The Lawbreaker and the Red King exchanged a glance. The latter looked even more surprised and asked, "The Dragon of Dawn you mentioned—is it that Dragon of Dawn?"
The Aeredar Elf's expression took on a hint of sympathy. "Yes, that Dragon of Dawn. You've probably already guessed who its acknowledged current master is, haven't you?"
At this point, even Vellent King could have figured it out, even if he had been a few bricks short of a load. Still, he seemed remarkably calm, managing only a wry, philosophical smile. "So my talented distant niece, Brunhild, has come here? Heh. It was only a matter of time, really. I was never the sort the Dragon of Dawn would acknowledge."
The Lawbreaker patted Vellent King on the shoulder. "Don't be disappointed. There's never been a law in the Empire saying that the Dragon of Dawn's master has to be the next emperor. The conclave hasn't even been held yet, and judging by Emperor Ilaysel, the old man might even outlive King Suluca."
"Who do you take me for?" Vellent King roared with laughter. "I'm the great Red King, the Dawn Imperial dynasty's most irreverent traitor. How could something like this get me down?"
The Lawbreaker said, "...Fair enough. The people with the strongest wills in this world aren't the death-defying or the sages. They're actually idiots and perverts."
Seeing how perfectly these two colleagues were getting along, the Aeredar Elf smiled all the more warmly. There was even a hint of kindly indulgence in his expression as he added, "The Black General is still King Suluca's spy. We've been played for fools!"
All right, that was explosive news too, but compared with what they'd just heard, it was nothing.
"I'd rather not be surprised again... To be honest, the Black General, Spirit