Chapter 95
Hendrick glanced at Carl. Carl remained silent, keeping his gaze on Antonio.
“Continue.”
The Emperor spoke for the first time. Though not as firm as when possessed by the Dragon King, his voice was quite strong despite his ill appearance.
“The Marquis asked her how she came to possess Idelin’s scales, and she told stories about her encounters with Idelin. Hearing this, the Marquis pressed her and discovered she was a dragon hunter. Then he said he would guide her to the Dragon King’s nest if she could hunt that one too.”
“Antonio, you wretch!”
“Be silent, Daniel Klaus.”
When unfavorable testimony emerged, the angry former Marquis tried to silence Antonio with shouts. When Hendrick warned him with a coldly composed face, the former Marquis bit his lips as if cowed by the pressure, despite his position as uncle.
“The dragon hunter responded to the Marquis’s question with great confidence that it was possible. Then she infiltrated the Dragon King’s nest on a night when the palace defenses were loose. When Revenant returned before dawn, she terrifyingly carried an enormous amount of bones. The Dragon King’s bones, with horrible red magic rippling…”
Antonio trailed off, terror-stricken as he recalled the chilling image of the woman returning covered in blood, arms full of dragon bones.
Though they hadn’t seen it directly, the nobles in the gallery murmured and gasped at the horrific details.
“I too only learned then that fragments of dragon bone could have such fatal effects on dragon masters. And after that, everyone here knows what happened. Revenant hid the dragon bones taken from the Dragon King in a secret place and carved them one by one into weapons. It was she who pushed me to stab His Highness, giving me a hidden blade to mount on my sword.”
Carl, who had been listening quietly, swallowed a sneer as he looked down at Antonio.
“Had you stopped there, you might have avoided severe punishment.”
Antonio pressed his forehead to the floor at Carl’s questioning.
“I deserve death, Your Highness. As you know, I am of common birth, and unlike Your Highness or the Marquis, I know little of the imperial and dragon worlds. Faced with the terror of bone fragments I’d never seen before, I lost my senses and participated in these horrible acts.”
Though Antonio’s words were mere excuses, they weren’t incomprehensible. A lucky man who had suddenly been knighted and made noble merely because he received a dragon’s choice, without any special talent or outstanding learning, would have been utterly terrified facing such momentous events he couldn’t even have imagined as a commoner.
Yet one couldn’t help thinking that had he found the courage, he could have at least avoided the worst punishment.
“After His Highness returned, cracks began forming between the Marquis and his wife. The dragon hunter wife requested the Marquis to recommend her as part of the search party, saying His Highness might return alive.”
“Which I refused.”
Hendrick said coldly. Antonio nodded.
“Yes, Your Highness. We were quite flustered because we hadn’t expected His Highness to return in such robust condition, but…”
Antonio looked at Carl with thoroughly cowed eyes.
“After meeting His Highness’s fiancée, the dragon hunter devised a new plan. Since the Prince’s fiancée was the long-exiled black dragon’s master, we would spread rumors about that to damage His Highness’s reputation and cause internal strife.”
“Then are you saying all rumors about the black dragon were fabricated?”
The first question came from the noble gallery. Antonio stared blankly at the noble seats, not knowing who had spoken, and swallowed nervously.
“At least Brita’s attack… I apologize, but it never happened…”
“I have something to say! Though it’s true we planned terrible things, but that the black dragon brings calamity…!”
“Silence, Daniel.”
When the former Marquis shouted, grinding his teeth at Antonio’s confession, it was the Emperor who silenced him. The Emperor, leaning his weight on the table as if even maintaining his posture was difficult, glared at the former Marquis with bright eyes.
“I’m sick of this. Despite the law of primogeniture being so firmly established by the dragon shrine that has protected dragons since the Empire’s founding, I had to exile a child barely past ten years old just because Carl’s dragon, though only a third son, had silver scales.”
The Emperor’s words were directed not just at the former Marquis but at all nobles present. In this same chamber over a decade ago, nobles had daily created uproar, divided into two factions – those supporting Hendrick Klaus citing the law of primogeniture, and those arguing Carlston Klaus should be made Crown Prince, supporting the glory of the founding dragon Yggdrasil.
“Though it was my decision to exile Prince Carl because I disliked signs of political strife, let everyone voice their opinion now. Whether truly no one bears any responsibility for all these events.”
The Emperor slowly surveyed the wide noble council chamber with a deep sigh. The nobles who had endlessly created commotion and chatter at every opportunity were all silent as if their mouths were glued shut.
The over hundred seats were enveloped in suffocating silence.
“Though it’s true our Empire was founded by the grace of Yggdrasil, the powerful and wise silver dragon, and has long enjoyed authority, silver Idelin is merely a descendant with the same colored scales – how could he possibly continue Yggdrasil’s glory?”
The Emperor clicked his tongue. He was full of regret for not having said these words when his body was still healthy.
“…Call forth the black dragon’s master.”
The Emperor suddenly spoke after falling silent and letting the tension build. At the Emperor’s unexpected words, Carl, Hendrick, and even the former Marquis and Antonio kneeling with bowed heads on the platform looked at the Emperor with surprised eyes.
“Summon the black dragon’s master!”
When the chamberlain relayed the words, Sian appeared through the same door the former Marquis and Antonio had entered.
Gone was her appearance as the Prince’s fiancée with prettily curled hair and dress – instead, Sian wore a shirt and trousers with her long hair tightly tied back, as she had when wandering while hiding her identity as a dragon master.
With nothing left to hide or feel guilty about, Sian entered with mercenaries as escorts and walked straight onto the platform with dignity.
“I meet you for the first time, Aira Chandler, master of the black dragon.”
“May the blessing of the glorious silver dragon reach the heavens.”
When the Emperor greeted her, Sian respectfully dropped to one knee and placed a hand on her chest.
“Though I was born as Aira Chandler, that name has long been dead, so please call me Sian Roosevelt, Your Majesty. I will consider meeting Your gracious Majesty the honor of my life.”
After showing a man’s courtesy, Sian addressed the Emperor in a subdued voice. The Emperor wore a brief, faint smile.
“I already know of your unfortunate circumstances. After receiving the black dragon’s choice, you hid it and wandered the world continuously.”
Sian didn’t answer hastily but merely bowed her head in affirmation.
“Though concerns run deep that the black dragon will bring calamity to the Empire, far from calamity, you defended this palace against the dragon hunter who murdered the Dragon King.”
“I only did what had to be done.”
The Emperor praised Sian’s efforts, emphasizing his words for the nobles to hear. The former Marquis, who had been silently watching the situation, suddenly stood up with veins bulging in his neck.
“Your Majesty! The self-destructed dragon hunter Revenant knew that black dragon’s master long before this incident! The dragon hunter who brought the seeds of rebellion and the black dragon! Could all this truly be unrelated?”
“…Uncle, no, former Prince Daniel. This is nonsensical sophistry.”
