Chapter 4 

Elena rose unsteadily from the bed and stood in front of the full-length mirror. 

As always, the first thing to catch her eye was the burn scar on her right arm. The scar, reminiscent of the dream she had just had, made her bite her lower lip out of habit as she took a step back from the mirror.

When it came to shaking off nightmares, nothing worked better than pushing her body to the limit. So, changing into her training uniform, Elena headed toward the 7th Division’s exclusive training grounds.

It was dawn, the sun just beginning to rise. Soon enough, the dark blue hue of the sky lightened, and as the world brightened, it felt like she could finally breathe again.

“Haah…”

Filling her lungs with crisp, clean air, Elena stepped onto the wide training field and began running in wide circles.

The clatter of her gear, the dull thud of her own breathing ringing in her ears. All of it soothed her. In that rhythm, she managed, if only for a while, to drive out the thoughts that haunted her and refocus on her goal.

Before Emma had left her side, her injured leg making it too difficult to continue working, she and Elena had one final conversation.

〈Emma, I saw those eyes. I saw them clearly. Crimson eyes. Jet black hair and vertical, slitted red eyes. I’m certain of it.〉

〈I didn’t see that much… But red eyes? No way, that can’t be. That’s…〉

Emma had looked around the room in a panic, as if realizing something terrifying. Fortunately, they were alone.

〈Miss Elena, there’s only one person in the kingdom with eyes like that.〉

Lowering her voice as if revealing a forbidden secret, she spoke in a near-whisper.

〈Who? I need to know. That’s the person who set fire to the mansion.〉

〈But… there’s no way it was him. He’s the one who protects the kingdom.〉

The protector of the kingdom.

At that moment, a single name surfaced in young Elena’s mind.

The man every citizen of Valra trusted and revered. The guardian dragon who defended the monster-ridden North: Grand Duke Van Nizena.

〈In all of Valra, only His Grace, Grand Duke Van Nizena, has red eyes. But he… he would never do such a thing.〉

〈Van Nizena?〉

At Elena’s question, Emma had nodded.

Emma had firmly believed it couldn’t have been him. But Elena thought differently.

He was the one who killed her parents.

Elena, still a child then, drew in a deep breath, the thrill of uncovering the truth coursing through her. From that day on, her goal was to join the Ridwan Knights so she could face Van Nizena.

Now, ten years later.

The thought of Van brought a wave of fury. The Ridwan Knights, guardians of the North. And Van Nizena, the man who led them, praised as the kingdom’s protector.

But how could the one who murdered her kind-hearted parents be the guardian of Valra? Of Anhal?

Her rage boiled over. She stopped running and looked up at the fully risen morning sun. It was time to return to the dormitory.

* * *

Elena was the only one in the 7th Division excluded from the upcoming fortress defense operation. She’d heard the commander himself would be overseeing the battle, which made her exclusion all the more disappointing.

It had been over a year since she joined the Ridwan Knights, yet Elena had not once seen Van Nizena up close. Contrary to her expectations, he remained a distant figure.

He was bound to a rigid schedule, and she was just a common knight. It couldn’t be helped, but the disappointment gnawed at her.

“Haah…”

Back in her dorm room, Elena opened a book she’d borrowed from the library, trying to distract herself from the sting of disappointment.

The book was filled with information she already knew, making it practically useless. But still, she’d hoped for some hidden tale or a weakness of dragons.

Of course, there was nothing like that.

True to the Kingdom of Valra, which worshiped dragons as divine emissaries, the books were mostly filled with praise for their noble majesty. But a dragon that could kill civilians without hesitation was no divine emissary, nor were they worthy of such praise.

At times, she even considered joining the anti-dragon faction that advocated for the complete removal of dragons in favor of revering the gods alone.

Knock, knock.

“Elena.”

A neat knock and a familiar voice calling her name brought her spiraling thoughts to a halt. It was definitely Marlene Finsel, a fellow knight from the 7th Division.

“Oh, Marlene. Come in.”

At Elena’s reply, the door opened and Marlene stepped inside, clad in her uniform despite it being free time.

“What were you doing?”

“Just… reading.”

“Ah, more dragon books?”

“Mm-hm…”

Marlene glanced at the stack of books on the desk. She had long known about Elena’s preoccupation with dragons.

“You really like the commander that much?”

As a peer and fellow member of the 7th Division, Marlene spoke casually to her. Glancing over the book titles, Marlene gave her a teasing smile.

“Me? The commander?”

“Well, you like dragons. Doesn’t that mean you like the commander too?”

Elena found the idea ridiculous.

How could she like the man who killed her parents? Even tearing him apart with a sword wouldn’t be enough.

But Elena didn’t bother correcting Marlene’s misunderstanding.

“So what brings you here at this hour?”

“Oh, I was ordered to come. The commander wants to see you.”

That didn’t make sense. The commander personally summoning a regular knight? As far as she knew, that had never happened.

Van handled everything through the deputy commanders of each division. So even if it were an urgent matter, the only one who should’ve summoned her was Deputy Commander Pante of the 7th Division, not the man at the very top.

“The commander?”

“Beats me. But hey, it’s an honor, isn’t it? How many chances do we get to meet him face-to-face?”

At Elena’s muttering, Marlene shrugged.

She was right. Unless you caused a huge incident or achieved a major feat, the commander would never call on a low-ranking knight.

Why was Van suddenly asking for her?

Unable to guess the reason, Elena furrowed her brows and quickly changed into her uniform.

“Lighten up. It means he’s taking an interest in you! That’s a huge deal!”

“I guess… Alright, I’ll head out.”

After straightening her appearance in front of the mirror, Elena turned the doorknob. Marlene waved, cheering her on.

Elena gave her a small nod of thanks before leaving the dormitory. Her expression had hardened to icy resolve.

* * *

It was a moonlit evening. On the path from the dorm to the command building, flags representing the royal palace and the knight order fluttered in the wind, tangling together as if to declare that the two were inseparable.

Flavel Nizena, the founder of the kingdom, and Drac Nizena, the nation’s seal. The guardian dragons were born of their noble bloodlines. Van was one of them. And Elena, just an ordinary knight, was struggling to uncover the truth about such a being.

Standing in front of the main building where the commander’s office was located, Elena drew a deep breath. Whatever the reason behind this summons, it would be her first time meeting him face-to-face.

So, this is it. I’m finally facing him.

Standing at the door of the commander’s office, Elena clenched her fist and knocked.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

At the sound of Van’s voice, every muscle in her body tensed. Entering the room, Elena stepped up to the desk where he sat and bowed deeply.

“I heard you summoned me, Commander.”

He was someone she wouldn’t even be allowed to meet eyes with under normal circumstances, so she naturally kept her gaze lowered.

Even after some time had passed, Van said nothing, eyes fixed on the documents before him. The only sound was the scratching of his quill pen. 

Elena wanted to ask why he had called her, but the atmosphere made it impossible. And asking directly would be disrespectful toward royalty.

As the silence dragged on, Elena glanced up at him. 

She had slain him many times in dreams and in imagination. But that desire was far from reality. She was still just a lowly knight finally seeing him in person for the first time.

Elena tore her eyes away from him and stared blankly at his desk. 

Time seemed to crawl by until at last, the quill came to a stop.

“You’ll be reassigned to my personal unit for the upcoming defense mission. Be aware of that.”

“…What?”

The order was so unexpected that Elena blurted out her response without thinking. Realizing her mistake, she quickly closed her mouth, but the words were already out.

“You’ll be guarding my rear.”

Guarding his rear? That meant protecting him.

No matter how she turned it over in her mind, she couldn’t grasp the intent behind the sudden command.

“You want to know why, don’t you?”

Van finally looked up from the papers and met her gaze.

“You want to kill me, don’t you?”

Her whole body broke out in goosebumps. Just like that day, his crimson eyes were smiling. Those eyes, that smile… they were exactly the same as back then.

……

T/N: 

Van: I’m giving you a chance to try and kill me ☺️

Elena: That easy? 🤨