The black dragon turned toward a place where it could look down at the rocks as if familiar, and landed on the ground. Sue jumped off the dragon and planted her feet on the ground. Then she glanced back and extended her hand.

“Need help getting down?”

Clementina had been late getting down because she was calmly surveying the surroundings. She snorted at Sue’s words.

“I don’t need it.”

Clementina also descended from the dragon’s back with familiarity. Though she wasn’t used to riding dragons through the sky, she was already no less skilled than the dragon riders in mounting and dismounting.

This land wasn’t unfamiliar to Clementina either. But these rocks were definitely strange. And not unfamiliar at all. They resembled the outer shell of the demonic beast dragon that had attacked Issiliad summer palace so closely.

Goosebumps rose on Clementina’s arms. So she squeezed her eyes shut. She thought her premonition was probably right.

The rocks were alive. They were demonic beast dragons.

There were dozens of rocks at a rough estimate. She couldn’t possibly count them all. What looked similar was the back shell. Yes, it definitely had to be called a back shell. There were no beautiful scales characteristic of dragons—instead, bumpy things like oyster shells, goose barnacles, and acorn barnacles protruded.

Those must be this dragon’s scales.

“Cough, cough.”

The surroundings were full of smoke. Strong herbal fragrance spread beneath the curled-up bodies of the demonic beast dragons. Seeing them all lying with their noses buried in the ground, they seemed intoxicated by the herbal scent.

“Is this smoke okay? It’s too strong.”

“It’s harmless to humans. I’ve tried everything.”

“You tried it? On whom? You experimented on people?”

“Of course. If you’re so suspicious, shall I experiment on you?”

Only then did Sue turn to Clementina and grin. The black mole under her eye stood out particularly.

“No! Don’t! That strange mole! Don’t let it sparkle!”

“Hehe. Getting scared?”

“It’s really harmless to humans, right?”

“Yes, at least this herb is. It’s used on demonic beasts, but it’s completely useless on dragons.”

“Dragons just lose their energy. By any chance… the makuro at Siara Mine, the procal at Richfield—did you create all of them?”

“Hm? Ah! Those were failures. Somehow they couldn’t do their jobs properly.”

“Failures? Do you know how many people died in Richfield? And how many houses collapsed!”

Sarah and Noah, now living comfortably at Aeskis Castle, came to Clementina’s mind. Those children had lost their parents and home in the demonic beast Procal’s attack.

Thinking this woman seemed sane was a huge mistake. This woman was thoroughly insane.

“That can’t be helped. For great things, that level of sacrifice is nothing. And not that many died. It’s fortunate it ended with just that much.”

Sue swayed her body and hummed.

“Now that you’re here, these guys will make some progress. They really should listen.”

“Wh-what do you mean? What can I do?”

Sue approached Clementina with a bright smile.

“You can talk. With dragons.”

Sue wasn’t easy after all. She seemed to have let Clementina loose, but whenever Clementina muttered to herself, Sue appeared from behind and spoke to her. She was definitely watching Clementina.

“Even when I talk to them, there’s no answer. There’s nothing I can do.”

Clementina was no pushover either. She had no intention of acting according to Sue’s wishes. She wouldn’t meekly grant what the woman wanted. But seeing the demonic beast dragons drooling in their dazed state, her heart did soften—that was true.

“I have a question.”

“What?”

“When your dragon brought me from Kentlen Palace, it wasn’t in good condition. Did you drug it?”

“I did. How else could it carry someone other than its master?”

“You drugged your own dragon? You really, really—”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s not harmful to the body. Dragons have truly terrible temperaments. If necessary, you have to suppress them appropriately. What if they bite their master otherwise?”

Clementina’s whole body trembled like an aspen leaf. This woman closely resembled the King of the Kingdom of Leila. Though their methods of *buse differed, both turned animals into tools just the same. The Kingdom of Leila abused in the name of love, but this woman thoroughly used dragons as instruments.

“But these guys won’t listen at all. The drugs have too many side effects. So talk to them. What should I do?”

“You think I’d tell you that!”

Clementina clenched both fists and resisted. But that was all. There was no clever way to escape Sue. They both knew that well.

Sue sneered at Clementina and went inside the wooden house where she’d been staying. The wooden house was something Sue had temporarily built to stay on Diahart Island. Temporary in name only—inside it was no less than any proper house. It had necessary tableware and tools, and provided shelter from the heat.

Clementina wiped the streaming sweat with the back of her hand. It was so hot she could barely breathe. At least she was fortunate to be wearing clothes from Derin. If she’d come from Drasia, currently enduring cold winter, she would have stripped off her dress entirely by now, dignity be damned.

Once Sue disappeared into the wooden house, Clementina quickly turned and approached the demonic beast dragons. She was pretending not to hear now, but she had to find even a small clue while Sue was out of sight.

“Are you okay? Hey, any dragon conscious? No one? Is no one awake? Any friend who’s okay?”

Clementina walked among the demonic beast dragons, observing their eyes. They all had their eyes half-closed, dozing. The herbs definitely seemed harmless to humans, but she couldn’t let her guard down. If it harmed animals, naturally it couldn’t be good for humans either.

Perhaps Sue had also inhaled too much of the toxic herb fragrance and gone mad.

So what did Sue want to do? Where did all these dragons come from? And why turn dragons into demonic beasts? What were Count of Suderel from Umbarot Kingdom and the King of the Akarti Kingdom plotting?

Wait—if Jerbek did something foolish enough to betray the Ronakia Empire, would he really be suitable as Bella’s match? Whether his desired plan succeeded or failed, Bella could never marry him. If things went as he wanted, he’d never try to marry Bella. If he failed, he’d be a criminal to the Ronakia Empire and couldn’t marry Bella.

What exactly did Bella know and how much?

No, she definitely knew nothing.

“This idiot. Of all people!”

For a moment she looked around nervously, feeling like Bella might yell at her. Even absent, if Bella knew she’d cursed her, she’d surely throw a fit. Yet why did she miss even that now? Would Bella be safe?

She’d vanished without a trace after meeting Sue in the maze. What if her disappearance wasn’t voluntary? Clementina felt pathetic for worrying about Bella even after being dropped on this dangerous Diahart Island.

“Tuuu—”

Then it happened. A rough sound scraping the stone floor, sticky breathing—even without proper language, Clementina understood.

One demonic beast dragon planted its legs on the ground and tried to raise its body, then thud—collapsed back to the floor. Clementina turned and began running at her maximum speed.

Right now that dragon was intoxicated by drugs, but it was a wild dragon. She couldn’t know how much it would listen to her.

It clearly regarded Clementina as an enemy and threatened her. Of course it would. The only human it had seen until now was Sue, who rendered dragons’ power helpless. Moreover, Sue had brought Clementina to communicate with the dragons. That meant Sue hadn’t resonated with those dragons.

She couldn’t control dragons that weren’t hers. She had to approach again at the right time. Not in this state. The demonic beast dragon would devour her.

“What do you expect me to do!”

Clementina shouted toward the mage probably humming inside the wooden house. Not that it would do any good.

Several days had already passed.

Clementina felt her sense of time disappearing. Forget washing—there wasn’t even enough water to wet her throat. Sue was tormenting Clementina in a truly cruel way. After realizing her herbs had no effect on Clementina, Sue was tormenting her by stimulating humanity’s most primal instincts.

The demonic beast dragons still hadn’t opened their hearts to Clementina. Naturally. Intoxicated by drugs, she couldn’t even properly converse with them.

“At least reduce the drugs. Don’t you want me to talk with the dragons?”

“I do. But think about it. If I reduce the drugs, those guys will obviously go berserk. How will you handle it? Are you that confident?”

“Then what do you expect me to do? What do you want me to do?”

“Control those guys! Why can’t you! You said you were the mother of dragons or whatever! Find a way!”

“You stupid, ignorant woman! Say something that makes sense!”

The longer Clementina and Sue stayed together, the more their fights increased. Sue was impossible to reason with, and Clementina was only frustrated. Actually, using less herbs to reduce the drug’s effect made conversation with dragons possible. There’d been several such occasions.

But what good was conversation? Not one would cooperate with Clementina. And even if they cooperated with Clementina, she had no intention of moving the dragons according to Sue’s wishes.

Clementina was frustrated. What could she possibly do on Diahart Island? Sue ground and crushed all kinds of herbs. She didn’t even do it secretly. Naturally this was only possible because Clementina knew nothing.

Sue neither guarded against Clementina nor taught her. She only gave the mission to train the dragons.

‘Who are you? Who are you to tell me to train dragons? Is that even possible? This is driving me crazy, really. That woman is truly insane!’

Clementina couldn’t stay here any longer. She had to escape this place somehow.

“I need something.”

Sue didn’t even respond to Clementina’s words. Partly because the heat made her irritable, but she too was exhausted to the limit by Clementina’s nagging.

“I said I need something. I need it to persuade the dragons.”