The car drove smoothly down the paved road to Ajet, the center of Tezeba.
Noah followed Kyle into the Security Department without much thought. The gray exterior created a sense of intimidation, and there were unusual stone statues on either side of the entrance as if they looked down on the people that entered and exited the building.
A red carpet that didnât fit in with the heavy atmosphere and scarlet petals scattered over it and a group of servants were lined up along the carpet.
At the end of the red carpet stood a small chubby man with a cape. His cape was such a similar red to the carpet that at first glance it looked like he had it draped over his shoulders.
âWho is that person?â
While Noah was making a strange face, the people that stood next to the man, all turned their heads towards them at the same time. She felt a little nervous by the serious looks in their eyes.
Even if Noah looked over there, she did not know anyone but everyone hated her.
âNoah Park, Iâm sure youâll live a long life this time.â
A person who watched from the side with burning eyes strode forward to meet them.
âLong time no see, Baroness Asil. You too, General Manager of the Investigation Security.â
As the approaching man greeted him, Kyle looked frustrated and annoyed. But that was only for a short moment, Kyle greeted the man in front of them in a measured manner. Kyle mouthed a word in her direction and she read his lips.
âThe Minister of fiâŠce?â
âOh, heâs the finance minister. Thatâs why he seemed extremely strict.â
The finance minister gave Kyle a look and glanced down at her. Noah could see by how he looked at her over his glasses that he held a deep hatred for her.
âYouâre still very aggressive.â
He seemed to be eager to start a fight. He clicked his tongue and frowned when she tried to bow.
âIf you felt shame you wouldnât have come back to the capital, but in a sense, thatâs great, Baroness. Iâd like to be as audacious as you. If I was you, instead of staring at me, Iâd at least pretend to be ashamed. Anyway, youâre not infectious.â
The ministerâs voice was filled with sarcasm. He was talking about when she fought with Adrian in front of the ministry building.
Nothing was damaged because she didnât go through with it, but she still felt bad.
âI am not infectious? Why do I have to be ashamed?â
While Noah contemplated whether to reply or not, an unexpected person approached them. It was a man wearing a scarlet cloak, who caught everyone off guard as soon as he entered.
Kyle bowed much more genuinely than he had just done to the finance minister.
âGreetings, Your Majesty.â
Who? Shocked by Kyleâs greeting, Noah looked at the man in front of her. The gentleman looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, with soft brown hair and gentle eyes, with a mild and warm impression. He did not seem to have any charisma at all.
âI was just about to go and report, I didnât know you had already reached the Imperial city.â
âItâs an important matter. I came as soon as I heard that the car had reached the Bureau.â
âThe King? Laurentâs King? Noah gazed blankly at the king as he spoke to Kyle.â
âOh⊠no wonder. â
From the moment Noah stepped at the Bureau of Investigation, there was something strange. She wondered why there were so many people that wore the same clothes. They seemed to be a group of servants brought by the king. The fact that he did not summon her directly to the Imperial castle, but that he walked to the investigation and security office himself, means that he was in a hurry.
âAre you the one who hatched the dragon egg?â
âOh, wellâŠâ
Noah missed the right time to answer the kingâs words because she was thinking of a reply. The minister got angry right away.
âBaroness! What do you think you are doing? Donât ignore His Majesty! Answer His Majestyâs question immediately!â
At this point, Noah got angry. She thought that this man would find fault with her no matter what she did, even if she bowed down to the emperor here. Naturally, her answer was abrupt.
âIâm trying to figure out what to answer, Minister, and your wig is crooked.â
âWell, whatâŠâ
âYou need to move it a little to the right.â
As Noah tapped her forehead, the minister hurriedly moved the wig to the right. It was a lie that it was twisted to the right and in fact, it was tilted to the left, so when he moved it to the right, the wig fell to the floor.
âOh my God, youâre right.â
The ministerâs face became pale and then suddenly blushed red. Unable to find anything to say, he turned around and quickly sorted out his wig.
Kyle grabbed her arm. Noah shot him a glare.
That man again. If she acted like Eleonora, no matter how powerful she is in this country, she wouldnât be able to do anything recklessly.
To be like Eleonora she would have had to be arrogant and bossy. But Noah didnât have the talent to imitate her elegance, so she gave up early and decided to take a different path.
She is Park Noah, the queen of destruction.
Noah glanced at the biggest and thickest entrance pillar in the hall. With one glance, she could see the mana was twisted like a rope, wrapped around the pillar, and tightened.
It was a movement that was only clearly visible to Noah and Muelâs eyes but invisible to others.
âAwesome.â
There was a large crack in the pillar, seemed to be wider than they could have stretched to hold even if they spread their arms wide open.
The people around quickly turned pale, the contempt they were feeling towards Noah turned into fear.
Nothing amused Noah more than asking these people to be polite to her. So Noah made a rather threatening remark.
âI told the Major General over there that Iâm willing to cooperate, and if you keep provoking me like this, I donât know what Iâm going to do. Sir Leonard learned a few days ago that you shouldnât provoke me, do you want me to teach you in a similar way?â
Everyone looked towards Kyle.
He patted Muel on the back and his face looked tired and somber.
Stunned silence followed and the emperor finally opened his mouth.
âI see. I apologize for the ministerâs mistake. Baroness Asil didnât mean to insult me, did she?â
ââŠâŠ.â
âYou donât tend to be too harsh. Apologize. Come on.â
âIâm sorry, Baroness Asil.â
The finance minister gave a blunt apology with a disgruntled look on his face. The emperor even ordered an apology, but he insulted her even more.
The emperor chuckled cheerfully.
âItâs a wonderful sight. Now, Baroness you know, Iâm sure youâll keep your promise to cooperate with the royal family.â
ââŠYes.â
It was Noahâs turn to prove her willingness to cooperate. There was only one way to be trusted by Emperor Laurent and reduce the danger to herself.
Noah gave Muel, who was still with Kyle, a prompt.
âMu, do you want to go to the Capital first?â
Noah was curious about Muelâs reaction.
âFirst?â
âYes. Four or five days. No, one week ahead.â
That way, she would be away from Muel for a while.
It had been confirmed that it was possible to consciously control mana if the physical distance from Muel was increased. Noah liked the idea of being away from Muel until she somehow got used to this dangerous mana.
âNo, I donât wanna.â
But of course, Muel didnât want to be separated. Perhaps he felt that she was trying to get away from him, so Muel moved his arms and legs back and forth to get out of Kyleâs arms.
âAhjussi, I want to be with Noah.â
(Note: Ahjussi is old man in Korean)
âIâm not an Ahjussi. â
âYou are an Ahjussi. Let me go!â
Noah watched as the 28-year-old Kyle Leonard tried to correct how Muel referred to him.
âYou canât keep calling me Ahjussi, Muel. Iâd prefer it if you called me by my name.â
âNoah said Ahjussi was Ahjussi.â
âIf you donât fix what you call me I wonât take you to Noah.â
Muelâs face became upset so Noah interrupted the conversation before Muel burst into tears.
âMuel, if you promise to go ahead and stay calm and donât cause trouble, Iâll get you back to your dragon form.â
ââŠâŠ!â
Muel, who had started to cry at Noahâs words, froze. Noah quickly soothed Muel.
âMy Mu is a kind and patient dragon, so you will be good to go alone. There will be interesting things in the capital, more than anything youâve seen before. If youâre bored, go ask that grandpa in a wig to play with you.â
It wasnât until about ten minutes that Muel finally nodded.
âThen⊠you have to come quickly.â
âOkay.â
âYeah, but if Noah gets into trouble, Iâll fly to you right away.â
âThat wonât happen, but Iâll call you right away if anything happens.â
After Noah had calmed Muel, she asked for a paper and a pen from a servant, and wrote down the sentence âManual for the dragon, Muelâ.
Muel was not a difficult dragon to handle. And if they had any sense, they wouldnât do anything to bring about the wrath of a dragon.
If youâre that stupid, I canât help you. You deserve anything that happens.
ââŠâ
Noah thought about it and paused for a moment. What, what am I thinking? She panicked and made sure Muel understood how to behave.
âMu, no indiscriminate killing. You know that, right?â
âYes.â
Muel smiled which Noah was a little relieved to see. She handed the emperor the note that she had written some of the rules, and the emperorâs expression trembled.