Chapter 53
“Where else would it be? A place to meet the Lord.”
Stern replied, leaving out the essence. The more Chanellica looked around, the more she thought it resembled a lair.
But it couldn’t be Spicher Island. The energy flowing through Spicher Island was fundamentally different from that of the main continent of Huress, and that difference was unmistakable.
A place like this exists on the continent… Where could this be?
“I must’ve dozed off. Have we arrived? How much time has passed?”
“About three hours.”
“Is it evening now?”
“Probably.”
After a while, she realized this place only looked like a lair, but was altogether different. Damp air clung to her skin. For a moment she wondered if human skin was unusually sensitive, but the musty smell confirmed it wasn’t just her imagination.
Unlike Spicher Island’s lair, not a single shaft of sunlight entered here. Chanellica stood and walked a few steps, but it seemed to be a deep cave—there was no sign of the outside world.
I want to leave.
Her instincts told her so.
“It’s too humid here. Let’s wait outside.”
“No, we have to stay here. The Lord only appears in his true form in this place.”
Stern immediately rejected her suggestion and added,
“There are rules for meeting the Lord.”
Chanellica decided to quietly listen.
“You must meet him in this hidden lair where he sometimes returns to his true self, and your counterpart must also be in true form.”
“True form?”
“He won’t meet anyone unless they’re also a dragon. When you return to your true form and reveal your identity, that’s when he’ll appear.”
Stern grinned.
“So Chanel, if you want to meet the Lord, revert to your true form. He’ll sense your presence and come.”
“…But how do you know all this? Are you one of us?”
“No. I’m not a dragon. Just… a peculiar kind of human. I happened to uncover the identity of a dragon out for some fun, befriended him, and eventually learned he was the Lord.”
“I see.”
Chanellica nodded calmly, though in truth she was struggling to control her expression.
Stern was spouting nonsense. Yet she had a rough idea of her situation. He had clearly been deceived by this so-called “Lord,” who might even be watching them now. So she played along, pretending to accept his words.
“I’ve always wanted to see his true form. But as a human, he wouldn’t show me. Then I met you, a dragon.”
“So you brought me here just because you wanted to see the Lord’s true form?”
“I told you—since you mistook someone else for the Lord, I wanted to help you clear up the misunderstanding. Of course, I also wanted to go on a date with you, and yes, I wanted to see a true form.”
Unbelievable. Did some dragon actually tell him they’d reveal their form if he brought another dragon along? The question didn’t matter anymore.
Chanellica was certain: the one Stern called “Lord” was no Lord, and not even a dragon. The idea that a dragon would only show its true form after another did was laughable. Any dragon hearing that would roll on the floor laughing.
She sighed, weighing her words carefully.
“You should’ve told me sooner. If I’d known, I would’ve brought it.”
“Brought what?”
“I can’t freely transform into my true form. I’m still young, and polymorph magic restricts me. But there’s a potion that can lift the restriction. I need it to transform.”
She had intended to say, You’ve been deceived, but changed her words, sensing danger.
Something about this place felt wrong.
She wanted to know who was manipulating Stern, but first she needed to leave safely. To do that, she had to deceive him—even if it meant inventing a potion that didn’t exist.
“A potion?”
“Yes. If you’d told me earlier, I would’ve brought it…”
“……”
“What a wasted trip, huh? After coming all this way.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“That potion, where is it? At the Cartel estate?”
“Yes.”
“…I see.”
Was it disappointment? Stern’s voice sank low. Chanellica swallowed hard.
“Only I can find it.”
“I see.”
The cave, already cold, seemed to grow even colder. Chanellica rubbed her palms together for warmth.
“Let’s go back and get it. I need to meet the Lord, too.”
She spoke as lightly as she could.
“Chanel.”
“Yes?”
His sunken voice was chilling, the coldness piercing her bones.
“You don’t know what kind of expression you make when you lie, do you?”
“…What?”
“Let me rephrase. Your eyes change completely when you lie, compared to when you tell the truth.”
“……”
“Most humans don’t show such a difference. But you… it’s so obvious I don’t even have to try to notice.”
Stern had crept closer. He pressed down on her shoulders, step by step, until her back touched the icy cave wall.
“Earlier, I said I was a peculiar human, right? I’m from the Finet clan. Ever heard of them?”
Chills spread from her back through her entire body.
“We’re a rare race that can distinguish truth from lies. Though our power weakened as we mixed with humans over time, it still works somewhat. Especially with non-humans like you.”
His orange eyes, devoid of emotion, seemed to freeze her mind.
“…Let me go.”
“So enough with your nonsense about potions. Just transform now. Let’s not make this harder.”
Chanellica trembled. This Stern was not the person she knew. The appearance was the same, but everything else—his aura, his eyes—was utterly different.
“There really is a potion. If we go back to the estate—”
“Another lie, again.”
He smirked at her clumsy attempts.
“Every time you lie with those pretty eyes, I feel this urge… to pluck them out and preserve them beautifully.”
“W-what?”
“I love collecting beautiful things.”
Her jaw dropped. He’s completely insane.
“So transform. Before something bad happens.”
And now threats.
She realized it. His true purpose had always been to see her real form.
“What do you plan to do after seeing my true form?”
“Just seeing it will make me happy. It’s been my lifelong wish, ever since I was a child.”
His eyes glimmered with madness, sending shivers across her body.
“And have you thought about what’ll happen to you afterward? Do you think I’ll just let you go? You’ll be crushed under my claws or burned alive by my breath.”
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t care if you die?”
“That’s right. So transform.”
“If I transform, will the Lord really come?”
“Yes.”
“But if I kill you first, you won’t see him.”
“I don’t care. All that matters is seeing your true form.”
As always, Stern’s smile spread across his face—familiar, yet now twisted. His meaningless words, all for the sake of glimpsing her form.
The Lord will come? Impossible.
Chanellica sneered inwardly. At Stern, and at herself.
There was no way this “Lord” he spoke of was the true Dragon Lord. The real Lord was undoubtedly with Lydia in the Larta Kingdom right now.
And this wasn’t mere instinct.
The metal box inscribed with dragon script, and the notes inside it—everything had become clear since she discovered them last night.
When she read the sentence written in dragon tongue, it hit her like lightning:
“Do not acknowledge Ashanerbekirael. In any circumstance, pretend not to know him.”
The words shocked her so much she read them over and over. Every one of the ten-plus slips of paper contained the same phrase, word for word, like brainwashing. Soon, those words transformed into the cold voice of Dershevione, the dragon and her bonded partner, echoing in her ears.
He knew me… and pretended not to! He pretended he’d lost his memory! Why? For what reason?
At first, she was stunned. Then she tried to rationalize—there must be a reason. But as time passed, hurt welled up inside her.
Did the Lord know I’d come to find him? He asked me to be his partner, then abandoned me for 199 years. I even forced my way into the human world to seek him. And yet—he chooses to ignore me? To pretend not to know me? Why? Why?!
She thought of Derwin’s shameless insistence that he wasn’t a dragon. Her stomach churned. Still, she forced herself to believe there might be some misunderstanding.
She longed to confront him immediately, but that was impossible. Derwin, now in the Larta Kingdom, couldn’t be reached. It was better to wait patiently until he returned to the estate.
Amid her turmoil over Derwin, she remembered her promise to meet Stern the next day. The trip outside the city no longer had meaning—Derwin was the Dragon Lord, she was sure of it. At first, she considered breaking the promise.
And yet, she came anyway. Out of gratitude for Stern’s past kindness, and out of curiosity—who exactly was this “Lord” he claimed she’d meet? Perhaps not the Lord, but an imposter.
But now, it was obvious. This so-called Lord was never going to appear. In fact, he never existed at all. Stern hadn’t been deceived.
His obsession with her true form revealed the truth: he’d been targeting her from the beginning.
Two betrayals in a row.
The shocking truths from last night and today left her seething, ready to burst. She bit her lip, trying to steady herself. But her trembling wouldn’t stop. She bit her tongue between her molars to push through.
One thing was certain: the man before her was no longer the kind, gentle Stern she once knew.
Since when did he plan this?
She thought back to their first meeting—how he helped her enter the palace, treated her like a brother so she could adjust to palace life.
Was it all because he knew she was a dragon? Every shared lunch, every request for a date—was it all just for this moment?
“I can’t… I can’t transform.”
She finally spoke, releasing her bloody lip. The taste of iron filled her mouth.
