Astoria briefly studied Henrietta and the others' expressions before slowly shaking her head.
"I'm sure you have a lot you want to ask me, Your Majesty. We can talk inside," Astoria replied before turning to the dragon lords. "Thank you for watching over me, Your Excellencies. If I may, I would like to speak to my friends first."
"Of course, Lady Astoria. You do not need to mind us," Astarot spoke without a complaint.
Nevertheless, the hint of stiffness in his words made him appear even more respectful towards Astoria than before.
Besides the basic respect the Red Dragon Clan granted to humans, Astoria also commanded higher respect from the Red Dragon Clan due to her connection with Vaan.
However, now, her nobler golden dragon bloodline also commanded higher respect.
Even true dragons had their own hierarchy based on the purity of their bloodline, and the Red Dragon Clan was only one of many branch clans spread across the entirety of Chaos.
More specifically, their Fire Dragon God was the descendant of one such branch clan, while the rest of the Red Dragon Clan was only the branch clan of that branch clan.
Within the great fire dragon race, their Red Dragon Clan's Fire Dragon God's status was as ordinary as a commoner's, let alone within the collective whole of the dragon race, where the black dragons held the highest status.
The golden dragons were only second to the black dragons, while their fire dragon race was roughly somewhere in the middle.
Astarot only knew the fire dragon race was at least higher than the earth and green dragon races.
…
After Astoria thanked Astarot and the other two dragon lords for their understanding, she brought Henrietta and Ember into her room, where they could talk privately.
The room was plain and simple, containing a single soft bed at one end and a tea table for four at the other.
Henrietta showed no surprise as she had stayed at the guest building before.
On the other hand, Ember expressed her amazement; she didn't think such giant dragons could produce everything according to human standards.
Nevertheless, it was only a brief thought before Henrietta unloaded the piled-up questions in her mind.
"What's going on, Astoria? What happened during my absence? Did you overcome the bottleneck of High Witches? How did you advance so fast? How strong are you, exactly, now? What's the situation with the Holy Knight Empire? Also, why are the dragon lords giving you such preferential treatment and respect?"
Ember opened her mouth to add to the questions but realized they had all been asked by Henrietta. Thus, she could only close her mouth and wait for Astoria to answer wryly.
"How strong I am now, huh?" Astoria muttered, staring at her clenching and relaxing palm blankly as she grasped the changes in her body. "To be honest, even I don't know yet."
Previously, she had yet to reach the transcendent rank. But after the bloodline awakening, she didn't feel like she could lose to ordinary Transcendent Witches and Aura Kings even if she wanted to.
The power coursing through her body made her feel invincible.
Astoria wasn't sure if it was an illusion brought by significant changes to her physical capabilities, but she felt confident that a Low-level Rank 5 attack wouldn't be able to harm her current body, even if she didn't wear any armor.
'The golden dragon bloodline…' Astoria recalled what she overheard during her bloodline awakening.
The golden dragon bloodline must be why the Bravehearts had always been more physically capable than others. She never would have thought that one of our ancestors was a mighty golden dragon.
Nevertheless, Astoria soon shoved her doubts aside and refocused on Henrietta's questions.
"I believe my strength and advancement method isn't what you wish to know most but the war, right?" Astoria asked.
After receiving Henrietta's affirmation, Astoria briefed her and Ember on the events from the start leading up to the final battle, which ultimately ended in their victory.
Whether it was her own achievements or the kingdom's, Astoria gave all the credit to Vaan. Without him, none of it would have been possible.
Henrietta and Ember were dumbfounded and shocked when they found out one man could grow and achieve so much in such little time.
More shockingly, the same person was now the Supreme Leader of the Red Dragon Clan. It wasn't farfetched to say that Vaan currently wielded the world's strongest power and military might.
'In this world, it's almost impossible for a man to achieve such rapid growth in such a short time unless he has one of two things: a never-before-seen heaven-defying talent that trumps all other known talent or a secret method that can improve his talents to such a level. Even your unique Seven-Petal Void Soul would seem inferior in comparison.'
Henrietta's master sounded solemn as she spoke inside Henrietta's mind.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm 'I have lived a painstakingly long time and experienced many things in life, but this is also the first time for me to discover so many great surprises in one place. As I suspect, there is something special about this world.'
'But something isn't right, Master,' Henrietta suddenly thought.
'No matter how heaven-defying Vaan Raphna's talents are, it doesn't seem to be possible for such a young man to be so knowledgeable and wise as well. Could he be like us? Someone who has the support of a divine-level soul?'
'Or maybe he, himself, is the reincarnation of some mighty divine being?' Henrietta guessed.
'Whatever it is, we'll know once we meet the person,' Henrietta's master responded.
'In any case, you two are destined to meet. However, even I cannot tell whether this will be a good or bad thing. After all, while this person had saved your kingdom, he had also practically taken it for himself. The relationship between the two of you is very delicate.'
'Depending on how you see this situation, you could either become terrible enemies or great allies to one another,' Henrietta's master added.
'Isn't it too risky to meet such a person, Master?' Henrietta asked with doubt.
'Given how the witch kingdoms treat men, I don't think this person has a favorable attitude toward witches. At first, it seems like this person is on the witches' side; he is ultimately the one benefiting the most from helping the witches. From this, we can see that he is likely a highly calculating and manipulative person.'
'Most importantly, he has inherited the Fire Dragon God's inheritance and become the Red Dragon Clan's new sky. His power far exceeds mine,' Henrietta mentioned.
'What do you have to fear? He might be stronger than you, but you have me. If push comes to shove, I will take over and eliminate him even if we have to pay a great price for it,' Henrietta's master coolly retorted.
'Still, you can't shy away just because some risks are involved, my dear disciple. When had opportunities ever been free of dangers? If our information is accurate, there's a good chance this person could help you reach Rank 6 sooner.'
'You have a point, Master,' Henrietta acknowledged.
In fact, she wasn't opposed to meeting and learning more about the person. After all, while it was true that the person had practically robbed her kingdom, it could also be seen as the person taking away her burden.
Thus, the person had actually done her a favor.
However, just because she saw it that way doesn't mean others do too. As such, she needed to grasp a better understanding of the other person's nature.
"Can you tell me more about Vaan Raphna and what kind of person he is, Astoria?" Henrietta asked.
"There's something I can't wrap my head around. Despite all your accomplishments together, why do you have such a dejected and regretful look when you talk about this person? Are you feeling guilty for me because the man you fancy practically robbed my kingdom?"
"I highly doubt that's the reason behind it," Henrietta asserted.
It had only been a short interaction, but she could already tell that her close friend, Astoria, had fallen head over heels for the man named Vaan Raphna.
Three hundred years of friendship couldn't compare to the short period her friend spent with the man.
Nevertheless, she wasn't salty over such a matter.
She was merely curious regarding her friend's pensive sadness. After all, given everything she had heard, there was no reason for such a feeling. Her friend should be feeling happy and celebrating their victory instead.
"It's because I understand a small fraction of Vaan's burden and struggles, Your Majesty," Astoria replied with a sad smile, feeling pained in her heart.
As a bystander, she will never completely understand the spiritual conflict constantly happening within Vaan's mind.
However, the small glimpse she comprehended after making her mistake was enough to make her feel terrible.
"Care to explain further?" Henrietta requested with a confused frown.
She needed to hear further details.
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