In the spacious, brightly lit Incubation Chamber, the low hum of the Rune Devices mingled softly with the buzzing of the ventilation system. These faint sounds were not noisy; instead, they made the entire room seem even quieter.
This silence lasted for a while before Lady Enya gently broke it. "Is that so... It sounds like a great many things have happened..."
"I don't know that much either," Betty said somewhat embarrassedly. "Some of these things were told to me by Master or Princess Rebecca, while others I overheard when people were talking... They talked about a lot of things, but I didn't understand most of them. I felt like all those things happened very far away, and I don't know why everyone discussed them so enthusiastically."
"Taking pleasure in talking about things happening far away is one of many mortals' pastimes—but focusing on what is close at hand is not bad either," Lady Enya said gently. Her voice carried a pleasant tremor as it came from within the eggshell. "I can tell that you are a very innocent child. I like you very much—if you are willing, we can be friends."
"Sure! I like new friends!" Betty immediately brightened, but then she remembered something and hurriedly corrected herself. "But I'm not a child anymore—I've been an adult for a long time!"
"...An adult," Lady Enya's voice suddenly fell silent for two seconds after Betty finished speaking. Then she softly said, with a trace of sentiment the young maid could not understand, "You mentioned that those envoys from Tarlonnd discussed many things with your master, and that they went with him to that meeting, didn't they?"
"Yes," Betty nodded repeatedly. "I heard Master mention it. He said something about 'the dragons returning to this world,' and that it would have