The silence inside the cabinet meeting room broke as soon as Lady Minerva left the meeting room.
The people left behind could do nothing but discuss what had happened with each other.
After all, they had no clarification about anything that had happened. And neither did the shadow guards indulge them when they asked the question.
“Heh, how interesting. It seems like the old hag has found herself in a pinch. Maybe we should go and investigate what is happening?”
Mei sounded rather amused at the turn of events.
There had only been a few moments when she had seen Lady Minerva act in such a reckless manner.
To leave the cabinet meeting without even dismissing everyone made this situation smell like a disaster pending to happen.
“I don’t want to make an enemy out of her but I find myself curious as well. And I’m bored sitting in this meeting room so I’ll join you as well.”
Mei’s smile widened at the other god’s answer.
He was good at masking his emotions but Mei had better intuitions. And they told her that the god sitting at her side was worried about something.
Something was going on behind the scene and both Minerva and Karan were connected to it.
“But won’t it be suspicious if only both of us disappear? Let us bring someone from the cabinet crowd as well with us. Let’s see…Zenith looks like a good option right?”
Mei was making things up at this point.
Suspicious? Them?
What did it matter even if someone did find them suspicious? They would not be able to touch them anyway.
She could see that Karan was not buying her excuse.
“Ah, I remember, you had a spat with Zenith a little while ago over your lover. It’s no wonder you don’t want him to come with us. Then, how about Lady Astoria? She is a decent choice, right?”
Mei noticed the small shift in emotions in Karan’s eyes.
Jackpot, she had hit the arrow right in the centre.
It seemed like Lady Astoria was connected to the situation as well.
“There is no need to…”
“….but I insist. Lady Astoria, can you come with us for a second.”
Karan was not able to refute Lady Mei’s words once they had been spoken. He had no choice but to sit back and let things play out.
“Lady Mei. Are you in need of my assistance?”
Mei could teel the tense aura surrounding her from both sides.
Everyone in the cabinet was eying the odd selection in the middle with curiosity. They were all wondering what Mei had called the other goddess to do.
It was a well-known fact that gods and goddesses of different fractions did not mix well. They were loyal to their highest authority and did not like to curry favors with others in the main cabinet.
Moreso, the gods, and goddesses in the main 7 did not like to barge into other fractions. It was beneath them to try and poach out talent in such a way.
So, to see Lady Mei call upon Lady Astoria with such ease caused more than one eyebrow to raise up.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was wondering if you could guide me somewhere. You don’t mind right?”
Mei smiled her gentle smile knowing fully well that Lady Astoria could not refuse her this favor.
“Of course not. You can ask me to lead you anytime.”
Karan was looking more and more green at their forced familiarity. Mei took joy in making the god lose face like this.
“Then, you won’t mind leading me to the central gardens, right? I want to have some fresh air.”
All three could tell that Mei was bullshitting around.
Fresh air? Such a thing did not exist on this earth any longer. The atmosphere was regulated with magic and pollution did not exist any longer in the regulated lands.
This was just an excuse to get out and find what she wanted to.
But despite knowing that no one could stop her actions. Astoria had no choice but to agree and lead the way.
===============
-pat
The dragon took a step forward and Aurora took a step back.
It did not deter the baby dragon and he took another step forward.
Aurora could feel his curious aura as he took in the surroundings. The baby dragon was curious and healthy at birth.
But the baby dragon was also looking toward her every few seconds to check if she was still in his vicinity.
If Aurora moved, so did the dragon. The distance between them was not closing at all.
Aurora did not know what she could do. She had not expected the egg to hatch this early despite the signs of awakening being there all along.
And now she had a forearm-long dragon baby to hide while also maintaining her identity as a secret.
“Be a good boy and come here. Do not make any noise.”
She was not sure if the dragon had not developed his vocal cords or if it understood her words. But his steps made no noise as came closer and closer toward Aurora.
She quickly scooped the dragon in her arms and hid in a nearby bush.
“….coming this way. Lady Minerva said we had to seal this area. No one is allowed to come in or go out of this garden….”
The voice of the guard reached her but it contained important information. This information put a dent in her plans of escaping this place.
“…heard that it was something dangerous. She looked mad when she left those orders to us…..”
So the goddess was not happy? It had to be expected.
“Oi, you both. Stop patrolling the same area and move around. We would all be executed if Lady Minerva found us loitering around.”
Darn, her source of information was already gone.
Aurora would need to move around and find another chatty pair of guards.
The bundle in her arms struggled to get free but Aurora held tightly on to its small body.
Even if the nails were starting to hurt her arm, she had to endure their sting. She had to let her blood bleed out if it meant she could keep her life.
“Bad news. We need to let out of here. I saw lady Mei and Lord Karan heading this way led by Lady Astoria. We would get killed if we are found loitering about.”
Aurora was not sure if this was good news or not.
Had it only been Karan and Astoria who decided to approach this area, Aurora would have risked coming out of hiding.
But she knew who Lady Mei was and her presence in that group made Aurora hesitant to leave her hiding place.
Because if Karan was a loose cannon, then Lady Mei was a storm. She was a wild card who could not be predicted.
“Well, fuck. What should we do now? We are doomed from both sides, aren’t we?”
The guard complained as he started to walk away.
Aurora could tell why the guard had chosen this moment to walk away from the clearing.
It had to be because of the massive aura heading their way. Just feeling it was enough to make Aurora feel uncomfortable.
Talking about in terms of impressive, it was not the best Aurora had felt. It was nothing compared to the pressure of the lower abyss.
But to see such an aura in the open world meant that the individual was not shy about displaying their strength. Such a display could only belong to a goddess.
“What is that smell? It smells like such a strong perfume. Is this some new kind of flower the tower is experimenting with? Let me see it as well.”
Aurora wanted to curse her luck. But it seemed as if she had run out of it all.
“Mei, stop fooling around. I don’t want you to accidentally run into Minerva and cause us problems.”
That was Karan’s voice. He was here as well and he seemed to be distracting Lady Mei from focusing on the scent.
“If Minerva finds us then she finds us. But more importantly, what happened to your carefree attitude? You seemed not to care what anyone was doing? So why are you stopping me now?”
Karan looked taken aback at the question.
Aurora could only see his face but it looked slacked and troubled.
Most people would not have asked this question to Karan. But Mei was not ‘most people she was someone who held the same power and status as him.
In that way, she was his equal.
But they all missed one nig fact about Lady Mei. She was older than Karan. She had much more experience with the world and other gods.
“You can’t fool me. I smelled it the moment I arrived in this park. It is the smell of a juvenile dragon. And I will find it with or without your help.”
Well, shit. There went any hope Aurora had of getting away successfully.
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