The Queen Was Too Proper

"What do you want dragon corpses for?" Nila asked curiously. "Dragon meat doesn't taste good. Red Dragon meat is spicy, and Black Dragon meat is sour."

"What are you talking about?"

Regia stepped sideways and flicked Nila on the forehead with a dull thunk.

"Ow, that hurt." Nila hurried around to Anse's other side.

"I'm not fond of dragon meat either, haha." After a moment's thought, Anse took the Dragon Orb from his Dragonhide Pouch and waved it in front of Regia.

Nila reached for it, but he lifted his hand out of her grasp.

"This is a Dragon Orb. It consumes Dragon Essence to transform willing creatures into dragonkin through a magical ritual."

Anse kept his explanation brief.

Realization dawned on Regia. At last, she knew where the Six-Winged Spirit Dragons had come from.

Unusual dragon varieties appeared often enough, but their traits were difficult to pass down reliably. They could never develop into a bloodline that bred true.

She immediately guessed where the Dragon Essence came from, too, but said nothing.

"Everyone, leave us." She waved all the guards away.

If extracting Dragon Essence was an ugly process, it was better that no one else saw it. There was no need to damage Anse's image.

"Are you sure I can have all of them?" Anse confirmed once more.

"Of course," Regia said gently.

"All right."

Anse inserted the Dragon Orb into the largest Black Dragon corpse, then stood aside and waited quietly.

The corpse shriveled before their eyes. Its flesh grew dull and dry, and its draconic aura rapidly faded until it looked like a heap of dried meat.

A few minutes later, the Dragon Orb emerged from the corpse and flew back into Anse's hand.

He focused on sensing it, and his eyes crinkled with delight.

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