Chapter 174: Departure Festival (12)
"……Ugh, my head."
As soon as she saw the group, Amaruah let out a curse and grabbed her head, muttering to herself.
With a low sigh, she swept her exhausted eyes back and forth between Lian and the woman he had brought.
Her gaze seemed to scream, ‘How on earth did you manage to meet this child so quickly, how did you persuade her, and more importantly, why on earth did you come here?’ A mix of open reprimand and resignation colored her expression.
"Haha, well…"
Lian gave an awkward laugh without realizing it.
It was because Amaruah's gaze was so piercing.
"I couldn't think of anyone but you, Ms. Amaruah. So I wondered if there was any way you could help us…"
"Hah."
At that, Amaruah let out a dry laugh, clearly dumbfounded.
Normally, she would have shouted at him to get lost right away, but a sudden flash of nostalgic memory softened her reaction. Instead, she let out another sigh.
‘How can he resemble that child so much—even in the way he does things first and then laughs awkwardly afterward?’
Even without sharing blood, was a child still a child?
Swallowing the words she couldn’t bring herself to say aloud, she looked away from Lian.
"Wow…"
The Wyrmling who had followed Lian couldn’t hide her curiosity, her round eyes wandering all over the library where the massive bookshelves stretched endlessly.
The scent of old paper and faint ink.
Along with the deep silence that seemed to weigh down with the years, it all seemed very novel and fascinating to her.
Seeing that, Amaruah felt her gaze toward the Wyrmling soften just a bit.
Of course, considering the girl had the potential to completely destroy her daily life, her gaze still held a sense of unease.
Clap.
As Amaruah clapped her hands lightly, the Wyrmling's attention snapped to her.
"Nice to meet you, child. My name is Amaruah."
Her voice was gentle, but carried a subtle pressure.
Looking straight into her eyes, Amaruah asked,
"Do you have any idea what kind of situation you’re in right now? Because you stormed out of your house, your parents—not to mention your lineage—are in complete chaos."
At her sharp tone, the girl flinched.
She hung her head low, fumbling for words.
"It—it wasn't running away… it was, it was entering religious life… is what it is…"
Perhaps overwhelmed by Amaruah’s aura, her voice grew smaller and smaller, barely audible by the end.
"……Let’s just say it was entering religious life."
Amaruah let out a light sigh and continued.
"In any case, didn’t you expect that your parents and the elders of your lineage, shocked by your sudden departure, might come all the way here to find you?"
"That’s…"
She hesitated before responding.
"If it were just my parents, maybe… but even the elders of the lineage…"
"……Judging by that look, you really have no idea, do you?"
Amaruah sighed once again.
She felt a little guilty, like she was bullying a child, but given the circumstances, she thought it was best to be completely honest.
"Right now, your parents and other members of your lineage are already on their way here, to the capital."
"……What?"
As the girl looked on in shock, Amaruah took a few deep breaths.
"……And I regret that I, someone you just met today, have to be the one to tell you this, but—one of the children of your lineage has been murdered."
"……What do you mean?"
Seeing the bewildered look on her face, Amaruah nodded slightly, as if she understood.
The girl looked back at Amaruah and asked again,
"What… what do you mean by that? I… I don’t understand…"
"I know, it must sound unbelievable. But it’s the truth. I spoke directly with your kin—"
"N-no. That’s not what I meant…"
She hesitated for a moment, then lifted her head slightly and answered in a soft voice.
"Um, I am the only Wyrmling in my lineage right now…"
"……What?"
Amaruah’s expression froze for a moment.
She looked at the girl again, as if she’d misheard.
"Wait, wait a second… what did you just say? You’re the only child in your lineage?"
"Y-yes…"
The girl nodded with frightened eyes.
"……"
Amaruah couldn’t say anything for a moment.
Then, a deep furrow formed between her brows.
It was clear she had fallen into deep thought.
After a short moment of contemplation, she opened her mouth again.
"Are you really the only Wyrmling in your lineage? There’s no possibility that another child awakened while you were… not running away, entering religious life? You’re sure?"
"Yes… I remember it clearly. I’m the only Wyrmling, and at least for the next few decades, there won’t be any child born after me."
"……"
Amaruah once again fell into serious thought, then finally, as if she had made up her mind, spoke.
"……Alright. You two, wait here for a moment. There’s something I need to confirm."
With a short word to Lian and the girl, she quickly disappeared into a private section of the library.
An awkward silence settled between the two left behind.
"Um…"
It was the girl who broke the silence first.
Though she still looked anxious, she seemed more composed than before and looked at Lian.
"Because I was so flustered, I seem to have forgotten the most important thing."
Saying so, she stood and gave Lian a polite bow.
"The name I can reveal for now is Menoruka. Please feel free to call me Menor, sir."
"……"
Seeing her remain so formal, Lian thought it was time to come clean.
"Ms. Menoruka."
"Sir, please feel free to call me just Menor."
"Actually, I’m not someone you should be calling ‘sir.’"
Menoruka tilted her head in confusion at Lian’s words.
He took off the necklace hanging from his neck and the sword tied at his side, placing them on the table as he spoke.
"I’m a human."
"……???"
"I think you mistook me for a dragon because of this necklace and sword."
With that, Lian continued right away.
“I didn’t particularly mean to deceive you. It’s just that the situation earlier didn’t allow me to clear up the misunderstanding… I ended up unintentionally deceiving you until now. I’m sorry.”
At his apology, Menoruka quickly waved her hands.
“……Ah, n-no! I was the one who made assumptions on my own.”
“You can speak comfortably. As I said earlier, I—”
“Yes, but the fact remains that you willingly helped me in my time of need.”
She nodded quietly.
“Just because you turn out to be human doesn’t mean I’d be so shameless as to change my attitude and treat you with disrespect.”
Even so, Menoruka still looked at Lian as though something didn’t quite make sense to her.
“But, um… are you truly human…?”
“Yes. I’m truly human. Like I said, because of these—”
“But didn’t the two people waiting downstairs also have the same necklace?”
Lian nodded at her question.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But I could immediately tell they were human when I saw them. However, um…”
“Lian Gwendil.”
“Ah, yes. When I saw you, Lord Lian, I didn’t get that impression. Even now, without the necklace and the sword, it’s the same… That’s why I thought you were of the same race.”
Then, hesitating for a moment, she asked Lian,
“Forgive me, but since you’ve brought it up… may I examine you a bit more closely?”
“Ah, sure. As much as you like.”
At that, she mimed as if sniffing Lian’s scent.
Still, she only tilted her head, as if puzzled.
“Hmm…?”
In the end, Menoruka shook her head.
“……I still can’t tell.”
At her words, Lian furrowed his brows slightly.
It would be a lie to say her insistence on not being able to identify his true nature didn’t bother him. But for now, there was something more urgent to address.
“……Ahem.”
With a cough, Lian tried to clear the awkward air and shift the topic.
“More importantly, could you tell me a little more about the person you said you made a promise to?”
Yes—the Dragon invasion.
That event had been the beginning of every tragedy.
Menoruka, who might be able to cleanly resolve that matter, was the priority.
“Ah.”
At Lian’s question, Menoruka’s face blushed red again.
She fidgeted with her fingers, avoiding his gaze.
“Ah… um…”
“Forgive me, but you said you met that person in your childhood… May I ask how long ago that was?”
Lian asked as cautiously as he could.
Understandably so—dragons had a sense of time vastly different from that of humans.
In extreme cases, what they referred to as "childhood" or "the past" could mean something that happened hundreds of years ago.
Of course, since she was still a Wyrmling, it could just be a few decades…
But even then, the person she was looking for might have already passed away—or, if still alive, might be a white-haired elder by now.
“Hmm…”
After a moment of thought, Menoruka replied.
“Around… ten years ago, I believe. Perhaps a bit more…”
“Hmm, about ten years.”
It was a much shorter time than expected, and Lian murmured in mild surprise.
Seeing his reaction, Menoruka puffed out her cheeks, looking slightly upset.
“S-sir, I am well aware that humans live short lives! That’s precisely why I hurried out like this!”
Her voice carried a sense of urgency.
“Not just because of lifespan… but if he had already formed a betrothal with someone else… then… I…”
She trailed off, mumbling, her expression almost pitiful.
But ten years…
‘Could it be…’
Lian asked again.
“May I ask how you met him?”
“Well… it all began when I momentarily strayed from my parents while chasing something interesting… and ended up getting lost.”
She narrowed her eyes, as if reminiscing.
“I was crying, frightened from being alone in a strange place… and that’s when he appeared.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?”
“Back then, I was even younger than I am now… Hmm, his height was about…”
She gestured with her hand around her navel.
Lian furrowed his brows slightly.
From her description, it seemed likely the person had been a boy at the time.
‘So he really was just a kid, too.’
He briefly considered whether she had seen an adult and mistakenly thought he was young—but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“I’m sure he remembers the promise we made! There’s no way he would forget!”
Menoruka declared firmly, clenching her fist.
Her faith in the promise she had shared with that person seemed truly unwavering.
“Do you remember anything about his appearance? Other than being handsome. Hair color, eye color—anything distinct…”
When Lian asked, she shook her head.
“It probably wouldn’t mean anything even if I did. I may have been young and inexperienced, but I could tell he used magic to alter his appearance.”
“He used magic to change his appearance?”
“Yes. He changed the color of his hair and eyes.”
She nodded.
“And… he had several people around him who looked like attendants. When he took me back to my parents and left, I saw some people rush up to him.”
“Hmm.”
That suggested a fairly high status.
And changing his appearance with magic…
‘…Hm?’
Just as Lian was beginning to piece something together—
Menoruka carefully pulled something from her garments.
“When I asked if we could meet again, he told me he’d be coming here—to the Academy. That we would meet again then. And he gave me this as a token.”
She showed Lian the item she had taken out.
It was a small bracelet, the kind a child might wear.
“Huh…?”
And the moment he saw it, Lian let out a small gasp.
His eyes widened instantly.
“Lord Lian?”
Menoruka looked at him curiously and called his name.
Lian stared at the bracelet and asked cautiously,
“May I take a closer look?”
“U-um, yes… But please handle it carefully.”
Taking the bracelet from Menoruka, Lian began to examine it thoroughly.
He thought maybe he had seen it wrong—but no, this was not something one could mistake.
“……This is an imperial item.”
The bracelet had the Imperial Crest clearly engraved on it.
Someone connected to dragons.
Someone who said they’d come to the Academy.
Someone surrounded by attendants, who needed to change his hair and eye color.
And who would’ve been a boy ten years ago.
‘Then that means…’
There was only one answer.
No—why had he only now realized?
Even Lian was dumbfounded at himself.
‘Third Prince Behad.’
The one who would later be known as the Dragon Emperor Behad, for riding a dragon.
Everything pointed to him.