Chapter 22 The Evil Dragon's Former Lover?

Why does it smell so bad?

Even if I didn't bathe for three days, it shouldn't smell this awful.

"Lance... Lance, do I have some strange disease? Am I... about to die? Otherwise, why would I smell so bad?"

The young dragon's voice was tinged with a sob; healthy people... don't just develop a foul smell for no reason, only those who are sick could potentially emit such an odor.

"Don't scare yourself, you're not sick. Your body smells terrible because this afternoon you drank a bowl of medicinal liquid that can improve your constitution. The liquid is meant to force out all the toxins, impurities, and filth from inside your body.

Go wash up in the sea quickly, and remember to rinse off with fresh water from the island afterward."

Evil Dragon Lance spread his dragon wings and flew away holding his nose.

"........"

Lucia breathed a sigh of relief, as long as there was no strange disease, that's good. The Evil Dragon holding his nose as he flew away... was a bit too much.

She turned her head and sniffed again... ugh...

It really did stink too much.

Lucia fluttered her wings and headed toward the ocean; she couldn't stand the smell of her own body.

......

Dinner was roasted beast leg.

Perhaps it was the exercise in the afternoon that was too much, Lucia ate three roasted beast legs, such an enormous appetite... even she was shocked.

If her appetite remained so colossal in the future, would she become fat once she turned back into a human?

She would most certainly get fat!

No, no, no, she absolutely mustn't become fat. Starting from tomorrow, she can't just eat a meat bun in one bite, nor a roasted beast leg in two or three bites.

She must only eat until she's eight parts full.

If she really did eat like Evil Dragon Lance, when she turned back into a human and returned to the imperial capital, Eva wouldn't even recognize her if she saw her.

The Evil Dragon did the cooking, while the young dragon did the house chores.

Er Gouzi returned to the orchard with two beast leg bones in his mouth, leftovers from the Evil Dragon.

She gave her leftover beast leg bones to Er Gouzi, but Er Gouzi didn't even look at them, fixating both dog heads on the beast leg bones in the Evil Dragon's hands.

Were the beast leg bones that the Evil Dragon ate really that delicious?

For a fleeting moment, she even considered trying to taste the beast leg bones the Evil Dragon had eaten to see if they were genuinely delicious.

Fortunately, she quickly snuffed out that somewhat perverse thought.

Eva had cursed her to become a dragon to escape the pursuit of her smelly elder sister, not for her to let herself go completely.

"Lance... I ate a bit too much at dinner and want to move around the island, is that okay?"

"You don't have to be so cautious, treat this place as if it's your own territory."

"Thank you."

With Evil Dragon Lance's permission, Lucia ran off like a wisp of smoke.

Nighttime had fallen, the perfect time for hunting field mice and rats. She hoped to score some catches tonight.

When she was human, she dared not catch mice or rats. But now that she was a dragon... no matter how scary mice and rats were, could they be more frightening than her, a young dragon?

Once out of Evil Dragon's sight, Lucia made a show of strolling around for a while before heading straight for the cornfield.

Mice and rats love to ravage crops, and lying in ambush for them in the fields was sure to be successful.

You can't just lie in wait without purpose; you have to see where there are holes. Wherever there's a hole, there's bound to be mice or rats.

That's how some cats in the imperial capital hunt for mice.

She had witnessed it a few times.

After searching the cornfield for nearly half an hour, Lucia found two or three holes and squatted not far from one, waiting for the mice or rats to emerge; half an hour passed in this manner.

She was losing patience and decided to dig up the hole to see if there were any mice inside.

When she dug open the first hole, there were no mice.

She dug open the second hole, and it contained some dry twigs and straw, but no mice.

She dug open the third hole, and it had nothing...

In such a vast cornfield, there were no mice?

The young dragon didn't believe it and continued her search.

After no success in the cornfield, she went to the nearby vegetable garden and searched around, still not finding any trace of mice—no droppings, nothing...

Two hours of bustling around for nothing.

She had been misled by Turtle.

Evil Dragon could conceal his dragon might and breath, no doubt, but Black Dragon Island was his territory, where he often roamed. Inadvertently, his scent would definitely linger in various places on the island.

Creatures like rodents and birds and beasts didn't dare to linger on the island, let alone breed and thrive there.

No more searching, back to the Dragon's Den to listen to Evil Dragon's lesson.

.......

Evil Dragon Lance squatted in his study, staring at several human portraits hanging on the wall.

Lucia walked up beside Evil Dragon, glanced at him, and followed his gaze to the human portraits on the wall.

There were two human portraits, one depicting a tall woman dressed in brown leather jacket and trousers, wearing a felt hat. She sat on a magic wand floating in the air, with a smile that was not quite a smile on her face, looking forward.

The other portrait was of a tall, rugged-looking man wielding a greatsword, who, in the painting, looked forward with a hearty laugh.

He appeared to be an adventurer, perhaps even a friend of Evil Dragon from the past.

Was Evil Dragon looking at the painting and thinking of someone?

Who was he looking at, the man in the painting? Or the woman who appeared quite charming?

Speaking of which, with so many human portraits in Evil Dragon's study, was he... in any of them?

Some portraits were of individuals, others of groups.

Could it be that Evil Dragon, when transformed into a human, was depicted in one of the group portraits?

I'm curious.

Given the size of Evil Dragon Lance's dragon form, as a human, he should be a burly man, like a bear, right?

As for his appearance...

Thick eyebrows, big eyes?

A broad back and a bear-like waist?

The Young Dragon imagined it in his mind and felt that this image suited Evil Dragon Lance well. Perhaps the man with the greatsword in the portrait was what Evil Dragon Lance looked like as a human.

The handsome and charming woman next to him might be someone Evil Dragon fancied when he was a human.

Was Evil Dragon reminiscing about his once... lover?

Evil Dragon said at dusk that he had never been in love; who would believe that? He's fooling children, right?

An Evil Dragon who has lived for 3455 years and often took on human form to visit the Human World, claiming he had never been in love, who would believe that?

Anyway, she, the Princess, didn't believe it.

"The sister in the portrait looks so cool, is she... your friend? Or your... enemy?"

She didn't dare to directly ask if it was a lover... for fear of being hit...

"Which one?"

"This one."

The Young Dragon pointed with his Dragon Claw to the somewhat handsome woman in the portrait.

"Ah, her. I'm her creditor. See the clothes, pants, shoes, and hat she's wearing? All bought with money she borrowed from me, saying she'd give me an extra Gold Coin as interest once she earned some money.

In the end, not to mention interest, I didn't even get the principal back."

"Ah? She didn't repay the money she borrowed?"

"It's not that she didn't repay, she did pay me back a few times after borrowing money, it's just that she didn't the last few times."

"Why didn't she repay you the last few times?"

"How can she repay it if she's dead?"

"......"

"How did this sister... die?"

"I heard her town encountered a beast tide, and then she overextended herself casting a forbidden spell and... died..."

She died in the battle while the city was under assault by a beast tide?

No, with Evil Dragon around, how could this sister have died in a battle against a beast tide?

"You... didn't take part in that battle?"

"I woke up from a deep sleep, and by the time I came to, she had been dead for three years."

Poor sister, your luck was too bad. If Evil Dragon hadn't been asleep, you might have had the chance to be his lover... and might not have died in battle...

"Do you miss this sister?"

"Yes, I've been wondering why, when I summoned her using necromancy, I couldn't bring her back from hell."

"....."