Lux's body stiffened when Valerie's soft lips pressed against his, catching everyone around them by surprise.
Ali and Ari, who had been with the Dragon Princess for a very long time, didn't expect that she would take the initiative to give her first kiss to the Half-Elf, whom she had only met for the second time in her life.
The kiss lasted for six seconds before Valerie took a step back and looked at Lux in a daze.
A few seconds later, her eyes widened in shock after realizing what she had just done, making her entire face turn beet red.
Faustina, who was the most shocked of them all, immediately figured out how serious this was.
She then subconsciously began counting the seconds that passed and paid close attention to the fluctuations of power within the Outer Reaches.
After half a minute passed, the right-hand woman of the Dragon King breathed a sigh of relief, as she patted her chest in order to calm her senses.
'Fortunately, he isn't watching Valerie right now,' Faustina thought after realizing that the Dragon King might be doing something else. 'A tragedy has been averted.'
Faustina knew just how much the Dragon King spoiled her daughter, Valerie.
If he witnessed the scene of his daughter kissing Lux, the skies above the Outer Reaches would definitely rumble.
It wouldn't surprise her even if the Dragon King himself made an appearance in order to break Lux's neck out of anger.
Perhaps, seeing her serve as Valerie's escort, the Dragon King thought that nothing could go wrong, so he just focused on his duties and didn't monitor his daughter's movements.
After making sure that there were no drastic changes in her surroundings, Faustina immediately talked to Ali and Ari through telepathy.
'I command the two of you to never say a word of what happened today to anyone,' Faustina ordered. 'If even a word of this incident reaches the Dragon King's ears, I will personally punish the two of you. Do I make myself clear?'
'Y-Yes, Your Excellency!' Ali replied.
'We swear that we will carry this incident to our graves,' Ari stated. 'So, please, do not tell the Dragon King about this as well, Your Excellency!'
Even if Faustina didn't warn them, Ali and Ari wouldn't dare to tell anyone that their beautiful and gullible Princess had kissed a boy.
If the Dragon King found out what happened today, they wouldn't have the capacity to worry about Faustina's punishment.
Their fear to face the Dragon King's wrath was enough to make the two maids swear that they would carry this secret to their graves.
They didn't want to be punished or to be separated from Valerie, whom they already treated as their younger sister.
'Good.' Faustina nodded. 'We will keep this secret between the three of us.'
Unlike Faustina and the two maids, there were two beings in the Nursery who were laughing in their hearts.
One of them was Lux's Master, Gaap.
The other was none other than Keoza, who was very delighted to see something unexpected.
The Crystal Dragon wanted to gloat and tell the Dragon King so badly that his daughter had fallen in love with the candidate that he had chosen.
However, knowing what would happen if he did that, the Crystal Dragon decided to keep this a secret—at least for the time being.
Gaap, who also knew about Valerie's real identity, gave his Disciple a thumbs up in his heart.
Similar to Keoza, he was also tempted to brag to the Dragon King that his Disciple had managed to charm his daughter, making Valerie take the initiative to kiss Lux.
But since he knew what would happen next, he decided to just remain silent.
'If only that Lizard wouldn't kill my Disciple, I would have already spread this news to the entire world,' Gaap thought.
An awkward silence descended into the nursery as both Lux and Valerie lowered their heads, not daring to look at each other's faces.
Fortunately, Leah, who was still too young to understand anything, broke the silence at her usual pace.
"Let's hatch the egg!" Leah said. "I wonder what kind of slime will appear this time!"
Lux and Valerie finally regained a bit of their composure and glanced at each other.
Although the two of them were still a little embarrassed about what happened earlier, they still went to the incubator to hatch the egg that Lux had chosen.
The Half-Elf placed the egg on the incubator and turned it on. The purple egg was then bathed in a radiant light, making cracks appear on its surface.
Half a minute later, its lower half broke apart, leaving only the top shell behind.
A few seconds later, the top shell slowly rose a little before going down again.
Although it was brief, Lux and Valerie saw a purple baby slime take a peek at them before hiding back inside the safety of its shell, as if it was too shy to come out.
"Ei!" Eiko, who thought that her new friend was playing hide and seek, jumped off Lux's head and landed beside the egg.
She then unceremoniously lifted the shell, revealing a Baby Slime with two small horns on its head, and dragon-like wings on its back.
"A Dragon Slime?" Gaap rubbed his chin after seeing the extremely rare slime that fetched astronomical prices in auction houses due to how rare it was. "Now that is something you don't see every day."
Valerie, who was weak to cute and adorable things, squealed before gently grabbing the Baby Dragon Slime with both hands, in order to take a better look at it.
As if wanting to test how soft it was, Valerie's hands started to lightly squeeze the baby slime in her hands, making it feel ticklish.
"Zi Zi Zi." The Baby Dragon Slime giggled and squirmed in Valerie's hands, making the Dragon Princess almost melt due to how cute her Baby Slime was.
"It looks like this one is a boy," Lux said after checking the baby slime's status page with his Soul Book. "How about you give him a name, Valerie?"
"A name…" Valerie stared intently at her Baby Slime, who was still giggling in her hands. "Since this is the baby that Sir Lux gave me, I think I'll name him Kei."
Lux scratched his head because the way Valerie worded her reply could be easily misunderstood by those who weren't familiar with her.
Fortunately, no one in the room paid too much attention, and simply looked at the happy girl, who was holding the purple Baby Slime in her hands.
The Baby Dragon Slime then stopped giggling as it looked at Valerie with a serious expression on its face. A moment later, it nodded its head and smiled.
"Kei!" the Baby Dragon Slime nodded its head in approval.
"It seems that Kei likes the name you gave him," Lux smiled. "Please take good care of him, Valerie."
"I will!" Valerie smiled happily before giving Kei a kiss on the cheeks, making the Baby Slime nuzzle the Dragon Princess in return.
This act of intimacy made Ali and Ari feel as if they were about to melt on the spot. Valerie's smile was simply too radiant.
Even Faustina, who didn't put Slimes in high regard, couldn't help but smile after seeing this heartwarming scene.
This was her first time seeing the Princess, Valerie, this happy, and she wished that the smile she saw on that day would remain, even after Lux left Karshvar Draconis.
