Chapter 162: The Second Queen of the Dragonite Kingdom
The next morning, Celestia, holding her Budew, and Will, holding his Meowscarada, went out. Their destination for the day was the museum.
"Hehe, your Meowscarada is so cute," Celestia said, smiling at Will.
The cat had been up very late last night and was still fast asleep. She was wrapped around Will like an octopus, her head resting on his shoulder, purring softly.
"She's alright," Will said, a proud smile on his face, the feeling of a father whose daughter had just been complimented. He gently patted her back. His whole embrace felt fluffy, like holding a large stuffed animal.
"Meow~" Meowscarada mumbled in her sleep but showed no signs of waking up. It seemed Will would have to carry her until she decided to wake on her own. He had considered just leaving her at the apartment, but after thinking about the consequences, he had decisively given up on that idea.
Meowscarada absolutely hated being left behind, even temporarily. During their two years in the mountains, he had made a similar mistake. He had woken up early to find food and had wandered a bit too far. By the time he returned to their cave, more than two hours had passed. The Meowscarada, who had woken up in the meantime, had thought he had abandoned her. The entire cat was like a wife who had been cruelly discarded, kneeling in the cave like a withered tree, completely devoid of life.
That had scared him so much he had thought she was dehydrated. After all, though she looked like a cat, her body had plant-like characteristics. He had immediately rushed her to a spring and into the sun. The revived Meowscarada had given him a good scratching for his trouble. Not the usual playful taps, but real, angry scratches that had drawn blood. It had taken him several days of coaxing before she had finally forgiven him.
But since then, she would always stick within five meters of him. And he never dared to just leave her behind without telling her where he was going first.
"Sigh," Will sighed, thinking of the past.
"We're almost there," Celestia's excited voice sounded.
Ahead, a large, circular building stood in the distance. That must be their destination, the Jubilife Museum. But there was almost no one at the entrance, just an old security guard dozing on a stool, and his diligent Bidoof standing guard beside him.
"Sir~ Sir~" Celestia leaned down and called softly.
"Hm? Ah, go in," the old man mumbled, barely opening his eyes before lying back down.
"Well... I'll give the tickets to you then," Celestia said with a helpless smile. She handed their tickets to the Bidoof at his feet. The Bidoof took them in its teeth and placed them in a nearby bamboo basket, then just stared at them.
"Let's go," Will said, not wanting to waste any more time. He carried the still-sleeping Meowscarada and walked inside.
The interior space was quite large, but it didn't exude a strong sense of history.
"It looks like it was built recently. I doubt there's much real history in here," Will said, shaking his head.
"It's so deserted. It seems the people of Jubilife aren't very interested in history," Celestia said, looking around. There were very few people in the entire museum.
"Perhaps it's not that they're not interested in history, but just not interested in this kind of traditional, boring display method," Will yawned. As a transmigrator, how could he not know this? If you asked him to go to a museum to look at these things, he would also be unenthusiastic. But if you put this same content on a video platform and edited it in an interesting way, he wouldn't mind spending some time to learn about it.
"Sceptile! Come look at this!" Celestia's excited voice cried out.
Will looked over. The young woman had her face pressed against a glass display case.
"What is it?" Will walked over and glanced inside, then immediately rolled his eyes.
["The Guardian Dragon Lan's Milk Bottle"]
Inside the glass case was a jade-green baby bottle. It looked exactly the same as the one in the shrine in Azalea Town.
"Why does everyone know I used a baby bottle?" Will frowned, sinking into thought. "Could it be Liz...?"
He was certain of it. Liz had come to the Sinnoh region and had stayed for a considerable amount of time. If anyone else had said, "Lan loves to drink milk from a bottle," probably no one would have believed them. But if Liz said it, then it must be true. And knowing her, she would have probably mentioned it every chance she got.
"I wonder if it's real or fake," Celestia smiled. She was old enough not to believe everything she saw.
"It's fake," Will said without even having to think. He knew his own belongings. Only three people had ever been allowed to touch his bottle: Liz, Hestia, and Iris. The first two fed him, the last one stole it. But none of them would have ever given it away. Even if it was just a useless bottle, it held important memories for all three of them. Even after the Dragonite Kingdom fell, it would have been taken by the survivors. It would never have ended up here.
"Look, look! There's a fragment of a handwritten note from a member of the Dragonite Clan here! This one looks real!"
"Huh?" Will walked over for a closer look.
A blurry, yellowed piece of parchment was preserved in a crystal-clear block of what looked like ice. Even though he couldn't read the words, he could tell the handwriting was neat and full of a natural, heroic spirit.
"This crystal is called 'Never-Melt Ice Crystal.' It won't melt for a thousand years. The fact that the museum used such a precious thing to preserve this paper means it's probably authentic!" Celestia whispered in his ear.
Is that so... Will thought it made sense. But... from what he remembered of Iris, how could that brat write so beautifully? The last time he had seen her writing, it was nothing but chicken scratch.
"Queen Iris... she's a legendary figure in the Dragonite Kingdom. An idol for many women," Celestia said.
"Huh?" Will was stunned. He felt like he had just heard something bizarre. He thought back to the Iris he knew. That snot-nosed, deadpan crybaby who would cause trouble if you didn't watch her for three days... an "idol"?
"They say that this cold queen was never swayed by sentiment. No one could get special treatment from her. She was as cold as a snow-capped mountain, beautiful and noble," Celestia said, pointing to a large, colorful painting on the wall.
The painting depicted a woman with long, pale blue hair that reached her waist. Her face was like frost, her lips were thin, and she wore a sky-blue crown. In her hand was a steel longsword, and her ice-blue eyes stared straight ahead.
"...Who's that?" Will stared at the painting for several seconds. He had guessed that Iris would grow up to be beautiful, but he had never imagined this.
"That's Iris of the Dragonite Clan. The second queen of the Dragonite Kingdom," Celestia said, her own eyes full of admiration. "Around 1020 years ago, in the 30th year of the Dragonite Era, the 28-year-old Queen Iris went to war with the Orange Islands. In just one year, she personally led her army and conquered the islands one by one, incorporating them into the Kanto region's territory."
Celestia shook her head. What ordinary person could even dream of such a feat? Although this campaign was not as difficult as the previous war with the Land Kingdom, nor as vast as the later Three Kingdoms War, it was still an achievement that most people could never hope to match in their entire lives.
Hearing this, Will didn't feel that Iris was amazing. He just felt a sense of melancholy. That little child had actually become so formidable. It seemed she had even more of a queenly air than Liz.
But... after he and Liz had left, Iris must have had a very difficult life. She must have had to do many things she didn't want to do. Otherwise, she would never have become like that.
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