"Sir Lux, I've heard from Lady Faustina that you are relocating your Guild Headquarters to the Crystal Palace. Is that true?" Valerie asked the Half-Elf, who was standing beside her.
"Yes," Lux replied. "Are you perhaps one of Lady Faustina's servants?"
"E-Eh? Ah! Yes! I am one of them!" Valerie stuttered. "She asked me to accompany her to the Crystal Palace."
"I see." Lux nodded. "Actually, I'm happy to see you again. I planned to properly bid you farewell, but when I returned to the Outer Reaches, you were no longer there."
Valerie lowered her head, hiding her face, as she tried to calm her heart that was wildly beating inside her chest.
When she heard Lux say that he was happy to see her again, she felt incredibly happy as well. However, when he got to the part about him bidding her farewell, she felt a stinging pain in her heart, which she didn't like.
Although she had only known Lux for a short period of time, she wanted to know more about him.
She wanted to see his expressions that she had never seen before and talk to him a lot more.
"Sir Lux, you don't need to say goodbye to me since I will be regularly visiting your Guild Headquarters even if it is at the Crystal Palace," Valerie replied. "Kei also wants to visit the place where he was born. Isn't that right, Kei?"
"Zi zi zi," the baby Dragon Slime snickered in reply.
After being with the baby slime for a while, Valerie already knew that this was Kei's way of communication. Even so, she could tell that Baby Slime was agreeing with her, which made her smile.
"Will Lady Faustina allow it?" Lux asked in a worried tone. "I know that she holds a high rank in Karshvar Draconis, and fewer restrictions are upon her and those under her, but she might not always allow you to visit me here."
Valerie nodded. "She will. I'm sure of it."
Ali and Ari, who were standing a few meters away from them, exchanged glances with each other.
It had been an hour since the Floating Island had left Karshvar Draconis, and only at this moment did the Dragon Princess approach Lux to talk to him.
Lady Faustina deemed that they were far enough away to not be seen by the Dragon King, so she allowed the "plain-looking girl" to finally talk to the person whom she wished to see.
While Lux and Valerie were talking, Aur and Piccoro gazed at them from a distance.
"Your Highness, do you already know that the girl talking to Lux is wearing a disguise?" Piccoro asked in a tone that only Aur could hear.
"Yes," Aur replied. "Since Lady Faustina is accompanying her, it is safe to say that she is a High-Ranking noble of Karshvar Draconis. Also… she might also be a member of their Royal Family."
Piccoro smirked. "I talked to Lady Faustina a while ago, and she said that her purpose in coming here was to rekindle the relationship between Karshvar Draconis and the Crystal Palace."
"Is that so?" Aur smiled. "Are they feeling anxious because we rejected the continuation of the Non-Aggression Pact we signed decades ago?"
"Perhaps. I'm sure that the arrogant Dragon King is not able to sit peacefully on his throne, knowing that the rightful King can take back his throne anytime."
"Let him be arrogant for a little while longer. The moment my Father returns, he can kiss his Dragon Throne goodbye."
The smile on Piccoro's face widened in response, as this was something that he was looking forward to the most.
However, Lady Augustina had told everyone that even if Keoza returned, he might not take the throne away from the current Dragon King.
The Crystal Dragon was someone who looked at the bigger picture. He neither cared about such a position nor the power that came with it.
What he wanted the most was the survival of the entire Dragon Race as a whole and the continuation of Elysium's prosperity for years to come.
"Say, Your Highness, I'm just making a conjecture here," Piccoro said. "What if that girl is actually the Dragon Princess? How should we treat her when we arrive at the Crystal Palace?"
Aur didn't reply right away as if he was pondering the answer to this question. Two minutes later, he made his opinion known, which didn't surprise Piccoro.
"Treat her as a guest, just like we treat Lux," Aur replied. "We are not narrow-minded, and we certainly don't need to bully the weak. Also, my mother once told me that my Father believed in a saying."
"A saying?" Piccoro arched an eyebrow. He was very interested in anything related to Keoza, so he no longer talked and waited for Aur to say the Crystal Dragon's favorite quote.
"What you do in life echoes through eternity," Aur said softly. "Even if no one sees the hardships and sacrifices that you are making, it doesn't matter. All the good things you do will return to you in some other way or form. This also goes for the bad things.
"That's why, we shouldn't be petty, Piccoro. The doors of the Crystal Palace will never be closed to those who wish to enter its gates."
Piccoro chuckled after hearing Aur's explanation. He was quite impressed that the Dragon Prince was more understanding than he originally expected.
"It is a good saying, Your Highness," Piccoro replied. "I'll make sure to keep it in my heart."
Aur nodded before shifting his gaze back to Lux and Valerie, who were standing side by side.
Although he had a calm look on his face, he was feeling a little envious due to how close the two were from his point of view.
'Does he really not know who she is, or is he just pretending not to know?' Aur thought as he eyed the red-headed teenager with a critical gaze.
Looking at Lux's body language, Aur could tell that the Half-Elf was at ease around Valerie, which was quite different from how he acted whenever he was with him.
Although Lux acted casually whenever he talked to him, the former only did so due to his request, and he could tell that the Half-Elf still had reservations about treating him as a friend.
'Things like this take time,' Aur thought to himself. 'Actually, how do Dragons make friends?'
Aur had been protected his entire life by his mother, Aunt Augustina, as well as the other Saints like Piccoro.
He never had the time to make friends with anyone, so he was feeling a little anxious when it came to befriending the Half-Elf, whom their family secretly treated as a benefactor.
Ever since Keoza had appeared to save him in the Gate of Famine, Aur knew then and there that he finally found the person he was looking for.
While he had never seen his father in his lifetime, there were still strong bonds that tied the two of them together.
Although it was fleeting, Aur recognized who Keoza was, and with that, he also recognized who Lux was.
The Half-Elf was the one his father had chosen, and because of this, Aur intended to deepen his relationship with Lux and create a strong bond with him that would endure the test of
