Chapter 77
It was then that the emperor, trying to lighten the mood, spoke up.
“By the way, I heard some academy students discovered and hatched the Black Dragon’s egg.”
Peony stared directly at the emperor.
Feeling her gaze, the emperor cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Though they did mistakenly believe it to be a monster egg at first… still, they found the divine beast that symbolizes the imperial family, so I intend to reward their efforts.”
As her friends became the topic of discussion, Peony quickly asked,
“What kind of reward will you give them?”
“After discussing with the ministers, we’ve decided on medals and prize money. That should be more than enough compensation.”
The emperor ended with a benevolent smile.
Though none of the royal family members spoke up, they all seemed to think the decision was fair.
But Peony frowned in dissatisfaction.
To her, it wasn’t nearly enough.
“What good are medals and money?”
The Black Dragon was a priceless being.
She believed at the very least, they should have been granted titles.
But it seemed neither her father nor the ministers felt the need to give such lavish rewards to mere commoners.
And Peony didn’t have enough influence to challenge the emperor’s decision.
Then Empress Eliza quietly spoke.
“Your Majesty, who will take care of the Black Dragon?”
“Hm? Well, that’ll be up to the dragon. Divine beasts choose their own masters, after all.”
The emperor clicked his tongue with mild regret.
“I actually tried to meet it before coming here, but it didn’t respond to me at all. Maybe it’s still dazed from just hatching.”
He set down his utensils and looked around at his children.
“Well then. Once the dragon stabilizes, I’ll give each of you a chance to meet it. There’s a legend that whoever the dragon chooses will become the next emperor—so perhaps one of you will be chosen.”
A quiet excitement spread through the dining hall.
The Empress exchanged whispers with her son.
Seeing this, Empress Eliza politely suggested,
“Then, Your Majesty, could you let Darian meet the dragon first?”
“Oh? Why?”
She gave a rare gentle smile.
Even the usually composed empress seemed eager to claim the dragon.
“It was Darian’s birthday a few days ago. And the dragon hatched around the same time. Isn’t that quite the coincidence? Also, since he’s the eldest, it would seem proper for him to go first.”
Christina scoffed and countered.
“Prince Darian is the least attuned to the dragon’s powers among the royals. How could he become its master? If we go by order, then my Adolf will be last in line.”
A quiet power struggle began to unfold between the empress and the concubine.
Both wanted their sons to be the first to meet the dragon.
And everyone watching was silently judging who the emperor favored most.
Peony sighed softly and opened her mouth to ease the tension.
“As His Majesty said, the dragon will choose its master. Whether we meet it first or last won’t change the result, so isn’t this argument meaningless?”
The emperor nodded in agreement.
“Peony’s right. The Black Dragon will decide. To keep things fair, you’ll all meet it at the same time. Let’s end this discussion here.”
Eliza looked at the emperor with rare desperation.
“But, Your Majesty—”
“Enough. You’ll all meet the dragon equally.”
The emperor had only said it to end the quarrel, but Eliza looked unwilling to accept it.
Still, realizing it wasn’t the time to argue, she fell silent.
Meanwhile, Christina gave Peony a rare approving look.
She seemed satisfied that her son Adolf wouldn’t be pushed behind Darian.
Peony let out a shallow sigh.
It was laughable that they were fighting over something the dragon would decide on its own.
She already missed her friends, who were spending their break away from this mess.
Despite the emperor’s words, the opportunity to meet the dragon didn’t come easily.
The hatchling wasn’t in good condition.
A divine beast without a master was unstable.
The Black Dragon trembled and chirped all day, clearly distressed. It barely ate.
The emperor said they should wait until the dragon calmed down before letting it choose a master.
“Will it ever calm down?”
It was said that dragons remembered everything from within their eggs.
If that were true, then the Black Dragon likely remembered Eila and knew they’d been unfairly separated.
Peony sighed heavily.
“What do I even tell Eila? If she knows the dragon is suffering, she’ll be devastated.”
While Peony mulled over this, her maid Lorna muttered irritably.
“Why is that dragon so picky? It just needs to choose you and be done with it.”
“It went through a lot during hatching. And then it was taken to a strange place right after being born. Of course it’s exhausted.”
“Still, it won’t eat anything. Doesn’t it know it’ll get sick if it keeps that up?”
Lorna pouted.
Then she seemed to remember something and perked up.
“Princess, may I be excused for a while today? I’d like to schedule a check-up with your physician.”
“A check-up?”
Peony turned and stared at her.
Lorna gave an awkward smile.
“Yes, I thought now that your health seems fully recovered… it might be a good time to check myself, since you’re hardly taking medicine anymore.”
“Hm.”
Peony drummed her fingers on the armrest for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright. Go ahead. I’m curious about my health too.”
“Thank you! I’ll be back soon, Princess!”
Lorna bowed deeply and left, clearly excited.
As soon as she was gone, Peony’s eyes sharpened.
“Now I just need to follow her and find out who she’s meeting.”
She’d been waiting for this moment.
She had kept Lorna as her maid all this time for this very reason.
“If you lie long enough, you’ll leave evidence eventually.”
Peony stacked some pillows on her bed and took a potion from her bag.
It was an illusion potion Eila had made for her.
When she sprayed it on the pillows, they transformed into a perfect image of her sleeping figure.
The illusion was so realistic no one would notice unless they touched it.
“As expected of something Eila made. The effect is flawless.”
No one would suspect she was gone.
She picked up the mana lamp from her nightstand and moved toward a large tapestry.
Lifting it, she pressed on a few recessed bricks.
With a grinding sound, a secret passage opened in the wall.
Even her closest maids didn’t know about it.
Peony had learned of it long ago—from the emperor himself.
He had once told her there was a secret passage for the royal family to use in emergencies.
