Evil Dragon Chapter 3: Escape

Chapter 3: Escape

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: CaiCai, Kris

Lin Nuo flattened his mouth even more, his tiny bean-like eyes filled with worry. He frantically moved around inside the cage, even curling up into a ball and rolling inside the cage until his face was pressed against the bars. Maintaining this strange posture, he stared blankly at the white gloves that Rennes had thrown on the table. Maybe due to his heightened sense of smell in his dragon form, Lin Nuo smelled a faint scent of pine on those gloves.

“This cruel knight must have used so much cologne to smell this good,” he muttered. “Wait a minute… ‘Only Rennes’s aura can unlock the cage.’ Could these gloves have his aura on them?”

Lin Nuo suddenly felt invigorated. He leaned his body, extended his arms, preparing to reach for those gloves. What he didn’t anticipate was that his arms were indeed too short… If Lin Nuo were a human, he might have considered using his belt as a tool, but as a dragon, a weak and tiny one at that, he only had four claws, two wings, and a small tail…

Ah, the tail! An idea sparked in Lin Nuo’s mind. He changed his position, extended his little tail through the gap, and attempted to grab the gloves with it. Though the pastel-colored tail wasn’t long, it was considerably longer than his arms. Using it felt odd, almost like having an extra leg.

Twisting against the cage edge, Lin Nuo managed to reach the gloves! He quickly dragged them back into the cage, covered his claws with them, and tried unlocking the cage again.

Click The lock opened! Lin Nuo cheered, swiftly pushed the cage door open, grabbed the coin in his mouth, and flew straight towards the window.

Bang! Lin Nuo crashed heavily against the windowpane, nearly falling to the ground. He had forgotten to open the window first…

Flying back up into the air, he struggled to push the window open. This window was incredibly heavy for a dragon in his infant form. Even opening the curtains earlier had been a challenge, let alone trying to move this glass and wood window entirely?

Despite using both his front and rear legs, he couldn’t budge the window at all. Lin Nuo panicked as he heard the sound of the bathroom water stopping. It seemed the knight would come out soon. There was no more time to waste!

He clenched his teeth and decided to transform back into his human form. A white light flashed. One second later, Lin Nuo stood barefoot on the carpet, pushed the window open, and at that moment, heard the sound of the bathroom door opening.

Oh no! The knight’s coming out! Would he be immobilized again if he transformed back into a dragon now? Without thinking, Lin Nuo climbed onto the window sill, clutching the coin and jumped out, transforming back into a dragon in mid-air, flapping his wings without daring to look back, flying straight towards his room.

Back in his room, Lin Nuo transformed back into his human form, crawled under the covers, trembling in shock. It was terrifying, he almost became a specimen… Shaking throughout the night, he finally fell into a fitful sleep in the early morning. Unfortunately, his dreams were plagued by shining surgical knives and a blurry figure in surgical attire. Finally, a chilling voice said, “Let’s start from here.”

Lin Nuo woke up screaming, drenched in cold sweat, breathing heavily. Trembling, he covered his face for a while, then splashed cold water on it in the bathroom. After the cold water refreshed him, he sat on the small sofa, pondering over his strange dream. Was it a consequence of his dragon form? Honestly, that little dragon was too foolish and overly timid. Just seeing the knight scared him into immobility. How could he survive like that?

Fortunately, he was back in human form now. As a human, he was mature, sound of mind, and not easily scared by that cold knight! Lin Nuo thought to himself with a confident fist pump.

At that moment, there came a gentle knock on the door, the attendant urging him to rise. Lin Nuo responded, stood up, and glanced at the small round table beside the sofa. There lay the coin he had brought back last night. He picked up the coin and tossed it lightly in his hand.

Heavy and glistening gold.

After transforming back into a human, he didn’t crazily pounce on the coin, kissing and touching it. Perhaps it was a lingering effect of his dragon form? He felt an extra sense of security with the coin in his hand.

Recalling what the System had said, ‘By absorbing the magic on this coin, the evil dragon can grow smoothly,’ and ‘Without timely magic replenishment, the human form cannot be maintained, and the dragon form will also face death,’ Lin Nuo decided to keep the coin in his pocket and touch it from time to time.

He wondered how long the magic on this coin could last and if it would lose its effect with frequent touching. The System also mentioned that it wouldn’t reveal the locations of other coins in the future, so he had to continuously search for new coins. Where should he go to find them?

Lin Nuo, feeling completely lost, shook his head and sighed as he entered the dressing room to choose his clothes. In fact, all these trivial tasks should have been done by the male servants and maids. According to the rules, he also needed a personal attendant to sleep in the room next to his, catering to any ‘peculiar needs of the esteemed royalty’ during the night.

For Lin Nuo, who would turn into a dragon at night, he rejected the arrangement of a personal attendant and only retained a steward responsible for overseeing his diet. He insisted on handling other tasks like grooming and dressing himself.

Putting on a proper outfit, Lin Nuo carefully tucked the coin into his pocket, rang the enameled bell on the table, signaling the servants outside to come in. Soon, the maids entered, opening the curtains, windows, and folding up the bed canopy. They respectfully informed him that he could go directly to the king’s reception hall for breakfast with the king, other princes, and Sir Rennes, who had come from afar.

[Ding! Important plot point!] As the maids spoke, Lin Nuo received a prompt from the System, [Note: This will be your first formal meeting with Paladin Rennes Clement. As a dragon slayer, his impression of you will directly impact the later plot. The System suggests you review information related to Clement as soon as possible and leave a good impression on this knight.]

In fact, Lin Nuo had already done his homework in advance: Rennes Clement, 20 years old, the newly appointed head of the Clement family, a hereditary knighthood. Hundreds of years ago, the Heinrich and Clement families had joined forces to eradicate the monsters that had once rampaged on this continent, establishing the present Saros Kingdom. Since the birth of the kingdom, the Clement family has sworn allegiance to the Heinrich family through a blood pact. Each head of the Clement family, as the ‘paladin’ and the king’s most trusted close attending knight, undertakes various secret missions, including eliminating monsters within the kingdom.

Due to the unbreakable blood pact, the royal family had unwavering trust in the loyalty of the Clement family. In fact, in the history of the Clement family, several heads had sacrificed their lives in various battles and conflicts to protect the royal family. With the trust of the royal family and the vast farmland, orchards, and mines owned by the Clement family, they had accumulated immense wealth and power rivaling the royal family and becoming the target of countless nobles seeking alliances. There were even rumors among the nobility: it is not the king who chooses the knight, but the knight who selects the king. If the head of the Clement family swears allegiance to a particular prince, that prince is destined to become the future king.

By Linno’s generation, the previous head of the Clement family had already sacrificed himself, and the new head, Rennes, had yet to decide which prince to pledge his sword to. This had become a crucial topic among the nobility.

Apart from Linno, the royal family had two other princes: the eldest, Otto, and the second, Josef—both Linno’s brothers. Before Linno returned to the court, the two princes, despite their seemingly friendly relationship, were engaged in a fierce struggle for the throne, attempting to win over Rennes and make him their confidant.

Unfortunately, Rennes Clement was indifferent by nature, keeping everyone at a distance. He even had a nickname, ‘the Blizzard Knight’, making it difficult for the two princes to approach him.

Following the original plot, the princes would find various excuses to keep Rennes in the palace, providing many opportunities for him to discover Linno’s anomaly and eventually expose him.

For Lin Nuo, who knew the outline of the entire story in advance, he thought it over and decided that the best survival route was to maintain a harmless appearance, escape the palace, and stay far away to avoid giving the knight a chance to approach him. So, he had already made up his mind to inform the old king at breakfast that he intended to return to the outer provinces for further recuperation.

As for the System’s advice to ‘leave a good impression on this knight’, Lin Nuo thought otherwise. No impression would be the best impression.

The king’s reception hall was adjacent to his bedchamber and not very spacious. The old king usually had breakfast alone in the reception hall, but once a month, he would gather his family members for a meal. Apart from the royal family, the only person who could have breakfast with the king was the head of the Clement family.

When Lin Nuo entered the reception hall, his two brothers, Otto and Josef, were already seated. They didn’t bother to stand up or spare any extra glances when he came in, continuing their hushed conversation and occasional laughter.

Lin Nuo nodded to his two brothers, hesitated, then walked to the other side of the table, pulled out a chair for himself, and sat across from the second prince, Josef.

Josef lifted his face, greeted Lin Nuo with a brilliant smile, and said, “Good morning, little brother.”

Josef, like Lin Nuo, had ivory-white skin, but he also had golden hair and gray-blue eyes that Lin Nuo lacked. He was considered a handsome man in the court.

Lin Nuo forced a smile and bowed slightly, saying, “Good morning, brother.”

On the left side of Josef sat the eldest prince, Otto. It seemed like he had just noticed Lin Nuo entering as he nonchalantly raised his head and drawled, “Good morning, my frail and ailing brother.”

The eldest prince loved luxury, even for a simple family breakfast. He was dressed in a gorgeous crimson jacket with gold-thread embroidery, and a dazzling diamond brooch adorned his cravat.  Lin Nuo forced another smile and inwardly hoped that this would be his last meal with his two brothers. He prayed, From today onward, whatever feud you two are engaged in has nothing to do with me.

As he settled down, the reception hall’s door was pushed open once more. A familiar, faint fragrance drifted in, reminiscent of the night before. Though the person didn’t speak and no servants announced their arrival, Lin Nuo was certain that the individual entering was Sir Rennes Clement, the knight who had caught him the previous night.

Lin Nuo felt a surge of nervousness. His hands instinctively tightened under the table, and his body sat upright involuntarily. He held his breath and glanced at the newcomer. Despite having already seen the knight’s abdominal muscles, he still had no idea about the man’s facial features.

As it turned out, the man’s face was as impressive as his physique. Describing Rennes’s facial features as ‘exquisitely carved’ felt like an understatement. His beautiful face, with its lack of expression and thin lips, naturally exuded a sense of pressure, even a hint of coldness.

Once Rennes stood in place, he glanced at the three seated at the table, placed his right hand over his chest, and bowed his head in a respectful gesture. 

The previously icy elder prince, Otto, stood up and greeted in an unusually enthusiastic tone, “Sir! We meet again!”

The second prince, Josef, maintained his elegant smile and greeted, “Sir Clement, good morning.”

Lin Nuo forced himself to speak, his voice somewhat strained, “Sir Clement, it’s our first meeting. Good morning.”

Rennes Clement gazed at Lin Nuo for two seconds, a hint of something inexplicable flashing in his eyes. He slightly bowed again and spoke with his crisp, autumn-like voice, “I’m honored to meet you, Your Highness the young prince.”

Following this, Rennes naturally sat beside Lin Nuo at the table.

 

 

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