Chapter 128
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Chapter 128: We’ll Meet Again Soon
Secrets never stay hidden for long.
Hipper couldn’t keep the people afflicted with Dragon Scale Disease inside the palace forever. Soon, word leaked out.
News of it spread, causing a national uproar in the Kingdom of Dia. However, her father had already prepared a response. Many in the royal palace were already showing signs of the disease, some sooner, some later.
In the past month, it has been recorded that over a thousand people were affected by this condition.
No—this wasn’t a disease.
It was a dragon transformation.
Since no one yet understood the cause of the transformation, people believed that anyone could potentially experience it.
“Your Highness, the King is here to see you.”
“Oh, let him in.”
The maid had just opened the door to inform her of this. Hipper allowed the king to enter her room.
“Hipper, the envoys from the Goss Empire are requesting an audience. They claim that if we refuse, they will take measures to enter by force. Word has it that the holy knight who visited our palace showed signs of Dragon Scale Disease as well, so they feel it’s essential to investigate the true cause of dragon transformation. If we don’t cooperate, they may resort to military action. I believe that balancing both sides is our best move. Even if you favor the dragon clan now, angering the Goss Empire would bring us no good.”
At this moment, the King’s forehead had already sprouted silvery white dragon horns, and his ears had grown pointed.
Since nearly everyone in the palace had shown such traits, Hipper no longer wore a hat when going out, both dragon and vampire ears were pointed, so she could claim she had also contracted Dragon Scale Disease.
“Oh.”
“Hipper, I hope you won’t lead this country into a disaster. Though we are bound by a contract, I still retain my original consciousness.”
“It’s precisely because you retain your own consciousness that I won’t fully trust your words. Who knows if you’ll someday break the contract and betray me.”
“The Goss Empire’s delegation has given us two days, Hipper. I hope you’ll make a wise decision.”
“Dismissed.”
The king bowed his head, visibly crestfallen. Yet Hipper’s command was binding, he could only leave her room silently.
Once again, the room fell into silence.
Hipper sat by the window, resting her chin in her hands, gazing out at the endless blue sky.
These days, her intelligence officers frequently reported energy anomalies throughout the kingdom. In some places, dragon figures had even been spotted. Rumors spoke of a red, a pink, and a white dragon trio, occasionally joined by a purple and a blue-white one.
Isn’t that the classic Dragon King Five?
“Illya, are you all enjoying your journey? Have you thought of me?”
After a brief moment of daze, Hipper sighed and began to pen a letter to the dragon clan’s sentry in Boros City.
She needed the dragon clan’s opinion on this. Letting the Goss Empire’s people inside could lead them to uncover the truth about Dragon Scale Disease, which would destabilize Dia’s current regime.
As night fell, Hipper drifted off to sleep.
Suddenly, there was a soft tapping at her door and window.
Startled, she awoke and looked over.
In the moonlight, a small, shadowy animal figure was perched on her window.
Quickly throwing off the covers, Hipper got out of bed and approached the window.
It was a small fox.
It tapped on the glass with its paw, then raised a small square object. Hippel looked closely and realized it was the very letter she had written that afternoon.
To prove it, the fox tore open the envelope and pressed the letter against the glass.
With her vampiric sight, Hipper could clearly see the words; the handwriting and content matched exactly with what she had written.
“What do you want?”
Hipper frowned, prepared to activate her powers at any moment.
“Our dear little princess of Dia, secretly communicating with the dragon clan… could it be that the Dragon Scale Disease incident in Boros was orchestrated by you and the dragon clan?”
It was a mature woman’s voice.
And it was coming from this little fox.
“….”
Hipper stared at the white fox outside the window.
As long as she didn’t speak, she wouldn’t reveal anything.
“You don’t want this letter leaked, do you?”
“If you did? Who would believe you?”
“Oh, no, no. Don’t you know? Because of Dragon Scale Disease, your royal family of Octaviel is under scrutiny right now. All it would take is a single stone to stir up a thousand waves.”
“What do you want?”
“Tell me the truth about Dragon Scale Disease.”
“I don’t know.”
“Hmph, our little princess seems to be playing tough.”
Crack!
The glass shattered.
As the small fox broke through the window, Hipper’s eyes began to glow red.
“In the name of the Princess of the Netherworld, I command you to stop!”
Instantly, the little fox froze, stuck in the broken glass.
Hipper exhaled softly in relief.
She hadn’t expected to actually be able to control a small animal.
“Tell me who you are and why you’ve come to find me.”
“Oh my, little princess, could this be… a vampire skill?”
“What?!”
Startled, Hipper took a step back.
The fox slipped through the broken window, but it remained motionless, with eyes blank of any emotion.
This shouldn’t be happening. Why had her skill failed?
She should be able to control any intelligent creature.
“I’m not foolish enough to face you in my true form. If our little princess has any hidden tricks, I might just lose my life here.”
Only then did Hipper realize what was going on.
No wonder—the mature voice was coming from the fox, which remained expressionless.
How careless of her! She was still too inexperienced.
“This is quite… explosive news, Your Highness. To think you’re actually a vampire.”
“Who are you?!”
Hipper felt a heavy pressure in her chest, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
She gasped, feeling a mix of anger and shame at being toyed with.
“Don’t worry, dear little princess. I won’t expose you so easily. As long as we can reach a small agreement.”
“What kind of agreement?”
“Give me a vial of your blood.”
“I refuse.”
“Little princess, you’re in no position to refuse when I hold this leverage over you.”
“What nonsense leverage? Let’s see who would believe your lies. Anyone who does, I’ll control one by one.”
“Oh my, how terrifying. Is this the power of a vampire?”
Hipper snarled at the fox’s mocking tone.
“If you’re so bold, why don’t you show yourself? Hiding like this—what are you afraid of?”
Hipper looked at the small fox in front of her. If it was just a false body, it shouldn’t be too powerful, right? She ought to be able to handle it.
Now that she’d become a pure-blooded vampire, her physical abilities had improved—though she still needed to drink blood to maintain them.
“Well, some things really can’t be forced. And it wouldn’t mean much to me to destroy your country. How about this? Let’s settle on a relatively simple deal.”
“Speak.”
“I want to use your authority to investigate a woman named Linnevia, who once served as a saintess in Gerris City.”
“Never heard of her.”
“Which is why I need you to investigate,” the fox said, stepping closer to Hipper.
“This woman used to be from your country, but now she’s wreaking havoc in ours. Don’t you think it’s a favor worth repaying?”
“I don’t know anything about it. It has nothing to do with me.”
“Little princess, you seem a bit stubborn. If you don’t cooperate, I don’t mind revealing to others in the palace that you’re a vampire. Vampires aren’t without their weaknesses. The most dangerous ones are those who lurk in the shadows, but if everyone knew you were a vampire, you’d be as defenseless as a fish on a chopping block.”
Hipper considered this for a few seconds before nodding.
“Fine. I’ll investigate this Linnevia woman for you.”
She had heard about the saintess incident in Gerris City. Apparently, the person behind the blood moon festival there was this saintess, and dragons had appeared as well.
First, she would gather information according to the fox’s request, filtering out anything unfavorable to the dragons, and then pass on what was left to the fox.
“That’s better.”
“What exactly do you want to know? I need to know the scope of your inquiry.”
“Everything. From her birth to her time as a Saintess—everything.”
“Alright, I’ll do my best to gather the information.”
“Thank you for your cooperation, Your Highness. As a token of gratitude, I’ll give you a heads-up. Since the holy knight has shown signs of Dragon Scale Disease and may transform into a dragon, the Goss Empire is preparing certain measures. Under the banner of ‘justice’, they’re planning to invade your Dia Kingdom.”
“They wouldn’t dare!”
After all, Dia Kingdom was backed by the dragons.
“There’s nothing they wouldn’t dare to do. Princess, you’ve been secluded in the palace and might not fully understand the public sentiment outside. People are terrified, fearing they might turn into dragons. Right now, their biggest shield is the Goss Empire. If they decide to act, the dragon clan will support you, but some citizens will inevitably side with the Goss Empire. At the very least, Dia Kingdom could end up divided in two.”
“Father…”
Hipper clenched her fists. She had thought that her father would be able to fully suppress public opinion.
“His Majesty has already done everything he can.”
Hipper took a deep breath to calm herself.
“Thank you for the warning.”
“You’re welcome, little princess. I’ll deliver your letter for you. I hope your Octaviel royal family can weather this storm. Remember our deal—I’ll be back to check in from time to time.”
The fox jumped back onto the windowsill.
With a whoosh, it leapt off the high tower. Hipper leaned out the window, watching, but the little white fox had already disappeared.
Hipper clenched her fists.
“You still haven’t told me who you are…”
That creature had mentioned “our country”. Could she be from the Fox Kingdom?
Hipper returned to bed, pulling the covers over herself, but she couldn’t shake the fear that an unfamiliar shadow might reappear in the window.
In frustration, she summoned the maid on duty to keep a close watch on the window. It was only around midnight that she finally drifted into a fitful sleep.
The next day, following the fox’s instructions, she dispatched people to gather information on Linnevia.
After about a week, they had collected everything.
During that time, the little fox had not made a single appearance.
On the 10th night, she finally spotted the small fox outside the window. Hipper opened the newly repaired window.
She silently watched the little white fox, waiting for it to speak.
“Hello, little princess, we meet again. Have you gathered the information?”
“Yes.”
“Be sure to tell me everything, without holding anything back.”
Hipper leaned against the windowsill, going over the reports provided by her intelligence officers.
Overall, there wasn’t much to hide.
“Linnevia, formerly known as Lina. Her birthplace and exact birth date are unknown, but she became active about 10 years ago in the Ed Kingdom, Dia Kingdom, and other nations bordering the Dragon Empire. She worked as a priest and traveled with 2 heroes—one named Leo and the other Monet. The 3 of them formed a renowned hero team back then. They took on most of the requests that came their way. 6 years ago, it’s said that Leo and Monet attempted to ambush the Dragon Queen, but only Leo survived. That marked the end of the trio.
“After that, Lina tried to join other hero teams, but for various reasons, she never fully integrated with top-tier teams, and she refused to join lower-level ones.
“Eventually, due to a conflict with Leo, they went their separate ways. The next time she appeared in Dia Kingdom, she had changed her name to Linnevia and was serving as the Saintess at Gerris Cathedral.”
“Anything else?”
“No, that’s all.”
“Just that?”
“What more do you expect? It took us a long time to even confirm that Linnevia was Lina. If we hadn’t been carrying around Linnevia’s portrait and asking questions, we might never have made the connection.”
“What about Linnevia turning into a succubus?”
“That, we couldn’t uncover.”
“Are you sure you haven’t hidden anything from me?”
“Why would I? This is everything we found.”
The fox circled a few times on the ground.
“Fine.”
It seemed disappointing.
The fox had hoped to get key information from a royal intelligence agency, but it turned out that Hipper knew less than it did.
Suddenly, the fox leaped up and clawed at Hipper’s nightgown, scratching a blood-red line across her thigh.
“You!”
“Sorry, little princess, just borrowing some of your blood!”
The fox gracefully darted back onto the windowsill, performing an elegant phantom dance before vanishing once more into the night.
Hipper looked down at the bloody scratch on her thigh and drew in a sharp breath.
“Damn it, I was careless again!”
What was she going to do now? Her blood contained the essence of the Dragon King, and she had let someone take it so easily. How would she explain this to the Dragon Queen?
Under the moonlight outside the window, the little fox carefully avoided touching the ground with her blood-covered front paw, leaping her way out of the palace grounds.
A black-haired woman was already waiting for her. She picked up the little fox in her arms, appearing to be a normal human, not a fox demon.
The light faded from the fox’s eyes.
Using magic, the woman drew the blood from the fox’s paw and collected it in a small container, forming a thin layer.
“Just this little?”
Behind her, a white-haired fox demon appeared, looking at the tiny amount of blood in the container. A gust of wind could have dried it up, but fortunately, blood solidified in the box.
“It’s enough.”
The black-haired woman exhaled and then disappeared into the night along with the white-haired fox demon.
…
That same night, Hipper wrote her letter, planning to deliver it personally to her contact in the morning to prevent any interception like last time.
She had to tell the Dragon Queen about the collection of her blood.
As dawn’s soft light seeped through the window, Hipper gradually awoke.
So itchy…
What was going on?
With sleepy eyes, she scratched her itchy chest, feeling something hard. What could that be?
Her sleepiness vanished in an instant.
She lifted her nightgown and moved aside her child-sized undergarments to reveal the hard spot… dragon scales?
Yes!
The shape, the curve of the scales—it was unmistakably dragon scales!
This was definitely dragon scales, not an itch from her chest developing. A single silver-white scale adorned the skin over her heart, enough to send Hipper’s excitement and joy soaring.
“Am I… will I really become part of the dragon clan? I must, right?”
Hipper was thrilled beyond words.
This meant she might have the chance to finally taste normal food again.
She hopped out of bed, dressed quickly, and stood before the mirror, her silver hair framing her crimson eyes, a small smile of joy on her lips.
She patted her chest, feeling the firm hardness beneath.
After confirming once again that it wasn’t a hallucination, she immediately set out!