Chapter 47: Dragon Eyes

The dragon cavalry armor was revealed under the moonlight.

Two meters tall, with intimidating ornaments designed to oppress the opponent.

However, Perda had seen that armor more times than her real appearance.

For him, that armor was already part of Valdrova, and as such, he could love it as well.

He had thought it would be nice to meet her like this unexpectedly, but the reality was different from what he expected.

More than joy, what he felt was confusion.

Had he been so consumed by desire that he was already starting to see hallucinations?

As he thought that, she stopped in front of him.

“……”

“……”

They looked at each other in silence.

After a long moment of stillness, it was Valdrova who spoke first.

“I-it’s just, this… well, I…”

She forced out the words, as if searching for a pearl in the sand.

“I wanted… to go out for a walk a bit…”

“Oh, yes?”

“Y-yes, that’s right!”

Perda knew it was a lie.

But it wasn’t something important.

After saying that, Valdrova nervously fidgeted with her hands.

Clank, clank.

The steel of her gauntlets clashed, making noise.

She seemed uneasy.

Was she uncomfortable running into him like this?

Finally, she spoke again.

“T-that’s not the truth!”

“Huh?”

“I knew that… you were going to come out… so I came out too.”

“Oh… yes?”

“Yes.”

She placed her hand on her chest and sighed, as if she had just confessed a sin.

Perda didn’t mind.

What mattered was that she had come out knowing he was there.

That meant she wanted to see him.

‘She wants to see me.’

Realizing it, his heart stirred.

Had he brushed his teeth?

Would his clothes smell bad?

Maybe the candle smoke had clung to him.

But those worries didn’t last long.

Perda remembered something important and lowered his head.

“I greet Grand Duchess Valdrova.”

“Ah, yes, welcome, um… Perda… Perda…”

As she said his name, her voice faded at the end.

Through the voice modulator in her helmet, it sounded like a muffled lament.

“Do you mean regent?”

“Ah, yes, that! Regent!”

She clapped softly, her voice brightening.

“Yes. Perda, the regent. I’ve always wanted to use that title. That’s what they call the sovereign’s fiancé, right?”

“The truth is that… no, yes, that’s correct.”

Perda stopped himself from correcting her.

He didn’t want to taint that radiant purity.

“Then, can I call you regent now?”

“It’s not necessary. It’s a term for formal situations. When we are alone, just call me Perda.”

“Ah, alright… Perda… sir.”

Perda, Perda…

Valdrova repeated his name several times inside the helmet, as if practicing.

It sounded like she was whispering it into his ear.

“I wanted to see you again, but… I don’t know why… I didn’t dare.”

“I understand.”

Perda nodded silently.

Could it be that she also felt it intensely?

“I… came because of Ruri.”

It wasn’t that.

“Because of Ruri?”

Valdrova nodded.

“Lately she seems very affected.”

Perda remembered that he had rejected Ruri’s request to attend the Grand Council.

The last time he saw her, she was angry.

“I don’t think I understand emotions very well, but I know how to recognize when that child is sad. And now… she is sad.”

Her helmet turned toward him.

“If you know why she’s like that… I thought you would know, Perda.”

Perda’s lips moved, but he couldn’t speak immediately.

He knew he was the cause.

How could he say it?

What if telling the truth made her start to hate him?

Even so, he decided to be honest.

“That change… is probably my fault.”

“Yours?”

“Ruri asked me to attend the Grand Council, but I refused. That’s all I know.”

“Why would she want to go there…?”

“She said she wanted to talk to the Silverwind side.”

Valdrova’s body tensed.

But soon she nodded slightly, as if understanding.

“If it’s just to talk… couldn’t you take her?”

“It’s a vain hope.”

“A vain hope?”

“What that servant is trying to do is like tearing off a scab. If the wound hasn’t healed and you rip it, the flesh opens again. It’s exactly that.”

“Ah… that… hurts a lot.”

“Yes. It hurts quite a bit.”

Valdrova nodded softly, as if understanding.

Then, she held her arm with her hand.

“But… what if that vain hope… isn’t so vain?”

Valdrova finished the sentence with an uncertain tone.

“Silverwind still holds resentment.”

“I know that too. But… maybe it’s not like that for Ruri, right?”

“Do you think everything will be resolved just by talking?”

“At least… that child will have a place to return to.”

“Return to?”

At Perda’s question, Valdrova hesitated for a moment and then spoke with determination.

“Ah… it seems you don’t know, Perda. That child is not my spawn, but a spawn of the silver dragons.”

“Ah…”

“Since she is loyal to me, there may be misunderstandings.”

“I see…”

In reality, Perda already knew.

What surprised him was that word, “return.”

“Dragon spawn are a family bound by blood. For Ruri, her family is Silverwind’s spawn.”

“Do you mean Ruri should return to her family?”

“Isn’t family the most important thing?”

Family.

For Perda, it was a distant concept.

He had been mistreated by his own and eventually abandoned.

The origin of his desire for revenge was precisely his family.

And in the end, he returned everything they had done to him.

Now, after exhausting all those feelings, he no longer cared.

But Ruri.

Perda didn’t know what she thought.

Ruri cares about Valdrova.

However, compared to the blood bond with Silverwind, that might not mean much.

Perhaps this was her chance to cut her relationship with Valdrova.

After all, in the future, she didn’t appear until Perda tore out Valdrova’s heart.

“She may want it, but…”

Perda raised his gaze toward Valdrova.

“Do you want it?”

Instead of answering, Valdrova turned her head toward the sky.

Her hand on the railing clenched slightly into a fist.

It was not an easy decision.

“I was the one who tied her to this place. If she has a path to return to… I should let her go.”

“……”

“And besides…”

Valdrova looked at Perda again.

“Now I have a fiancé, don’t I?”

An indescribable weight pressed on Perda’s chest.

A decision already made forced him to rethink everything.

Should he really take Ruri to the Grand Council?

In the end, Perda decided.

“Alright.”

“You’ll take Ruri?”

“Yes. If you ask it of me, how could I refuse?”

“Ah… yes, thank you.”

Valdrova nodded, somewhat bewildered.

When that topic ended, silence settled heavily between them once again.

“The Grand Council…”

Valdrova broke the silence carefully.

“I’ve always heard about it, but I don’t know what happens there.”

“Are you interested?”

“Very much. It’s the place where all races gather to talk about the peace of the continent, right? It’s natural that I would want to know what kind of conversations take place there.”

Valdrova’s helmet turned toward him.

“When you return… could you tell me what happened there?”

Even though her face was hidden, Perda knew what she expected.

Like a child listening to stories of heroes who defeat darkness.

Like pure snow gathered in winter.

A dazzling purity.

“The stories… won’t be pleasant.”

“W-why?”

Her voice showed confusion.

Perda realized his mistake.

But it was too late to take it back.

So he told the truth.

“They don’t talk about such noble things. They only care about their own interests.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yes. So don’t have expectations that are too high.”

He finished speaking with difficulty.

Valdrova looked at him in silence.

What kind of expression would she have?

Would she be stunned?

Or on the verge of tears?

“Perda…”

The response came in a calm voice, without emotion.

“Do you know what happened when Godwin rose to destroy this world?”

There was no way he could know.

It was an event from 150 years ago.

“When Godwin plunged the world into chaos, we were the first to surrender.”

“The dragons?”

Valdrova nodded.

For Perda, it was not something shocking.

But for a scholar of Escolea, this revelation would have caused an academic earthquake.

Valdrova, as if realizing it, covered her mouth and looked around cautiously.

Then she whispered.

“Everything I say now… is a secret.”

“I will take it to the grave.”

“At that time… the conclusion was that the best option was to make a pact with chaos. The long-lived races like the dwarves and elves were also inclined to accept that agreement.”

But clearly, that agreement was never completed.

“However, there was one race that did not.”

That part Perda did know.

“Humans were the first to rise.”

She clasped both hands carefully and brought them close to her chest.

“Because they did not yield, because their swords did not spare the demons, we understood that there was still hope left on the continent… and that is why this world was able to regain peace.”

Perda understood in his heart what Valdrova remembered from that day.

It was respect.

Dragons and humans.

Long-lived races and short-lived races.

Immortals and mortals.

A human can admire and fear a dragon.

But for a dragon to admire a human—that should not exist.

However, Valdrova was different.

“Even if they are blinded by greed now, at the most important moment they will fight for the world. That is why…”

Valdrova tilted her head slightly toward him.

The red armor, bathed in moonlight, shone with absolute nobility.

“I will love them.”

At that moment—

An unknown reaction arose in Perda’s mind.

The helmet shaped like a dragon’s head.

And within it, he began to see the figure of a fragile woman.

In her eyes, there was hope.

And that hope was smiling.

“Ah…”

Perda let out an exclamation, like a fool.

It was like flying high in the sky and then plummeting down.

From the highest point, the impact of the fall was indescribable.

“Perda…?”

“……”

“Are you alright? You’re not saying anything…”

Valdrova, nervous, examined his face.

Perda, who had been staring at her, finally spoke.

“Just once.”

“Huh?”

“Could you show me once more… those dragon eyes?”

“D-dragon eyes? Do you mean… my face…?”

“Yes. Your face.”

Perda’s hand instinctively reached toward Valdrova’s helmet.

She flinched and held it tightly.

“N-no! I still can’t show my face!”

“I beg you. Please… let me see those dragon eyes just once more…”

“I-it’s not possible! Don’t come any closer!”

He stepped forward, she stepped back.

It seemed like a chase that would never end.

But the one who broke it was Valdrova.

“I’m sorry!!”

With that shout of apology, she disappeared into the darkness.

The only thing left was the warmth she had left behind.

Perda, his face burning as if he had a fever, stared at the place where he had last seen her.

The wind entered through the open window.

But it was not enough to cool his heat.

He raised his gaze toward the moon.

Full moon.

But, unlike before, there was no longer space in his heart to think about his mother.

And this time there was no reason for concern.

Because the emotion dwelling in his chest was spinning intensely, dyed red.