Chapter 127
Tears blurred my vision, and I couldn’t read any further. A longing for a father I had never once seen came rushing over me like a tidal wave.
So this is what parents’ love feels like….
It was an emotion I had never experienced when I was Seo Hayoon. And yet, only after becoming Giana was I finally able to feel that love.
I forced myself to calm down, wiped away my tears, and opened the diary again.
At some point, Dad’s diary had changed into the form of a letter addressed to me.
**[My beloved daughter.
I’ve decided to name you “Giana.” Your mother liked it very much as well.
It seems I’ll be dying soon, so I’ve asked your mother to make my grave for me.
Only you, who share my blood, will be able to resonate with my grave.
So ask your mother to guide you there.
If my guess is right, you’re probably suffering right now, having lost the power of the dragon.
If you place your hand on my grave, you should be able to regain your strength.]**
That was the end of Dad’s letter. From the next page onward, there was nothing but blank paper.
Holding the diary tightly to my chest, I stared blankly up at the sky.
Cruelly enough, the sky was an intense, vivid blue. I wished I could have seen this beautiful sky together with Dad.
“…What are you going to do if you keep crying?”
At some point, Knox had come over and sat beside me.
I decided to borrow his embrace for a moment. The emotions were far too overwhelming to bear alone.
“Can I lean on you for just a bit?”
“If you ask something like that, it actually makes me feel hurt. My arms are always yours.”
I quietly cried as I buried myself in the warmth of his gently opening arms.
Even a father I’ve never seen even once feels this dear….
What kind of pain must Knox have felt, losing both of his parents at just twelve years old?
I could understand now why he had been so obsessed with revenge. He must have been living right on the edge of madness.
After staying in Knox’s arms for a long while, I slowly gathered myself and stood up.
“Are you done crying now?”
“Yeah. Thank you. I think I should go see Mom now.”
“Let’s go together. I saw her heading out toward the sea earlier.”
Knox and I tightly held hands and went out onto the tidal flats.
Sensing our presence, Mom turned around from where she was sitting and asked me warmly,
“Already finished reading it? So, what did your dad say?”
“He told me to come visit his grave and say hello. He scolded me a lot for being such an unfilial daughter who never once came to see him.”
“You little liar. Your dad would never say something like that.”
Mom laughed as she stood up.
“Alright, let’s go. It’s been a while since I’ve seen your dad too. And since it looks like there’s a new family member now, he’d be real happy if we all went together.”
She smiled and gestured toward Knox with her eyes.
“You even picked yourself such a handsome partner—just like your mom did.”
“Well, I am your daughter. Where would that bloodline go?”
“That’s right. You did well. At least now you won’t be ashamed in front of your dad who went on ahead.”
Holding Mom’s hand on one side and Knox’s on the other, I followed her lead toward Dad’s grave.
The islet was really no bigger than the palm of a hand, so I’d thought there was nowhere I hadn’t been before…
“This is Dad’s grave? There’s nothing here.”
“That square stone there is the headstone. He carved it himself and asked me to place it here before he died. Really, that man was thorough with his preparations.”
Mom gently let go of my hand and wiped away her tears.
She acted as if she was fine, but it seemed she had missed Dad terribly too.
“Uh, Your Grace. Seems like my daughter’s got a few things she wants to say to her dad. How about we step aside over there for a bit?”
“Please speak formally, Mother-in-law. If you address me that way, I feel uncomfortable.”
“Oh my, now that I look at you properly, you’re a young man with good character too. Then I won’t refuse.”
“Giana takes completely after you, Mother-in-law. Your beauty is so outstanding that even if the sun didn’t rise, this islet would still be bright. Your face practically glows.”
“Judging by how you talk, you must be good at socializing too! Come on then, let’s move over there.”
After Mom and Knox exchanged a few words and stepped aside,
I placed both hands together on top of Dad’s gravestone, just as the diary instructed.
The stone began to tremble as if responding to my touch, then soon started to emit a brilliant light.
The light surged upward into the air as if it were alive, then oxidized into tiny particles that slowly drifted down over my body.
“This is… dragon power?”
As the light seeped into every corner of my body, I could feel an overwhelmingly powerful dragon energy returning to me—far stronger than anything I’d had before.
At the same time, even magical power, which I had previously been unable to use at all, began overflowing throughout my body.
Simultaneously, the diary itself began to glow brightly. Startled, I hurriedly opened it, and on the pages that had been completely blank just moments ago, new words had appeared.
**[My beloved Giana.
If you’re reading this, it means you’ve regained all of your strength.
I squeezed out every last bit of power I had left and caught a glimpse of the future.
My younger brother, Ellarion, is currently plotting something in Snowd.
By now, I expect Snowd is either in a standoff or on the brink of war.
My daughter, you can stop Ellarion. Because you are a powerful dragon who has inherited all of my strength.
Please stop him, and strive to make this a world where dragons do not rule over humans, but protect and safeguard them.]**
It seemed that the root of this situation was the fierce clash between Dad, who wished to protect humanity, and Ellarion, who wanted to reign as an absolute being above humans.
Dad’s letter continued.
**[He must have lost a great deal of power as well from forcibly using creation magic.
You know this yourself, having lost your dragon power—it’s not a pleasant feeling. Ellarion is likely in that very state right now.
On top of that, it seems he stole an ancient artifact from the Kingdom of Arcanis and is gathering life force with it. If that fills up completely, it will become extremely troublesome—because he’ll regain all of his dragon power.
So before that happens, go to him and deal with him.
This should have been my responsibility… but what is blood, really? What is a brother? While I hesitated and failed to strike him down decisively, things ended up like this.
I’m sorry once again for placing such a heavy burden on my beloved daughter…]**
That was the end of Dad’s diary.
Tears began to pour from my eyes again, but now that I knew the whole truth, my heart felt lighter instead.
When I waved toward Knox and Mom standing some distance away, they both came running toward me in a hurry.
“What in the world was that bright light just now…?”
“Mom, look at this. I think I’ve gotten my power back.”
When I slightly extended my arm and exerted my strength, dragon power exploded outward, forming translucent wings.
Wings I had never been able to create no matter how much I practiced before.
Now, I felt strong enough to lift Mom in one arm and Knox in the other and take flight.
Mom’s eyes widened dramatically.
“M-my goodness. What is that…?”
“Mom, I’m going back to the mainland now.”
“Huh? You just got here yesterday and you’re leaving already?”
“It’s not time to harvest the cabbage and radishes yet. If you pull them all out and wait, I’ll come back to get you.”
“You’re not planning on doing something dangerous, are you?”
Her eyes immediately narrowed with worry.
I waved my hands quickly to reassure her.
“No. Do you really think Dad would ask his daughter to do something dangerous?”
“You really don’t know a thing. Your dad absolutely would do that! Didn’t he grind his own life away to save the world? Seeing that, how could you not know? Honestly… at this rate, I won’t die a natural death.”
“What are you talking about? You have to live at least another hundred years with me.”
“That’s why I’m saying—whatever you do, be careful. Don’t overdo it. And if things get dangerous, make sure you shove it onto your husband. Got it?”
“Please don’t worry, Mother-in-law. I will never allow Giana to be put in danger. Even if I die, I’ll make sure not a single hair on her head is harmed.”
“You little punk of a son-in-law, saying so casually that you’ll die and make my daughter a widow! You don’t die either! If you do, I’ll chase you down, bring you back to life, and beat you senseless!”
Mom scolded both me and Knox in turn, her voice overflowing with concern.
Strangely enough, I didn’t dislike that voice at all.
It felt like I was being deeply loved by my real family—one I had only just found.
After giving Mom a tight hug, I boarded the Velertine, bringing along Gari, who thrashed about because he didn’t want to part with seafood scallion pancakes.
