Chapter 56

Chapter 56: This Is Not It

This Is Not It
Chapter 56. This Is Not It

Ferda gazed at Goz with wide-open eyes.
The same silver hair as Ruri, the same silver eyes.
He had the exact same face as when their gazes first crossed at the Grand Council.
— Welcome, Regent of Valdrova.
— Chief Goz.
They exchanged names and observed formal courtesy.
However, not a single shred of respect inhabited their gazes.
— I had no idea such an esteemed figure would enter. Normally, subordinates would take care of opening the door.
He asked what right he had to barge in uninvited.
— I saw no particular need for that.
Ferda replied: because I wanted it that way.
Goz’s eyes drifted toward the entrance.
A single look at the scene was enough to have no choice but to bow one’s head.
— This is a matter of our clan. A family problem. Do not let an outsider meddle in family affairs.
— I also decline the idea of being dragged into a family dispute.
He uttered those words, yet still took another step forward.
And felt a light weight upon Ruri’s shoulder.
It was Ferda’s hand.
— But this child is someone my beloved fiancée cherishes. Am I supposed to stand by idly and watch a cherished child get hurt over a simple family dispute?
Ferda did not yield an inch.
That was a direct challenge to Goz’s authority.
Goz despised such challenges.
— Even at first glance I thought it… you have quite a nerve.
Goz rose from his seat.
At that moment, the aura he emanated intensified by another level.
Ruri fell to her knees instantly, bowing her head.
All the other Silver Dragon Spawn followed her example, submitting.
Goz pointed his chin toward Ruri and inquired:
— So, Regent of Valdrova. How well do you know Ruri Silverwind, the maid of the person you love?
— The maid of my one and irreplaceable fiancée.
— And?
— That is enough.
— I see. That is all you see. It seems this bitch hasn’t told you everything.
Rough hands, forged by martial arts and battle.
Those fingers pointed at Ruri.
— This bitch is a spy sent by Lord Silverwind.
He exposed Ruri’s identity.
— Lord Silverwind planted her to watch Valdrova and determine when she weakened. Until his demise, she had orders to maintain regular contact.
— Is that so?
— You don’t seem convinced. Do I look like I’m lying?
— Do I look like an idiot who would believe someone displaying hostility toward me?
— Fine. In that case, why don’t you ask her yourself? Ruri Silverwind.
At that summons, Ruri felt her head grow heavier.
— Tell the truth. Was there anything false in what I said?
— I… that kind of thing…
— Answer properly. Did I say anything false?
Goz did not allow an inch of excuse. In the end, Ruri confessed the truth.
— I… under the orders of Lord Silverwind… watched Lady Valdrova.
— What was the content?
— …As Goz-nim said, to watch Lady Valdrova and identify her weaknesses.
Silence fell over the room.
Ruri could not breathe properly, such was the extent of the pain.
Yet even more painful than that,
was the fact that, unable to lift her head, she could not even see what expression Ferda wore.
Finally, Ferda broke the silence.
— Not surprising.
A cynical tone.
Ruri’s toes turned cold.
She felt as if the ground had disappeared and she had been thrown off a cliff.
— I imagined that a Spawn bearing the name of Silverwind would have a reason to swear loyalty to Valdrova.
Contempt.
Betrayal.
Negative emotions turned into a sticky swamp that seemed to swallow Ruri whole.
However, it was only for a moment.
— And so?
At that question, the pressure crushing Ruri vanished like a mirage.
Goz furrowed his brow.
— What do you mean by “and so”?
— What is the problem?
Ruri raised her head to look at Ferda.
He wore the same stubborn face as always.
Goz displayed an irritated expression at the unexpected reaction.
— She is a spy planted by Lord Silverwind. Is there no way you don’t understand that?
— Yes, a spy. But even so, she is the maid my fiancée loves the most.
Ferda clasped his hands behind his back and puffed out his chest.
— When everyone else turned their backs on her, this child remained by my fiancée’s side: a loyal maid. A Spawn who devoted herself to Valdrova more than anyone. That is the value she holds right now. Do you think that value will waver over the words of someone I am meeting today for the first time?
Strength inadvertently entered Ruri’s hands as she remained kneeling.
She almost burst into tears at those words.
— Fine. Believe it or not, that is your freedom. I cannot force a human who does not even carry the Silverwind lineage to believe it. But…
Goz’s eyes radiated a sharp glint.
— You have been quite insolent for a while now.
The air stirred violently.
The fuse of a bomb capable of blowing up an entire nation was already lit and burning down.
Goz’s face reflected patience pushed to the brink.
Dragon Spawn are not dragons, but neither are they human.
They are all dragon-human supremacists who believe themselves superior to mankind.
There was no way it sat well with them for a simple human to answer back bluntly.
An ordinary human would have submitted; a wise human would have taken a step back to manage the situation.
— Shouldn’t it be you, and not I, who needs to show courtesy?
Yet Ferda did not retreat or yield.
A blue flash flared in Ferda’s eyes.
Standing firmly as the Regent of Valdrova, he met him on equal terms.
— You are the one who tried to intimidate and sow discord in someone else’s maid, so where does this lecture come from?
He spoke clearly, making it evident he was not the only one displeased in this conversation.
The veins swelled on Goz’s neck.
Ruri knew it.
He was a man more suited to be a hot-blooded warrior than a cool-headed leader.
— The only reason I do not break your neck this very instant is because of Blancaros-nim’s mercy and my patience.
— Does Silverwind call fear “patience”? Too frightened to face my fiancée directly, so you flaunt your strength against her maid and her fiancé…
Deep contempt gathered in Ferda’s half-closed eyes.
— Aren’t you ashamed?
It was the moment the staring contest came to an end.
A fierce gust rattled the windows at Ferda’s provocation.
Goz, who had been sitting heavily, rose from his seat.
— Right. Truly shameful. To think I have to watch a mere human strut around like this…
Goz took a step forward.
Veins bulged grotesquely across his hand as his knuckles cracked.
— I will wash away that shame with your blood right here.
The moment his hand attempted to enter attack range,
— Do not take another step.
Someone stepped in front of Goz.
Ruri, who should have been kneeling, was somehow already standing before Goz, blocking his way.
— Ruri, you bitch…
— He is… Lady Valdrova’s consort.
She was still suffering from instinctive subjugation.
Even so, the reason she was able to stand was,
— This threat is a challenge to Lady Valdrova. I will also respond accordingly.
Determination.
The determination to stop him even if it meant her death.
Goz pulled a grimace of disgust.
— From being a warrior of the North to being a loyal dog. Now you even serve a human as master.
Goz, who had been boiling with rage, suddenly calmed down.
The wind rattling the window ceased.
Goz sat down again and released his pressure.
— As the representative of Silverwind, I have no further business with a dog. Take her and leave, Regent of Valdrova. I hope our paths never cross again.
Ferda replied indifferently, as if nothing had happened.
— Then, excuse us.
Ferda did not continue the staring contest either.
— Ruri.
— Yes.
— Let’s go.
— …Yes.
He led the trembling Ruri outside, settling the matter for the time being.

— —

Goz sank into thought, his gaze fixed on the place where Ferda and Ruri had departed.
Unlike what was reflected on his retina, the figure of Ruri—who had opposed him—felt vividly alive in his mind’s eye.
‘Ruri of the Slashing Wind.’
The Silverwind Spawn fought against icy entities beyond the Northern Ice Wall.
Among them, the most vicious and threatening were the Frost Giants.
Just like the monsters of the Far East, it was not known where they came from, but they emerged endlessly to spread frost across the human realm.
Complex existences that required five well-trained Dragon Spawn just to capture one.
Yet Ruri was different.
With her small frame, she confronted three giants simultaneously and defeated them.
She suffered severe injuries, but as long as she remained alive, she could recover.
She was the pride and exemplar of those who protected the Serdes continent.
Goz had felt something out of place in her on more than one occasion.
‘That fellow…’
The reunion was the worst.
A worn maid outfit, demeanor befitting a young servant girl.
Added to that, an absurd question.
A question thrown out while clinging to a glimmer of hope, worlds away from the Slashing Wind.
Everything irritated him.
To think that garbage was once someone I felt threatened by…
Yet what irritated him more than anything,
‘Ferda Valdrova…’
was that human he had confronted.
Annoying humans existed in abundance.
Those who think they can command dragons at will.
Those who treat dragons like mere humans, relying solely on authority.
He would have decapitated fellows like that without room for doubt, using them as an example.
That was the standard practice in dragon society.
‘He is different from those humans.’
Reluctantly, he admitted it; yet upon crossing gazes with him, he knew it for certain.
He bore a face closer to that of an immortal than anyone else’s.
That was why Goz could feel it by instinct.
‘As long as that insolent bastard exists… this vengeance will not be fulfilled.’
He clenched his fist tightly.
Not a single day had passed since Silverwind’s death without him remembering it.
And not a single day had passed without the yearning for revenge.
He could not allow everything to be ruined now.
‘Vengeance… I must achieve it no matter what.’
By whatever means necessary. Absolutely.

— —

Ruri followed silently behind Ferda.
The surroundings were so quiet that only footsteps echoed along the extensive corridor.
— Did things turn out well?
— …
Ruri kept her mouth closed.
— Aren’t you going to say anything?
— …I don’t want to talk.
— Is that how you speak to someone who helped you?
Ruri’s shoes stopped on the spot.
Ruri stopped there.
With her head deeply bowed, she opened her mouth.
— …Go away.
A voice choked with moisture squeezed out the words.
— Who… asked you for help?
— …
Ungrateful.
Truly an apt situation for those words.
However, Ferda said nothing.
She was right.
She had not asked him for help.
Perhaps this was something she could have resolved herself.
Rushing in out of premature greed might have been his own doing.
— You’re right.
Ferda acknowledged it calmly.
— I did something unnecessary.
He pivoted on his heels.
Ferda walked away, leaving on his own.
— Excuse the blunder.
Ferda continued walking.
Ruri stared at his back with a blank gaze.

— —

Upon exiting Silverwind’s separate chamber, Ruri silently followed behind Ferda.
She did not know what words to choose.
Her emotions seemed to swirl.
She glanced sideways toward his back.
Broad.
It felt like a firm support that would not collapse even if she leaned her entire body against it.
Like her own father,
like Silverwind.
Yet the emotion perceived from that back was markedly different from Silverwind’s.
Her insides boiled.
I have lived longer,
I have crossed the threshold of death more times,
why then am I less than that back?
— Did things turn out well?
Ferda asked.
When he got no response for a long while, he glanced over his shoulder and asked again.
Blue eyes gleamed through gray hair.
— Aren’t you going to say anything?
Ruri forced her mouth open.
— …I don’t want to talk.
Childish sullenness instead of a mature response.
— Is that how you speak to someone who helped you?
Helped, my ass?
If Ruri had not stepped in at that moment, Ferda’s neck would have been broken and a wind of calamity would have blown across the continent.
And he calls himself the one who helped after doing such a foolish thing?
She cursed Ferda inwardly, but Ruri knew it as well.
That none of this would have happened if she had not clung to such a small hope in the first place.
That she should be grateful Ferda stepped in.
That everything would end with just that word.
Yet.
Even that small acknowledgment… she did not want to give it to him right now.
If she spoke now, her trembling voice would be exposed.
She would look incompetent as a maid who had served Valdrova.
She would show her weakness to him once more.
She clenched her fists tightly and raised her head.
— Who…?
She suppressed her resentment and let the words out.
— Who asked you for help?
Only after the words left her mouth did she realize the mistake.
That was not an adult’s response.
A pathetic scene unable to admit her own weakness.
The face of a child who had nothing to show except pride.
She despised herself, but her throat closed up and she could speak no more.
Ferda, looking down at that child.
Eyes as if he had dropped his emotions to the bottom of a deep lake.
Those eyes seemed to drag Ruri’s heart even deeper.
He finally nodded.
Ruri relived the regret once more.
— You’re right.
This is not it.
— I did something unnecessary.
That is not what I meant.
— Excuse the blunder.
Ferda walks away again.
In her vision appeared the figure of Ferda walking down the hallway.
Her own hand reached out unconsciously to catch him.
Yet he had moved too far away to reach again.