“Mrs. Nadia, you had better actually have a way to take down this damn demon race.”
Looking at Nadia, who had appeared beside him, the anger on Keith's face had still not dissipated.
He did not even bother to hide his irritation.
The letter of complaint from the nobles was clutched tightly in his hand, the paper visibly crumpled from his sheer force.
“Rest assured, Your Highness.”
Nadia slowly walked over to his side.
Her viper-like eyes glowed with a faint light in the dimness of the tent.
“After all, I am the Saintess's mother.”
“I was able to reach this position entirely by relying on my wits, was I not?”
It was unclear where she got such confidence.
Or perhaps, it was simply the arrogance of someone long accustomed to manipulating others like chess pieces.
Hearing this, Keith's expression became even more unsightly.
“Then prove it to me!”
“Don't just stand there boasting about your damn wits!”
After saying this, Keith slammed the letter onto the table and turned to storm out of the tent.
The tent flap was violently thrust aside, only to fall back heavily into place.
Silence returned to the tent once more.
Nadia looked at the letter left behind by the First Prince.
After a moment, she slowly walked over to the desk and sat directly in the seat the First Prince had just vacated.
“What a foolish prince.”
Her voice dropped.
The respect on her face vanished without a trace.
“He can't even control his own temper.”
“If not for...”
“If only...!”
Nadia's fingers suddenly gripped the edge of the desk.
“How could I have ever come to assist such a foolish fellow?”
At the thought of how those damn nobles had immediately cut ties with her after Leticia's disappearance, the coldness in her eyes grew even more pronounced.
In the past, those people would smile at her.
They would praise her for raising the most outstanding Saintess.
They would present gifts, invitations, requests, and compliments before her.
But the moment Leticia disappeared.
Those people instantly changed their attitude.
As if she, Nadia, had never been someone worthy of respect.
Merely an accessory elevated solely because of her daughter.
Nadia looked down at the letter in her hand.
The contents of the letter were filled with cold mockery and sarcasm directed at Keith.
Yet as she read these words, her own expression was far from pleasant.
But rather than anger, her eyes held more of a calculating look toward Keith.
They mocked and looked down on Keith.
Thinking this prince was hot-tempered, foolish, and eager for quick success.
Yet, it was precisely this kind of person who was easier to control.
She had been able to reach her current position, where everyone fawned over her, by relying on that puppet-like doll.
In that case, exchanging her for an even more foolish, impulsive, and easily controlled puppet.
She would only climb even higher.
Nadia chuckled softly.
Her laughter sounded exceptionally chilling in the empty tent.
While the two at the border harbored their own sinister designs, in the capital—
“Karl~ Are you done reading those boring documents yet~?”
Furni lay on the sofa in Karl's office.
The entire dragon had degenerated into a state of utter listlessness.
She was completely sunk into the sofa, her long blue hair draped messily to one side, and the dark circles under her eyes looked even worse than usual.
If not for the bishop robes she was still wearing.
Though those robes were so wrinkled they no longer held any of their original dignity.
She currently looked like a dried-up dragon that had been carelessly tossed onto the sofa.
Karl sat behind his desk, a massive stack of documents piled up in front of him.
“Furni.”
“If you have nothing to do, come and process these documents.”
“Instead of dumping them all on an elderly human.”
Karl did not even have the time to look up at Furni.
He simply continued flipping through the documents submitted to the Holy See by the nobles.
They were filled with trouble and probing queries.
All of them were transactions of mutual interest, wrapped in beautiful rhetoric.
Furni rolled over on the sofa.
“Ehh~ But Karl is so capable~”
Her thick dragon tail swept directly onto the floor.
It kept thumping against the ground, producing a rhythmic tapping sound.
A vein throbbed on Karl's forehead.
“Your tail.”
“Oh~”
Furni replied listlessly.
But her tail continued to thump against the floor.
Karl: “...”
This dragon was truly and utterly hopeless now.
As for why the documents had been handed over to Karl, that went back to after Furni was transported back—
After being dropped off from the carriage by the driver, Furni could only drag her exhausted body back to the Holy See.
At that time, her bishop robes were so dirty that the original color was barely recognizable.
Her hair was a tangled mess.
Her face was pale.
Her entire being radiated an aura of “I don't want to live anymore, but I can still sleep for another five minutes.”
And right at that moment, Furni happened to run into Karl, who was distributing food in the slums.
Karl stood before a temporary shelter, handing out portions of food one by one to the people waiting in line.
His movements were swift yet highly steady.
When facing the emaciated people of the slums, Karl did not put on the airs of an Archbishop.
He simply had the priests nearby maintain order, and ordered his subordinates to give an extra piece of bread to the children who were clearly malnourished.
Furni stood in the distance, watching this scene.
Karl also looked up at that moment and spotted her.
The instant their eyes met.
Furni felt as if she had found her family.
With a flying leap, she lunged directly onto Karl.
“Karl~”
Karl: “?”
Karl did not even have time to react.
The next second, a blue creature was already hanging off of him.
Karl looked at the filthy being in front of him.
Looking at the bishop robes that no longer resembled their original form.
For a moment, he thought he had grown so old that his eyesight was failing him.
But when Furni clung to him, the deadly dark circles on her face and that familiar long blue hair forced Karl to confirm one thing.
This really was Furni!
“Furni?”
Karl's voice carried an undisguisable confusion.
“How did you end up like this?”
But Furni did not answer.
She just remained hanging onto Karl.
And fell asleep in a split second.
Karl: “...”
The people waiting in line for food around them: “...”
Karl fell silent for a moment.
Then, he let out a soft sigh.
Conveniently, the food distribution had also come to an end.
Seeing Furni sleeping so peacefully while hanging onto him, Karl had no choice but to carry her back to the Holy See on his back.
Yet, the moment they returned to the Holy See, Furni seemed to trigger some special switch and woke up instantly.
She saw the documents piled up on Karl's desk.
And she saw that during her absence, Karl had actually been helping her process those hypocritical documents sent by the nobles.
At that moment, Furni felt that Karl was simply her salvation.
Salvation in the truest sense of the word.
Thus, from then on, Furni would intentionally or unintentionally slip her own documents onto Karl's desk.
At first, it was just one or two.
Then, it became a small stack.
Eventually, it turned into the current situation.
Looking at this listless guardian dragon, Karl felt that he might not live long enough to retire as a bishop.
“Ah~”
Furni lay on the sofa and suddenly spoke up.
“Karl.”
“How are the preparations for the Hero Summoning going?”
Karl's hand flipping through the documents paused slightly.
Then, he let out a cold snort.
“How else could they be going?”
“Once your mana recovers, it should only be a matter of days, right?”
As he spoke, he finally looked up at the corpse-like Furni.
Although this dragon looked completely useless.
She was, after all, the guardian dragon of Camillaya.
Even if she had consumed too much mana recently, as long as she was replenished with enough Magic Crystals, her massive mana pool would slowly recover.
Judging by the current situation.
It should be just about ready.
Rate on N.U.
