chapter 95
Shanelica did not react at all to Derwin’s sudden words.
—Whether you’re here or not, my safety doesn’t change. If someone suspicious attacks and you’re not right by my side, I’ll be defenseless anyway. So whether you return to guarding the princess or go back to the Cartel estate, do as you please.
Shanelica spoke coldly. After all, someone suspicious had already gotten inside, so her security had already been breached. And it wasn’t as if Lord Derwin would remove the source of her fear. On top of that, his presence constantly disturbed her with his inexplicable behavior.
He was of no help at all. Better to push him away from her sight than keep him beside her any longer.
—Pretend you didn’t say that.
But the words that followed were not the answer Shanelica wanted to hear.
—I don’t want the daily routine I’ve barely gotten used to, in the little time I have left, to change. Didn’t I already tell you that the only reason I’m keeping up this appearance and staying here is because it’s less of a hassle? And having you where I can see you makes it easier to protect you.
—You make me uncomfortable.
—Then just treat me as if I’m not here. Like you’ve always done.
Ha… Again. Again, he brushed against her emotions in this subtle way.
Her strength began to drain away. Still, Shanelica gripped the table tightly to keep herself from collapsing.
—No. I’ll speak to His Majesty and make sure you’re dismissed. This isn’t something you get to choose.
Her eyelids blinked slowly as she sent the thought.
I’m so tired…
The table that had been steady until now trembled beneath her hand. The white royal emblems engraved on the wallpaper spun dizzyingly before her eyes.
Thud.
Unable to hold her balance, Shanelica finally collapsed to the floor.
My body… I can’t move it. I can’t see.
The light in the room flickered. Visible—then gone, visible—then gone… until finally it all turned to pitch-black darkness.
Shanelica!
A familiar voice called out. She couldn’t even tell if she was hearing it with her ears or inside her head. It only felt like a voice she’d heard somewhere before—urgent, and strangely comforting.
Where had she heard it?
Even her body no longer seemed her own. She felt herself hardening, stiffening, as though turning to stone. If a human were to become stone, it must feel like this, she thought vaguely. Even her consciousness began to blur.
What was I… thinking about again?
Just as she wondered if she was about to lose her mind completely, a warm energy stirred near her chest.
Ah… this familiar feeling.
The warmth seeped into her hardened body, loosening it once again. It was gentle, almost nostalgic, as if softly stroking her all over.
So it was you after all…
That was Shanelica’s final thought before she fully lost consciousness.
“Looks like you’ve made your decision.”
The Silent Room behind the King of Campton’s study.
Ferdin looked up calmly into King Eleusis’s blue eyes as he spoke.
It was the first time Eleusis had come back here since the day Ferdin was brought in. The moment he saw the king’s face, Ferdin could tell what decision had been made. Unlike the last time, when his face had been clouded with worry, now there was no trace of doubt.
“I have.”
“What decision did you make?”
It was almost a meaningless question.
“My queen will decide your fate.”
With just those words—my queen—Eleusis’s intent was clear.
So in the end, even knowing she was a dragon, he intended to take her as his queen.
Ferdin tasted bitterness in his mouth.
He had resolved to follow the king’s decision from the moment he came here. His role had been to persuade and guide the king into eliminating Shanelica. But along the way, he had faltered and doubted.
And once he voiced those doubts to the king, this result was foreseeable. Still, seeing all worry gone from Eleusis’s face left him with a strange feeling.
“Is it really all right, making a dragon your queen?”
What Ferdin truly wanted to know was not his own fate. He wanted to understand why—why Derwin in the past, and now Eleusis, both charged so unhesitatingly toward Shanelica. Derwin he could accept—he was a dragon too. But for a human king to make the same choice?
Why?
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“…What?”
“Dragons exist only in legends.”
The king’s firm tone clashed with his serene expression, and Ferdin understood at once: Shanelica being a dragon was to become a secret no one else could ever know. The king intended to bury it and move on.
“Did you… speak with her about it directly?”
Of course, he knew the king wouldn’t have said something absurd like Are you really a dragon? But he asked anyway, desperate to know where the king’s certainty came from.
“Do you think me so thoughtless?”
“Then… what made you so resolute?”
At his earnest question, Eleusis smiled softly.
“Because she shines.”
What did that mean? Ferdin couldn’t understand.
“She radiates light. A light that cannot be forged or faked.”
“…”
“When I see it, I can’t help but reflect on my own foolishness for doubting her.”
“…”
“As long as I can continue to see that light, I’ll endure anything.”
To an outsider, it could sound like nonsense—like a man blinded by a woman. But Ferdin didn’t think so.
He had seen that same look before—on Derwin’s face when he gazed at Shanelica. At the time, Ferdin dismissed it, thinking Derwin had simply lost his mind to a madwoman. But seeing Eleusis now, he began to wonder:
Is that… what they call love?
A face so blissful, as if holding all the happiness in the world. Two men, looking at one woman, showed the same expression—one he himself had never worn.
“Then what about my brother—no, the Duke of Cartel? What do you intend for him?”
Ferdin’s throat tightened. Derwin was a dragon, so he no longer concerned Ferdin. And yet, Ferdin had secretly aided Stern in endangering Shanelica, behind Derwin’s back. The guilt still weighed on him. And now, the king’s happiness was in large part due to his own schemes: he had tried to kill the woman his brother loved, driven her into Eleusis’s arms, and now this was the result.
“They say the two are bondmates. Joined for life.”
In crude terms, what Eleusis was about to embark on could be called adultery. Even if no one else knew, the fact remained. He could easily feel offended or troubled by it.
But Eleusis understood the implication in Ferdin’s words.
“If two are bound like that, and yet fate has allowed me to step between them, then I must see it as both opportunity and honor.”
Honor. He even used that word. A word usually reserved for a king to hear, not to say.
“As long as she is with me as a human, Derwin will not interfere.”
Before returning to Lydia’s side as her knight, Derwin had spoken privately with Eleusis. He had entrusted all matters concerning Shanelica to him, and they had dissolved their betrothal.
It could not have been cleaner—unless Stern was right, and both dragons had conspired from the start to deceive him. But that possibility lost meaning once Eleusis decided firmly to take her as his queen.
The real concern was Shanelica herself. Even though the ties with Derwin were cut, she had pulled him back to her side as her knight, saying she wanted him to feel guilt. Clearly, she hadn’t cast him off entirely.
So then… what should be done with Derwin?
Now that he had resolved matters with Shanelica, Eleusis had to turn his thoughts elsewhere.
But he didn’t answer Ferdin’s question. Instead, he asked another.
“More importantly—where is Stern now?”
At that, Ferdin’s body trembled.
A moment ago, Eleusis had worn the face of a man in love. But now, what Ferdin saw was different: the overwhelming presence of a great king.
Her breathing was calm and steady. She felt her chest rise and fall with ease.
So peaceful.
Not once since becoming a dragon had she felt this kind of peace. Even while lying still, her body felt light, as though floating. The air brushing her skin felt soft, almost as if the whole world was embracing her. It even made her believe she could bend the world to her will if she wished.
A warm energy poured into her heart, as though her chest were open to the sky. It brushed against her heart and filled her innermost being.
As she felt herself overflowing with something unknown, Shanelica opened her eyes.
It’s night? Not day?
The first thing she saw was pitch-black darkness. It was the same as every night, waking to the sight of the darkened ceiling.
Moonlight?
She turned to her right. That’s where the glow was coming from. If it was this bright, it must be a large moon.
The window must be filled with a great golden moon.
But it wasn’t what she expected.
A tall, broad black silhouette blocked half the square window where the moonlight poured in.
Something was wrong. Shanelica blinked. The figure didn’t move.
She shut her eyes tight, then slowly opened them again.
This time, her sight had adjusted to the dark. The silhouette was clearly a man. A man who had no business standing here.
A trick of the light?
She closed her eyes again, then opened them. Nothing had changed. The short, black-haired man remained. And the instant she recognized him, something unnameable welled up and filled her chest.
What… is this feeling?
Like a lightning strike, fierce emotions surged and tangled within her.
Trrrk.
Tears slipped down her cheeks, soaking the sheets. Droplets clung heavily to her long, pink lashes.
Why? Why am I like this?
She pressed her chest hard with both hands. Deep inside, something ached where her hands could not reach. But no matter how much she pressed, the pain wouldn’t fade.
She couldn’t go on like this. Shanelica sat up and quickly wiped her tear-streaked face with her long sleeves.
“You’re awake.”
At last, the man turned to face her and spoke.
