Chapter 1290: 48. Parting Ways

"I was right after all."

The carriage continued forward as usual, the scenery constantly retreating and smearing continuous shades of green across their field of vision.

Hamreign gazed out the window, her expression incomparably resolute.

Perhaps she was paying so much attention to the "colors" outside that she did not even notice the brief disturbance in the breathing of Muen, who had supposedly been "fast asleep."

"As expected, what humans call love is different from what I feel. Although there are similarities in many respects, I don't harbor that kind of uncontrollable desire."

Hamreign pressed a hand against her chest.

The scenes from last night were still lingering in her mind.

That was precisely why she had behaved so abnormally just now.

She had gotten so close to her companion and done something to him that should have been driven entirely by instinct. If it had been those human women from last night, they would have long since lost themselves in it, pinned Muen down, and demanded everything from him.

But she had not been controlled by instinct.

She had easily broken free from the influence she herself had deliberately created.

Although her heartbeat was still somewhat accelerated, and her breathing had become slightly heavier than normal.

But that definitely was not because of anything like that. It was merely the lingering influence of yesterday.

She was right.

The eternal companionship between her and Muen was unbreakable..

With that thought, Hamreign felt her entire body relax, and she finally had enough attention to appreciate the scenery outside.

However...

After staring for a while at scenery she had not actually remembered at all, Hamreign turned her head and looked at Muen's face, which even she, a dragon, had to admit was handsome beneath the sunlight. Her slender brows furrowed slightly.

"Why, even after finding the answer, do I still feel so restless inside?".

......

......

"They still haven't given themselves away?"

On a distant mountain ridge, several figures concealed themselves within the shadows of a lush tree.

One of them had leaves stuck all over her body as camouflage and was holding a pair of binoculars, observing the carriage racing through the distance.

"Tch, the carriage hasn't stopped at all. It's still speeding along. That dragon can actually endure this much?"

"Maybe they just want to try something different and enjoy doing it while the carriage is moving?" asked another lazy figure leaning against the trunk.

"Impossible. That's a dragon. When she does that kind of thing, can she really completely control her draconic pressure? Even if she can, there's no way she could do it perfectly, right? In that situation, would those two dragonblood horses really still dare keep running?"

The figure straining to observe—in other words, Ariel—curled her lips upon hearing that. "Those two horses are already terrified of her even when that dragon isn't releasing any pressure. If she let out even a couple of cries inside the carriage, those dragonblood horses would faint on the spot. Believe me."

"That... actually makes sense." Anna rubbed her chin, somewhat surprised that Ariel could be this intelligent when it came to matters like these, analyzing everything so clearly.

But why was it that once she saw that thing in bed, her intelligence immediately dropped into the negatives?

Truly incomprehensible.

"So our plan failed?"

Liya puffed out her cheeks, also observing through binoculars.

Faced with a mighty calamity, they did not dare use any magic or special methods. They could only rely on this purely physical approach, and even then, they could only observe the carriage from far away. They did not dare glance through the curtain even once, because the slightest carelessness would get them discovered.

It was troublesome.

But they had no choice.

After all, they had worked so hard last night that their butts had nearly been beaten swollen. They could not possibly leave without even knowing the result.

Judging by the current outcome, however... things had not gone nearly as smoothly as they had imagined.

"Did we really overthink it? Does that dragon truly only see Muen as a companion?"

The group exchanged glances.

Their behavior last night had been a deliberate provocation and temptation from the beginning.

If it had been any normal woman who harbored those kinds of feelings for Muen, then after witnessing what happened last night, how could she possibly restrain herself now when faced with a completely defenseless Muen? She would have immediately pinned him down inside the carriage and punished him thoroughly.

What? He had already been drained dry last night?

Wouldn't that make it even better?

His weak, limp state would only make the teasing more interesting.

But the situation now was that they had voluntarily vacated the position and given them space, yet that dragon still had not done anything.

Either... she truly had no such thoughts and regarded Muen purely as a companion.

Or...

"Perhaps the time hasn't come yet."

An suddenly spoke.

"Oh?"

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

This entire series of plans had made the little maid extremely unhappy, so she had hardly spoken at all.

Unexpectedly, she had taken the initiative now.

"What do you mean, the time hasn't come yet?"

"It's simple. Women who accidentally fall in love don't only have the habit of deceiving themselves."

An glanced at Ariel beside her and said:

"They have another trait as well... they're very good at enduring. The stronger the emotions they harbor, the more this tends to be true. Especially for a dragon that has lived for a thousand years."

"Enduring? That makes some sense."

Ariel crossed her arms, wearing an expression that seemed to say, you've already learned seventy percent of my skills. "Then what do we do next? Try another scheme?"

"No need."

An looked toward the carriage gradually disappearing into the distance, her refined little face completely expressionless. "If that's really the case, then we don't need to do anything else. Sooner or later, she'll erupt on her own... like a river that's been dammed."

"A dammed river... interesting metaphor. So you're saying there's nothing we can do?" Anna remained lazy. "We can only wait for the raging flood to burst out?"

"Wasn't there nothing we could do from the beginning?" An sneered. "Including what we've been doing these past two days. Rather than calling it testing or confirming an enemy, it would be more accurate to say that certain sluts were merely venting their own desires. Ridiculous."

"Oh my. Calling someone else a slut? Someone was making quite a lot of noise last night."

"Hmph. Still not as loudly as you."

"I'm a slut. So what? Junior likes me this way."

"You..."

"All right, all right..."

Seeing the atmosphere suddenly become tense, Liya stepped forward and clasped her hands together, radiating pure, flawless innocence that made her look utterly lovable.

"No matter what, we're still allies right now. As long as that calamity might become our enemy, we shouldn't fight among ourselves... but in fairness, I have to say that both of you really were rather loud last night. Even a pure maiden like me felt a little embarrassed..."

"You have the nerve to criticize anyone else? You were the loudest one last night!" Ariel, unable to tolerate her childhood friend's shamelessness, immediately pinched Liya's thigh.

Naturally, Liya refused to back down. Brandishing her deadly weapons, she lunged at Ariel with claws bared, and the two immediately started wrestling.

"I'm leaving first."

Anna had long since grown accustomed to the fragile sisterhood between those two and had even less interest in genuinely bickering with An. "If no more schemes will be useful from here on, there's no point continuing to watch. I still have work at the Silent Bureau. I can't stay away for too long."

With that, Anna completely merged into the shadows and vanished without a trace.

Coming and going as freely as ever.

"I'm leaving too."

An was even more concise. "Don't involve me in ridiculous schemes like this again. They're nothing but a waste of time."

With that, she leapt away as well, rapidly disappearing into the distance.

"Then I'm leaving too."

Liya pushed Ariel away, brushed at her hair to remove the leaves caught in it, and then, with a flash of Holy Light, instantly restored her holy and elegant appearance. "I can't stay away from the Church for too long either. There are still lost lambs waiting for me to guide them."

A spatial doorway opened, and Liya stepped through.

"They're all gone?"

In an instant, the lively treetop became completely empty.

Only Ariel remained.

She scratched her head...

"Hmph. You can all leave if you want. I'm staying... perfect. If my guess is right, there's still another good show coming next!"

The corner of Ariel's mouth curled upward into a rebellious grin. She thought those idiots were truly foolish. If they all ran off, weren't they simply handing the entire opportunity over to her?

And so she concealed her presence and secretly followed in the direction of the carriage, heading toward their final destination...

......

......

"Mm... that was a great sleep."

As evening approached, Muen stretched and opened his eyes.

The sunlight was no longer harsh. The golden-orange sunset set the clouds ablaze, casting hazy light across the vast forest.

Beautiful.

Of course, the dragon girl opposite him, resting her cheek against one hand as her molten-gold eyes reflected the sunset, her entire body seeming to be gilded in pure light, was even more beautiful.

"You're awake."

Hamreign raised her head. Her fair face was tinted red by the evening glow, and several scales at her temple glittered faintly. "How did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully."

Muen smiled. "With Miss Dragon here, I slept better and more peacefully than ever."

"That's good."

Hamreign met Muen's gaze for a moment, then suddenly looked away again, as though the sunset outside possessed an irresistible attraction even for a dragon who had lived for over a thousand years. She returned to looking at the scenery.

"If you like... you can sleep a little longer."

"No need." Muen waved his hand and smiled wryly. "I've slept enough. If I keep sleeping, I'll turn into a pig. Besides, my days and nights have been completely reversed lately. I should adjust my schedule a little."

"...They really have been reversed."

Hamreign replied, "And you really should adjust them."

"..."

"..."

Neither spoke.

Muen looked around and discovered that there really was nothing particularly interesting inside the carriage, so he too turned toward the window and began admiring the scenery.

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet."

"Should we stop first and eat something?"

"No need. I'm not hungry. Keep going."

"..."

"..."

"That patch of forest over there looks familiar."

"You recognize it?"

"No. It just looks familiar."

"..."

"..."

"Wow, the stars came out really early today."

"They did. The moon is rather late, though."

"..."

"..."

"Look at that cloud. Doesn't it look like an airplane?"

"What's an airplane?"

"..."

"..."

For some reason, even though they had previously gotten along perfectly well as "eternal companions," their interactions had now become inexplicably distant.

Both of them focused entirely on admiring the scenery, seemingly without any other thoughts whatsoever. Neither even wanted to let their gaze linger for long on the person sitting directly opposite them. They simply exchanged one awkward bit of small talk after another.

And so time passed quickly.

At one point, Muen truly could not stand this inexplicable yet impossible-to-explain atmosphere anymore. He simply sank his consciousness back into his mental space and began studying his Divine Kingdom instead.

Until the next day, when the first ray of sunlight rose above the horizon.

The moment the silhouette of that mighty city appeared in the distance, Muen and Hamreign opened their eyes at the same time.

Belrand had arrived.