“Ah… Ha… Ah… Ya… Yaya… Mother… Mother can’t hold on much longer…”
“Hold on a little longer! Mother! You don’t want that old man to come back and worry, do you?”
“Ugh… really… can’t hold on… Ah~”
Thump! Lady Shudrian, her entire body soaked with fragrant sweat, collapsed onto the exercise mat.
Her fair arms trembled, and her pale blue eyes looked up at her Yaya with pleading.
Sigh… Ileya let out a slow sigh.
She hadn’t tried it before, but now she knew—her mother’s physique… was really hard to train.
That made sense. Normally, Mother never lifted a finger for anything.
Her body was definitely even weaker than Ileya’s own before she became a Transcendent.
At least… back then, she walked the dog every day and occasionally bullied other rich kids to get some exercise.
“Let’s stop here for the morning. After lunch… we’ll continue training!”
As she spoke, Ileya took out a small notebook and recorded today’s training in full, intending to use it as a baseline for tomorrow’s plan.
“Eh…? We need to train even after lunch?”
Lady Shudrian, limp all over, knelt on the mat like a duck.
She wanted to protest to her daughter, but seeing the serious look on her face…
She reluctantly closed her mouth.
Yaya… is doing this for my own good~
Shudrian! You’re really becoming more and more useless!
Even if not for herself, for the sake of this family, for Yaya… she had to live well.
And she… still wanted to hold grandchildren!
Thinking about how she could sit on a rocking chair in the garden, surrounded by a bunch of miniature Yayas running around her, Lady Shudrian instantly felt her fatigue fade.
She became much more energetic.
“Let’s go!” As she stood up, she stumbled again!
Luckily, Suxi, who was beside her, caught her in time.
“My Lady! Please take it easy…”
“First… first let’s eat! I want grandchildren… grandchildren!”
Huh? The Head Maid was completely bewildered…
As for what her mother was thinking, Ileya naturally had no idea.
Having returned to her own room, she was now pondering something.
About… Reliel’s matter.
Recently, because of her mother’s previous employment, “Hunter’s Blade” had been cleaning and trimming the gardens in the Marquis Castle.
Ileya had simply given Reliel a “vacation,” letting her gather with the Hunter’s Blade people.
During this time, the young lady had been thinking…
Her relationship with this younger sister… had probably already deviated from the original trajectory of fate.
She was very happy to accept the other’s return to the Marquis Castle.
And the other had considerable goodwill toward her.
So, what was supposed to happen in the original fate probably wouldn’t occur.
From now on, Reliel should stand with her—or rather, with the Marquis Castle.
Given Reliel’s personality, she was definitely one of the few people who could be completely trusted.
In that case, raising Reliel’s strength wasn’t much different from raising her own.
Speaking of raising that girl’s strength…
Ileya thought of the power she had once “snatched” that originally belonged to Reliel—the Silver Dragon Egg.
In the original fate, after absorbing the power of that Silver Dragon Egg, the girl had embarked on the Path of Transcendence.
But… Reliel was a natural-born Transcendent. If classified, she belonged to the [Saint Witch] lineage.
Meanwhile, the Silver Dragon belonged to the power system of the [Ancient Rock Dragon].
In the original fate, Reliel absorbed the Silver Dragon Egg without any rejection reaction…
Could it be… Ileya narrowed her eyes.
The [Ancient Rock Dragon] was defeated by the [Saint Witch]. That meant…
Had its power also been devoured by the Saint Witch!?
Starting from that point, Ileya thought of another name: the [Crystal Giant Tree].
Crystal… was, after all, a type of mineral.
It must be inextricably linked to the Ancient Rock Dragon, which controls the earth.
Maybe… The more Ileya thought, the more alarmed she became.
But she quickly shook her head.
Off-topic… The truth of these matters wasn’t important for now.
“Yumina~ Help me call Reliel over.”
“Hmph?!” The twin-tailed maid standing beside Ileya snapped to attention!
What did the young lady want with that girl?!
But… as a top-class maid, she couldn’t ask such a stupid question!
“Yes, Young Lady.” She answered reluctantly, then quickly ran off.
A few minutes later, Yumina returned with that annoying mute little mercenary.
At the moment, there was some dust on Reliel’s face, obviously from following the Hunter’s Blade crew to clean up the garden’s dirt.
Seeing her stand in front of the young lady like a wooden post, Yumina got furious!
“Hey hey! When you see the young lady, you should pay your respects immediately! Aren’t you her maid?!”
Faced with Yumina’s scolding, Reliel was momentarily stunned, then looked at Ileya.
“Something wrong?”
Huh?!
“Something wrong?” You’re a maid! A maid!!
The twin-tailed maid stomped her feet in anger at this ill-mannered person, looking like she wanted to rush up and bite her to death.
“Ahem… Yumina, please stand guard outside. Don’t let anyone in.”
“Hmph?! Young Lady… Yes!!”
Yumina obviously didn’t want that detestable little mercenary to be alone with the young lady.
But as a maid, she couldn’t disobey the young lady’s orders.
She could only glare fiercely at Reliel, cast a resentful glance at Ileya, and then storm out, huffing.
Sigh… coaxing her later is going to be a hassle~
Ileya smiled helplessly, then looked at the younger sister before her.
“Hoo… Do you want to become a Transcendent?”
Huh?
Reliel was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Ileya to ask her that.
Did she want to become a Transcendent? Of course she did.
Although she seemed to have some talents beyond ordinary people—talents she herself couldn’t explain—Reliel never thought she was a true Transcendent.
“I told you before, didn’t I? Do you want… to become someone like me?”
Ileya slowly stood up, took two steps forward, and stood face to face with Reliel.
“Now… the assessment is over. I trust you enough. So, are you willing… to become my blade?”
As she spoke, the girl slowly extended her hand.
Become… her blade?!
Reliel’s eyes suddenly lit up. She had to admit… Ileya’s words struck a chord with her…
At first, she had indeed looked down on this young lady. But as they grew closer, Reliel also realized…
This “Bloodblossom Demon” wasn’t the dissolute and cruel wastrel of rumors—just a worthless second-generation rich kid…
On the contrary, this young lady was quite powerful, intelligent, calm… and gentle with her companions.
She didn’t want to admit it, but she… really liked Ileya.
No… not that kind of like! It was the kind between companions—like…
She felt that… being able to stay by this girl’s side… wasn’t so bad.
And besides, the two of them had already been so… so intimately open with each other.
If this girl still didn’t acknowledge her, she would really be angry!
Thinking this, Reliel’s face inexplicably flushed…
But Ileya didn’t notice these details, because the next second, Reliel directly knelt on one knee before the young lady.
And under Ileya’s somewhat bewildered gaze, she lifted the hand that Ileya had just extended.
The next second, a kiss was imprinted on the young lady’s knuckles.
This was the knight’s gesture of fealty.
This girl… does it have to be so formal?
You’re my biological sister, after all… If Mother finds out you’ve sworn fealty to me, how am I supposed to explain?
Ileya opened her mouth, her expression caught between laughter and tears.
“I am willing to become your blade, to cut down all enemies before you.”
The girl’s low voice slowly spoke. The moment she raised her pale blue eyes, Ileya saw the determination in them.
She wasn’t talkative, but her younger sister’s straightforward personality—loving and hating clearly…
Ileya really liked that too~
“Mhm~ Then from now on… please take good care of me, your young lady, my dear maid~”
“Okay.”
The older sister pulled her younger sister up from the ground.
The two exchanged smiles, and the scene was quite heartwarming.
Ileya didn’t explain much, and Reliel completely trusted that the young lady wouldn’t harm her.
With Amisa and Yumina following, the two came to the underground of Marquis Castle.
In a warm and humid secret chamber.
The three dragon eggs Ileya had obtained earlier from the Troglodyte Cave were all stored here.
“These are…” Reliel looked at the three dragon eggs before her, her pupils contracting slightly.
“That Silver Dragon Egg was prepared for you.”
The moment Ileya finished speaking, Reliel heard Yumina muttering softly beside her.
“It probably could have hatched into a silver dragon cub within five years…”
“If taken out, it would definitely be more impressive than Dulahan. And the young lady just gives it to you like this…”
After saying that, the twin-tailed maid shot Reliel another indignant glare.
“Go ahead.”
But Ileya said without any reluctance.
As if what she was giving away was an insignificant little thing, not a priceless opportunity for Transcendence.
“Mm.” Having made up her mind, Reliel didn’t hesitate. She just took a deep breath.
And walked up to the Silver Dragon Egg.
As if sensing something, the unhatched Silver Dragon Egg suddenly burst out with a considerable Dragon’s Might!
[Roar!!]
This force caused the two Earth Dragon Eggs beside it to tremble involuntarily!
However, as the Dragon’s Might began to suppress Reliel without restraint, the black python tattoo on her body gradually manifested…
[Hiss——!!]
From the void seemed to come a sharp hiss of a giant python, and its force instantly shredded the “Young Dragon’s Might” within the Silver Dragon Egg!
Slap!!
The next second, Reliel’s left hand slapped directly onto the Silver Dragon Egg before her!
[Roar…]
Vaguely, everyone in the room could hear the sharp wail of the silver dragon…
It was quite clear at first, but as Reliel absorbed it, the wail gradually diminished until it was inaudible…
Crack… The moment the dragon roar disappeared completely, the Silver Dragon Egg beneath Reliel’s hand also lost all its color and life, cracking like dry earth.
“Hoo…” The next moment Reliel slowly exhaled.
It turned to ash!
Easier than expected.
But…
Feeling the abundant power within her that she could call upon at any time… Reliel couldn’t help but curl up the corners of her mouth.
So this is what it feels like to be a Transcendent?
This feeling… it was simply… wonderful.
Hoo——!!
As the girl clenched her right fist held at chest level, her light golden, shoulder-length hair instantly turned silver-white…
On her forehead, the corners of her eyes, both sides of her chin… silvery-white scales grew out at that moment.
This was the primary ability provided by the Silver Dragon… [Dragonification].