Volume 5 Chapter 31

Volume 5 + Chapter 31: A Grand Ambition

“Then let’s get ready to head out~!”

Xia Yi stood atop Elly’s body and bid farewell to the people in the Dragon Palace.

“Safe travels, Your Highness,” Serra said.

“Elly, don’t forget that you are still bearing guilt this time. Don’t be negligent,” Lucia reminded her.

“Big Sister Lucia, I’ll definitely remember and make sure to complete the mission!!”

Elly replied earnestly, having already released her true dragon form.

“Then let us depart, Your Highness,” Karami said from the side.

“Mm. Let’s go off to Fox Hill!!” Xia Yi nodded.

After that, the giant dragons who had unleashed their true forms spread their wings and soared high, leaving the Dragon Palace behind and plunging into the clouds above, heading toward the borders of the Dragon Kingdom.

……

……

After some time, the dragon delegation safely left the Dragon Kingdom. Next, they would proceed to the nearby vassal states.

In truth, Fox Hill was not very far from the Dragon Kingdom. Between the territories of the two nations lay several small countries.

These small countries were mostly vassal states of the dragons, for example, the Blackstone Kingdom.

The fox often caused trouble within these vassal states. Once the dragons received word of this, they would send people to deal with it.

As soon as the fox saw dragons arriving and estimated the difference in strength, they would immediately retreat.

This kind of thing had happened far too many times. As a result, the dragons’ understanding of the fox was largely formed through these conflicts.

Therefore, for most dragons, their impression of the fox boiled down to a single word, 

Cunning.

“Your Highness, why are we going to the fox this time?” Elly asked curiously. “Haven’t the fox and us always gotten along poorly?”

Cough, cough… I just don’t want to eat broccoli.

That was what Xia Yi was thinking to herself.

She cast a sidelong glance at Karami beside her.

The other accompanying dragons were watching as well.

If she said that out loud, her image would be completely ruined.

“Elly, you really are rather dull.”

Xia Yi put on an air of profundity.

“Can’t you figure out even this?”

“Your Highness, I really don’t quite… understand it, which is why I asked!”

“If you don’t understand, then think harder. Our understanding of the fox is very limited, isn’t it?”

“That’s true. In my impression, the fox seems to be… a bunch of extremely cunning fellows!”

“Exactly. The fox would never do anything detrimental to themselves. Our visit to Fox Hill is bound to become known to other nations. Once they learn that the fox is making contact with us, those nations will inevitably begin to suspect whether the fox intends to cooperate with us. That would undoubtedly shake the fox’s standing among nations. Being overly close to the dragons means standing in opposition to other races.”

“Right! There’s no way they’d just come to us for fun!”

“And that means the fox must be facing some kind of internal problem, one they cannot refuse or resolve on their own, so they seek help from outside races. This problem must be enormous, something only our dragon race has the power to deal with…”

Xia Yi had begun to spout serious-sounding nonsense with a perfectly straight face.

In reality, she had no idea what problems existed within the fox at all. She had previously flipped through countless books in the library without finding any reliable historical records, let alone gaining insight into internal fox conflicts.

“So that’s how it is!?” Elly exclaimed in surprise.

“Elly, you must look beyond appearances to grasp the essence. Go back to the beginning and think carefully, why did I agree to the fox’s proposal and come to Fox Hill in the first place? If everything is spelled out clearly, it loses its meaning. Train your insight more.”

“Alright, Your Highness. I’ll think it over…”

Elly began to ponder seriously.

The dragons nearby, upon hearing this, all felt that the princess truly was meticulous in her thinking, to have inferred even this much.

Karami, however, was different from the others. His heart was in utter shock, so much so that he almost cried out.

Your Highness… So this is what you’re planning?!

The old minister’s gaze toward Xia Yi began to tremble.

It was common knowledge that the fox loved stirring up trouble in the dragons’ vassal states. They would seek out internal conflicts within those states, exploit them, amplify them, and secretly fan the flames until they achieved the goal of swallowing the vassal state whole.

Yet they would never have imagined that one day, such tactics would be grasped and wielded by a princess of an enemy nation!!

Through her previous interactions with the fox princess, Xia Yi had already sensed that enormous internal contradictions existed within the fox, undercurrents surging, on the verge of eruption, to the point of being irreconcilable.

Her earlier remarks had subtly confirmed this point. The fox’s expression of diplomatic intent toward the dragons was a move made with multiple contingencies in mind, bringing in the dragons as a possible solution.

Now that Xia Yi had already seen through the fox’s intentions, her goal in coming to Fox Hill had become perfectly clear, 

She would enter Fox Hill, wait until the fox’s internal conflicts fully erupted, then seize this opportunity to conquer the fox and take Fox Hill for herself!!

Thinking of this, Karami felt an overwhelming sense of shock. He marveled at Xia Yi’s immense ambition and her almost prophetic foresight.

While everyone else was still unable to clearly discern the situation, this princess had already begun planning and acting in secret for the dragon race’s hegemony.

Once the foxes were conquered, regardless of their willingness, combined with the vampire clan, the establishment of a hegemonic alliance would become inevitable.

That was why Xia Yi was so resolute in going to the fox, even though this was an extremely risky venture.

Terrifying. Simply terrifying.

The successor cultivated by Her Majesty the Queen, seemingly cute and naive, yet in truth terrifying beyond measure!

Of course, Karami also felt that he might be overthinking things, and that it would be wiser to observe carefully and remain cautious.

“Your Highness… let me closely observe whether you truly harbor such intentions…”

……

……

After entering the borders of Fox Hill, fox border soldiers were the first to receive the dragon delegation and arrange transportation for them.

After all, if dragons were to openly fly across fox territory, it would cause panic among the fox civilians, who would think the dragons had invaded.

Thus, under fox escort, Xia Yi and the dragon delegation continued onward, eventually arriving at a northern fox city, Greenfield City.

“Your Highness, we’ve finally arrived!”

Elly said excitedly. This was her first time coming to Fox Hill, and everything felt novel to her.

“This trip has been surprisingly smooth, no accidents at all,” Xia Yi said with a sigh of relief.

Before the dragon delegation even entered Greenfield City under fox guidance, the little princess spotted a familiar figure already waiting at the entrance.

“Kukukuku… I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time.”

A beautiful fox girl with long pink hair covered her eyes, striking exaggerated poses while uttering cryptic words. Just like always, she fixed her gaze on Xia Yi.

“O my destined rival, the appointed day has finally arrived. Sacred white and crimson shall drown pure silver, prepare yourself!”

[https://ko-fi.com/golden_dragon]