Chapter 74: The Art of Enticement and a Dragon’s Disdain

Having walked a considerable distance, Lilia frowned. Instinctively, she reached for the little dragon girl who ought to have been at her side, only for her hand to grasp empty air. With a furrowed brow, she glanced back, her gaze falling upon Gern, whose eyes shone with avarice as she stared at a stall, a faint trickle of drool even visible at the corner of her lips.

A vein throbbed faintly on Lilia’s forehead. Never had she imagined this little dragon girl to be such a money-grubber. It was said that, in legends, the dragon race was indeed exceptionally avaricious, possessing an insatiable fondness for collecting all manner of treasures.

This realization caused Lilia’s eyes to brighten considerably. Little Luoya was indeed driven by greed, and as a princess of the Klett Kingdom, Lilia possessed an endless bounty of treasures. Wouldn’t it be simply perfect to bind Little Luoya to her side with a trove of riches? Once ensnared, would Little Luoya still dare to evade her?

Lilia chuckled with a wicked glint in her eyes, as though already envisioning Gern tethered permanently to her side.

Excellent. Now, to seek out a treasure capable of capturing the little dragon girl’s affections—ideally, a gem of extraordinary and undeniable value.

****

As Gern reveled in the splendor of the treasures, a sudden, inexplicable chill swept over her. She lifted her head, scanning left and right, yet discerned nothing amiss in her immediate surroundings.

‘Odd. Was someone just staring at me?’

Gern scratched her head, a sudden realization dawning upon her: she had come out with Lilia. She rose onto her tiptoes, her gaze darting about, but Lilia’s figure was nowhere to be found.

‘Oh, blast! Did Lilia lose me?!’

No sooner had the thought surfaced than Gern vigorously shook her head. She truly must have been disoriented by that hypnotic potion. Lilia and she had become separated; she ought to be overjoyed.

‘Hmm…’

‘Wait, no, that’s entirely wrong. She still needs to buy me clothes! And those are all money, precious money!’

Gern lightly slapped her own cheeks, concluding that she absolutely had to find Lilia. Yet, amidst such a bustling throng, where could she possibly locate her?

‘Perhaps… I should just wait here…’

As Gern wrestled with her dilemma, a voice abruptly resonated beside her ear.

“Oh, beautiful lady, are you here alone?”

“Who?!”

Gern whirled around abruptly, her eyes falling upon a man standing directly behind her. She rubbed her eyes, a flicker of doubt crossing her mind that she might be mistaken.

The man before her was far from a stranger to Gern; indeed, she found him rather repulsive. This was none other than Leon, the noble who had previously ridiculed her. Now, however, his attire was considerably more formal than on their last encounter.

Purely judging by his outward presentation, he embodied the image of a refined, dashing young gentleman.

It was undeniable that Leon’s ensemble possessed an exceptionally potent allure for most ordinary young women. Gern, however, was no ordinary girl. Indeed, strictly speaking, she barely qualified as a girl at all, and thus remained entirely unimpressed by Leon’s carefully curated appearance.

Unbeknownst to Leon, he flashed what he presumed to be a disarmingly handsome smile, extending a hand towards Gern.

A wave of revulsion washed over Gern, causing her to instinctively recoil a step.

“What do you want?”

Gern’s reaction sparked a fleeting expression of surprise across Leon’s features. By all accounts, with his undeniable charm, such a response should have been utterly inconceivable.

Despite his internal bewilderment, he maintained a genial smile, his voice dropping to a soft murmur.

“My beautiful lady, please don’t be nervous. I merely wish to befriend you, if I may?”

‘Ugh, no! Absolutely not!’

Gern shook her head with the vigor of a rattle-drum. To become friends with this fellow before her? She would sooner eat excrement in an outhouse.

Leon paused, momentarily taken aback once more. This turn of events was something he had never once foreseen. Even less did he anticipate that the young woman before him would display not only a complete lack of interest in his appearance but even outright disdain.

Nevertheless, he maintained his composed smile, performing a graceful noble’s bow towards Gern.

“My beautiful lady, it’s just to make a friend, don’t be so nervous. Besides, seeing you is like seeing an old acquaintance. Your beauty, your every move, are no different from the person in my memory. If I am fortunate enough to get to know you, it would truly be my fortune for three lifetimes.”

Gern’s lips twitched involuntarily upon hearing Leon’s elaborate rhetoric. In her previous life, she had, by all accounts, been a seasoned veteran, having roamed the realm of cultivation for the better part of her existence. These paltry little tricks might suffice to deceive naive young maidens, but against a hardened old hand like her, they were utterly insignificant.

“Sir, we are strangers. I implore you to show some self-respect.”

Gern’s words were delivered with deliberate weight, each syllable articulated with biting clarity, thoroughly imbued with both disdain and a simmering indignation.

Witnessing the silver-haired maiden’s spirited demeanor, Leon found himself even more captivated. He had a distinct preference for women who possessed such a prickly nature. As for those meek, submissive women, he wouldn’t even deign to associate with them.

This time, he executed a perfectly gentlemanly noble’s bow, once again extending his open palm towards Gern.

“My beautiful lady, even your angry expression is remarkably similar to my old acquaintance. I truly wish to befriend you, I implore you to…”

“Stop, stop, stop! Halt! I have pressing matters to attend to; do not vex me further.”

Gern had no patience for Leon’s tiresome drivel; she was eager to locate Miss Lilia.

“Oh, is that so? Then I apologize for disturbing you, Miss. Just pretend I… was never here.”

With those words, Leon made to turn and depart. He adopted a profoundly sorrowful expression, yet the instant he turned away, a wicked smirk played upon his lips.

He refused to believe that his feigned sorrow, presented in such a manner, would fail to beguile the silver-haired maiden before him. The melancholic air he so carefully cultivated was undoubtedly alluring, yet to Gern’s discerning eye, it appeared utterly bizarre. This ploy of feigned indifference, a classic ‘playing hard to get’ maneuver, might very well ensnare a common young girl; however, Gern was anything but common.

She simply stood her ground, observing Leon as he slowly, deliberately, began to walk away.

With each step he took, Leon’s spirits sank further. He had already covered a dozen paces, yet the maiden behind him remained utterly unresponsive. This utterly perplexed him, for his customary tactics had never once yielded such a result. Furthermore, his standing was far from ordinary; by all rights, no young woman should ever refuse a man of his caliber.

After advancing several dozen more paces, Leon’s resolve finally broke, and he cast a glance over his shoulder. He saw that the silver-haired maiden had already turned, poised to depart. At this, his composure utterly shattered, and he lunged forward, placing himself directly in Gern’s path.

“My beautiful lady, seeing you truly is like seeing my old acquaintance.”

“I merely wish to befriend you, to atone for the debt I owe that former friend. I implore you…”

“Sir, if you owe *her* something, then go find *her*! Would you kindly cease bothering me?”

Gern’s tone was laced with considerable impatience, yet the multitude of surrounding stalls prevented her from openly erupting. Should she inadvertently damage anything, she would be liable for compensation, leaving her no recourse but to fix the man before her with a searing glare.

“Miss, I really just want to…”

As he spoke, Leon’s hands darted out, attempting to seize Gern’s. Gern’s eyes narrowed, and her form, ethereal as a phantom, deftly evaded Leon’s grasp.

“I shall state this one last time: I have urgent matters to attend to. Cease your harassment!”

By this point, Gern was truly incensed. Should Leon dare to lay another hand upon her, she would no longer concern herself with the potential damage to the surrounding stalls. ‘What Lilia breaks is no concern of mine, Gern. I’ll simply deal with him!’

However, in the very next moment, an abrupt voice shattered Gern’s impending resolve.

“Leon! What in the blazes are you doing?!”