Max was still processing the information while watching Moonlight ride circles around the courtyard on top of the velociraptor.

A woman.

The person behind the rituals was a woman.

Or at least someone who had been born female and wanted to be treated as a man.

Max still didn’t know exactly what to think about that.

"So..." he muttered slowly while looking at Seraphine.

"...the person doing all this summons creatures from other worlds, forces them to fight each other, and also has existential issues?"

Seraphine shrugged slightly.

"That’s more or less what I understood from talking with Raptor."

The velociraptor kept happily running around the fountain while Moonlight laughed on top of him.

Max rubbed a hand over his face.

"I need to sit down."

The mage let out a small laugh.

And right then, someone appeared at the courtyard entrance.

Abby.

The maid was carrying an empty tray in her hands, probably coming to collect the breakfast dishes and cups.

She walked in normally.

Looked up.

And completely froze.

Moon rode past her on the velociraptor right at that moment.

"FASTER, RAPTOR!"

"SKREEEE!"

Abby slowly opened her mouth.

Max raised a hand.

"Before you panic—"

"IT’S ADORABLE."

Max blinked.

Seraphine burst into immediate laughter.

"She reacted exactly like you did," she said, amused.

"Look at him!" Abby practically glowed with excitement.

She stepped closer to the velociraptor as if she were looking at a giant puppy.

"His little eyes!"

Max stared at the prehistoric predator full of razor-sharp teeth.

"...Right. The little eyes."

Moon passed by them again.

"Abby, look at this!"

Moon raised one hand while Raptor elegantly leapt over one of the stone benches.

Abby looked seconds away from emotional collapse from sheer cuteness.

"I want to ride him next," she immediately declared.

Seraphine laughed again.

"Alright."

She adjusted some of her messy hair.

"But first I need Dorian to finish examining him."

Abby nodded rapidly.

"Yes!"

She lifted the tray with the cups and muffin leftovers.

"I’ll take this to be cleaned and go get Mister Dorian."

Then she practically trotted out of the courtyard.

Max watched her leave.

"...I’ve never seen her react like that before."

"Neither have I," Seraphine admitted.

Both of them watched Moon continue happily circling the fountain on the velociraptor.

Raptor seemed pretty happy too.

Though he was probably confused about how he’d ended up becoming the official transportation of a hyperactive dragon girl.

***

It didn’t take long before Abby returned.

And Dorian appeared behind her.

The elf walked into the courtyard with a completely uninterested professional expression.

Until he saw the velociraptor.

Then he frowned.

"...Where did you people get this thing?"

Raptor looked at him.

Dorian looked back.

Max raised a hand.

"He was also summoned by the person bringing beings from other worlds."

Dorian sighed slowly.

"Yeah."

He crossed his arms.

"Something told me we’d eventually find even more strange creatures."

He looked at Seraphine.

"What do you need from me?"

The mage pointed toward one of Raptor’s legs.

"He still has an infected wound."

Her expression softened a little.

"My healing magic helped, but it wasn’t enough."

Dorian immediately smiled with pride.

"Then let me work."

Seraphine walked over to the velociraptor.

She gently stroked the side of his neck while once again using the Speak With Animals spell.

"Don’t worry," she said softly.

She pointed at Dorian.

"The weird elf is a friend. He’s going to help you."

Raptor watched Dorian for a few seconds.

Then calmly walked over to him.

And settled down on the ground, exposing the injured leg.

Dorian nodded in satisfaction.

"Good boy."

He opened his bag and started pulling out several small bottles.

Max watched curiously as the elf selected a dark glass jar containing a rather strange bluish cream.

"This should work."

He carefully applied the balm onto the velociraptor’s wound.

Then placed both hands over it.

Closed his eyes.

And his fingers began glowing with a soft green light.

The energy slowly spread through the wound.

The balm literally started absorbing into the skin.

Max watched as the damaged flesh began closing almost instantly.

The marks vanished.

The swelling rapidly faded.

And within seconds, the leg looked practically healed.

Raptor opened his eyes wide.

Moved the leg.

Jumped once.

Then, completely happy, shoved his snout toward Dorian and violently started licking his hair.

"SKREEE!"

Dorian let out a small laugh while trying to push him away.

"Yeah, yeah."

He patted his neck.

"It’s fine now. It’s fine."

Abby watched the scene with extremely visible jealousy.

"I wanted to be the one chosen by the beast," she muttered in defeat.

Moonlight jumped off Raptor’s back and ran over to Dorian.

"Thank you for healing my new friend!"

Dorian smiled faintly.

"It was nothing."

Then Moon immediately turned toward Seraphine.

Her eyes sparkled with absolute excitement.

"Can he come with me to the wedding?"

Everyone looked at her.

Moon proudly pointed at the velociraptor.

"I want to ride Raptor into the wedding."

Seraphine started laughing.

"Well..."

She looked at Max.

"That depends a lot on your parents."

And automatically, everyone turned to look at Max.

Max froze for a few seconds while imagining it.

Moonlight wearing armor.

Riding a velociraptor.

Entering the royal wedding like that.

’Okay.’

That sounded incredibly epic.

It also sounded exactly like the kind of thing that would probably give half the kingdom a heart attack.

Especially Elanor.

Max placed a hand on his chin, seriously considering it.

"Hmm."

Moon looked at him with eyes full of hope.

Raptor also seemed interested.

Finally, Max pointed toward the castle.

"Ask Elanor."

Moon immediately made a face of complete defeat.

"My mom is going to say no."

Seraphine smiled in amusement.

"Don’t be so sure."

She winked at her.

"I’ll help you convince her."

Moon’s eyes widened enormously.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Moon let out a small excited scream and instantly hugged Raptor’s neck.

The velociraptor responded happily, wagging his tail side to side while making small cheerful chirping noises.

Max watched the whole scene.

Moonlight hugging a dinosaur in the middle of the royal castle courtyard while they planned to turn a wedding into the most chaotic event in Eldoria’s history.