"Sir Lux! Wait for a moment!"
A familiar voice called out to Lux just as he and Gaap were about to take the Teleportation Gate back to the Outer Reaches.
"Valencia?" Lux smiled after seeing the plain-looking girl, escorted by her two beautiful maids, Ali and Ari. "It's nice to see you again. I didn't know that you lived here in the Capital City, Rex Lapis."
When Valerie met Lux for the first time, she used the name Valencia to hide her real identity. However, hearing her fake name come out from the Half-Elf's lips now, Valerie frowned because she'd rather hear the Half-Elf call her by her real name.
"Sir Lux, I apologize for telling you a different name when we first met," Valerie replied. "My real name is Valerie. I'd appreciate it if you call me by this name from this point onwards."
Ali's and Ari's eyes widened in shock upon hearing their Princess take the initiative to tell Lux her real name.
"Valerie? It's a beautiful name." Lux nodded. "It suits you well."
A flush appeared on Valerie's face after hearing the Half-Elf call her by her real name. Although Lux would say her name in her dreams affectionately, hearing it, in reality, felt much better, making her heart flutter.
"Are you about to return to the Outer Reaches?" Valerie asked. "If you don't mind, can I visit your Guild Headquarters again?"
"Of course," Lux replied. "You are always welcome to visit our Guild Headquarters. But I don't know if our base will remain in the Outer Reaches for long."
"Huh?" Valerie tilted her head in confusion, not understanding what Lux meant when he said that their base might not remain in the Outer Reaches for long.
Seeing the plain-looking girl's bewildered expression, Lux only smiled bitterly before inviting her to join them on their return trip.
Since his Guild Headquarters already had a teleportation gate installed, he asked Cethus to input the coordinates of the Capital City in it, allowing them to travel to Rex Lapis anytime they wanted.
Just as Lux, Gaap, Valerie, Ali, and Ari, were about to enter the Teleportation Gate, another familiar face called out to Lux from behind.
"It's good to see you again, Lux," Cethus' Grandmother, Faustina, said with a smile. "Are you headed back to your Guild Headquarters? What perfect timing. I also want to check on my no-good-grandson, if he is doing well."
Valerie, Ali, and Ari, who recognized Faustina, all stood frozen because they had seen her many times in the past in the Throne Room, discussing important matters with the Dragon King.
Valerie, who was wearing her usual disguise, was quite afraid of Faustina because of how strict the latter was with her.
When her father was still looking for a teacher that would teach her the proper etiquette of the Royal Family, Faustina had been assigned to be her temporary teacher for a year.
Those days were the scariest days of her life because the old Dragon Born would not hesitate to flick her forehead whenever she didn't do something right.
'Don't worry, I won't blow your cover, Your Highness, Ali, and Ari,' she told them via telepathy. 'I just happened to see the three of you with Lux, so I decided to say hello. Since you have no guards to attend to you, I will escort you this once. So act as if we don't know each other, and I won't tell your Father you snuck out of the Inner Palace to play outside.'
Faustina's words were soft, and gentle, making Valerie, Ali, and Ari feel relieved.
"Lady Faustina, Cethus isn't in the Guild Headquarters right now," Lux replied. "He is busy undergoing his Ranker Breakthrough."
"Oh? That no-good grandson of mine is actually about to become a Ranker?" Faustina arched an eyebrow. "It seems that he isn't as hopeless as I thought he would be. Still, it has been a while since I visited your Guild Headquarters. Can I also come for a visit?"
The corner of Gaap's lips rose because he recognized who Faustina was.
Naturally, he also recognized who Valerie was. Although the beautiful Dragon Princess was wearing a disguise, Gaap had the ability that could see through such simple tricks, allowing him to understand what was going on.
He understood that Faustina was there in order to guard Valerie, so the Halfling didn't say anything and simply kept his silence. At the end of the day, the one Faustina was talking to was Lux, not him.
"It will be my pleasure to have Lady Faustina visit our humble Guild Headquarters," Lux replied. "Well then, shall we all get going?
After Lux inputted the coordinates of his base in the Teleportation Gate and paid the required gold for its usage, the six of them stepped foot into the teleportation gate one by one, traveling to the Outer Reaches in a blink of an eye.
"Are you building something, Sir Lux?" Valerie asked when her gaze landed on the construction site that was located at the base of the mountain.
"Yes," Lux answered. "I asked a Merchant Guild to help me build a town."
"This is quite a grand undertaking," Faustina said with a smile. "Are you planning to build a small Kingdom of your own, Lux?"
"I'm not that ambitious, Lady Faustina." Lux scratched his head. "I just thought that having a town will allow my guild to grow. We can trade with other cities, and the Guild Members can temporarily serve as Mercenaries when they are not doing anything important."
"I see…" Faustina nodded her head in understanding. "But did you ask the Dragon King's permission to build this town? You do know that every town and city in Karshvar Draconis falls under the jurisdiction of the Dragon King, right?"
Before Lux could even reply, the Dragon Token materialized in front of Faustina, making the old lady flinch.
"This Island is under my jurisdiction," Keoza said crisply. "Do you have a problem with that?"
Faustina was speechless after hearing Keoza's domineering reply. She knew for a fact that "technically," the Dragon King should have been the Crystal Dragon.
However, on the day of his coronation, he vanished without a trace.
Faced with the "supposed to be" Dragon King in front of her, the current Dragon King's second in command became speechless.
Valerie, who saw this, was awed by the talking Dragon Token because she had never seen anyone talk to Faustina in that manner.
Even her father didn't dare to act cocky in front of the Dragon Born who had fought bloody wars for the sake of the Dragon Race.
"I see. So that is the case," Faustina commented after regaining her composure. "Very well, I will inform the Dragon King about this matter."
"You do that." Keoza snorted. "And make sure to tell him to keep his hands out of Lux's business from now on."
The more the Dragon Token talked, the more Valerie idolized it.
If she could also say things in a straightforward and bold manner, perhaps she would be able to step outside the boundaries of the Dragon Kingdom.
Valerie had often dreamed of traveling outside of Karshvar Draconis and touring the cities of the Low Landers, whom she had only read about in the books within the Library of the Inner Palace.
