Chapter 76
“I’ve heard of it. When bones are carved from a living dragon, the pain remains in the bones and becomes an ominous object…”
Some of the older nobles in their seats drew in sharp breaths as if seeing a cursed object from an ancient legend.
“Indeed, among the Empire’s wise nobles, some of you know. That’s correct. Bones harvested from a living dragon. The dragon’s terrible pain remains in the bones along with magical power, making them fatally dangerous to dragon masters.”
The nobles’ section was engulfed in another commotion.
“This is what I found on His Grace’s body when I saved him from death’s door.”
The tumultuous, confused gazes all turned toward Antonio at once.
Everyone already knew that when Crown Prince Hendrick had gone to Ivarid to escort Prince Carlston regarding accusations of assassinating Dragon King Elena, Dragon Knight Antonio had been punished for stabbing the Prince there.
“…Some explanation seems necessary, doesn’t it? Sir Antonio Carter, glorious Imperial Dragon Knight.”
Sian smiled gently.
“What are you saying, my Lady? Living dragon bones… And you found them on His Grace’s body!”
Antonio cried out, pale-faced. While it seemed like a very flustered reaction to being called out on another mistake by Sian, in reality everyone—Sian, Carl, and even Hendrick—knew he was caught completely off guard and deeply shocked.
“I didn’t even know such things existed in the world! Moreover, how could I, a dragon’s master, handle such things? This is preposterous slander!”
“Then how do you explain that His Grace, stabbed by Sir Antonio’s sword, was dying because of this hidden weapon?”
“How should I know?! It’s true I stabbed His Grace, but it was a mistake! I was punished for it and apologized!”
Antonio, who had been calm throughout, raised his voice with bulging neck veins for the first time.
“Since His Grace fled with serious injuries, he must have met with another mishap somewhere before my Lady found him!”
“Really, my Lady. What rudeness is this, barging into this solemn assembly when you don’t even have the right to speak?”
The Marquis, having belatedly recovered from his confusion, turned his arrows of criticism toward Sian.
“Moreover, living dragon bones? Even I, the longest-serving dragon master except for my bedridden brother, have never heard or seen such things. How do you know of the existence of something that only a few elderly people here are aware of?”
Many accusatory and suspicious gazes poured down at once. Due to the circular platform being surrounded by the nobles’ section, Sian could see all those gazes at once.
Nevertheless, far from being intimidated or afraid, she simply pulled her lips into another smile.
“Of course I know because I’ve seen it before?”
“Could it be that you were the one who harmed His Grace? With something even we dragon masters didn’t know about…”
“My, what foolish words you speak, Marquis. Or perhaps you received orders to act foolish.”
Sian laughed loudly at the Marquis’s absurd suspicion. The Marquis’s face reddened for a moment at her words.
“What did you—!”
…Her true nature is coming out.
Carl swallowed complex emotions—whether anxiety or relief—at the sight of Sian on the platform, having thrown away all pretense. He couldn’t gauge what she was thinking by taking the platform or what she intended by producing the hidden weapon.
No, more precisely, he did know. He just didn’t want to believe it. Carl bit his lip hard as he watched Sian smiling at the nobles from the platform.
“By now, you should clearly know why I’ve taken this stand, what I’ve come to testify about. If you really don’t know, then you’re just being stupid.”
Sian viciously clenched her small hand holding the box in the air. It was as if the person who had demurely ascended the platform and carefully produced it had been someone else entirely.
Both Carl, who had been harboring an uneasy premonition all along, and Hendrick hardened their expressions gravely.
Sian raised her eyes with a notably bold sneer filling her lips. The color of her bright leaf-green eyes slowly began to change.
“That’s—!”
Carl clenched his fist at the familiar sensation. He barely stopped himself from crying out to her.
Gasps of shock erupted from various places in the nobles’ section with exclamations of “Good heavens!” Sian’s eyes on the platform now shone golden. The elongated pupils of a beast scattered sharp, alien light.
A dragon master’s eyes would turn to those of a golden beast when their synchronization ability reached its peak, regardless of their companion dragon’s eye color.
Among the screams of shock erupting here and there, Sian lifted her skirts and stomped the floor hard, as if trying to draw the scattered attention.
“Let me introduce myself again, dear nobles of the Empire.”
With a valiant posture ill-fitting her elegant dress, Sian straightened her shoulders and raised her chin, calling out loudly.
“My real name is Aira Chandler. I am the master of that cursed black dragon you’ve all been tearing apart with your words.”
All the previous commotion had been mere disturbance compared to the chaos and confusion that engulfed the assembly hall after she, Sian—no, Aira—revealed her identity as the black dragon’s master.
Count Winston Chandler, who had been somewhat anticipating this, turned pale and stepped backward at the reality of his daughter’s returned existence.
He hadn’t expected her to be truly alive, and had hoped she wouldn’t be. The Count, backing away in shock, tripped on something and fell backward with a thud.
Hearing the sound and confirming the Count’s presence, Sian met eyes with Count Chandler, who was staring at her, unable to handle his shock.
Up close, her father had aged considerably. His hair was thin, with white liberally mixed among the platinum blonde. He was also smaller than she remembered, a pitiful middle-aged man.
Sian, finishing the father-daughter reunion in an instant, smiled with narrowed eyes.
“It’s been a long time, Father.”
“You, you’re…”
The Count looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Of course he would. Sian let out a casual laugh.
Naturally, he would feel like he was seeing a ghost—the daughter he had killed 17 years ago and desperately believed dead was standing alive before his eyes.
“The black dragon’s master! How could the fiancée of His Grace the Prince, master of the silver dragon—!”
The Marquis was shocked, having never expected Sian to reveal herself as the black dragon’s master. However, seeing it as an opportunity since he no longer needed to scheme to expose her identity, he burst out with a rehearsed-sounding shout.
“Your Grace, did you—!”
The next step would be to implicate Carl in knowing, Sian thought, and sure enough, the Marquis bared his teeth toward Carl.
“If you had known, how could you have thought to become engaged to the black dragon’s master? You, the Imperial Prince with the glorious legend of the silver dragon!”
Sian didn’t let the Marquis finish his words. By cutting him off and speaking boldly, she instead left the Marquis looking caught off guard.
“Whether His Grace knew or not is a matter for later, Marquis. Don’t we have more important business right now?”
“…”
“From what I heard quietly from far away, the black dragon attacked Brita. For that incident, there is no evidence except Brita’s testimony. But this hidden weapon, surgically removed from His Grace’s body, is clear evidence that it came from Sir Antonio’s sword. Which matter seems more serious? It’s obvious without much thought, isn’t it?”
Sian now openly and naturally borrowed dragon magic without any intention of hiding it. Above her outstretched hand, the hidden weapon made from living dragon bones emanated an ominous aura.
The Marquis ground his teeth at the visible evidence.
“How can we believe that! That it came from Antonio’s sword!”
