Chapter 77
At this cry that was almost like insistence, Sian let out a derisive laugh.
“Then how do you believe it was the black dragon that attacked Brita?”
“How dare you compare the testimony of Brita, the dragon of an Imperial knight who swore loyalty to the Empire, to that of an evil black dragon who disappeared and hid its existence as soon as it was chosen! Insolent creature!”
“Honor? Are you saying my words can’t be believed and must be denied because of some difference in honor recognized merely by the color of scales?”
“Ahaha,” Sian laughed out loud.
“Do you even realize how foolish you sound right now? There sits the very person who nearly died from being stabbed with this weapon—let’s ask him directly. By your logic of ranking honor by scale color, he’s at the very top, so everything from his mouth must be true.”
Sian pointed to Carl sitting beside Hendrick.
“Enough!”
Hendrick, who had been holding his head at the situation spiraling into extreme chaos, burst out loudly.
“Stop raising your voices, it’s too noisy. This isn’t a problem that will be solved by shouting and screaming.”
“But, Your Highness…!”
“Uncle, I too think it’s a foolish criterion to judge good and evil merely by scale color rather than actual criminal acts. So, if the black dragon is truly evil, its crimes will be revealed here—please stop shouting. My head aches.”
Hendrick clicked his tongue. The Marquis could only press his lips together and fall silent at those cold words.
As silence fell, Hendrick barely restrained the sigh he wanted to heave. Given both the place and how intense the previous commotion had been, the silence that enveloped them felt relatively so heavy that he couldn’t even sigh freely.
Hendrick looked down at the platform with eyes tired from the commotion. Sian, her platinum blonde hair disheveled, looked up at the Crown Prince with raised eyes, all traces of her previous hesitation gone.
She radiated such a fierce and sharp energy that it seemed she might overturn everything if any false charges were laid against her in this place.
Hendrick unconsciously looked at Carl beside him. Carl too had lost his words and was only watching her, as if overwhelmed by Sian’s energy.
Can you handle this, Carl…
Hendrick could never voice the question that rose to the tip of his tongue.
Carl was equally stunned by Sian’s sudden revelation. He tried to organize his confused thoughts while blankly watching Sian fiercely arguing with the Marquis.
…So she’s choosing a head-on confrontation.
Revenant’s purpose was clear.
She had planned to expose Sian as the black dragon’s master and pin Brita’s attack and the Dragon King’s assassination on her.
Especially since Sian had been playing the role of the Prince’s fiancée with a false identity, the black dragon’s evil acts of assassinating the Dragon King and attacking a dragon would also disgrace Carl’s honor.
Still, Carl had no intention of dissociating himself. If people stubbornly believed without any evidence that Sian’s dragon committed evil acts merely because it was black, he would stand on her side even if he stood alone.
But Sian already knew his thoughts too. That’s why she was choosing this head-on confrontation.
By revealing herself as the black dragon’s master and claiming innocence, while simultaneously declaring that her fiancé Prince Carlston had not known her identity.
If things went smoothly, that would be fortunate but…
Carl surveyed the assembly hall full of confused tension while organizing his thoughts.
Though it was impossible to know without hearing each noble’s opinion individually, the gazes directed at Sian standing on the platform were not friendly.
Praise for silver and malice toward black. If breaking down those prejudices had been easy, he wouldn’t have had to leave the Imperial Palace at such a young age.
Carl frowned severely while biting the inside of his lip.
‘I just wanted to tell you.’
He belatedly understood why those words had sounded so much like a final farewell.
“Aira Chandler. I have a question for you.”
Hendrick spoke with his interlocked hands on the table.
“I understand the circumstances of your disappearance and being recorded as deceased in the noble registry by Count Winston Chandler’s judgment. Why do you now reveal this fact after living all this time hiding your identity as the black dragon’s master?”
He asked.
“I know better than anyone how ominously people perceive the black dragon. After all, I was cast out by my parents because of what it meant for my chosen dragon to have black scales, before I could even understand that meaning.”
Sian looked at Count Chandler with her chin raised. The Count, head bowed, kept his mouth shut with a pale face, as if unable to believe all that had suddenly transpired.
Letting out a small snort as if in mockery, Sian turned back to Hendrick.
“If I hadn’t found His Grace the Prince at death’s door, framed for the Dragon King’s assassination, I would never have revealed the fact that I am the black dragon’s master until my death. I don’t want to cause chaos in the world. My dragon and I have committed no crimes, and we have no intention of influencing the world in any way.”
Sian spoke without hesitation, as if she had prepared her words in advance. The woman’s voice, firm as rock, boldly echoed through the dome-shaped assembly hall.
“However, unfortunately, I discovered this.”
And adding to her words, Sian once again held out her hand to display the living dragon bone.
“After being cast out by my parents, I became a mercenary and wandered the world. When I was hiding in the Land of Corrupted Dragons across the Red River of Ivarid, fearing the black dragon’s form might be revealed, I saw a dragon hunter there using a sword made from living dragon bones.”
At Sian’s words, the Marquis swallowed dryly. Antonio too pressed his lips together with a grave expression.
“Dragon eyes, dragon scales, dragon bones. In the era when wild dragons were plentiful, dragon hunters captured dragons and traded many rare items, but as you know, after dragon numbers significantly decreased, these items became unavailable even in black markets for a very long time. So long that only the Imperial family and elderly nobles even know of their existence.”
Once again, murmuring commotion began to rise.
“I could not ignore the reappearance of such ominous items fatal to dragon masters, so I encouraged His Grace the Prince to return here, and I’ve now revealed my identity because I can no longer overlook the rumors about the black dragon.”
“You are accused regarding the attack on Brita, Dragon Knight Antonio Carter’s dragon.”
“As I said, my black dragon hasn’t seen the world for a very long time. We did not attack Brita. We had no reason to.”
Sian twisted her lips in a smile.
“Rather, shouldn’t Sir Antonio Carter be the one to explain about this? This hidden weapon that stabbed His Grace—it’s not something ordinary people can obtain. Black market distribution has ceased, and even dragon hunters who were suppliers have long since died out, so how did he acquire these living dragon bones, and from which dragon?”
Sian looked directly at Antonio. Though he had been maintaining his composure, he couldn’t help but bite his lips under Sian’s piercing gaze, now uninhibited after exposing the secret that most needed hiding.
Sian gave him a lingering, satisfied smile.
“As it happens, there is one dragon who recently died, so it seems we need a thorough explanation about these living bones.”
“This is slander!”
Bang—Antonio struck the table again.
“How could I, who became a noble through His Majesty the Emperor’s grace, harm Elena!”
“Isn’t the world overflowing with people who don’t know gratitude? In a world where people even kill their own children.”
