Having said that, Zhu Xiaxia curled her lips into a smile.
Then, she spoke a sentence that the Demon King would never expect.
“Why should I believe you?”
Hearing this, Xiao Hei widened her eyes, looking completely innocent.
“I’m telling the truth! I really didn’t lie to you, boohoo~”
Xiao Hei started crying in frustration.
“If there’s no crack, how did you get out?”
“I don’t know that either. I’m telling the truth. If I’m lying even a little, may lightning strike me.”
“If you agree to one thing, I’ll believe you,” Zhu Xiaxia continued.
“And you still want your freedom, right? I can give that to you too.”
Hearing that she could be free, Xiao Hei immediately wiped away her tears and got excited.
“I agree, I agree! But you can’t trick me like that female dragon did.”
“Don’t worry. I’m the Dragon King. My credibility is solid. Even though you’re of the Demon Race, I will still respect the basic etiquette of interaction between our two races.”
Zhu Xiaxia stood up and patted Xiaguang on the shoulder.
“Xiaguang, watch her here. I need to go get something. It might take a little time, so please be patient.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, and one more thing—call Zhu Qiu here. I’ll need her for the ceremony later.”
“Understood.”
With that, Zhu Xiaxia walked to the open space in front of the Imperial Palace, transformed into Dragon Form, and flew toward the Sky Island above the clouds.
Meanwhile, Xiaguang inside the palace began looking for Zhu Qiu.
“Princess, where are you? Her Majesty the Queen is looking for you.”
However, after searching around, she didn’t see anyone.
“Huh? Strange. If the Princess isn’t in the Imperial Palace, where could she be?”
Zhu Qiu had already snuck out and arrived at a place called Toy City.
Toy City was an entire district within the First Grand District of the Dragon Race.
It had many shops, most of which sold toys, hence the name Toy City.
With her previous experiences, she wasn’t as afraid of dragons anymore.
Instead, the various unique buildings of the Dragon Race filled her with curiosity.
However, Toy City didn’t sell only toys—it also had all kinds of practical magic props.
Not only that, but the streets were full of vendors, some selling rare little trinkets.
Zhu Qiu casually walked into a shop and looked at the dazzling array of toys with a dismissive expression.
“Hmph, these are all for little kids. I’m an adult. I’m not that childish.”
Nevertheless, she still couldn’t bear to leave and decided to look around the whole store.
A nearby shop assistant heard her and quickly became polite upon realizing it was the Princess.
Suddenly, Zhu Qiu’s eyes lit up.
She had spotted something—a beautiful toy magic staff hanging at the end of the hallway.
“Whoa! This thing is so exquisite.”
“Princess, if you like this toy, it’s yours,” the shop assistant offered, taking down the hanging toy magic staff.
“Ahem! I just came in to look around. I’m not a child, so I don’t play with toys. And… I can’t just take things for free.”
Zhu Qiu suddenly realized she was losing her dignity, so she pretended to cough twice.
“I—I mean, I’ll take it to Zhu Xiaxia to play with.”
The shop assistant’s eyes rolled in their sockets as they caught on.
“In that case, let’s put it on Her Majesty the Queen’s tab.”
“Yay!”
Zhu Qiu grabbed the toy immediately and ran off without lingering.
“Goodbye, Princess. Please come again.”
The shop assistant bowed politely.
Toy magic staff in hand, Zhu Qiu walked down the street, playing with it as she went.
“By the power of my staff, let heaven and earth obey my command!”
“In the name of the Starlight Staff, all troubles be gone!”
“By the light of the moon, I smite you!”
However, Zhu Qiu didn’t notice that all the people on the street were staring at her.
“Wow! The Princess is so cute! My heart is melting.”
“I want to go hug her!”
“Do you think if I snatched her toy, she’d start crying? Hehehe~ I’m so bad.”
By the time Zhu Qiu noticed the stares, her image as an adorable, silly child had already been deeply etched into everyone’s minds.
“What was I just doing?!”
Zhu Qiu clutched her head in panic, but she didn’t let go of the toy staff.
In an instant, not only was her dignified persona shattered, but even the broken pieces turned to dust and blew away.
“No! This can’t be real!”
Startled, Zhu Qiu started running down the street, trying to shake off everyone’s gaze.
But the more she did that, the cuter everyone thought she was.
Zhu Qiu kept running until she finally reached the entrance of Toy City.
“I’d better leave this place quickly. What I did today was too embarrassing. I don’t want those dragons to misunderstand.”
Just as she stepped out, she was stopped by an old man with a long white beard and pitch-black glasses.
“Oh, little one, would you like to take a look at this old man’s toys? I have a rattle drum here.”
He picked up a rattle drum tied to his handmade cart and shook it.
Rattle rattle, rattle rattle~
“…Sir, I’m not a little kid. I don’t play with such childish toys.”
“Not a little kid?”
The old man amusingly adjusted his pitch-black glasses and refocused his gaze.
“Sorry, I misjudged. Young sir, I can see from your bones that you’re extraordinary. One day, you will become someone who rules the Dragon Race. This item should suit you perfectly.”
As he spoke, the old man pulled out a long box from the bottom of his cart.
“Old man, aren’t you afraid the Dragon King will hear you say that?”
Zhu Qiu actually liked being called “young sir”—it reminded her of her former self.
“What’s there to be afraid of? Unless you’re telling me I’m wrong?”
“…Well, no.”
Zhu Qiu couldn’t really deny it.
But the box looked extremely old, covered in dust and cobwebs.
“Take it. It will be a great help in your life.”
The old man handed the long box to Zhu Qiu.
Zhu Qiu weighed it—it was fairly heavy.
She examined the box from all sides.
Huh?
Isn’t this box about the same size as my Holy Sword?
After thinking it over, she decided to open it and take a look.
“Ah! Young sir, don’t open it!”
Zhu Qiu looked puzzled.
If he was giving it to her, why couldn’t she open it?
What was this old man up to?
“Why can’t I open it?”
“Because if you open it now, I’m afraid the contents will draw attention, and someone might sneak into your home and steal it. It’s better to open it at home, just to be safe.”
Zhu Qiu paused.
That did make sense.
“Oh, I see. Fine, I’ll take it.”
Zhu Qiu turned to leave.
“Ah! Wait, young sir. You haven’t paid yet.”
“How much does this thing cost?”
“Not much, not much—just—”