106. Oh No, It's All Over~
Dorothea whispered a sentence into Xia Yi's ear quietly.
"What did you say?"
Xia Yi felt somewhat incredulous.
She wanted to confirm, just at that moment—
"Daughter, don't listen to this strange granny's nonsense."
Xia Lulu pulled Xia Yi back.
"Who are you calling a strange granny, I am clearly, a seventeen-year-old girl!!" Dorothea protested.
"Let's go back, Xia Yi, we don't need to stay long in the Purple Kite Valley."
Xia Lulu seemed not too keen on continuing the conversation with Dorothea and turned to leave.
Xia Yi didn't think much and followed.
"Your Majesty the Queen, Your Highness the Princess, wait for me…" Elly didn't dare to stay here alone.
Before leaving, Xia Yi looked back at Dorothea.
Dorothea just smiled at her, then waved her hand and disappeared.
"…Such a strange dragon." Xia Yi murmured softly.
She pondered for a moment, then ran to Xia Lulu's side.
"What kind of person was Dorothea before?"
"Are you so concerned about her?" Xia Lulu asked.
Xia Yi nodded, "Mhm, Yuritas is Dorothea's surname, right?"
"Yuritas… That surname, it's been tens of thousands of years, it's the surname of the golden dragon race."
"Dorothea is the last golden dragon, right?"
"The golden dragons committed some absolute taboo and were all executed, including Dorothea, although she was implicated, none of the golden dragons survived. At that time, her age… if speaking in terms of a dragon's age, indeed she was seventeen."
Xia Lulu began to narrate slowly.
"Dorothea's mind might be problematic. But this is not a flaw, for the dragon race, it might even be a sign of becoming a Dragon King. When she knew that the Yuritas family was to be executed, she didn't choose to flee, but made a puppet, stuffed her consciousness into the puppet, lived on in the puppet, and turned her own body into an empty shell."
"This…"
Xia Yi didn't know how to evaluate Dorothea anymore, not many dared to do such a thing to themselves, abandoning the flesh, becoming a puppet.
Then in this way, becoming a puppet, is it still oneself?
Too crazy.
"On the day of the execution, Dorothea went to watch, her body was pierced through the heart, beheaded, and she herself watched on the side as she was executed, still delighted, obviously her mind had a big problem," Xia Lulu commented.
"What happened later?"
"The dragon race buried the golden dragons, although the Yuritas family committed a taboo, but the nobility of their identity and bloodline does not change, as the original heir of Yuritas, Dorothea received an exceptional level of funeral specifications. The cross we saw, that's her tombstone, the body is buried under the cross. Dorothea, who had become a puppet, came to her own grave, made this place her base, and began to research puppet technology, to mold a new body for herself. After all, this place buried the golden dragons who committed the taboo, no one wanted to approach, it was also a quiet place, not to be disturbed."
"Then the special spatial rules here, did Dorothea set them up herself?"
Xia Yi thought of this point, after entering the Purple Kite Valley, it was almost impossible to leave.
"That's not quite right, the Purple Kite Valley was originally her grave, later it became her prison. Although she is a puppet, her strength is still undoubtedly of the dragon race, and she originally had the potential of a Dragon King. Don't look at her liking to use silk threads, in fact, her magic is also very powerful, in a sense, after she became a puppet, she became unkillable, even more terrifying. Many years passed, the dragon race finally discovered Dorothea, considered her a threat, so they came to the Purple Kite Valley, wanting to eliminate her."
Xia Lulu's tone was slightly emotional.
"At that time, the dragon race underestimated Dorothea's strength, failed to kill her. As for Dorothea, her thinking cannot be understood with common sense, she never thought about revenge or anything, just wanted to indulge in her own puppets, also had no intention to waste time with the dragon race, just drove away the invading dragon race. But the dragon race kept sending people over, eventually completely angered Dorothea, she took the initiative to go to the Dragon Palace, killing anyone she saw, and turned all the killed dragons into her own toys. That generation's Dragon King tried to deal with Dorothea, to no avail, she is a puppet, can't die, and if she does, she just switches to another body, essentially invincible."
Xia Yi, upon hearing this, felt a chill run down her spine, unable to utter a word.
"That generation's Dragon King decided to seal Dorothea in her grave, joined by the dragon race's powerhouses, at great cost, transferred Dorothea into the Purple Kite Valley, using a divine artifact to change the spatial rules here, as her prison. Dorothea, seeing that finally no one came to disturb her, calmed down a bit, resumed molding puppets, and occasionally planted flowers."
After listening, Xia Yi roughly understood, this was Dorothea's past.
But there was still one thing that was unclear.
"If it's a seal, why can the outside world enter the Purple Kite Valley?" Xia Yi was puzzled.
"The seal, after all these years, has loosened, I feel that this seal can't hold Dorothea, it's just that she doesn't want to leave for the outside world. I also happened to accidentally enter the Purple Kite Valley back then, and met Dorothea."
"Dorothea turns intruders into toys, right? How come you're fine, and it seems, you're quite familiar with her."
"That's because—"
Xia Lulu paused, then after a few seconds.
"I won't tell you."
"Just like that, you won't say!"
"Adult matters, children shouldn't inquire so much."
Xia Lulu was firm in her attitude, unwilling to continue.
Xia Yi felt that Xia Lulu really had a double-standard, she kept talking about Dorothea's matters, but once it involved her own past, she clammed up, her mouth sealed shut.
Xia Yi thought about it, when Xia Lulu broke into the Purple Kite Valley back then, she probably hadn't become the Dragon King yet.
At that time, Xia Lulu in the dragon palace was just a capricious princess, liking to cause trouble everywhere, completely opposite to now.
Normally, after seeing Xia Lulu, Dorothea should have turned her into a toy, right?
But, judging from the attitudes of these two, that didn't happen, instead, they became friends.
That's right.
Xia Yi remembered, at that time Dorothea made a request to her.
To act cute for her, after all, looking exactly alike, so—
"So that's how it is!!" Xia Yi had an epiphany.
It turns out Xia Lulu survived by acting cute.
Probably in front of Dorothea, she used cuteness to earn her way out, a shameful dark history, she would never want to mention.
Hmph, Xia Lulu, so you were that kind of person before.
Victory!
Still, her own performance was a bit more outstanding, even facing Dorothea's threats, she didn't act cute at all.
This is a display of unwavering will!
Xia Lulu acted cute in front of Dorothea, but I, would rather die than submit, have integrity, firmly refuse to act cute, will never forget the pride of being a Sword Saint!
The superior one is clear.
Xia Yi couldn't help but laugh.
"Hehehe…"
Following Xia Lulu, they quickly arrived at the entrance and saw the hill they had entered through earlier.
Elly released her true dragon form, transforming into a green dragon, and carried Xia Yi and Xia Lulu back to the Dragon Palace.
…
By the time they reached the Dragon Palace, it was already dark.
"We're finally back!!" Elly sighed in relief. "I don't want to come to the Purple Kite Valley ever again, Miss Dorothea is really too scary."
It was clear that the trip to the Purple Kite Valley was not a happy one for the little green dragon maid, and she had almost lost her life there.
"Yes, we can go back to sleep in peace now, and I'm just in time for dinner!" Xia Yi agreed.
However, things did not end as they had expected.
"Aren't you going to explain?" Xia Lulu said.
"Ah?"
Xia Yi was stunned.
"Meaning, why did you and this Royal Maid Corps' reserve little maid appear together in the Purple Kite Valley?" Xia Lulu looked at Xia Yi.
It's over…
It's really over!!
Xia Yi realized that she had just left the Dragon Pool and had entered the tiger's den.
The fact that she had sneaked out of the palace was something that absolutely could not be known by Xia Lulu.
Since Xia Lulu could find her way to the Purple Kite Valley, it meant that she knew everything!
Compared to Xia Yi, it was Elly who couldn't hold on any longer.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed, her face pale as a ghost.
It was like a roller coaster ride; just when she thought she was saved, she faced another disaster.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Queen!! Waaaah!"
Elly burst into tears.
How could she not be afraid?
Everything she had done was about to be exposed!
Breaking the Queen's portrait, soaking the Princess, conspiring with the Princess to cause trouble in the Dragon Palace, attacking the dragon guards, entering the archives without permission to read documents, investigating the Queen's past.
And then, without telling anyone, she took the Princess and fled the dragon palace.
Even if she had nine heads, they wouldn't be enough to save her!
"Your name is Elly, right? I seem to have heard Lucia mention you," Xia Lulu turned to Elly.
Just this action nearly scared Elly out of her wits.
Xia Yi frantically gestured to Elly, hinting that if she cooperated, they could survive!
Facing the oppressive presence of the Silver Dragon Queen, Elly could barely breathe, let alone continue to coordinate with Xia Yi.
Like spilling beans from a bamboo tube, she confessed all the crimes she and the little princess had committed.
"It's my fault, it's all my fault, Your Majesty the Queen, I shouldn't have smashed your portrait!!"
"Smashed?"
"Yes, it all started when I accidentally smashed Your Majesty the Queen's portrait while cleaning and spilled all the water from the bucket on the Princess!"
Elly cried and explained:
"But the Princess wasn't angry, she even wanted to help me, saying that if I behaved, she would cover up the incident… Waaah, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have been hopeful, I should have confessed immediately!!"
"Oh, what a coincidence, Xia Yi, you were there at the time?" Xia Lulu's voice was slightly piercing.
Xia Yi awkwardly lowered her head.
Indeed, she had been mischievous there, feeling a bit embarrassed and guilty towards Elly, she admitted it.
"Yes, yes… I did it on purpose…"
Xia Yi's voice was very soft, and Elly's crying was loud, the little maid didn't hear her and continued to confess.
"I should have refused the Princess's suggestion at that time, how could I attack the guards with the Princess!! And then disguised as a guard, went to the archives to look up information, and found out that Your Majesty the Queen had been to the Purple Kite Valley…"
Xia Lulu smiled, and with an appreciative tone, she began to praise.
"How clever, to use such a strategy, using others as a shield, deceiving heaven and earth to achieve your goals without anyone noticing, your growth pleases me, my daughter."
Xia Yi was trembling.
She couldn't feel happy about these praises, she even felt like crying.
"Later, I took the Princess and left the Dragon Palace, claiming to go out for food shopping, hiding the Princess in the cart, deceiving the dragon guards, and almost got discovered by Sister Sera, but we were lucky, Sister Sera believed us and let us go, so we went to the Purple Kite Valley with the Princess hidden inside. There, we encountered… Wuuuah, it's all my fault!!"
Xia Lulu's expression softened, "The process seems to have been quite an adventure, although there were some minor slip-ups and execution issues… but overall, it was a decent plan," she critiqued with a hint of pride.
Elly, now prostrate on the ground, pleaded, "Your Majesty the Queen, I know my sins are unforgivable. If possible, after my execution, please send someone to carry my ashes back to my homeland, to scatter them over the great river there, as my last wish…"
After a moment of silence, Xia Lulu spoke, "Elly, although you have indeed made many mistakes, considering your valiant efforts to protect Xia Yi in the Purple Kite Valley, let's say your merits balance out your faults, and your death sentence is hereby suspended."
"Really…?!" Hope flickered in Elly's eyes.
"Go to Lucia and recount the whole story to her. Let her arrange your subsequent punishment, as per my command."
"Understood…! Thank you for your magnanimity, Your Majesty the Queen!!" Elly nodded, knowing that even though she might not die, she would still face severe punishment, but at least she was alive.
"Remember, what happened in the Purple Kite Valley must not be spoken of to anyone," Xia Lulu commanded sternly.
"By the Dragon God! If I dare reveal even a single word about today's events, may lightning strike me down, may I die a terrible death, my soul shattered, never to be reborn!" Elly raised her hand and swore a dire oath.
"Good, you may go," Xia Lulu nodded.
Elly then left to find Lucia.
Now, only mother and daughter remained.
Xia Yi is sweating profusely and her tail trembling.
Xia Lulu smiled as she pinched her daughter's cheek and asked, "My good daughter~ is there anything else you wish to say?"
Oh no😂
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