Evil Dragon, Without a Princess, I Had to Transform Myself!-Chapter 71 : The Equation of the Evil Dragon

Patunasankus tied her dandelion-colored hair with a blue ribbon, tossing it neatly behind her to let it cascade over her shoulders, basking in the sunlight.
The evil dragon had seen this same gesture and style countless times before.
Replicating it wasn’t difficult for her.
With time to spare, Patunasankus found a lakeside spot in the city, using the water’s surface as a mirror. She spun slightly, her skirt fluttering lightly.
After confirming everything was in order, she returned to the city walls, resuming her previous position.
Patunasankus gazed up at the clouds in the sky—like tangled strands of smooth white silk drifting across the clear autumn blue, unfurling a brilliant expanse of color.
She cast aside all messy thoughts and, as she had done countless times before, stared blankly at the sky.
Beyond this, she did nothing else, nor cared about what happened behind her. As always, utterly indifferent.
For Patunasankus, this was how most of her life passed.
So boring. I really want to burn something.
The evil dragon thought.
Just then, the rapid clatter of footsteps on stone steps echoed urgently, followed by two visibly frantic girls rushing onto the city walls—one pink, one white, carrying a sleeping figure between them.
The moment they arrived, they began scanning their surroundings, desperately searching for any trace of someone, terrified they might have lost them in such a short time.
Only when they finally spotted Patunasankus in the corner, staring vacantly at the sky, did they finally exhale in relief.
"Princess... Princess..." Elaphia bent over, gasping for breath, unable to form a complete sentence.
Loranhir, on the other hand, wasn’t faring much better. Carrying someone while jogging had left her utterly exhausted, but she couldn’t just dump Hedica like trash somewhere.
Is she really that deep asleep? Was she hit by some kind of spell?
Loranhir unceremoniously dropped Hedica onto the ground, finally freeing herself for a moment’s rest.
"…?"
Patunasankus tilted her head at their half-dead expressions.
"It’s really good that the Princess kept her promise and didn’t run off," Elaphia managed to say after a long while, sighing in relief.
Still recovering from severe injuries, she had sprinted from outside the city all the way to the walls, leaving her completely drained.
Especially now, with the sunlight at its strongest—had she not slathered on copious amounts of sunscreen along the way, it might have been the death of her.
Though the greatest threat, the lich, had been dealt with, Elaphia feared some villain might take advantage of the Princess’s absence to kidnap her.
After spending this much time together, she was absolutely certain the Princess had some innate "kidnap magnet" constitution.
Ah, beauty truly is a sin...
Elaphia thought, watching Patunasankus’s silky hair sway gently in the breeze.
It wouldn’t be surprising if a few more evil dragons showed up to abduct her someday.
Then, she turned to look at Loranhir, feeling a sense of relief.
But it’s not too big a deal. As long as the hero steps in, everything will be fine...
"Your Highness, as I mentioned before," Loranhir said firmly, cutting through Elaphia’s thoughts, "I’ve come to bid you farewell."She was somewhat dumbfounded.
"Huh?"
○
In the past, if Loranhir had confessed her desire to leave, Patunasankus wouldn't have tried to persuade her or shown any particular reaction.
She was completely indifferent to such matters.
Just another useless hero leaving—so what? No big deal.
But now, things were entirely different.
Loranhir's words entered Patunasankus's ears and took on another form as they wormed their way into her mind.
The evil dragon's brain worked too efficiently, like well-oiled gears spinning countless times in a single second.
Wisdom permeated the air around her; one could grab handfuls of it just by reaching out.
A subtle equation formed in her mind.
Loranhir wants to leave → Loranhir gained the power of Dragon Feast from her → Loranhir gained her Dragon Feast power and now wants to leave → Loranhir wants to freeload?!
Loranhir wants to freeload off her?!
How could she? Trying to freeload from an evil dragon?!
Hmph, no way!
Patunasankus didn't care about any other nonsense. If someone took her benefits and consumed her dragon heart, they'd have to work for her for life—no pay, no escape.
For life! Unpaid labor!
Such was the evil dragon's philosophy—simple, unadorned, and brimming with lowbrow amusement.
Patunasankus's first instinct was to tie Loranhir up on the spot and solve the problem with brute force. Simple and efficient.
But the evil dragon also knew she was currently standing before the other party in the form of Latifa.
And Latifa would never do such a thing.
Of this, she was absolutely certain.
"I'm sorry," Loranhir couldn't face the Princess, only offering apologies, "I'm sorry... I... I..."
She didn't know what she was doing, nor what she even wanted to say. Saying goodbye? How could something like that suit a complete fraud like her?
Sneaking back to her hometown like a stray dog to till the fields would have been far more fitting.
Yet Loranhir's heart always held a longing—for something insignificant, for... change.
She wanted to do well, to become a true hero, as glorious and mighty as everyone said, to stand tall and unrivaled—not the useless, luck-dependent loser she had been.
For a fleeting moment, she thought she had found that path, standing right at the threshold—but she still questioned whether she had the right to step forward.
Because she didn't know—didn't know how the Princess before her viewed a complete fraud.
Patunasankus remained silent for a long time—long even by an evil dragon's standards.
She studied Loranhir, deep in thought, as if trying to glimpse something in the other's eyes.
"Look up," Patunasankus said. "Look at me."
Loranhir didn't understand but obeyed.
Then she saw the Princess lean in, staring intently at her, so close that her reflection nearly filled the other's pupils.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Loranhir blinked nervously."A person's character is determined by her actions, not her words," Patunasankus told her.
Loranhir looked at Patunasankus.
Still the same familiar sight—dandelion-hued hair, clear blue eyes, bright as a strand of morning sun caught in full bloom.
She tilted her face up, her lashes crinkling with a smile.
"..."
Loranhir felt as though something was stuck in her throat. The wind was strong, and there was so much sand.
To be honest, Patunasankus had no idea where those words had come from either—she was just rambling.
She simply felt that Latifa would probably say something like that, so the words came out naturally. Not that she believed them herself.
But the evil dragon had to admit she was growing fond of this feeling.
This feeling of seeing "her" reflected in someone else's eyes once more...
It was truly... wonderful.
○
Loranhir ran off without looking back, muttering something about needing to send Hedica home. Patunasankus decided to take her word for it.
Not that she particularly cared either way.
"Your Highness, what were you two talking about just now?" Elaphia finally asked once their conversation ended.
From start to finish, Elaphia had listened to the entire exchange and was still utterly baffled. The more she heard, the more confused she became, completely unable to grasp what had transpired between Patunasankus and Loranhir.
What in the world was all that about?
She didn’t understand, but it somehow felt like something incredibly important.
Though burning with curiosity, Elaphia had held back her questions until Loranhir and the Princess finished speaking.
"Want to know?" Patunasankus winked at her teasingly, deliberately beckoning her closer.
Seeing the Princess in such a mischievous mood, Elaphia was ninety percent certain that asking would lead to her being thoroughly pranked. The last time's "Guess what?" was still fresh in her memory.
"Mm... never mind," Elaphia said seriously.
Patunasankus suddenly seemed to lose interest, her gaze drifting away. "Oh well. I could’ve told you, but if you don’t want to hear it..."
Elaphia felt toyed with again, but she couldn’t bring herself to say she actually wanted to know.
"Your Highness, you're teasing me again," she sighed, feeling the Princess had grown even more playful.
The evil dragon responded with a soft hum, walking away as she pulled out a bag of crackers with one hand and popped fish-shaped biscuits into her mouth with the other.
"After all that effort, still couldn’t find a decent cook," she muttered without turning around.
For her, filling her stomach was clearly more important than matters like lich refugees. But that, too, seemed like an impossible task.
"Well, I certainly can’t cook," Elaphia said without hesitation. "And I doubt Loranhir can either."
Patunasankus nodded glumly and stood in silence for a long moment.
"No, no, you two 'have' to learn," she mumbled through a mouthful of crackers, shoving another handful in.
Then she reached into the bag again.
It was empty."..."
The evil dragon instantly pouted lightly, hesitated for a moment, then slowly made her way toward Hedica's camp.
Elaphia followed behind her.