The Dragon's Pact: A Princess for the Flame

Chapter 10 – Mr. Dragon, please eat too

With a flick, Su Nian extended his claws, then retracted them, flicked them out again, and repeated the process until he was familiar with the operation.

It's quite fun...

He wondered if he could use more System Points later to remove the barbs on those things, and then...

No, that's too perverted.

Su Nian shook his head, using his retracted dragon claws to pry open Anna's mouth, while his other claw skillfully picked up the Revival Potion and gently tapped it against his Dragon Horn.

With a "pop," the cork of the Revival Potion was pried open by the Dragon Horn, and the faintly glowing red potion began to emit a luminescent glow. Su Nian didn't dare to delay, carefully pouring the healing potion into Anna's mouth.

The effect of the Revival Potion was immediate. Su Nian watched as Anna's remaining life span increased from 17 hours, eventually stabilizing at three days and 8 hours.

Anna's complexion improved significantly, her lips no longer looked cyanotic, and a hint of color returned to her pale face. Although her life was still like a flickering candle in the wind, Su Nian breathed a sigh of relief.

It was indeed a temporary fix, not a cure, but it was enough to buy some time.

Su Nian wasn't too disappointed. After all, if such a massive heart failure could be cured by a single Revival Potion, then the potion would be too overpowered.

He crawled to the side and began sorting the medicinal herbs.

These herbs might have conflicting properties, so he could only follow the panel's prompts, observing Anna's condition while testing them one by one.

"Next, let's try the Hidden Tangerine Branch."

Su Nian tossed a handful of Hidden Tangerine Branches into his mouth, chewing them with a smacking sound. Then he retracted his claws, lifted Anna's chin, gently pried open her small mouth, and fed the chewed Hidden Tangerine Branch to her bit by bit, mouth to mouth.

Although his dragon head was large, the dragon's mouth was relatively pointed, and besides, didn't he have a tongue?

If it couldn't go in, he would just stir it around, and everything would go in. So feeding medicine wasn't too difficult.

After feeding the Hidden Tangerine Branch, Su Nian watched Anna's information panel for a while.

Sure enough, the cough debuff seen through the Insight Spell began to flicker.

This indicated that the Hidden Tangerine Branch had started to take effect.

However, Anna's remaining life span didn't change, suggesting that the cough might not be fatal.

"Next are the Twin Star Leaf and Zisang Fruit."

The Zisang Fruit was something Su Nian discovered later, growing alongside some Twin Star Leaves, so he estimated their medicinal properties were similar. This time, he mixed the two herbs together, chewed them into a paste, and fed them to Anna again.

Immediately, the lung inflammation debuff began to flicker, and Anna's remaining life span increased by another day.

Su Nian stroked his dragon chin and nodded, speculating that the lung inflammation was a severe complication. Feeding the medicine once wouldn't cure it; he would have to persist in feeding it daily to stabilize Anna's condition.

"Bloodcap Mushroom, Bloodcap Mushroom... smack smack, ugh... why is it so bitter!"

Su Nian's entire dragon face scrunched up; the Bloodcap Mushroom was unbearably bitter.

As a dragon, their taste system wasn't very developed before reaching adulthood, a genetic choice to prevent wyrmlings from being picky eaters.

If Su Nian found it bitter, then other races, especially those who enjoyed cooking like elves and humans, would find the Bloodcap Mushroom ten times more bitter than he did.

"Good medicine is bitter but beneficial to the illness~"

With this thought, Su Nian pried open Anna's mouth again and transferred the chewed Bloodcap Mushroom into her mouth.

"Mmm, mmm, no, mmm..."

Anna's mouth was blocked by Su Nian, unable to speak. She blinked her big eyes pitifully, one human and one dragon staring at each other.

Perhaps the bitter taste stimulated Anna, who was in a coma, or maybe the Revival Potion had already alleviated her physical pain. Regardless, she coincidentally woke up while Su Nian was feeding her the medicine.

A sense of awkwardness began to brew.

Anna tried to struggle, but a dragon claw held her firmly to the ground, the bitterness in her mouth stimulating her nerves, bringing tears to her eyes.

Su Nian didn't care about any of that. If she didn't swallow the medicine, it would be wasted, wouldn't it?

To ensure Anna swallowed the medicine, Su Nian's dragon tongue stirred, pushing forward, and a large mouthful of Bloodcap Mushroom was instantly pushed down Anna's esophagus, swallowed.

Su Nian released Anna, leaving her lying on the ground, eyes filled with despair, tears at the corners of her eyes, and traces of Bloodcap Mushroom juice around her mouth.

"Mr. Dragon... it's so bitter..."

Anna knew the Black Dragon was feeding her medicine, so she didn't blame him for the bitterness, but it didn't stop her from making a small, pitiful complaint.

[Anna Hathaway's Affection increased by 5, current Affection 15 (Friendly)]

Bitter? Bitter is good~

Endure the bitterness now, and later, anything slightly bitter will taste sweet.

Su Nian watched as the anemia debuff on Anna's panel began to flicker slowly, but very slowly.

After all, replenishing blood can't be done with medicine alone; diet must also be maintained. This fox-eared girl clearly hadn't had a proper meal in days.

Seeing Anna's pitiful appearance, Su Nian thought for a moment and exchanged a System Point for a piece of White Rabbit Milk Candy, handing it to Anna, who had sat back against the rock wall.

Anna was puzzled by the Black Dragon's strange behavior, but she accepted the candy from his hand, not recognizing what it was.

"Mr. Dragon, is this for Anna?"

Su Nian nodded, seeing Anna's confused expression, he took the candy back, skillfully unwrapped it, and returned the white, plump candy to her.

After doing all this, fearing Anna wouldn't understand, he picked up a berry from the ground, tossed it into his mouth, and indicated that the candy was meant to be eaten.

"So this is food..."

Anna understood Su Nian's intention. She held the candy in her hands, sniffing it.

It had a faint milky aroma.

Was this milk? She had drunk unicorn milk before but had never seen solid milk.

Unable to contain her curiosity and confusion, Anna took a small bite of the candy.

[Anna Hathaway's Affection increased by 5, current Affection 20 (Friendly)]

The sweet taste lingered on her taste buds, even reducing the bitterness left by the Bloodcap Mushroom.

Anna held the candy, her big eyes happily squinting.

It was her first time tasting something so sweet and delicious.

[It's really sweet... like a mother's embrace...]

[But Mr. Dragon seems to have only this one. Although this milky candy is delicious, Anna can't enjoy it all by herself...]

[Mr. Dragon has already taken good care of Anna.]

This was Anna's inner voice, and the occasionally functioning Mind Reading activated again.

Su Nian glanced at Anna, thinking that one System Point could get one candy, killing a human of the same rank could yield about ten, and killing a magical beast of the same rank could yield five or six. The system didn't limit the exchange quantity, so there could be as many as needed.

"Hey! Mr. Dragon!"

While Su Nian was lost in thought, Anna suddenly looked over, her fair and cute face slightly embarrassed, carefully holding up the White Rabbit Milk Candy, and shyly saying:

"Um... Anna only took a little bite, it's very sweet and delicious, Mr. Dragon should have some too."

Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan