Chapter 146

Chapter 146

“Unnie, I’m sleepy now. Tell me a fun story before I go to sleep.”

Roti pulled the blanket up to the tip of her nose, blinking both eyes as she looked at me. At that adorable sight, I laughed softly, patting the girl’s back.

“Okay, got it. Want me to read you a book?”

“No—tell me about when Mom and Dad first met.”

“You want to hear that again?”

“Yeah! I want to hear it again! I didn’t get to listen while I was apart from you, Unnie.”

“Hmm…”

The story of how our parents first met was actually a bit cliché. The problem was that every time they told it, they piled on so much dramatic embellishment that Roti grew up believing they’d had some fairy-tale romance. Which, of course, they absolutely hadn’t.

“Me too.”

Lucia padded over to the bedside a moment later and settled in next to Roti. For once, the third sibling was acting clingy — entirely unlike herself. Probably because the day they’d all have to go back home was creeping closer. Once they parted ways this time, it’d be hard to gather like this again until the engagement ceremony. As the eldest, I could indulge my sisters’ fussing all they wanted.

“Alright, then.”

I turned over the story our parents had told us when we were little, letting it play out in my mind. Then I cleared my throat, just like Mother had done back then, and began.

“When Mother was seventeen… Father was nineteen, and…”

And so I started spinning that old tale — one that felt more like a shared memory by now. The children listened to my voice as they drifted off, breath by breath, into sleep. I watched the third and fourth sibling settle into slumber, then dimmed the lamp so the light wouldn’t sting their eyes.

‘Come to think of it… the Duke still isn’t back yet, is he…?’

The thought crossed my mind as I rose from my spot. I moved slowly, crossing to the tea table by the window. As I sat down and looked outside, the sprawling park came into view.

Blinking heavy-lidded eyes, I pulled both knees up to my chest. Maybe it was the quiet hush of the room, but drowsiness was washing over me. I didn’t bother pushing it away. I just closed my eyes.

Then, at some point, my eyes snapped open. The view outside the window was bathed in dusk. I must have dozed off. But the Duke’s carriage still hadn’t returned to the manor.

‘Huh… he’s still not back? That’s strange. Whenever he goes to the Imperial Castle, he always comes back before sunset… Is he that busy…?’

Maybe the Emperor was using work as an excuse to keep him there. If so, he could be stuck working all night…

Poor thing. Staying at the Imperial Castle until nightfall must be terrifying…

Well, it wasn’t something I could do anything about. Regretfully, it looked like I should get up and change out of these uncomfortable clothes.

I guess I should just go to sleep. Now, where did I put my nightgown…?

Moving quietly so as not to wake my sisters, I crept toward the wardrobe.

‘The sun’s down, so the priest must be in the middle of an exorcism by now… right…?’

That thought struck me just as I was passing the bedroom door. I found myself glancing sidelong at it without meaning to.

And that was the moment. A blonde woman suddenly burst through the door, charging straight at me. I flinched, stumbling back a couple of steps. She turned her gaze to fix on me, then began advancing slowly. Soon the dim light caught her features. It was Shion. She wore the same white dress as I did, her face hollow and vacant.

“Stop her!”

The girl’s voice rang out, sharp and sudden.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Keep her from being exorcised!”

She lunged at me. I gasped and instinctively thrust out my hands toward her. Then the yellow light spilled from the Eye of the Sun bracelet and ring, lancing straight at Shion. But unlike any other ghost, she didn’t recoil from it. Instead she absorbed the radiance wholly into her body. In the same instant, our bodies collided.

Everything went black before my eyes, then brightened again. Before me stood a dense wall of green leaves and trees. By the look of things, Shion had possessed me.

‘Oh no… again?! The Duke will worry when he sees this! And Ren’s still here in Cuvershaiden — he’ll throw a fit!’

Awareness of the trouble settled in, but first I scanned the scene before me. This was unmistakably Shion’s memory. The images were so vivid she must have fully recovered her recollection.

‘But Shion… is she in pain now?’

A strange lethargy weighed on me — my body felt heavy. Drowning in that crushing fatigue, I spotted a tiny girl running toward me from a distance. The child hurried up on short, quick steps and stopped before me. The smell of grass and earth rushed into my nose.

“What are you? A big lizard?”

The girl’s eyes went wide as she blurted the strange words. Yet oddly, her face felt familiar — and I realized why in a flash. The child was a young Shion.

But the Shion I knew had gold hair and gold eyes, while this girl had brown hair and dark pupils. And I was supposed to be possessing Shion — it felt bizarre to face the owner of a memory inside that very memory.

“Leave. Little human.”

The memory’s owner spoke to the child. It didn’t sound like Shion’s voice at all — a thick, low voice clung to my ears. Anyone would’ve taken it for an adult man’s.

Big lizard? Little human?

I turned the words from their exchange over in my mind.

No way…

For a moment I’d brushed the thought aside, but now I pieced it together. The child who’d purified the evil spirit’s energy and fished a cat out of time. The memory I was watching. Every clue clicked into place, and the conclusion was unmistakable. Unbelievable, yes—but the only answer that fit.

Shion had never been just an ordinary extraordinary child. She—no, maybe it was more accurate to call it an ‘it’—was something else entirely.

Then, in an instant, my vision began to blacken. I thought the possession might be breaking, so I simply waited to open my eyes in the real world again. But the silence stretched on, minutes passing in still suspension.

“Can you hear me?”

And then, at some point, a voice called out to me inside my head. That same voice I’d heard moments before.

“A dragon?”

“Yes. I am the sun that was enshrined as this country’s god.”

He answered. There was so much I wanted to say to him. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ ‘Why did you possess me?’ and so on. But what slipped out first was the question that had burned in me the longest—the riddle of the dragon who’d hidden his face for so long.

“Why did you wear that woman’s form? I mean, the one you raised—Pre.”

“After death, as my memories faded, I unconsciously took the shape of the child I had cherished.”

He replied in that strange, unfamiliar voice. Then immediately added another thing.

“Child. Help me now.”

“What?”

“Go to the priest. Stop him from exorcising that child. I cannot do it.”

“…What are you even talking about?”

“I can suppress the child’s aura, but I cannot prevent the exorcism. And now that my memories have returned, I understand. That divine power you speak of—it is a fragment of my soul. If I interfere wrongly, I will only aid the exorcism.”

I couldn’t grasp what he was saying. I clamped my mouth shut, offering no reply. While I was trying to sort through the confusion in my mind, the dragon shouted at me.

“So hurry! Hurry and help me!”

My eyes flew open. My siblings and the Duke were looking down at me with worried faces. I brushed past them as they asked if I was alright and forced myself upright. Then, mechanically, I moved my feet and stepped out the door. With each long stride, I felt the hem of my dress brush against my legs. The air against my face was strangely cold. Every sensation felt razor-sharp.

“Laura!”

The Duke caught me from behind. I stopped walking and turned my head slightly to look at him. He must have noticed something was wrong—his brow was furrowed.

“It’s all right. I’ll return this child to your arms. You need only call her name.”

I knew he was worried about me, but only strange sounds tumbled from my lips—the dragon speaking through my borrowed body. Unsurprisingly, the Duke didn’t let go.

“It’s fine, Your Grace. You trust me, don’t you?”

This time I spoke directly to him. Only then did the Duke loosen the grip on my arm, lowering it slowly to take my hand in his. I clasped his fingers in return and led him toward the priest’s room.

When we reached the doorway, a single knight stood guard.

“Move.”

The dragon spoke through my mouth again, in a tone that made clear it had no concern for my reputation. The knight’s face tightened as he looked at me—probably pegging me for some impudent woman.

Are you kidding me? Dragon? Watch your mouth.

That damn dragon had no idea how human society worked. Irritated, I tried reaching out to him in my head. Meanwhile, the Duke strode briskly to my side.

“Move.”

He gave the knight a short command. The knight quickly stepped aside from the door. As we entered, I saw the priest chanting an incantation over the elderly woman. He seemed to be in the middle of an exorcism.

“Stop.”

At my words, the priest flinched and stared at me. The old woman’s gaze drove into mine as well.

“Do not exorcise that child.”

The dragon continued. The priest, with no knowledge of the situation, looked bewildered, his expression vacant. But the old woman—she gazed at me, and tears spilled down her cheeks. Her sorrowful face stabbed at my heart like a thorn. I realized then: this was the dragon’s emotion.

“Dragon?”

The old woman parted her lips slowly and spoke to me.

“Yes.”

As I returned the affirmation, she began to walk toward me. Yet with each step, her form grew younger. By the time she stood right before me, she had become the woman from the dragon’s memory—just moments ago.