Lulu stood at the edge of a pool of liquid. It was dark-green, and light green bubbles of air constantly burbled to the surface. They popped, releasing a foul gas that caused Lulu’s snout to wrinkle. She gulped and turned her head to the side where Kondra was standing next to Grimmy. The holy dragon matriarch glared at Lulu, daring her to say something. However, could Lulu really not say anything in a situation like this?

Lulu gulped and turned to look at Grimmy. “Is this … safe?”

Grimmy chuckled. “It’ll get rid of the residual poison inside of your body.”

Lulu stared at the bubbling pool of liquid. She noticed Grimmy hadn’t answered her question. “Is this going to hurt?”

“Not at all,” Grimmy said. “The longer you wait outside, the less effective the medication will be. You have to get inside before the medical properties boil away.”

“I knew it was boiling!” Lulu said, her eyes widening. Although she was a dragon and could swim through lava just fine, that didn’t mean she wanted to voluntarily leap into boiling water! It might not be unbearable, but it was still painful and uncomfortable. Compared to the poison within her body, the one that didn’t even hurt and that she sometimes forgot was there, wasn’t the cure much worse for her health?

“Stop dawdling around,” Kondra said. “Jump in.”

A dark expression appeared on Lulu’s face. Kondra had returned to her home in the eastern continent and found a purple dragon hanging out with Leo and Luke. Then, something happened, and Kondra went back to the southern continent to check on Lulu. The holy dragon matriarch hadn’t told Lulu what happened after a purple dragon was discovered in their home, but the young dragon knew it couldn’t have ended well for Leo and Luke. Perhaps the dragons even got physical. Lulu had been around her mother for all her life, and she knew Kondra was acting a lot snappier than usual. If she didn’t behave and jump into the pool of boiling liquid, she’d be pushed in by her own mother.

Lulu took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and jumped into the pool. The green liquid splashed up and around the edge of the pool, causing the bricks to slightly erode. Lulu clawed her way to the surface and gasped for breath while opening her eyes. Her nictitating membranes flickered a few times, clearing her vision. She clenched her teeth and looked at Grimmy. “How long do I have to stay in here?”

“Until the green tint on your scales is gone,” Grimmy said. He gestured with his front leg for Lulu to sink deeper into the pool. “You have to cover yourself completely. If you need help, I can put a lid on the pool to stop your head from surfacing.”

Lulu took in a deep breath and covered her nostrils with her front paws before sinking downwards. Put a lid on the pool? In Grimmy’s dreams! She wasn’t going to let him cook her. She’d rather cook herself!

“You’re absolutely sure this is going to cure her?” Kondra asked, frowning at Grimmy.

“You can’t be absolutely sure about anything,” Grimmy said and chuckled. “However, I’m pretty sure this’ll fix her right up. She’ll be silver again just in time for the wedding.” His eyes narrowed at Kondra. “Should you really be questioning me when I’m the one doing you a favor? I have no obligation to help Lulu cure herself after she poked around a sealed area, you know.”

“She became like this due to the cursed elf you brought with you,” Kondra said. “As an owner, you have to be responsible for your pet’s actions.”

“She’s not really a pet,” Grimmy said. “She’s her own thinking person.”

Kondra snorted. “You brought her there when she wasn’t invited, and she caused trouble at my home. You’re the one responsible for her actions; as such, you’re the one that has to cure Lulu. Besides, she’s a part of your family now. Family should take care of one another.”

“For free though?” Grimmy asked, raising an eyebrow. “Just because we’re related—not by blood, mind you—I can’t charge you or her for my time and ingredients? I’m a very busy individual, and to take time out of my busy schedule to fix someone else’s mistake, don’t you think I should be compensated?”

Kondra huffed out a sigh. “Say it. What do you want?”

“I want to borrow your mate for a while,” Grimmy said. He raised his paw before Kondra could say anything. “Not now, of course, but in the future. His healing ability is quite special, and I think it’s worth studying.”

Kondra’s eyes narrowed. “You know I can’t agree to that.”

“And why can’t you?” Grimmy asked, a small grin appearing on his face. “Everyone knows he’ll listen to anything you say.”

Kondra shook her head. “I won’t ever use my mate as a chip for trading.”

“Fine, fine,” Grimmy said. “How about this then? Instead of letting me borrow him, just have him use his healing ability on Vur. That way, Vur will learn it, and I’ll be able to study it with Vur’s help instead.”

A furrow appeared on Kondra’s brow. She shook her head. “My mate’s healing ability is too strong. Only a responsible person can be allowed to learn it.”

“Vur’s plenty responsible,” Grimmy said. “Have you ever seen him abusing his power?”

“…I don’t see him often.”

“There you go,” Grimmy said. “Out of sight, out of mind. As long as you don’t know any abuse of power has occurred, then it might as well have never happened. Besides, Vur has plenty of other ways to kill people. Thanks to a certain fairy queen, he can polymorph people into mushrooms and step on them if he wants. It’s much more effective than healing someone to death.”

Kondra furrowed her brow. “Even if you can study my mate’s ability, you won’t be able to use it as a cursed dragon. Are you doing this for Vur? Why have you invested so much in him?”

Grimmy smiled. “Because he’s worth the investment. If anyone can come back from a dimensional rift, it’s him.”

Kondra raised an eyebrow. “You raised him to explore the beyond?”

“I never said that,” Grimmy said. “As a good, honest dragon, I can proudly say I’ve never raised Vur with an ulterior motive in mind. However, since he’s been raised to this point…, it’s not wrong to ask him to do a few things for me, right?”