DMHS 119

Thus their next destination was decided. They would go to the Dragon Realm.

Kian first decided to take care of the things he needed to resolve before leaving.

‘I need to tell Daisy and Frederick in the palace what happened. Lucien should send a letter to the king himself. And Lucien…’

To be honest, he wanted to leave the guy here and go alone.

But he doubted Lucien would let him do that. He also needed to ask Rowan, who owned the mansion.

“Can I leave Lucien here while I go to the Dragon Realm.”

“No. The spirits get uneasy because of him.”

“Why are the spirits acting like that? Spirits and dragons get along fine.”

“They would if he were an ordinary dragon.”

Rowan’s expression slightly changed. But Kian didn’t notice the change.

“There has to be some misunderstanding. Lucien has a few unusual sides, but he isn’t a bad kid. He’d never hurt a spirit. He’s actually very considerate and gentle once you get to know him.”

“That applies only to you. Ever since he came into the mansion, he’s been blocking my view so I can’t even look at him. Think about it. Why do you think he followed you?”

“To restore the souls to their original body.”

“No. He came to the mansion for another reason.”

Rowan lowered his gaze and smiled. When he finally moved his lips, he said this.

“I’ll tell you one thing. The sixth sign that foretells the arrival of the Arbiter is this. ‘Beings that devour the world will rise again’.”

“….”

“Aren’t you curious who will fulfill that prophecy?”

Rowan lifted his eyes and looked at Kian. Kian met that look without backing down.

After a moment, the one who looked away first was Kian.

He licked his lips and then stepped out of Rowan’s room. The last thing he said was this.

“But I still believe in Lucien.”

***

‘Which one should I use?’

The room was filled with the remains of monsters preserved like fossils.

Lucien walked with long strides between the stone statues.

‘Should I do it this evening? Or wait until tomorrow or the day after to see how things go?’

The timing didn’t matter. Ivan had sent another letter urging him that morning, but it wasn’t something he needed to care about. He was the one in control now.

‘I have time. I may as well prepare in advance.’

Lucien stopped in front of a gargoyle statue.

The gargoyle had its mouth wide open, exposing sharp teeth. Its demon shaped wings were spread out as if it were about to take flight.

Lucien placed his hand on the monster’s head.

‘Wake up. Take on new life and fly far to carry out your purpose.’

A light flickered in the stone gargoyle’s eyes.

But when Lucien stepped back, it returned to looking like an ordinary statue.

‘They said they would handle the seventh prophecy themselves. What was the eighth again? ‘A noble one will cross the boundary of dimensions and return.’ They want me to leave this world and visit another dimension. They said I can be away for a short time.’

Lucien left the room with his arms crossed.

He could feel Kian’s presence on the top floor. His conversation with the Spirit King seemed to be long.

Lucien didn’t want to interrupt his mate, so he climbed the stairs that led outside the mansion.

After a long climb up the spiral stairs, he reached the top. Under the pointed roof shaped like a spire, an endless sea spread out.

Crash. Swish.

The sight of the high waves rolling heavily felt overpowering. His hair whipped in the strong sea wind.

Lucien brushed his bangs aside and lifted his head.

When he looked carefully, he saw a gargoyle perched on the roof. Its shape protruded slightly, probably meant to act as a gutter, and it looked strangely cute.

‘Now this is a real gargoyle.’

Gargoyles were never living monsters in the first place. They were demon shaped stone statues decorating rooftops.

But the demon Astarot, who had risen to the surface world, took interest in their appearance. Whenever Astarot saw a gargoyle attached to a roof, he turned it into a puppet. Because of that, gargoyles became known not as statues but as monsters.

Whatever the case, Lucien liked this one too. He stepped onto the railing and climbed onto the roof.

He sat down, folding his legs, after stroking the gargoyle’s head. A light flickered inside the round, hollow eyes and quickly vanished.

He didn’t go back down and remained on the roof.

The sky was gray, thick with dark clouds, and the sea was a deep blue.

The sky and sea both moved quickly toward places only they knew. The only one who didn’t know where to go from here was him.

‘Kian.’

His mate’s face floated up in his mind.

A smiling face, a troubled face, an embarrassed face. And then he reached the cold, expressionless one.

Lucien tried to erase that cold face from his mind. Then a voice followed.

Is that okay? Please, I would appreciate it if you could do that.

His tone was stiff, like that of a knight’s. Yet, perhaps because his voices was pleasant to listen to, Lucien didn’t feel uncomfortable. He just wanted to hear more.

But this time, the affectionate voice didn’t last long.

That won’t work, it’s impossible, I can’t do that.

Unconcealed disappointment leaked from his low, hushed voice. Lucien covered his ear’s and shook his head.

‘Kian.’

If possible, he hoped to picture a positive image. How wondertul it would be to draw a scene where they’re hugging and smiling, or kissing each other on the cheek.

But the discomfort didn’t subside. Even though he claimed it was for his mate’s safety, he anticipated Kian’s wrath if he learned that he had acted in accordance with the will of the “Heart of Dawn.”

‘No. He’d be even angrier that I listened to them for something like that. He’d say I shouldn’t obey them over something so trivial.’

Lucien’s eyes darkened.

‘This is difficult…’

Anything related to his mate was difficult.

He remembered, Kian, who had tried to seduce him in his clumsy way last night.

―Please spend the night with me

Even someone heading into battle wouldn’t have been that solemn.

It was true that he had been wondering if there was something unusual about Kian’s determination. Then, as Kian checked the room for cleanliness and glared intently at the magic stone light as he muttered something, and a glimmer of certainty filled him.

―Should I prepare wine for this kind of evening?

Kian’s face flushed, he glanced back and forth between the bathroom door and his hair.He seemed intent on dousing Lucien with water from head to toe, then using the excuse of having to wash him.

So Lucien tested him. While Kian was washing, he prepared wine and dried his hair after he came out of the shower.

The reaction came immediately.

―Please spend the night with me.

Kian was the sort who was gentle but also careless.

He was thorough and kind with the things that mattered to him, but indifferent about anything he wasn’t interested in.

That was why it had taken a long time to figure out what Kian liked or disliked. And even now Lucien couldn’t understand his partner completely, not even halfway.

‘He said he wanted to do everything after kissing only with someone he liked…’

Lucien didn’t know what changed Kian’s mind.

Maybe it was because the incident with the potion had been too intense. Or maybe because recently they hadn’t fallen asleep together as often, and Kian felt lonely.

Whatever the reason, Lucien wasn’t foolish enough to throw away a blessing that rolled into his hands.

‘I used to hate looking young because of my small body, but things are different now.’

Judging by Kian’s reaction yesterday, acting weak and affectionate seemed to work better than pushing back strongly.

‘If it softens his heart, I’ll do anything.’

There was no need for him to fake it either. Whenever he stood in front of Kian, he really felt like something tiny and fragile.

As long as Kian paid attention to him, he could cry like a child and cling to him. It didn’t matter if he was laughed at or ignored. As long as he could have his mate…

A dark aura slowly emanated from him. Shiny scales flickered and vanished along the line of his face. And then…

“I’ve been searching everywhere. So this is where you were.”

A gentle voice called from beneath the roof. The strange movement around Lucien stopped instantly.

Kian, who had been hanging from the railing while looking down at the sea, lifted his head. His pale face showed relief at finding Lucien.

He jumped onto the roof. Sitting beside Lucien, he asked,

“What were you doing?”

“Looking at the sea.”

Kian nodded.

“The waves are rough today.”

“The sound of waves everywhere is nice.”

“Is that so?”

Kian closed his mouth and looked at the water.

Splash. Crash. Splash.

Tall waves slammed against the surface and broke into white foam. An awkward silence settled between them.

“……”

“……”

It was Kian who spoke first. His voice was gentler than usual when he began to explain.

“I finished speaking with the Spirit King. To tell you the conclusion first, it is possible to restore a soul.”

“That’s good.”

“But because their bodies has been separated for a long time, the living energy is lacking. To fix this, I need someone else’s advice. So about that…”

Lucien felt Kian glance at him from the side. Judging by how he hesitated, whatever he was about to say was the main point.

A bad feeling made Lucien’s heart race.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His lips dried. To calm down, he tapped the roof with his foot.

But it didn’t help much.

The next words made Lucien’s vision go completely dark.

“I’m sorry, but could I leave your side for a little while?”