Evil Dragon, Without a Princess, I Had to Transform Myself!-Chapter 40 : The Necklace

The carriage moved along.
The fragrance of orange trees along the way filled the entire spacious compartment. Rows of shrubs passed by the windows, distant mountains stretched layer upon layer to the horizon, and a freshwater river flowed familiarly in the distance. Patunasankus sat by the right window, knowing she was heading toward Taurant.
After handing the coachman's work directly to Elaphia, who was most familiar with the road conditions, Loranhir crawled into the compartment and saw the Princess gazing absent-mindedly out the window. Not wanting to disturb her, she carefully took out the blue sapphire necklace the Duchess had given her as a reward from the gift box.
At first hearing it was some ancestral Pascal family necklace sounded impressive, making her think it was some legendary magical item.
But the Duchess had also said this thing wasn't very useful, only barely possessing simple protective effects that could completely conceal the user's aura. Even the evil Dragon Lords with the keenest sense of smell on the continent couldn't detect any problems.
Anyway, it was quite a useless function that was of no help to Loranhir currently.
She really wished the Duchess could have rewarded her with some magical items that could improve her actual combat ability. That way, maybe she could play some role in future dangers instead of just watching helplessly and complaining that she couldn't do anything.
But the Duchess had only given her this—a blue sapphire necklace that was useless for anything. Its best use might be finding somewhere to sell it for a big profit.
But Loranhir had no intention of selling it.
She already had the most suitable person in mind as the necklace's owner.
"What is it? You look very mysterious." Patunasankus turned slightly sideways, glancing at Loranhir.
Loranhir sat across from the Princess without speaking. She brewed her emotions, pondering how best to begin.
Seeing her strange appearance, Patunasankus's expression changed slightly. She instinctively felt Loranhir was about to make this evil dragon eat vegetarian food again.
Oh no!
Patunasankus suddenly thought of a more serious problem.
She had left the Duchess's place too hastily and forgot to ask for a cook. Having finally eaten well at the Duchess's place, it was impossible for the evil dragon to taste the Hero's black mush again.
She also couldn't count on Elaphia to cook. A vampire thrall who went around catching mice to eat every day—could she expect this person to be a chef?
Just as the evil dragon was deeply troubled by food issues, Loranhir had finally prepared her emotions. She placed the gift box on the table and pushed it toward Patunasankus.
The evil dragon looked at the gift box and hesitated for a while.
"Food?" she asked seriously.
"This is... food? Why would you think it's food?" Loranhir was stunned for a moment, looking the Princess up and down.
The rhythm she had prepared for so long was completely broken.
"How could it possibly be food?!
—It's a gift! A gift!"
She hurriedly explained.
Loranhir opened the gift box and took out the delicate blue sapphire necklace inside.
Not food.
Boring.
Patunasankus instantly lost interest upon first sight.
If it were during the evil dragon's former era of greed for wealth, Patunasankus might have given it a second glance.
But times had changed. Now was the era of honoring princess kidnapping. Truly outstanding evil dragons wouldn't even look at treasures, only famous princesses of various races could get the evil dragons excited and roaring. The higher the ranking among dragons, the more fierce the roaring.
Patunasankus was no exception.
"So what?"
The evil dragon looked at the Hero expressionlessly, obviously unimpressed by the gift.
"When the Duchess gave it to me as a reward, I immediately thought of you."
Loranhir clearly felt the pressure. She didn't dare look into the Princess's eyes, wiped her cold sweat, but still pressed on.
"I think it matches Princess Latifa's eyes very well—both the same sky blue color."
Loranhir's words made Patunasankus unconsciously examine the necklace seriously, with an expression as if she were appraising something.
The sapphire's surface gleamed with gentle water-like radiance, its azure light gently enveloping the Princess's reflection.
"..."
Patunasankus was silent for a while, then nodded slightly, as if she really agreed with this assessment.
"Indeed, it matches her very well." The evil dragon murmured weakly.
"Your Highness, what did you just say?" Patunasankus's self-talk reached Loranhir's ears. She tilted her head in confusion. "Matches what very well?"
"...Nothing, just thought you were right," Patunasankus shook her head, as if saying something narcissistic. "Anyway, it really does match well."
She gently picked up the necklace with the embedded sapphire, lowered her head slightly, slowly brought it around her neck, then gently fastened it.
Under Loranhir's confused gaze, Patunasankus reached out and patted her head, as if giving a reward.
"I really like it," the Princess said. "Thank you."
Wait?
What did this attitude of rewarding a little puppy mean?!
Loranhir almost jumped up. Her first instinct was to protest against the Princess's very rude action.
She wasn't some puppy!
Even if it was the Princess, she couldn't be so unreasonable!
Even a useless Hero like her had dignity!
Shortly after.
"As long as Your Highness likes it." Loranhir squinted her eyes, smiling like a little puppy.
But this enjoyment only lasted for a moment. Loranhir suddenly noticed the Princess's movements had stopped.
She looked up in confusion.
Loranhir saw Patunasankus frowning as if she had encountered something incredible, so she spoke to her.
"Your Highness? What's wrong?"
Patunasankus had no intention of answering her, staring out the window the whole time.
The rain had stopped, and a wild wind blew over, making the evil dragon suddenly alert.
Patunasankus heard the wind's words.
In the clouds above, something was swooping toward her direction—an extremely dangerous warning that even caused flocks of birds to flee in competition. The approaching presence almost made no effort to conceal its existence, with absolute pressure accompanied by a huge shadow looming over.
Exceptionally domineering, exceptionally arrogant.
For Patunasankus, this aura was all too familiar.
It was a dragon.