Chapter 78
Karna froze, flustered, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
If a mere human dared make demands of him, he would kill them on the spot.
But Sisl was different. She was someone he desperately wanted to give everything to—someone he wanted to do even more for.
“P-put you in…?”
Karna repeated her words blankly. Yes, he did want her to go in there and be satisfied.
But put her in?
He didn’t want to do anything so rough to Sisl. All he wanted was to hold her carefully and cherish her.
“You can just go in slowly.”
For the first time, Karna spoke to Sisl in his own voice instead of borrowing someone else’s. He sincerely hoped his feelings would reach her.
“It’s only a little hot when you first go in. It’s bearable.”
Karna tried to calm her, seeing how stiff she’d become. But when she looked at him in sheer terror, he finally realized something was wrong.
“What’s wrong? You said you like hot baths!”
Karna grabbed Kur by the collar.
“Did you lie to me?!”
Kur was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even laugh. Even if Sisl didn’t actually like hot springs, that wasn’t the real issue here.
“Humans really can’t be trusted!”
But Karna wasn’t in a state where rational thought was possible. Kur calmly explained.
“Karna, what do you think would happen if a human went in there?”
“What happens to humans doesn’t matter! What matters is—!”
“What do you think would happen? Think first, then answer.”
“They’d melt and disappear in an instant. They don’t even have sturdy scales.”
Up to that point, Karna had no trouble reasoning it out. But he still hadn’t grasped the core of the problem.
So Kur added one more line.
“That woman is human too.”
Karna froze, still clutching Kur’s collar.
Only then did he realize he’d done something completely insane.
After returning to the castle and having Baberi escort Sisl to the finest guest room, Karna collapsed into a corner.
“I’m doomed. It’s all over…!”
He’d made two mistakes in a row. The first might have been understandable, but the second left him with no excuse.
Just go in slowly? It’s bearable?
It was basically telling her to die painfully right in front of him.
“Idiot. You absolute idiot!”
Karna slammed his head against the wall repeatedly in self-reproach.
“Rangs, shoot me with a ballista. End this miserable life.”
He puffed out his chest toward Baberi, as if offering a better target for her aim. Baberi crossed her arms and snorted.
“I thought an ancient dragon would have strong mental fortitude. Turns out you’re weaker than our crybaby weed.”
She recalled how Weed had practiced endlessly on how to ask someone out—only to fail to even open his mouth in front of Carrot—yet he was still doing just fine.
Apparently, he’d even made a bet with his companions that he’d definitely ask her out once they returned to Rondar.
He failed repeatedly and got mocked for it, but he stayed resilient in his own way. He cried sometimes, sure—but still.
“Don’t give up. You weren’t rejected, were you? There’s still something you can do.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Give her an insanely good gift.”
“I already failed trying to do something she’d like.”
Karna frowned and glared at Baberi. She raised both hands and shook her head.
“That’s why I said a gift. An object. At least you won’t melt her to death.”
When he thought about it, her words made sense. Giving gifts was the most basic way to win someone’s heart.
And if the gift was something the other person liked, the effect doubled.
He might be able to make up for his mistake.
Hope returned to Karna’s face, color flooding back in.
“For example? What kind of things does Sisl like? Jewels? Gold?”
Baberi tilted her head exaggeratedly from side to side, then furrowed her brows as if deep in thought.
“Hmmm… I feel like I almost remember what she said she liked…”
She rolled her eyes while thinking. Karna waited desperately for her answer.
Baberi glanced at him and grinned.
“I think I’ll remember once you tell me what happened to Acanthus and the child.”
Karna’s face fell instantly. Baberi wrinkled her brow, continuing the act.
“Ahh, I’m sure she said she liked that, but I might forget with time…”
“You sly brat. Fine. I’ll tell you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Two full days after Acanthus’s child disappeared, a villager came to see him.
“Akis!”
That was the name Acanthus used while pretending to be human.
“I found this in the valley.”
The man handed him a single shoe. Acanthus recognized it instantly as his child’s.
“That poor child…”
The villagers believed the child had fallen into the valley and died.
But was the child really dead? And if not, where had he gone?
The answer lay with the dragons Acanthus once associated with—human hunters.
“So he’s raising a human brat like that?”
“He must’ve lost his mind after his mate died. Do you really think he’d love a human child?”
“Disgusting. It’s shameful that we ever called someone like that our brother!”
They hated the fact that Acanthus had become human. So they kidnapped the child he loved most.
“Acanthus, we have your child.”
“If you want to see him alive, you’d better do what we say.”
Two human hunters approached him as he searched the valley, sneering.
Acanthus did not negotiate.
True to his reputation as the most ferocious dragon of the past, he stained the valley red with blood before they could even beg for mercy.
But his fury didn’t subside.
Acanthus began hunting human hunters. The other dragons grew anxious.
“At this rate, we’ll all die. We have to kill Acanthus!”
“Even if we all attack together, we can’t stop him. What do we do?”
After much deliberation, they came up with a desperate plan.
Unaware of their scheme, Acanthus learned that they had abandoned his child in Bar Village.
He flew there immediately—but the child wasn’t there.
Enraged, he burned the village to the ground.
Then he went to the next village. If the child wasn’t there, he burned that one too.
Again and again.
With no results.
One day, as he completely lost his sanity, a young man appeared before him.
“Evil dragon! I’ve come to slay you!”
The boy was brave for his age, but only irritating.
Acanthus was about to incinerate him without a word.
As he inhaled—
A familiar scent brushed his nose.
His child’s scent.
He swallowed his breath and stared at the young man.
Of course… time has passed. My child could have grown into a young man.
Smiling with joy, he stepped forward—
And a beam of light shot from the young man’s right arm, piercing his chest.
No matter how strong Acanthus is, he’d let his guard down upon meeting the son he’d searched for so long.
It was exactly as the human hunters planned.
They empowered the son and made him kill his own father.
“You bastards…”
As he collapsed, bleeding, Acanthus smelled his enemies mixed among the humans.
He could feel them reveling in his death at his son’s hands.
Even as blood dripped from him, Acanthus raised his head.
“You filthy rags smeared with shit. May my descendants slaughter your line for generations to come!”
The dragon roared, and the humans recoiled in terror.
Then his breath stopped.
“Woooo!”
“Actinus! Actinus!”
The soldiers cheered, chanting the young man’s name.
For slaying the evil dragon, Actinus was granted the title of Count and land by King Tiris—including the region where he was born.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Those idiots thought it would all end once Actinus died.”
Karna frowned deeply and sighed.
“But the ballista was passed down. That was Acanthus’s doing.”
If the ballista continued to be inherited, it posed a grave threat. Not only human hunters, but other dragons joined forces to wipe out the bloodline entirely.
But the result was disastrous for the dragons.
Margaret killed three dragons and walked away unscathed.
“She even looked like Acanthus… terrifying, that one.”
Even now, recalling it made Karna pale.
To survive, the dragons fled Almeria one by one, avoiding Rangs—or hid like the Witch of the Great Snowfield.
“Did you ever meet Margaret?” Baberi asked.
Karna’s nose twitched.
“The point is, all that bloodshed happened because those idiots provoked Acanthus for no reason.”
He hastily ended the story there.
“That’s shocking… but wait.”
Baberi mulled it over.
“Isn’t that more like Actinus’s secret, not my birth secret?”
“It explains why dragon blood flows in you—and why you can use the ballista.”
So it’s your story too.
Karna waved a hand tiredly, refusing further argument.
“Now it’s your turn.”
“What kind of gift would Sisl want?”
Baberi crossed her arms, tilted her head, then shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
She said it so confidently Karna almost accepted it.
“Are you kidding me?! I told you all that for nothing!”
As Karna’s eyes nearly rolled back, Baberi quickly raised her hands.
“Then go ask her now. Give me a bottle of alcohol.”
“Why alcohol? Does she like drinking?”
“She does. Probably.”
The answer was far from convincing.
In the end, Karna handed her a bottle of vodka.
Baberi tucked it under her arm, grabbed two glasses, and went to find Sisl.
“Want a drink?”
When she opened the door, Sisl was sitting in front of the fireplace, looking even more exhausted than Karna.
As Baberi plopped down on the carpet in front of her, Sisl glared at her.
“You ran away so desperately—I figured you wouldn’t want to drink with me.”
“Ah, I had my reasons back then.”
Baberi awkwardly poured the liquor, embarrassed by the pointed remark.
An awkward silence filled the spacious guest room.
“Another?”
Seeing Sisl’s glass already empty, Baberi asked casually.
Sisl silently held it out.
She really does like alcohol. And she can handle it.
Baberi watched her drink.
The vodka steadily emptied, but the awkwardness remained.
“Is there… anything you want as a gift?”
Unable to endure the silence any longer, Baberi finally asked.
She knew it was abrupt—but there was no choice.
“Jewels, maybe…?”
“There is something I need.”
“What is it? Just say the word—you’ll get it.”
“Anything?”
Baberi nodded. It wasn’t her giving it, but Karna probably would.
“Hehehe. Hahaha! I heard that clearly!”
Suddenly, Sisl burst out laughing. She staggered to her feet and pointed at Baberi.
“What I want is you. Become my subordinate, Baberi Rangs!”
Sisl Amare was not, in fact, good with alcohol at all.
