Kandfeld, New Mushroom Kingdom
Aboard the large luxury passenger plane it's three important occupants were in different emotional states. The large scaled creature, it's bright red scales glistening in the sunlight coming through the windows, was in an emotional high, happy to be with his wife and finally on an important assignment as both ambassador to his homeland and as a man married into the Columbian Royal Family. The younger, twenty-something princess, like her scaled lover, was also happy, merely content that their anniversary was coming up and, as her father said, would be more 'vacation than important meetings' with their visit to their ally.
The father, on the other hand, was continuing to show the premature aging. Now in his late forties or early fifties, the youngish monarch was more worried than anything. Miraculously, through authoritarian and dictatorial rule and making damned sure the Aristocracy danced to his tune or were shot (with several having been publicly executed for treason to the Crown and Empire), he had been able to reverse the effects of the complete exhaustion of their uranium and rare earth elements. Focusing priority on beginning to make use of the massive amounts of oil in their territory, he had been able to quickly bring their markets and economy from the red to the black in a year and increase the amount of troops sent to put down the Canadian Insurgency. Now, two years after the marriage of Juvon Infernos and Abigale Foley, Paul was feeling less tense than he usually had been for the past nine years. He had finally agreed to free trade between the Columbian Empire and the New Mushroom Kingdom. However he was still worried: while he had fixed their economy for the most part, in his mind, they were still vulnerable economically. His rule was still both absolute and arbitrary as the cracks in society were still there. Anti-Draconid protesting and riots were still occurring though nowhere near as violent and seemingly constant as they had been in the summer of 2021, the year before their journey and visit to Juvon's homeland of Dyste.
The aged monarch closed his eyes and gave a small smile as he thought of the marriage. It had been a private affair with the most expensive item being the dress his daughter wore before they were married by Father Johnson. His daughter noticed this and smirked.
"The first time I've seen you smile in a while." The Columbian Princess commented.
The King's eyes flew open and he scowled at her.
"You should consider yourself lucky I didn't leave you two in Columbia where Adina and Titus are running as regents in my place. I can tell you two they would be more than happy to share their thoughts about you and your children. Speaking of who's taking care of your children."
The red creature, Juvon Infernos, Ambassador of Dyste and now Third Prince of Columbia, answered his question. His deep booming voice reverberated throughout the whole plane seemingly.
"My mother and father are. They're happy to be temporarily visiting my home and seeing their grandparents on their father's side. And, in a way, it's a win for your wife and son as well: there's for a few weeks no trace of us so they'll spend more time and energy running the nation than insulting your daughter and I."
Paul gave a curt nod before reclining in his seat, happy he could finally enjoy some luxuries as Monarch again. While he did miss his lower class farming life when things were simpler and he and Adina weren't at each other's throats as constantly as they were now, he did enjoy some of the benefits of being ruler of an Empire. The finer foods and beds were very nice and access to the best tutors for his children and grandchildren was another considerable bonus. And these fine forms of travel were something he enjoyed when he did these rare foreign visits.
The clothes were another thing. While he didn't mind getting dressed up his mind still, despite having ruled for a fair bit of time now, had a hard time accepting the fact he was the King in regards to attire. His seemingly colonial regalia was hard to imagine fitting him compared to his overalls and flannel as a midwestern farmer. The polished knee high riding boots, blue and cream shirt and jacket, black cape, and fine gold bejeweled crown were something he never would imagine wearing himself. Looking over to his daughter and son-in-law he couldn't help but admire how well their attire fitted them. His daughter's blue gown with long silk looking gloves was something he was happy to get for his eldest daughter and the seemingly exact copy of his regalia (though less regal and more formal without the various medals and blue sash) was something he imagined suited the mage well. Though, looking down, he still pondered if, as a joke, he could get the Infernos some boots to match: the constant tapping of his claws on the metal floor (his sharp claws having worn through the carpet a good three hours ago or so) was getting to him.
"And for the love of God could you PLEASE quit tapping your feet!" Foley finally shouted, a good ten minutes later, making Abigale giggle at the sight of her father's annoyance.
Juvon looked over, an apologetic look on his muzzle, and stopped, drawing his large feet back a good inch or so.
Paul nodded, leaned back, and shut his eyes, hoping to get a nap before they land ten minutes later...
tap, tap, tap
"REALLY JUVON!?"
Once their plane had landed they were made to wait on the plane while the Mushroomians arrived. Supposedly they were going to be greeted by Vince and the Secret Service, taken to greet the Emperor himself, before they departed ways for their two week stay. The Monarch would be with Vince discussing trade, alliance proposals, and other matters of state while Juvon and Abigale would be on a tour of sorts to relax and act as 'impromptu PR for our nation to the people of the NMK'. Naturally Abigale was more looking forward to spending time with her scaled husband while Juvon was as if not more excited to be seen more of the "toads" (though he privately couldn't help but continually ponder why they were called that when Shrooms, in his opinion, would be more suiting for their name) and the various trinkets and customs of this new land.
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