My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 68: Chapter 68

Chapter 68 - Change

As the sun in the west dipped low, painting the sky with the colors of sunset, Luri began cleaning up after the tea party with the help of the spirits.

The water spirits washed the dishes, while the wind spirit dried them.

The desserts that Ferda and Valdrova had left untouched disappeared one by one into Luri’s mouth.

It was a perfect division of labor.

Except for the fact that Ferda still hadn’t left.

"Why did you say something so unnecessary?"

Ferda asked.

It would have been a lie to say there wasn’t any emotion mixed into his voice.

Luri stared at him calmly with a businesslike expression.

"Playboy."

Ferda frowned.

"That isn’t being a playboy."

"I merely stated the facts as I saw them. You held hands with that damned woman."

"Were you trying to ruin the mood?"

"Ruin the mood? Shouldn’t you be thanking me instead?"

"What?"

He genuinely wondered what kind of nonsense she was talking about.

"If I hadn’t said that, would you have ended up holding her hand?"

"You mean her hand?"

"Yes, her hand. The very hand that was enjoying touching yours. Who do you think made that happen?"

What kind of...

Yet, when he thought back on everything that had happened today, she wasn’t wrong.

Ferda had attended the tea party with only one goal—to avoid hurting her.

He had never intended to hold Valdrova’s hand today.

If Luri hadn’t brought up Olivia...

He never would have held her hand.

If she hadn’t mentioned that Valdrova hadn’t gone hunting today...

She would have spent tonight suffering.

Everything had happened because Luri had deliberately said something that was easy to misunderstand.

"You’re saying all of that was part of your plan?"

"Of course."

Luri snorted.

"Master, you’re a greedy man. It only takes a little push for you to take a step forward. I knew that if I mentioned that woman, you’d definitely make a move."

He had forgotten, if only for a brief moment.

No one had managed this castle longer than she had, and no one had watched over Valdrova longer than Luri.

Which meant no one understood her better.

Ferda couldn’t hide his surprise.

Had she ever gone this far for him before?

Luri had helped him several times as a maid.

But those had always been indirect acts done for Valdrova’s sake.

This was the first time she had stepped in personally to help him.

Perhaps that was why...

She seemed different than usual.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Luri asked after noticing his fixed gaze.

"You just seem a little different today."

"In what way?"

"I’m not sure. Should I say... you’re kind of cute?"

She froze.

"C... cute...?"

"If I had to define it, I’d call you an adorable little pig."

"..."

Luri’s expression twisted instantly.

Ferda knew that look all too well.

It was the same disgust she had shown when they first met.

No...

It was even stronger than back then.

"If you’re just going to say pointless things, then please leave. You’re getting in the way of the cleaning."

"Very well."

Her irritated voice made it clear he shouldn’t stay any longer, so Ferda immediately turned to leave.

"Sir Ferda."

Luri called out to him.

Bathed in the slanting rays of the setting sun, she stood there with her back to the light.

She wasn’t the capable maid Luri at that moment.

She was simply Luri, a young girl.

"Don’t worry."

Before she could say anything, Ferda spoke first.

Luri said nothing.

She merely gave a small nod.

***

Valdrova’s Lair.

Aside from the massive iron gate, its interior was nothing more than a vast natural cave.

Into that cavern walked a Dragoon clad in armor with the head of a red dragon.

It was Valdrova, the Aspect of Strength and Aspect of Fire.

She had just returned from the tea party.

Standing in the center of the cavern, Valdrova slowly lifted her head.

Only then did she truly realize she was alone.

She pressed the jewel embedded in her chest.

Srrrk—

The Dragon Dragoon Armor opened, revealing its interior before ejecting what was inside.

The one who emerged was a woman standing about 160 centimeters tall.

"Haaah..."

Valdrova let out a long breath as though she had just escaped a brutal battlefield.

No...

For her, an actual battlefield would have been easier.

Even when she had spent six straight hours exterminating waves of Monsters, she hadn’t been this exhausted.

All she had done today was sit for about two hours...

And talk with Ferda.

Yet every second of it had been unbearably difficult for her.

Even while hidden inside such enormous armor.

Looking up at it, Valdrova muttered quietly,

"I couldn’t take it off today either..."

That armor had been created by a Bronze Dragon specifically for Valdrova after she used Polymorph.

It was designed so she would appear as a fearsome Red Dragon—

Large, imposing, and capable of speaking with an intimidating voice.

Its original purpose had been to help her display the dignity expected of both a dragon and a ruler.

But in reality...

It had become the exact opposite.

It was her refuge.

Like the shell of a snail.

"If Uncle saw me now... I wonder what he’d say..."

She let out a hollow laugh before glancing at the mirror beside her.

Two pairs of horns.

Golden cat-like eyes.

And flowing crimson hair that looked as though it had been spun from strands of ruby.

Very few people had ever seen Valdrova like this.

Only Luri and the dragons remembered her true face.

As a result, there weren’t many opinions about her Polymorph form.

Luri had described her as possessing a balanced beauty that concealed overwhelming strength beneath gentleness.

The other dragons had simply called her "too soft".

And as for the human Ferda...

"Hngh..."

She didn’t want to think about it.

The moment she recalled the expression on his face that day, her mind went completely blank.

Her body felt weightless.

It was as if a hundred hands were tickling her all at once.

She couldn’t control becoming someone she no longer recognized.

"I want to hear it..."

She wanted him to call her beautiful.

She wanted him to say she was pretty.

Not while looking at the armor—

But while looking at her true self.

That was why, even beneath the armor, she always wore a beautiful dress.

Did Ferda know?

Did he realize that inside the armor he always saw...

Was a woman dressed elegantly?

That she lacked the courage to show herself and hid behind the armor every single time?

"And yet..."

Her voice trembled with embarrassment.

She remembered what Luri had said before the tea party.

"He held hands with Olivia Arken and even toured the White House with her."

Valdrova understood.

A man like Ferda could naturally hold hands with a beautiful woman.

Of course.

That kind of thing could happen.

"...Is that really all there is to it?"

She was jealous.

Of course she was.

How could she not be?

Her fiancé had held another woman’s hand.

The man who was supposed to spend the rest of his life with her had held someone else’s hand.

At the same time...

She couldn’t help laughing bitterly at herself.

"I’m the one who’s always been running away..."

Ferda had always been waiting.

She was the one who lacked the courage to reveal herself.

And yet she still felt jealous.

"Idiot."

She scolded herself.

"Stupid idiot."

Even so...

A smile eventually appeared on her face.

"But... I did well at the end."

She had never imagined those words would come from her own mouth.

"Let’s hold hands."

It had been an impulsive decision.

But without that impulse...

She never would have found the courage to say it.

"..."

Valdrova stared absentmindedly at her right hand.

The hand Ferda had held.

His warmth still lingered there.

"It was warm..."

She could still feel it vividly.

How warm his heart was.

How naturally he cared for others.

That’s why this castle has become so lively.

It had been one year since Ferda came to the castle.

The castle had grown lively.

News of the territory’s development kept arriving.

He had accomplished all the things Valdrova had never done...

And all the things she had never been able to do.

What she felt toward him...

Was admiration.

So I have to change too.

And inspiration.

Valdrova repeated those words over and over in her mind.

Because that was the greatest way she could repay Ferda—

The man who had become her fiancé.

"I’m sleepy..."

Her eyelids grew heavy.

Her body became pleasantly drowsy.

There had once been days when her Bloodlust prevented her from sleeping at all.

Yet now...

She felt certain she would fall into a deep sleep the moment she closed her eyes.

She should have transformed back into a dragon before sleeping.

But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She wanted to treasure the warmth he had left behind...

Just a little longer.

Valdrova quietly lay down.

Curling herself into a ball as though coiling up, she gently embraced the warmth lingering in her right hand.

She thought about tomorrow.

Until now...

Tomorrow had always been nothing but another day of suffering.

She hated thinking about it.

Whenever those thoughts came, she would flee into sleep.

But today was different.

The tomorrow she imagined now...

Made her feel truly alive.

What should I do?

How should I do it...

To make Mr. Ferda happy?

Drawing endless circles without ever reaching an answer...

She slowly drifted off to sleep.

***

In the Central Region of the Cerdes Continent stood a tower so tall that it seemed to pierce the heavens.

It was the tallest structure on the continent—

The Magic Tower.

Built by the Blue Dragon, Iorga, it served as the home where all Dragon Spawn of the Blue Dragon lived and carried out their daily lives.

The tower was called Blue Eye.

Eyes exist to see.

True to its name, Blue Eye had been created as a surveillance network to observe everything beneath the sky.

The hierarchy within the tower was determined by one’s floor.

At the very top resided the dragon, Iorga.

The floor directly beneath belonged to Erika Iorga, the representative of the Dragon Spawn.

And she...

"It seems the humans are finally beginning to notice."

"Not openly, but more and more people have started pointing out the weaknesses in Blue Eye’s surveillance magic."

She felt older than ever before.

Surrounded by the elders, she continued reviewing documents and discussing agenda items.

"To what extent have the humans calculated the estimated figures?"

"There isn’t enough precise data, but they currently estimate that its effectiveness has decreased by about thirty percent."

Thirty percent.

It was a figure that absolutely could not be overlooked.

"If this continues, they’ll eventually realize that Lady Iorga is absent..."

The Blue Dragon, Iorga.

The Aspect of Magic, a being possessing mana rivaling that of an absolute existence, and the one who alone supplied nearly half of the Magic Tower’s mana.

However, even Iorga was being consumed by Godwin’s darkness.

Simply remaining hidden without revealing herself had already become an enormous risk.

That was why Iorga had made the drastic decision to crystallize her own body.

"What should we do?"

The elderly elder mages trailed off, waiting for Erika’s answer.

As the leader of the Blue Dragon Spawn, Erika remained calmer than anyone else.

After reviewing the final page of the document, she tossed it onto the desk.

"It’s still within the acceptable range."

The elders were startled by her words.

"How can thirty percent possibly be within the acceptable range?"

"The Magic Tower has actually lost fifty percent of its mana. Half of it is gone."

There was nowhere near enough mana left to maintain Blue Eye’s surveillance network.

If they spread it across the same area as before, it lacked depth.

If they concentrated on depth, the coverage became too narrow.

"The fact that humans estimate only a thirty-percent decrease means our substitutes are making up for roughly twenty percent."

That was why they had abandoned their old methods and were searching for more flexible alternatives.

They concentrated the surveillance network on high-risk regions, while areas outside its coverage were being monitored through cooperation with the Guild, using manpower instead.

"We need further analysis and more substitutes."

"We can’t rely on adventurers forever. Unless we cure the root cause, none of this matters."

"Isn’t curing that root cause exactly why we’re going through all of this?"

Erika’s sharp gaze fell upon the elder.

"If you can produce a solution right now, I’ll gladly keep my mouth shut. Go ahead."

"Th-That isn’t..."

The elder immediately lowered his head in defeat.

Erika let out a quiet sigh through her nose before speaking gently.

"I understand how anxious all of you are. I feel the same. Right now, our Magic Tower—Blue Eye—is facing an unprecedented crisis. If we wish to preserve our reputation as the eyes that watch over the continent, even using every last drop of our mana wouldn’t be enough."

But they couldn’t do that.

"If we exhaust all of our mana, then creating Lady Iorga’s medicine will become impossible. She entered hibernation because she realized her own condition was worsening. We don’t have much time left."

In truth, they lacked everything.

Mana.

Time.

Manpower.

"But precisely because of that, we must appear as though we have plenty of room to maneuver. The moment we lose confidence, this painstakingly built tower will collapse in an instant."

Blue Eye ruled over magic through surveillance.

They had to make it absolutely clear that the field of magic remained firmly under their control.

"Understood."

"We have no choice but to trust our leader."

The elders concluded the meeting and departed.

Once the last of them had left and the door closed—

"Fuuuuuuu!!"

Erika, who had worn the face of an iron-willed leader until now, released a tremendous sigh like steam escaping from a pressure cooker.

"Fuck..."

The first thing to come out of her mouth was profanity.

People said that a crown carried weight.

The crown Erika wore felt as though it would one day snap her neck.

I can’t just wipe them all out...

Looking down on other races was an instinct deeply rooted within the Dragon Spawn.

Had they belonged to another dragon lineage, they would have immediately threatened or beaten any human daring to argue with them.

But Iorga’s descendants could never behave that way.

Magic was a tool for rational minds.

Losing one’s temper was irrational—

It was no different from admitting that their magic was unstable.

Their greatest weapon was composure.

To appear exactly as they always had.

To project absolute confidence that no matter what happened, they would overcome it.

Because of that, Erika, as their leader, accumulated nothing but invisible burdens.

"Fuu..."

She rose from her chair.

If she stayed seated any longer, she felt as though she would explode.

She walked toward the window to cool her head by looking outside.

The rich colors of early autumn spread across the landscape below.

The scenery changed every year.

But her thoughts about it rarely did.

The massive mountain to the north.

Where those idiots with nothing but ice in their heads live.

The western plains.

The home of those hypocritical religious fanatics.

The southern desert.

A playground for self-destructive extremists.

The black lands in the east.

...Ferda Valdrova.

No...

This time was different.

Normally she would have thought,

The slowly decaying graveyard of the greedy.

But ever since returning from the Grand Ducal Council, that place had become associated with a human name.

"What will you do in the end?"

His words still echoed in her mind.

The fate of the secret created by Godwin.

"The end..."

She had pondered it countless times.

No answer ever came.

Neither an optimistic future...

Nor a pessimistic one...

Could she truly accept.

No one knew the future.

One could predict it—

But never see it perfectly.

"Arrogant bastard..."

The descendants of Iorga lived in the present to prepare for the future.

Erika Iorga was no different.

She neither despaired...

Nor became overly optimistic.

That was the rationality Iorga pursued.

And yet...

Whenever she thought about Ferda...

Those words kept ringing in her ears.

Like an annoying mosquito.

What will you do?

What are you going to do?

So what are you going to do?

What can you possibly accomplish?

"Fuu..."

Realizing she had reached her limit, Erika raised a finger.

At that moment, a tiny droplet of water condensed on her fingertip.

The droplet rapidly expanded into a curtain, instantly surrounding her completely.

"Fuu."

She took one deep breath.

Then—

"SO WHAT?!"

She screamed.

"What makes you think you’re so damn amazing?!"

She stomped the floor repeatedly while wildly waving her arms.

"I went through all that trouble crushing that proposal just to stop those damned ice idiots, and now you’re acting all high and mighty by yourself?! You’re just a human! A human! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

When she couldn’t calm herself...

She let it all out.

"I don’t care anymore! I’m done! I’m quitting! Why the hell do I have to deal with all this?! What’s the point?! Everyone keeps dumping everything on me! Even though they can’t do any better themselves!"

For several minutes, she shouted at the top of her lungs, venting everything she had bottled up.

Knock. Knock.

"Um... Lady Erika?"

Her secretary arrived and opened the door.

Erika, who had been screaming like someone having a breakdown, hurriedly composed herself.

She dismissed the water curtain and sat back in her chair.

In an instant, she had returned to her usual dignified appearance as the leader.

"What is it?"

Completely unaware that Erika had just been throwing a hysterical tantrum, the secretary began her report.

"I’ve come to report the investigation into House Rosnova, if you have a moment."

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

For some reason, Erika suddenly felt guilty.

"Go ahead."

"To begin with, there wasn’t anything particularly unusual about House Rosnova itself. It’s simply one of the Empire’s Knight Families, a family that achieved modest accomplishments by human standards and has barely managed to preserve its lineage."

"So you’re saying there are no issues with Regent Ferda’s family?"

"At least as far as House Rosnova is concerned."

She turned to the next page.

"The problem is Regent Ferda’s biological mother, Anna Rosnova."

"What about her?"

"There isn’t a single piece of information regarding his biological mother."

"Not a single piece? Do you mean she was an ordinary commoner or something similar?"

"No. It’s beyond that. We may need to investigate further, but..."

The woman hesitated briefly, wondering whether she should even say it.

"It feels as though we’re chasing a ghost that never existed in the first place."

"A ghost?"

It was perhaps the most irresponsible statement an investigator could make.

Yet Erika did not dismiss it.

These investigators were descendants of Iorga.

They understood Erika well.

If they had resorted to saying something like that, it meant they had dug as deeply as possible...

And still found absolutely nothing.

Erika murmured quietly,

"An egg exists because there is a chicken."

Every result had a cause.

A son existed because there was a mother.

Even dragons, beings worshipped as gods, had creators.

Yet every attempt to uncover even the slightest information about Ferda only produced more mysteries.

Just who exactly is that man?

Just as she thought that—

A loud commotion echoed up the staircase.

Completely unlike the rational descendants of Iorga, a terrified man came rushing in.

"Th-This is terrible!"

"Why are you making such a fuss?"

"I-It... it’s this!"

What he handed over was an image projected through mana.

It showed several Dragon Spawn in a snowy field recovering a corpse.

"...A Silver Dragon Spawn has died?"

"Yes."

That alone was a grave matter.

Every Dragon Spawn remembered the deaths of those who shared their bloodline.

The Silverwind lineage, renowned for the strength of its bonds, would never let such an enemy live.

If that image had been all he brought, Erika would have simply assumed bloodshed was about to begin somewhere.

But she instinctively knew his panic meant something far worse.

"The next page...!!"

The following image showed members of the Silverwind clan flying through the sky.

Among them was a Dragon Spawn with enormous wings.

"The leader of those ice idiots... himself?"

For Goz Silverwind to move personally was no ordinary matter.

It meant he intended not merely to kill someone—

But to destroy everything that person possessed.

Why?

Why would he move personally?

Erika thought.

One person immediately came to mind.

No way...

That couldn’t be.

He wasn’t that stupid.

He knew perfectly well what kind of relationship Silverwind had with them.

He wouldn’t do something so insane.

But she needed confirmation.

With difficulty, she asked,

"Who laid a hand on a descendant of Silverwind?"

The man answered.

And Erika’s worst fear became reality.

"It was Regent Ferda Valdrova!"

The fuse had been lit.