Immediately after delivering the information, the princess left her council to adjust their plans and review their information. She, in turn, made her way to a stable located just outside the city where her drake was housed.

Stress had been accumulating in her body, and she felt that only being beside her battle companion could slightly relax her. Unfortunately, even this company caused a slight pain in her heart because her drake had been injured in a battle, and no one had been able to heal him. This constantly weighed on her mind, a worry she had to put aside for now.

As she approached, she expected to hear constant complaints, as well as the sounds of her caregivers and their grievances. However, none of that was heard, which gave her an uneasy feeling. She quickly ran to the stable and was relieved to see her drake sleeping peacefully.

An immediate sense of relief washed over her, and it cleared the stress from her body. A beautiful smile bloomed on her face, and her attitude turned positive. She approached one of the guards and casually asked what had happened to her companion.

When she received no response for nearly a full minute, she turned to face them. She noticed that both guards were alternating their gaze between the drake and the ground.

"Listen, I'm in a good mood for now, but it won't last long, so I want a detailed description of what happened," the princess said.

The guards nodded vigorously and began to recount the events from seven days ago.

Apparently, a stranger had been traveling outside the city with a caravan led by gnolls when the drake, who liked to misbehave and disturb others for amusement, disrupted their journey and threatened to destroy the caravan.

"So, you're telling me that a human got off the caravan and talked to my little Fel," the princess said incredulously.

"More than talking, it seemed like they were communicating in some way. The human seemed to understand the roars of the drake," the guard clarified.

"A human who communicates with drakes," the princess emphasized while raising an eyebrow. "And then my little Fel simply allowed him to examine him."

At this point, the drake had awakened upon hearing her voice and slowly began to stretch and approach her.

Meanwhile, cold sweat ran down the back of the guard. "My lady, I swear it's true what I'm telling you. Not only did he allow him to touch him, but the human also examined him thoroughly and eventually, after several minutes, extracted this from his belly," the guard said, carefully handing her a needle wrapped in a cloth.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"What is this?"

"According to the human, it's the source of the drake's pain. He said that this type of needle continually creates a wound that can't heal and infects it with poison. Although he couldn't identify the poison, he gave us the needle to analyze."

The little serenity that Ley had gained was gone. She had always believed that what ailed her mount was a wound from one of their many battles, and she felt deeply responsible. After investing in the best healers and doctors, no one had been able to diagnose the ailment or provide permanent relief.

Finally, it was revealed that this was not a war wound but sabotage. Someone had deliberately harmed her drake to the point where it nearly drove him insane. This had not only caused the princess to progressively lose favor with the empress and the council, but it had also slowed her cultivation and progress.

The princess had an urgent need to destroy something, to vent her frustration against anyone who dared to provoke her. However, before leaving, she noticed that the guard seemed to have something more to say.

"What else happened?" the princess asked, expecting more bad news.

"I don't think it's relevant, my lady."

"I'll judge whether it's relevant or not."

"Um, well, yes," the guard's nervousness skyrocketed like a rocket before he could articulate, "the human also said that you have a beautiful drake."

As suddenly as the desire to destroy had come over the princess, it vanished, replaced by incredulity.

What nonsense they were saying! Clearly, her drake was male. Just by his size, one could tell he was male. From an early age, he had been much larger than the rest, and it was known that among drakes, males exhibited greater muscular mass and bone density. All the top specialists in the palace had agreed that this was the case.

The princess was about to say something to the guard, but suddenly, she decided to stay quiet and instead looked at the drake. She felt his gaze and understood the question in the princess's eyes. She nodded twice.

"And how did he know?" the princess said to the air; the question wasn't directed at the guard, but he responded anyway.

"Well, during the examination process, the human touched and patted his drake all over its body and somehow discovered it when she became aggressive," the guard responded. But upon seeing the princess's expression, he realized that the question wasn't meant for him.

When she looked at the drake, it simply humped. It seemed absurd to the princess that her drake would allow another person to touch her. She couldn't even approach that area without her becoming aggressive, but at least now she understood why.

The princess was about to leave to spend time with her drake when suddenly, she remembered something. She knew nothing about this person.

"You said it was a human with gnolls? Describe this person a bit more; I'm curious to know who they are, what they're called, and other details," the princess said.

"My lady, I know absolutely nothing about him. We could only communicate through Torel," the guard replied.

"Torel, the oathbreaker? What was he doing with the human?"

"When we tried to communicate with the human, he didn't speak our language, so there was quite a bit of tension until Torel, who was heading into the forest, intervened and facilitated communication. After the matter with his drake was finished, both of them talked for a while, and then Torel climbed into one of the carts and left for the forest with the group."

Although there was much more the princess wanted to do and say, she could feel her drake's impatience. Clearly, she wanted to have a moment alone with her, and she understood what she wanted to do. So, before heading off to check her drake's condition and proceed with training, she gave some final orders to the guard and departed.