Bella’s body was burning with frustration for not being able to find the jewel. She repeatedly entered the treasure vault without properly washing or satisfying her hunger, just taking a quick bite before diving back in. The reason was her brother, who would come to nag her whenever she tried to take a brief rest in her room.
“Could it really be that there’s not a single jewel? Does that make any sense? How can the royal treasury have no jewels?”
Unaware that Felix had swept them all away, Bella simply grumbled and ventured deeper.
“And to think, who would build such a plain-looking treasury? Aren’t they usually filled with fancy paintings or sculptures?”
As she entered the increasingly dark space, Bella swallowed dryly. She finally stepped into a space where not a sliver of light penetrated. The wind seemed to indicate the vastness of the space.
Bella took out the magic lamp she had prepared, just in case. It was hard to illuminate the entire vast space, but she cautiously took one step at a time.
This place felt colder than others. Bella rubbed her other arm with one hand as she moved forward.
[Who are you…….]
She froze on the spot as a voice struck her mind.
[A human……. Why has a human who is not my descendant entered this place.]
The lair of the Black Dragon, made of barriers, was a place only his descendants or a marked companion could enter.
Narrowing his eyes, Aethernum looked at Bella. She unwittingly raised her magic lamp high, and upon seeing the eyes of the Black Dragon right in front of her, she fell on her buttocks.
“Ah, uh.”
[Hmm……. Strange. I’ve seen Klaus’s companion before……. You resemble them closely.]
Bella trembled at the mention of Felix’s parents.
[It seems the barrier has weakened.]
Aethernum mumbled as he looked at Bella.
[Felix, when is that child planning to come. Now, there really is no time…….]
Waiting for his last descendant who never returns, Aethernum kept lifting his eyelids, which kept trying to close. Bella, trembling with fear and unable to speak, suddenly remembered what the deceased king had rambled about.
[If you talk to Aethernum, maybe he will return her. Please, Aethernum! You know the pain of losing a companion. So, help me. I beg you.]
Recalling the king’s ramblings as he stared into the void, it sent shivers down her spine, wondering if Aethernum could indeed be this unbelievable creature.
Bella, who couldn’t escape from the crazed king’s side, recalled all his bizarre statements.
[What good is inheriting the blood of a dragon! Such a mark! It’s not what I wished for! No, it wasn’t like that. If it weren’t for the mark, she wouldn’t have married me. Yes, I insisted it was a mark, so she stayed with me. No, Aethernum, you’re right.]
Unable to utter a word, Bella finally spoke in a voice resembling a sigh.
“Aethernum…….”
Aethernum’s eyelids narrowed as he kept lifting them.
[Hmm……. How do you know my name? And what magic are you using to imitate Klaus’s companion?]
Bella dodged Aethernum’s gaze, which had quickly discerned her true identity. Her heart raced as no one had suspected her of using magic.
[Hmm……. Even the names of magic are becoming vague to me. Why hasn’t he arrived yet!]
Aethernum grumbled, forcibly keeping his heavy eyelids open.
[Impudent Tenebris. Daring to consume my magic!]
He cursed Tenebris, who sensed his weakened power and came looking for him, trying to move. His large wings fluttered for the first time in hundreds of years.
[Ha! As if a mere beast could steal my magic. Know your place.]
Even the vast space struggled to accommodate the spread of his wings. Dirt falling from the ceiling covered Bella.
“Ugh.”
Seeing her, Aethernum snorted.
[Humans are truly weak beings. Short-lived and so fleeting.]
Aethernum drowned in memories of his long-gone companion.
[Yet, they are undeniably lovable beings. Of course, only my companion was.]
Bella felt a déjà vu looking into his narrowing black eyes.
[My companion awaits me, yet the last descendant has not come. To transfer my magic, the physical presence is necessary. Why is this child so slow.]
Bella’s eyes widened at his words. She had never heard talk of transferring magic before. Dirt kept falling from the ceiling as Aethernum stirred his wings, muttering.
If she returned empty-handed again, she might be whipped by her brother today as well. Familiar with such treatment since childhood, it was always frightening. Trembling, Bella spoke without thinking.
“Can I have that?”
Not understanding the entity’s nature but hoping that receiving the magic could make her the most famous magician in the Capitis Kingdom, perhaps her brother would need her more.
Being useful meant being acknowledged as a member of the family, not dying like her mother. She remembered how pitifully and miserably her mother had died. She didn’t want to end up like that.
So, she imitated the kingdom’s happiest-looking woman, a secret she never shared with anyone.
But the day she imitated her, she was immediately caught by her brother. Expecting to be whipped for daring to mimic the queen, Bella received praise from her brother for the first time.
That first compliment was fatally sweet and more potent than poison. Thus, she approached the lonely king, imitating the queen as her brother commanded.
Swept up in his fervent courtship, Bella felt as though she had become the queen herself, shining uniquely and brightly at a splendid ball, just like the queen had. She had no doubt that she could live just like that.
However, the king neither married her nor treated her the same as at the beginning, often showing a cold demeanor towards her. As this gap narrowed, the king began to threaten her daily.
He incessantly demanded, “Return my consort to me.” When the king changed, Bella felt as if a part of her heart was crumbling.
Realizing there was no one in this place who wanted her, she felt fear. Then, young Felix came into her life, unlike the king, Felix saw her as a mother. He appealed for affection and gave her love.
Unable to push away Felix’s small, life-giving hand, Bella would sneak out to Felix after the king, repeating his nonsensical ravings, fell asleep like he had collapsed.
Bella couldn’t stop herself from going to Felix, who would always greet her with a wide smile upon her visits, despite being asleep. Thus, a year passed, and misfortune struck unexpectedly.
Bella still vividly remembers the king’s last moments, which made her retch.
In front of her, the king laughed as he tore his own flesh with his hands and ripped out his heart. Bella clearly saw the king’s heart throbbing grotesquely within the open cavity of red flesh.
And she saw the heart, dripping with blood, in his grasp.
Even though she knew little about the human body, she knew well enough that a person doesn’t have two hearts. Bella wrapped the heart the king held in cloth and buried it separately, telling no one.
No one knew the king had two hearts; instead, she was falsely accused of having killed him.
But it was okay.
As long as Felix didn’t know.
However, when she asked Felix about the location of the treasury, accessible only to the royal family, to fulfill her brother’s request, she felt betrayed by Felix.
What have I done to you… Just because I asked about a treasury? Why can’t you tell me? You should trust me. After everything I’ve done for you!
She distanced herself from Felix afterward. Yet, feeling relieved and betrayed simultaneously when Felix continued to seek her out.
Even when she treated him harshly on purpose, the child persistently came to her. Each time, Bella felt torn, slowly feeling herself going mad. It was the first time she understood the king.
She slapped Felix’s cheek harshly. Seeing the crying child, she saw her own reflection. She was disgusted. Her childhood self seemed pathetic and foolish in hindsight.
Stupid Felix.
If only I had warned you, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.
When my brother wanted to kill you, maybe I could have saved you.
Just for this worthless treasury without even a single jewel…
Caught in her thoughts, Bella suddenly realized why Felix hadn’t told her about the treasury.
Staring blankly, she looked at Aethernum.
A place where a being not human resides.
Only the direct descendants of Capitis can enter.
The being calling Felix the last descendant.
Bella’s eyes widened in shock.
[It’s laughable. Do you really think a mere human can withstand a dragon’s magic! Ridiculous. Only my descendant can!]
Aethernum roared, spreading his wings wide, causing the ceiling to shake.
[No, no. That child is here. Somehow crossing over from another place and holding up well. What a curious child.]
Mentioning Sylvia, Aethernum narrowed his eyes. Frozen in shock, Bella got up, supporting herself with trembling legs.
“I can handle it. I can do it. How do you think I got here! If I don’t take it…”
Her eyes, filled with tears, now brimmed with resolve.
“I don’t want to die like my mother! Now that they’ve finally acknowledged me as part of the family! I don’t want to be locked up in a room, living like an animal again! So, give it to me. Give it!”
Her final words echoed almost like a scream. Aethernum folded his wings and lifted his eyelids as high as he could. Talking too much seemed to have exhausted him, after such an incredibly long time.
[Human emotions are truly beyond me. Merely imitating. My consort used to get angry, too.]
Even as his eyelids drooped again, Aethernum looked at Bella, who screamed as if she had lost her mind.
“No, I refuse! What have I done wrong! Is it wrong to have been born? I didn’t choose to be born like this! If I don’t take it…”
Bella’s form began to change, her slender arms sprouting scales as her body grew. Aethernum exclaimed in amazement at the sight.
[Ho… Mirror magic?]
A unique magic from the Lansmorris, seldom seen. Bella, now mimicking Aethernum’s form, shouted,
[I don’t want to show weakness to Felix anymore!]
Words buried deep within her, touching on her deepest shame and guilt, paradoxically about Felix, whom she ironically believed she had killed.
[Let me have it!]
The space, although vast, felt too small for two dragons. Watching Bella stir, Aethernum, sensing his end, opened his mouth wide.
[If you desire even the scraps, take them. Foolish human.]
With those words, endless golden light streamed from Aethernum’s body. Watching the golden light dissolve into the air like wind, Bella thought of the king’s heart.
Just thought.
Without any conscious thought, she now peacefully closed her eyes and bit into Aethernum’s neck.