Episode 123

“The being who calls himself El. As per your request, I will call you El, not a human child.”

“Thank you.”

Indeed, there was something different. An existence vastly different. A charisma and holiness that could not be felt from the Elder.

Is this the eldest dragon? Will Rurin also become the eldest one day? Will she become as elegant as that? It’s hard to imagine.

It must be a futile imagination.

“But do you know that the marriage with Rurin, a child of the clan, is merely a play, and does not affect the marriage between Dragons?”

“I just heard that.”

“Then what is it that you want to tell me? The facts you already know are unchanging truths.”

Yes, that can be called a truth.

There is nothing in the world that doesn’t change. There are also truths that change.

“First of all, I want to tell you that I am strong. I can protect Rurin better than anyone, prevent any injustice from happening to her, and make her happier than anyone else.”

“I have already heard about you, the one called El. So, there is no doubt about your strength. Is that what you want to tell me?”

Saryn was still calm. Truly different from the elders and other dragons who would flare up at anything.

To the point where you wonder if they are of the same species.

“Let me get to the point. Matriarch Saryn, I apologize for the unnecessary long words. The main point I want to tell you is that I am a human, but not a human.”

“A human, but not a human?”

Saryn shook her head as if she didn’t understand and asked again.

“My heart is the Dragon Lord’s. It seems that many do not deeply consider what this means. Matriarch Saryn, it is true that when the blood of a dragon and a human mixes, only humans are born, right?”

“That is correct. That’s why your marriage with Rurin is considered merely a play. In the face of the grand premise of species reproduction, it cannot be a true marriage.”

“Yes, so even if a dragon who went out for play has a child with a human man or woman, it is just a human, not a dragon. I understand it as a restriction to prevent the indiscriminate birth of species that break the balance of power known as dragons.”

“What you know is correct. Knowing so well, what makes you different?”

“I have no heart. To reiterate, my heart is the Dragon Lord’s. While the Heart does not create blood, it has the function of circulating it. The Lord’s Heart circulates my blood, transforming it into the same as dragon’s blood. If it were an ordinary dragon heart, it would eventually burst, but within me, the Lord’s Heart is still alive and breathing.”

“What he gave you was not just the power of the heart, but the Heart itself?”

Saryn asked with a surprised expression for the first time. It was the first time this dragon showed emotional fluctuation.

Moreover, she referred to the Dragon Lord as “he”, and there was a hint of longing in the way she said it.

Somehow, it felt that way.

Somehow….

In any case, I did not fight and defeat the Dragon Lord to receive his Heart.

It was entirely the Lord’s choice.

For me, it was a fortunate encounter.

The Lord had said that for him, it was inevitable.

“El, do you mean to say that you did not simply consume the Dragon Lord’s Heart to amplify your strength, but that his Heart is moving within your body instead?”

“Yes, that’s correct. The Lord said that if I received the heart, I would no longer be human. He asked if it was okay that I would not have descendants as a human.

So I asked, does that mean the descendants would not resemble me at all, that they would not be influenced by me?

But the Lord said that was not the case. He said that because the Heart would make all my blood the same as a dragon’s, the descendants would be of the Lord’s lineage, but their appearance and other traits would be entirely my own.

It would be complicated to explain in more detail, but in any case, if Rurin and I get married, the child born will be a dragon.

Matriarch Saryn, so I want to tell you that my marriage with Rurin is no different from a marriage between dragons.“

I have come to love Rurin. And Rurin is a dragon. No matter how much Rurin says she doesn’t want to turn into her dragon form in front of me.

The fact that she is a dragon is an unchangeable truth.

If I have to give up being human because I have a dragon in my heart, that is also something that cannot be helped.

Even if the child born is not a human but a dragon, I can love that child as much as I want.

The Lord gave me his Heart for the sake of this world.

I have already fulfilled that wish.

“That is an interesting story. That he chose you as the child. I don’t know what he saw, but I said I respect his choice. Therefore, I recognize your marriage with Rurin as a marriage between dragons.”

At Saryn’s words, the ancient dragons around began to show disturbed expressions. Meanwhile, the Elder was smiling.

As if he had hoped it would turn out this way.

No, as if he knew it would turn out this way.

“And, to prevent any further words from coming out, and to prevent any other dragons from interfering between Rurin and me, I will tell you one more important fact, ancient dragons.”

This time, I took a step towards the ancient dragons, not Saryn.

“What do you mean to say?”

An ancient dragon who had not said a word until then because of Saryn spoke. I don’t know the name, but it was the dragon in the center of the ancient dragons.

“My child will probably inherit the Lord’s Heart. The Lord said so. Do you understand what that means?”

“That is…”

“Could it be!”

Murmurs.

The expressions of the ancient dragons became contemplative. The scene of the Black Dragons’ faces taking on strange colors as they were agitated was truly rare, but I did not want to look at it for long, so I concluded.

“The story does not end with Rurin’s child just becoming an elder of the Black Dragons. Of course, it is up to the child to choose, but if a child is born from us, that child will be born with the qualifications to take the place of the Dragon Lord. Do you understand what it means that a Dragon Lord could come from the Black Dragons?”

Saryn smiled faintly.

Only Saryn smiled. She must have realized immediately that the Lord’s Heart was alive and breathing within me.

Saryn was truly a wise and thoughtful dragon.

Even the Elder seemed not to have known this fact, trembling in shock, and the other dragons were too shocked to say anything.

The story ended.

But I wanted to talk a little more with Saryn. There were a few more things to discuss with her, who referred to the Dragon Lord as “he”, but I had to close my mouth because of the other dragons.

So I asked the Elder separately.

If I could serve her a meal.

Anyway, it takes a day for Rurin to come out of the Sanctuary. I have nothing special to do until tomorrow.

The Elder immediately asked Saryn, and she gladly accepted.

And then in the evening.

I prepared the finest roasted uka and a 100-year-old distilled liquor and brought them to her.

She polymorphed out of courtesy to the one preparing the food, and I heard from the Elder that this was the first time in a thousand years.

“You said you wanted to speak to me?”

“Yes.”

I cut the uka meat and placed it in front of her. The distilled liquor with the deep scent of oak casks as well.

It was the finest dish I could offer.

She ate the food very gracefully. But sometimes her appearance overlapped with Rurin’s, and I realized that blood cannot be deceived. Saryn was the first to ask me a question.

“El. What was his final moment like? Was he satisfied?”

“I don’t know if he was satisfied, but in his final moment, he passed away with a smile.”

“That sounds like him. He was always a man who smiled well.”

Saryn gazed into the air with a wistful expression as if recalling something. As I had felt earlier, I thought she might have had a special relationship with the Lord.

“As expected, didn’t you have a deep relationship with him?”

“Did you notice?”

“I saw the longing in your eyes, Matriarch Saryn.”

“Did you? You are indeed a remarkable human. If he hadn’t seen something in you, he wouldn’t have chosen you. And if it weren’t for your transcendent Heart, my descendant Rurin wouldn’t have fallen for you so deeply.”

“Is that so?”

“I heard about you and Rurin from that child. I think your love is truly beautiful. Who can say anything about two people who endlessly long for each other across species? But I am responsible for the clan’s reproduction and prosperity. I was planning to arrange a separate marriage for Rurin without changing your relationship. I am sorry for that. At that time, I didn’t even think that he, the Lord, had completely transferred his Heart to you.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“If I had the courage like you, I might have achieved a love that transcends the clan. But I was a coward. Unlike Rurin, who abandoned everything and followed you. That is why he became the Lord and I stayed here.”

Saryn smiled kindly as she briefly revealed her story.

“In fact, the Lord left a word before he died. He said he wanted to convey it to someone but would not reveal who.”

“Did he leave a word before he died?”

Saryn looked at me with strong interest. It was not a made-up story. It was entirely true.

Since I couldn’t identify the target at all, I just considered it a monologue.

Seeing Saryn’s reaction and recalling the words the Lord left behind, I was convinced that the target must be Saryn.

“You said not to live a regretful life and to follow the determined path, but I regret not kidnapping you and running away that day. If it’s the same regret anyway, I should have been with you.”

I conveyed the words the Lord left that day to Saryn without missing a single character.

At that moment, Saryn began to shed tears.

Drop.

This being, who looked the most elegant and noble among all the dragons I knew, looked sacred even while shedding tears.

Watching that scene made me feel like I was breaking a great taboo, so I quietly turned my head.