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Chapter 5
Leon looked down at Mia, who was clutching his leg with her tiny forepaw.
Rub, rub—
Mia began vigorously rubbing her face against his leg.
I won’t act arrogant anymore! Please don’t kill me!
Among the beastkin of the North, this was a gesture used to curry favor with someone.
From Mia’s perspective, she believed that if she went this far, the dragons would surely understand what she meant.
However, the moment Leon saw it, his body trembled slightly. Max froze even more severely than before, his face turning pale.
“L-Lord Patriarch, what in the world…?”
Max managed to speak through a trembling voice.
“S-She’s asking to be hugged this time…”
Among Southern dragons, rubbing one’s body against another person meant:
Please hug me.
Leon and Max stared blankly at Mia as she continued rubbing her face against Leon’s leg.
Mia then looked up at them with sparkling eyes and let out a pitiful cry.
“Meow!”
To their ears, it sounded like:
Please hug me tightly!
Max unconsciously covered his mouth.
“Haah… This really shouldn’t happen, but honestly, she’s just too cute—”
Leon shot him a sharp glare.
Max immediately straightened his expression.
“N-No, Lord Patriarch! It’s nothing! More importantly, why is this child acting like this toward us?”
Leon stared at Mia, who was rubbing against his leg, lost in thought.
Then his eyes suddenly sharpened.
“Max. I know why this brat is acting this way.”
“Huh?”
“Alex definitely instructed her to do it.”
“Alex?”
“Yes. He told her to act like this to provoke sympathy and make us lower our guard. Just like what almost happened to you earlier.”
“W-What? Why would he do that?”
“He probably thought we might pity her enough to ease the hostage conditions.”
Leon’s eyes narrowed.
“Or perhaps reduce the reparations.”
Max’s eyes widened.
“That explains it! I knew something felt strange! That’s why this little girl suddenly approached us like this.”
He clicked his tongue.
“To think he’d make such a young daughter do something like this…”
“He’s the kind of man who would do anything if it helped him secure better terms in a treaty.”
Max shook his head in disgust.
“How shameless. He starts the war himself, then instead of paying for his crimes, he puts his child forward and appeals to our emotions.”
His voice turned cold.
“If we let this slide, he’ll only become more brazen. Lord Patriarch, perhaps this is a good opportunity to pull out all the tigers’ fangs.”
“I agree.”
Leon’s purple eyes flashed dangerously.
“Honored dragons, you summoned me?”
Alex entered the reception room once again, bowing so deeply it looked as though his spine might snap.
Then he noticed me sitting in Max’s arms.
“Huh?!”
His face clearly said:
How did that brat end up here?
Leon answered coldly.
“She’s your only daughter, is she not?”
That filthy little cat is my daughter? What nonsense is this?
Alex glared at me, about to deny it.
At that moment, I stared directly into his eyes.
Please keep your mouth shut!
Surprisingly, Alex froze.
I could practically see the gears turning in his head.
The dragons have mistaken her for Caroline. I can send this brat as a hostage instead!
He quickly made up his mind.
“That’s right! This is Mia, my most beloved only daughter!”
I sighed in relief.
Leon looked at him with open contempt.
“Let us discuss the hostage matter first. We will take this child for twenty years. No objections will be accepted.”
“H-Hic… Mia is my most precious treasure. Please, not that child…”
To my shock, Alex even put on a tearful performance.
Leon immediately snapped.
“You truly are skilled at emotional manipulation. Did you really think I’d fall for such a pathetic act?”
Alex flinched.
I trembled as well.
Had our lie been exposed?
“Stop pretending ignorance. Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out? Using this child to provoke sympathy so that I would spare her? Lower the reparations?”
Provoke sympathy? What is he talking about?
Still, it didn’t seem like my illegitimate birth had been discovered.
While Alex and I exchanged confused looks, Leon grabbed the thick treaty document from the table.
Riiiip!
He tore it apart as though it were nothing more than a sheet of paper.
“W-What are you doing…?”
“This treaty is no longer necessary.”
Leon’s gaze became merciless.
“We’ll draft a new one. Listen carefully.”
Even I trembled in Max’s arms.
At Leon’s signal, Max set me down and prepared fresh paper and a pen.
Leon declared firmly:
“First. Reparations shall total fifty billion gold.”
“Fifty billion?!”
The amount was fifty times greater than before.
Alex nearly collapsed.
Ignoring his shock, Leon continued.
“In addition, half of the Northern Territory shall be ceded to the South.”
Alex’s face stiffened.
The most fertile lands in the North amounted to roughly half the territory.
“And all rights to the logging industry will be transferred to the South.”
Alex’s expression darkened.
Without the logging industry, the North would practically starve.
But Leon wasn’t finished.
“The trading rights of Elm Harbor will also be transferred to the South. All trade authority belongs to us.”
Alex’s face became deathly pale.
“The North must also provide labor for Southern mining operations whenever requested.”
Not only their only port, but their workforce as well.
Even I stared at Leon in shock.
Was it this severe in my previous life?
I clearly remembered only reparations and a hostage agreement.
For some reason, Alex and the North were being completely stripped bare.
“And if any of these conditions are violated, it shall be considered a breach of treaty.”
Leon’s eyes turned cold.
“The South will immediately declare war upon the North.”
Alex finally exploded.
“What are you trying to do?! Are you planning to devour the North entirely?! This punishment is excessive!”
Sharp fangs protruded from his mouth.
Leon merely laughed.
“How amusing.”
His smile vanished.
“You never intended to properly pay for your crimes in the first place.”
“What are you talking about? Regardless, I will never sign—”
Alex suddenly froze.
A powerful black aura began pouring out of Leon’s body.
The pupils in Leon’s purple eyes narrowed into terrifying vertical slits.
What is that…?
Even my body shrank instinctively.
This was on an entirely different level from when he had intimidated me earlier.
“Then I suppose the South has every right to start another war immediately.”
Rumble!
The entire reception room shook violently.
Crash!
The chandelier fell from the ceiling.
Statues and antiques toppled from display shelves.
A vast black aura surged outward.
Then it took shape.
A gigantic black dragon with enormous wings.
Alex’s face turned white.
He remembered that dragon all too well.
It was the same black dragon that had mercilessly wiped out half of the Northern army during the war.
“Alex Chigr.”
Leon slowly spoke.
His calm voice was infinitely more terrifying than a shout.
“The South is not a place you can afford to underestimate.”
“Ghk…!”
The aura dragon opened its monstrous jaws toward Alex.
Cold sweat poured down his massive body.
If I keep resisting, I’ll actually die.
Instinctively, Alex tucked his tail between his legs and flattened himself against the floor.
“I-I’ll give it to you! Everything you want!”
Only then did Leon withdraw his aura.
Looking down at Alex, who still lay prostrate on the floor, he spoke indifferently.
“Our business here is finished.”
He turned away.
“We’ll be returning to the South.”
So I really am going as a hostage!
Warm sunlight streamed through the carriage window and tickled my fur.
It was a luxury I could never have enjoyed in the cold, dark cellar.
I was now riding in a carriage prepared by the Drake family.
I still didn’t understand why Alex and the North had been stripped of so much more than in my previous life.
But honestly, they deserved it.
Watching Alex suffer after everything he’d done to me was deeply satisfying.
Especially when he saw Leon’s aura dragon and immediately surrendered.
Just remembering it made me roll happily around on my cushion.
More importantly, what should I do now that I’m leaving as a hostage?
For the next twenty years, I would be living in the South.
That meant the most important thing was avoiding offending the dragons.
Never act arrogant. Stay quiet, obedient, and listen carefully to everything they say.
I should always show gratitude and do my best to stay on their good side.
Even if they can’t understand my meows, I can communicate through gestures.
After all, hadn’t my gestures successfully conveyed how desperately I wanted to become a hostage?
That was why I was currently riding this carriage to the South.
Bathed in the warm sunlight, drowsiness slowly crept over me.
I curled into a ball and happily closed my eyes.
Then—
Bang!
“Meow?!”
The carriage door suddenly swung open.
I instinctively cried out.
Turning toward the entrance, my tail immediately began swishing aggressively.
A gigantic Alex stood there, glaring at me viciously.
What? Why is he here?
To be continued…
