Chapter 35: Drakan Rider, Fay
I know this might sound selfish, but I really wish that he would care more about me, Fay, rather than Dott, who he believes to be his real sister. I want to be able to complain a little, too. Honestly, it’s been so hard to endure all of this. As soon as I realized that time could be rewound, I struggled so much just to stay alive!
‘I’m crazy! What am I even saying?’
Fay shut her lips tight in embarrassment, ashamed of the thoughts she had just had.
At this point, acting like a spoiled child was getting extreme. He didn’t even know who she was, yet she was asking him to take care of her more than he did with his sister? What was she thinking?
Fortunately, it seemed that Kassel didn’t notice the change in Fay’s thoughts.
“Miss Fay, is there anything else you’d like to do besides your training at the Mage Tower?”
“…Hmm, I’m not sure. Ah! By the way, I do have a Drakan. It’s not a huge secret, but please don’t spread it around?”
At her unexpected statement, Kassel’s pupils widened slightly.
“A Drakan? You mean one of the inferior dragon subspecies?”
“Yes. I borrowed it, but they said I could use it for my whole life. It’s still too early to go too high, but I can ride it for a short time and fly around. Even when it walks on the ground, it’s so large that the pressure it puts on the ground is quite intense.”
“Remarkable things are happening in the Mage Tower.”
“Pweh-heh-hweh!”
Momo, who had been quietly sleeping, suddenly coughed loudly from the basket behind her. Kassel, far from being surprised, responded casually.
“You even have a baby bird that makes strange noises, Miss Fay.”
“…”
Fay struggled to suppress an awkward smile near her lips.
Kassel’s eyebrows twitched, and then he asked seriously.
“Is that what I think it is?”
This was the Mage Tower. Carrying a huge Drakan and shrinking it down with magic wasn’t a big deal. Fay answered eagerly.
“Yes.”
Kassel was impressed.
“I’ve only seen Drakan Riders in books, but to think they actually exist! Miss Fay, if you wish to become a Drakan Rider, I will report this to the Crown Prince immediately.”
“Me?”
“You don’t even need to be active in combat. Just having a Drakan Rider on the royal side will significantly boost the strength and stature of the royal family. Officially, there will be rumors, but… do you have any thoughts on this?”
She said something she couldn’t even imagine saying a few months ago.
“Yes. If given the opportunity, I’d like to go.”
“Good. I’ll inform His Highness the Crown Prince and arrange a meeting soon. I’ll choose a good time.”
“I’ll wait.”
After the meeting with Kassel, Fay closed her eyes for a moment.
Had I always been this proactive? It’s not unpleasant to see myself changing little by little after coming back from death.
She wasn’t just trying to get close to Kassel out of jealousy toward Dott.
‘I need to expand my influence at the palace. Even if divine power loses its shine, the Grand Temple of the Supreme Deity still holds considerable power, doesn’t it?’
To get closer to the truth behind the Saintess, she needed to take a few more steps.
‘I don’t have to go far. The Grace Monastery is essentially under them, so I need to build alliances with others who can help me.’
Now that Dott was acknowledged as Duke Klein’s daughter, there was nothing good for Fay to gain by going to the Duke’s estate.
Her family, who had been cold to her, was probably now completely taken by Dott. With Dott’s cunning speech, things would only distance her more from them. She had no intention of trying to get on their good side either.
‘Live happily with the fake Lady. I’ll wait until the day you realize how hasty you were!’
With firm resolve, Fay decided that for the time being, Momo and she would need to practice a bit.
— — —
The next day, just as she was looking at the map, trying to decide where would be a good place to go without Lucius by her side, the door suddenly burst open. With a loud crash, the door swung wide, and silver hair fluttered violently like a battle flag.
It was a face that was welcome to Fay, but to Momo, who had been lazily sleeping in the basket, it was the harbinger of battle.
“Ppii!“
“…Lucius?”
“Fay, you said you’d go to the Imperial Palace on your own, right?”
Lucius barged in with an excited look on his face and immediately started to complain.
Fay nodded obediently.
“Yes. I introduced myself as a Drakan Rider. I still have a lot to learn, but if I go to the Imperial Palace and speak honestly, then practice a little more…”
“Do you really want to go to the Imperial Palace? Unlike before, are you saying you want to join them for good? Think carefully. Just completing a one-time request has already tied you to the Imperial Palace. If you’re a Drakan Rider, which only appears once every few centuries in the Empire, of course, it will work to your advantage! But your reason for going there might be different, right?”
Lucius was speaking fervently, just for Fay’s sake. Seeing his red face, Fay felt strangely reassured.
Lucius didn’t dislike her or grow tired of her! She still didn’t know why he had been avoiding her…
Feeling better, Fay spoke up.
“I’ve decided to go to the Imperial Palace, Lucius. Is it because you feel uncomfortable with me bringing Momo along to help there?”
“That’s not it! I just—!”
Who was he angry at?
Lucius, who had been yelling loudly, now stared hard at Fay.
The freshness in her pale green eyes was still there. The curiosity of a mage, the courage mixed with fragile fear, and the recklessness of wanting to walk a path without knowing what lay ahead. In truth, he should hate her and stay away.
The reason he had intentionally approached her was to understand the situation, and in case it became harmful to him, to stop it in any way.
But what am I, the great dragon, doing here? That d**n Drakan bastard, slyly teasing me and avoiding a human woman like this! How can I still say I’m proud of being an ancient dragon?
“…”
There was one thing he couldn’t deny.
When Lucius looked at Fay, his heart was strangely stirred. He couldn’t tell whether the feeling was hatred, pity for a human who lived a fleeting life, or emptiness.
Fay.
I need to say something to you.
I can’t let you go to the Imperial Palace alone, where there might be danger. More precisely, no matter where you go or what you do, just don’t disappear from my sight.
I need to resolve this strange feeling I have for you, and when I can look at you with an indifferent gaze, that’s when I will stop hesitating.
Can you wait for me until then?
‘That’s right…! It has to be me! I must face you as a human and overcome you, to free myself from the nightmare of the past. I can’t keep being dragged by that arrogant b*st*rd Karon’s bloodline. That’s my only wish!’
Once again, Lucius rationalized everything, though no one would acknowledge it. He hurriedly said, “Alright.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Even though Lucius suddenly raised his voice, Fay didn’t flinch. She was focused only on his words. She didn’t have the time to notice how much his eyes were trembling with conflict. So, she couldn’t understand why his thoughts were coming out wrong after all his long deliberations.
Lucius, irritated by the sight of Momo’s wings flapping in the basket as she prepared to sing, declared, “We’re going to train until you reach the Imperial Palace! Except for meals, sleep, and bathing time, it’ll be all training! Magic practice? You can do that in your dreams or however you want.”
“Yes.”
Despite the rough words, Fay answered calmly.
‘Ah, really! Is this the right thing to do?!’
Lucius, who wanted to ignore the boiling feelings inside him, thought he might want to scream from the top of a mountain. Not in his human form, but in his true form, where he could let out a roar that would make Fay’s eardrums ring!
‘I…! I… So… I…!’
Ah, I don’t even know! Forget it!
* * *
The day she was to return to the Imperial Palace.
Through a letter from Kassel that arrived the previous evening, Fay unexpectedly received an offer. It was a suggestion to demonstrate the Drakan flight before the Crown Prince, right there at the Imperial Palace.
“Does this even make sense? The Imperial Palace is a huge place, but what if this thing starts spitting fire?”
For the first time, Lucius was concerned about someone else besides her, and Fay seriously responded.
“Can Drakans breathe fire?”
“Of course not! Fire breath is a sacred power unique to dragons. Who are these sharp, ugly things trying to imitate dragons?”
“The book didn’t say that.”
“Ha, well, they can probably emit some vile breath from their stomachs. Just thinking about it makes me want to puke!”
It seemed that Lucius had a deep reverence for dragons. It made sense, considering he had tamed a Drakan. Fay thought to herself.
“Didn’t dragons once capture elves and make them slaves?”
She had always believed that Lucius was an elf.
‘Ah… so that’s how it is. Even someone as great as Lucius still fears dragons. It’s a blessing that they’re almost extinct.’
Misunderstanding his words, Fay nodded while petting Momo. She had been practicing non-stop, but whether it would work out the same at the Imperial Palace was uncertain.
Since she would be going with Lucius, Momo wouldn’t make any mistakes. The problem was Fay’s ‘Drakan driving skills.’
Momo would crawl, walk, and fly at the speed and direction Fay desired, but she had to stay alert.
‘If I miscalculate the height and brush against a building… Aaaah.’
“Got it.”
After meeting with Kassel, Fay had made the spontaneous decision to go to the Imperial Palace, but now she had to show herself riding the Drakan in the palace…
Her lips trembled slightly from tension, and Lucius said seriously, “If you don’t want to go, then don’t. If you think you can’t do it, we can just quit and go somewhere else.”
“…What?”
Fay’s eyes widened in surprise at his sudden words.
