The Great Reef Dragon Palace got its name because the capital of every province in the Atlan Kingdom was called a "Dragon Palace." It was their tradition, one that fit perfectly with the far eastern lands' romantic fantasies about the nation beneath the sea. It also served as an important testament to the deep ties between the merfolk and the Callum people.
Today, however, was probably the day the Great Reef Dragon Palace had lived up to its name more than ever before, because there really was a "dragon" in the palace.
As Murphy arrived from afar and followed Lady Nikita into Governor Hood's estate, decorated with shells, pearls, and all kinds of rare coral, the first thing he saw was Prince Bai lounging in loose clothes in the courtyard, "sunbathing."
Though they were deep beneath the sea, though there was no sunlight in the true sense of the word, and though the temperature here was far lower than on the surface, none of that stopped an upper dragonkin—who could practically be considered immortal—from enjoying some rare leisure time.
Judging by Prince Bai's comfortable expression, as a true dragon's descendant who could summon clouds and rain, he enjoyed himself even more underwater than on land.
Yet even in such a relaxed state, Murphy keenly noticed the expensive "gaming-specialized" computational orb beside Prince Bai. He concluded that the man was still suffering from intermittent "soul-loss syndrome."
Prince Bai's soul-loss syndrome really was a handy excuse to slack off. When something needed doing, he would claim his condition had flared up; in his free time, he wandered around as if nothing were wrong. It was practically an "adaptive soul-loss syndrome."
For a grand marshal of the empire's western frontier, a true member of the imperial family, to take the affairs of the