I flew for 13 hours straight, the border of the nation was close, so I turned to my catkin form and began using a lot of healing spells on Thalia.

I could almost guarantee that they would spread word, meaning that this nation wasn’t safe anymore for neither me nor Thalia.

“Rose?”

“Yes, Thalia?”

“Thank you for killing him.”

“No problem.”

“Rose?”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t I feel anger? I know they killed my children in cold blood, but I can’t help but feel sorry for them.”

“They did it out of fear of our kind, you understand that as well. The only, in my opinion, that we should’ve held anger against was Galswell.”

“I see.”

Her injuries were bad, but manageable. The curse wore off on the 5th hour, so I was in near perfect condition.

“Where are we?”

“The border of Calesen.”

“Why are we here?”

“Because I heard that one of our siblings is its ruler.”

“That’s a good reason.”

“Rest, I will carry you, we’ll get in easier if you remain in elf form, so please hide your presence.”

“I will.”

I picked up Thalia and we began moving forward, as we approached the border, some elves looked at me with suspicion until they saw Thalia.

“Please, help her, she’s in bad condition.”

Thalia needed healing magic, she would live either way, but without healing magic, it would take a long time to get better. My mana was nearly depleted from keeping myself in the skies with my broken wing.

“You don’t look too good yourself, come with us.”

The guards led us to the border village and called a healer. I saw Thalia being healed and realized that we were safe.

Oh... I guess my injuries were worse than.... I...... thought...

“Kid!”

_

As I woke up, I heard elven voices of awe.

“The king is here? Why?”

“Move, I need to see if I am correct.”

I saw a handsome elven warrior wearing a crown. Of course, it wasn’t an elf.

“Hello, Sister.”

“Sister? Could she be...”

Upon the king’s nod, the elves looked at me in awe.

“Is Thalia okay?”

“Our sister is still resting, though it is surprising that she was named.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“That elf is another dragon? Incredible.”

“Sister, who did this to you?”

“Won’t tell.”

“What?”

He was confused.

“But they hurt you!”

“Yeah, but they were scared.”

“And? That was a high-grade curse. It was fully meant to kill you.”

“They regretted it.”

“So, you killed them?”

“No, they were sad when I was honest.”

“Ah, so you guilt tripped them, but why don’t you tell me” I could win.”

“That’s why.”

“Come on, I want to cause destruction!”

“Exactly.”

“Awe, your no fun, Sister. Anyways, do you have a name?”

“Rose, how about you.”

“Elren.”

“Hmph, elven name.”

“I am the elven king after all.”

“B rank adventurer... former B rank adventurer.”

“I see, so it was guild members.”

“Wait!”

“Don’t worry, you clearly care for them, so I won’t do anything. Besides, knowing you, you probably were about ready to die to them.”

“How did you-”

“I know you, Rose. Likely you exposed your neck, were saved and they felt regret when seeing that the dragon they just tried to kill was their good friend, am I wrong.”

I looked at him in shock, he did know me well. I realized I should tell him.

“Saliad is dead.”

He smiled,

“That elf met his end, did he. The moment I was crowned, he left the kingdom in a rage with his party. I assume you did the honors?”

“Yes.”

“Good... why do you look down, though?”

“Ravi is gone.”

His playful smile immediately disappeared.

“I see. So, we are numbered 9 now.”

“Thalia attempted to nest, but...”

“Who?”

“Galswell.”

“His party member... I’ll kill him.”

“His head is already on a vacation.”

We smiled in a way that made the elven nurses excuse themselves.

“Good. Either way, I’ve already nested and matured.”

“You matured?”

“Yes, I fought in a war against the Dwarven nation not too long ago.”

“Cool.”

“As I matured, I actually nested as well. I found a mate, a kind elven woman.”

“Dragons with elven magic?”

“Yes, they will be powerful, heck they may even be able to overpower you one day.”

“I’m not that strong.”

“You keep underestimating yourself, did it when you were younger, do it now.”

“If I was strong, I wouldn’t need to have run.”

“Don’t confuse strength with bloodlust. You hate killing, it’s why Father didn’t like you as much. Strongest of all of us but hated killing. How many kills do you even have.”

“5, one legendary sorcerer, Saliad, two slavers, and Galswell.”

“See? When I was your age, I had 100 times that.”

“I consider it one of my strengths.”

“I know you do, anyways, I should bring you two to my castle. You could rest better there.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s no issue, we are siblings, after all.”

Elren was among the older of us, 500 years old, and his aspect was life. It made sense the elves took to him.

“500 and the king of a nation.”

“Father would roll in his grave knowing I haven’t torched their villages.”

“He thought with fire.”

“Indeed, he did.”

“Also, I heard this nation had bad blood with Selethon.”

“Of course, Saliad hid there, and they let him.”

“And now that he’s dead?”

“I suppose we could start negotiating, unless they try that again.”

He was referring to the condition of me and Thalia. It was obvious that it would take the power of a nation to deal that much damage to us, and the wealth of a king to purchase arrows with that strong of a curse.

“Neither me nor Thalia hold rage towards them, only Galswell.”

“Yes, they were driven by fear, that’s plain to see.

_

We began travelling to the castle and Elren gave us fancy clothes that itched.

Thalia was still crying.

“Sister, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I’m just happy that we are all okay.”

We spent most of the ride consoling her. The rest of the ride was spent telling stories of our adventures.

“So, you were contracted to a half elf? Why?”

“She was a good person, one that I could see myself working for, for her whole life.”

“I see, and she broke it after finding your identity, and you didn’t find offense?”

“Why would I? The whole reason she broke it was because she didn’t want to feel as though she owned me.”

“I suppose, but Dalla Rogers, I think I met her once.”

“You did?”

“Yes, she used to be a ranger captain, but she left shortly before I took the throne. Something about wanting to settle down.”

“Yeah, her arrows hurt, makes sense she would’ve been a ranger captain.”

“Did she know you were a dragon, Elren?”

“Nope, in fact, they didn’t know I was a dragon until they tried throwing the throne at me. I revealed myself, thinking that they’d rescind the offer and let me leave out of respect to my actions, but they surprised me by simply emboldening their request.”

“The only one that wasn’t happy was Saliad?”

“Yep, upon learning I was a dragon, he left in a fuss, saying that he only let me live out of respect.”

“He never mentioned you, though he was quite eager to mention Ravi.”

“I’d imagine that. Man hated dragons with a passion. I think if I was not nearly as accomplished a warrior, he would’ve simply tried to kill me, elves protecting me and all.”

“He did have respect for power. At the start of the battle, he boasted and acted superior, but by the end we fought as equals.”

“Yes, he had that at least. Can’t be a dragon slayer without respect for power.”

“Well, we are almost there.”

“Ah yes, you can meet my mate, and~”

He smirked before saying something that caused us to smile.

“My daughter.”