Volume 6 Chapter 42
by Golden DragonVolume 6 + Chapter 42: Dorothea’s Bonus
After hearing Dorothea’s words, Xia Yi stood in shock.
The Elf Kingdom truly had a World Tree?
“Dorothea, you’ve been to the Elf Kingdom before?”
“Yes, a very long time ago. Back then, my family hadn’t yet been branded with the crime of rebellion. The rare golden dragon clan was considered extremely high-ranking nobility. My family was very wealthy.”
“Unlike my other kin who loved to scheme for power and profit, I didn’t care about any of that. Instead, I was somewhat interested in races other than dragons.”
Xia Yi could see that Dorothea had no interest in power. Her strength was immense, already at the dragon-king level, and she could even use the dragon king’s majesty, she could easily become a dragon king herself…
Yet she had no desire to do so, choosing instead to stay in Purple Iris Valley as a puppet shut-in.
“I left the Dragon Kingdom and traveled to many countries, seeing quite a few interesting things… for example, holy sword wielders, weak humans yet able to gain the power to confront higher-order kings through the holy sword’s strength. Truly incredible.”
Dorothea glanced at Xia Yi, her words seeming to carry an unspoken meaning.
Xia Yi didn’t want to take that bait.
“Of course, those aren’t the main point. I went to the Elf Kingdom and, by chance, got to know an elf of considerable status, a member of the elven royal family.”
Dorothea explained her past experiences.
“I made my identity clear, I was a golden dragon from the Dragon Kingdom. That elven royal family member took a strong interest in me. He seemed very eager to learn about dragons. To other races, dragons are terrifying and fearsome, but also very mysterious.”
“He held a banquet and invited me. In return, I offered some extremely precious fine wine from my family, which won the royal’s favor. He got quite drunk that night.”
“While drunk, he said many things. Among them, he mentioned the existence of the World Tree in the Elf Kingdom, and even spoke the words ‘Water of Life’… However, before he could finish, a servant reminded him. He came to his senses, regretted it deeply, and said no more.”
“I kept pressing, but whether it was about the World Tree or the Water of Life, he refused to speak and changed the subject.”
Xia Yi felt that the elven royal must have spoken the truth while drunk, accidentally revealing a secret, hence that reaction.
This indirectly suggested that the World Tree and the Water of Life were most likely inside the Elf Kingdom.
“What happened next?” Xia Yi asked.
“After that, the elves sent troops and suddenly blocked my way, clearly intending to silence me. But I wasn’t weak back then. If the elves fought me, I could still escape. The elves weighed their options, it was sudden, they weren’t fully prepared, and they weren’t a hundred percent sure of success. They didn’t want to start a war between our two races, so they expelled me from the Elf Kingdom instead.”
“And that was my journey to the Elf Kingdom. That’s why I said it’s a possibility, if the elves truly possess the Water of Life, then there is a chance to save Xia Lulu.”
“So that’s how it was…”
Xia Yi fell into deep thought.
She remembered that she had some connection with Eve in the Elf Kingdom.
Eve was the princess of the elven royal family!
If the elves really had the Water of Life, then Eve, as the heiress to the elven throne, would certainly know about it.
Perhaps through Eve, she could grasp this glimmer of hope.
“Let me ask you one last time, Dorothea… you’re not lying to me, are you?” Xia Yi asked.
“Little Xia Yi, I don’t really have any reason to lie to you, do I?” Dorothea said in a completely indifferent tone. “But I don’t need to prove anything to you either. Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”
“…I understand.”
Xia Yi clenched her fist.
Truth be told, Dorothea really had no need to deceive her. After all, the other party had already overwhelmed her in power, there was no need for mind games.
Besides, she had no choice.
No matter what, she absolutely could not lose Xia Lulu.
“But Xia Lulu only has a few days left to live. Even if the Elf Kingdom really has the Water of Life, I couldn’t obtain it in just a few days. By the time I brought back the Water of Life, Xia Lulu would already be long gone!”
“On that point, I have a way.”
“What way?”
“Beg me.”
“Huh?”
“Beg me.” Dorothea repeated herself.
Was she meaning that Xia Yi should act cute and beg?
At that thought, Xia Yi was very reluctant.
But she truly had no choice.
“Sister Dorothea, please help me, please help me, I’m begging you~~”
Xia Yi went up to Dorothea, hugged her, and launched a sweet, whining coquettish offensive.
Dorothea patted Xia Yi’s head with a touch of emotion.
“Just like your mother, aren’t you?”
“Hm?”
“Since little Xia Yi pleases me so much, I’ll give you a little extra bonus.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bring Xia Lulu and follow me.” Dorothea turned and left.
“Oh…”
Xia Yi followed.
…
“So many… puppets.”
Xia Yi walked behind Dorothea, looking at the rows of beautiful puppets lining the passage, and remarked with amazement. Almost every single one resembled Dorothea.
“These are all my spare bodies,” Dorothea boasted. “Well? Beautiful, aren’t they? This is art. Every puppet has a different outfit!”
“They’re nice to look at, but there are just so many puppets… it’s a bit creepy. Like a horror movie.”
Xia Yi said softly.
She was still in Purple Iris Valley, but Dorothea had brought her to an unexpected place.
It was Dorothea’s tombstone, inside the giant cross.
Or rather, Dorothea’s grave.
“So the inside of the tombstone has space like this,” Xia Yi marveled.
“…We’re here.”
Dorothea stopped.
Xia Yi saw a black box on the wall ahead. Countless threads connected to the box, and those threads spread out in all directions within the cross, like…
A heart and blood vessels?
“That is me,” Dorothea said.
“Could it be…!”
“My true body,” Dorothea stated the astonishing fact matter-of-factly.
“Should you be telling me this? This is… your secret, isn’t it?”
Even without Dorothea explaining, Xia Yi understood.
If something happened to the true body, no matter how many puppet bodies one had, it would be useless, that was the core controlling all the puppets.
This was a fatal weakness.
Was she allowed to say this?
“Yes. In all these years, no one else has ever set foot here. Little Xia Yi, you are the first.”
“Not even Xia Lulu before?”
“I never let her in.”
“…”
Xia Yi didn’t know what to say for a moment.
“But, little Xia Yi truly wants to save Xia Lulu, I can see that. So I’m giving you a chance.”
“Thank you…”
“Little Xia Yi, go over there.”
Dorothea pointed in a direction where an ice coffin lay.
Xia Yi curiously approached and found a corpse inside.
It was a golden dragon girl, also seemingly Dorothea. There was a clear mark at the junction between her head and neck, as if she had been beheaded.
“That’s my corpse. I usually keep it here, preserved in the ice coffin.”
“You kept it all this time?”
“I was afraid that if I lived too long, I might forget what I originally looked like. So I kept the corpse as a reference.”
Dorothea uttered a statement that Xia Yi did not know how to judge.
Seeing Xia Yi’s complex expression, Dorothea only chuckled lightly. After all, her values were entirely different from ordinary people’s, it was only natural that others couldn’t understand.
She opened the ice coffin, moved her own corpse out, and placed it into a spare ice coffin.
“I’ll use this for Xia Lulu for now. Afterwards, I’ll completely seal the ice coffin with magic, keeping it in an ultra-low temperature environment. This way, I can freeze Xia Lulu’s life and slow down her death.”
“Can you do that?”
“Others certainly couldn’t, but I can.”
Dorothea’s quiet words exuded confidence.
“However, once the ice coffin is sealed, you absolutely must not open it easily. When you do reopen it, you will need the Water of Life… There will be no second chance. If you cannot find the Water of Life, it will be no different from death.”
“I understand. This is already enough.”
Xia Yi gently placed Xia Lulu’s body inside.
The threads on the black box began to move. Some of them detached from their connections within the cross and settled onto Xia Lulu’s body.
“This is…?”
“I’ll bear the backlash of the Dragon King’s Heart for her temporarily. It will let Xia Lulu wake up for a short while, though not for long, just a few minutes,” Dorothea said. “This is my little extra bonus for you.”
“Thank you, Dorothea!”
“Have a small talk with Xia Lulu, little Xia Yi.”
With that, Dorothea left.
Xia Yi noticed that Xia Lulu’s eyes moved slightly. She quickly leaned over beside the ice coffin.
Xia Lulu slowly opened her eyes, struggled to focus her vision, and asked in a faint, weak voice.
“…Is that you, Xia Yi?”
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