Chapter 136

The words cut through the air, sharp and cold. Elise bit her lip, a chilling premonition gripping her chest.

It was a painful realization. Just moments ago, she had witnessed, with her own eyes, the look and intensity with which this man desired a woman.

The man who had once been so cold, so indifferent at their first meeting—so distant from the temperamental, ferocious beings of his kind—now wore such ominous eyes, consumed by something as delicate and dangerous as affection.

The discord she had felt around him, that sense of déjà vu, clicked together with the story of Sameshita.

“If you were to share even the smallest part of your heart with it, I would not hesitate to kill it. It is nothing more than an impurity between us—meaningless, neither more nor less.”

Elise swallowed hard, her pulse quickening.

The coldness in his words sent a shiver down her spine, and she felt the weight of his possessiveness, like a shadow creeping closer.

“He deceived me, pretending to share my feelings, using me, and then betraying me.”

The hostility toward the child’s existence, the deep attachment that rejected anything standing in the way, and the cruelty that sometimes peeked through his words…

A knot twisted in Elise’s stomach as she pieced it all together. What had been the fate of that dragon again?

“…Elise. In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to kill that child with my own hands.”

Her heart skipped a beat as she recalled Sameshita’s words.

“The trap he laid for me—disguised as a gesture of love—was obviously a sealing spell. But… laughably, the moment I saw his tearful face, I found myself wanting to leap willingly into the hell he had prepared for me.”

A deep, unsettling intuition whispered to Elise, a warning buried deep in her chest. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach, a gnawing certainty that the future of the man gazing at her now would not be so different from that.

Before the trembling remnants of excitement in her lower abdomen could fade, Elise shook her head, her movements sharp and decisive.

“It’s better for us to part ways,” she said, her voice firm. “In every sense. It’s not too late yet.”

She couldn’t abandon Andrei—not when he needed her. And that left her with no choice but to leave Rezette. It felt inevitable, like a story already written in the past, much like Gallian had once turned his back on Sameshita.

And yet, that decision had cost him dearly. Sameshita had ravaged half the continent before being sealed away, still wandering Grandel even now. Elise felt an uncomfortable twinge in her chest as she realized the same fate could await him if she didn’t act now.

Her relationship with Rezette would, in the end, only bring destruction. The dragon’s unfulfilled love had twisted into obsession, and in his madness, he had lost all sense of reason. She feared the same would happen to Rezette if she allowed things to continue between them.

She couldn’t begin. She must neither accept his feelings nor acknowledge her own.

Elise steeled herself, the weight of her decision pressing down on her. Before this man, like that maddened dragon, descended into madness from unreciprocated affection. Before he did something irreversible.

Her heart ached with the knowledge that she might be the one to break him.

But it was the only way. She didn’t want to hurt him—not like this. She didn’t want to leave a scar on his soul, to contribute to the emptiness that already seemed to consume him.

With great effort, she avoided his gaze, the man before her now trembling with barely contained frustration.

“Don’t love me, Rezette,” she pleaded softly, her voice strained with unshed tears. “I want you to remain as human as you are now.”

***

A long night passed, and dawn arrived.

Occasionally, small snowflakes fluttered on the wind, gently settling on the windowsill. Rezette watched the intense light of the breaking dawn, its golden rays cutting through the flurries scattered like salt.

The biting cold had receded, and the weather had turned milder. The blizzard that had ravaged Norella was finally calming, and within a day or two, the skies would clear and the snow would begin to melt.

Even so, he thought, the journey ahead will be arduous.

The woman who had so persistently ignored his confession had finally collapsed into a deep sleep as dawn broke.

The medicinal smoke, meant to ensure she wouldn’t wake easily, had burned down to gray ashes. The air in the room was thick with the heavy scent of wild hydrangea.

Thanks to it, the feverish heat in his head and heart—like a brazier poked and prodded—gradually cooled.

After standing in the darkness for what seemed an eternity, lost in thought, Rezette began to move only when the sun finally peeked above the horizon. By then, he had resolved on a course of action, unwavering in his decision.

First, he gently pulled back the blanket covering Elise’s body. His gaze swept down the crumpled chemise, lingering as it came to rest just below her navel.

As his hand reached toward her abdomen, faint magic gathered at his fingertips. The small, fragile life within her stirred in startled alarm, and the sensation vibrated through his hand, sharp and vivid.

“Stay still,” Rezette murmured, his voice low and commanding.

He didn’t know how to refine his magic. His power was unpredictable—its intensity tied to his emotional state. In moments of calm, it flowed gently, but in times of frenzy or discomfort, it surged violently.

He couldn’t fully control it, and when he lost even the slightest grip on his emotions, it would surge uncontrollably through his right arm, dark and ominous.

He had avoided using such methods, fearing they might harm her. But as he watched the child relentlessly growing inside her, he realized there was no time left to waste.

Magic seeped from his palm, which rested against Elise’s lower abdomen. It sank beneath her skin, gradually being absorbed by the delicate flesh, but it wasn’t Elise herself who was absorbing it—it was the child within her.

The reason his mother, Emelia, had survived close to ten months while carrying him wasn’t due to her exceptional health. It was because Sameshita had visited her frequently.

Of course, it wasn’t just for casual conversation.

Emelia had been a toy to Sameshita, one he kept for far too long. The reason Rezette had been born far superior to other dragons stemmed from this twisted bond.

In essence, for a dragon to grow normally in a human womb, it needed to continually absorb the dragon’s magic in the most direct manner possible—touching the fetus. A mere kiss wouldn’t suffice.

“Just like Sameshita…” Rezette murmured, the words slipping out almost absently.

A small chuckle escaped his lips, dark and mirthless.

“Be careful when you say things like that, unless you really want me to act recklessly.”

As Rezette continued to pour his magic into Elise, his gaze never left her sleeping face. The moment his power touched her skin, her small body flinched, but it didn’t seem painful enough to rouse her from her sleep.

A sense of relief washed over him.

Now that he knew she could tolerate this much, he focused more magic into his fingertips. The faint gray aura curled around his hand, steadily being absorbed into her body in a repetitive cycle.

When he felt it was enough, he withdrew his hand, his expression cold and calculating.

The fetus had been stabilized. Elise’s belly wouldn’t grow noticeably for some time.

“I’ll give you as much nourishment as you want,” Rezette said coolly, his voice void of warmth, “but don’t make things difficult for your mother.”

The sound of the blanket rustling was swallowed by the faint, rhythmic thrum of the small heart within her. It wasn’t conscious yet, but still, the persistent sound of a life that shouldn’t even exist… it was bothersome.

Rezette’s gaze hardened as he watched her abdomen. He reshaped his hand, now gently caressing her stomach.

“Behave like a human. Be good,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

This was the last ounce of patience he would grant Elise.

They would return to Rotiara. If there was anywhere else she thought she was meant to go, Rezette would erase that place from the map of Grandel.

***

Since the blizzard had begun signaling the arrival of winter in Norella, a tea time gathering was arranged in the Duke’s study. As usual, the only attendees were the mother and daughter.

“This tiresome period is finally coming to an end, Father,” Genovia remarked, savoring the aroma of her black tea.

“The sailors are thawing the port,” the Duke replied, his voice calm and measured. “They say the ships can set sail by tomorrow morning.”

“That’s good to hear. How many ships are leaving?”

“Seven ships. Four will head north, while the remaining three will pass through Hamaram before making their way to Tentaluna.”

Genovia nodded thoughtfully. Hamaram was a small island where ships traveling from Norella to the central region would stop. After a fortnight at sea, they would replenish water and supplies before embarking on the final stretch of their journey—a three-week sail to the Tentaluna Peninsula, a southern maritime kingdom ruled by the Kappa Dynasty.

After the recent war, most routes to the south have been blocked. Tentaluna is the only southern kingdom left with an open trade route. Their southern specialties supply the entire Van Yela region.

By entering Tentaluna from the south, one could bypass the Ugel Barbarian Kingdom and venture into the ancient territories of Argan across the central region.

Genovia’s thoughts shifted. Will they actually make it to port? Her mind wandered to the couple who had been at odds so frequently. It was said that they fought constantly, yet somehow, their separations were always brief.

The Duke, for his part, didn’t seem to hide his emotions. When the woman rejected him strongly, he would reluctantly withdraw—but even then, he rarely left her bedroom door.

Those sent to observe their behavior always found the Duke standing near the door, staring through the cracks.

“So, how does it look? Does he seem to be in pain?” Genovia asked, her voice laced with curiosity.

The response came with a quiet chuckle. “Well… not exactly. It seems like he’s calculating when to open the door again, without blinking an eye. I might be overstepping here, but he almost seems less human… more like a wolf, or a wild animal.”

Her tone suggested a deepening assessment—one that questioned the humanity of the Duke.

Genovia shifted in her seat, her gaze drifting toward the window. “And tonight? How do you think it will unfold?”

She had plans to leave the back door to the study open from tonight until tomorrow morning. The princess had only asked her to leave a door open and to have a carriage or horse ready. Genovia was intrigued to see how the princess would manage to slip past the Duke and head for the port.

This will be an interesting show, she thought, a sly smile curling at the corner of her lips.

Just as she placed her teacup down, the Duke, who had been observing his daughter closely, spoke casually. “It seems like you have a guest in the study, Genovia.”

Genovia froze, her face flushing with sudden embarrassment as she quickly realized the Duke’s implication.

“…What?” she stammered, caught off guard.