28 Leigboury IV

"Bring him with us." Calluna commanded, motioning to the unconscious hog-tied man at Vincenzo's feet.

The Captain gave an affirmative nod, and Wesley approached to help carry Sir Allen with a distraught expression. Fortunately, the two young men were able to carry the large burden pretty easily.

When Flora caught wind of what Calluna had done, she was ecstatic. She had already begun racing toward the governor's office by the time the prince had decided to go find her.

"Your Highness!" Flora exclaimed. "You're so cool."

Calluna wasn't in the headspace to accept such compliments, her head and heart still fiery with rage. She forced a smile and nodded in greeting at the young maid, "Take me to the attic at once. Please."

"Sure, but… do you have the key to open the door, miss?"

"...No. Do you know where the key is?"

"I do!"

"Fetch it, if you will."

Flora nodded and hurried into the man's office for a moment, quickly returning with a silver key in hand. She dropped the key into Calluna's open palm, then set off with a hand motion for the woman to follow.

There were four stories in the Governor's Mansion, all of which boasted long and tall staircases that sapped all of Calluna's energy while she scaled them. After the party had made it all the way up, the maid stopped in the corner of a hallway on the top floor. She reached a shaky hand outward to tug on a metal chain that caused a staircase to spring down from the ceiling.

"It's up there, miss."

Calluna looked up at the ominous trap door in the ceiling and sighed. The last thing her body needed was to climb into some crusty attic that was potentially used as a prison for an innocent young girl. She felt as though her chest would burst at any moment.

「S-so…」A quiet voice invaded the preoccupied prince's mind, startling her and sending a shiver down her spine.

'Hello?'

「Sc-scared…」

'Are you alright?'

「Wh-who's there?!」

Calluna bit her lip. Whoever was talking to her wasn't lucid enough to make any real conversation, but the being was at least able to convey their fear. She looked at her two companions and the young maid and said firmly, "You stay. I'll come back."

"Are you sure?" Vincenzo asked, cocking a questioning brow at her.

"You are still recovering," Wesley added.

"I'm sure. Now stay."

The blonde woman started to climb the stairs, and prepared the key for when she reached the top. It was a perfect fit, and very easy to turn. She took a deep breath to gather confidence, then hoisted herself into the dark space.

Once fully inside of the attic, she allowed her eye to adjust to the dim lighting in the unfamiliar room. Once her vision cleared, she felt her heart collapse into her stomach. It was an entirely empty room, save for a small creature chained to the floor in the center. Calluna's eye began to water, all her previous rage disappearing with the fresh wave of sadness and empathy.

'Are you alright?!' She asked through telepathy, carefully approaching the figure.

Suddenly, glowing red eyes shot open and pierced the darkness. They were scrutinizing Calluna, and she could feel its gaze burning through her.

「Who are you?!」it hissed.

'I'm Princess Calluna. I am here to find and help a girl named Scarlet that's been missing for a while.'

「...What do you want from me?」The voice lost its initial defensiveness, and it became clear to Calluna that this small thing was just a scared girl.

'You're Scarlet?'

「...」

'I promise I'm here to help you. I want to give you back to your family.'

「...Really?」

'Yes. I promise. Can I approach you?'

「...Fine.」

Calluna cautiously closed the distance between her and the small creature. Once she was close enough to touch it, she sat down and took in the sight before her.

A dragon. A real dragon.

A small, violet-colored dragon about the size of a large housecat. Wings were folded haphazardly on her back, weakly covering up the rest of her body. She was curled into a ball, and there were many places on her body where the scales were damaged and a blue liquid was leaking out. Calluna couldn't stop herself from reaching a hand up to cover her mouth and letting out a horrified gasp. She'd normally marvel at such an interesting and fantastical experience, but it was all ruined by the situation surrounding it.

'He did this to you?'

「Yes.」

'Can I take you with me?'

「I don't want others to see me. If I'm seen in this form I'll cause problems for my Clan and family.」She explained sadly, red eyes closing halfway in disappointment.

'Is there a way to change you back into your human form?' Calluna asked anxiously.

「He took my Soulstone, which is my magic catalyst. I can't shape-shift without it…」Scarlet explained, then hesitantly added,「I don't think I can change even if I get it back. He has kept it away from me so long that my power is drained.」

'Can your power be restored in a quicker way?'

「I would need to eat a human soul, and I don't want to do that. It's taboo, my people haven't done it in centuries.」

Calluna's eye shot wide open when an idea materialized within her grasp. 'Even if it's a bad man?'

「W-what?! What are you planning?」

'If… I kill Governor Allen right now, would you be able to devour his soul?'

「...I- well, yes-.」The dragon squeaked nervously.

'You'd fit in my hood, right? Hop in, I will take you with me. No one will see you, it's lined with thick fur.'

「O-okay, but I can't move...」She replied nervously, glancing at the metal fastened to her back leg.

Calluna squinted to inspect the chain attached to Scarlet. It also had a keyhole, and fortunately enough it fit the same key as the door. She unlocked it and carefully snapped it off the thin, scaled ankle. Scarlet trembled and her breath became heavy as the weight of being held hostage began to lift.

The crown prince reached her arms out and very carefully scooped up the dragon, making sure not to touch any of her injuries. She lifted her up with some difficulty, as evidently dragons weighed a lot even when they're small, but placed her gently in the hood of her cloak.

The weight of Scarlet tugging on her cloak made the fabric tight around her neck, but she didn't care. All she really wanted to do was rescue the child.

She quickly moved out of the attic and began to climb down the stairs. Three pairs of expectant eyes followed her as she placed both her feet back onto the ground of the fourth floor.

"Flora, could you fetch me a pail of water?" Calluna asked, turning to the maid.

The young girl's eyes became confused and disappointed. "Yes, of course."

Once the girl left, Vincenzo and Wesley both looked at her with worried expressions. She turned to face them, her desire to help the poor injured dragon girl far stronger than her fear of committing murder. Calluna's honey eye glared down at the unconscious man on the floor.

"V, give me your sword."

"Uh-" He looked from her to the governor nervously.

Calluna held out her hand. "Please."

He unsheathed his rapier and gave it to her. Wesley seemed very worried, but didn't speak a word of protest as he watched.

「My Soulstone is on his person, I can sense it.」

'Okay, I'll grab it… but how exactly do you feast on a soul?' Calluna asked, looking down at the shining weapon in her hand apprehensively.

「I just need to have the stone in my possession and to be nearby.」

The prince nodded and knelt beside the unconscious man. She began to search his person, digging through all of his pockets to find the mysterious stone. It didn't take long, as it was only lazily hidden inside his inner vest pocket. Calluna carefully pulled it out; it was the size of her palm and glowed a faint crimson, and mesmerizing to look at.

"What's that?" Vincenzo asked, only to be immediately shushed by the prince.

"Sh."

He looked a bit offended but didn't pursue the topic any further. Calluna dropped the stone into her hood. 'Are you ready?'

After a moment's hesitation,「Yes.」

"You two." Calluna addressed her friends. "Go find out who Flora's parents are from her and see if we can speak to them."

Wesley nodded wordlessly and turned to leave, but Vincenzo hesitated. "My sword?"

"You don't need it, right? I thought you were the strongest soldier in Killia," she asked skeptically, voice lilting in jest. Calluna swore she heard Wes chuckle at the remark.

"I- well-... yeah. It's fine. You better give it back, though. That thing's expensive, Luna," he replied begrudgingly, turning to follow Wesley back down the hall.

Calluna carefully removed her cloak with Scarlet still in its hood, and placed it gently onto the floor beside the governor. The dragon still wasn't visible save for the lump beneath the fabric, which was exactly what the prince wanted. That way if she returned to her human form naked or something, she'd still have means to cover herself.

Governor Allen's face began to twitch as he became closer to regaining consciousness, which was Calluna's final warning to finish it... or him, quickly.

She took Vincenzo's rapier in two of her shaky hands and placed the pointed blade just above the man's left eye. Her heart felt as though it were pounding out of her chest, and her breath got caught in her lungs. Calluna looked over at her cloak and saw the cat-like red eyes peeking out from beneath the hood, full of fear.

That was all she needed to see. The tremors in her hands stilled and her breath steadied.

She brought the sword down with as much force as she could muster, and the hall burst into brilliant red light.