Knowing.

The tense atmosphere also made the whole body shiver, not even a word was heard in the room at all. The girl in the black dress could feel a chill around her, different from the night wind she had previously felt. Her amber eyes noticed the movements of a man in a black robe with gold trim who kept watching her and the little girl beside her.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬? 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨. She said to herself.

"Is there something you'd like to say, Princess Elie?"

Elie's shoulders jerked after hearing Carlex's deep voice, who suddenly asked her to speak. The girl's face slowly looked up, staring at the face of the adult man across from her.

Elie swallowed hard. "My apologies, Emperor. I accidentally destroyed one of your heirlooms."

Her face drooping after letting out her voice, she did not dare to stare any longer at the Emperor's intimidating bloodshot eyes. Suddenly Elie could feel a soft touch on her palm, where the fingers that were smaller than hers clasped her fingers.

Elie looked at the face of the little girl beside her. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥? Thought Elie.

There was a smile on Nevi's little face. "Demon uncle sure likes to threaten, pretty sister, don't worry." She said while smiling widely.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐝!

The sound of something falling from the other side made Elie's face turn around. There was a surprised look on Elie's face when the girl saw the books on the table in front of her scattering to the floor.

"Demon uncle? Don't you understand what you're saying, Princess Nevi?"

Meanwhile, the little girl named Nevi just grunted in annoyance when she saw Carlex's angry face, which Elie thought was very tense.

"Uncle is very fierce, Nevi does not want to talk to Uncle!" Nevi turned her back on Carlex's body, who looked in disbelief.

Likewise, with Elie who was between the two of them, she didn't know what to do. On her right side was Nevi who was scowling, and across from her was Carlex who was holding back his anger.

Elie wore a bitter smile, herself on the verge of uneasiness. In the end, Elie sighed harshly. She was in silence for almost 5 minutes.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty. Allow me to speak."

Carlex squinted his eyes at Elie's face who was staring at him.

"Permission granted, please speak." Carlex replied.

After that, Elie held Nevi's hand who was sitting beside her. She needed the energy to speak to his Emperor.

"During the event earlier, I saw Princess Nevi wandering around, it seemed she was looking for someone among the crowds of Princes and Princesses." Elie took a breath before continuing her explanation.

"And I saw Princess Nevi walking without looking. After that, I tried to help her, but I accidentally bumped into one of your heirlooms." The girl's face lowered.

Elie looked up, "Like that, Your Imperial Majesty." Finally.

Carlex's gaze continued to watch Elie's face, which he thought was brave enough. While her amber eyes were waiting for a response from Carlex, she was rendered speechless after hearing a chuckle escape from the man's lips.

"Though I didn't expect you to lie, Princess."

Completely taken aback by the Emperor's reply, Elie gulped violently.

𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺? Elie thought with a shudder.

Carlex turned his face to Nevi who still didn't want to face him, making his feelings messy.

"Don't you want to talk too, Nevi? I'm waiting for an explanation from you." The Emperor said.

But Nevi didn't reply yet, the little girl's lips continued to pucker as seen by Elie.

Elie held back her smile when she saw Nevi's lips mutter something that made her almost laugh.

"It seems that you are really annoyed, Nevi?" Elie asked while ruffling the little girl's green hair.

While the girl was ruffling Nevi's hair, suddenly a groan was heard from the little girl beside her.

"Nevi?" Elie asked while checking Nevi's face.

"WATCH OUT!"

Elie jumped in surprise when her body was pulled from the opposite direction, where an adult man's hand held her body like a baby panda. The gray haired girl's face was hidden in the shoulder of the grown man who was carrying her. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt heat from behind her back, she didn't dare to turn her head.

"Please hold on a moment, Princess Elie." Carlex said while pressing the back of Elie's head.

Elie's hands gripped the robes the Emperor was wearing, and a frantic feeling surrounded her. Don't know what she felt now, but she was really scared after the smoke hit her face.

"Your Majesty, what's going on?" Elie's voice trembled as she spoke.

Carlex could feel Elie's whole body vibrate as the girl again felt the heat from behind her back.

Carlex's wide palm gently caressed Elie's gray mane. "Don't worry, there's no need to be afraid."

Suddenly the floor beneath them shook, Carlex had not expected it before.

"Bring Princess Nevi's medicine right now!" The command.

"Roger!"

The maids and guards who were in the room immediately ran out of Carlex's room, carrying out what their Emperor ordered.

"Just a moment, please hold on a little longer." Carlex said as he rubbed Elie's back.

Meanwhile, the girl held back her tears as she heard groans behind her. The sound of a huge beast that she had not imagined before roared until the floor beneath them trembled. A shadow also appeared on the floor of the room, that revealed a winged thing with clawed hands.

"May I ask a question?" Elie spoke with trembling lips.

Carlex glanced briefly at Elie's face. "Sure."

Elie grabbed Carlex's arm, then slowly her face turned slightly back.

"Is it okay for me to witness this?" She asked while holding back the fear.

Even so, the grown man who was carrying her could feel her hands shaking.

Carlex smiled slightly. "Actually no one knows the truth of this, and usually if someone sees it they will be killed on the spot to erase any traces." He replied.

Elie gasped. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵? Negative thoughts.

Feeling the look on the girl's face change, he laughed until his eyes narrowed.

"Do you think that you will be killed after this?" He asked.

Elie looked into Carlex's eyes which she thought were very beautiful. "Am I not going to be killed?"

The face that was laughing earlier immediately put on a straight face.

"Do you want?"

Elie shook her head quickly. "Of course not!" Her reply was a balk.

Carlex smiled slightly. "I miss him so much." His muttering was heard by Elie.

Then Carlex's gaze returned to the direction of something that had not stopped roaring, even destroying the objects around it.

"Nevi is one Dragon that is hard to tame."

The words that came out of Carlex's lips made Elie's amber eyes also glance toward the dragon that was destroying every item in the room.

"That's why she was entrusted to me to take part in the training to become a juvenile dragon."

Elie listened to Carlex's explanation which she understood immediately. Elie's head nodded after understanding what the Emperor had said about Nevi.

"I felt scared in the beginning," Elie spoke frankly.

Carlex didn't say anything back, because he knew that everyone would react that way when they saw the truth about them.

"But when I heard Nevi's groaning, I knew that she too was in pain in her present form." Elie continued her words.

Hearing Elie's response made Carlex's lips smile directly in front of the girl.

"Do you want to be my daughter in law, Princess Elie?" Carlex smiled at Elie.

Elie smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to the offer made by the Emperor.

At the same time, the maids and guards had returned with a black box in one of the maid's hands. Carlex and Elie turned simultaneously towards the guards and maids who had encircled Nevi who was in Dragon form.

"Do it now." Carlex's command.

Carefully and swiftly, the guards dropped the Dragon's body to the floor until the sound of the crash was heard on the ground floor.

"What's that noise?"

"The voice made the floor vibrate."

"Is the Emperor having a shooting competition?"

The noise was happening on the ground floor, the Imperial Hall to be more precise. Even so, the guards continued their duties with the help of the servants who had held one of the Dragon's legs.

"My apologies, Princess Nevi." The servant who held the injection containing the liquid immediately stuck the injection into Nevi's skin.

Moans sounded loud in the room. Elie became a stranger witness in the room, she thought deeply about what she saw just now.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. Elie thought.

𝓥𝓲𝓮𝓓𝓻𝓪

The bustling atmosphere surrounding the green yard in the morning adds a refreshing impression to be enjoyed. Some of the Princes and Princesses were already present, some of whom were cleaning their arrows and bows, some were feeding their horses, and even the Princes joked with each other by showing their talent by shooting at one of the trees.

"Elie, where have you been all night?" A young boy asked while draping his arrow on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, the girl in her training outfit glanced at the face of the boy walking with her.

"Aah, I was only invited to have dinner with the Emperor." Said Elie with a feeling of doubt.

Hearing his Older Sister's reply sounded quite fishy, but Zavei only gave a nod in return.

"I wonder where you are because Second Princess Uvceh has been grooming you since yesterday," Zavei said.

Elie's steps stopped after hearing Zavei's words.

"Second Princess Uvceh?" She asks.

Zavei tilted his head. "It seems you still forgot, Princess Navla was your close friend while at the academy," He replied.

Elie gripped her bowstring tightly, even though she felt the sharpness of it.

"I'll try to remember." Said Elie.

The two of them walked side by side, with their footsteps entering the courtyard area along with the horses they would be riding later.

The focus shifted to the two siblings from the Qavec Kingdom who from last night's banquet were the topic of conversation.

"It seems Crown Princess Qavec looks fine after being summoned by the Emperor."

"Her face doesn't indicate anything bad at all."

"I think Crown Princess Qavec will cause more trouble."

Such were the voices that were heard around the yard. Even so, Elie paid no mind to the voices that carried her name.

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Elie thought she didn't care.

The sound of the gong was heard again, signaling the competition was about to begin. The Princes and Princesses gathered at the point provided to start the competition.

"Alright, since the representatives from each Kingdom have arrived. The competition is declared to have started!" The Emperor said standing up from his throne.