Mildred smiled as she saw Rue's new form.

"You know, with that appearance, nobody would ever know that you were not born a pure-blooded dragon. If anything, they'll think your pointy ears are a quirk of your transformation.

I don't sense any sort of non draconic lineage in you at all while you're transformed." She informed the young Princess.

"Now, we just need to update your skills so that you can properly show off your potential, and you'll be fit to take over the world. Or at least your own hometown or something." Cara joked.

Rue giggled at her. "Well, if we work on that meditation thingie, it should help, right? All I have to do is make it to Totem Ranked before adulthood, and I'll be considered a prodigy.

That sounds easy enough. I've already come this far so fast. Just a little bit more, and I'll be a Totem Ranked juvenile, and everyone will have to fear my potential."

Lukas sighed. "I think that they already do. That's why we're here, remember? But if you can advance even one more time, you'll start getting attention from our father, who will start wanting to arrange a good marriage for you.

All of our sisters have married into strong alliances, even the ones with mediocre potential.

It's not a secret that the King has always been fond of you, so he will definitely try to find you something good."

Rue nodded. "That's probably inevitable. But if he sends me away, how am I supposed to finish my life goals?"

"You have life goals already? I'm impressed." Mildred joked.

Rue nodded. "I want to be powerful enough to make everyone who bullied me when I was weak apologize. Not just the fake apologies that they do when they get caught breaking laws and want to get out of trouble, either."

The consort smiled. "I can understand that one. When we first got together, everyone was afraid that my Lukas was going to name me his wife, and that would make me the Crown Princess. That would have been a disaster for me, and for most of the ones who were still hoping to get the position.

So, they were horrible to me for months.

But after a while it became clear that my position was settled and that I didn't want the position of the main wife. I'm happy where I'm at, and I fully understand that the position of Crown Princess will go to a political wife, a marriage to make the Kingdom stronger."

"That's ... surprisingly realistic of you." Karl noted.

Mildred giggled. "You just haven't realized how much an official wife can hate the consort that her husband actually cares about. Nine times out of ten, they hate each other, but only a madwoman would actually try to harm her and risk her position as Queen.

Oddly, that doesn't seem to apply to King candidates. If they marry in to a ruling Queen's family, they all tend to go power hungry and forget that they're the live-in in-laws, not the real ruler."

Cara winked at her. "You need to keep them in their place, or they get uppity. It's a guy thing. I wish we'd brought Sister Rae with us. She's a master of making people behave."

Karl didn't miss that Mildred was clearly talking about the current Queen, who had most likely killed Rue's mother. She might be politically strong, but from what he had learned so far, it was more like the grudging respect for a tyrant, than loyalty to a leader.

"I think that we should work on having Rue build up friendships among other Royals as well. Not just local ones, but some from neighbouring countries. If people respect her as a leader, then, no matter where she ends up, she will have some solid backing when she arrives." He suggested.

They were aiming to have her be the Queen of Gathuzan, but he wasn't going to say that outright.

Prince Lukas nodded. "That is a wonderful idea. If she has allies among the other nations' Royals, she will be able to more easily advance. Now, you've taught her the basics of the methods needed already, and I'm sure that you have some more resources for her, but there is always something that a dragon will need to help them grow, and it's often in another country.

For a Royal to travel is a complicated issue.

We might have better access to resources, but a lot of that relies upon our ability to convince another nation's leader to let us go get it.

Like when I advanced to Mythic Rank. I needed a particular potion to help cleanse some lingering damage that regular healing wouldn't touch. So, I had to ask the Hill Dwarves to help me meet with the Alchemist that could make it.

That sort of connection is everything for a Royal."

Karl nodded, and Rue smiled as she began to understand. "And, if the guests like me, then it's impossible to bully me in public."

"You're not wrong. But it's so much more than that. You'll understand once you start making the connections. The ability to move freely among other Royals and know that they are allies makes social events so much easier. They're not part of the local power struggle, so you can talk to them and build political or business relationships, while ignoring the locals who are giving you headaches," Lukas explained.

"That sounds lovely. Alright, Mister Karl, do your best. I'll rely on you to help me make it through my advancements so that I can be that sort of Royal, while big brother Lukas teaches me how to make friends with Royalty." Rue laughed.

Karl gave her a thumbs up, while Cara wrapped an arm around her and stage whispered in her ear.

"Don't worry, we've got lots of tricks to help you advance. Now that we know you've got the potential, we can even push the first advancements so that you'll be ahead of the others.

It might not be fun, but I am sure that we can do it."

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