Chapter 250 - Touch (Illustration)

Valdrova had turned into one enormous rose. All they had done was meet each other's eyes...

They had certainly made eye contact like this many times before. Yet she had never imagined how unfamiliar, how utterly exposed, the world would feel without that single mask between them.

In the end, Valdrova closed her eyes. But that only stirred Ferda's feelings further. He could see every fine hair of her lashes as she squeezed her eyes shut, the contours of her face thrown into sharper relief.

Her milky skin and small, delicate lips became forbidden fruit beyond his reach, tempting him. It felt as though a powerful wave of desire had crashed over him.

Ferda crossed another line. He rested a hand on Valdrova's face.

She flinched at the unexpected touch. As she stood rigid as stone, his fingers slowly traced her jaw, taking in its shape, little by little.

Valdrova shuddered. It was only his hand touching her, yet her heart was pounding harder and harder.

'At this rate, I might die.'

Both hands moved reflexively to push his hand away, to put an end to this frightening, unfamiliar situation. Yet they landed on her own chest instead. Rather than push him away, she tried to use them to still her trembling.

But that was nowhere near enough. Ferda's hand grew bolder as it traced her jaw. It moved up from the line of bone beneath her skin to her cheek, where he could feel the softness of her flesh.

He pressed lightly, then released. As her skin sprang back, the lovely fragrance clinging to it wafted faintly into the air.

Ferda knew this sensation.

'It feels exactly as I imagined...'

The hallucination he had experienced while trapped with the armored knight. She felt exactly like the Valdrova he had met in that vision. If he cupped her cheek, it would be wonderfully soft. Had he tested that sensation too, he might have realized that it had been real.

But he did not. Like a camel poking its head into a tent, desire was nudging ever deeper into his heart. His instincts wanted more than a touch of her cheek, and his gaze settled on what they sought.

Two pieces of finely polished red jade. Their suppleness was plain to see. He was curious. He simply wanted to know what pleasures something so small could offer his five senses.

Her trembling lips parted to reveal white teeth as she spoke.

"Ferda..."

Her voice stopped him. Only then did he notice how violently his Red Circle was spinning.

"Yes?"

"Um... I-I didn't say you could touch me..."

"Ah..."

Only then did Ferda withdraw his hand. It seemed to have nowhere left to go, leaving only reluctance behind.

"Ooh..."

She covered her scarlet face and bowed her head low.

Ferda apologized.

"I'm sorry. I overstepped without realizing it."

Her lips were tightly bitten, her eyes on the verge of tears. The resentment and envy in that expression were both frightening and adorable. After considering something, she spoke.

"... I want to touch you."

"Pardon?"

"I want to... touch you too. You're not... the only one who wants things."

Her fingers fidgeted. She sounded determined to have her own way, yet her hands seemed to be waiting for permission. Ferda nodded quietly.

"All right."

"C-close your eyes."

"Must I?"

"It's embarrassing."

"All right."

Ferda closed his eyes. Without his sight, everything else felt more distinct. Or was he imagining it?

He could feel her studying him in a way she would never ordinarily dare. He thought he understood how she had felt. Being looked at could be so agonizing, so difficult, and yet so thrilling.

A soft touch brushed his chin. Small and warm, with a faint scent of roses. She described exactly what her fingertips felt.

"It's... a little rough here. Is it a scar?"

"It's stubble. I shaved before coming here, but apparently I missed a little."

"So you grow a beard too, Ferda."

"I am a man, after all."

"I see. Your stubble..."

She seemed to like the roughness, touching it again and again as he heard her giggle happily.

"It's fascinating," she said. "I see your face all the time, but touching it like this feels so different. Is that why you liked my face so much?"

Her ceaseless chatter stopped. Now he had no idea what she was doing. What was she about to do?

He cautiously opened his eyes. Her gaze looked entranced, and her finger rested close to his lips.

When their eyes met, Valdrova's face flared red again, befitting the Aspect of Fire.

"I-I told you not to open your eyes..."

"I'm sorry."

In the end, neither had managed to touch the other's lips, leaving an awkward silence between them. Still scarlet-faced, Valdrova laid down the law.

"No more touching faces."

"... Understood."

It felt as though the sky were falling. As if she understood his feelings, she added,

"I'd like to do something a little less embarrassing instead."

"Such as?"

"Well..." Valdrova said. "You remember how I tried to hug you when you first arrived?"

Ferda remembered perfectly. His disappointment had been as great as his anticipation.

"I do."

"Actually, hugging you was the very first thing I wanted to do when we met... But the timing..."

The timing, was it? Ferda thought of the nobles who had accompanied him. Useless creatures, except when it came to developing the far east.

"If they're making you uncomfortable, I'll throw them out at once."

"W-what? Th-there's no need! It's already in the past."

At her urging, Ferda sat back down.

"I told Penelope that I wanted to hug you..."

"Yes?"

"And she made something wonderful for me."

"... I can hardly wait to see it."

"Exciting, isn't it?"

What had that damned devil made this time? Depending on how bad it was, he would decide whether to kill her horribly or mercifully.

Seemingly oblivious to his thoughts, Valdrova carefully showed him what Penelope had made: four rubber spheres.

"She says they're anti-impalement devices made especially for Valdrova."

"... I see."

"If I put them on my head like this..."

POP, POP, POP, POP

"Ta-da! No more sharp horns."

She looked immensely proud. Watching her, Ferda wondered whether her horns would simply pierce through them anyway if she applied any force. Still, she looked so utterly harmless and adorable that he was quite satisfied.

"Now I can hug you. So..."

Valdrova stood. Bathed in the warm glow of the sun sinking in the west, she opened her arms.

"... Will you hold me?"

Ferda could not refuse. He rose and carefully drew her into his arms. Something soft poked against his chest. He thought this might be the most useful thing that damned devil had ever invented.

Valdrova's hands encircled his waist without applying any pressure. Assuming she did not like tight embraces, Ferda held her lightly too.

"Tighter..." Valdrova whispered into his ear. "I can't hold you tightly myself..."

Only then was Ferda certain. Valdrova was always thinking the same things he was.

"Hold me... as tightly as you've missed me."

Ferda pulled her into his arms with all his strength, prepared for those horns to pierce the soft rubber and carve another wound into his chest.

* * *

Silverwind's stronghold stood in the far north of the Serdes Continent. He had built it as both a citadel for his Dragon Spawn and a fortress against the Frost Giants. It had stood guard for over a thousand years and remained steadfast even now, battered by fierce winds.

Two Dragon Spawn were on duty in a watchtower. One looked out into the blizzard, while the other read a book with a staff resting across his shoulders.

"Yaaawn. I'm bored to death, sir."

"Keep a proper watch, idiot."

"We're Dragon Spawn. We've got our pride. Why're we standing guard?"

"You think I'm standing here with you because I don't have any?"

"Well, if even you're doing it, Captain Percival..."

He sounded convinced, but his face was still full of discontent.

"I've put in my time by now. Wish we'd get some juniors. What about you, Captain?"

"I'd certainly welcome a few more underlings."

"Isn't it time we recruited more warriors? We've lost plenty of comrades to the Frost Giants..."

When Silverwind was alive, he had recruited great numbers of aspiring warriors and driven them beyond the far eastern wall. Just as many had died. They called it Silverwind's forging.

Now that their numbers no longer grew, they could no longer follow those old methods. Only a dragon could create Dragon Spawn.

"Leader Goz is practically our father now, isn't he?"

"That he is."

"If he can't create Dragon Spawn, doesn't that mean he hasn't fully absorbed Lord Silverwind's essence?"

"..."

"Then doesn't that mean he's unfit to possess the essence, and has no right to rule over us?"

The air turned cold.

"Well, perhaps."

With the staff still across his shoulders, Percival sighed and closed his book. He stood and asked the other man,

"So, can you beat him?"

"Sir?"

"Can you beat Leader Goz with your own strength?"

"How could I possibly beat the captain?"

WHACK!

Percival's staff smashed into the man's face, too fast for him to react at all.

"Then watch your fucking mouth. Leader Goz may not have become a true dragon, but he was once second only to one. He spilled enough blood, his own and others', to fill a river for that position. He isn't someone the likes of you can look down on."

"Ugh, s-sorry, sir..."

"There won't be another warning. The moment I hear you've said anything like that again, I'll take your head myself. Understood?"

"I'll remember, sir."

Looking at the man's blood-covered face, Percival reflected on how merciful he had become. In the old days, a remark like that would have been as good as a challenge, and it would only have ended when one of them was dead.

Now that they could no longer forge warriors by recruiting many and losing many, mercy was necessary, whether he liked it or not.

'And I have to waste the entire day with this idiot.'

Percival sighed.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than something caught their keen senses.

"Captain."

"Yes, I felt it."

There was a sign of life approaching. But it was coming up from the east, not from the far north teeming with Frost Giants. Judging by its speed, it seemed to be approaching on foot.

That was what made it strange. Someone this powerful would be better off flying than walking. It also meant the visitor knew whose land this was and was showing its owner due respect.

At last, a figure emerged through the raging blizzard.

"Stand back," Percival said.

"I'll back you up..."

"I'm telling you to stay put because even the two of us couldn't stop this one."

Staff in hand and ready for battle, he descended from the tower. The man serving as his backup stared blankly after him. He had never seen the captain, usually so relaxed and seemingly bored with everything, look this tense.

Percival quietly greeted the visitor below. Silver hair, silver eyes, and the silver steel weapon borne by Silverwind's offspring.

Yet Silverwind's selection process admitted only robust men as his offspring. There should not have been a girl among them. Above all, it was impossible for a young girl to arrive here emitting Dragon Fear, something Dragon Spawn could not wield.

But Percival knew there was precisely one exception.

"... Luri."

"Percival."

They exchanged brief greetings. Percival was the first to ask a question.

"What brings you here? I thought Leader Goz made himself quite clear last time."

"..."

"Judging by that maid's uniform, you haven't come back to Silverwind's fold... If you had, you wouldn't be radiating killing intent like this."

"..."

"Do you have business with the captain again?"

"Yes."

"And if I stand in your way?"

"..."

She offered no lengthy explanation. Luri had already made up her mind. It was Percival who broke the silence of their standoff.

"I couldn't see a way to beat you then, and I still can't now. Even when I was prepared to kill you, all you ever intended was to subdue me."

"..."

"If someone like you is prepared to spill blood... then I suppose I should step aside."

"Thank you, Percival."

Luri bowed politely. To someone who shared Silverwind's blood, such behavior seemed utterly foreign.

"But let me ask you one thing. What do you intend to do when you see Leader Goz?"

"Ask him a favor."

"What favor? Are you going to propose that idiotic peace again?"

"No."

"Then..."

Percival understood instinctively what resolve had brought her here, radiating Dragon Fear.

"... You could die."

"I know."

Goz was merciless and never held back. Having endured a one-sided beating no one else could have borne, Luri knew that to her very bones.

"That's why I have to go."

But her present helplessness outweighed that fear. As she passed Percival's shoulder, Luri said,

"He's the one who made me a warrior."