Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Dragon’s Eye

The dragon armor was revealed beneath the moonlight.
Two meters in size, with menacing decorations made to intimidate opponents.
Yet that armor, which he had seen more often than her bare appearance, felt to Ferda like a part of Valdrova, and as a part of her, it was something he could love as well.
He had thought it would be pleasant to suddenly run into Valdrova looking like that, but reality differed from his expectations.
More than joy, the sense of bewilderment was greater.
Had he gone mad with longing and started seeing hallucinations?
He wondered, and at that moment, she stood in front of Ferda.
— …….
— …….
Only silence flowed as they gazed at each other.
After a long silence, it was Valdrova who reluctantly opened her mouth first.
— So, um, the thing is…….
She struggled to bring out the words like someone gathering pearls from a sandy beach.
— I came out because I wanted to take a walk…….
— Is that so?
— Yes, absolutely!
Ferda knew it was a lie.
Yet for Ferda, it did not matter much.
Valdrova answered like that and fidgeted with her neatly clasped hands.
The steel of the gauntlets clattered, producing a sound.
An appearance of restlessness.
Was she uncomfortable because she had run into Ferda so suddenly?
Then, reluctantly, she opened her mouth again.
— A-actually, that’s not it!
— Yes?
— I knew Ferda-ssi would come out…… so I came out!
— I-I see?
— Yes.
She rubbed her chest and exhaled a sigh.
It was as though she had confessed a single sin kept in her heart.
Ferda did not mind.
She knew Ferda was alone in the corridor and came looking for him.
That was all that mattered.
Those words meant she came here because she wanted to see Ferda.
“She wants to see me.”
Once he realized that, his heart fluttered for no reason.
Had he brushed his teeth?
Did his clothes smell bad?
He might have picked up the smell of smoke from leaning against a single candle in the secret room.
Such worries were momentary.
Belatedly recalling what was most important, Ferda bowed his head.
— Greetings, Grand Duchess Valdrova.
— Ah, yes, welcome, that…… Ferda……. Ferda…….
She uttered his name, but it faded at the end.
That unfinished word, unable to conclude the sentence, sounded like a sorrowful lament, perhaps due to the voice modulator built into the helmet.
— Do you mean “Regent”?
— Ah, right, that! Regent!
She clapped her hands, and her voice brightened.
— Right. Regent Ferda. I wanted to use that title once. That’s what they call the King’s fiancé, right?
— Actually, that’s…… no, yes, that is correct.
He stopped trying to correct her.
He could not bring himself to keep touching that radiant purity, saying it was pretty, lest it be stained.
— Can I call you Regent from now on as well?
— There is no need for that. It is a term used only in official settings, so when it is just the two of us, please call me comfortably, Ferda.
— Ah, I will do that, Ferda……-ssi.
Ferda, Ferda…….
Valdrova repeated it several times inside the helmet, practicing.
It felt as if she were whispering into his ear, tickling him for no reason.
— I tried to see Ferda-ssi once more, but strangely…… I couldn’t find the courage.
— I understand.
Ferda quietly empathized.
Did she also have a large heart?
— Um…… I came here because of Ruri.
That was not it.
— Ruri, you say?
Valdrova nodded.
— Ruri seems to be having a hard time lately.
Ferda recalled having rejected Ruri’s request to participate.
The last time he saw her face, she was angry.
— I don’t think I read emotions well, but I know that child’s sad face well. That child is…… definitely sad right now.
Her helmet turned toward Ferda’s face.
— If by any chance you know why that child is having a hard time…… I thought perhaps Ferda-ssi would know…….
Ferda’s lips only moved.
It was difficult to utter the words.
Knowing that the cause was himself, how could he tell her?
If he told her this truth, would she come to hate him?
Yet in the end, he told her the truth.
— That change is probably my fault.
— Ferda-ssi’s fault?
— Ruri requested to attend the Grand Council, and I refused. That is the only factor I know of.
— Why would that child want to go there…….?
— She said she wanted to have a dialogue with the Silver Wind side.
Valdrova’s body flinched.
Then she nodded slightly as if understanding.
— If it’s just dialogue…… wouldn’t it be fine to take her?
— Because it is a futile hope.
— Futile hope?
— What that maid is trying to do is no different from scratching a scab. If you scratch an unhealed part, the flesh tears open again and the wound reopens. It is precisely that sort of thing.
— Ah, that…… hurts a lot.
— Yes, it hurts a lot.
Valdrova nodded slightly, as if empathizing.
She wrapped her hand around her forearm.
— But that futile hope…… perhaps it might not have been futile, right?
Valdrova ended her words with an uncertain question mark.
— Silver Wind still bears a grudge.
— I know that too. But…… perhaps it isn’t like that for Ruri, right?
— Do you think it will work if they talk?
— At least that child will have a place to return to.
— Return?
At Ferda’s question, she spoke solemnly as if realizing something.
— Ah, Ferda-ssi wouldn’t know. That child is not my kin, but the offspring of a Silver Dragon.
— Ah…….
— She was loyal to me, so such a misunderstanding could happen.
— Yes…….
It was a story he already knew from the beginning.
What surprised Ferda was only the word “return.”
— Dragonkin are families connected by blood. For Ruri, her family is the Silver Wind kin.
— Do you mean Ruri should return to the embrace of her family?
— Is there anything more precious than family?
Precious family.
It was a topic too distant for Ferda.
He had been tormented by his family and, in the end, abandoned.
The root of Ferda’s vengeance was the existence called family, and in the end, he returned to them everything they had done to him.
And now that all those emotions were settled, it was something he did not care about at all.
But Ruri?
Ferda did not know what Ruri thought.
Ruri cherished Valdrova.
Yet compared to the bloodline connected to Silver Wind, that might be trivial.
This opportunity could be her way of severing ties with Valdrova.
Given that the future Ferda did not appear until he tore out Valdrova’s heart, that might well be the case.
— Ruri might desire that…
Ferda looked up at Valdrova and asked.
— But do you desire it?
Instead of answering immediately, she turned her head toward the sky.
The hand resting on the railing clenched into a small fist.
It was not an easy matter.
— I am the one who tied that child here. If there is a way back… I will have to let that child go.
— …
— And…
Valdrova looked down at Ferda.
— Now I have a proper fiancé, don’t I?
An indescribable tightness enveloped Ferda’s chest.
This made him raise a question once more about an already settled matter.
Was it truly fine to bring Ruri to the Grand Council?
In the end, Ferda decided.
— Understood.
— Will you take Ruri?
— Yes. Since you put it that way, how could I refuse?
— Ah, yes, thank you.
She nodded expressionlessly, with a stunned look.
With the topic concluded, a heavy silence tried to settle in again.
— The Grand Council…
Valdrova broke that silence cautiously.
— I only heard that it convenes every so often, but I didn’t even know what happens there.
— Are you curious?
— Very curious. All the races gather there to speak for the peace of this continent, right? There’s no way I wouldn’t be curious about the stories circulating there!
Valdrova’s helmet turned abruptly to look at Ferda and she asked.
— When Ferda-ssi returns, could you tell me the stories from there?
Though concealed by the helmet, he could discern what she hoped for.
Like a child listening to the tale of a hero who gathered beneath the light to defeat darkness.
Like pristine snow piled high in the cold of winter.
It was a dazzling purity.
— The stories will not be pleasant to hear.
— Eh, why?
A voice containing bewilderment.
Ferda realized his mistake.
Yet it was already spilled water.
It was too late to remain silent or offer excuses.
So he told her the facts he knew.
— They are not people who tell convenient stories. They are merely busy looking after their own interests.
— Is that so?
— Yes. So please do not hold expectations too high.
He finished speaking with difficulty.
Valdrova looked at him in silence.
What expression was she making?
Was she stunned, mouth agape with surprise,
Or was she shedding tears, unable to overcome that emotion?
— Ferda-ssi…
The reply that came back was a woman’s calm, uninflected voice.
— Do you know what it was like when Godwin rose to destroy this world?
There was no way he could know.
It was an event from 150 years ago, an era that not even Ferda’s grandfather had experienced.
— When Godwin plunged the world into chaos, the first to surrender were us.
— Do you mean the dragons?
Valdrova nodded.
It was not a very moving story for Ferda.
Yet had a scholar from Escolea heard this tale, the academic world would have been turned upside down.
Valdrova seemed to realize this as well, covering her mouth.
She looked around unnecessarily and whispered cautiously.
— Everything I’m saying right now is a secret, okay?
— I will take it to my grave.
— Regardless… in that era, they concluded that compromising with chaos was the most ideal countermeasure. Long-lived races like dwarves and elves were also inclined to accept that compromise.
Yet they could not have done so.
If that compromise had been made, Ma would not have become a land pushed to the Far East, spewing filth.
— But only one race did not.
Ferda also knew this part.
— Humans were the first to rise up.
She folded both hands neatly and brought them to her chest.
— Because they did not compromise, because their blades did not spare Ma, they realized there was still hope on the continent, and that is why peace returned to this continent.
Ferda understood in his heart what Valdrova, steeped in the memories of that day, was thinking.
Respect.
Dragons and humans.
Long-lived races and short-lived races.
Immortals and mortals.
Humans could respect and venerate dragons, but dragons that respect humans could not exist.
Yet Valdrova was different.
— Even if they are blinded by greed right now, at the most crucial moment, they will fight for Ma. So…
Valdrova’s head tilted slightly to look at Ferda.
The red armor, beneath the moonlight, shone with true nobility.
— I will love them.
It was then that it happened.
The chemical reaction occurring in his head carried Ferda into an unknown realm.
A dragon-head shaped helmet,
The figure of a fragile woman hidden inside began to glimpse through.
Her two eyes contained hope.
And that hope was smiling.
— Ah.
Ferda let out a foolish exclamation.
It felt like flying high into the sky and then plummeting down.
The impact of falling from the boundless sky was immeasurable.
— Ferda-ssi?
— …
— Are you all right? You aren’t saying anything…
Valdrova grew uneasy, checking Ferda’s countenance.
Ferda, who had been staring at her in silence, opened his mouth.
— Just once.
— Yes??
— Could you show me that Yongan just once more?
— Y-Yongan? Eh, my face…?
— Yes. Your face.
Ferda’s hand moved unconsciously toward Valdrova’s helmet.
Valdrova started and shielded her helmet.
— Ah, no! T-that, I cannot show my face yet!
— Please. I beg of you, just once more, that Yongan…
— N-no, I said no!? Don’t come close like that!
One step forward, one step back.
What seemed like an endless chain of pursuit was broken by Valdrova.
— I’m sooorryyy!!
With Valdrova’s apology, she vanished into the darkness.
What remained was the warmth she left behind where she had stood.
Ferda, his face looking feverish from being intoxicated by that warmth, cast an expressionless gaze at the last place he saw her.
The wind blew through the open window.
It was ridiculously insufficient to cool Ferda’s burning fervor.
He looked at the moon again.
A full moon.
Yet in his burning chest, there was no room for thoughts of his mother to break through.
Unlike the beginning, however, there was nothing to worry about.
The emotion blooming in Ferda’s chest swirled in a shade of red.