnest, annoying back as he walked toward the door.
And despite everything—
She followed.
---
They descended the stairs together.
Elena held Yuuta's hand, swinging it back and forth. Erza walked behind them, maintaining her regal distance, watching the strange concrete world of this human city unfold through narrow windows.
Soon they reached the parking lot.
Yuuta stopped.
Before them sat a car.
It was blue. Faded in places. Slightly dented on one side. The kind of vehicle that screamed second-hand and barely hanging on.
Yuuta approached it like it was an old friend.
He placed his hand on the hood.
"My sweetheart," he said softly. "It's been a while since I took you for a walk, right?"
Silence.
Erza stared.
Elena stared.
"Did I hit you too hard earlier?" Erza asked slowly. A flicker of actual concern crossed her face. "Are you... hallucinating? Talking to inanimate objects?"
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"Mama..." she whispered. "Papa has gone crazy..."
"BOTH OF YOU STOP!" Yuuta spun around, face red again. "It's just my old companion! It's called sentimental value! "
Erza looked at him like he was a patient in a mental hospital.
That specific look. The one that said I'm observing a fascinating case of human deterioration.
"Don't look at me like that!" Yuuta protested. "Before you two showed up, this car was the only thing I talked to! I shared my feelings with it! It listened!"
"It's a machine, mortal."
"It's a friend! "
Erza pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I have officially lost control of this situation."
Yuuta turned back to the car, voice softening.
"This was my eighteenth birthday gift. From Father Elijah at the orphanage."
Erza's hand stopped mid-pinch.
"No one adopted me," Yuuta continued quietly. "When I turned eighteen, I had to leave. Father Elijah gave me this car. Said every man needs a companion." He patted the hood gently. "I slept in this car for months. Until I saved enough for that apartment."
The words hung in the air.
Erza's throat tightened.
Orphanage.
No one adopted him.
Slept in a car.
She looked at the vehicle with new eyes. Not a machine. Not a joke. A lifeline. The only thing between a boy and the cold streets.
Like me, she thought. Alone. Surviving. No one to rely on but yourself.
The burden in her chest grew heavier.
Why?
Why did his pain feel like her pain?
Why did knowing he'd suffered make her want to—
"PAPA!"
Elena's cry cut through her thoughts.
The little girl—still in her rabbit costume, floppy ears and all—had wrapped herself around Yuuta's leg. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Papa! Papa! I'm sorry!" She sobbed. "Papa was lonely! Papa had no one! But Elena is here now! Elena will never leave Papa alone!"
Yuuta's face crumbled.
He knelt down. Gathered his daughter in his arms. Held her tiny, fluffy, perfect body against his chest.
"Hey," he whispered, voice rough. "Hey, little one. Papa's okay. Papa's not lonely anymore. Look." He pulled back slightly, gesturing at Erza. "Papa has you. Papa has... Mama. Papa has family. "
Elena sniffled.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Elena hugged him tighter.
Over her head, Yuuta's eyes met Erza's.
She didn't look away.
Couldn't look away.
Something passed between them—fragile, unnamed, terrifying.
Then Erza straightened.
"This is sentimentally inefficient," she said coldly. "The zoo will close if we continue wasting time."
But her voice was softer.
Barely.
And she didn't move to separate them.
Yuuta smiled—a real smile, not his usual nervous grin.
"Right." He stood, still holding Elena. "Let's go. Zoo awaits."
He opened the car door.
Elena scrambled inside.
Erza hesitated.
"This... vehicle is safe?"
"Safe enough."
"That is not reassuring."
"It's all we've got, Your Highness."
Erza sighed.
Got in.
Yuuta slid into the driver's seat. Turned the key.
The car roared to life.
Then sputtered.
Then made a sound like a dying demon gargling gravel.
"See?" Yuuta said cheerfully. "She's greeting you."
Erza closed her eyes.
"I have made a terrible mistake."
Elena, from the back seat, bounced.
"ZOO ZOO ZOO ZOO ZOO!"
The car pulled away.
And somewhere in the back of her frozen heart—
The Dragon Queen smiled again.
Just a little.
---
To be continued...