Chapter 00057: The Princess's Cousin
# The Princess's Cousin
Chapter 57
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 57: The Princess's Cousin
Demon Lord Calendar, Year 648.
The morning of April 30th.
With a 'Damn!' echoing from inside the Chapel, Princess Viola and the Royal Guards concluded their morning prayer for the day, startling a few pigeons in the process.
Viola picked up a book placed as an offering beneath the Holy Emblem, turned, and solemnly handed it to Renia.
"I have now taught you the entire first volume of the Lord's doctrine. Have you memorized it all?"
"I've memorized it, I've memorized it! I can even recite it backward."
"Then recite it backward for me."
"..."
It wasn't an illusion.
The white dragon's intelligence really didn't seem to be very high.
Viola also felt a headache coming on.
Things that could be explained to a normal person in a single pass had to be emphasized nine or even ten times for Renia.
Dragons, or more specifically, white dragons, were not suited for rigorous study.
Their very nature was chaotic and disorderly; they would interpret things haphazardly in their own way.
These past few days, Viola had often found herself doubting her own ability to communicate.
It had even reached the point where she began to wonder, 'Could the Lord's decision be wrong?'
However, this thought lasted only for a moment before Viola immediately dismissed it.
The wisdom of the Demon God was not for mortals to comprehend.
The Lord must have a deeper meaning.
Perhaps the Lord knew from the very beginning that the winter wolves' southern march was related to the white dragon, which was why he deliberately showed mercy and didn't just pinch the white dragon to death.
Besides, dragons were the personification of power.
It was perfectly normal for the Church of the Demon God to have a dragon among its ranks.
Viola felt that she should look at this matter from a broader perspective.
Perhaps in the eyes of a god, the white dragon would play an important role in the Lord's plan for the future.
As always, she was locked in a battle of wits with the air...
After all, it was impossible for Viola to imagine that the Demon God's 'Holy Light' had shone on the wrong target.
Fortunately, although the white dragon's intelligence and personality were both problems, the threat of the Demon God was very real, so Renia's attitude toward learning was quite good.
Furthermore, this 'haphazardly explained version of the Tao Te Ching' was not particularly thick.
It took several days, but she finally managed to explain it clearly to the white dragon.
These past few days were truly something she didn't want to look back on, but the good news was that it was over.
With a light heart, Viola gave the doctrine and a Holy Emblem to Renia.
"After you go back, you must study it carefully. Don't forget to pray twice a day, in the morning and evening..."
Just as she was about to reinforce the point in Renia's mind, Viola had another thought:
"Anyway, if you slack off, the Lord will punish you. It has nothing to do with me."
"..."
"Also, keep the winter wolves in check. Do not allow them to come south again. You should also do your best to restrain the other monsters of the snow region. If necessary, the Lord will descend a Divine Oracle to you. I welcome your visits to the Leon Territory, but you are not allowed to secretly eat the livestock, and certainly not the people!"
Renia clutched her head, looking like Monkey Sun hearing the Tang Monk chant the Golden Headband Incantation like a rap.
"I know, I know! Stop nagging!"
As a dragon, to be so humble... where is your dignity?
In fact, for a creature like a dragon, dignity was something with a flexible bottom line.
After all, they were creatures that acted meek when young, then grew up to accumulate treasure by swindling, deceiving, and robbing all over the world.
To speak of their dignity was a bit of a stretch.
For a dragon, as long as they bowed their head, they would have someone powerful watching over them.
Wasn't that a good thing?
Dignity couldn't be eaten.
A dragon, the very embodiment of greed, would not give up tangible benefits for the sake of so-called dignity.
Of course, it was also possible that she had simply been beaten into submission, plus the fact that the white dragon's intelligence really wasn't that high.
"Anyway, you know everything I needed to tell you. Go on, go on, hurry home."
"Then I'm really leaving, okay? You're the one who told me to go."
Although Renia phrased it as a question, she was already running for the exit as the words left her mouth.
A moment later, a massive shadow was seen soaring into the sky from the plaza of the Castle outside the Chapel, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Having a dragon stationed at Leon Stronghold—that sounded incredibly awesome.
Don't forget that Viola was currently a fugitive.
At the very least, if an enemy army were to attack one day, the white dragon would be a huge help.
So why did she let it go home? Very simple.
She couldn't afford to keep it.
Leon Stronghold had just over ten thousand residents in total.
Even counting the surrounding villages and towns, the entire population of the Leon Territory was only a little over twenty thousand.
Viola had already brought two thousand soldiers, which was straining the food reserves.
Add a white dragon that might only be half-full after eating three oxen for a single meal, and in the end, she might really have to feed it people.
In any case, it was the Demon God who had requested its life be spared.
When the time came, the Demon God would send it over again.
For now, it was better to let it live in the wild.
Seeing this nuisance off, Viola's mood lightened considerably.
Just as she was about to start her work for the day, the large doors of the Chapel were pushed open.
"Zola? Weren't you in charge of leading the people in prayer at the plaza today? What happened?"
The duty of presiding over the prayer ceremony in the plaza was rotated among the Royal Guards, which was why Zola hadn't been in the Chapel this morning.
"Your Highness! Miss Audel! I saw Miss Audel!"
"What? Where did you see her?"
"Just near the City Gate! When I was inspecting the gate this morning, a guard told me that a strange person was loitering nearby. I went to take a look and found that it was Miss Audel!"
This person named Audel was very familiar to both Zola and Viola, but not all the Royal Guards had heard of her.
Xuelin, who was following behind Zola, for instance, was quite puzzled.
"You all continue with your work for today."
After saying this to the Royal Guards, Viola turned back to Zola.
"Let's go, take me there!"
Without even changing out of her ceremonial robes, Viola rushed out of the Chapel with Zola, heading straight for the City Gate without a moment's delay.
Even the commoners passing by found it a bit strange.
Why did Her Highness the Princess look like her pants were on fire today?
They rushed over at top speed.
Just as Viola stepped out of the City Gate, she saw a person lying flat on their stomach beside a field not far from the gate.
The person's unique, water-blue hair was particularly conspicuous against the dirt.
"Audel!"
She called her name but got no response.
Viola hurried over to help her up.
"Audel, what are you doing?"
"Oh, it's you, Viola. I just discovered a plant I'd never seen before and wanted to observe it closely, but I accidentally fell asleep."
"..."
Following behind Viola, Xuelin secretly asked Zola:
"Are Her Highness and this young lady very close?"
"Of course, they are. Miss Audel is the daughter of Grand Duke Weiss."
Xuelin's eyes immediately widened.
"Could she be Her Highness's younger cousin?"
"No, her older cousin."
"But she looks even younger than Her Highness."
"There are rumors in the Royal Palace that Miss Audel once drank a longevity potion, which slowed her growth, but it's actually natural."
Zola continued in a whisper:
"Ever since she was a child, Miss Audel has had extremely high magical talent, so she was sent away for special training very early on. You only joined the knight order three years ago, so you wouldn't know."
"Oh, then why does Miss Audel seem so cold? Aren't she and Her Highness on very good terms?"
"She had a particularly severe fever when she was a child, and after that, her facial expressions stopped changing much. Look, the corners of her eyes are slightly upturned. That's her way of showing she's happy."
Xuelin really couldn't see any change in her expression at all...
(End of Chapter)