Nolan stepped into the horse-drawn carriage waiting in the palace courtyard.
Under the gazes of Glarvic, Jisha, Leina, and Sylvia, the two carriages moved forward, gradually disappearing from view.
Jisha looked a little sad. Sylvia, standing beside her, noticed the change in her expression.
"Are you sad because you can’t stay with Nolan any longer?" she asked playfully.
Jisha gasped and quickly shook her head. "You misunderstand, Master. How could I be sad just because I’m parting with him?"
To emphasize her words, she snorted coldly and crossed her arms over her ample chest.
In truth, she was lying. She did feel a bit regretful about not being able to spend more time with Nolan.
Even though he was annoying, he was undeniably attractive—especially his domineering demeanor.
For some reason, it made him look incredibly handsome.
Unaware of her disciple’s wild thoughts, Sylvia simply shook her head.
"Let’s go inside. Tomorrow, we’ll return to the Tower of Silence. We’ve been away for too long. Those old folks are probably scolding me right now."
Although she held the title of Tower Master, it didn’t mean all the tower’s power was in her hands.
There were several factions within the tower, and most of them were hostile toward one another.
At first, she had only requested a four-day leave, but now nearly a week had passed since she left.
As a result, many matters and tasks were waiting for her at the tower.
Jisha felt sad. She wanted to stay longer in the Kingdom of Kaldarion.
Moreover, she had never been outside the city or enjoyed the many beautiful places across the kingdom.
However, she knew that once her master made a decision, it would be difficult to persuade her.
Glarvic turned to Sylvia and asked, "Tower Master, have you seen my daughter?"
Sylvia and Jisha were taken aback. They exchanged glances before shaking their heads.
"I haven’t seen her, Your Majesty. Could it be that she hasn’t returned after speaking with the prince?" Sylvia frowned.
Glarvic thought that made sense and said nothing more.
Not long after, he and the others returned to the palace.
With the start of cooperation with the Great Velmora Empire, a great deal of work was waiting for him.
...
"Nolan, what did Princess Olivia talk about earlier?" Sharon asked curiously.
Nolan rested his cheek against his right palm and replied indifferently, "Nothing special. She just thanked me for giving her father and her kingdom a chance to breathe—that’s all."
Sharon narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She doubted Olivia had said nothing more than that.
After all, her brother was extremely handsome. It was impossible for a young girl like her not to be interested, right?
Nevertheless, since Nolan didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t press the matter.
Even so, she planned to tell her father later. There was always a chance of matching Olivia with Nolan in the future.
If Nolan knew what his sister was thinking, he would surely pinch her cheek and scold her, "Do you think I’m that kind of person?"
Unfortunately, Nolan knew nothing of it, so he had no chance to scold her.
Three hours later, the two horse-drawn carriages carrying Nolan, Sharon, Cassiopeia, and Draco finally arrived at the port.
Jack and his crew had already prepared the ship, allowing them to set sail immediately.
"Take care, Prince, Princess, Mage Cassiopeia, and Mage Draco. May your journey be safe," Halmar said, bowing toward them.
The soldiers escorting them did the same.
Nolan smiled and gave a slight nod.
"Thank you for your service, Halmar. When I have time, I will bring you a gift from the Great Velmora Empire."
Halmar lifted his head, deeply moved by the words.
"You’re welcome, Your Highness."
After exchanging a few more words, Nolan and his entourage boarded the ship and sailed back to their empire.
***
"Hah... finally, I can relax too."
Inside his room, Nolan lay lazily on the bed with his eyes closed.
Sleeping in a third-class inn had been very uncomfortable. The bed was far from soft, and the atmosphere felt flat and dull.
Of course, it wasn’t that he looked down on the place; it simply didn’t suit him.
If he hadn’t been forced to, he would have chosen a more luxurious place to stay.
Nolan slowly opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.
"But the power of the Arcanum Eyes really is terrifying. I was so careless that my true self was exposed before her," he muttered.
Even figures as powerful as the Six Singularities couldn’t see through him.
That much was clear from the old man’s failure to recognize him at his father’s birthday banquet.
"Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ve already placed a curse on her. If she shows even the slightest intention of exposing my identity, she’ll die on the spot."
He wasn’t a cruel person. But if something disturbed his peace or posed a threat to him, then sorry—he would be more ruthless than anyone else.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot!" Nolan suddenly sat up. "The egg... I have to give it its mother’s blood essence!"
He quickly got out of bed and locked the door, making sure his sister couldn’t enter.
With a snap of his fingers, an egg appeared. It was about one and a half meters long and looked small compared to an average dragon egg.
"Could this egg be defective?" Nolan rubbed his chin.
Thinking about it, it wasn’t impossible. Defective eggs were smaller than normal or showed abnormalities that shouldn’t exist in healthy eggs.
This often happened with egg-laying monsters. Usually, such eggs would be discarded or destroyed before they could hatch.
"Well, I don’t care." Nolan shrugged. "Defective or not, I’ll still try to hatch it. Who knows? Maybe the dragon inside will come out."
Before pouring in the essence, he rubbed the egg’s surface.
Nolan could sense the life force inside. It was extremely weak, like a candle flame caught in the middle of a storm.
Without hesitation, he took the bottle containing the essence and poured it over the egg.
Suddenly, the egg emitted a faint white light that slowly grew brighter.
At the same time, the liquid was completely absorbed, leaving nothing behind.
Nolan examined the fetus inside and found that its life force had increased several times over.
"Good. Just one last step," he whispered.
He took out another bottle. Unlike the previous one, it was very small—only the size of a thumb.
Inside was a thick, blood-red liquid.
"I hope this can strengthen the dragon within."
He had discovered this potion by accident while exploring the Island of Silence at the edge of the western continent.
That island was also where he had found the Pearl of Emptiness to recreate Malverna’s body.
Although he didn’t fully understand the potion’s effects, he was certain it would be useful for the fetus inside the egg.
"Let’s see what happens next."