The evil dragon's monster servants always said that Latifa and Patunasankus were like day and night.
Patunasankus knew it very well; obviously, she was the night.
But Princess Latifa found this amusing, so she would always smile and point out that people thought the dragon was the night because she was too warm-hearted, unwilling to set the sun ablaze, not because she was inherently dark.
Patunasankus never understood why Latifa liked her.
Latifa only loved abstract things: music, art, books, all sorts of strange gossip, and the like.
While Patunasankus aspired to be a pure evil dragon, a brutal dragon, a dragon immersed in base pleasures, a dragon harmful to humans. She enjoyed releasing dragon fire, showing off her might, and then soaring through the sky laden with people's fear.
The princess, however, was always dancing.
The evil dragon didn't understand dancing at all.
Rather than appreciating art, spewing fire everywhere suited her better; after all, that's what she had always done.
Just imagine how awkward an evil dragon would look trying to imitate dancing.
Patunasankus was very self-aware.
Although she had never tried it before, she clearly belonged to the type with uncoordinated limbs.
If her arms were in position, her legs would malfunction, and vice versa. In other words, the evil dragon would either stand with arms dangling while stomping to the beat, or stand still with arms moving gracefully.
Either way, it wouldn't look good, and would probably be quite comical.
Faced with Elaphia's proposal, Patunasankus's first reaction was to refuse.
But Elaphia clearly wouldn't leave her an escape route. For her, how could she miss such a good opportunity?
"Evelyn, Princess Latifa's good friend," before Patunasankus could answer, Elaphia deliberately affected a sorrowful tone, as if trying to evoke the princess's guilt, "has been suffering all this time, hasn't she?"
Patunasankus remained unmoved. Evelyn was a complete stranger to her.
Honestly, she didn't know her at all.
"If we use the Duchess's method, the people from Eternal Flame might find the ferocious beast very soon, and then kill her."
Elaphia continued.
"After all, just a moment ago, the holy knights from the Layang Empire arrived at the door. According to their habit of dealing with evil creatures, a few sacred slashes would be inevitable. You know, with a 'dang,' and she's gone."
Elaphia paused for a moment. At this point, she heard the Heart of the Red Queen pounding loudly and felt an obvious intimidating force. She thought to herself that the hero was indeed not easy to fool.
She thought, if the hero was present directly, things would be much more difficult.
She needed to find a way to get her out of the way.
On the other side, Loranhir was already restless.
The mere thought of putting the princess in such a terrible situation made her nervous, her heart beating non-stop.
She didn't want to be in danger.
She was incompetent, she was afraid, but she was even more unwilling to let the princess, out of trust in her, throw herself into an extremely dangerous situation.
It was a tearing kind of pain.
How she wanted to stand up and tell the princess that she was a complete coward, to grab the princess and leave this haunted place immediately.
But she just couldn't do it!
Elaphia said, "The great Hero doesn't need to be there. Miss Evelyn already remembers you. If she sees you, she definitely won't appear. Don't worry, I will certainly protect the princess's safety in your place."
She raised her right hand, the distinctive fine gold guard clearly a symbol of a warrior. "Although I am a scholar who enjoys academic exchanges, I also know a bit of martial arts. Please rest assured."
Hearing her words, Loranhir finally breathed a sigh of relief. If that was the case, she needn't worry anymore.
Compared to her, Elaphia was definitely much more reliable.
"So what do you think, Princess?"
Elaphia looked directly into Patunasankus's azure eyes, her voice without inflection.
She thought to herself, here was another one of her victims.
Since becoming Grand Duke Dreka's thrall, how many people had she deceived with honeyed words while under his control, as she was today?
Honestly, she had lost count.
But she remembered the looks in the victims' eyes. Cursing, hatred.
Elaphia scrutinized Patunasankus. She had never seen such a fragile girl.
The girl's eyes were as blue as the sky, and the sky seemed to have become the frame for her slender silhouette.
Elaphia felt this was a form of respect for beauty, like how a tomb robber breaking into a royal tomb would, facing exquisitely beautiful treasures, couldn't help but admire them in prolonged silence.
But this wouldn't stop her from luring the other into a trap.
Soon, she would be just like those victims.
"Saving your childhood best friend." Elaphia continued with an unchanged expression, "If it were Princess Latifa, she would definitely do this, wouldn't she?"
"..."
Patunasankus dared not look into her eyes.
She didn't know why, after hearing these words, a string in her heart seemed to be gently plucked.
The evil dragon didn't understand, couldn't comprehend.
Just like she didn't know why Latifa liked her. She only felt inexplicably puzzled.
And she really didn't know why she was recalling such insignificant things.
She didn't agree, didn't nod, and didn't show any reaction.
But in her eyes, Elaphia seemed to see the answer.