Chapter 3: A Fleeing Dragon and a Lingering Shadow

“Little one, come have a bite… of this meal…”

With a clang, the delicate iron bowl in the blonde Princess’s hand clattered to the floor, scattering its contents. Lilia gazed at the empty table and bed, her cerulean eyes slowly dimming.

“She’s gone…”

The Princess reached out with one hand, as if trying to grasp something. She sat dejectedly on the bed, feeling the lingering warmth left by the Silver Dragon Girl.

The adorable image of the young dragon lingered stubbornly in her mind; she couldn’t fathom how such a creature had come to be here. Had she been separated from her parents? Or had she been abandoned?

The more Lilia pondered, the more troubled she became. A young dragon appearing in a human-inhabited area was an incredibly perilous situation. Dragonkind possessed treasures beyond measure, and many avaricious individuals would hunt them for mere gold.

“No, I have to find her. What if she falls into the wrong hands?”

Lilia rose to her feet, her hand instinctively going to her chest. There, a pendant glowed with a faint pink light. Originally, there had been two such pendants. She had hidden one in that set of clothes, and by means of the pendants, she could roughly pinpoint its current whereabouts.

“To the east, then…”

****

Across the plains, a petite loli, clad in oversized clothes and dragging a large dragon tail behind her, crouched panting in the grass.

“I should… I should have shaken her off, right?”

Gern wiped the cold sweat from her brow. The voluminous women’s clothing proved a significant hindrance to her movements. She glanced down at the pale pink dress she wore, a blush creeping across her face.

‘Wearing a girl’s clothes… how utterly mortifying.’

Gern felt somewhat dejected. Lacking any storage items, she had no choice but to remain in these clothes for now. According to the route etched in her memory, the exit of this secret realm lay directly ahead. Yet, Gern knew she couldn’t reveal herself in her current appearance. If she were to emerge so ‘fresh and juicy’, she’d likely end up as dragon jerky. Or, even more extreme, she might be forced into a master-servant contract, becoming someone else’s s*ave outright.

The mere thought sent shivers down Gern’s spine. In her previous life, she had been forcibly bound by a contract with those cultists. They had enslaved her for decades, her spirit tainted by the evil god’s corruption. Had her will not been so unyielding, she would have long since fully devolved into one of them.

Speaking of which, in this current timeline, it was nearing the time when the cultists would slaughter a town. She needed to increase her strength swiftly; she had no desire to be captured by the Evil God’s cult and enslaved again. However, to become an apprentice knight or a mage, one first needed a Stone of Discord or a Magic Crystal for awakening. Both items required a substantial amount of gold to purchase. Gern frustratingly thumped her small head. She was currently penniless; where would she find the money for such things? In her previous life, it had been the Evil God’s cultists who had awakened her.

‘Perhaps… pull off one of my dragon scales?’

No sooner had the thought entered Gern’s mind than a profound chill surged through her. It was an instinctive reaction, her very body rebelling against the idea.

‘No… no way, I can’t pull one… absolutely cannot pull one…’

The Silver Dragon Girl curled into herself, her spirits plummeting. Having finally been reborn, she had no intention of dying so easily. ‘Never mind. For now, I should find somewhere to hide. The secret realm won’t close for a few more days; hopefully, I can transform back by then.’

As Gern thought this, she stood up, feeling something in the pocket of her clothes. Reaching in, she pulled out a gem pendant, glowing with a faint blue light.

‘I’ve… I’ve struck it rich?!’

The gem was clearly precious, likely worth a considerable sum. Finally, she had a means to become an apprentice knight or mage. Yet, the more she looked at the pendant in her hand, the more familiar it seemed, as if she’d seen it somewhere before. She racked her brain, recalling that in her previous life, Lilia had worn this very pendant; it seemed to be a spatial artifact. As for further details about the pendant, she had no recollection.

Injecting a wisp of her consciousness into it, Gern found the pendant uninhibited. She effortlessly perceived the items stored within: various women’s clothing, magical materials, weapons, armor, and even a… Stone of Discord!

Gern’s entire body trembled. The contents of this pendant were clearly prepared for someone like her, who had yet to begin their path. Truthfully, she was touched. However, she still didn’t want too much contact with Lilia, given the immense psychological trauma Lilia had inflicted upon her in her previous life.

‘I’ll accept it for now. I can repay this kindness later, when the opportunity arises.’

Gern secretly made up her mind. Afterward, she found a secluded spot to hide and attempted to absorb the energy within the Stone of Discord.

****

The Stone of Discord was of excellent quality. Gern didn’t take long to completely absorb all its energy. Yet, for some reason, her body showed no changes, nor did she feel the sensation of advancing.

‘That’s strange?’

Gern remembered that in her previous life, even a mediocre Stone of Discord had allowed her to become a first-rank knight. Why was there no reaction this time? ‘Could it be that my physique has changed now that I’m a Silver Dragon?’

The more Gern considered it, the more plausible it seemed. Suddenly, a small tuft of hair on her head stood on end, and a sense of impending danger arose in her heart. ‘Oh no, something’s approaching!’

Gern quickly got to her feet, scrambling up a large tree with both hands and feet, shrinking herself onto one of the thick branches. Below, at the spot where Gern had just been sitting, the blonde Princess gazed at the pendant in her hand with a puzzled expression.

“Strange, it clearly indicated this direction, yet I see no one?”

Gern’s pupils constricted. ‘It’s Lilia! How did she find me?’ An indescribable sense of peril surged within her. She had to run, she absolutely had to run.

Perhaps it was Lilia’s arrival that unleashed Gern’s potential, for she actually leaped from that large tree to another. These were all instinctive actions, and Gern herself didn’t perceive anything amiss.

Beneath the tree, Lilia looked up into the forest, catching a flash of silver-white. ‘So she was hiding from me? What a charming creature. Judging by her wary demeanor, she’d probably hide from other humans too.’

With this thought, Lilia felt considerably relieved, her eagerness to see Gern somewhat lessened. ‘Since she doesn’t want to see me, I’ll just follow her discreetly. With the pendant’s tracking ability, Gern won’t be able to get far anyway.’

Gern, hidden on the tree branch, glanced back. Seeing that Lilia hadn’t followed, she finally breathed a small sigh of relief. It was terrifying. This yandere princess from her previous life was as formidable as ever; the memories of being hunted by her were still vivid. ‘Fortunately, Lilia hadn’t fully matured in this life, so she could still shake her off. Otherwise…’

The consequences of being caught by Lilia… the sensation of a knife slicing into flesh, of her body being carved piece by piece… Gern shuddered at the mere thought.