Evil Dragon, Without a Princess, I Had to Transform Myself!

Chapter 115 : Long Time No See

Later, deep within the lair guarded by countless monster servants in the domain of the Black Death.

The arcane lock of the adamantine gate pulsed with a steady rhythm, a manifestation of the lair's absolute authority. Without Lord Patunasankus' permission for an audience, no one could take a single step inside.

It was quiet, with only the occasional crackle of torches breaking the silence. No guards stood watch here alone—all the monster servants knew their master never required anyone's protection.

Footsteps approached from afar.

Tap, tap, tap. The sound of small leather shoes stepping rhythmically and elegantly on the tiled floor. The torchlight was dim, keeping the newcomer's face hidden in shadow.

The arcane lock began to glow. As the footsteps drew nearer, the magical inscriptions failed to identify the individual based solely on footsteps and facial features. The danger index gradually climbed toward the threshold for activating magical traps.

The footsteps halted at the entrance. The newcomer completely disregarded the series of dangerous spells about to activate. Slender, delicate fingers extended, tracing a few gestures in the air.

Instantly, the danger threshold plummeted. The runes of the arcane lock shifted continuously, and with a soft click, the door to the Black Death's bedchamber slowly swung open.

"—Welcome home, my lord."

Patunasankus stepped into her room, fully exposed to the light. She glanced around—the floor was covered in gold coins, piled high like mountains, leaving almost no space to step.

This was Patunasankus' resting place: a golden mountain, a haphazard treasure cave.

Not a speck of dust had accumulated. It seemed Isha had been diligently cleaning every single coin. Patunasankus nodded in satisfaction, then glanced at another part of the room, quickly averting her gaze.

Patunasankus knew very well that the other half of the space belonged to Latifa, even though the latter had never emphasized it. She believed it was good for each to have their own space.

The Princess's bedroom was neatly arranged, filled with the dizzying scent of lilacs. Rows of bookshelves lined the walls, crammed with books. A few portraits of stern, unknown figures hung on the walls.

The air inside still carried the essence of a distant past—gentle, leisurely, indifferent to time.

Yet it lacked the warm midday sunlight outside, the rigid green grass, the branches of lilacs and locust trees, the silvery leaves of young poplars, eyes as clear as the sky, and that unconscious smile curling at the corners of the lips…

Patunasankus stood quietly for a few minutes, savoring the silence and solitude. During those minutes, she did nothing, her eyes clearly seeing a solitary shadow.

Herself.

But Patunasankus also saw other scenes.

Once upon a time, a foolish hero had picked up the notorious evil dragon here and carried her out.

Just thinking about it was enough to make one chuckle.

Patunasankus shook her head, the sudden melancholy in her mind gradually fading.

She hadn't returned to dwell on the bitterness she once sought to escape. She needed to attend to serious matters first.

○

Patunasankus strolled through her library, her fingertips brushing past the art and classical literature the Princess had placed on the shelves, searching for the documents she needed. Kiran's transformation gave her a peculiar premonition. Patunasankus's intuition had always been remarkably accurate, and she trusted her gut feelings even more, often using rationality to support her emotional judgments.

"But... something just doesn't feel right." Patunasankus twirled her drifting strands of hair, winding them one by one around her fingertips, their color resembling dandelion fluff.

Rather, this sense of unease had persisted without pause since she returned to her lair.

Patunasankus stopped reviewing documents and fell into an asymmetrical silence.

She couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, but she knew something was amiss. Something felt off, though she couldn't quite grasp it, and could only blink repeatedly in frustration.

"Hehe, Isha, you're so funny."

"Huff... Princess Serina, stop fooling around. Come over here, I'll take you for a stroll in the garden."

"No! The garden lawn is so uncomfortable to sleep on!"

Patunasankus began to hear faint voices from behind the main door, growing louder and clearer, like the sounds of chicks pecking their way out of eggs. Suddenly, she froze—though her gaze couldn't penetrate the walls, the presence of those behind the door began to manifest.

Finally, Patunasankus realized something. She spread open her hands and saw soft, delicate palms, with smooth and tender skin that slowly revealed the source of the problem to her.

The current her...

Was in Latifa's form!

Somehow, Patunasankus had grown accustomed to presenting herself with this appearance, her every move mimicking Latifa's, and she had naturally returned to her lair in this state, completely forgetting to revert to her original form.

...This was going to be a huge problem.

"Princess Serina, wait! Ahead is Patunasankus's bedchamber—you can't just barge in!"

"Patunasankus's bedchamber?"

"That's right. The lord hates noisy children the most—she eats every one she sees. So, Princess Serina, you mustn't rush in there."

"Is that so... I'm going to take a peek inside and see if this big evil dragon is home. The door isn't locked!"

"Princess Serina, come back!"

Patunasankus heard more voices slipping through the door crack. There were two people in the hallway, both of whom she recognized.

Isha and Serina!

The moment she realized, Patunasankus intended to take action and transform back into the image familiar to her monster servants.

But it seemed it was already too late.

"Big evil dragon! I'm coming!" A childish voice rang out at the doorway. Before Isha could stop the little princess, Serina had already leaped inside nimbly.

The first thing she saw was a mountain of gold coins.

Countless gold coins—from ancient bronze coins to shimmering mithril coins with strange glows, from ordinary gems to imperial gold coins embedded with gemstones—were piled up haphazardly here, as if they were mere children's toys.

"Gold coins, so many gold coins." Serina's eyes sparkled as if she had discovered a new world, her curious gaze sweeping wildly around the room.

Patunasankus wanted to find a place to hide."Ah!" Serina's eyes grew even more excited. "It's the pretty big sister!"

"I'm not, don't talk nonsense, goodbye." Patunasankus prepared to run away, but Serina flew into a tackle and directly embraced her, leaving her momentarily unable to move.

It wasn't that she didn't want to use strength to break free—it was simply that if the evil dragon exerted even a little more force, Serina would likely be snapped in half at the waist.

Neither staying nor leaving was an option; now her straightforward nature had backed her into a corner.

"Your Highness Serina!" Isha, arriving belatedly, followed Serina's trail and burst in as well.

Isha knew very well that aside from herself, only Her Highness the Princess and Patunasankus herself could unlock the magical seal on the master's bedchamber. Now that the door was open, it was obvious the master had returned.

Noise.

Isha knew that Lord Patunasankus had always disliked noise, especially from children.

Now that Serina had barged in and was making a commotion, it would surely anger the master. And the only one who could calm the master, Her Highness the Princess, was no longer here.

This was going to be a disaster.

"Your Highness Serina, please come out!" Isha's gaze froze the moment it fell upon Serina.

The sight of a certain figure's back rendered her speechless.

Isha suddenly felt as if her lips were sealed shut with a heavy weight, words sinking into the silence.

"Your... Your Highness?"

Isha's voice was soft, carrying a tone of uncertainty and denial, not the least bit flustered—the kind that could convey meaning to the other's heart even without raising its volume.

The longer one lives, the more one inexplicably treasures precious memories. Perhaps memories are like shadows, stretching longer with time's passage, until at last, at an unreachable end, they are completely swallowed by darkness.

Isha had witnessed the Princess's arrival and had also seen her departure.

Thus, she understood reality all too clearly.

But at this moment, Isha simply couldn't confirm whether the person before her was an illusion or not.

Or perhaps she was unwilling to deny it.

Maybe she just wanted this semblance, so even if it was an illusion, it felt as though the Princess were real—at least in such moments, she would be happy.

Patunasankus stood silently in place, as if the scene unfolding before her was some kind of enormous joke.

Serina's gaze shifted between Patunasankus and Isha. After a moment of confusion, she simply buried her head in Patunasankus.

Everyone fell silent. The sound of the wind seemed to seep into the room like transparent water, drowning the silence.

The prolonged silence made Patunasankus's palms break out in a fine, dense sweat. In her bewilderment, there was an unusual stirring—a faint, scattered glimmer of light sinking bit by bit into the young girl's heart.

"Isha."

Patunasankus responded softly.

She deliberately spoke these deceptive words with seriousness, her heart filled with a strange sort of pleasure, yet she had to prevent herself from being moved to melancholy by this very pleasure. Sometimes, even she didn't know whether she ought to take things seriously.

Patunasankus often thought that time was truly a cruel thing. Yet she felt no regret, no sorrow. Her heart grew slower and slower with her steps.Gradually, she too became very quiet and composed.

Like a great tree standing on a solitary island, serenely overlooking the flowing clamor, bathed in the watery moonlight.

But if it could make someone smile, what harm was there in occasionally doing something foolish?

So Patunasankus turned around, offering a smile—a childlike, touching smile, as if all the lost youth of the world were contained within it.

"Long time no see."