Volume 4 Chapter 109

Volume 4 + Chapter 109: Vanishing Into Nothingness 

“Ah~”

Xia Yi let out a yawn, opened her eyes, and rubbed them as her vision gradually came back into focus.

Above her line of sight, Xia Lulu was holding a book, reading quietly.

She remembered now.

After finishing the donuts, she felt a little sleepy and ended up leaning against Xia Lulu and dozing off.

“Xia Yi, are you awake?”

Xia Lulu lowered her gaze, letting it fall upon her daughter’s little face.

“It looks like it’s about to get dark.”

Xia Yi sat up and noticed that the light around her had gradually dimmed.

It seemed she had stayed in the rear garden of the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace for quite a long time.

It was probably time to leave—being this clingy all the time wasn’t very good…

“Um…”

Xia Yi avoided Xia Lulu’s gaze, feeling a little embarrassed.

“Hm? What is it?” Xia Lulu tilted her head.

“The donuts were really tasty—so, yeah!!”

Leaving behind those words, Xia Yi jumped up from the chair and ran off without looking back, leaving the rear garden of the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace.

It was honestly a bit too embarrassing—especially when she remembered how she had cried and made a fuss after her donut was snatched away by a kitty back then… so humiliating!

“Stop thinking about it!”

Xia Yi muttered to herself as she walked along the corridors of the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace.

Swish!

At that moment, Xia Yi felt a sharp sting on the back of her hand and discovered that the Holy Sword crest had begun to glow.

“Huh?”

The little princess raised her hand, completely bewildered.

The flickering rhythm of the Holy Sword crest felt as though the sword itself were asking—“What are you doing?”

“I—I…!”

Xia Yi was momentarily at a loss for words.

This is bad!

She clearly shared an irreconcilable, life-and-death enmity with the Silver Dragon Queen—absolute mortal enemies.

Yet just now, she had actually been pacified by Xia Lulu using donuts.

Clinging and acting spoiled in someone else’s arms—where was even a shred of a Sword Saint’s dignity in that?

Xia Yi’s cheeks flushed red like overripe tomatoes.

“Old friend, you have to believe me! I was actually… advancing openly while maneuvering secretly! Didn’t you notice? Xia Lulu made no comments at all about my Far North Imperial Guard—precisely because I used a masterful distraction to make her overlook it!”

Xia Yi forced herself to continue the explanation.

“This is all for the sake of building up strength… lying low! Once my power has accumulated enough, I’ll be able to defeat Xia Lulu! My original resolve has never changed—I am still a steadfast Sword Saint!”

The Holy Sword crest gradually dimmed, no longer flickering.

Xia Yi wasn’t sure what that meant…

It should mean that Gram agreed, right?

Yes!

Gram was a companion who had fought alongside her all this time—there was no reason he wouldn’t trust her.

“Alright, Gram! To repay your trust, I’ll definitely grow stronger as soon as possible, defeat Xia Lulu, and together we’ll surpass the Silver Dragon Princess and once again ascend to the pinnacle!”

Xia Yi made her declaration with complete confidence.

“Then today doesn’t count—starting tomorrow, I’ll continue to uphold my Sword Saint’s soul, never corrupted, never fallen!”

…

“Eh? Princess?”

The guards on patrol noticed Xia Yi and hurriedly saluted.

“We pay our respects to Her Highness the Princess!”

Xia Yi noticed something a little strange.

The looks the guards cast her way seemed odd—somehow… different from usual.

Could it be…?

I get it—those are looks of admiration and respect!

The little princess suddenly remembered something extremely important.

Elly!

It had already been quite some time since she brought Elly back to the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace.

Given Elly’s loudspeaker-like personality, she must have run all over the palace, publicizing Xia Yi’s deeds everywhere.

As for what she publicized—did that even need asking?

It had to be authority and prestige!!

Thinking of this, the corners of Xia Yi’s mouth lifted.

She had massively farmed reputation points in the Far North, intimidating the entire region—Elly would definitely have told everyone all about it.

So after hearing that, the people in the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace would surely be deeply shocked!

Elly, well done!

“Mm.”

Xia Yi put on a cold, aloof demeanor, merely responding with a brief sound as she walked past.

“……”

The Dragon Clan guards fell into silence, staring fixedly at Xia Yi, even watching her back until it disappeared around the corner, completely lost in thought. 

All of these details were caught by Xia Yi out of the corner of her eye, reflected in the glass. 

Perfect—absolutely perfect!! 

She had actually intimidated the guards of the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace purely through invisible presence alone. 

This was truly unprecedented. 

“It’s Her Highness the Princess…!” 

The palace servants also showed astonished expressions when they saw Xia Yi, stopping their work and turning their gazes toward her together. 

Good. Very good. 

Xia Yi thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention, her authority was skyrocketing, already piercing the heavens! 

Sure enough, her conjecture had been correct. 

This time, it was a huge, overwhelming win! 

… 

“Your Highness the Princess, you’re back.” 

As soon as Xia Yi returned to her room, she heard a familiar voice. The red dragon maid, as always, had already been waiting for some time and bowed to her. 

“Mm, Serra, I’m back~!”

Xia Yi originally wanted, as usual, to kick off her shoes and jump straight onto the bed.

But after thinking about it, no—that wouldn’t do. She was now a dignified Silver Dragon Princess and had to properly maintain her image~

Like a queen, she sat down on the sofa and lifted her foot.

“Serra, help me change my shoes.”

“By your command, Your Highness.”

Serra took out a pair of slippers, crouched before Xia Yi, slowly removed the little leather shoes from her delicate, jade-like feet, and slipped the slippers on.

Xia Yi began to ponder what kind of cool, impressive lines she should use next to tell Serra that those seemingly terrifying enemies in the Far North were completely no match for her.

At that point, Serra would surely wear a shocked expression and exclaim in disbelief about how such an enormous change had occurred in her—

“Your Highness, were the donuts Her Majesty made tasty?” Serra suddenly asked.

“Huh?”

Xia Yi’s expression froze solid.

At that very instant, the smile on Serra’s face shattered all of Xia Yi’s fantasies into pieces.

“Sure enough, Your Highness is just the same as always. As soon as you return to the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace, you can’t wait to go find Her Majesty and act spoiled. You always deny it verbally, but in reality, you like it the most.”

“No! How could that be! I only go to Xia Lulu to report on work!”

Xia Yi sprang to her feet in agitation, loudly denying it.

“But Your Highness, everyone in the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace already knows,” Serra explained. “About how you kept acting spoiled in Her Majesty’s arms. Elly saw it with her own eyes—and even drew a picture of the scene.”

“What?!”

Xia Yi felt as though she had been struck by a bolt from the blue.

It was as if all the authority she had painstakingly built up had, in an instant, completely vanished into nothingness.

The corners of Serra’s lips curved into a delighted smile. “Your Highness is really cute—and clingy, too~”