My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 55: Chapter 55

Chapter 55 - The Traitor

After the meeting ended, Luri quietly slipped away from Zed and Arwen and headed somewhere on her own.

She already knew exactly what the Grand Ducal Council Hall looked like.

She knew where the humans gathered, and she also knew where the Dragon Spawn gathered.

Unlike humans, Dragon Spawn had little interest in socializing.

They were not weak enough to build influence by flattering others, and as dragons, their pride would never allow it.

Luri headed to the second floor.

As she climbed the spiral staircase, she saw twelve doors arranged around the center.

The Twelve Dragons of the Cerdes Continent.

Whether Evil Dragons or Guardian Dragons, every dragon was represented there.

Naturally, Godwin was there as well.

Luri looked up at the massive door engraved with the crest of Silverwind.

"..."

The sharp horns and the sleek, graceful body.

A majestic figure whose bravery no one could deny.

Even though more than a hundred years had passed since he left this world, his image still lingered vividly in her mind.

That lingering memory made Luri’s heart grow fragile.

The loyal maid of Castle Valdrova.

The capable maid who commanded the wind and always spoke her mind without hesitation was no longer there.

Only a young girl clutching her pounding heart with both hands remained as she slowly pushed the door open.

Creeeak—

The sound of the door’s hinges echoed for a long moment.

Beyond it stretched a long corridor.

And standing guard before it were soldiers.

They were Silverwind’s warriors.

The lively chatter among the warriors instantly ceased.

They all turned their eyes toward Luri.

The atmosphere froze in an instant.

"Who are you, brat?"

One of them, completely unaware of who she was, swaggered toward her.

"You smell like someone carrying Lord Silverwind’s blood, but I’ve never seen you before. Which hole did you crawl out of, spy?"

"....."

"When someone talks to you, you answer. Or do you want to play rough with your big brother here? Hm?"

"That’s enough."

The one who broke the rising tension was a man seated with a black staff in his hand.

He was clearly the leader of the group.

"Don’t worry, Captain! Do you think I’d be stupid enough to kill someone inside Blancaros’s territory?"

"You should be grateful this is Blancaros’s territory. If we were outside, there wouldn’t even be bones left of you."

"What are you talking about? Do I look like some fool who can’t even beat a little kid?"

"You can beat a little kid."

His eyes shifted toward the maid.

"I just don’t think you can defeat the Commander of the First Mobile Brigade."

"The Commander of the Mobile Brigade...?"

The confidence vanished from the man’s face, replaced by terror.

"Don’t tell me... you’re... Luri of the Blade Wind...?"

He slowly turned toward her, unable to believe it.

He had never seen her face before, but her reputation was legendary.

Any Silver Dragon Spawn would have at least heard of her fearsome reputation.

The man stiffened and quietly stepped back.

The hand he had reached out began trembling before he slowly withdrew it.

Luri walked through the path he had cleared and approached the man resting the black staff on his shoulder.

Their eyes met.

The two had known each other for a very long time.

"It’s been a long time, Percival."

"It has indeed, Commander of the First Mobile Brigade. Or should I call you former commander, since you’ve retired? No... even that wouldn’t be appropriate."

The warmth once carried in Percival’s voice had completely dried up.

"The only word that suits you now is traitor."

Traitor.

That single word pierced Luri’s heart.

But she had expected this.

"So, what brings you here?"

"I’ve come... to see Lord Goz."

"Then you’ve wasted your trip. Turn around and leave."

"I wish to speak with him."

Clang!

The black staff in the man’s hand slammed into the floor.

"It seems you’ve forgotten quite a lot over the past two hundred years, Luri Silverwind. Since when did the proud children of Silverwind settle things by talking?"

"......"

Silverwind’s people had always been born as fierce warriors.

They were the ones who hunted demons and frost giants beyond the Wall of Ice.

Actions over words.

They believed in speaking through their fists.

"I understand."

Knowing that better than anyone, Luri gave a respectful bow and stepped back.

She turned around and began walking away.

"Wait."

Percival called after her.

The foot she had just lifted stopped in midair.

"Go inside."

"...?"

"The Chief has granted you permission."

She found it hard to believe.

But she soon realized it was true.

The door she had thought would never open for her slowly began to do so.

Luri once again walked forward.

The pressure pressing down on her was even stronger than when she had first entered.

Hostile gazes stabbed at her like countless spears.

Bearing those stares, she forced her heavy shoulders forward.

The room resembled a king’s audience chamber.

A single throne faced the entrance, and upon it sat an enormous man as large as a bear.

He was different from the soldiers guarding the entrance.

An expensive fur coat draped over his shoulders, and golden rings adorned his fingers.

The parts of his skin left uncovered were densely covered with magical tattoos engraved through ritual.

Everything about him belonged to the Goz Silverwind she remembered.

’No... something is different.’

The present Luri, far stronger than she had once been, could still feel an overwhelming pressure.

There was hierarchy even among Dragon Spawn, but it was never absolute.

Yet what she felt now was the authority of someone standing far above all others.

The instinct sleeping deep within her immediately recognized it.

’Lord Silverwind’s... Essence?’

After Silverwind’s death, Goz—the leader of the Silver Dragon Spawn—had absorbed the Dragon’s Essence.

’But it’s unstable.’

He possessed the Essence, yet it had not fully merged with him.

His body had not completely assimilated Silverwind’s power.

That was why simply standing on his own two feet seemed to require all his strength.

"Valdrova."

He finally spoke.

There was no greeting, no "It’s been a long time."

"Is Valdrova doing well?"

He slowly swirled the whiskey in his glass.

Luri nodded.

"Yes. She continues working tirelessly day and night to drive the monsters from the Far Eastern Region and protect the continent."

"I see. I suppose that’s only possible because you’ve taken such good care of her."

"...Yes."

"Are you proud of that?"

"....."

Luri could not answer immediately.

Goz’s icy gaze remained fixed on her.

"Was my question too difficult?"

"No."

"And yet you remain silent."

Her answer finally came, like a rope snapping under the strain of an endless storm.

"...I am proud."

"I see. So that’s how it is."

Crash!

The glass in his hand shattered.

The already frigid atmosphere froze completely.

Luri’s body stiffened beneath his gaze.

"So tell me this."

He glared at her coldly.

"How does a traitor who devoted herself to that bitch dare show her face before me?"

Everything around Luri was openly hostile.

Even so, she forced herself to speak.

This was the very reason she had come.

"...Do you still hate Lady Valdrova?"

At her question, Goz’s eyes turned savage.

"I understand why your master speaks that way. But when you mention that woman before me, do not call her ’Lady’. You are a Spawn who inherited Silverwind’s blood. Your only master is Lord Silverwind."

"I am a Silver Dragon Spawn... but now she is my master."

"Before that woman ever became your master, Lord Silverwind was your master. Do you remember who Lord Silverwind was?"

"He was the great master of wind and steel."

"Exactly. No one could match his speed. He was a being who never wavered."

The veins on Goz’s neck bulged.

"And yet..."

Luri could hear it beneath his calm voice.

"And yet...!"

The blade of vengeance within him had never dulled.

"That bitch sank her fangs into his throat! She tore into his neck and severed his artery with those teeth! I witnessed that slaughter with my own eyes! I felt it with this very heart!"

"....."

"You ask whether I hate her? My hatred for that woman still burns inside my chest like an unquenchable fire."

Luri squeezed her eyes shut.

Every time he shouted, the flood of emotions became harder to endure.

Watching her suffer, Goz let out a harsh snort.

"The memory of his death is still vivid in my heart. Apparently, that isn’t the case for you."

"I saw it as well. I felt it as well. And that pain... still remains vivid within me."

Luri had also fought in the Dragon-Demon War to kill the Demon Race.

She had witnessed Silverwind’s death with her own eyes.

As one of his Spawn, she had felt the death of her master and mourned him deeply.

"I resented my master as well."

There had been no helping it.

To Luri, Silverwind had been like a father.

She could not help hating Valdrova for leading her father to his death.

"But... I cannot hate her."

"No."

Goz rejected those words outright.

"If you had truly felt what we felt, you would have abandoned her side."

"...."

"You were only a little farther away than the rest of us. Yet that woman tainted you. You’ve forgotten your own roots."

Goz picked up a fresh glass and poured himself another whiskey.

"Valdrova remains our enemy. As long as she exists on the Cerdes Continent, our hatred will never end. This is the will of all Silverwind."

"I see..."

She had expected this.

She had already known her hope was nothing but a foolish dream.

"But..."

Goz continued.

"I’ll give you one chance."

A chance.

Luri slowly raised her head.

"What chance?"

For a fleeting moment, she dared to hope that perhaps his hatred toward Valdrova could be eased, even if only a little.

Goz extended his hand toward her.

"Luri Silverwind. Return to your clan."

The last thread of hope snapped.

"When you say... return to my clan... do you mean... leave Lady Valdrova’s side?"

"Now that there is a Regent, you no longer have any reason to continue serving that woman."

"You have fulfilled every duty Lord Silverwind entrusted to you. So return to your clan and become a warrior once more. Luri of the Blade Wind. Reclaim your position as Commander of the Mobile Brigade, crush the vermin pouring down from the north, and serve your people. Do that, and I shall erase the stigma of ’traitor’ from your name."

That title pierced her heart.

Yet compared to the burden she had carried all this time, that pain was nothing.

"I can’t..."

The words of refusal naturally rose to her lips.

At that very moment, Luri’s body staggered violently.

"There is no refusal, Luri Silverwind."

The overwhelming aura emanating from Goz bore down directly upon her.

"My blood now carries Lord Silverwind’s authority. You know what it means for a Dragon Spawn to defy that authority, don’t you?"

Death.

For a Dragon Spawn who disobeyed authority, there was only death.

"There is nothing to gain by resisting that authority. So..."

Goz pointed a finger toward the floor.

"Kneel before me and submit."

Goz was not bluffing.

Luri, who had never once flinched, now broke into a cold sweat.

It felt as though someone were squeezing her throat and crushing her heart in their grip.

If she rejected his command, the agony would be like tearing her own heart apart.

He had absorbed only a tiny fraction of Silverwind’s Essence.

And yet, even that much was enough.

’I can’t let myself shrink back.’

Luri resisted with everything she had.

She gripped her apron tightly with both hands and forced strength into her trembling legs.

It was the best she could do.

And even that was barely enough.

"You endure surprisingly well."

The admiration in his voice was genuine.

Any other Spawn would have already fallen to their knees under such pressure.

"I see. That must be why Lord Silverwind favored you so greatly."

Goz disliked that attitude.

He did not want to subdue her through authority alone.

That was far from the complete submission he sought.

"If it’s so difficult for you to leave, perhaps I should make your decision easier."

Goz tilted his head.

"That Regent knows who you truly are, doesn’t he? But does he also know the reason you ended up at her side?"

"...!"

The composure on Luri’s face shattered.

Her sweat-soaked hands dampened her apron.

"Do you truly believe that man would still protect you after learning the truth?"

Ferda Valdrova.

He loved Valdrova.

And he was utterly merciless toward anyone who posed a threat to her.

’If Lord Ferda were to find out...’

What would Ferda do?

The resolve that had sustained her against the pressure crumbled beneath doubt.

’I...’

Fear overwhelmed her.

It tightened around her chest so completely that she could not even scream.

’What... should I do...?’

She sank deeper and deeper into a sticky swamp of despair.

Silently, she cried out.

Please.

Please... someone help me.

"Pardon the intrusion."

The voice that answered her plea was one she knew well.

"What exactly are you doing to my attendant?"

***

Ferda was searching for Luri.

Finding her wasn’t difficult.

He had been told she went to speak with Silverwind.

That meant she had to be beyond the great doors engraved with Silverwind’s crest.

Standing before them, Ferda hesitated.

’Am I interfering where I shouldn’t?’

She was Valdrova’s attendant.

But she was also a Spawn carrying Silverwind’s blood.

They surely harbored resentment toward Valdrova, but perhaps they bore no ill will toward Luri herself.

Ferda had no reason to intrude upon what might simply be a family reunion.

And yet...

No matter how he tried to think that way, he couldn’t convince himself.

He recalled the expression on Goz Silverwind’s face during the Grand Ducal Council.

At the same time, Erika’s warning echoed in his mind.

—The enemy you truly need to watch is Silverwind.

Dragons were immortals.

Once they embraced vengeance, they never let it go.

Silverwind was no exception.

’Was this a mistake?’

Even if Luri had insisted...

Even if Valdrova herself had asked...

Should he have refused from the very beginning?

He could not shake that thought.

That was why he found himself standing before the Spawn’s lounge.

There stood Silverwind’s soldiers guarding the inner chamber.

And from within flowed an intense Dragon Fear.

There was no doubt.

This was not an unnecessary intrusion.

Ferda walked straight toward the source of that overwhelming presence.

"Are you Regent Valdrova?"

The Dragon Spawn with the black staff resting on his shoulder—Percival—rose to his feet and asked.

"Is Luri in there?"

"Answer my question."

"I asked whether Luri Silverwind is in there."

Percival refused to move and stood squarely in his path.

"She is."

"Then step aside."

"This is a family matter, Regent. It does not concern you."

One did not interfere in another family’s affairs.

Especially among dragons, it was an inviolable rule.

But Ferda had no intention of respecting that boundary.

"If you’re going to stop me, then you’re going to have to break something."

Ferda’s blue eyes stared directly into his.

"After that, the Hand of Blancaros will deal with you. Can the descendants of Silverwind bear the disgrace of causing trouble here?"

"......."

"If you’re confident you can, then go ahead. I’ve already resolved myself to accept whatever I lose."

Percival stepped aside.

With a glance, he ordered his subordinates to clear the way as well.

Ferda opened the door.

He saw Luri.

He saw Luri on the verge of kneeling before Goz.

He saw the agony on her face.

At that moment, every distracting thought vanished from Ferda’s mind.

His gaze locked onto a single figure with perfect clarity.

The reckless fool pretending to be a king.

"Pardon the intrusion."

Ferda released the anger he had been holding back.

"What exactly are you doing to my attendant?"