Kindness Breeds Disaster
The moment Penelope saw Valdrova's face, she froze.
From afar, the dragon had radiated overwhelming power and ferocity.
Even up close, with the mask on, she had carried that same imposing aura.
But the instant Penelope saw her bare face, she had no choice but to admit how completely wrong she'd been.
Gentle, innocent eyes that drooped softly at the corners.
Lips with the fresh, untouched charm of a maiden.
A calm, soothing presence that naturally put others at ease.
Perhaps that was why her frozen gaze began to move of its own accord, taking in Valdrova's graceful, feminine figure.
If she had to compare it to something...
She was like the first snowfall blanketing the earth.
And Penelope suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to leave muddy footprints across that pristine snow.
That was close.
I almost swallowed my drool.
"S-So... it's not very good after all?"
"Huh? O-Oh! No! Not at all!"
Penelope quickly withdrew her suspicious gaze and immediately switched back to shameless flattery.
"Y-You're so breathtakingly beautiful that this humble one completely lost herself, hahaha!"
"Beautiful?"
"Absolutely!"
Penelope's eyes sparkled as she launched into an impassioned speech.
"When I first realized you were a dragon, I trembled in fear. But after beholding your divine face, I forgot all fear because of how stunning you are! I finally understand how a moth feels flying into a flame!"
"It's not... because I look absent-minded or anything?"
"Absent-minded? Not at all! That innocent, pure maidenly charm of yours is exactly the sort of thing men go crazy for!"
"I-I see..."
Though Penelope's language was rather crude, Valdrova took every word as sincere praise.
"I see... Someone once told me they didn't like this expression."
"W-What?! Which venomous snake of a woman dared say such a thing? If anyone slanders the one and only immortal Red Dragon, Lady Valdrova, then this Penelope shall gladly deliver righteous judgment upon them!"
"It was Luri..."
"...Luri, was it? That blasted wom—"
Penelope suddenly caught herself.
"...Isn't Luri your attendant, Lady Valdrova?"
"Mm. That's right."
The dramatic motions she'd been making instantly became small and polite.
Watching her, Valdrova realized the two already knew each other.
"You know Luri?"
"Y-Yes... We have a bit of a history."
"Really?"
"I'd wander around the castle, and she'd come out of nowhere to warn me."
"What kind of warning?"
"'Don't go roaming around just because you're a demon. This isn't your house,' things like that."
"I see."
"I mean, isn't that ridiculous? It's such a huge castle! I barely wandered through a few rooms, and she started threatening to fold my spine in half."
"...That does sound a bit harsh."
"And then later she literally folded my spine in half!"
"...She did?"
"Three times!"
"O-Oh... I see... That was a bit much..."
"You think so too, Your Highness? See? Even I thought that was going overboard."
Penelope chattered on endlessly.
Even knowing Penelope had been the one in the wrong, Valdrova quietly listened.
At the same time, she found herself experiencing a strange feeling.
What is this...?
For some reason...
This moment felt incredibly comfortable.
Conversation had always been difficult for her.
The men she'd met while serving as an armored knight.
Luri, who had stayed by her side longer than anyone else.
Even Ferda, who made her heart race.
Every one of them had been difficult people for her to speak with.
But Penelope was different.
She talked without hesitation, never worrying about what she said.
And more than anything...
She was so utterly harmless and ridiculous that Valdrova couldn't help relaxing along with her.
Only then did Valdrova realize what she'd truly wanted when she stopped Penelope.
"Um..."
"Y-Yes?"
"...Would you like to be friends with me?"
"...Huh?"
Penelope blinked blankly.
What did she just say?
Friends?
What kind of sweet trap is this?
Is this one of those tests where the moment I accept, she'll say, 'Got you,' and kill me?
As Penelope stood there wearing a dumbfounded expression, Valdrova timidly asked,
"...You don't want to be friends?"
There was no way this was a test.
Just look at her expression.
She was as shy as a bride on her wedding night.
To mistake that sincerity for mockery would only insult her.
"F-Friends... S-Sure?"
Penelope answered awkwardly.
Valdrova's eyes grew wide.
"R-Really?"
"Y-You're the one who asked...?"
For a moment, Penelope wondered if she'd stepped on a landmine.
"O-Oh! Right! I did ask! Yes!"
The anxiety vanished from Valdrova's face, replaced by a radiant smile.
She clenched both fists tightly and bounced with delight.
"Then we're friends from today onward!"
"Y-Yes..."
Penelope simply couldn't understand her reaction.
Was becoming friends really something worth getting that excited over?
Especially with a pitiful third-rate demon like herself.
A dragon... friends with me?
Who in their right mind would ever accept such an offer...?
Then Penelope looked at it from another angle.
...Wait.
Isn't this actually incredible?
A dragon's friend.
What demon could boast of being friends with one of Cerdes Continent's dragons?
Not even the Seven Great Demons had accomplished such a thing.
Yet here she was—a demon who'd always been treated as a worthless nobody back home—becoming friends with a dragon inside the dragon's own castle.
Maybe...
Her eyes sparkled.
Maybe I really can overthrow Mother and become a Great Demon!
...
She never realized that the sparkle in her eyes was not the light of hope...
...but the ominous gleam that heralded disaster.
***
"So that's what happened."
"As a favor between friends, Lady Valdrova said she wanted to help lift Lord Ferda's spirits. She couldn't do it herself, but since appearances matter, she asked me to make it look that way..."
Now Ferda finally understood why he'd been mistaken.
The clothes Penelope wore had belonged to Valdrova.
Even the thread used to sew them had been woven from powdered dragon scales imbued with Valdrova's aura.
It was more than enough to conceal Penelope's demonic presence and make anyone believe she was a dragon.
Countless thoughts swirled through Ferda's mind.
His thoughts became such a tangled mess that they might as well have been a blank slate.
Unable to say a word—
"...I see."
Suddenly, realization dawned on him.
"So..."
"You're the one who taught her... that vulgar expression?"
"H-Huh? W-What expression?"
"'I'm attracted to you.' Was that your doing?"
"Huh? I taught her that...?"
Then she remembered.
"When it comes to men, hearing a woman say she's attracted to them is the greatest compliment there is."
"I see. But... what does 'attracted' mean?"
"You don't know? It's obviously the highest compliment a man can receive from a woman!"
"...I guess I did."
Embarrassed, Penelope scratched the back of her head.
The moment Ferda heard that answer...
Tears streamed from his eyes.
They should have been ordinary tears.
Instead...
They were crimson.
Ferda was crying tears of blood.
His mind felt as though the Four Horsemen of Calamity were rampaging through it.
He was genuinely happy that Valdrova had finally found someone she could open her heart to.
But that joy was matched by equal fury and despair...
...because the friend she'd found just had to be this creature.
His Shadow Circle violently surged.
Ferda's lips slowly parted.
"I'll..."
"I'll?"
"I'll kill you, Penelope..."
"...daughter of Sitri!"
"Ghk—Kyaaaagh!!"
Ferda could take it no longer and grabbed Penelope by the throat.
She couldn't resist.
"My lord, please stop."
Seeing him lose his composure, Luri spoke up.
"If someone's going to kill her, wait your turn! If she dies, I'm killing her first!"
Her tiny hands also reached for Penelope's neck.
Luri, too, was crying tears of blood.
From the moment Valdrova had introduced Penelope as her friend, Luri had bitten her lip so hard that blood had been dripping from it.
Penelope instinctively realized—
If I don't fight back here, I'm really going to die!
Somehow managing to wrench herself free from their hands, she shouted,
"Time out! Stop! Your Highness, would you please hear me out?!"
"If you offer your neck now, I'll make it quick."
"N-No! Just listen first! It's not like keeping me around as Lady Valdrova's friend is a bad thing, is it?"
"That remark alone has guaranteed you'll die even more painfully."
Things were only getting worse.
Still, Penelope pressed on.
"Lady Valdrova really does think of me as her friend, you know?"
"I'll kill you."
The murderous intent pouring from Ferda only intensified.
"Lady Valdrova is always worrying about how she can make a better impression on you."
Ferda's hand paused for just an instant.
Penelope seized that opening.
"And that's where I come in! I can help the two of you understand each other's feelings better than anyone!"
"...For example?"
"F-For example..."
She leaned close and whispered into Ferda's ear.
"What if that beautiful lady with the crimson hair wore a daring outfit that showed off her bombshell figure?"
"Or maybe a sheer dress made of thin, curtain-like fabric, just transparent enough to tease the imagination?"
"If you let me stay as her friend, you'll get to see Lady Valdrova's feminine charms in all their glory."
Ferda fell silent.
Before he could even fully indulge the image—
"...Are you seriously sitting there thinking about it?"
Luri shot him a murderous glare.
Ferda snapped back to his senses.
"I wasn't."
"For someone who wasn't, you certainly looked like you were imagining Lady Valdrova in something extremely indecent."
"...I wasn't."
Had she asked a second later, he might have admitted it.
Even Ferda found himself momentarily shaken.
The temptation that even Sitri, the Great Demon, had failed to create had been accomplished by this hopeless third-rate demon.
It must be because she's Sitri's Life Vessel.
What terrifying power...
"The moment I see Lady Valdrova wearing something that demon suggested, I'll kill the demon... and gouge out your eyes too, Lord Ferda."
"If she chooses to wear it herself, you have no right to—"
"...What did you just say?"
Ferda immediately shut his mouth.
Luri's two index fingers hovered ominously in front of his eyes.
Throughout the rest of the carriage ride, Luri's murderous glare never left him.
And thanks to that...
Penelope survived.
***
After Ferda left, the Imperial Capital remained in turmoil.
There were two demon sympathizers within the Empire.
Worse yet, those two occupied some of the highest positions in the nation.
For agitators seeking to seize power, it was the perfect opportunity.
The nobility could no longer afford to sit comfortably in their mansions.
The Imperial Guard had been worked to the bone.
"I heard you visited the Dvelung estate."
"I did."
"How was it?"
The Dvelung estate had long been famous for its sheer size.
It was considered a symbol of the family's prestige and centuries-old heritage.
But that was only true until yesterday.
The mansion, once a monument to wealth and power, had become a cursed place steeped in grotesque desire.
"It smelled rotten from the moment I walked in. Fitting for a place where a demon's lapdog lived. Even the paintings had terrible taste."
"I heard the estate's being burned to the ground."
"What else could we do? Grand Duke Golt made the decision himself. They'll burn it down and build something new."
"They say you can't trust anyone these days..."
"The Grand Duke must be taking this especially hard."
Valdemar Golt was a hero of the people.
He was such a respected noble that insulting him in a tavern would earn you a beating.
People pitied Valdemar and cursed Dvelung for serving the demons.
"I heard they rescued a girl from that demon bastard."
"She's recovering in the infirmary. They say she was drugged so heavily it took five priests just to cure her full-body paralysis."
"Really?"
"According to the reports, she'd been imprisoned for three years and somehow survived."
"Is that so unusual?"
"It is. One of Dvelung's other captives was a former Imperial Knight. Even he didn't last three months. But this woman survived for three whole years."
When selecting Imperial Knights, every qualification was scrutinized.
Above all else, mental fortitude was non-negotiable.
Even a master swordsman would be rejected if his will was deemed too weak.
"So Dvelung went easier on her because she was a woman?"
"Not at all. She endured everything the others did—things most people couldn't survive for even a month."
"Three years..."
"It almost sounds like some secret organization training assassins. Torture them until only the strongest survive."
"What kind of nonsense is that..."
The captain trailed off.
Something buried deep in his memory suddenly surfaced.
"...Do we have a portrait of that woman?"
"We do. An artist sketched her so we could confirm her identity."
A guard handed over the freshly drawn portrait.
The captain's already grim expression steadily drained of color.
"...Wait."
He hurriedly rummaged through a filing cabinet.
Not the missing persons.
The wanted criminals.
His fingers finally stopped on a document buried near the back.
He pulled it out.
"...Damn it."
His face turned deathly pale.
"Captain?"
"That damn pig actually kept someone this dangerous alive all this time!"
The guards stared at him in confusion.
"Bring a Class-One Mana Restraint immediately! We're going to the infirmary! That woman has to be restrained!"
"W-What's going on—"
"Forget the questions and move!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Alarmed by their captain's unusual demeanor, the guards grabbed the restraints and sprinted after him.
Without stopping to catch their breath, they rushed to the recovery ward.
But by the time they arrived...
Only traces of the woman remained.
"Sound a Level-One Alert immediately!"
"A Level-One Alert?"
"Mobilize every guard and every soldier! Lock down the entire Empire!"
"Captain, before we can issue that alert, we need a reason."
Only then did the captain regain enough composure to answer.
"...Sierra."
"Sierra?"
At those three syllables, everyone immediately understood the gravity of the situation.
"Report it at once."
"Sierra's Wolf has escaped."
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE : https://beastnovels.com/