I Raised A Black Dragon

Lenia Valtalere. The b*tch who betrayed me. 

Lenia, with her braided hair hanging sideways, looked elegant and charming still. There were no traces of weariness displayed on her smooth face. She was similar to Eleonora.

Why do the beautiful women in the world have a nasty temper? Can’t I find a pretty and sweet sister here?

“…Hello, Lady Asil.” Lenia briefly glanced at Noah and gave a soulless greeting. Then, she merely passed by her. However, there was not a minute chance that Noah would allow Lenia to ditch her again, as she had done.

The vines that were entangled among the walls of the Imperial Palace quickly grew in size and blocked Lenia’s way. Lenia stopped shortly, and Noah slowly approached her, suppressing the mana, which flowed in the vines, lest it would spiral out of her control. 

In fact, Noah had planned to visit Lenia again after she was released. Not only because it was the root cause of the huge punishment of 200,000 hours of volunteer work imposed on her, but because it seemed to her that Lenia’s condition in the underground prison that day was strange.

She had no facial expressions and uttered words without even the tiniest emotion as if she had memorized them.

“I don’t know anything, Lady Asil.”

It was the same as now. Noah didn’t say a word, but Lenia repeated the same thing she had said the last time as if she had read Noah’s mind.

“No matter how much you threaten me, you won’t get anything.”

“…Maybe.” Noah placed a hand on Lenia’s shoulder to see if anyone around would approach them. “Are you being threatened by someone? You said that to me on the deck of the ship. If we get caught, we’re going to die this time.”

Silence.

“You know, I don’t think I’m very reliable, but I’ve been trying to save you since we were on the ship. I was mad at you then because of the situation.” Noah said, stroking Lenia’s shoulders soothingly. In order to keep Lenia’s guard as low as possible, Noah wore the most innocent smile she could muster on her lips. “Just tell me. Who’s bothering you?”

Once again, there was silence.

“Give me a little hint, and it’ll help both me and you…”

Lenia turned completely toward Noah. There, Noah couldn’t talk anymore. It was because a very sinister assumption crossed her mind. Lenia still repeated the same thing.

“I don’t know anything. I…”

Words that fell from Lenia’s mouth were repeated in a dull manner as if it were in a certain set manual. Back in the ship, Angelic, Lenia trembled like a rabbit in front of a tiger and looked immensely frightened and feeble, but now she looked as if she were a completely different person.

“I’ll go now, Lady Asil.” Lenia finally took Noah’s hand on her shoulder and turned her back against her. Noah clenched her hands as she looked away from the odd woman. I’ll have to check. Let’s see if that’s the real Lenia.

The walls of the vines swayed about in the wind. Lenia’s hair, along with the hem of her dress, was swept by the gust. Noah extended one hand towards Lenia’s back. 

Slowly, the prickly vines raised their bodies stiffly and aimed at Lenia’s back. The dragon’s mana swelled within Noah and the shackles clasped on her neck rattled unstably, but her will prevailed nonetheless. Vines then wounded themselves around Lenia’s body.

Still, Lenia remained expressionless. Noah’s instinct made a move before her mind could think of anything. She grabbed Lenia’s neck and jerked her aside. Between the braids of hair, she could see a tape attached behind the ears. There was no need to tear it off. It was too obvious what was engraved.

Then, just like what Kyle had done… If I attack from here, will it break?

Muell’s mana faithfully followed Noah’s will. Sharply cropped vines rushed in from behind her back, cutting through the wind. Then, the vines pierced right through Lenia’s neck. It would have been quite a grotesque sight if it had been a real living person, but neither blood nor flesh spurted. 

Instead…

Tuck. A lump of silver metal fell on the ground. A moment ago, it had just been Lenia’s head. The letters engraved in the middle of it were clear: lowercase “r”.

“…….” Noah bit her lips, witnessing Lenia’s appearance slowly fade from the machine. Fragments of metal rolled on the floor, along with the dresses and shoes that covered it. 

Soon, Noah arrived at a conclusion. 

“It wasn’t her fake double that was taken care of.”

Lenia did not blatantly claim her innocence by putting aside the double she had set up in Tezeba in a timely manner. The one who was taken care of was the real Lenia who was on the ship with her.