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nMarinette's POV

nThat day, no one would believe my words if they didn't witness what I was seeing with a couple of pink eyes of Diana.

nThe ground was shaking, and the barrier which protected the northern empire from the cruel coldness of the snow turned black from the big black shadow of the almighty creature who defended the northern empire for thousands of years.

nJust only one wing could blow a city away, the breath of the dragon almost burnt my skin alive if I didn't take shelter on time.

nEveryone in the empire was trembling when seeing their dragon wake up for the first time in many centuries.

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"The dragon...his mighty Igneel...

" I sneakily walked to the inn when I saw the unusual amount of energy surrounding the knight.

nIt might be some sort of buff as the dragon finally woke up.

nThe dragon flapped its wing in result breaking the barrier falling apart on the building. It finally landed at the other side of the mountain which was the mountain I was teleported in.

nBut that didn't make my escape from the northern empire easier even if the dragon switched where it stayed.

nThe dragon opened its eyes wide staring at the royal palace down at the mountain.

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"Victor, let's go. We need to leave now.

" I took his hands and packed up his bag for him and also woke up Valencia.

nI needed to escape from here as those soldiers were gathering in front of the royal palace kneeling down to its dragon. The dragons who were flying around the border also flew to the king of the dragon.

nAn opportunity like that won't come in the future.

nVictor used the gem and hid all of our scents. We used the crowd of the citizen to run to the secret entrance Valencia used for sneaking inside the empire.

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"Wait, Marinette!!! What about...

" I already what he was gonna ask, but as he saw Valencia near me, he didn't. It was a wise choice.

nI patted his shoulder to reassure him. He nodded and we continued to run away.

nI can't swap body with Diana as the situation change, that emperor will become more powerful as the dragon gave all the citizen power. I read it in the history book of the northern empire.

nThere will be a day when the dragon woke up, their power remain strong and didn't weaken through generation because the dragon kept feeding them the power.

nIf I ever swap bodies with Diana, that emperor will kill me and go find his daughter.

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"This is the secret entrance, but it is too crampy at first, but after we get in...you two need to stay close to me no matter what.

" Valencia sounded serious as she crawled inside the hole.

nVictor followed her in there, so did I. But when we entered, it was a maze in there.

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"Who built this maze??

"

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"I don't know either, but this is the only way I know to get out of this empire.

"

nThe inside was pitch black, the only light which lead our way was the torch held by Victor.

nI listened to Valencia's words and walked close to her in each of my steps. The place was creepy with the bat on the ceiling and the little water dripped from the wall echoing in the maze.

nMany thoughts crossed my mind when I crossed the border walking through the maze. I felt a little bit scared as I walked out of that empire leaving Marinette's body behind. And I knew too well that I won't be able to swap the body with Diana ever again.

nI will be stuck inside Diana's body forever unless Diana made her way out of the empire asking that emperor's permission.

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"Marinette, where is Valencia??

" Victor tapped my shoulder stopping me from walking. I saw Valencia in front of me just a second ago, it was as if she vanished into thin air.

nVictor took out his sword when the torches on the wall lit up.

nWe were trapped in the four corners room with no way out. The only possible things were the wall could move by itself or someone was controlling the maze.

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"Marinette, stand behind me.

" I listened to what he said while looking out for any enemy coming from the shadow surrounding us.

nGathering my magic with trembling hands in the cold atmosphere was impossible.

nI wasn't worried about Valencia as she knew her way out and I didn't delete any of her memories about her magic.

nBut one thing was off, if Valencia was blind, how could she move so freely??

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"Well, well, well, isn't this the people on the poster??? What's your business here??!!

" I flinched from the sound of the drunken man, my head hurt as it reminded me of someone. Seeing his big hand, my back was dripping cold sweat.

nI couldn't breathe as if someone took all the air away.

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"Who are you???

" Victor reached his hand out to protect me as those guys were approaching us.

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"Don't worry, that black-haired woman is also with us. This is our hideout. You can trust us.

"

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"How can we trust you??!!!

"

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"Alright, guys...drop all the weapons!! And call lady Valencia here.

"

nLady Valencia??

nWhen Valencia came as soon as they called, we follow those guys to their base inside the mountain. Valencia put the towel on my forehead to wipe my sweat.

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"Unnie, these guys are the merchant. They sell goods here.

"

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"How did you disappear suddenly like that?? I was so worried.

"

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"Ahaha...I accidentally step on the trap which led me to them. I'm really sorry.

"

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"Don't worry. As long as you're alright.

" even though Valencia told me that, I couldn't trust any of those guys.

nThe posters of us were brought inside their hideout. There was no way they took it here for decoration.

nThe money on finding us could help them from secretly selling kinds of stuff inside the cold mountain. The business wasn't even blooming with only a few people knowing about the entrance.

nOnly time could tell who will betray, everyone was hiding their intention.

nVictor also noticed that, he kept his guard up all the time.

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"Victor, here. You must eat something.

" I handed him the bread I bought for him, it was his favorite food.

nHis eyes were teary as he ate it. I also gave a donut to Valencia, seeing both of them enjoy eating their breakfast. I didn't feel the need of eating anything.

nWhile they were eating, I got up and walked around the hideout to take a look at the stuff they sold there. I had some money that the emperor gave me.

nTheir stuff was quite rare. If I was lucky, I might land on a jackpot in that situation.

nTheir people were around four to five people with that yellow head as the leader, the yellow head was the drunk guy from earlier. He really reminded me of my father back on earth.

nI sighed and continued on looking at the stuff. I really wanted some potion to make the eyesight of seeing the soul go away. I could see all sorts of ghosts inside the hideout.

nIn the end, I bought something. But I didn't show it to Victor or Valencia and swallowed the item I bought inside my empty stomach.

nThe pain went away after I took the pain killer medicine.

nMy time remained reduced, and the memory bacn on earth also slowly faded away.

nAck...

nI took many pain killer drugs, but it wasn't quite effective as the pain kept coming back.

nI sat down in disappointment on the small rock, a merchant walked to me and handed me a ring.

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"It looks lovely on you, my lady.

"

nYeah right, everything looked beautiful on Diana.

nBut there was no doubt, the purple gem ring really stood out.

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"What's special about this ring??

"

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"It belongs to the first ancestor of the Mortel family, you know...the family of the death roses magic in the Center Empire.

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nThe first ancestor of the Mortel family?? Herod???

nMarinette met him once in her past life's memories, he was a man who discovered many types of magic, the first man who could evolve the light magic to more powerful magic.

nI wonder what was so special about his ring, I asked the merchant,

"Is there any magic on the ring??

"

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"It is pretty...

" I was speechless at the merchant's response and took the ring wearing it on Diana's finger since it was cheap anyway.

nI walked back to Victor and told him it was time to get out. I didn't feel safe in their hideout.

nValencia led us out silently from the hideout, no one would be able to notice if their attention wasn't on us.

nJust as expected, they really wanted to sell us out judging by the footstep behind us.

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"Unnie, someone is following us.

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"Are they the merchant from before??

"

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"No, someone else.

" the footstep started to be louder in my ears as I could hear it from the other side of the wall as well.

nSomething was off, usually, the merchant wouldn't hide their face if they wanted the customer's trust but all of those merchants...they hid their face.

nAmong them, one had white hair similar to that person.

nWith Valencia, they didn't show themselves yet, and it looked like those people only disguised themselves as the merchant and led us to their hideout just to observe us.

nSuch audacity of them to challenge the third rank legendary demon.

nWe must stick to Valencia in the meantime.

nBut among five of them, the yellow head guy was really a real deal merchant, I could know it. And the guy who sold me the ring, it had a faint of the death roses magic, so he was the real deal.

nIf the knights disguised at the merchant, it should be okay since we could avoid them but what if...

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"Victor, do you like the bread I gave you?

"

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"Yes, my lady.

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nAhh...sh*t.

nJust when...

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"I thought you would prefer it more with strawberry jam.

" I walked to Valencia and wrote the letter with my finger on her palm. She nodded.

nPhew...

nI took a deep breath and pushed Valencia to run from there.

nDeath Roses Magic: Roses of Death

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"My lady, watch out!!! That man is--

"

nTurn out, the people following us was really the merchant. There wasn't any knight.

nIt was the secretary Oliver all along fooling me making me believe he was Victor.

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"Die!!

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nThe dragon's descendants could transform to the dragon, but when their magic evolves to a certain point, they even could transform to any of their targets when the condition is fulfilled.

nHe finally revealed his true face, I really hated that face of the man who fooled me twice.

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"My lady, you have my respect of knowing I'm the impostor...but you shouldn't underestimate me. I'm the emperor's right-hand man!!

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nMore like a slave...

nUrghh...

nMy magic vanished as the pain suddenly rose up in my body, I put my hand on the hurting chest and used that opportunity to make the perfect faint.

nI can't leave Victor behind. That guy wasn't the one who should be defeated easily, did he forget something back at the empire???

nTo be continued....!

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