"Lin, do you feel anything unusual?"
"I felt a bit off. Princess Gladys's attitude seems strange. According to our calculations, she should be more enthusiastic about you, trying to win your support to help her inherit the throne."
"I'm not talking about that," Felicia pouted, unconcerned about the princess's attitude. "I mean, when we first arrived, did you sense that familiar aura?"
"Sorry, Princess, I didn't feel anything," the blue sapphire dragon beneath her responded apologetically.
"What about you all? Did any of you sense it?" Felicia looked around at the dragons surrounding her, asking with a hint of hope.
"No!" All the dragons shook their heads. However, the two golden dragons hesitated and exchanged glances before speaking up:
"Princess Felicia, my brother and I felt something. It seemed like the presence of a kindred, but it was fleeting, and we couldn't pinpoint the exact location."
"You felt something? A kindred?" This response made Princess Felicia frown slightly. She was not satisfied. Her mother had told her she would encounter a unique dragon, which was why she had come running. Golden dragons were hardly unique.
"It's a vague feeling; we're not even sure it's a kindred."
"Is that so?" Hearing the words of the two golden dragons she had recruited at great expense, Princess Felicia fell into contemplation. According to her mother, she should naturally encounter this special dragon upon arrival.
"Princess Felicia, please wait!" A thunderous voice echoed in the sky. A chariot pulled by eight white celestial horses approached Felicia. The chariot's wheels rolled with flashes of pale golden lightning, exuding a formidable aura, surrounded by a hundred Apocalypse Knights.
"Gladys, aren't you supposed to be looking for the insect lord?" Felicia asked in confusion. "What do you want with me?"
"That's not urgent; the hunt will last a long time." Gladys, having driven the chariot close to the Dragon Princess, smiled. "I have something to discuss with you, Princess."
"What is it?" asked the blue sapphire dragon, her voice ethereal, while looking at the knights surrounding Gladys. "Does it require bringing so many Apocalypse Knights?"
"This is just a precaution," Gladys explained, seeing the wary eyes of the blue sapphire dragon. "My strength is not enough. I need these Apocalypse Knights to deal with the insect lord. I have no idea where it is."
"What do you want to discuss? Tell me." The Dragon Princess asked curiously, as the dragons around her sensed the tense atmosphere and glared at Gladys.
"I heard that the princess captured six spellcasting chromatic dragons recently?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you curious why these six dragons are different and proficient in spells?"
"Not curious."
"They belong to a friend of mine. He taught them those spells."
"Is this the reason you invited me to this hunt?"
"Yes." At this moment, lying wouldn't help. They were both nearly a century old and couldn't be fooled.
"Hmph!" Felicia sneered. "The seventh princess of the Uranus Empire, why tell such lies? I don't know what you're plotting, but I won't give up my dragons to you."
"Those six dragons you forcibly took were raised by my friend since they hatched. The spells they know were taught by him. Taking them like that is unjustifiable."
"Nonsense. Do you think I didn't investigate before capturing them? Those six dragons had lived on that continent for nearly fifty years. No so-called master appeared during their many hunts."
"Does the princess not believe me?"
"Of course not. Do I know you well? Even if you're telling the truth, those dragons were abandoned for so long. Now that I've captured them, they rightfully belong to me. I'll take better care of them than that guy."
"Princess, are you really unwilling to let go? I'm willing to pay some price."
"No. I've never abandoned a single dragon since I was born." Felicia proudly declared. "The person you mentioned, what right does he have to claim my dragons?"
"He raised them, but due to some accident, they ended up on the secondary continent." Gladys lowered her eyes. This was the first time someone had been so brazen in front of her.
"Then let him come and ask for them himself. Hmph, what's the point of sending you? Does he not even have the courage to face me?"
"It seems I was wrong. I shouldn't have stopped him." Gladys shook her head. "Please wait a moment, Princess. I'll have him come to you."
...
"Come over here. Felicia wants to talk to you."
Muria, who was lying on the scorpion lion, lazily gazing at the sky, suddenly sat up. The jade plate beside him displayed a new half-length image of Gladys.
"Location." Golden lightning flickered in Muria's eyes. Since the princess had failed in negotiations, it was his turn. If her gentle approach didn't work, it meant a more direct approach was needed.
...
"How much longer do you expect me to wait, Princess Gladys?" Felicia's gaze was icy, and the dragons around her roared with her rising anger.
"He's coming soon." Gladys gripped her spear tightly, feeling infuriated. Who gave her the right to act so arrogantly on her turf?
As Gladys finished speaking, a whistling sound arose, and the forest below rustled. Countless leaves were swept into the air, and the fearful growls of beasts echoed.
The wind is rising!
"Be careful, Princess!" The blue sapphire dragon beneath Felicia, sensing pressure from all directions, warned.
"It's fine." Felicia, who also sensed the anomaly, looked excited. She had a premonition that the dragon her mother mentioned was coming. Her heart raced, her face flushed, and her breath quickened.
Suddenly, in front of her, a figure of a black-haired youth appeared silently.
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