Mr. Dragon Knight, the dragon girls are chasing you!

"……Well."

Ignis's voice suddenly stopped.

Wendina sighed, picked up her teacup, took another sip, and said with a hint of "I knew it" in her voice:

"So, you slept for eight years, expecting a human boy to stay in the same spot and wait for you to wake up?"

"Eight years is but a fleeting moment for us dragons who live for tens of thousands of years, but for humans who live for only a hundred years, it is a long lifespan."

"If he had truly held out in the same place, he would have starved to death countless times over."

Ignis opened her mouth, then closed it again, her expression shifting from anger to guilt, and finally to an awkward "it seems I am indeed wrong, but I don't want to admit it" look.

"But he can't just run away! I've been so good to him, I've practically given him my bottom line! And he actually ran away while I was sleeping!"

"A sore spot?" Wendina raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You gave him your Achilles' heel?"

"...It's not a reverse scale! It's just a regular scale!" Ignis quickly explained, but even she could hear the guilt in her voice.

After a few seconds of panic, she finally managed to forcefully change the subject, found a new trigger, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

"No, that's not the point at all!"

"That kid used to chant about the Water Dragon King every day when he was in my castle! He definitely came here! Right?!"

Wendina smiled gently as she watched Wendina's clumsy attempt to change the subject, feigning innocence and tilting her head slightly.

"Oh? Someone's been talking about me? How come I didn't know?"

"Don't play dumb with me, he definitely came!"

Wendina slowly put down her teacup, her fingertips lightly touching the rim. A faint smile appeared in her clear blue eyes. Finally, she stopped hiding her intentions and slowly began to speak.

"Indeed, a few years ago, a very interesting human boy came to Azure City and stayed here for a while."

Ignis's eyes lit up instantly, and she leaned forward slightly, urgently asking, "It's him! Where is he now?!"

"However," Wendina changed the subject, slowly dropping a bombshell to deliberately whet her appetite.

"He said his name wasn't Luo Ye. He told me his name was—Li Feiyu."

"Li Feiyu?"

Ignis frowned deeply, repeatedly chewing on the name, her face full of strangeness and unfamiliarity.

"Why is this name so strange? It's completely unlike his style... Could it really not be the same person? Or am I mistaken?"

Wendina sighed and looked at her with a "my silly little sister" expression.

"Ignis".

"Um?"

"That's obviously a fake name, you idiot."

Ignis's expression froze instantly, and she stood rooted to the spot.

Three seconds later, her face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"That little bastard! He actually dared to use a fake name to fool my sister! He's got some nerve!"

She suddenly stood up, and fiery red flames around her instantly surged, causing the temperature in the entire tea room to soar. The scorching heat almost distorted the air, and the crystal tabletop became slightly hot.

"I'll go find him right now! I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget! I'll flick his little dummy and make him remember it!"

"sit down."

Wendina's voice remained gentle, yet it forcefully suppressed the surrounding flames.

The raging flames were instantly suppressed, and the scorching temperature in the room slowly dropped.

Ignis stiffened, her body instinctively obeying the suppression, but she still stood there sullenly, refusing to sit down obediently, her face full of dissatisfaction.

"Sit down first, have some tea, and then we'll talk."

Wendina repeated herself in the same tone, a faint glimmer of light flashing in the depths of her blue eyes.

Ignis confronted her for three seconds, but eventually gave in, plopped back into her chair, and downed her tea in one gulp.

Wendina raised her hand, water-based spiritual light flowing from her fingertips, and steadily refilled her cup of tea. Her movements were unhurried and gentle as ever.

Then, she once again posed that question that struck right to the heart.

"So, you like him, right?"

Ignis's wrist, which was holding the teacup, suddenly trembled, and the tea almost spilled out. Her heartbeat went completely off track.

"What nonsense are you spouting!" she suddenly raised her voice, her tone flustered and guilty, stubbornly trying to deny it.

"How could I possibly like that brat!"

"If you don't like him, why did you rush here to find him as soon as you woke up from hibernation, crossing thousands of miles of airspace?" Wendina tilted her head slightly, gently pressing the question, not giving her any chance to escape.

Ignis opened her mouth, then closed it again, her expression shifting unpredictably, as if a fierce internal struggle was raging within her.

Finally, she deflated like a punctured balloon, her shoulders slumped, and her voice was muffled:

"...I...I just like it a tiny bit, okay? Just a little bit! Not much!"

Wendina's lips curled up slightly, revealing a "I knew it" smile.

"If you liked him, why didn't you just form a dragon-knight exclusive contract with him in the first place and keep him by your side?"

This question instantly struck a nerve with Ignis. Her expression stiffened again, and she guiltily avoided Wendina's gaze, her voice growing softer and softer, her confidence completely gone.

"I... I was just sleepy after eating, so I went into a deep sleep."

"Who would have thought that guy would be so bold as to sneak away while I was asleep..."

Looking at her younger sister's adorable appearance—a mix of pride, grievance, and stubbornness—Wendina shook her head gently with a mixture of helplessness and affection, her eyes filled with a tender sigh.

She put down her teacup, gently jumped off the chair, and walked barefoot onto the cool crystal floor to a wall in the tea room.

Portraits hung on the wall.

The painting is exquisite, with smooth lines and bold yet delicate use of color, making each piece lifelike.

The paintings depict a variety of subjects—some show magnificent seascapes, others depict dragons soaring through the sky, and still others depict tranquil moonlit forests…

But the largest and most exquisite part of the entire wall consists of countless portraits of the same person.

A portrait of a blue-haired girl.

She stood by the sea, her skirt billowing in the sea breeze, her smile gentle and bright.

She sat under the tree, sunlight filtering through the leaves and falling on her, a serene and beautiful sight.

She held the teacup, the rising steam blurring her face, but it couldn't hide her gentle eyes.

The girl in every painting is the same person—

Wendina.

These are all the sweat and effort that Luo Ye put in when he conquered the Water Dragon King.

Ignis walked slowly forward, her scarlet eyes narrowing slightly as her gaze swept over the paintings covering the wall, a strange, bitter feeling welling up inside her.

"These are all..." she said softly.

"He drew them all," Undina said softly, with a hint of nostalgia.

"During his stay at my place, he would paint in his spare time every day. He said that beautiful moments are fleeting, and he wanted to preserve all the tenderness and beauty he had ever seen."

Her gaze fell on the largest painting.

It was a double portrait.

In the painting, a blue-haired girl and a black-haired boy stand side by side on the city wall of Azure City, with the distant sunset gilding their silhouettes in gold.

The girl smiled gently, and the boy's lips curled up slightly. Although they didn't hold hands or hug, the natural closeness between them made it clear to anyone that there was a special bond between them.

"He gave me this painting the day before he left," Undina said softly.

He said he hoped that when I see this painting in the future, I will remember him.

Ignis walked up to the painting, stared at the carefree human figure in it for several seconds, and then let out a suppressed roar: "...It really is him."

Wendina wasn't surprised; she simply nodded slightly. "Yes, I know."

"You know?!" Ignis turned sharply to look at her.

"You know he's the brat who stole my Achilles' heel?!"