Chapter 82
As Carl was furrowing his brows at the ominous premonition—
—BOOM.
A heavy explosive sound like fireworks shook beyond the walls. Sian jumped to her feet.
“…It’s a dragon.”
Though Carl would certainly know if Sian did, she still looked at him in shock at the completely unexpected energy and spoke.
It was familiar. Carl knew that the sound and resonance just now were identical to what he’d heard when Hendrick and the other dragons had attacked them in Ivarid.
What’s happening?
His mind became complicated in an instant. Dragon’s Breath—the most powerful magic dragons could wield. Why it was suddenly felt above the imperial palace, and who was attacking, couldn’t be known from underground.
He thought perhaps it was the Marquis, but the Marquis wouldn’t recklessly attack the imperial palace before even being charged with his crimes. Moreover, Antonio, who could control other dragons, was bound in prison beyond the iron door, as Carl had just confirmed.
There shouldn’t be any dragons that would attack the imperial palace.
“…Come with me.”
After thinking, Carl grabbed Sian’s hand and tried to pull her along. Sian hesitated for a moment and planted her feet firmly.
“Wait. I can’t leave.”
Carl furrowed his brow.
“Sister, you weren’t detained for any crime. That just now was definitely Dragon’s Breath. We need to check what’s happening.”
“But if I follow you out like this, everyone will surely think we’re escaping.”
“What does that matter? If we’re under attack, the underground with no exit is dangerous!”
Moreover, the underground prison of the imperial palace had special magic laid down to nullify power for dragon masters. Though they couldn’t know what was happening, if the imperial palace was truly under sudden attack, there was no place more dangerous for Sian than underground.
“But…”
If she stepped outside holding his hand again, Carl, Idelin’s master, would surely be misunderstood as siding with the black dragon. Sian bit her lip in hesitation.
“Sian Roosevelt, no, Aira Chandler.”
Carl gripped Sian’s shoulders tightly.
“I know you don’t want to tarnish my honor. However, you don’t need to sacrifice yourself needlessly to protect my reputation. Do you think I could be at peace with honor preserved at your expense?”
“…”
Sian looked up at Carl, feeling as if her breath had been caught in her throat.
“You’re not my shame. You’re someone I must protect, the darkness that makes me shine brighter. How many more times must I say it before you’ll stand tall, so unlike yourself?”
—BOOM.
Another massive explosion resonated. The subsequent blast was even close enough to be clearly heard with their ears, not just felt through magical energy.
“If you’re indulging in some self-absorbed fantasy of being a tragic heroine, drop it. Even if I have to give up being Lord of Ivarid, my position as prince, and Idelin—I must have you!”
Carl’s blue-green eyes gleamed with unprecedented sharpness. His heavy resolve and sincerity were plainly visible in his gaze alone.
Sian stared at him, forgetting even to breathe, as if overwhelmed by Carl’s unwavering determination that bore down on her with incomparable weight and force.
…Why? Since when had this person come to want her this much? Since when had he desired her so intensely?
After that brief question flashed through her mind, intense emotions churned beneath her throat.
It was far too great to be merely repayment for once saving his life. What she had desperately wanted was now laid abundantly in her hands. It was only herself who hadn’t realized what was offered, who hadn’t grasped it.
Tears suddenly poured forth. Choked up, Sian couldn’t say anything.
When Sian suddenly burst into tears, Carl started more violently than if he’d been struck by Dragon’s Breath.
Since he hadn’t intended to make her cry, and it wasn’t exactly a leisurely situation for crying, the confusion on Carl’s face deepened.
“…This is crazy, right now…”
Carl was about to coldly say this wasn’t the time to cry, but then he saw Sian quickly wiping away her tears.
“…Are you sure you won’t regret this?”
Sniffling, Sian looked up at Carl with red eyes brimming with tears.
“Are you sure you won’t resent me if you really lose everything?”
“To be honest, speaking rationally, I don’t have that much to lose.”
Carl responded with an incredulous expression.
“You don’t know what it’s like to be pointed at for your whole life.”
“Damn it, let them point fingers or mock me as a fool, I don’t care if they do.”
Those blue eyes that hadn’t wavered even when revealing herself as the condemned black dragon’s master before so many nobles were now red with tears at the fear of possibly being stigmatized together with him.
Carl impulsively kissed her, almost roughly grabbing her cheek as she still questioned his resolve. At his brief but overwhelmingly forceful kiss, Sian struggled to hold back another wave of tears.
“Why are you being so forceful again? Are you trying to kill me with excitement?”
“Before dying of excitement, we might die from the ceiling collapsing.”
BOOM—with another impact now closer, this time the walls and ceiling shook, sending down debris.
“…I didn’t seduce you into this. Don’t change your words later.”
“You still have leisure for such talk?”
As Carl furrowed his brow, Sian smiled bitterly.
“No, I don’t. Not anymore.”
Then she gripped Carl’s hand tightly. With one hand holding his and the other wiping away her remaining tears in one go, Sian pulled on Carl’s arm as if she had never hesitated.
“Let’s go then. To break through this dead end.”
Carl, who had been watching Sian with a deeply troubled expression, finally smiled back, twisting his lips.
* * *
“The barrier is breaking! Seal the castle gates and gather the soldiers!”
“Evacuate the nobles and servants residing in the castle to safety!”
When Carl and Sian boldly emerged from underground holding hands, they encountered absolute chaos.
—BOOM! CRASH!
The imperial palace’s marble floor shook like water hit by wind from explosions and impacts far more intense than what they’d heard underground.
Soldiers caught unprepared by the surprise attack rushed about gathering weapons. Regular palace servants with no military training screamed in terror at their first encounter with disaster, running about in confusion.
Everything was in disarray—soldiers hurriedly evacuating those who couldn’t fight, commanders directing them, and ordinary people too terrified to follow orders properly, just collapsing where they stood. The thunderous impacts continued relentlessly.
“…What in the world is happening.”
Though they’d somewhat anticipated this from underground, witnessing the pandemonium firsthand was even more chaotic. Carl muttered in shock from the underground exit.
BOOM! Along with a thunderous roar came a thin cracking sound like breaking glass. Sian looked up at the imperial palace’s ceiling, far higher than Ivarid’s castle, as if she could see beyond it.
“The barrier is breaking!”
