Vol 4. Chapter 138: A New Toy
"Little Meli, could you... possibly be... that Heart of the Holy Dragon?"
Gazing at the pitiful little girl beside Yuan'er, Lady Yumo voiced the suspicion that had formed in her mind after a moment of contemplation.
Yumo's suspicion wasn't entirely unfounded.
As everyone knew, the Heart of the Holy Dragon, the academy's most treasured possession, was kept inside the Forbidden Palace at the center of Yexinlian Royal Academy. Yet now that they had entered the Forbidden Palace, there was no sign of this precious treasure. Instead, a little dragon girl had somehow ended up sleeping right in the middle of the forbidden grounds?
Although the Heart of the Holy Dragon was supposedly a massive stone containing the power of the Holy Dragon King, while Melilov-Baroze was clearly a flesh-and-blood little dragon girl, that didn't prevent Lady Yumo from connecting the two.
After all, it wasn't impossible for a sacred artifact to take human form. The elven race's sacred sword, Ishufiel, was one example.
Besides,
Wasn't she herself a similar existence?
If even the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons could transform into a human and take on the appearance of a young girl, then why couldn't the Heart of the Holy Dragon become a little dragon girl?
It didn't seem entirely impossible, did it?
And so,
The look in Lady Yumo's eyes grew sharp once again as she stared at Melilov-Baroze, making the latter's delicate body tremble. The flood that she had only just managed to stop... was vaguely showing signs of breaking through the dam again...
"The Heart of the Holy Dragon??"
Murmuring those words, little Yuan'er also turned a curious gaze toward Melilov-Baroze.
Although finding a new friend had made Yuan'er extremely happy, her original purpose in coming to the Forbidden Palace had always been to find the Heart of the Holy Dragon. Naturally, she was very interested in its whereabouts.
If her new toy... her new friend happened to be the Heart of the Holy Dragon in human form, wouldn't that be incredibly interesting?
When the time came, Sister Mengxi would obtain the Heart of the Holy Dragon, and then Sister Mengxi would be together with Mommy! After that, they could all return to the Great Winter Forest together~
And then~
Wouldn't Little Meli also come to the Great Winter Forest with them~
Then I'd finally have a playmate my own age!!
At this thought, Yuan'er's heterochromatic red-and-blue eyes instantly sparkled with excitement.
Unable to contain herself, the little girl raised her hand and poked Melilov-Baroze's soft, squishy cheek.
"Little Meli, Little Meli, are you the Heart of the Holy Dragon??"
"..."
It was clearly an innocent question filled with nothing but curiosity, without the slightest hostility.
However, the moment those words reached Melilov-Baroze's ears, the little dragon girl's nerves immediately stretched taut, and her delicate body began trembling uncontrollably.
Judging from the conversation between the mother and daughter just now, they had entered the forbidden grounds specifically to search for the Heart of the Holy Dragon.
And in Melilov-Baroze's eyes, this demon had undoubtedly come looking for the Heart of the Holy Dragon to destroy it... thereby bringing the battle from more than eight hundred years ago to a definitive end.
'They came here... just... just to kill this sovereign!'
If they discovered that she was the Heart of the Holy Dragon, she would undoubtedly be doomed!
The anxious Melilov-Baroze immediately reached this conclusion.
In order to survive!
She absolutely could not let this mother and daughter discover her true identity!
She had to conceal her identity as the great leader of the dragon race!
At this moment, in order to hide her identity, Melilov-Baroze decided to put on a complete act, pretending to be an ignorant and innocent little girl.
To accomplish this, Melilov-Baroze stopped suppressing the little girl's natural instincts within her... allowing the instincts of this body to guide her behavior.
Right now, she was no longer some Holy Dragon King, but an ordinary little dragon girl...
To make her performance even more convincing, Melilov-Baroze threw her dignity completely out the window.
Taking advantage of the moment when she lowered her head, Melilov-Baroze began frantically hypnotizing herself.
'This sovereign... Ah, no... I'm not the Holy Dragon King... I'm not the Holy Dragon King... I'm just a stupid little girl... A stupid little girl... A stupid little girl, a stupid little girl, silly and adorable, completely harmless, a little dragon girl who might burst her dam and wet herself at any moment...'
...
...
"Hmm?"
Seeing that the little dragon girl had kept her head lowered and remained silent, Yuan'er tilted her little head in confusion and mischievously poked Melilov-Baroze's tender cheek again.
"Little Meli, why did you suddenly stop talking?"
"Sorry..."
"Hmm?"
"Sorry, I don't understand what you're talking about. The Heart... the Heart of the Holy Dragon? Wh... what's that?"
After her bout of self-hypnosis, Melilov-Baroze responded quietly in a voice filled with innocent confusion and childish naivety.
"Eh? Little Meli, you don't know what the Heart of the Holy Dragon is? Even though you're a dragon yourself?"
"I don't know! What's that? Can you eat it?"
"Wow, Little Meli, you really are a silly little girl."
Yuan'er put her hands on her hips and complained, looking slightly speechless.
"You can't eat the Heart of the Holy Dragon! It's a very important treasure!"
"Treasure?"
"Yeah! Apparently, it's something that looks like a big rock, and it's supposed to be stored somewhere inside these forbidden grounds."
"A big rock? Forbidden grounds?"
Melilov-Baroze blinked her adorable little eyes, puffed out her cheeks, and tilted her head from side to side in an exaggeratedly cute manner, as though trying to remember something.
A moment later, the little dragon girl's mouth opened wide in sudden realization.
"Oh! I know what you're talking about!"
"Eh?! You know?!"
"Mm! But... but the big rock that used to be here was already moved away by the principal lady!"
"Eh? Moved away? You mean the Heart of the Holy Dragon isn't here anymore??"
Hearing this answer, Yuan'er blinked in confusion, hardly able to believe her ears.
"But isn't this the academy's forbidden area? If the Heart of the Holy Dragon isn't here, where else could it be?"
"Um... the principal lady said that this place... isn't actually the academy's forbidden area anymore... They're just pretending it's the forbidden area on the surface..."
"Eh?"
...
"Pretending it's the forbidden area? Little Meli, what do you mean by that?"
Before Yuan'er could speak, Lady Yumo slowly bent down and asked in a gentle voice.
In response, Melilov-Baroze lowered her head uneasily and began nervously fiddling with her fingers.
"I... I mean... I don't really understand either... Anyway, the principal lady said... this is only the forbidden area on the surface... It's supposed to mislead other people... As for where that big rock you're looking for actually is... I... I don't know..."
Perhaps because she felt guilty,
Cold sweat kept trickling down Melilov-Baroze's forehead, and her voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke.
"Ah? So that's how it is?"
Yuan'er clapped her little hands together and couldn't help exclaiming in sudden realization.
"So this isn't really the forbidden area, and the Heart of the Holy Dragon isn't here either? No wonder the security outside was so weak! There wasn't even a single soldier guarding the place... So that's why!"
...
"..."
While Yuan'er was busy expressing her amazement, Lady Yumo narrowed her eyes slightly and regarded the extremely nervous little dragon girl thoughtfully.
She watched the girl interact with her daughter, observing every subtle change in the little girl's facial expressions while sensing the fluctuations in the aura surrounding her.
After observing her for a while,
Lady Yumo sighed with a somewhat relieved expression.
"So... that's how it is..."
After making that brief remark, Yumo said nothing more and slowly straightened up.
The Blood Butterflies surrounding her suddenly disintegrated, transforming into countless streams of crimson energy that surged back into the black-haired girl's body.
Then, with somewhat complicated feelings, Yumo turned toward her little daughter.
"Looks like I was overthinking things. Little Meli really isn't the Heart of the Holy Dragon. Besides, there aren't any guards nearby, so there shouldn't be any danger. Yuan'er, if you want to play, you can stay here and play for a while. Mommy still has some work left to deal with after class, so I'll be leaving first."
"Mm-hmm, got it!"
"Oh, and don't get too carried away playing. Remember to come back on time for dinner, or Grandpa Saiboke will be unhappy."
"Okay, Mommy! Yuan'er understands!"
The pink-haired girl nodded repeatedly, looking extremely obedient.
"Little Meli, I'll leave Yuan'er in your care. Please get along with her, okay?"
Yumo shifted her gaze toward the little dragon girl beside them.
The moment Melilov-Baroze felt Lady Yumo's gaze fall upon her, she immediately nodded over and over.
After giving a few more instructions, Lady Yumo turned around and walked toward the entrance of the Forbidden Palace, apparently having no intention of further disturbing the two little girls' interaction.
...
...
However, just as she reached the entrance, Yumo seemed to remember something.
With a playful yet doting expression, she turned her head and looked back at her adorable little daughter.
"Oh, right, Yuan'er."
"What is it, Mommy?"
"Do you like Little Meli?"
"Mm-hmm!"
Faced with this question, Yuan'er nodded repeatedly without the slightest hesitation.
Then she immediately wrapped her arms affectionately around the little dragon girl, who was half a head shorter than herself.
Under Melilov-Baroze's somewhat startled gaze, Yuan'er excitedly rubbed her cheek against the other girl's adorable little face.
"Of course I like her! Little Meli is so cute, and she's such an adorably silly little thing... And unlike those little guys in the forest... Little Meli is really strong, too... She won't break so easily~ Heehee~"