Chapter 11: Eye of the Storm

The rusty iron shelf emitted a creaking sound,

Following closely, a massive lamp sign, sparking, suddenly plummeted from Irene's side!

Before Irene could react, a hand forcefully grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.

"Crackle - Bang!"

The enormous lamp sign, spitting sparks, crashed down beside Irene.

"Ah!!!"

Irene and Aegon, the parties involved, didn't scream, but instead, a girl further away let out a high-pitched scream.

Onlookers instinctively moved further away from the lamp sign, while some righteous individuals went to confront the shop owner.

Suddenly being pulled into an embrace, and the abrupt change of events left Irene momentarily bewildered. She instinctively focused her gaze on Aegon's profile.

He was frowning as he stared at the massive lamp sign that had fallen beside her. His face, illuminated by the alternating lights around them, appeared sharply defined.

At that moment, Irene's thoughts took a strange turn as she remembered Aegon pulling her into his embrace to protect her.

Nestled in Aegon's embrace, her wrist captured by his grasp, Irene gazed at him intently, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

"Is there a possibility that even if it hit me, I'd be fine?"

It was only then that Aegon realized, even if the lamp sign had hit Irene, it would have been the sign that suffered the damage...

"Sorry, it was instinctive. Seems like I overreacted a bit."

Irene stared into his eyes, shaking her head slowly. "No, it's just that I have a question. How long do we have to maintain this pose?"

Irene hadn't actually been harmed, and soon everyone's attention would shift away from them,

But for now, the sight of the two of them in a half-embrace was quite conspicuous...

Irene's remark reminded him that they were still in a somewhat ambiguous position, with Irene's hand held by him, loosely nestled in his embrace.

After such an incident, Aegon lost interest in continuing their stroll. "Let's go back."

"Okay."

However, their hands remained intertwined.

---

With a clear destination in mind and no attachment to the scenery along the way, Aegon and Irene returned to the deserted castle in less than half an hour.

Juliet and Heinie went out to gather information about the Five Dragon Gods of Guiltina, leaving the castle somewhat quieter without the lively chatter of Juliet.

"It's a bit empty."

"Need me to attach some weapons?"

After being betrayed by the people she deeply loved, she had lost much trust in humans. Coupled with the troubles she had previously faced due to side effects, no amount of servants would be of any use. So, the vast castle only had Heinie and Juliet.

If it weren't for Aegon's arrival, this somewhat splendid castle might have been considered rather desolate.

"Maybe not."

Approaching the castle's gate, it opened automatically, revealing a bright young face.

"Aegon-sama, Irene-sama, welcome back," greeted the smiling face.

Aegon made a noncommittal sound and nodded, then suddenly turned to look at Mela. "By the way, there's no need for so many prefixes and titles."

Mera paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "Yes, I understand."

Irene looked at Aegon with some surprise, staring at him as if he were the only obedient child in the entire class who never skipped school.

Whether intentional or not, due to spending almost all her time with Aegon these past few days, Irene inevitably noticed some of Aegon's behaviors.

Thanking Juliet and Heinie, disliking elaborate titles, nearly getting hit by the lamp sign and then apologizing to her...

It all seemed out of place with the order and hierarchy of the Alvarez Empire.

Sensing Irene's scrutiny, Aegon rubbed his cheek in confusion. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

Irene couldn't help but smile. "No."

During dinner, Aegon went over the contents he had read from the book in his mind. "I feel like I haven't read enough. Everything seems a bit lacking..."

"What do you mean?"

He fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing, just that I realize how little I know about this world."

Irene chuckled and shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't help you with that."

Most of her knowledge of this world was stuck in the past four hundred years.

After her transformation into a dragon, she lived in seclusion in the mountains for nearly four hundred years. It wasn't until she met Jelph and reverted to her human form due to the side effects that the world began to regain color for her.

Aegon blinked. "Suddenly... I feel like we're quite alike. But... I think it's not bad."

Irene looked at him inexplicably, giving him a somewhat unkind glance. "What's not bad about it?"

Although Irene was pleased to have something in common with Aegon, she wasn't interested in similarities that made her seem ignorant.

Aegon raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on his lips. "We can explore the world together. Don't you think it would be quite interesting?"

"You're really... optimistic and proactive..."

Irene's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

"But, indeed, it's interesting." With that, a barely noticeable smile crept onto her lips.

Originally, Irene wanted to tell Aegon that he could ask Mela, but now she didn't feel like telling him anymore.

It had to be said that Aegon's proposal had sparked some interest in her...

Irene hadn't endowed Mela with strong combat abilities, but she had given Mela a powerful auxiliary magic, one of the super ancient spell magics.

When looking at the world history and maps of Earthland, Aegon realized that,

The Western Continent of Alakitasia was basically at the westernmost end on the map,

To its east was Isudkar, and further east was the Eastern Continent of Ishgar,

But since Earthland was also an elliptical sphere, the distance between Alakitasia and Ishgar was not too far in reality.

Located in the center of Earthland, just north of Ishgar was the Northern Continent of Guiltina, and to the south was Islant,

This basically constituted the known composition of the five continents of Earthland.

What's more interesting is that the relatively small Fiore Kingdom was roughly in the center of the world map.

Aegon felt that if he were to investigate further, it would probably lead to Magnolia, the so-called Eye of the Storm...

Aegon looked at Irene. "How much do you know about the Eastern Continent of Ishgar?"

With his original memories of Acnologia, Aegon had slaughtered all the dragons on the Eastern Continent, but his knowledge was limited to that.

After the Dragon King's sacrifice, he never set foot on the Eastern Continent again.

The reason was simple. After the Black Dragon thought all the dragons were dead, his only toy was Zeref, the Black Mage.

She furrowed her brow. "Not much, just that it's the same empire, but trade and military seem quite developed."

Her understanding of the Eastern Continent of Icarus was also obtained from meetings with August and others.

She snapped her fingers. "Mera, you explain."