Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 430: Companion and Friend

Chapter 430: Companion and Friend

"I’m sorry so for everyone’s cruelty. I’m not saying that you should forgive them since they were unforgivable. I just meant that you deserved an apology. I also wanted to apologize that I couldn’t help you much earlier."

Ellie explained that she could not fight all those people all on her own too so she could only escape with him once he was brought out again. And it had to be at night and when the moon was dark so they would not see her.

"Oh, and you don’t have to thank me. Consider this as my thanks to you for defeating that huge monster. If that thing roamed around freely, I would have had to move elsewhere."

Ellie had apparently only learned about her magical abilities not too long ago. And she was self-taught, so she was still trying to learn from experimenting on her own.

Once she was done healing Ferdinand, Ellie left and returned with some meat. Ferdinand ate it raw, and it looked so delicious the way he ate it with gusto.

’I should probably get used to this since Ferdinand is a dragon after all,’ Arabella did her best not to be too shocked at the sight since this was probably the time Ferdinand could not transform to another form yet. He did say it took a while to be able to take human form.

Arabella stayed there with Ferdinand not knowing what day or night was. But Ellie came every now and then to heal Ferdinand and bring more food. She figured Ellie kindly and diligently came every day.

Ellie went to the cave thirty times so an entire month had probably passed. On the last day, after Ellie healed Ferdinand, he was finally able to recover enough to be able to regrow his wings.

"Amazing! You really heal so quickly. Now that your wings are back, you should leave this place and go back home. You can do that now, right?"

Ferdinand shook his head. He spread his wings and they were shaky and trembling. He hadn’t fully recovered yet.

"Oh, you can’t yet? Do you need more time to recuperate? Did regrowing your wings take a lot of mana?" Ellie asked, and Ferdinand nodded. "Ah, it must be the effect of the poison. I’m sorry I could not detoxify everything. I do not specialize in toxins."

Ferdinand then continued to stay in the cave. But this time, he could move around so he was allowed to go out but not leave the mountain.

It was then that Arabella saw the world outside and was astounded.

The forest was teeming with life. And the trees were gargantuan too. They were probably a hundred meters high or more. Even the grasses, flowers, other plants, and everything about this world. Even the butterflies, birds, and animals. The wild beasts were huge too and seeing them worried her since Ferdinand was not that big yet.

However, she soon learned that even in this smaller size, Ferdinand was still formidable even in his recuperating state.

He went out on his own to hunt for his food and was able to catch prey the same size as him or even those that were bigger. He had a voracious appetite for meat just like the Ferdinand she knew.

Ferdinand even hunted more and brought them to Ellie, probably as a way of expressing his gratitude. However, Ellie could not eat something beaten by a dragon since Ferdinand had poison too.

When Ellie explained it, Ferdinand tried to catch prey with just his claws and offered them. But even his claws were poisonous. Thus, when Ellie explained it again, he caught animals without wounding them. It was then that his offerings were accepted by Ellie and his delight was visible in his brightened eyes.

Since she had no one to speak with for a while, Ellie had a lot of stories about her life in her village and her lonely and dangerous travels until she settled in this mountain. No one dared to live here due to its proximity to the Northern Islands which was Ferdinand’s abode. Likewise, there were monsters and wild beasts roaming nearby.

Ellie and Ferdinand became somewhat like friends and companions. There were times they even hunted animals or gathered fruit together. Ellie was a magician, but she was a good archer too. She said it was something she learned from childhood when her powers have not shown themselves yet.

Ferdinand began sleeping right outside Ellie’s house or under the trees near it. Ellie then made a shed beside her house and Ferdinand slept there.

And Arabella felt like a third wheel. It was a weird feeling. But Ferdinand did seem to recognize that she was around. He kept glancing her way several times. Ellie even asked him what he was looking at.

Ferdinand tried to nudge Arabella with a claw several times too, but it passed right through her. He was rather alerted the first time that his eyes turned into a slit and instantly withdrew his claw and eyed her curiously.

Two more months passed by, and Ferdinand was finally able to fly again. He returned home to the desolate, snow-covered place Arabella saw from his thoughts.

Ellie cried and gave him a hug before he departed. She was saddened to be alone again and asked Ferdinand if he had a family. But Ferdinand did not understand what Ellie meant by a family and simply tilted his head.

She understood that he had none which was why he didn’t know what it was.

Ferdinand stayed in his abode for a few days, but he clearly missed Ellie since he kept glancing in the direction of the mountain she was living at. It was confirmed when Ferdinand caught something from his island and flew to Ellie’s mountain.

However, when they reached Ellie’s abode, everything was a mess. Ellie’s house was in shambles. The shed Ferdinand used to sleep in was ruined. And there was no sign of someone having lived there the past few days.

Ferdinand sniffed around and began heading somewhere.

Arabella gulped when she recognized the city he was heading to. It was where Ferdinand was once imprisoned.

She gasped and covered her mouth at the sight that greeted them at the entrance gate.

"No! This isn’t happening!"