{Do you need me to heal that for you?}
"No, that's not the reason I called you, Madaline. You live in the forest of damnation, right?"
{Do not call our home with that terrible human name}
"...I apologize"
{Yes, I do live in the forest of Telra. Do you need anything in particular?}
"Can I get to Aldie's Hollow?"
{How do you know about that place?}
"Knowledge from my past life. In the past, there was a young woman who was able to converse with the fairies from birth and naturally received the blessing of the fairy mother, Madaline. She has been crowned the saintess of the kingdom of Ducroft and was instrumental in winning the war between the kingdom and the Empire of Illumine. She had the world in her hand and powerful men at her fingertips. She was kind and gracious to people...."
{Why does it sound like you do not like her?}
"First of all, she continuously used the blessing of the fairy mother without an equivalent exchange and when the sanctions rose too high, found a despicable way to dispose of the fairy mother; selling her to the king of dragons"
Natalia saw Madaline shiver and grow pale. Even though they shared a forest, the two never got along as the dragon's favorite snacks were the fairies. The king of the dragon in particular was very perverse and took out his frustrations on the poor fairy mother since he couldn't gain the heart of the beloved saintess.
{Did you make a contract with me...with the heart of saving me from this fate?}
"In my past life, I fought in the long and gruesome war against the empire. I claimed victory after victory and right when I was at the cusp of my freedom, a 'saintess' with her proud and noble fairy mother appeared and snatched it away from me. The deal I had with the new king fell through and I was bound to him like a slave. The saintess used to show up and torture me with your powers because she found me an eyesore. If not for the king, she would've killed me. The reason I reached out to you in this life was that I knew how to better use your powers and change both our fates"
{I don't think I've said this before. You're very strong, Natalia}
"Not strong enough"
When the conversation with Natalia ended, she entered the bathroom and used her powers to teleport into her office. Unlike the last time that it was empty and disorganized, it was neat and there was someone seated on her chair. She didn't need to panic because she already knew who it was.
"You've changed, master"
"Amaika"
In the past, Amaika was someone she saved from slave traders. She didn't know who or what they were but she saved them on a whim. Since then, they became fiercely loyal to her until she cast them away in her last life. It was a long time after she did that she finally discovered just what they were.
The Empire of Illumine had a colorful history. It was said to be founded by seven divine beasts who were unified by a goddess, Illumine. The divine beasts were the Weretiger, Werewolf, Werecrow, Weresnake, Werephoenix, Weredragon and Werewhale. All of these beasts were said to be just mythical so their existence was completely blotted out of history.
As it turned out, in one part of history, the royal family replaced all 6 divine beasts, leaving their lineage of the Weredragon the only divine beast to rightfully rule the throne. The remaining divine beats were deemed inferior, treated like mere beasts, slaughtered and enslaved.
Amaika was a rare divine beast, the last living pure breed Werephoenix. They were captured and taken to the palace of the crown prince of Illumine. They were never heard from again until Natalia died but if it was the crown prince of Illumine, she never assumed anything good.
"What makes you think I've changed?"
"We sensed it. Still, we are happy to have you back"
"I'm glad to be back. Is there any news out that I showed up in the capital?"
"No. All of them were tight lipped"
"How about moving the business to the Empire?"
"The plan is progressing"
"Good. I'll have someone contact you soon. I'm...planning on running away from here. I've had enough"
"With your powers, you can...."
"You know it's not that easy"
When Natalia returned, there was no one in her room. Sighing in relief, she walked to her bed, only to find a shiny golden box on it. She froze, remembering exactly what was in the damn box. It was about 2 feet long and 2 feet wide, big enough to accommodate something that was big and valuable.
Anyone who was naturally curious would've gone to investigate the contents of the box. Natalia, with knowledge from her past life, knew it was the biggest mistake she would ever make because inside the box was a dragon egg.
Dragons were protective parents. In the wild, if another dragon or living creature was five feet away from the egg, they would get burned to crisp by the parent on guard. The only dragons that allowed their egg to be faraway from them are the ones raised in the Duke's mansion. If someone that was not their keeper touched the egg, they would be hunted down and harassed by the dragons. In the past, she only opened the box but she still got harassed for it.
"Fortunately, I have teleportation magic"
Using teleportation magic carefully around the box, she sent it to the hallway. She used magic to remove the bed sheet and burnt it to ashes before putting another one with magic. Even with that type of precaution, she sat on the couch, sighing before she took out her dinner.
If it was heard that a noble preferred street food to the one cooked by the chef of the Duke's house, it would cause an uproar. She chuckled to herself, eating it all before she was interrupted again.
Like that, two months passed.