When my mind pictured a certain place, I felt a tug on my clothes. My confused eyes turned to Elize’s side. For some reason, a nervous look appeared on Elize’s face.

Another side of Elize, different from her previous self, revealed itself to me. I couldn’t understand why Elize was showing such a nervous expression in front of me. Even though I was curious, I decided to open my mouth and ask about Elize’s concerns.

"Cien, can I go back first? I’ll come back in 3 days. I don’t want to meet that monster..."

"You mean my mother-in-law? Don’t be afraid. I will help you overcome your fear of facing her."

I was a little surprised after learning that Elize was afraid of Lilith. But considering Lilith’s reputation as one of the strongest dragons in the Dragon Realm, I didn’t find it strange that even someone like Elize considered Lilith to be a terrifying figure.

Even I couldn’t act presumptuously when dealing with Lilith. My instincts subconsciously regarded Lilith as a dangerous threat. Maybe that was also the reason why I had the least interaction with Lilith while living in the castle.

Neither Lilith nor I had ever spoken to each other at all, apart from when Athena invited me to dinner with the other family members. It’s just that Lucius was someone who posed absolutely no threat to me. But as a future son-in-law, I had to show my respect when dealing with my future father-in-law.

"I hope so. But... just remembering it makes me feel sick." An ugly expression began to appear on Elize’s face. The incident where Elize and Athena went to meet Lilith came back to her mind again. It was by no means a beautiful memory for Elize.

Every time it rained blood, the corpses of various powerful species fell from the sky and reached the ground. Everything that happened in the past had become a terrifying story among the younger generation. For some reason, Elize’s fear of Lilith returned much stronger than before.

Elize’s grip on my clothes started to become very tight. The fear Elize felt at that moment unknowingly spread and reached the depths of my consciousness. Luckily, Athena noticed the change in expression between Elize and me.

"You two... please don’t think badly of our mother. Our mother is a good woman. Even though she has a cold personality, she truly loves her children and the citizens of the Dragonia Kingdom."

Taking a deep breath, the worry Elize had felt before disappeared from her heart and returned to normal. Likewise, I completely regained my composure.

"Okay. We will speed up our journey now. You all should get on my mount." Athena’s black dragon form appeared in front of me, and then the two women beside me began to climb onto her. The size of Athena’s dragon form far exceeded that of ordinary dragons. The height of Athena’s dragon form was enough to rival adult dragons and was larger than most mountains.

No words of protest came out of Elize’s and Shelia’s mouths. Since they had absolutely no problem riding on Athena’s dragon form, I decided to sit with them. The wind blowing against my face made me unable to stop thinking back to the moment Athena and I first met.

What was happening now had also happened in the past. I, who was previously an ordinary man saved by Athena, had once been allowed to ride on the body of her dragon form. Therefore, I felt a great sense of longing after more than two years of not sitting on Athena’s dragon form.

Half an hour passed. Elize, Athena, Shelia, and I had returned to the Dragonia Kingdom. After almost 6 months of not returning to the Dragonia Kingdom, I felt something I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

The days I had gone through during this half year had not been pleasant at all. Regaining the freedom I had long forgotten greatly increased my happiness. A slightly guilty expression began to appear on Elize’s face. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Everything that had happened during this half year was also Elize’s fault. But it was also part of the training Elize had given me, and she wouldn’t let me visit the outer parts of the wilderness. Even though Elize felt great guilt after locking me up alone in a quiet and lonely place, she knew that this was the only way for me to increase my strength very quickly.

An explosion was heard from the castle side of the palace. Laser shots appeared and were prepared to attack from the front. Without paying attention to the reactions of the citizens of the Dragonia Kingdom, I immediately blocked the laser attack that was preparing to strike me.

My human form changed into my Dragonoid Transformation form. A giant hand resembling that of a great dragon appeared in the sky and blocked the laser attack aimed at me. For some reason, the expressions of Elize and Athena did not show any signs of worry at all.

A worried look crossed Shelia’s face. She couldn’t possibly suppress her worry after seeing her brother-in-law being struck by such a powerful attack. It wasn’t that Shelia doubted my strength after I had grown much stronger. On the contrary, she simply didn’t want me to get hurt because of a powerful sneak attack launched by someone irresponsible.

"Heh...? Little brat, you have actually grown much stronger! Even your dragon transformation has improved far more than when you first showed it." A middle-aged man in a black robe appeared, floating opposite Athena and the others. The current Dragon King, Lucius La. Lucifer, couldn’t hide his proud expression at all after seeing the progress I had achieved during this half year.

Lucius’s sense of pride in the development of his future son-in-law had risen even higher than the last time he met me. The rapid growth I was showing right now was far beyond Lucius’s expectations. At first, Lucius had thought I wouldn’t be able to block his attack with just one hand.

What Lucius thought of my current development was no different from an ant evolving into a beetle capable of flying at any time. Luckily, what Lucius had hoped for—my extraordinary growth—had completely come true. However, my fight with the young master of the Vermillion family was by no means an ordinary battle.

***

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