Chapter 3 - What I Want

-There is nothing the empire cannot conquer.

The central region could be called the heart of the Serdes Continent.

It was the slogan of the Arken Empire, which spread its influence from there.

It was excellent for enthralling the people within the empire, but for the outer regions, there had never been a more absurd claim.

In fact, when Ferda was in House Rosnova, the first thing he was taught was that this was useless bullshit.

There were, in fact, plenty of lands on Serdes that could not be conquered, and the east was one representative example.

'The Land of Demons.'

The east had once become a land seething with demons due to the appearance of the Demon King.

It had been stopped in the end, but as an aftereffect, the plants grew at an abnormal speed, and the animals became several times more vicious.

That was how the Land of Demons had been formed.

Valdrova was the ruler who reigned over that Land of Demons, at its foremost front line.

'Was that why she was also called the demon dragon?'

In any case, it was because the image the world had of her was that of a ferocious dragon.

There were rumors that she was absorbing the Demon King's power to increase her strength, or that she was secretly creating armies of monsters.

'For what she has actually done, she has far too much needless infamy.'

There were many conspiracies painting her as someone who ought to be killed, but not once had anyone censured her or formally raised an issue.

Even a fool knew that touching a dragon's whiskers was suicide.

RUSTLE.

As I walked along the path, the sound of something moving reached my ears.

When Ferda quietly turned his awareness in that direction,

"There is no need to worry."

The maidservant walking ahead of him spoke first.

"As long as I am beside you, those things will not attack recklessly."

It seemed they had been monsters after all.

Putting that aside, did this woman have eyes in the back of her head?

'Well, she is an attendant serving that dragon, so of course she must be on another level.'

Ferda slowly observed her from behind.

Her appearance was like a doll's.

The maid uniform that fit her body perfectly revealed the outline of her figure, and it was plainly the body of a young girl in the middle of her growth.

Her hair, tied up in a side-up ponytail, and her soft, rounded features painted the image of a young lady.

If he had not met her in Valdrova's territory, he would have thought she was one of many lovely maids.

"What is your name?"

"It is Luri."

She answered in a dry tone.

"Good to meet you, Luri. How much farther must we walk?"

"It will take another two hours."

"That is a long time. I do not think it took you that long to come here, did it?"

"Of course not. If I am alone, ten seconds is enough for me to reach this place."

Two hours and ten seconds.

The difference in efficiency was obvious.

"Then how about we use that method to go to the lair?"

"Then I would have to hold you, Lord Ferda, would I not?"

"You do not need to worry about me. I can endure something like flying."

"No. It is simply that I do not want to."

"..."

It was truly an unbelievably insolent thing to say.

If an ordinary maid had said such a thing while wearing a maid uniform, would he not have slapped her across the face at once?

"If you do not want to, then there is no helping it."

However, Ferda did not do that.

There were more than a few nobles who came to distant foreign lands, insisted on their pride, and died, and the deciding factor was her identity.

'Dragon spawn.'

Dragon spawn were created through the so-called "Ascension Rite," in which one was chosen by a dragon and bestowed with its blood.

Merely accepting that blood instinctively awakened magic and granted enormous power.

Even with such a small body, she had enough strength to easily subdue a couple of knights.

'And on top of that, she can even hide her tail and horns...'

It meant she possessed a strength that was on a different track from ordinary dragon spawn.

And so Ferda silently followed behind her.

Even that was not easy for Ferda, whose stamina was terrible.

His walking speed gradually slowed, and the distance between him and Luri gradually widened.

When they had grown somewhat apart, Luri turned her head.

"Are you tired?"

Ferda nodded.

"Yes, I am tired. Could we not rest for a moment?"

"There is no time to rest. Please move quickly. My master is waiting."

Silver hair and silver eyes.

Unlike her youthful face, those eerily shining eyes urged Ferda's feet onward.

"Whew, very well."

Ferda steadied his breathing as much as he could.

Even getting married was no easy matter.

* * *

The Red Dragon's hiding place, the place called her lair, was located a little farther away from the area known as the empire's foremost front line.

After passing through a dense forest that had not been properly developed, there was a single mountain standing alone, and a castle had been built on the middle slope of that mountain.

It was a castle large enough to be seen from afar on a clear day.

'There were people who mistook that for Valdrova's lair.'

However, Valdrova did not live in the castle.

The entire mountain was her lair.

When they reached the entrance, Luri turned her head and roughly recited the precautions.

"It is a bit dark, but there is nothing underfoot, so please do not make a useless fuss."

"Understood."

"Well, stalactites do fall from time to time, but... well, please avoid them on your own. If you can, that is."

Luri explained halfheartedly.

Instead of reacting to that provocation, Ferda nodded.

"Understood."

"Then."

Luri once again took the lead and went inside.

Soon, they saw a massive iron door blocking the way before them.

It was simply a thick iron door, without any ornate carvings or the like.

It felt like a sealing gate built with every effort to keep whatever was beyond it contained.

Luri lightly knocked on it.

"Master. Your fiancé has arrived."

There was no answer.

Instead, a massive writhing beyond the door shook the ground.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

Even with the heavy iron door between them, he could feel it clearly.

The fact that a very terrifying dragon lived behind it.

THUMP.

It was the sound of something hard touching the iron door.

Luri turned her head toward Ferda.

"I will receive the message."

With that, Luri opened the small iron door beside the massive iron door and went inside.

Beyond the door, it was as silent as the grave, and Ferda waited patiently.

Three minutes later, Luri came out and said this.

"There will be a message from Grand Duchess Valdrova."

Luri cleared her throat and began to speak.

"I know that the reason you have come here is to become engaged to me by order of the Arken Empire. I shall praise you for setting foot here despite clearly knowing the atrocities I have committed."

Ferda was not pleased.

Judging by the context, something negative would certainly follow after that.

And Ferda's prediction was correct.

"However, I have no intention of forcibly dragging you into an engagement. Therefore, return to the place from which you came."

For someone who had thought he would die, this was an incomparable moment.

He was free.

If it had been Ferda in his childhood, he would certainly have shouted for joy, bowed, and withdrawn.

But the current Ferda was different.

"Is that so? Go and deliver this message."

Luri's eyebrow twitched.

"It is true that I was designated by the sovereign, but setting foot in this place was done purely by the will of Ferda Rosnova. Therefore, I will not return, and I will proceed with the engagement."

"..."

After hearing those words, Luri stared intently at Ferda.

Her expressionless face was cold and bewildering, but not to Ferda.

"Will you not deliver the message?"

"... Understood."

Luri opened the iron door again and went inside.

Ten minutes later, when Luri came out again, she was carrying all sorts of things bundled up in her arms.

"I will deliver the message. I highly value that you came here of your own will. In recognition of that spirit, I shall give you my treasures and provide funds to establish your foundation. Take that money and establish a new base in a new place."

CLINK.

What was inside that pouch was gold, silver, and jewels.

In addition, she threw down a piece of paper, which was undoubtedly something like a certificate from the Grand Duchess.

Ferda's eyes looked down at it.

However, his eyes were looking at that gold as if it were a lump of stone.

"Go and deliver this message. Say that I have no interest in power, and that I came here solely because I am interested in becoming engaged to Grand Duchess Valdrova."

"..."

"You keep standing there blankly. It would not be good for the Grand Duchess's attendant to appear sluggish, would it?"

Luri did not answer and stepped inside through the iron door.

"... Hah."

No, just as it seemed she had briefly stepped inside, she sighed and slammed the door shut.

Luri's businesslike face was still expressionless.

However, Ferda, who had harbored hatred and a desire for revenge for a long time, knew.

He could read well enough what emotion was contained in her eyes.

It was disgust.

"I will not say this at length. Turn around and leave this place."

It was an order tinged with emotion.

However, Ferda was not flustered.

"That is rather short for a message from Grand Duchess Valdrova."

"No. These are words spoken by my will as my master's attendant."

She slowly walked toward Ferda.

Each time she set down a foot, her appearance changed.

A pair of horns that pierced toward the sky sprouted from her head, and the skirt that fell to her ankles swelled out loosely.

She brought out the dragon spawn form she had been hiding and threatened Ferda.

'Dragon Fear?'

He had thought she would be extraordinary, but this exceeded his expectations.

To think that a dragon spawn working as an attendant could use Dragon Fear.

Ferda felt his throat constrict and cold sweat stream down him.

Separately, his mind was calm.

For him, who had already seen many things far worse, this was nothing more than a little talent show.

"I know very well about things like you."

"What kind of person am I?"

"Things that are mere insignificant mortals, unable to control their greed, yet believe they can manipulate the heavens with their own hands."

In her words, he could feel a disgust based on actual grounds.

"Trash who have no regard for my master and are filled only with the power and ambition they will gain."

Ferda felt a sense of déjà vu from those words.

He wondered where he had heard that story, and the answer lay in the conversation he had had with Huren only a few hours ago.

"Is that why the 3rd Prince died?"

Luri nodded.

"Yes. That man was full of thoughts of tying the marriage contract and ordering my master around like an attendant. It was absurd. I do not know how he thought he would not be found out."

Ferda murmured in his mouth.

'So that was the reason?'

Ferda had eaten Valdrova's heart and understood her emotions.

So he knew that, at the very least, she was not a tyrant who killed the 3rd Prince simply because he was not suited to her station.

The 3rd Prince had been drawing far too grand a picture.

Even the reason he stepped down from the emperor's position had merely been to seize greater power and usurp it.

'The deciding factor was that he was too arrogant.'

"So when my master gives you money like this, leave this place at once. If you wish, I will grab that body of yours and see you all the way to the empire."

A disgust with reason.

At the same time, a disgust Ferda had no reason to receive.

However, Ferda did not grow angry.

He had realized too much to be shaken by such paltry disgust.

"I, Ferda Rosnova, will speak here purely, without a speck of falsehood."

Ferda looked down at her with serious eyes and spoke.

"I, Ferda Rosnova, did not come to this place because of pressure from someone else."

He recalled the emotions he had learned through Valdrova's heart.

She had dreamed many dreams, but all of them had been frustrated.

She had had to endure slander and cold stares directed at her, and inside herself, she had had to fight her own murderous intent.

Not even she herself was on her side.

And despite that, she had fought endlessly.

That was something even Ferda could not do.

"I, Ferda Rosnova, do not desire any power or treasure."

Even if Valdrova did not know, Ferda remembered.

He remembered that Valdrova had prayed for someone's happiness while sacrificing her own life.

He remembered how she had even given her heart to Ferda, selfish as he was.

So, even if the current you does not know me,

as long as I remember,

I will be on your side.

"I, Ferda Rosnova, came here purely as the man who will become Valdrova's fiancé."

"Tell her that since we are people who will someday become husband and wife, we should speak to one another not through the mouth of an attendant, but with our own mouths and ears, and clear up the misunderstanding."

Luri's patience finally reached its limit.

"You insolent bastard, do you even know who my master is, daring to spout such nonsense—!"

Her small, delicate hand reached for Ferda's neck.

The moment it grabbed him, Ferda's neck would snap like a reed in autumn.

THUMP.

It was the sound of the iron door being struck.

Luri immediately regained her composure.

At the same time, the vibrating Dragon Fear disappeared.

The girl who had shown killing intent as though to kill Ferda looked at him and bowed at the waist.

"Excuse me."

"Yes. Go."

Ferda remained calm to the end.

After hearing Valdrova's will, Luri came out again.

Her doll-like face looked strangely dissatisfied.

Ferda instinctively knew it was good news.

"She said to tell you that she has understood your intent well, and that she will proceed with the engagement."

Just as expected.

No matter how insolent an attendant she was, she could not defy her master's will.

"I see. Understood."

"Then this way..."

The murderous conversation they had shared until just a moment ago vanished without a trace, and she returned to her businesslike manner.

Ferda once again moved behind her.

* * *

Late at night, beneath Valdrova's castle.

Luri, Valdrova's attendant, returned once more to the dragon's lair.

She passed beyond the firmly closed iron door and went inside.

There, a massive dragon with red scales lay elegantly coiled.

—You have returned?

Golden eyes pierced through the darkness and shone.

Luri greeted her with an elegant and disciplined posture.

"I behold here the great Twelve Rulers, and among them, the absolute embodiment of power. You lie there in a form truly befitting the embodiment of power that rules the world."

—Is that so? I am merely lying down.

"Elegance is by nature ugly when one tries to imitate it. True elegance is something ingrained so deeply in the body that one is not even aware of it oneself."

—Is that so...?

Luri's eyes sparkled as though she meant it sincerely.

Valdrova reacted as if she could not understand.

"Do you truly intend to become engaged to a mortal?"

—Was that not what I wished for? You also respected my opinion.

"At that time, I only said so reluctantly. It is all right to change your mind even now. Having the courage to reverse a decision is also a virtue of a sovereign."

She persistently called for a reversal, but Valdrova shook her head.

—I have no intention of reversing it. Even now, that is all I think of.

"Tch..."

Luri clicked her tongue with a face full of dissatisfaction.

Valdrova paid no mind to that insolent behavior and asked.

—Tell me. The man who will become my partner... what sort of person was he?

Luri shook her head.

"Do not even ask. He is a pathetically weak human."

—How weak?

"I thought that since he was from a knight family, his body would at least be sturdy, but he had such a frail body that he nearly died from the difficulty of the road here."

—And?

"He is incredibly ugly. I believed he was eighteen years old, but perhaps because he did not take care of his face, he looked like an old man."

—Luri.

"I apologize. He is rather pretty. Like a bastard who has made more than a few women cry."

—No, that is not what I am asking, is it?

Luri knew what answer Valdrova wanted.

She did not want to say it, but she had no choice but to bring it out.

"He is not ordinary."

—Not ordinary?

"I am dragon spawn, one who has inherited the blood of a dragon. Therefore, touching a mortal's fear is an easy matter for me. However..."

Luri recalled Ferda in her memories.

"That man did not fear me even once. Therefore... he will be able to look directly at you, Master."

—Is that so?

Luri grimaced.

A human being able to meet a dragon's eyes directly was something that should not happen.

—That is good.

On the other hand, what appeared on Valdrova's face was a smile.

—A person who can face me ordinarily, I mean.

"Ord...inarily, you say?"

—Yes. Ordinarily.

It was far from what Luri knew as ordinary.

It was ordinary for a human and a human to face each other.

However, it was impossible for a human and a dragon to face each other as equals.

The ordinary relationship was for dragons to rule and humans to obey.

Luri had much she wanted to say, but she could not bring herself to open her mouth.

In any case, as long as Valdrova was satisfied, that was enough.