Driving the vehicle onto the mobile plate of Londinium, Talulah did not rush inside. Instead, she stood quietly for a long time, gazing up at the massive, distant city walls.
This was her very first time laying eyes on the famed city of Londinium. Yet even as a newcomer, a tangle of complex, indescribable emotions stirred within her chest.
Spread out before her was a birthplace she had never known. Though she had lived all her years without ever stepping foot inside Victoria, there was no denying the immense weight this imperial seat carried over her life.
"What's wrong? Getting nervous now that you're finally seeing your hometown?" Jeanne stepped up softly behind her, clapping a hand on her shoulder while Talulah took one deep breath after another.
"You scared the life out of me!" Talulah jumped, her tail twitching in surprise as she whipped around to glare at her friend. "Creeping up on someone like that is terrifying, you know!"
She patted her chest to calm her racing heart before her expression settled back into a solemn frown. She looked toward the towering ramparts and the heavy, tightly sealed gates.
"I just feel... strange," Talulah admitted with a soft, bitter chuckle. "I've never set foot here, yet looking at it now, I feel this weird emotion I can't quite describe. It's odd, honestly."
"Come on, why overthink it now?" Jeanne turned toward the entrance. "Let's figure out a way inside. The rest is on you—I'm just along for the ride..."
Though Jeanne made to move toward the city, the gates remained firmly shut, as if silently broadcasting that the two of them were hardly welcome guests.
Talulah remained quiet. Those sealed gates spoke volumes about the mood inside, but what did the city authorities plan to do next?
Clang—clang—clang—clang!
Before she could form a thought, heavy footsteps echoed from the gatehouse. A squad of fully geared Victorian soldiers opened the massive doors, marching out with weapons raised in high alert, locking their aim straight at Talulah and Jeanne.
From the looks of it, they were ready to open fire at a moment's notice.
"May I ask what brings you two here?"
A voice called out—light on the surface, yet carrying a poorly concealed undertone of sheer tension. A middle-aged Liberi man stepped through the ranks, his uniform rank insignia marking him as a Lieutenant Colonel.
"Just taking a look around," Talulah said, slightly tilting her head toward the Liberi officer. Her sharp, piercing gaze hit the Lieutenant Colonel like a physical strike, causing him to flinch back a few steps. "This is the capital of Victoria, after all. I imagine any traveler passing through would want to catch a glimpse of a city like this."
"Don't... don't try to fool me with such ridiculous excuses!" The middle-aged officer raised his voice, his panic turning into visible anger. His eyes bulged as he glared at Talulah. "Everyone knows who you are! Someone like you doesn't come here just for sightseeing!"
The officer's fury was clearly fueled by deep-seated fear. Jeanne and Talulah could see right through his ferocious posture; he was just baring his teeth to pretend he was dangerous, which only proved how terrified he actually was.
"If you know who I am and still brought a squad of troops out here, do you actually intend to cut me down on the spot?" Talulah asked, genuinely amused. She wondered whether this officer was acting on orders from someone higher up or just being recklessly stupid on his own initiative.
"Even a Draco can enter this city through proper channels, but the problem is..." The Lieutenant Colonel sneered, seemingly finding a rock-solid argument to shut Talulah down. "You are an Infected! Filthy Infected are strictly forbidden from entering Londinium!"
He clung to that detail like a lifeline. No matter what titles or bloodlines Talulah once held, as long as she bore the mark of Oripathy, he could use that identity to block her path.
The surrounding soldiers held their breath. Why was the Lieutenant Colonel pushing so hard? Did he hold a personal grudge against the Draco?
Most of the troops secretly wished he would just let her pass. If her temper flared, this entire squad wouldn't even serve as a warm-up for that massive dragon lurking in the skies above.
What the soldiers didn't know was that Lieutenant Colonel Leto truly wanted to keep Talulah out—mostly to put on a grand show of loyalty for the noble factions watching from inside.
"I see," Talulah said softly, unaffected by being called a "filthy Infected." She shook her head and watched the officer's theatrics as if enjoying a circus act. "Your leash holders behind you couldn't find a legitimate excuse to halt my steps, so they resorted to attacking my infection instead?"
Seeing that his insults failed to provoke Talulah, Leto felt the atmosphere turn dangerously cold and fell silent, glaring at her nervously. He had hoped to goad the Draco into a fight to give him cause to drive her away, but his words had completely fallen flat.
"Finished?" Talulah asked casually once he went quiet. "First, let me remind you that the Infected are not 'filthy.' They are simply sick people suffering from a disease. Spewing such words only proves how utterly narrow-minded you are."
"You..." Leto bristled at the stinging humiliation.
"Let me finish," Talulah cut him off coldly. "Furthermore, Victoria has no legal statute banning the Infected from entering the capital. You drain the blood and sweat of the Infected to fund the fine wine and feast on your banquet tables. You devour their suffering, yet you dare stand there and judge the very people you oppress?"
Jeanne could feel the low, simmering wrath rising inside Talulah. It was a unique, fierce indignation—a convergence of her identity as an Infected, the leader of Reunion, and a true Draco who understood the grim reality of Victoria's lower class.
"And finally," Talulah's golden eyes locked onto Leto, her pupils narrowing into vertical dragon slits fueled by cold fury, "I do not require permission from someone like you to enter Londinium. As things stand, I am likely one of the few people left who holds the absolute right to walk in and out of this city as I please!"
The sudden, crushing pressure radiating from the Draco hit the soldiers like a physical wave, draining every drop of their fight.
In that single instant, the aura around Talulah felt no different than the terrifying beast that had just swept across their skies! The suffocating weight made every pore on their bodies scream at them to turn and flee.
Leto stood frozen, completely at a loss for words. The situation had spiraled far beyond his rank; his military career—and possibly his life—was on the line.
Why hasn't that contact shown up yet?! Leto cursed frantically in his mind. The main reason he had dared to stand out here in the first place was because he had backing from behind the scenes!
Unbeknownst to Talulah, feed from the security monitors at the gate had already broadcast her speech straight into the heart of Londinium. Across the city, nobles and commoners alike were locked in heated debate over whether an Infected Draco possessed the legitimate right to claim the throne.
"As a descendant of the Artorius line, even with Oripathy, you possess every right to enter this city," a smooth voice echoed from the shadowed passage behind the gates. "Indeed, as you said, who in all of Victoria could possibly have a greater right to step inside than you? Those who did are likely all six feet under by now."
A noble adorned in lavish, exquisite garments emerged from the shadows. Neither Jeanne nor Talulah had sensed his presence beforehand; he had simply materialized out of thin air.
A unique Arts usage...? Jeanne noted silently, spotting the wisps of dark, fog-like gas swirling around his boots.
"Please, step inside, Lady Talulah Artorius," the noble made a grand, sweeping gesture of welcome, bowing slightly as he ushered her into Londinium. "No one within these walls possesses the authority to bar you from returning to your ancestral home. And please, forgive Lieutenant Colonel Leto. He was merely following orders and attempting to carry out his duties."
With that, the path was cleared.
Talulah had finally returned to the city of her ancestors. Not to reclaim it, but to sever her ties to it.