Chapter 6 Part 2

Originally, the plan was for Melissa to meet Bright’s agent hidden among the jasmine and inform him that the dragons were dead, so the agent could relay the news to Bright.

Though it was surprising that the agent was Philip…

Seeing that Philip seemed in a bad mood, Melissa decided to offer different advice instead of pointing it out.

“If there’s a chance, it would be better to capture Philip alive.”

“Why?”

“Because he might reveal the existence of another agent on our side. He seemed quite open to persuasion.”

“Probably.”

His tone remained curt.

Melissa stopped walking, speaking where the vanished security officers could no longer hear them.

“If I’ve done something wrong…”

Her heart felt like it was malfunctioning.

Every moment around him was tense.

She looked up at him silently, and he irritably brushed back his hair.

“Have you been involved with Philip?”

“…What?”

“It doesn’t matter if you have. But once you are married—”

“Wait, wait a moment.”

“You must be mine alone. The vow must not be broken.”

“Did you just say married?”

His brow furrowed.

“I know many keep lovers or mistresses after marriage. But I do not want you to have a mistress. I will watch you closely.”

It sounded like surveillance.

No, wait.

Melissa kept silently shouting no, no.

Married?

He was seriously thinking about marriage.

She was too shocked to speak.

Thinking she had been stunned by an absurd proposal, Alexander took the lead and walked on.

“Then the agent… ah, I will have him killed.”

He looked ready to capture and kill Philip immediately.

Confused, Melissa grabbed him.

“That’s too harsh!”

“Sixteen is an adult.”

“Wait a moment, Alexander.”

Matching his long strides, Melissa’s breath grew uneven.

She barely composed herself and said,

“So, are you saying that we’re going to… get married?”

“If that’s what you think, that I would steal my brother’s woman and leave her be, then you’re mistaken.”

Alexander knew that even the most sacred vows couldn’t bind her.

But what was even more unpleasant was that the moment she held Philip’s hand, the plan dissolved, leaving only murderous intent.

He couldn’t control himself.

There was no word to describe that moment other than confusion.

Just as a fleeting haze seemed to overtake him, he felt a warm touch slipping between his fingers.

She whispered, unable to hide her flushed cheeks,

“The proposal is a bit harsh, isn’t it?”

Their relationship was far from proper, and their situation was unstable, but Melissa laughed awkwardly.

She intended it as a joke, but he was staring at her almost as if glaring.

Just as she was about to feel embarrassed, his grip tightened instead.

It was a strength she couldn’t easily pull away from like before.

“I was rash, sister-in-law.”

He seemed to understand her intent and responded with a joke, though it was a joke lacking any charm in calling her sister-in-law.

Lifting her hand, he kissed the back of it.

“I’ll get you a proper ring, so please forgive me.”

Then, as her strength melted away, he kissed the tip of her ring finger and bit down, leaving a round bite mark.

Seeing it, he pressed his cheek against her palm.

“I need to mark what’s mine.”

“Wait, wait…”

Unable to bring herself to bite back his hand, she bent down and plucked a pale wildflower.

Quickly, she fashioned a flower ring and slipped it onto his finger.

He had no particular reaction to her spontaneous act.

Feeling timid, Melissa bowed her head and murmured,

“I need to mark what’s mine too…”

Melissa’s chin, which had been staring at the ground, was lifted.

He had raised it.

She wondered if he had gone too far, but seeing Alexander’s bright, almost incredulous smile, she felt the strength drain from her entire body, melting away toward the soles of her feet.

Before Melissa could smile back, his head tilted.

They kissed on the bloodstained ground.

***

Bright shuddered.

Since the Bergritz name had been painted over his own, life had ceased to feel like life.

How had it felt when the position of Bergritz’s lord was taken by a boy who wasn’t even considered a legitimate heir?

The humiliation and misery were hard to conceal.

And now the dragons were dead.

Harmonia’s breath had stopped, and all dragons had vanished.

Bright had already expected Melissa’s death once the curse was broken.

It would have been better if she had lived, but she had served her purpose well enough to be deemed commendable.

Bright immediately summoned the elders.

Among the elders who valued legitimacy, there were more than a few who considered Alexander an impurity, so they gathered quickly.

“Are we certain the dragons are gone?”

One elder seated around the round table asked.

Another across from him replied,

“The half-dragons have not been seen in Tavalon’s skies for over four days. The information comes from the Hurchelan, so it’s reliable.”

They did not disdain aligning with the Hurchelan barbarians to eliminate impurities.

They saw it as the unavoidable will of the heavens.

“Alexander Bergritz without dragons is but an empty shell. He can never be our leader.”

Amid murmurs, Bright’s cold voice echoed.

Her lips trembled as she laughed.

There was only one answer.

“Only war remains.”

***

Melissa’s current identity was that of a sage who had come from a foreign land to investigate the strange symptoms in Tavalon following the dragons’ disappearance.

She wore a dark blue robe and a mask, accompanied by two women dressed identically.

Of course, they were not sages but ordinary twins who served as Melissa’s attendants and guards—among the few who knew her true identity.

“Was your sleeping arrangement uncomfortable?”

 The twin sister, Aetiu, spoke. Since Melissa had been hiding her identity and staying in a detached villa of Tavalon after Franz left, she asked about the change in sleeping arrangements.

Melissa shook her hand, recalling the still too-lavish bed.

“It was really comfortable.”

“That’s a relief.”

Aetiu nodded and lowered her voice.

“The scholar we’re going to see now has a somewhat… unique personality. You might say they’re overly absorbed in one thing?”

Then her younger sister, Askan, shook her head vigorously. The decorations on her mask shimmered as she did.

“It’s more than just absorbed. Honestly, not just that person but all scholars are kind of strange.”

“Hmm…”

“Sage, do we really have to see that person?”

Askan pleaded.

Aetiu crossed her arms and silently agreed with her sister’s words.

Melissa awkwardly shook her head amid their lively chatter.

“It’s an order, so we have to go.”

“I don’t think we have to obey.”

Askan grumbled.

“The lord seems completely smitten with the sage. He keeps staring only at the sage. His gaze is so intense it almost hurts me.”

Melissa felt relieved to be wearing a mask and let out a small laugh.

“That’s the order I received from the lord.”

However, beneath her smile, there was a faint trace of bitterness.

She knew he watched her.

But it wasn’t quite like the way he looked at her; there was a persistent, meticulous edge to it.

Recalling the recent proposal, it felt as if he assumed she would meet someone else.

In other words, he didn’t trust her at all.

Melissa had been pondering how to earn his trust recently.

But whenever she saw Alexander, all those worries vanished, and she found herself endlessly gazing at him.

She simply liked it.

“By the way, Sage, I’m curious about something.”

Askan said, sounding troubled.

“I heard the lord suddenly demolished the top floor of the main palace and is rebuilding it. Have you heard anything? Without any prior notice, they tore it all down…”

The top floor was where his office, private chamber, and bedroom were located.

Melissa, recalling how Franz had once romped around there with his lover, rolled her eyes but pretended not to notice.

She knew it wouldn’t be visible to her companions anyway.

“When restoring the main building, he didn’t touch the fifth floor much, so I wondered why he suddenly decided to do so.”

“I don’t know everything he’s doing either.”

Askan frowned and fiddled with the edge of her mask.

“You can probably tell from my accent, but we’re not originally from Tavalon. We’re half-barbarians.”

“Askan! Why are you saying unnecessary things!”

“Well, you should know, in case it bothers you. Anyway, because of that, the servants ostracize us, so we’re weak on information. The ostracism is inevitable, since we have barbarian blood mixed in…”

Without realizing it, Melissa grabbed Askan’s hand as she rambled on.

Both were startled by the sudden grasp.

Unaware of herself, Melissa spoke whatever came to mind.

“Askan, I don’t even know where I’m supposed to feel offended.”

“…”

“I don’t even know what’s inevitable…”

“…”

“To me, Askan is just a young, talkative person. Not bad… Ah, I’m not good with words… Askan is just Askan.”

Melissa frowned and gently released her hand.

“Askan is a resident of Tavalon before anything else, not just half-barbarian.

If lineage or blood mattered, I’d have even bigger problems—I was a hostage of Bergritz.”

“…”

“But…”

“We’re in Tavalon now. We’re doing our best here.”

Melissa smiled, knowing her face was hidden by the mask.

“Is there anything more important than that?”

A brief silence fell.

The sisters both looked surprised.

Melissa herself felt embarrassed at her rambling but stood firm, knowing she hadn’t spoken untruthfully.

“…That’s right. Honestly, most of the servants are lazier than my sister. If diligence is a virtue of Tavalon, then we are more Tavalon than they are.”

Though Melissa couldn’t see Askan’s expression, she could tell she was enjoying herself. Aetiu was the same.

“Anyway, Melissa, I naturally assumed you two would have many conversations in bed. It’s usually when lovers are most honest with each other.”

If Melissa had been drinking, she thought she would have spit it all out right then.

“They say people from the central region are quite closed off about that sort of thing. If you’re weak in conversation or other skills in bed, I could lend you some books… Oh! We’ve arrived.”

Fortunately, they had reached Tavalon’s academy just in time.

The building had a round, domed ceiling and was structured like the fortress, with trumpet-shaped stairs in the center, but it had far more rooms.

Inside, many were bustling like ants, especially investigators carrying books and glass bottles containing unknown substances.

“Investigators and scholars often have close relationships,”

Aetiu lightly explained as Melissa couldn’t take her eyes off them.

“Especially theologians often side with investigators when studying apostles or tracing their history.”

“I see.”

Just as the explanation continued, a stooped scholar greeted them.

“Welcome, sages. I am Gloria, the scholar assigned to guide you. The academy headmaster awaits you on the top floor.”

“Do we have to climb all those stairs?”

Askan, who had been chatting loudly, suddenly looked serious and composed herself.

The scholar shook her head.

“There is an elevator that uses counterweights. It has no motor, so it must be moved manually… Are you curious about how it works? I can explain if you wish…”

“No, that’s fine.”

Aetiu folded her hands, letting her sleeves hang loosely—an unmistakable sign she didn’t want to hear more.

“Please just show us the way.”

“…Follow me.”

They took the elevator up to the top floor.

As the scholar had said, turning the handle inside made the elevator rise.

The scholar seemed tired from turning the handle and intermittently gasped as she guided them to the door.

On the door was a painting of two figures facing each other—one relatively short with long ears and facial features where the nose dropped directly from the forehead.

“A monster…?”

“A spirit.”

“A spirit.”

Askan tilted her head, staring at the painting on the door.

Both the scholar and Melissa spoke simultaneously.

The scholar looked at Melissa with sparkling eyes, as if expecting something, and Melissa hesitated before speaking.