“Your Highness!”

I finally saw the magnificent city again . The last time I saw it was about half a year ago . Previously, I’d spend an entire month here with my mom and Lucia, but it felt distant to me upon seeing again .

The guard below the city wall respectfully saluted me, “Your Highness, Her Highness has already told us to take you back to the imperial palace once you arrive . ”

The guards wouldn’t question my whereabouts . They allowed me and the White Deer King into the city . I shook my head: “Don’t rush; I still have something to do . I’ll head to the imperial palace once I’m finished with business . Don’t worry about me . ”

“Understood . ”

Duargana felt foreign when I saw it, but after entering the city, the past vividly returned to me . Elves and humans had different concepts of time . For that reason, the elven city didn’t change in the slightest . The White Deer King trotted along the blue stone path with her head held high . It was clear that the White Deer King was elated to return . I didn’t plan to go and die, but since I was in Duargana, I needed to visit someone I was familiar with and was also my good friend .

I arrived at the village of the dark elves in the city . Elves didn’t like to come to the area, as they considered it to be an inauspicious and revolting place . n.o.body wanted to live or do business in the area, either . Thus, Mommy Vyvyan hadn’t decided what to do with the place . As a result, it was desolate for the meantime . It hadn’t been a year, yet all except one house had become dilapidated .

I went up to Mera’s house . The flowers still bloomed . Everything remained in the same state as when I left . Mera nearly killed me, but Mommy Vyvyan fulfilled my request . A long time had pa.s.sed; even so, her house was maintained as though it was still inhabited .

I went inside . There were no traces of someone living inside . Still, it was neat and tidy . I went into the bedroom . I was familiar with everything inside . The traces of Mera’s time in the house had already vanished long ago . Her scent was no longer detectable . Even her furniture had been swapped out . I knew they had to swap the furniture out owing to the poor condition of the originals, but I surprisingly lost the sense of nostalgia back then .

Mera once lived there, yet it surprisingly felt foreign to me when I visited again . As a matter of fact, I felt as if I was in foreign territory . I knew Mera lived in the home, and I knew who she was, but I couldn’t connect the two .

I didn’t lie down . After a short silence, I softly expressed, “Mera, I’ll visit you again . I don’t know how many more chances I’ll get to visit you, so I always try my best to visit you when I come back, but the traces of your life continue to disappear . I’m already feeling that it’s foreign to me . ”

I choked on my emotions . I looked around at the silent house and asked myself, “If I forget to visit one day, will I never come again? I’ll forget you, won’t I…? I’m now a dragon, but my memory and mind hasn’t changed . Mera’s traces can no longer be found in her house, so how will I remember her in the future?”

I took out the small book in my s.h.i.+rt . Mera’s book of formulas was the most valuable a.s.set she left me with, and it was the mark she left in this world . If I lost it, how was I going to remember her? Luna had returned to my side, but Mera no longer had anything .

The house sparked poignant memories . I desperately tried to recall the traces of Mera’s existence . I wanted to remember them more vividly to make the memory last longer . I wondered, “I might have very few chances to come back in the future . I won’t see her house, and if I don’t use pharmaceuticals, will I forget Mera forever?”

I walked over to Mera’s bed and carefully sat down . I pressed my hand down onto the bed sheet . Noticing something odd, I stood back up and stared at the mattress . I a.n.a.lysed, “There’s something bizarre about this mattress . n.o.body would come into Mera’s house when I’m not present . To be precise, n.o.body would live here even if they did come in . They’re just cleaners, so they wouldn’t live here, but the mattress is warm for some reason . ”

If I was an elf or a human, I definitely wouldn’t be able to detect it, but my scales were sensitive to heat . As soon as I touched the bed, I felt warmth, albeit faintly . Somebody apparently slept there and then did the bed before they left .

I tried to figure out what happened: “Somebody lives here? The elves wouldn’t live here, would they? Could it be a dark elf? That seems implausible . They were declared extinct when Mera died . Mommy Vyvyan couldn’t possibly have spared a single one . Mommy Vyvyan would’ve killed every last one of them, as they attacked me . Mommy Vyvyan wouldn’t slip up, so I don’t need to worry about that . So, who was it?”

I suddenly heard rumbling downstairs . I left the room . A guard nearly struck me with his spear . Well, he actually did make contact with his thrust, but my dragon scales protected me . Shocked, he shrieked and then threw his spear down and immediately dropped to his knees . I shook my head to indicate that I didn’t mind . Instead, I looked at a group of guards holding down a body . I queried, “What happened?”

“Sorry!! Your Highness!! I am very sorry! I did not think that it was you! I am very, very sorry!!”

“It’s fine . ”

“Sorry! Sorry!!”

I irritably pulled him up then questioned, “I asked, what happened?”

He lingered for a moment then straightened up: “The truth is… is… is that somebody trespa.s.sed on the property . It seems to be a tramp has been living here the entire time . However, due to this place being sealed off, no elves are permitted to reside here . It took us a long time to catch her . She is relatively ruthless . She has stabbed several of our comrades with her dagger . That was why I was very tense . I apologise . I apologise . ”

I shook my head: “I’m all right . ”

I looked at the girl donning a small and tattered cloak the guards were holding down: “What are you going to do with her?”

“We will probably lock her up for some time, and then arrange housing for her… As Her Highness is benevolent, I am sure she would handle it that way . ”

In my mind: “If you ask me, if Mommy Vyvyan finds out that you stabbed me, you’ll die . ”

I nodded” “That’s great . Do that . We should provide the homeless with a home . I won’t interfere with the matter, then . ”

“I am very sorry, Your Highness . ”

“I told you I’m all right . ”