What Does That Evil Dragon Live For?

“I’m looking forward to it.”

 

Elaine gave Damon a small smile.

 

‘He was a cousin who had tormented me a lot along with Martin throughout my life, but the hatred melted away.’

 

Elaine truly hoped that Damon, who may have been a victim of his family like her, would come to his senses and become a mature human being this time.

 

However, her uncle, Count Newt, was a man who had come too far to receive Elaine’s generous forgiveness.

 

When the service was over and everyone was getting up from their seats and getting ready to leave, Rubaine stood in front of Elaine and spoke arrogantly.

 

“I heard that even slugs have a knack for rolling, and it looks like they are using it in their own way at the temple.”

 

It still looked like he was looking at something dirty.

 

Elaine didn’t answer.

 

“Do your best for the family that raised you without abandoning you. You know that as soon as you become useless, you will be kicked out!”

 

‘It’s a threat I’ve heard several times in my past life.’

 

If you’re useless, we’ll throw you out, and if you don’t want to be kicked out, do whatever I tell you.…

 

Being inexperienced and young, Elaine thought she’d be in trouble if she was kicked out, not realizing that it would only make her feel worse.

 

Elaine was disgusted with Rubaine who was making such threats to a child, so she directly spoke out the words she had been holding back for so long.

 

“It’s okay if you just kick me out now.”

 

“What?”

 

“Take the last name Newt from me and officially kick me out.”

 

“How dare you be so arrogant without knowing the grace I raise you?!”

 

If it weren’t for the temple, it was a voice that would have been enough to slap Elaine in the face.

 

But Elaine was not afraid.

 

Because there was a dragon sitting on her shoulder that wanted to crush Rubaine’s head at any moment.

 

“And speak clearly. When did you raise me, uncle? There was a time when you hoped I would die.”

 

Rubaine’s jaws clacked and gritted at Elaine’s defiance.

 

“This damn girl…!”

 

He seemed to have forgotten that it was a temple and raised his hand as if he was going to strike him.

 

At that time, Lark intervened.

 

“Father. There are many eyes watching.”

 

“Lark, didn’t you hear what this girl said just now?”

 

“hah…Let’s go home and talk about it.”

 

After taking Rubaine away from Elaine, he looked back at Elaine, who still had rebellious eyes, and said, 

 

“Don’t even think about going any further. Before I take you home and lock you up.”

 

Lark’s cold eyes meant that his words were definitely not a joke.

 

‘Damn you.’ 

 

Elaine felt her heart, which had been warm thanks to Damon, freeze again.

 

There was no way that the Newt family would have hope just because Damon changed.

 

‘I will never be controlled by you. I will never become a sacrifice to the Newt family!’

 

Elaine clenched her fists and glared at Lark before turning around.

 

At that time, Rubaine’s scream was heard from behind along with a crunching sound.

 

“Ahh!”

 

“Oh! honey!”

 

Elaine glanced back, and Rubaine had fallen, sprawled on the floor. Lark was trying to catch him, but he had fallen hard and was crushing him.

 

Lark hurriedly got up, but Rubaine hit the marble floor with his face, causing his nose to bleed, and his forehead was hit so hard that a blue bruise was already forming.

 

The noise was so loud that everyone who had not yet left the chapel was looking in that direction and whispering.

 

“father! Are you okay?”

 

“Why is the space between the chairs so narrow?”

 

Rubaine jumped up casually and blamed the fine chair for no reason, perhaps because he was more embarrassed than pain.

 

However, judging by the way he was limping, it seemed like he hit his knee quite hard.

 

Lark was pretending like nothing was wrong, but he fell and hit the chair so hard that he must have bruised his back.

 

[Are you okay?] 

 

Elaine looked surprised at the voice coming from her shoulder.

 

“Are you sure it’s okay to use magical power?”

 

[If I had been able to use my magic as I wanted, do you think I would have finished it like that? I could only do this much because of the damn divine power barrier.] 

 

Rabes must have been really angry as he gritted his teeth with a more grim face than Rubaine before.

 

Only then did Elaine nod with relief.

 

“I know it goes against Vara’s words about not retaliating, but honestly, I think he’d forgive me for this, wouldn’t he?”

 

[Now it seems like you are starting to make some changes…] 

 

Rabes quickly chuckled, apparently satisfied that Elaine had allowed him to retaliate.

 

A cheerful smile tugged at the corners of Elaine’s mouth as she turned and headed for the exit.

 

* * * 

 

Just as Elaine was resting after all the holiday events at the temple, she received an invitation from the imperial palace.

 

She received an invitation.

 

“It’s a real imperial palace invitation!”

 

The sender was Abel.

 

He had kept his promise sooner than expected.

 

[He said he’d call, so he did. What’s so exciting?] 

 

“But the imperial palace is not a place just anyone goes to!”

 

Elaine was amazed as she kept turning the soft, luxurious envelope she had never touched before, back and forth.

 

“Going to the prince’s palace? I’ve never even imagined it in my past life.”

 

[Is it really that amazing? you are just going to his house.] 

 

“It’s hard enough to go to Sergey’s house, let alone the imperial palace, and we don’t usually describe going to the imperial palace as going to play.”

 

Elaine smiled and opened the envelope.

 

The thick letter paper, which was as soft as an envelope and had a fragrant scent, was elegantly written with handwriting that seemed to be exactly the same as the penmanship textbook.

 

「Dear saint, Miss Elaine Newt.

You probably haven’t forgotten the promise I made you, right?

At that time, as Miss Elaine had hoped, I arranged a tea time with you and my mother, the Marquise of Sasha Hebron.

 

Shall we meet in the drawing room of my palace, Allion Palace, next Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.?

 

I will send a carriage to the temple by 2:00 p.m., so please ask the priest in charge for permission in advance.

 

– Looking forward to meeting you, Abel Charis Aspen.」 

 

After reading the letter, Elaine was both happy and nervous, and her mouth went dry.

 

“Do you think I can go and do well?”

 

[Like I said back then, you can just go and see the imperial palace and eat some delicious food.] 

 

“What would you do if the Marquise of Hebron also had magical power?”

 

[The problem is not the magic power itself, but whether I know the magic power.] 

 

“What happens if it’s the magical power that Rabes knows about?”

 

[I’m just checking to see if it’s a threat to me or if I can ignore it…. Don’t worry too much, it’s not a big deal.] 

 

Although he said that, Rabes’s inner thoughts were different.

 

‘If she or he is a descendant of the witches or wizards that were around Lancer, I’d have to take a closer look at his magic.’ 

 

The magic always accumulates fragments of the soul. And the soul always has a piece of memory.

 

He didn’t know how much of the ancestor’s soul remained from five hundred years ago, but if even the tiniest fragment of memory remained, Raves would try to see into it somehow.

 

The soul of a living person had a strong bond with the body and the energy of life was so strong that one could not dare to touch it, but the fragments of the soul remaining in the magical power were similar to the fragments that fell from the original owner, so those who could control their magic power carefully could read the memories left behind.

 

Of course, this was only possible for a dragon, a wielder of immense magical power.

 

In any case, the fact that Elaine had received a direct invitation from Abel was rumored throughout the temple in less than three days.

 

“Awesome, Elaine! To be invited directly to the prince’s palace!”

 

“It is very rare for someone to be invited to the imperial palace without even debuting in the social world. If she catches the eye of the Marquise of Hebron, she might even become a princess!”

 

Elaine’s friends were delighted, imagining all sorts of exciting things with just one invitation.

 

But not everyone was so happy.

 

“What the hell is she doing to deserve such a privileged position?”

 

“She’s an illegitimate child, Does it make sense for a girl like that to meet Prince Abel?”

 

Even if they were not Lorina’s friends, there were many saints who looked at Elaine with envy and jealousy.

 

Especially girls of Abel’s age who had already made their debut in the social world.

 

They felt like it was a stab in the back that Elaine, whom they had never considered as competition, was suddenly being invited by their prince.

 

Of course, Elaine didn’t have the slightest interest in Abel.

 

* * * 

 

“Thank you for coming, Miss Elaine.”

 

“Thanks to Your Highness’s consideration, I came here so comfortably that I didn’t have to worry about it. Thank you for the invitation.”

 

For the first time in her life, riding in an imperial carriage and being escorted by an imperial servant, Elaine felt nervous as she bowed to Abel, who greeted her.

 

In her previous life, the imperial family, the imperial carriage, and the imperial servants had been something to be seen from afar, only on special occasions at the temple.

 

But today everything was so close.

 

The imperial carriage, in which only she rode with a maid from the imperial family, was so wide, soft, and luxurious that it was eye-popping. 

 

Unlike the carriages of noble families, which often had to slow down for pedestrians or other carriages, it never slowed down.

 

As she got off the carriage, the majestic imperial palace appeared before her eyes. 

 

She thought what she had been running along was a road, but how surprised she was when she realized that it had been a road crossing the garden within the imperial palace for some time.

 

Moreover, the people gathered in small groups were all nobles.

 

The maid who came to pick up Elaine calmly walked through the palace as if she was familiar with all this and guided Elaine to the palace.

 

It must have been a long way to get there. She was so nervous that her shoulders and back hurt a bit.

 

* * *