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

Chapter 81 : Not Fond of the Small Ones

Hedica was probably dead.

Patunasankus thought.

She had searched around for quite a while but found no trace of the other. The keen senses of the evil dragon could detect nothing but the thick stench of hellish sulfur.

After a while, Patunasankus simply gave up.

After all, what did the life or death of a human matter to her?

The only problem was…

Patunasankus glanced back at Serina, who was trailing behind like a shadow.

The girl was as sweet as face cream and so flighty she seemed to float. If dressed in fashionable clothes to resemble a doll, she could easily be considered adorable.

Serina Vilenta.

Patunasankus remembered Liulan calling the little one by that full name.

The name wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to her—Patunasankus had recently flipped through the Evil Dragon Yearbook and come across Serina Vilenta’s profile page.

Back then, Serina had been sitting across from her, holding her tiny hands. Patunasankus hadn’t recognized her at all. Unlike Liulansankus, who had an inexplicable obsession with collecting princesses, Patunasankus hadn’t amassed and appraised nearly two hundred princesses.

She couldn’t possibly match Liulan’s encyclopedic knowledge of princesses. At best, she could only vaguely deduce from Hedica’s address that Serina was at least a princess.

“Serina,” Patunasankus tried calling her name.

"?"

Serina barely reacted. Her little head tilted to one side, her gaze filled with innocence, her pockets seemingly overflowing with naivety, spilling onto the ground with every blink.

“Never mind.”

Patunasankus simply couldn’t connect her to the Princess Serina from the Yearbook.

The Serina in the Evil Dragon Yearbook was vastly different from this little one in age, demeanor, and appearance.

Vastly.

On this point, Patunasankus had to be honest.

Still, Liulan, the ‘Grand Princess Collector’ of the evil dragon realm, had personally verified her identity. There was no doubt it was the same person.

What had reduced her to this state?

Patunasankus rubbed her chin, deep in thought.

Evil dragons had a clear understanding of themselves. Having lived for so many years, even if she couldn’t claim to be well-read or enlightened, she could at least say she had squandered her life in idleness.

Yet, even so, she had seen enough to draw conclusions from experience.

She tentatively judged that Serina’s current state was likely a side effect of some spell. To undo it would be simple for Patunasankus—just a Dispel Magic would suffice.

This third-level abjuration spell could remove or terminate all ongoing spells of third level or lower. For higher-level spells, a more potent casting was needed—simple, crude, and what Patunasankus called efficient.

Might as well try. There was nothing to lose.

Patunasankus closed her eyes, focusing, blocking out all distractions as she calmly chanted the incantation. Her fingers danced lightly before her, bending gracefully, her index finger and thumb meeting to form a semicircle. Then, slowly, she brought her hand to a halt before Serina’s eyes, preparing to complete the final gesture to seal the spell.At that very moment, Serina curiously examined the two fingers hovering before her, with magical runes flowing between them. But Serina had clearly misunderstood something.

Seizing a brief opening, she giggled and brought her own fingers together to mimic the gesture.

"Heart shape," Serina said, "Cute."

"..."

Patunasankus remained silent, eyeing Serina sideways as if looking at an idiot.

She outright swatted the other's hand away, finally completing the spell to form a tiny glowing sigil that hovered before Serina.

After triple-checking for accuracy, Patunasankus closed her eyes and nodded slowly before opening them again to point at Serina. "Good, now there won't be any issues."

Wild and mysterious magic gradually enveloped Serina. The girl's floating eyes blinked uneasily as her expression cycled through confusion, blankness, surprise, panic, and finally utter bewilderment.

Mana surged, light coiling around her like a cocoon.

In the blink of an eye, Patunasankus could no longer see the little girl where she'd stood.

"Hmm, I thought this would work," she nodded in satisfaction, as if she could already see Serina's true form through the luminous cocoon's barrier.

Now all that was needed was to wait a little while.

Patunasankus leaned lightly against a tree, stretching her long legs slightly as she idly watched the activity within the glowing cocoon.

After a few breaths, the radiance began to fade.

Seemingly eager to witness the transformation, Patunasankus stared intently at the cocoon, her face alight with quiet anticipation.

The cocoon burst open, and Serina reappeared before them.

Absolutely nothing had changed.

Still the same petite stature, childish face, clueless eyes, wearing an expression of bewilderment mixed with curiosity.

"...?"

Patunasankus froze. She'd expected to see Serina restored to the form depicted in the Evil Dragon Yearbook.

No, this was completely different from what was supposed to happen. All that dramatic buildup, looking so convincing, yet nothing changed at all. This made no sense.

The newly emerged Serina was unusually focused on examining herself, gently shaking her head as if trying to recall something while touching her hair.

She lifted her head, then slowly took deep breaths.

First one, then another.

After spreading her arms and adjusting her breathing, her eyes suddenly gleamed gold as she sprang up excitedly,

"That was fun! Do it again, do it again! Please, just one more time! I'll do anything!"

Serina clung to Patunasankus's arm, her eyes curved like crescent moons as if overflowing with spiritual energy. Every smile and frown naturally exuded an air of nobility.

"…Let go, let go of me!"

Patunasankus looked thoroughly disgusted. She struggled, though not with the tenacity of a de-fanged lion, but rather like captured prey mewling pitifully.

At times like these, Patunasankus's mind would immediately recall the name of her good subordinate.

Though she still hadn't gotten over her earlier anger, she truly had no other choice.

She really wasn't good at dealing with this type of person!

"Isha! Drag her back to the lair. Now. Immediately."Patunasankus issued the command coldly. Beneath her extraordinary beauty and the awe-inspiring majesty that made all bow, the surrounding monstrous subordinates fell silent, not daring to meet her gaze.

"..."

Only Isha scrutinized Patunasankus from head to toe with a focused expression, as if recording something unprecedented.

To her eyes, her master still bore the most familiar visage—one that could shame fish and geese, cold and indifferent—yet there was something subtly different now. Clearly, she wasn’t referring to Serina, who was bustling around the evil dragon, occasionally rubbing against her like a cat.

Lord Patunasankus rarely displayed such patience. When faced with things she disliked, she usually burned them to ashes with a single breath of Dragon Fire.

Situations like this had only been seen in the past when Princess Latifa was pestering her, no different from a cat toying with a captured mouse.

"..."

"Picked up from the roadside," Patunasankus stated plainly. "Just bring her back to the lair and keep her."

"Picked up?"

Isha studied Serina, who in turn stared unblinkingly at the new elder sister, her large eyes shimmering with curiosity, reflecting Isha’s figure.

"Hello," Isha greeted politely with a nod.

As the head maid of the evil dragon, Isha had to maintain proper etiquette with everyone.

"Hello," Serina mimicked, bending her head forward heavily in a ninety-degree bow, her hair cascading down.

Subconsciously, Isha compared Serina to Latifa—not to disparage one over the other, but having seen the best, everything else seemed dull in comparison.

"She..." Isha hesitated, momentarily unsure where to place Serina.

"I don’t like such a small princess," Patunasankus added. "Just hand her over to you. As long as she doesn’t die, I don’t care about the rest."

Patunasankus concluded: "One more thing—remember to have someone find her knight."

Like a hands-off boss, Patunasankus dumped the troublesome Serina onto her head maid and prepared to leave without further discussion.

The night was nearly over. If he didn’t return now, Loranhir would be left staring blankly at the empty carriage. No matter how enjoyable her dream with Yanubi was, it was about time to wake up.

"I wonder what the master is so busy with, not even attending Princess Latifa’s funeral," Isha murmured to herself, watching Patunasankus’s retreating figure.

Then she turned and saw Serina cupping her face, staring intently at her.

The two locked eyes for several seconds.

Just as Isha considered whether to give Serina some candy, the little one suddenly twitched. A strange transformation occurred—a barely perceptible speck of change instantly magnified, leaving no time to react. A decisive tearing sound followed, and then the faint rustle of fabric fragments helplessly falling to the ground.

"Huh?"

Isha froze.

‘I don’t like such a small princess.’

Suddenly, she recalled Patunasankus’s earlier words.Isha took another look at Serina at this moment.

Her long, silky blue hair cascaded down to her ankles, her figure exquisitely curvaceous. The ill-fitting, tattered clothes hung loosely on her like rags, barely concealing her full, high breasts. If one were to describe her beauty, it would be more apt to compare her to the wind spirit Sylphid, refreshing as a gentle breeze.

"Little one?"

Isha neither confirmed nor denied it.