Chapter 1 Part 5

Lutelros, consumed by inferiority,

would never let a hostage from the rebellious Gallandia go unpunished.

He locked Melissa in the annex and visited daily to interrogate her.

What did your mother plot?

Who did she meet?

“Whose child are you?”

Those baseless questions were little more than a way to vent his anger.

At the time, Melissa was too young to understand what exactly her mother had done,

and she didn’t even remember her father’s face,

so all she could do was tremble and say, “I don’t know.”

“Young lady… you must behave well.

Only then… your grandfather… and the lord… will be safe…”

Whenever Lutelros left,

the maid who had come with her from Gallandia would plead through tears.

It felt as though she was shouldering even her mother’s sins,

but even as a child, Melissa never lost her smile.

“Mm, don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”

And so her days continued.

In the annex with its large sunlit windows,

she endured Lutelros’s yelling,

occasional bullying from Franz,

and afterward, she would sit perfectly still,

dressed impeccably like a doll.

But whenever she had the chance, she always smiled.

“I’m okay, really.”

That was all she could add.

Perhaps out of pity,

Sir Boris, the knight stationed at the tower,

would sometimes take her outside.

Later on, he even brought her into the inner courtyard

and kept watch so she could walk freely.

During those days,

she met a strange boy in the garden.

He had black hair and eyes,

gazing off into the distance.

Captivated by his beautiful profile,

she found herself staring without realizing it—

until his gaze snapped toward her with startling speed.

Startled by the sudden eye contact,

Melissa fled like a startled animal.

But for many nights after,

those calm, dark eyes wouldn’t leave her thoughts.

After a few days of quietly spying nearby,

she realized he was always alone.

So, cautiously, Melissa approached him.

“…Hi. What’s your name?”

The boy only looked at her—

his eyes utterly empty.

He didn’t respond.

It was complete dismissal.

Even so, Melissa kept going back to see him.

She didn’t know the exact reason—

only that she was drawn to him the way a bee is drawn to a flower.

It wasn’t just because the boy was beautiful.

Rather, it was the complete lack of emotion on that beautiful face that pulled her in.

He was always in the same place around the same time,

sitting in the garden with the same expression, staring off into the distance.

That made it easy to find him.

The more she saw him—

this boy, unmoving like a stone—

the more her curiosity grew.

What was his name?

Given his plain clothes, was he a servant?

Was he also longing for a family like she was?

Or did he even have one?

She tried to swallow her questions as she stayed quietly by his side.

“Did something happen?”

She’d noticed a reddish mark on his cheek—

as if someone had hit him.

Startled, the words tumbled out before she could stop them.

“Did Franz bully you or something?”

“…”

“If he did, I’ll ask Sir Boris. He’ll stop Franz.”

Franz often pulled her hair or threw books at her.

Sir Boris would usually intervene,

but most times he ended up getting hit instead.

“I know a good ointment. Want me to get it for you?”

Now that she’d started,

words poured out of her like a sparrow’s chirp.

Still, the boy remained silent.

It was so one-sided that even Sir Boris, watching from a distance, stepped in with a comment.

“The young master’s quite the quiet type.”

“Young master?”

“The second son of House Bergritz. Surprising, right?”

She had assumed he was the child of a servant or perhaps a servant himself.

This shattered all her expectations.

“He’s Franz’s cousin. Recently acknowledged into the family.

A bastard, I heard. Not born from an official marriage.”

Melissa had always known she was a bastard, too.

That alone made her feel an even deeper connection to him.

A mixture of empathy and kinship swelled in her chest.

She returned soon after with ointment from the maid and pressed it into his hand.

She didn’t have the courage to apply it for him.

“Be sure to use it.”

Because his expression was always so unreadable, she hadn’t expected him to use it.

But the next day, when she caught the faint scent of ointment on his cheek,

the ticklish anxiety in her chest melted away.

Feeling a little bolder,

Melissa began leading him around and even introduced him to her friends—

though her “friends” were just wildflowers.

Still, he remained silent.

She wondered if he might be mute,

so she wrote words in the dirt for him.

But he didn’t react at all.

“Young lady, the young master can’t read.

He was a commoner until recently.”

The boy frowned and glared at Boris,

but only for a moment.

Boris just shrugged.

“Sorry, didn’t realize.”

Even when Melissa apologized,

he didn’t seem to care, only continued to stare into the distance.

She wondered what it was he kept looking at.

So she quietly sat beside him and followed his gaze.

The garden they were in was elevated,

offering a clear view of both the horizon and the sky.

The overgrown garden paired with the clear sky—untouched by dragons—

was beautiful enough to bring a smile to her face.

Just then—

“You’re a hostage.”

His dry voice pierced the air.

Startled by hearing his clear voice for the first time,

Melissa completely forgot what he had said.

“What?”

“You’re a hostage. Locked up in the tower, right?”

He spoke with dark eyes far too mature for his age.

Each word felt like a pointed jab.

“Your mother betrayed the house,

and had a child with some lowborn man, didn’t she?”

Melissa blinked blankly, not quite understanding him.

But he didn’t let her sit in that silence for long.

“So what’s so funny?”

“Uh… huh? Oh… right.”

She let out an awkward laugh,

then quickly closed her mouth.

Right. Why was I smiling?

“Hmm… I’ve never really thought about it…”

“…”

“I guess sometimes I imagine things,

and even if life isn’t fun now,

those thoughts make me smile.”

“…”

“Like flying through the sky like a bird…

Ah, birds are my favorite.

If I’m ever born again, I want to be one.”

Melissa, caught up in her own words, began counting on her fingers as she chattered on.

“The color of the sky at sunrise… the way my grandfather will smile when I finally see him… the voice that’ll tell me I’m loved…”

In truth, so many living things made her smile.

Feeling a bit embarrassed to keep going, she just mouthed the rest.

Her chest swelled inexplicably—

but then came a sharp voice that sliced through the moment.

“Your grandfather’s going to welcome you?”

He even scoffed.

Melissa hesitated at his cold reaction,

but then nodded firmly as if to reassure herself.

“…Yes. He will.”

It had only been recently that she could send letters to her grandfather through Boris.

At first, the replies were brief.

But they had started to grow longer.

The handwriting gradually carried more weight,

and she could feel the care behind the words.

She remembered his warm letters,

where he said he missed her.

Those letters were full of affection… and guilt.

“He’ll welcome me for sure.”

Reaffirming it aloud,

she suddenly thought—

she wanted to see him smile.

“Try thinking of someone you love.

It’ll make you smile too.”

“…Someone I love.”

A flicker of intense emotion swept through his eyes.

He looked down at his feet, lost in thought,

then slowly lifted his head like he had realized something.

An empty sky filled his gaze.

“If there were dragons in that sky… everything…”

Melissa didn’t know where that train of thought was going,

but it seemed he’d gone from thinking of someone he loved

to imagining dragons.

So focused was he on his own thoughts

that he didn’t move, his eyes fixed on the sky as always.

Melissa, meanwhile, was too thrilled just to be talking with him

and didn’t quite catch what he said.

Before she knew it,

there was life in his face.

His lips slowly curved upward

into a bright smile she had never seen before.

The setting sun glowed faintly on his dry cheeks,

and his sharp eyes gleamed as if lit from within.

“Melissa.”

A tear slid down his gaunt cheek.

It was beautiful,

Melissa thought, pulled by a force she couldn’t explain.

“My name is Alexander.”

The sun had set in the blink of an eye.

At that fleeting moment between twilight and night,

Melissa looked at Alexander.

For some reason, his tear felt like a precious secret shared only between them.

She was certain then—

they could become good friends.

But the very next day, after Boris shared the news,

everything changed between them.

“That arrogant young master can control dragons now.”

No sooner had he said it

than a small whirlwind rushed in through the window,

scattering her blankets and shaking the furniture.

Without fear, Melissa clutched the windowsill

and looked up at the sky.

A massive dragon soared overhead, casting shadows across the land.

Alexander had fulfilled his dream—

in a single day.

Her heart pounded wildly.

Jealousy, awe, and a reverent admiration

all took root in her chest.

She wanted to see him right away.

But after that day,

Alexander never appeared in the garden again.

Months passed.

Melissa was eventually allowed out of the tower,

becoming Franz’s personal attendant.

The only time she could see Alexander

was from afar, at the training grounds.

Even from a distance, she could tell—

he had grown taller than her,

people now flocked around him,

and his eyes, once black, had turned gold—

the mark of a dragonmaster.

He looked free.

Like a hawk gliding through open skies.

Melissa wanted to stand by his side.

She wanted to speak to him again.

She wanted to be like him.

But reality wouldn’t allow it.

The old maid who had come with her died from illness,

and each passing day only reminded her

that she was nothing more than a hostage.

It wasn’t until she was eighteen

that Melissa got the chance to speak to Alexander again—

in the hunting grounds.

Franz had brought her there to mock her,

but she hadn’t expected Alexander to be with him.

And seeing him up close again—

he was devastatingly handsome.

His broad shoulders spread like an eagle’s wings,

his form graceful and lean—

he had grown so much.

Next to him,

she felt small and insignificant.

“‘If I catch a wolf, I’ll scoop out its eyes and give them to you, Melissa.’”

With those words, Franz disappeared,

having brought her here solely to torment her.

Left alone with Alexander,

she hastily spoke up before he could make the first move.

“Alexander!”

Whenever she thought of him,

Melissa felt as though she was still living in the past—

because that brief time they had shared long ago

was the only thing they had.

Maybe that’s why

she believed he felt the same way,

and spoke casually,

without formality.

She had mustered the courage to call his name—

and at last,

his golden gaze slowly turned toward her.

“It’s late, but… congratulations on becoming a dragonmaster.

And for your knighthood, too…!

I heard Her Majesty herself granted it…”

But there was no reply.

Only the faint rustle of leaves in the wind

answered her in the silence.

In the end, she looked up.

He was quietly running his hand along the barrel of a flintlock rifle,

offering no reaction.

“You don’t smile anymore.”

“…What?”

His eyes, fixed on the rifle,

slowly lifted.

The play of green shadows from the forest canopy

broke across his irises,

and it stole her breath away.

“Why?

Did everything you once loved disappear?”

The words were laced with bitter sarcasm—

as though he wanted it to be true.

“Do you not imagine yourself as a bird anymore?”

That tone—

taunting and cold—

made it painfully clear:

they no longer stood on equal ground.

Realizing her mistake,

Melissa instinctively bowed her head.

“I—I’m sorry…”

Her voice trembled with embarrassment.

“I was… I was too presumptuous.

Please forgive me.”

Clutching the reins of her horse,

she kept her head lowered.

A small smile escaped her lips—

not from amusement,

but from the unbearable awkwardness and shame.

She didn’t even know what kind of expression to make anymore,

and that odd smile

just forced its way out.

She wanted to press her lips down and make it go away,

but of course, this wasn’t the time.

“…But I still think of my grandfather often.

I know I’ll see him again someday.

And… I still imagine becoming a bird.

With wings,

I’d go anywhere I want to.”

Even as she trembled like prey cornered by a predator,

Melissa couldn’t bring herself to stop speaking.

She knew she could never become a bird.

And there was a very real possibility

that she might never see her grandfather again.

But still—

she refused to surrender her future to despair.

After all,

that boy who had once had nothing

now held a dragon.

“Sounds stupid, doesn’t it?”

With a smile so big it was almost foolish,

she turned away—

tears pooling in her eyes.

Ashamed. Humiliated.

And yet, her heart still raced.

Pretending she had horses to groom,

she hid in the stables all day,

unable to face him again.

Even so, she never hated him.

Never feared him.

If anything,

the stories that kept pouring in only made him more majestic in her eyes.

The reclaiming of Tavalon’s ancestral seat.

The title of Dragon Master.

She had never once stepped beyond the estate walls.

To her, he became something to worship.

So even as the distance between them widened,

she couldn’t help but be enchanted.

Unreturned feelings only made her see him as more perfect.

At twenty, when Alexander returned to the capital

and claimed the title of Lord,

when everyone knelt

and he stood above them all like a restless beast—

as awe crashed over her like a tidal wave,

Melissa gave her feelings a name.

Love.

***

Having slipped past the servants undetected,

Melissa finally returned to her room.

Clutching at her chest,

she felt as if his warmth still clung to her tunic.

“Am I really going to Tavalon now?”

Surely Alexander had his own plans.

He hadn’t reached that position by luck.

She would be leaving tomorrow.

Sitting before the candlelight, she thought deeply for hours.

And just as she stood to begin packing—

“Melissa.”

It was Franz’s mother.

Bright.

She stepped into the room uninvited.

Alexander’s words rang in Melissa’s mind:

You should be careful.

A cold wind rattled the windowpanes.