Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Traitor

Traitor
Chapter 55. Traitor

The conversations concluded, and Ruri slipped away from Jed and Arwen, heading somewhere.
She already knew what the Grand Council Hall looked like.
That was why she knew where the humans mingled and where the Dragon Spawn gathered.
Unlike humans, Dragon Spawn were very distant from social life.
They were not so weak as to build power by flattering someone, and at the same time, it was their pride as dragons.
Ruri headed to the second floor.
As she ascended the spiral staircase, she saw twelve doors arranged around her.
The 12 Dragons of the Serdes Continent.
Evil Dragons, Guardian Dragons… all the dragons were there.
Of course, Godwin was also there.
Ruri looked up at the imposing door engraved with the crest of Silverwind.
“…”
Horns protruding firmly and a slender body.
A bearing whose valor no one could deny.
Even though more than a hundred years had passed since he left this world, his image lingered.
That imprint weakened Ruri’s heart.
The loyal maid of Castle Valdrova.
The sharp-tongued maid who blew wind and answered “no” to what was not… she was not there.
Only a girl holding her pounding chest with both hands, barely managing to open the door.

Kiiiiik—.
The creaking of the door hinges dragged on.
What came into view was a long corridor.
And the soldiers guarding the front.
They were the warriors of Silverwind.
The chatter of the warriors, which had been noisy, ceased.
They turned their gazes toward Ruri.
The atmosphere froze in an instant.

— What are you, girl?
One of them, knowing no better, looked at Ruri and approached arrogantly.
— You smell like someone who inherited the blood of Silverwind-nim, but I’ve never seen you before. Where did this spy come from?
“…”
— If I talk, you should answer. Or do you want to play rough with this oppa? Huh?
— Cut the crap.
The one who dissipated the growing tension was the man sitting with a cane.
He was the captain of that group.
— Don’t worry, captain! Would I cause an accident by killing someone in Blancaros’s domain?
— Be thankful it is Blancaros’s domain. Outside, not even your bones would remain.
— What nonsense are you saying? Do I look like a weakling who can’t even beat a little girl?
— You would lose to that girl.
His eyes turned toward the maid.
— Because I don’t think you can defeat the Commander of the Mobile Brigade.
— Commander of the Mobile Brigade…?
Fear clouded the eyes of the man who had previously acted so confident.
— Don’t tell me… that… Ruri of the Wind Blade…?
He turned his head with a face of disbelief.
He had never seen her face, but her fame was widespread.
Being fellow Silver Dragon Spawn, they would have feared her reputation.
The man froze and took a step back.
His outstretched hand trembled and retreated.
Ruri walked through the distance he yielded, approaching the man with the cane over his shoulder.
Ruri and the man exchanged glances.
Both had known each other for a long time.

— It has been a while, Percival.
— It has been a while, Commander of the 1st Mobile Brigade. No, since you retired, should I call you former commander? No, that won’t do either.
The favor in Percival’s voice dried up.
— The word “traitor” suits you perfectly.
Traitor.
The word seemed to pierce Ruri’s chest.
But it was something she had prepared herself for.

— So, what brings you here?
— I came to see Goz…-nim.
— Then you have made a wasted trip. Go back.
— I want to talk.

Clang!
The black cane the man held struck the floor.
— It seems you have forgotten much in these two hundred-odd years, Ruri Silverwind. Since when did the proud children of Silverwind start talking?
“…”
The Silverwinds were naturally rough warriors.
They were the ones who caught demons and frost giants beyond the ice wall.
Action before words.
They were those for whom physical communication was closest.

— Understood.
Knowing that very well, Ruri bowed and withdrew.
She turned her body and began to walk away.
— Wait.
Percival stopped her. Her half-raised foot froze in place.
— Enter.
— ?
— The Chief permitted it.

She could not believe those words, but soon understood they were true.
The door that seemed like it would never open for her began to swing open.
Ruri walked forward again.
A pressure even denser than that of the entrance descended upon her.
Hostile glares felt like spears stabbing into her.
Receiving those gazes, she moved her heavy shoulders.
There, like in a royal audience hall, stood a single throne in front of the main door, and a man as large as a bear was seated there.
Different from the soldiers guarding the entrance.
A luxurious fur coat and gold rings.
Where the skin was not properly covered, magic tattoos etched through rituals densely covered his body.
Everything was just as she remembered Goz Silverwind.
‘No, there is something different.’
Unlike before, Ruri felt a pressure on an entirely different level.
Even among the Dragon Spawn there were hierarchies, but they were not absolute.
However, what she felt now was standing before absolute authority.
The sensation slumbering within her gave her the answer.
‘The essence of… Silverwind-nim?’
Following Silverwind’s death, the Dragon Essence had been absorbed by Goz, the chief of the Silver Dragon Spawn.
‘But it is unstable.’
He possessed the essence, but had not fully integrated it.
He had not completely absorbed Silverwind’s power into his body.
Probably for that reason, he could barely stand on his two legs.

— Valdrova.
He opened his mouth.
Without greetings such as “it has been a long time.”
— Is Valdrova doing well?
He swirled the whiskey in his glass.
Ruri nodded.
— Yes. She is expelling the monsters of the Far East, working day and night to protect the continent.
— I see. That must be thanks to you taking good care of her?
— …Yes.
— Are you proud?
“…”
Ruri could not open her mouth easily.
Goz’s cold gaze stared fixedly at her.
— Did I ask a difficult question?
— No.
— Yet there is no answer.
She replied like a rope finally snapping under a terrible storm.
— …It is something to be proud of.
— Right, so it is.

Shatter!
The glass he was holding broke into pieces.
The frigid atmosphere froze completely.
Ruri’s body tensed under that gaze.
— Then tell me, what nerve does the traitor who served that bitch so well have to show up here?
The environment surrounding Ruri was hostile to her.
Even so, Ruri opened her mouth.
She had come for this moment, so she had to do it.
— Do you still… hate Valdrova-nim?
At her question, Goz’s eyes turned fierce.
— I understand that your mistress speaks that way. But do not call that woman “nim” in front of me. You are a Spawn who received the blood of Silverwind. Your master is Silverwind, him alone.
— I am a Silver Dragon Spawn, but right now, she is my Master-nim.
— Before that woman is your mistress, your master is Silverwind-nim. Who is Silverwind-nim?
— The Great Lord of Wind and Steel.
— Right. He was the possessor of a speed that no one could break. He was someone who never wavered.
The veins on Goz’s neck bulged.
— But…
Ruri felt it in that calm voice.
— But…!
He was still sharpening his blade of vengeance.
— That bitch bit his throat! With those teeth, she tore open his neck and severed his artery! This scene of slaughter… these two eyes saw it! This chest felt it!
“…”
— Did you ask if that bitch is hateful? The hatred toward that bitch still burns fiercely in this chest.
Ruri shut her eyes tightly.
Every time he shouted, the overflowing emotions became uncontrollable.
Seeing Ruri suffer, Goz snorted.
— His death is still alive in this chest, but you seem different.
— I also saw it and felt it. And that pain as well… I feel it vividly.
Ruri had also participated in the Dragon-Demon War to slay demons.
And she witnessed the death of Silverwind.
As a Spawn, she felt the death of her master and mourned.
— I also held a grudge against my Master-nim.
It was unavoidable.
Silverwind was a father to Ruri.
Valdrova, who drove her father to death, could only be hateful.
— But… I cannot hate her.
— No, that is not true.
Goz denied it.
— If you had truly felt what we felt, you would have renounced standing by her side.
“…”
— You were only separated for a little while and let yourself be stained by that bitch. You forgot your roots.
Goz took a new glass and poured whiskey once more.
— Valdrova remains our enemy. As long as she exists on this Serdes Continent, our hatred will not end. This is the will of all of Silverwind.
— So that is it…
It was to be expected.
She already knew it was a futile dream.
— But… I will give you a chance.
Chance.
Ruri raised her head.
— What is it?
She harbored the hope that perhaps, just perhaps, she could soften that hatred toward Valdrova even a little bit.
Goz extended his hand toward Ruri.
— Ruri Silverwind. Return to the embrace of the clan.
The thread of hope snapped.
— Return to the embrace… does that mean leaving Valdrova-nim’s side?
— Now that a Regent exists, there is no reason for you to serve that woman.
“…”
— You have done everything Silverwind-nim entrusted to you. So return to the clan and become a warrior. Ruri of the Wind Blade. Rise again to the position of Commander of the Mobile Brigade and crush the rabble surging from the North. Then I will erase the stigma of traitor from you.
The name that had been stabbing her chest.
Yet that pain was nothing compared to the responsibility she carried.
— I cannot…
A natural refusal tried to leave her mouth.
At that moment, Ruri’s body swayed violently.
— There is no refusal. Ruri Silverwind.
The energy emanating from Goz’s body pressed down directly on Ruri.
— My blood now holds the authority of Silverwind-nim. You know what it means for a Dragon Spawn to resist authority, right?
Death.
For a Dragon Spawn who does not obey authority, only death exists.
— Resisting that authority will bring you nothing good. So…
Goz’s index finger pointed to the floor.
— Kneel before me and obey.
Goz’s words were no boast.
Ruri, who had not blinked, broke into a cold sweat.
She felt as if someone were suffocating her, crushing her heart.
If she rejected his words, it would inflict pain akin to ripping out her own heart.
Even though he had only absorbed a small fraction of Silverwind’s essence, it reached this extent.
‘I must not coward out.’
Ruri resisted desperately.
She clutched her apron with both hands, forcing strength into her trembling legs.
That was the best she could do.
And that was all.
— You resist well.
It was genuine admiration.
Other Spawns would have knelt long ago under such power.
— Right. That is why Silverwind-nim must have favored you.
Goz did not like that attitude.
He did not want to force obedience solely through authority.
It was far from the complete obedience Goz sought.
— If it is so difficult to leave, should I make the decision easy for you?
Goz tilted his head.
— That Regent must know your identity. But does that man know why you went there as well?
— …!
The composure on her face cracked.
Sweat-soaked hands moistened her apron.
— Do you think he will protect you even knowing your identity?
Ferda Valdrova.
He loves Valdrova.
And he is a man who shows no mercy toward those who threaten her.
‘If Ferda-nim finds out…’
What would Ferda do?
The will that had endured the pressure crumbled before suspicion.
‘I…’
Fear overwhelmed her.
It choked her so much she could not even scream.
‘What should I…?’
She sank completely into a sticky swamp.
She screamed silently.
Please.
Please, someone help me.

— It is rude to barge in without an invitation, but…
The response that reached Ruri’s ears was a familiar voice.
— What are you doing to my maid?

— —

Ferda moved to find Ruri.
Finding Ruri was not difficult.
She had said she went to speak with Silverwind.
So she would be beyond this imposing door engraved with the crest of Silverwind.
Ferda stood before it and thought.
‘Am I interfering unnecessarily?’
Valdrova’s maid.
Yet a Spawn carrying the blood of Silverwind.
She must feel anger toward Valdrova, but Ruri might harbor no ill will.
Ferda had no reason to interfere in that family meeting.
But…
He tried to think that way, but it was not easy.
When Ferda was in the Grand Council, Goz Silverwind’s expression came to his mind.
At the same time, Erica’s warning surfaced.
— The enemy you must watch out for is independent. Silverwind.
Dragons are immortal.
Once they hold a grudge, they never let it go.
Silverwind is the same.
‘Could it have been a mistake?’
Even if Ruri threw a tantrum.
Even if Valdrova asked him, should he have refused?
Ferda could not erase that thought.
That was why he arrived at the Dragon Spawn quarters.
What he saw were Silverwind soldiers guarding the door to the inner chamber.
And a dense Dragon Dread.
Certain.
It was not an unnecessary interference.
Ferda walked toward the center of that energy.
— Are you the Regent of Valdrova?
The Dragon Spawn with a cane over his shoulder, Percival, stood up and asked.
— Is Ruri here?
— Answer the question.
— I asked if Ruri Silverwind is here.
Percival did not step back and blocked his path.
— She is here.
— Then move.
— This is a family matter, Regent. It is no place for you to interfere.
One does not meddle in family matters.
Especially in dragon society, it was an inviolable domain.
Yet Ferda did not respect that domain.
— If you are going to block me, I will have to break something.
Ferda’s blue eyes stared fixedly at him.
— Then the Hand of Blancaros will sanction you. Can the descendants of Silverwind endure the disgrace of causing trouble?
“…”
— If you are confident, go ahead. I am prepared to lose.
Percival stepped back.
He signaled his subordinates with a glance, pulling them back entirely.
Ferda opened the door.
Ruri was visible.
Ruri’s figure, on the verge of kneeling before Goz.
Her appearance of suffering.
At that moment, all of Ferda’s scattered thoughts disappeared.
His vision focused clearly on a single point.
The figure of a scoundrel playing king.
— It is rude to barge in without an invitation, but…
Ferda spat out the anger he held in his mouth.
— What are you doing to my maid?