Volume 6 Chapter 40
by Golden DragonVolume 6 + Chapter 40: Fickle
“Where… am I?”
Xia Yi looked at the empty palace, feeling deeply unsettled.
She could tell that this was the Dragon Clan’s royal palace.
But it was different from the Dragon Clan palace she knew.
It was empty here, with no one else.
“Where has everyone gone? And… where is Xia Lulu?”
She frowned, feeling that her memories were somewhat jumbled. She couldn’t quite remember what she had been doing before, only that it seemed to be something very important.
Yet why had she returned to the Dragon Clan palace?
“They wouldn’t all be hiding, would they?”
The little princess muttered.
She began searching the palace for the others.
Along the way, she noticed that the layout of the Dragon Clan palace had some subtle differences from what she remembered.
It wasn’t the decorative style Xia Lulu liked.
The dragon king portraits that should have hung on the walls had all been painted over in black, making it impossible to tell who the current dragon king was.
“Xia Lulu!”
“Serra!”
“Lucia!”
“Atiya!”
“Elly!”
Xia Yi called out their names.
Suddenly, she heard a response.
“Your Majesty the Queen, have you returned?”
“Huh?”
Xia Yi’s eyes widened.
She saw a familiar stranger.
It was Elly.
But this wasn’t the little green dragon maid she knew, this was a tall, slender green dragon girl, clearly an older, grown-up Elly.
She also noticed that the royal maid corps uniform Elly wore was different from the usual maid outfit, was this the head maid’s style?
“Greetings, Your Majesty the Queen.”
“Elly” bowed to Xia Yi.
Xia Yi was utterly confused. She was about to ask Elly if she had made a mistake when she caught her reflection in the glass beside her.
The clothes she wore were not those of a silver dragon princess, but… a silver dragon queen?
The “Your Majesty the Queen” in the other’s address wasn’t someone else, it was her.
Xia Yi’s mind went blank.
And yet, at that moment, she found herself unable to question her identity, as if she truly belonged in this position.
What was going on?
She couldn’t understand it.
Facing Elly, she felt she had so many questions to ask, but the only emotion in her heart right now was… reluctance to part.
“Your Majesty the Queen, have you returned to see me for the last time?”
“Elly” wore a sad expression.
“…”
“This world is on the brink of collapse. What do you intend to do?”
“…”
Xia Yi glanced at the world outside the window. She saw a terrifying vista she had never witnessed before.
An unprecedented catastrophe was ravaging this world, a calamity beyond all reason that would kill every living being on this land.
“I intend to, ”
…
…
“Huh!?”
Xia Yi opened her eyes and saw the clear, bright sky.
She found herself sleeping in a patch of irises.
She had just had a strange dream, one where she returned to the Dragon Clan palace, different from how she remembered it, met an “Elly” unlike the usual one, and then said some strange things to her…
“No, I should be in Purple Iris Valley, fighting Dorothea. The inner demon took over my body!”
Xia Yi quickly scrambled up from the ground.
“What happened? Did we lose the fight, or… did I get turned into a puppet?”
Frightened, she felt her own body. Relieved, she found it soft, warm, and at a normal temperature.
This wasn’t a puppet body.
So she wasn’t dead?
“Little Xia Yi, you’re awake?” Dorothea popped out from beside her, offering a smile.
The fear of this scene was no less than a scene from a horror movie, it nearly stopped Xia Yi’s heart.
“AAAAH! DOROTHEA!!”
Xia Yi immediately put distance between them, assuming a combat stance and watching Dorothea with extreme caution.
“Did I scare you? I’m not that frightening, am I?”
Dorothea hugged her stuffed bear, looking puzzled.
“This is an ultra-realistic puppet body, you know. On the outside, I look no different from a normal dragon, you shouldn’t be experiencing the uncanny valley.”
“You’re trying to confuse me with your chatter again, aren’t you? I won’t fall for it!”
Xia Yi raised her hand.
The holy sword’s sigil glowed, answering the wielder’s call.
“Holy sword, Gram!”
She gripped the holy sword with both hands, ready to fight Dorothea at a moment’s notice.
But she also noticed something strange.
Dorothea seemed to have no killing intent or desire to fight, she simply looked at Xia Yi quietly.
Xia Yi saw that the surroundings had also changed. Tiamat was gone, and the controlled dragon legion appeared to be sleeping, nowhere in sight.
It was as quiet as when she had first stepped into Purple Iris Valley.
“What are you plotting? Where is Xia Lulu?!”
“Xia Lulu is over there.”
Dorothea helpfully pointed out the direction.
Xia Yi looked and indeed saw Xia Lulu lying in the flowers. She hurried over, checked on her, and found that Xia Lulu was still in her dragon body.
Dorothea hadn’t done anything strange to her or Xia Lulu, the promised puppet transformation had not been carried out.
“What exactly is going on? Where’s the inner demon? Did we win?” Xia Yi muttered.
“Little Xia Yi, I’ve changed my mind.” Dorothea smiled faintly.
“I witnessed something entertaining, gained a bit of interest. I saw new possibilities… so I’ve decided not to kill you for now. After all, turning you into a puppet right away would be such a ‘waste.’”
“…Why did you change your mind again?”
“Little Xia Yi, beautiful girls are all fickle.”
“…”
Xia Yi truly couldn’t understand what the other was thinking.
Had the inner demon done some negotiating and communicating?
No, given the inner demon’s personality, she would never do that. Rather than using words to bargain, she would sooner fight Dorothea to the bitter end.
“You really won’t… kill me?” Xia Yi continued testing.
“I won’t.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“You must not go back on your word!”
“Mm.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
Xia Yi picked up Xia Lulu and slowly walked toward the valley exit.
Dorothea didn’t react, she didn’t seem to intend to stop them.
This left Xia Yi even more perplexed. She couldn’t figure out what was going on.
But since Dorothea wasn’t stopping her, she had better take advantage of the moment before the other changed her mind again and got out of this dangerous place with Xia Lulu!
Thinking this, Xia Yi quickened her pace. She silently decided that no matter what Dorothea said, she would pretend not to hear it and ignore her completely.
“Little Xia Yi.” Dorothea called from behind.
Xia Yi acted as if she hadn’t heard at all. She had no intention of turning back to talk to Dorothea, not even a single word in reply.
But Dorothea’s next words made Xia Yi stop in her tracks. She turned around, her face a mask of disbelief.
“Little Xia Yi… do you want to save Xia Lulu?”
[Translator’s Note: I really need friends that share the same interests as me. Requirements: Love the Yuri Genre as much as me, and between 20-33 years old. Connect and chat with me on the Discord Server.]
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