Volume 4 Chapter 38

Volume 4 + Chapter 38: Xia Lulu’s Request

Xia Lulu looked at her daughter, and truly couldn’t help herself—she laughed.

“Daughter, are you certain you haven’t been eating sweets?”

Hearing that, Xia Yi’s heart skipped half a beat.

Crap—did she get found out?

She thought about it. No, impossible. These past days she hadn’t slipped even once. No one could possibly discover she’d been dodging her punishment. The idea was absurd.

Unless…

I get it!!

Xia Yi and Xia Lulu were veterans at facing off against each other.

She understood perfectly, Xia Lulu had a particularly nasty technique—baiting.

First she fabricated something out of thin air, assumed you had done it, and claimed she had “already found out.”

The moment you panicked and confessed, you lost.

Therefore, Xia Yi concluded that Xia Lulu was simply fishing for a reaction, trying to make her slip.

Thus, the best countermeasure was obvious, a dead dragon fears no boiling water!

Under no circumstances could she take the bait.

“Xia Lulu, stop talking nonsense. I absolutely have not eaten sweets. I’ve been faithfully following the Bitter-Melon Decree every day,” Xia Yi folded her arms like a little mochi bun, “and I’ve been drinking every last drop of the bitter-melon juice during afternoon tea!”

“Oh? You really… feel that sure?”

“I am certain, positive, and absolutely definite!” Xia Yi declared firmly.

Ha.

Xia Lulu, you’ve got nothing on me now, right?

Your baiting trick won’t work on me anymore.

Not only that, Xia Yi decided to counterattack for once.

“Xia Lulu, you’re too much!! I’ve been obediently taking my punishment, and yet you accuse me!” Xia Yi even put on a wronged little expression. “I haven’t had sweets in so long, and you tarnish my innocence!”

“Is that so~” Xia Lulu was still smiling.

Xia Yi really didn’t understand. She had executed her counter perfectly, so why wasn’t Xia Lulu shaken at all?

Xia Lulu leaned closer to her.

“W-what are you trying to do?”

Xia Yi reminded herself she couldn’t shrink back, she couldn’t show guilt. She pretended she hadn’t eaten the cream puff at all, lifted her chin, and refused to back away.

Xia Lulu raised a finger and traced it across Xia Yi’s soft, springy cheek.

When Xia Yi saw what was on the Silver Dragon Queen’s fingertip, she froze.

Xia Lulu lifted the finger to her mouth, tasted it, and narrowed her eyes. “Daughter… why is there cream on your cheek? How careless of you~”

Boom!!

Xia Yi felt as if lightning had struck her straight out of a clear sky, roasting her inside and out.

This time there was physical evidence. Ironclad proof.

“I—I… this is…”

Xia Yi couldn’t think of a single excuse.

It was over. This time she was utterly doomed. She had hidden it for days, almost made it through the Bitter-Melon Decree… only to be caught by Xia Lulu.

Cursed cream puff!! It was all the cream puff’s fault! Why did it have so much cream? And why did it have to get on her cheek!?

“Daughter, this means you’ve violated the Bitter-Melon Decree.”

Xia Lulu sat casually in a chair, legs crossed, clearly in a good mood.

“In that case, the decree must be extended—from one month to one full year.”

“No—no way!! Don’t do that!!”

“You brought this on yourself.”

“The bitter melon will kill me!!”

Xia Yi was on the verge of tears.

How could she possibly survive a year of bitter-melon juice!?

And that wasn’t all—there were additional clauses in the decree, confiscated manga, no sweets, no allowance…

For the little princess, every one of those was lethal.

A week had already been unbearable—now a whole year?

She’d rather face a mythical beast!

“However…” Xia Lulu said thoughtfully.

“However?” Xia Yi perked up, sensing a sliver of hope.

“What do you want to say, Xia Lulu?”

“Recently, something major happened in the international community,” Xia Lulu said, still looking incredulous. “It concerns the Crimson Empire.”

“The vampire clan?” Xia Yi was surprised.

Miu Miu was a blood clan member—what could have happened in the Crimson Empire to make Xia Lulu wear an expression like that?

“Do you remember Herman, King of the Vampire Clan, and Princess Miu Miu?”

“Of course. That flying rat-rat! The strange little vampire—and her even stranger father.”

“‘Flying rat-rat’? What an amusing nickname,” Xia Lulu chuckled. “Actually, what I want to discuss is directly related to them.”

Did something happen to Miu Miu?

A sense of unease crept into Xia Yi’s heart.

Just today she had suddenly felt compelled to look at the seed Miu Miu gave her, and she’d felt unsettled then too.

“The ruler of the Crimson Empire, Herman Borgia, has recently decided to abdicate and pass the throne to his only bonded kin, Miu Miu Borgia. A coronation ceremony will be held soon—she will become the Vampire Clan’s Queen,” Xia Lulu announced.

“…No way.”

Xia Yi was stunned.

Flying rat-rat… becoming the Vampire Clan’s queen?

That sounded impossible.

“Did Herman encounter danger? Was he injured or assassinated, forcing the blood clan to let Miu Miu inherit?” Xia Yi voiced her doubt.

Xia Lulu shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. Neither Herman nor the Crimson Empire has suffered any major incident. No internal conflict either.”

Xia Yi still couldn’t understand.

It was like a vigorous emperor suddenly abdicating and handing the throne to a child not yet ten.

Utterly absurd.

Miu Miu’s strength was only late Stage Three—not even Stage Four. Completely unfit to be the ruler of a high-ranking race.

A weak monarch taking the throne was practically an invitation for foreign powers to meddle.

It simply shouldn’t happen.

“The vampire clan has begun inviting leaders of all races to the coronation of the new Vampire Queen,” Xia Lulu continued. “Among them, they invited our dragon race. The invitation has already reached me, and I confirmed it—it’s truly from the vampire clan’s royal family.”

“The vampire clan actually invited us?”

Xia Yi found that strange.

Last time the dragon race had stormed into their territory, kidnapped their princess, and extorted them. That should’ve made them enemies.

“Daughter, the reason I called you here is precisely because of this.”

Xia Lulu looked directly at her.

“Attending such an event is no small matter. It represents not only our royal family, but the stance of the entire Dragon Kingdom.”

“I understand that,” Xia Yi nodded. She had attended many international gatherings with Xia Lulu before—she was experienced.

“This time is different. Daughter, I want you alone to represent the Dragon Royal Family and attend the coronation of the Vampire Queen.”