Chapter 141: Dragon’s Blood (7)
Selendis delicately picked up the bloodstained handkerchief with her fingertips.
The bloodstain had already dried and hardened.
Her gaze, fixed on the handkerchief, trembled ever so slightly.
It wasn’t the amount that could have come from a trivial wound like a cut on the finger.
"……What do you mean by that, Cecilia?"
She tried to maintain her composure somehow, but Selendis’ voice trembled faintly.
Lian’s blood.
She had just said it was the blood of the boy they’d recently met.
A handkerchief stained with the blood of someone Cecilia clearly had feelings for.
Why would Cecilia…?
“C-could you explain to your sister what happened?”
Selendis asked gently as she set the handkerchief down.
Confronted with a situation she hadn’t even considered, her hand trembled without her realizing it.
'No way… it can’t be... right?'
She had experienced, heard, and seen all sorts of strange incidents during her time with the Knights in the capital.
Among them, there were cases—ones that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine...
Cases where people expressed affection in dangerously extreme ways.
People who made irreversible decisions to completely make someone theirs.
Dark rumors that occasionally trickled out from the capital.
Cases so severe that even the Knights had to intervene—flashed through her mind in an instant.
And now, such a thing could be related to her younger sister.
To be precise, Cecilia might be the central figure in such a case.
The moment that possibility crossed her mind, Selendis instinctively clutched the handkerchief tighter.
"……? I meant it literally, Sister. That blood on the handkerchief is Lian’s."
Cecilia answered in a remarkably calm tone.
"A few days ago, Lian was badly injured and bled a lot from his face. I wiped him down, and that’s how it got stained."
"……Then why haven’t you washed it until now?"
"It was a bit of a chaotic situation. I ended up forgetting where I’d put that handkerchief."
"I… I see…."
Selendis knew well how exceptional her sister’s memory was.
For someone like Cecilia to ‘forget’ a bloodstained handkerchief—it was a hard excuse to accept.
On the other hand, from Cecilia’s perspective, it made perfect sense.
Starting with the fight against the Dragon, the mana depletion, a brief hospitalization...
Not to mention what happened with Lian. She’d had so much on her mind that the handkerchief simply slipped past her attention.
In other words, every word she said was the pure, unvarnished truth.
"……So what exactly happened?"
"That is……."
Cecilia, who had been about to answer casually, paused.
Because she knew that explaining it would only cause more problems.
Any explanation would inevitably require her to talk about the Forest of Secrets, the truth about Yul Runberg, and even the battle against the Dragon.
But no matter how close they were, that was something she couldn’t tell her sister.
In the end, Cecilia gave a short conclusion.
"It’s a little hard to explain."
"……."
Selendis’ brows twitched slightly.
‘Not that you don’t want to say it,’ but that ‘it’s hard to explain.’
She was definitely hiding something.
‘Ah.’
At first, it had just been a simple concern.
Was Lian taking advantage of Cecilia with bad intentions?
Or perhaps Cecilia had fallen into a belated first love and was suffering alone in silence?
Honestly, either way, she had believed she could easily help her.
But……
This was clearly beyond anything she could handle.
“Cecile.”
Selendis managed to speak with difficulty.
But even then, she didn’t know what to say.
If she blundered with the wrong question, Cecilia might shut herself off even more.
"……."
And seeing her sister act like that, Cecilia misunderstood in a completely different way.
A bloodstained handkerchief.
And her sister’s hesitant demeanor, as if watching her carefully.
‘Ah, she’s worried that either I or Lian was seriously injured.’
Cecilia mistakenly believed that’s what her sister was thinking.
And feeling she needed to clear up that misunderstanding, she gave a gentle smile.
"Don’t worry, Sister."
At those words, Selendis narrowed her eyes.
"What?"
"There won’t be anything else for you to worry about from now on."
Cecilia continued slowly.
"Both for me, and for Lian. For the two of us."
Then, after a brief pause, she added—
"Because."
Cecilia gave a firm nod.
There was something in her eyes—an unwavering resolve that hadn’t been there before.
"Because we’re going to make it that way. And if we can’t do it together, then I will—by myself."
How was she supposed to take this?
Cecilia felt her heart pounding like crazy.
"……."
Selendis couldn’t figure out how to respond.
What in the world was this supposed to mean?
What kind of situation were they in?
And then the implication that Lian knew as well—made her even more confused.
‘What is going on?’
The misunderstanding only deepened further.
A short silence fell.
"……."
"……."
In the end, Selendis came to a conclusion.
She didn’t know the full details.
Overthinking would only lead to more misunderstandings.
The words she needed to say had been clear from the beginning.
“Cecile.”
“Yes, Sister.”
“I… I will always…”
Selendis looked at her little sister with a solemn expression.
“Always… be on your side. Don’t ever forget that…!”
"……?"
Her sister’s expression was so terribly serious.
Only then did Cecilia realize her sister had misunderstood something completely different.
"……Yes, thank you. Sister."
But not wanting to complicate things any further, she simply smiled in return.
Back in his room, Lian sat blankly for a while.
It was a habit of his whenever he needed to organize his thoughts.
“Hoo.”
Staring absentmindedly at the ceiling, a sigh naturally escaped.
His mind was entirely consumed by what Archbishop Onnime had just said.
"……."
The man had definitely said something weird—like “Cajimintoi juice” or something.
And as far as Lian remembered, there was only one person who said bizarre things like that—Windy May.
In fact, from that alone, there was no room for doubt.
The fact that he had gone out of his way to say something like that meant he was trying to let Lian know he’d met with Windy May and spoken to her.
Windy May was looking for him.
So now there was only one question left.
"What in the world is going on?"
Lian muttered softly as he rubbed his forehead.
Why was Windy May looking for him?
Why had she chosen not to deliver the message herself and instead gone through Onnime?
‘It doesn’t… feel like a trap.’
After some thought, he finally came to a conclusion.
“I should go.”
Surely she wouldn’t set such an obvious and clumsy trap.
Still, just in case, it would be best to prepare thoroughly and stay alert.
Lian gave a small nod.
“……”
As he gathered his resolve, Yuran suddenly came to mind.
Since declaring she’d isolate herself, she hadn’t shown even the slightest trace of her presence.
‘There shouldn’t be anything wrong… right?’
Something in his heart felt uneasy, but there was nothing he could do for now.
It was ultimately something she had to resolve on her own—he could only hope she would.
“……”
Even as he thought that, his fingers unconsciously reached for the small flask tucked in his coat.
The flask containing dragon’s blood.
‘I should hope I won’t need to use this.’
Lian carefully placed the flask in the back of the drawer.
Then, his hand brushed against something else inside.
A book.
The very book that had led to him learning Ancient Garusol from Yuran.
“…Still, I’ve learned a bit. I should be able to read at least a few characters.”
He was about to close the drawer when he changed his mind and pulled out the book.
He figured it would be a good way to clear his head.
Truthfully, it couldn’t even be called a proper interpretation.
He merely picked out the words he recognized and tried to infer the meaning.
But…
“What is this.”
Even after loosely piecing together the deciphered words, all he got was a meaningless string of gibberish.
No wonder Yuran had said, “It’s no different from reading poetry.”
Even if he could translate everything, understanding the meaning still seemed a distant goal.
“…Tch. Now my head’s just more muddled.”
Lian closed the book with a sigh.
Then, he lay down to fall asleep as he was.
As he closed his eyes to release the fatigue—
Srrk.
He felt a presence.
Right next to him.
Lian slowly opened his eyes and saw someone sitting at the edge of his bed.
“……”
A woman.
A face he’d never seen before.
No—he had seen it.
But he couldn’t recall who it was.
A fox mask.
And the faint sound of bells.
…Who was she?
Before he could say anything, the masked woman spoke first.
“No need to strain yourself.”
Her voice was soft and languid.
“You wouldn’t be able to remember anyway.”
A soft jingle accompanied her words.
“Isn’t that so? Who can ever defeat a nightmare within a dream?”
A dream? A nightmare?
As Lian furrowed his brow in confusion, the woman smiled as if she’d expected his reaction.
“That’s right. The real you is asleep right now—and this is your dream.”
“…A dream?”
“Indeed.”
She continued.
“If you don’t believe me, answer me this: when, and how, did you return to your room? Isn’t this room not in the dormitory, but your room at home?”
She was right.
A room smaller and older than the dormitory.
It was his room at his family’s estate.
“And just before this, you were sitting on a chair. When did you lie down in bed?”
That too—just as she said.
He couldn’t recall when he’d come here or when he’d lain down.
Could this really be… a dream, just as she said?
“Hngh!”
“Oh my.”
Recalling something he’d heard before, Lian suddenly snapped one of his fingers.
He felt no pain.
Just as she said—it really was a dream.
Lian’s expression grew grave.
“So impulsive…”
The woman, now looking even more serious than Lian, reached out and gently grasped his finger.
Moments later, when she let go, it had already returned to normal.
“I only came to have a brief conversation. There’s no need for such caution. Besides… once you wake up, you won’t remember my face or voice at all.”
She murmured in a sorrowful voice, her fingertips stroking the mask.
“……”
Lian opened his mouth, but no words came out.
As if she understood what he wanted to ask, the woman gave a small nod.
“When you managed to decipher even a little of that manuscript, I wove a spell in advance so that your dream and I could connect.”
Lian’s brows furrowed slightly.
This time, he managed to speak properly.
“…So this dream—was it something you created on purpose?”
“Yes.”
The woman chuckled playfully.
It seemed his more hostile tone, likely because it was a dream, amused her.
“So then.”
Lian tried to sit up, but he couldn’t.
It was as if heavy iron weights were holding his body down.
“What did you come into my dream to say?”
“It’s a simple matter.”
The woman leaned in languidly.
Her posture seemed as if she were about to collapse onto him, but neither of them reacted to it.
With every breath she exhaled, a sweet scent seemed to waft from somewhere.
“Onnime, was it?”
At the mention of Archbishop Onnime, Lian’s eyes sharpened.
“Please refuse that man’s proposal.”