[Sylvia! Sylvia!]
“Just a moment, Eryngium. Let me look at this first…”
[Speaking of dragon language, you can’t even read it! It’s already night!]
Despite Eryngium tugging at her hair, Sylvia remained seated in a corner, utterly absorbed in her reading.
The more she read, the more fascinated she became.
The magic circles she knew and the dragon’s magic circles were significantly different. Unlike the usual magic circles made mostly of geometric shapes, dragon magic circles extensively incorporated language.
The dragon language, which she couldn’t understand, filled the gaps between lines or, in some cases, replaced lines entirely with written words.
Moreover, the variety of magic was astounding. From polymorph magic allowing dragons to transform into humans, teleportation, space-reducing or expanding subspace magic, to creating gold from water and sugar from light, the magic was intriguing.
Although she couldn’t read the dragon language, the magic books often included illustrations, allowing her to guess the nature of the magic circles from the pictures alone.
“These books must have been created by Aetherium.”
Feeling embarrassed for coming to help with the cleanup and ending up reading books, Sylvia apologized to Eryngium as she closed the book.
“Sorry, Eryngium. I’ll truly help with the cleanup tomorrow.”
As she stood up and dusted off her robe, Felix quickly approached her.
“Sylvia!”
“Huh?”
Felix, moving quickly, grabbed her hand first.
“What are you doing here?”
His eyes looked peculiar, but his voice was tender.
“Ah, Eryngium said she couldn’t clean up the lair by herself, so I came to help…”
As she spoke, Sylvia looked up at Felix.
“But the books were so interesting that I ended up reading them instead. I think I’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
“I see.”
Felix’s voice was as sweet as honey. Yet, why did she feel this unease?
Sylvia blinked slowly and gazed into his eyes again, but couldn’t find any significant difference from usual. As she pondered alone, Felix gently pulled her closer.
“Let’s go back to the room. It’s too late.”
“Huh? Okay!”
Eryngium, who had been watching the two from the side, murmured softly.
[Is this the look Poppy was talking about? The one that seems lost?]
Sylvia, who hadn’t heard the quiet murmur, was leaving the lair holding hands with Felix. The fairy, left alone, hurriedly fluttered its wings to catch up with the departing pair.
[Wait, Felix! What about the body of Lord Aethernum? Are you planning to leave it as is?]
Sylvia’s steps halted abruptly at the fairy’s words.
“No, why are you only saying this now?”
[Didn’t I mention it?]
“Yes! You just told me to tidy up!”
[I must have forgotten, ehehe.]
“Ugh, really…….”
She gently stroked Eryngium’s head, which was sitting on top of hers, with her fingers while giving a weary smile.
Sylvia asked Felix.
“What should we do?”
He let out a small sigh, feeling his racing second heart calm down. Turning around while caressing the small hand within his, Felix moved with Sylvia, pulling her along as they both spun around.
“We need to go this way.”
Even with only a small magic lamp for light, Felix’s steps were unhesitant.
“Have you been to the lair before?”
“Yes, I used to come here often since I was a child.”
He used to come with his parents when they were alive, and after their death, he often visited alone.
He probably felt lonely around that time. Back then, Felix sought Aethernum not only out of loneliness but also because he thought that being alone in this dark place must be lonely for him as well.
“After mother and father passed away, Aethernum was the one who taught me.”
Not just magic, but also the manners needed for the royal court and society, everything a royal should know was taught by him. Sylvia, listening to his story, became curious.
“What were your parents like?”
“Mother was warm and kind. Father was… a good person.”
As a child, he thought his father was scary. He was kind when with his mother, but his expression changed when they were alone.
Not cold, but his father’s indifferent expression, merely stroking his head nonchalantly, was all he remembered. But looking back now, he thought he understood. After bonding, Felix thought a lot about his father.
Surely, his parents loved each other. But the temperature of their love was too different. To the bonded father, the love from his mother must have been far too insufficient.
That’s why he probably even disliked showing affection towards his son.
“Watch your step, Siri.”
Felix supported her hand as they entered the space where Aethernum had lived. He illuminated the area with fire magic, and Sylvia’s expression hardened at the sight revealed.
“What in the world……”
Felix, having somewhat expected this, was not surprised but merely curious how Bella could have entered this place.
Seeing the black dragon, torn from neck to heart, Sylvia’s lips quivered.
“How could this happen? This place was supposed to be accessible only to royalty.”
“It’s okay, Sylvia.”
He gently stroked the back of her hand as Felix stored the black dragon’s corpse in the spatial bracelet.
“Is that all we need to do? Don’t we need to hold a funeral?”
Sylvia, more restless than Felix, who was merely tidying up, asked.
“Aethernum told me in advance what to do if he died.”
“What did he say?”
“He said not to bury the dragon’s skin, bones, teeth, and blood in the ground because they are valuable magical materials. He told me to keep them well.”
“What?”
He gently cupped her shocked face with his hands. Smiling faintly, Felix said,
“I’ve never heard of a dragon’s funeral either.”
Sylvia gazed at his hand dropping away lightly. Felix, looking around the space, used wind magic.
“We might as well clean up everything while we’re here.”
Everything from books scattered around like an ant nest to hidden jewels flew towards him, all being sucked into the black diamond bracelets on his wrists.
In an instant, Felix, having tidied up, grabbed Sylvia’s hand and they took off.
“Did you find the magic book interesting?”
“Huh? Oh, yes!”
Sylvia, who had been blankly staring at the lair, which had been quickly tidied up, answered with a bright smile.
“How could you read it? It was written in Dragon language, wasn’t it?”
“There were pictures. I couldn’t understand in detail, but I got the gist of it. And there were magic circles, too.”
Felix, who had flown into the sky through the huge hole made by Bella, said to Sylvia.
“I’ll teach you the Dragon language.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m not sure how many Dragon magics humans can use, but if you’re interested.”
With a hidden hope of spending more time alone with her and a desire for her to take an interest in the vast collection of books and settle in the palace, Felix spoke kindly.
“Thanks, Feli! I was really frustrated not being able to read the letters!”
“Got it. I’ll teach you through letters. When I have time, I’ll teach you more.”
Knowing how busy he had been recently, Sylvia nodded vigorously in response.
“I know you’re busy! Take your time, don’t worry too much about it. We should do what we need to first.”
Felix, entering the room through the balcony window, murmured softly as he held Sylvia in his arms.
“But why didn’t you come yourself today? I didn’t feel like eating without you.”
Though he had tried to eat what she made, it didn’t taste good. Not that the food was bad, but it felt like he had lost his sense of taste, just like before.
“…Is that so?”
“Yes, so from tomorrow, you have to bring it yourself.”
Felix nuzzled his head into her nape, acting spoiled.
“Got it! Yawn, I’m sleepy…….”
“That’s a promise.”
Felix lifted his head slightly and looked into Sylvia’s eyes.
“Got it. Here, a promise.”
Sylvia giggled as she hooked her pinky finger. Even though Felix didn’t know what that gesture meant, his eyes smiled. Sylvia closed her eyes at the sight of his approaching red lips. The bed felt soft against her back.
★
A guest arrived at the busy Capitis Royal Palace. A long procession in red armor was steadily entering the black palace. Duke Sabelisa, who came out to greet them on behalf of Felix, welcomed Prince Carl and Princess Naomi as they alighted from the carriage.
“Thank you for coming such a long way, Prince and Princess of Caudatium. I am Alex Aethernum, Duke Sabelisa.”
Carl greeted Duke Sabelisa with a bright smile.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, and I’m glad to be welcomed like this.”
Carl was secretly pleased that a royal like him had come to greet them personally. Although it was a short time, he had realized that Felix’s character was not to be underestimated, which had worried him slightly.
“I’m delighted to be here in the Capitis Royal Palace for the first time.”
Naomi said with her eyes sparkling brightly.
“Brother, is our benefactor really here?”
The first thing she had asked her brother, who had returned from a tremendous war looking exhausted, was ‘Where is our benefactor?’
When she found out the benefactor hadn’t been brought along, she had sat down right there and burst into tears. Carl had felt embarrassed.
She had been spoiled too much, truly.
Naomi, who was not born with magical powers, had a cute appearance with pure silver hair and fresh emerald eyes. She blinked her round eyes rapidly as she looked around the Capitis Royal Palace, different from the Caudatium Castle.
“You must be tired from the journey, so I will guide you to your rooms first.”
Duke Sabelisa said, leading the way. His knight, Henry, and others stood by and then followed.
***
Felix was sitting on the office sofa, eating the egg kimbap prepared by Sylvia.
“It’s easy to eat and tasty, Siri.”
He smiled brightly, popping them into his mouth one by one.
“Here, have some soup with it.”
Sylvia offered him soup with oysters and chives.
“Eryngium, want some fruit after you finish your kimbap?”
[Yes!]
Sylvia laughed as she wiped the rice off the fairy’s mouth. She took out blueberries, Eryngium’s favorite, and placed them on a plate.
[I really love blueberries, Sylvia. Make more for me!]
“I’ll have watermelon.”
Felix quickly devoured the egg kimbap and then spoke up.
“Got it.”
Because he had recently been seeking watermelon every time it got hot, she had prepared watermelon punch in advance and took it out.
“The colors are so varied, aren’t they?”
The watermelon punch, made by scooping out yellow watermelon, red watermelon, and green melon into round balls, looked delicious. Small ice crystals made from the juice of the watermelon and melon crunched delightfully.
“It’s really delicious, Siri.”
Sylvia smiled brightly as she looked at Felix speaking.