The next morning, before the sky had fully brightened.
The kitchen light was already on.
Flora was inside, taking the prepared food and seasonings out of the refrigerator and packing them into boxes while checking if anything had been left behind.
A pair of hands gently wrapped around her waist from behind. Flora stopped what she was doing, her ears turning slightly red as she said softly, “You're awake~”
Chen Mian gently rested his chin on her shoulder. “Mhm, I smelled the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.”
“So you were woken up by the smell of food.” Flora turned her head, a hint of a smile in her lively eyes.
“Not entirely,” Chen Mian said softly. “I also smelled Flora's scent.”
Flora's ears turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she leaned back gently against him. “What kind of scent...?”
“A very nice one.” Chen Mian tightened his arms slightly. “It's my favorite scent.”
Flora lowered her head, pretending to look at the lunchbox in her hands. However, her fingers rubbed against the lid several times; she wasn't looking at it at all.
“Chen Mian.”
“Mhm?”
“If you hold me like this, I won't be able to pack properly.” Her voice carried a trace of a coquettish whine.
“Then we'll pack later.”
Flora chuckled softly and turned her head to look at him. “But we're about to set off soon, and everyone hasn't eaten breakfast yet.”
“Let them starve a bit longer.”
Flora laughed softly at his words. “If Loviki hears that, she'll definitely say the two of us are getting more and more shameless.”
“It's not the first time she's said that.”
Flora turned around, and the distance between them suddenly became very close. Her hands naturally wrapped around Chen Mian as she looked up at him. “Then how much longer do you want to hold me?”
“How long do you want me to hold you?”
“Hmm...” Flora thought about it seriously, wrapping her arms even tighter. “At least five more minutes... No, ten minutes.”
“Alright.”
“What if Loviki and the others come down?”
“We'll just say we were discussing this morning's menu.”
Flora finally couldn't help but burst into laughter. She buried her face in his chest, her shoulders shaking slightly as she giggled. “Chen Mian, you weren't like this before...”
“Then what was I like?”
“Before, you looked serious no matter what you said.” She looked up, her eyes bright. “You wouldn't say things like this.”
“Then does Flora like the old me or the current me?”
Flora tilted her head in thought, then blushed, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a gentle peck on the lips. “I like both.”
The two of them stayed in the kitchen for a while longer.
It wasn't until footsteps echoed from the stairs that Flora let go and stepped back, continuing to tidy up the seasoning bottles on the stove, her ears still red.
“Morning~” Loviki yawned as she walked downstairs. Her hair was already tied up, and she looked in good spirits, though she pursed her lips when she saw the two of them. “What are you two doing in secret again?”
“Discussing the breakfast menu.”
“Do you two need to hug each other just to discuss the breakfast menu?”
“So you already knew what we were doing.”
Loviki snorted and walked into the kitchen. “I want some porridge. I didn't eat my fill last night.”
Flora pursed her lips with a red face, turning around to get a bowl. “It's already done. It's in the warming box.”
Before long, Louise came down as well, followed by a sleepy-eyed Irena.
“Yaaawn~ Morning.” Irena dragged her feet into the living room and sat on the sofa, looking as if she might fall asleep at any moment.
“Why did you wake up so early too, Irena?” Loviki, holding her bowl of porridge, asked curiously.
“It's all because of that pest Velyan. She insisted on dragging me out of bed to say goodbye,” Irena said lazily, rubbing her eyes.
Soon, Velyan ran downstairs carrying a backpack, her golden tail held high behind her, looking very happy. “I am ready! I brought a change of clothes and the sauces Flora gave me!”
“...Why are you bringing sauces?” Loviki looked up, a trace of confusion in her eyes.
“We can buy ingredients and cook them ourselves once we get to the Royal Capital,” Velyan said solemnly. “What if the food there isn't to my liking?”
“You said the meat skewers in Linyu Port were delicious last time.”
“That was for emergencies! Emergencies and daily life are different!”
“You always have an excuse.” Loviki smiled helplessly and lowered her head to continue drinking her porridge.
After breakfast, the group arrived at the open space in front of the apartment, where Ryan was already waiting.
Seeing Chen Mian walk out of the apartment, it gently lowered its body to let them climb on.
Flora naturally sat in front of Chen Mian, with Loviki and Louise following closely behind.
Velyan was the last to walk out, with Irena following behind her.
“Here.” Irena handed over a fiery-red fruit, her expression lazy. “Eat it on the way.”
Velyan took it, glanced down at it, and stuffed it into her bag. “Understood! I'll bring you a gift.”
Irena waved her hand. “Sure. I'm going back to sleep then.”
“Are you not coming with us?”
“I have to guard this forest for these three months,” Irena said slowly, glancing at the distant forest. “Besides, I'm not really interested in the Royal Capital of Hella.”
“Then don't slip away in secret.” Velyan took a half-step forward. “Wait for my return.”
“An'an, I am very dedicated to my work,” Irena said, looking at her, her tone still as casual as ever. “Since I promised my dad I'd come and act as a patrol inspector, I will definitely stay for the full three months.”
“I'm going back to sleep.” Irena turned around and yawned.
“Are you really not going to see me off?”
“I already did.” Irena paused at the doorframe, looking back with a smile. “I'll be waiting for you to play games with me when you get back.”
“I'll be back soon!”
Right after Velyan finished speaking, Irena shut the door.
She turned and ran toward Ryan, nimbly jumping up to sit next to Loviki.
“Let's go,” Chen Mian patted Ryan.
Ryan spread his wings. The airflow pressed the grass on the ground flat as his massive body rose smoothly into the sky.
Sitting in the back, Velyan looked back to see the apartment's outline growing smaller and smaller in her vision.
She turned back, opened her backpack, pulled out the red fruit, looked down at it, and then put it back inside.
“Velyan, Irena is a very good friend of yours, right?” Louise looked back at her and asked with a smile.
“Mhm! I've known her for a very long time. Irena is extremely strong; it's universally acknowledged among the younger generation of the dragon race that she shouldn't be messed with. But I wasn't convinced. I am a Chaos Dragon, after all, so I went to find her for a fight.” Velyan nodded. “I found her home, but she was sleeping the entire time and couldn't even be bothered to pay attention to me.”
“So did you fight?” Loviki tilted her head and asked curiously.
“We did,” Velyan nodded, her tone turning slightly sheepish. “I made the first move. The more I fought, the angrier I got. She just lazily dodged and never fought back. By the time I collapsed from exhaustion, she was still listless. In the end, I passed out on her pile of collected gems.”
“And then?”
“And then I fell asleep,” Velyan said with rare embarrassment. “Her pile of gems was very soft, much more comfortable than my nest.”
“Did you become friends after that?”
“Mhm,” Velyan nodded. “There was a lot of delicious food in Irena's house. I don't know where she found it all. I could never find anything good to eat.”
“Irena really is a nice person.”
“Mhm, even though she bullies me sometimes.”
“But Velyan, there's one thing I think Irena got right,” Loviki said with a subtle expression.
“What's that?”
“You really are a big gluttonous pig.”
“I am a dragon!”
“A big gluttonous dragon then, so enticed by the food in Irena's house that you couldn't even walk away.”
“I am not gluttonous... I only like the food Flora makes and the fruits Irena collects. I get tired of other things after eating them a few times.”
“Really?”
“Really! I'm a very picky eater. Before I came to the apartment, I wasn't greedy for food at all.”
...
After flying for most of the day, the outline of a majestic city gradually emerged on the distant horizon.
Tall, grayish-white city walls meandered along the terrain, forming an irregular arc that enclosed the entire urban area.
At regular intervals atop the walls stood tall watchtowers, with blue flags fluttering in the wind.
Inside the city walls, buildings rose in tiers. At a glance, patches of light blue roofs crisscrossed one another, interspersed with numerous high towers and clock towers.
And at the very center of their vision stood a palace that was noticeably taller than all the surrounding buildings—the Hella Palace.
“This city is so huge,” Flora said softly, looking at the giant city in the distance.
“The Royal Capital has a permanent population of nearly four hundred thousand,” Loviki's voice came from beside her. “It would take more than half a day just to walk through the Royal Capital of Hella.”
“Flora, I'll take you to the dragon territory to have a look in the future. It's way bigger than this!”
“Sure!”
As they spoke, Ryan slowly landed in a mountain forest outside the city. Shortly after, the group walked out of the forest with their bags on their backs, heading toward the Royal Capital.
Rate on N.U.
