Draconia Offline vol. 1

49.3. Preparations - Part 3

I think my heart just skipped a beat when I imagined Gotrid's fully grown gorgeous wings and me playing fetch with him. That doesn't qualify as cheating, right? It'll be a friendly flying session with my friend, nothing more.

"Are you working, Your Majesty?" my adjutant coughs all of a sudden.

I twitch, surprised that I was caught, and the phone slips from my fingers. I want to catch it with telekinesis but it happens too fast and my poor phone lands with an ominous thud.

"Oh, no!" I cry and grab it from the ground. It must have fallen especially unfortunately because despite the fortified glass, it's broken. I try switching it on again but the screen remains dark. Something within it must have snapped.

"Don't panic, Your Majesty," Luviael hurries to me. "You had everything in the cloud anyway, right?"

"But I had this phone for years, it has sentimental value," I whine. "I bought it with my first money from gaming."

Luviael is looking at me as if I was crazy or something. I guess I am. Nobody has the same phone for six years.

"I understand," Luvi says when she digests it. "But accidents happen. Besides, buying a new one is a good opportunity to finally set it for your new Celestial identity."

"Oh, that," I realise that I've still been using my old human account. Our IT department checked my phone for viruses and put in the best encryption possible but that was it.

"Li? Do you have a spare you're no longer using? I'll be fine with that," I ask my Viceroy.

"Just buy the latest Nebula, Aefener," Liana sighs. "Some Celestials noticed how old your phone is and were asking me why our Emperor isn't using something that would suit his status."

"But those cost hundreds of euros," I shake my head. "I can't wait for my next salary to come, I need something immediately."

Both Liana and Luviael glare at me to the point it becomes awkward.

"Did you spend all your money already?" Liana frowns, confused. "I'm sorry, is your salary not enough? You should have said so."

"Oh, no, it's more than generous," I assure her. "It's just... I sent some money to my grandmother so that I don't have to feel obligated to her anymore and the rest... well... the Thai embassy needed money to rent their own place and then I wanted to support homeless Draconians in Bohemia... and it kept piling up."

"You gave all your money away?" Liana gasps for breath. "Did you actually keep at least something?"

"Not really," I shrug. "What use do I have for it anyway? My rent is free, my food as well and my maids apparently buy me new clothes without me even asking for it."

"Naturally, I gave them some budget," Liana nods. "But seriously, Aefener, the salary is meant for your personal usage."

"I still have my own money from donations," I remind her. "It keeps pouring for some reason even if I don't stream anymore. So I put it to good use."

"Of course, it's pouring in, Ingri is keeping your Vortex account active," she explains. "Where do you think we post the videos of you flying and such?"

I frown. I gave up on social media weeks ago because I thought it wasn't needed anymore but I had no idea Ingri is still taking care of it. I quickly look up my profile on the computer but I don't log in. I want to see how it looks like to a regular visitor.

I widen my eyes when I discover that the gallery is full of my photos from various occasions. Most of the time I wasn't even aware I was being photographed. Admittedly, I look quite okay in those photos, at least Ingri picked the best angles, but that doesn't mean I'm not angry about it.