Chapter 274: Dragon Egg

After Qiu Nuoya and Viktor finished hearing the full story of Igor’s past and returned to the royal castle together, they found that a small problem had arisen in their absence.

As soon as they arrived, they were escorted to the grand hall. Shangguan Wan’er and the rest of the Saint’s entourage were already gathered there, along with Long, Warren, and Xiao Tao. However, Xiao Tao looked rather pale. Perhaps he still hadn’t fully recovered. Qiu Nuoya would have to make sure he didn’t push himself too hard.

As Qiu Nuoya looked around the room, he noticed several important figures from the kingdom were also present. They glanced at him and Viktor with grim expressions before giving them a polite bow. Qiu Nuoya vaguely remembered being introduced to them, but he couldn’t recall who any of them were.

He returned their bows politely, then turned his attention toward Long and the others. That was when he noticed something unfamiliar sitting among them...

"Um, what is this?"

Right in front of them sat a huge egg... or was it really an egg?

It was so large that Qiu Nuoya could barely wrap both arms around it. Its color shifted depending on the angle, making it impossible to identify a single hue. It shimmered with an iridescent glow, almost as though it were emitting light.

Standing beside this mysterious egg were Long and Shangguan Wan’er. Somehow, that combination gave Qiu Nuoya nothing but a terrible feeling.

"Hehehe! I laid it!"

"Huh!?"

Shangguan Wan’er boldly announced this with one hand on her hip and the other flashing a peace sign. Qiu Nuoya was too stunned to say another word.

At the same time, he couldn’t help feeling a sense of resignation as his terrible premonition came true.

"You laid it? How? And how did something like this happen in the span of a single day!?"

That morning, when Shangguan Wan’er had gone on a date with Long, there had been absolutely no signs that she was pregnant. No, wait. Qiu Nuoya had agreed to let them date, but he had also made sure their relationship stayed within sight of the adults, since Shangguan Wan’er was still far too young for that sort of grown-up business.

So why? How had this happened?

Even today, despite calling it a date, they had apparently been accompanied by the prince, who had cheerfully tagged along. What on earth could have happened between Long and Shangguan Wan’er?

"Long, what is going on here?"

Doing his best to remain calm, Qiu Nuoya questioned Long. The dragon, however, answered with a completely carefree expression.

[ I already told you. It’s an egg belonging to me and Shangguan Wan’er. ]

Qiu Nuoya could see perfectly well that there was an egg sitting right there! That wasn’t what he was asking!

"First of all, how did you lay an egg this enormous? And do dragon eggs really come about this easily!?"

[ Hmm. Grandpa told me that Shangguan Wan’er and I are particularly compatible. Shangguan Wan’er has more magical power than an ordinary human, so we ended up with a fine egg. ]

Qiu Nuoya’s translation ability was supposed to be translating Long’s words perfectly, yet he couldn’t understand a single thing about what he was saying.

Since when did the amount of magical power someone possessed have anything to do with laying an egg!? Nobody had ever told him that!

He still couldn’t wrap his head around the situation, but he had at least understood one thing: dragon pregnancy and reproduction worked in a completely different way from human reproduction.

Taking a deep breath, Qiu Nuoya asked the two of them to explain everything from the beginning.

Apparently, after returning to Elysium, Long had introduced Shangguan Wan’er to the Elder Dragon as his wife. The Elder Dragon had been so delighted that he immediately took matters into his own hands, and before anyone knew it, the egg had come into existence.

[ I only wanted to show Grandpa that I was capable of getting things done. But he took such a liking to Shangguan Wan’er that he brought us straight to the Sacred Tree and held a wedding ceremony. Then, I suppose the Sacred Tree acknowledged our union, too, because the egg was born without any problems. ]

Oh...

Qiu Nuoya felt as though he understood, yet at the same time, he wasn’t sure he understood anything at all.

In other words, was a dragon egg something bestowed by the Sacred Tree? Shangguan Wan’er hadn’t actually laid the egg herself, then?

"That was quite a mystical sight. So that’s how dragon eggs come into being."

Prince Lucien spoke about it with remarkable nonchalance. Of course, the prince had been there too. Apparently, he had simply watched with sparkling eyes as the person who proudly claimed to be his fiancée prepared to marry another man... or rather, another male dragon, without making any attempt to stop it.

[ Even so, whether the egg actually hatches depends on what we do from this point onward. ]

"Huh? What do you mean?"

[ The bodies of dragons like us, as well as most other monsters, are made largely of magical energy. Generally speaking, the greater a creature’s magical power, the higher its standing among dragons. ]

Oh, interesting. Was it something like how the human body was made up mostly of water?

Did dragons also have a hierarchy based on their status? Come to think of it, Long had once mentioned that eating a dungeon core could raise his standing.

[ And a dragon’s magical power is already eighty percent determined while it is still inside the egg. ]

"Huh? Really?"

Long nodded.

[ That’s why we, as its parents, must continue supplying this egg with magical energy until it hatches safely. ]

[ My parents died when I was still an egg, so it took me a long time to hatch. I also lacked sufficient magical power, which left me weak even after I was born. If possible, I don’t want my own child to suffer the same fate. ]