“…Palace!”

Lulu opened her eyes and raised her head. She stayed perfectly still and squinted. During her nap just now, it felt like she had heard something…. After waiting for a bit, she lowered her head again. If she wasn’t dreaming, and the message was really important, then it’d be repeated. A yawn escaped from Lulu’s mouth, and her jaws snapped shut before she placed her chin back down onto her front paws. Her gaze shifted towards the pile of used materials in the corner of her room, and two jets of steam shot out of her nostrils. It was a shame Tafel had given up on self-studying so easily. If the demon were still here, Lulu could ask her to open a few portals to pick up more alchemy supplies.

“Gloria’s in danger! Come outside the palace!”

Lulu raised her head again. So, she wasn’t just hearing things! At last, a reasonable excuse to leave the palace had presented itself. Who cares if she was grounded? Her niece was in danger! She galloped out of her room and hesitated at the threshold. Her feet paused, and she tilted her head. If she hadn’t been hearing things…, then who the heck had spoken!? A shiver ran down her spine as she turned around. Her gaze roamed around the whole room, but she didn’t see anyone. Her eyes shifted up towards the ceiling, and as expected! There … was no one there.

“H-hello?” Lulu called out. Her brow furrowed. What if there was a fairy sneaking around with invisibility? She was pretty sure they could do that. A fairy could easily get her into trouble with her mom by tricking her out of the palace! However, how could Lulu be afraid of a little bit of trouble? This was her niece that was in danger! It was better to confirm Gloria was safe than to doubt the foreign voice in her head convincing her to do things she shouldn’t. Now that she thought about it…, was she crazy? “Is anyone there?”

“Gloria’s in danger! Come outside the palace!”

Lulu scratched her head. It sounded like the voice had come from an external source and not from inside her mind, but then again, she hadn’t heard voices speaking inside her head before. What if this was how crazy people heard the voices that only they could hear? Lulu shook her head. What was she thinking? If she really was crazy, her mother would’ve purified whatever it was out of her! Lulu took a step forward, and the green scales on her leg caught her attention. Then again, her mother wasn’t strong enough to purify everything; if she were, would Lulu still be green? Maybe this was the effect of the poison! It was making her hear voices!

“What are you standing around for? Move!”

Lulu blinked and turned her head. Grimmy and Leila were in the corridor right behind her, and she was blocking their way. “Wait,” Lulu said. “How did the two of you get here without me noticing?” She raised her leg and stepped down, her claws clacking against the floor. She glanced at Grimmy’s and Leila’s feet. Their claws were even longer than hers, so why hadn’t she heard them click while they walked over?

Grimmy placed his hand on Lulu’s shoulder. Then, he shifted her to the side, opening the way. “If you weren’t staring into space, maybe you would’ve heard us.”

Lulu blinked again. After a bit, she regained her sense and chased after Grimmy and Leila. “You guys heard the voice in your head too? The one saying Gloria was in danger?”

“You mean Kozabokget’s message?” Leila asked. “It was broadcasted by the wind to the whole household.” Leila glanced down at the green scales on Lulu’s body. It was unfortunate, but it seemed like the poison had affected her little sister’s mind. Luckily, Grimmy was working on making a cure. Probably. If he was, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry.

“Kozabokget is … Ramon’s pet goat, right?” Lulu asked and raised an eyebrow. Her eyes lit up, and she picked up the pace. She hadn’t really paid any attention to the little goat, but if it could do something like broadcasting a message through the wind, wouldn’t it make a great alchemical ingredient? Perhaps she could bribe Ramon for one of its hooves. If she offered him some bear meat while he was hungry, it might just work….

Lulu skipped and hummed to herself as she followed behind the pair of dragons in front of her. However, after receiving a glare from Leila, Lulu remembered this was supposed to be a solemn moment. Gloria was allegedly in danger! Lulu nodded and made a zipping motion in front of her mouth before forcing herself to walk normally. It didn’t take long for the dragons to reach the entrance, and when they did, Grimmy let out an earth-shattering roar and charged out, causing Lulu to raise her paws to cover her ears. Leila roared as well, rendering Lulu’s attempts at protecting her eardrums useless. Luckily, Lulu was a holy dragon. She casted a quick healing spell on her head and rushed out, following behind her sister.

Lulu’s gaze landed on the little cursed dragon with two ballista bolts sticking out of her body. There were four bloody bolts on the ground below her, and huge chunks of flesh were attached to the hooks along the bolts’ shafts. Lulu’s eyes widened upon seeing the blood pouring out of the cursed dragon, and she was about to launch a healing spell, but Leila had already done that. As for Grimmy, he flew into the air despite the limited space within the cavern, and unleashed a breath of black flames. They washed over the trees and greenery, setting everything ablaze. Shouts and screams filled the air as a layer of pitch-black smoke blanketed the cavern.

“Are you alright, Gloria?” Leila asked. “Don’t worry, I’m here now. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Gloria released the ballista bolt she was pulling out of her body. Tears poured from her eyes, and she let out a wail as she buried herself in her mother’s embrace. As for stopping her dad from setting the farm on fire…. Well, the farm wasn’t a good place. Perhaps it should be burned down.