Chapter 5: Barely Skirting by
“Oh? That brat Gaia actually got hurt? I remember that kid was quite tough. How did he end up injured? Whatever, I didn’t come all this way just to find him. Ouxs, tell me, where’s Ailin right now?”
The Ice Dragon King was surprised by Gaia’s injury, but after a moment’s thought, he realized that no matter how strong Gaia was, he was still human—injuries were inevitable. What really mattered was that he had come to check on his precious daughter; whether Gaia was around was of no concern to him.
“Reporting to you, my lord, Ailin is currently by Lord Gaia’s side, tending to him,” Ouxs replied.
Ouxs knew that he couldn’t tell the Ice Dragon King the truth in this situation. If the King learned that his precious daughter was over there with Gaia unprotected, he would undoubtedly go into a rage. At that point, not just the Royal Palace, but the entire kingdom might end up in shambles at the hands of the Ice Dragon King.
So, for the sake of the kingdom, Ouxs had to choose to lie as much as possible to the Ice Dragon King to buy some time.
“Oh? Then do me a favor and let Ailin know to come over and see me quickly; I have something to discuss with her.”
The Ice Dragon King was clearly not fooled by such trivial lies. He insisted on meeting his lovely daughter in person.
“Understood. I’ll go notify Lady Ailin to meet with you right away,” Ouxs responded in a relaxed manner before turning back into the palace. Shortly after, a girl with a dragon tail and blue wings emerged behind him from the palace.
“Long time no see, Father.”
Ailin gracefully waved at the Ice Dragon King, maintaining her elegant posture.
“Oh, Ailin. You seem to be doing well in the palace. That brat Gaia treating you alright?”
Seeing Ailin safe and sound before him, the Ice Dragon King felt a weight lift off his chest. What on earth? Ailin was living just fine in the palace, wasn’t she?
“Yes, Lord Gaia treats me fairly well, but at night he can be a bit frigid. It makes me wonder if he’s thinking of straying,” Ailin said, sharing her circumstances with her father.
“Hahaha, of course! If my precious daughter caught him, even if Gaia had ten kidneys, it wouldn’t be enough for you!” The Ice Dragon King laughed proudly. Anyone who dared to mate with a mother dragon better weigh their options carefully. After all, when a mother dragon got down to it, she wouldn’t rest until she had sucked every last drop from her target.
“Alright, since you seem to be doing well here, then I have no other concerns. I just came to check on you. Now, I’ll take my leave. Remember to come home and visit often, my lovely daughter.”
“Mm, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to come back for visits. You take care too, Father,” Ailin waved goodbye to the Ice Dragon King as he departed, then followed Ouxs back into the palace.
“Phew, looks like we’ve barely scraped by. Good job, Mios. Your disguise truly is effective as always. But you can drop the act now; no need to keep pretending to be Lady Ailin.”
Once the Ice Dragon King was well out of sight, Ouxs finally relaxed. Ailin removed her wig, fake wings, and tail, revealing her true self.
“It’s not a big deal. I actually enjoyed playing the part of Lady Ailin just this once. Plus, I’m close enough to her that I managed to successfully mimic her to deceive the Ice Dragon King,” Mios said, cradling the fake props in his arms. He shared a close relationship with Ailin in the palace, familiar with her mannerisms and speech patterns. Combined with the scents Ouxs had prepared to imitate the Ice Dragons, they had successfully tricked the Ice Dragon King.
“Still, while we managed to deceive him this time, we can’t keep this up for long. We need to gather information on Lady Ailin quickly and rescue her as soon as possible.”
Ouxs knew they could dodge trouble today, but they couldn’t evade it forever. If they wanted to maintain a peaceful coexistence with the Ice Dragon Clan, they had to bring Ailin back soon.
“That’s true, but right now we still don’t have anyone who can match the signal, do we?”
Mios looked worriedly at the scene outside. Ever since King Gaia woke up yesterday, he had issued a call to gather companions to aid in rescuing Princess Ailin.
The problem was, the way he was calling for help was rather… If it had been through brute force, that would have been understandable, but for King Gaia to choose a signal instead was a bit puzzling.
“Who knows? I can’t make heads or tails of what Lord Gaia is up to this time. But as a king of a nation, I assume his actions must carry some weight.”
As the palace sage, Ouxs couldn’t decipher King Gaia’s intentions either, but when he thought about it carefully, Gaia was the youngest king in history and had accomplished much before even ascending to the throne. As a sage, Ouxs had great faith in him.
“Let’s hope for the best. By the way, the injuries that Lord Gaia sustained seem quite serious. I heard the doctor say he has never seen such severe wounds; his organs are nearly destroyed.”
“Not that extreme. Though his injuries are indeed serious, if it had been an ordinary person, they would have kicked the bucket long ago. Only someone as resilient as Lord Gaia could be hanging on now.”
“I’m becoming more and more concerned about the future of this nation.”
Mios gazed out the window; the sky was darkening. He wondered when the sun would rise again over Panimir.
Meanwhile, Aierjisi and Yake had also arrived at the place marked for signaling a code, as per the advertisement.
“Is this really the place for the signal? There are quite a few people here. So many have come to help King Gaia; it looks like he’s held in high regard by the common folk,” Aierjisi remarked, eyeing the long line of people in front of them. Those individuals had come to become allies of King Gaia, showing that he seemed rather well-liked among his subjects, or there wouldn’t be this many willing to help.
“Yes, I’ve heard about him as well. King Gaia of Panimir is the youngest king in history. Before he became king, he was already a knight who achieved many victories, resolving the long-standing conflicts with the Ice Dragon Clan and successfully repelling several attacks from outside enemies. The citizens trust him quite a bit,” Yake noted, recalling what he had heard while in the small town.
“If anyone in this world can overcome hardships and crush the stars, it’s definitely him.”
This was the consensus about Gaia.
