Chapter 56: This isn’t it

Perda opened his eyes clearly and stared straight at Goz.

Silver hair and silver eyes, the same as Ruri’s.

He had exactly the same expression as when their gazes first crossed at the Grand Council.

“Welcome, regent of Valdrova.”

“Leader Goz.”

They addressed each other by name with formal courtesy.

But in their eyes, there wasn’t even a trace of respect.

“I didn’t realize someone so important had entered. Normally, my subordinates would open the door themselves.”

He was questioning why he had entered without permission.

“I didn’t see it as necessary.”

Perda replied, essentially, “because I wanted to.”

Goz’s eyes shifted toward the entrance.

But there was nothing left to do except bow his head slightly.

“This is a matter of our lineage. It’s a family matter. Do not interfere in family affairs.”

“I have no intention of interfering in family disputes either.”

He said it, but still took a step forward.

Then he felt a light weight on Ruri’s shoulder.

It was Perda’s hand.

“But this girl is someone cherished by the person I love. Should I just stand by and watch a cherished child be hurt over a mere family quarrel?”

Perda did not retreat even a single millimeter.

That alone was a direct challenge to Goz’s authority.

Goz hated that kind of defiance.

“I thought so the first time I saw you, but you’ve got quite the nerve.”

Goz rose from his seat.

At that moment, his presence intensified even further.

Ruri dropped to her knees and lowered her head.

The other Silver Dragon Spawn also submitted.

Goz pointed at Ruri with his chin and asked.

“So, regent of Valdrova. How much do you know about Ruri Silverwind, the servant of the person you love?”

“The servant of my fiancée, someone irreplaceable.”

“And?”

“That’s enough.”

“I see. That’s all you see. It seems this woman hasn’t told you everything.”

A rough hand, forged by combat.

That finger pointed at Ruri.

“This woman is a spy sent by Lord Silverwind.”

He revealed the truth.

“She was placed to monitor Valdrova and determine when she would weaken. Until the lord’s death, she received orders to report periodically.”

“So that’s how it is?”

“It seems you don’t believe it. Do you think I’m lying?”

“Do I look like an idiot who believes the words of someone showing hostility?”

“Fine, I agree. Then ask her directly. Ruri Silverwind.”

At that call, Ruri’s head grew even heavier.

“Say it exactly as it is. Have I said anything incorrect?”

“I… that…”

“Answer properly. Have I said anything false?”

Goz allowed not a single excuse.

Ruri finally told the truth.

“I received orders from Lord Silverwind… to monitor Lady Valdrova.”

“And the purpose?”

“…As Lord Goz said, to watch her and find her weaknesses.”

Silence fell.

Ruri could barely breathe.

But what tormented her the most was not that.

It was that she couldn’t even lift her head to see what expression Perda had.

Finally, Perda broke the silence.

“It’s not surprising.”

His tone was cold and mocking.

Ruri’s feet went cold.

It felt as if the ground disappeared beneath her and she was being thrown into an abyss.

“When a Spawn bearing the name Silverwind serves Valdrova, it was obvious there was a reason.”

Disdain.

Betrayal.

Negative emotions like a thick swamp seemed to devour Ruri.

But only for a moment.

“And?”

At that question, the pressure surrounding her dispersed like a mirage.

Goz frowned.

“What do you mean, and?”

“And what’s the problem?”

Ruri lifted her head and looked at Perda.

He had the same stubborn expression as always.

Goz did not expect that reaction, and his face tightened.

“She is a spy sent by Lord Silverwind. It’s not hard to understand.”

“Yes, she’s a spy. But even so, she is the servant my fiancée values the most.”

Perda clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chest.

“Even when everyone turned their backs on her, this girl remained by my fiancée’s side as a loyal servant. She is a Spawn who has served Valdrova more than anyone. That is the value she holds now. Do you think that value will waver because of your words?”

Ruri’s hands, still on her knees, tightened without her realizing it.

Her emotions nearly overflowed.

“Believe it or not, that’s your problem. You can’t force a human who doesn’t share Silverwind’s blood to understand it. But…”

Goz’s eyes gleamed with greater ferocity.

“You’ve been quite insolent for a while now.”

The air trembled violently.

The fuse of a bomb capable of destroying a nation was already lit.

Goz’s face had reached the limit of his patience.

Dragon Spawn are not dragons, but neither are they human.

They consider themselves superior to humans.

For a mere human to talk back to them was unacceptable.

An ordinary human would have bowed.

An intelligent human would have stepped back.

“Aren’t you the one who should be showing respect?”

But Perda neither stepped back nor bowed.

A blue gleam flashed across his eyes.

As regent of Valdrova, he stood firm before him, as an equal.

“And you come to lecture me after trying to intimidate and divide someone else’s servant?”

He said it clearly, as if he too was annoyed.

The veins in Goz’s neck bulged.

Ruri knew it.

He was more of an impulsive warrior than a cold leader.

“The only reason I’m not snapping your neck right here is thanks to Lord Blancaros’s mercy and my patience.”

“Since when does Silverwind call fear patience? You don’t dare face my fiancée directly, so you take it out on her servant and her fiancé…”

In Perda’s narrowed eyes, there was deep contempt.

“Aren’t you ashamed?”

That was the breaking point of the confrontation.

At the provocation, a gale slammed against the windows.

Goz stood up abruptly.

“Yes, it is truly shameful. Having to endure a mere human strutting in front of me…”

He took a step forward.

The veins in his hand tensed, cracking.

“I will wash away this shame with your blood.”

Just as he was about to enter his range—

“Do not take another step.”

Someone stepped in front of Goz.

When she should have been on her knees, at some point Ruri had already stood up and placed herself before Goz.

“Ruri, you….”

“He is… Lady Valdrova’s fiancé.”

She was still suffering under the submission of her instinct.

And even so, the reason she could remain standing was—

“I consider this threat as a challenge toward Lady Valdrova, so I will respond as well.”

Determination.

The determination to stop him, even if it meant dying.

Goz made a displeased expression.

“From a warrior of the north to a loyal dog. Now you even serve a human as your master.”

Goz, who had been full of anger, instead calmed down.

The wind hitting the window stopped.

He sat back down and released his pressure.

“As the representative of Silverwind, I have nothing more to say to a dog. You may take her, regent of Valdrova. I hope we do not meet again.”

Perda responded with the same naturalness, as if nothing had happened.

“Then I will take my leave.”

He did not continue the confrontation either.

“Ruri.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

“…Yes.”

He took the trembling Ruri with him and ended the incident.

***

Goz remained staring at the place where Perda and Ruri had left, lost in thought.

Although his eyes saw something else, the image of Ruri standing against him remained vivid in his mind.

‘Ruri, the Cutting Wind.’

Silverwind’s Spawn fought beyond the ice wall of the north against entities of extreme cold.

Among them, frost giants were the most dangerous.

Like the beasts of the eastern extremity, they appeared endlessly, covering the world in frost.

It took five well-trained Dragon Spawn to defeat one.

But Ruri was different.

With her small body, she had faced three giants at once and defeated them.

She had suffered severe injuries, but as long as she lived, she could recover.

She was a pride, an example for those who protected the continent of Serdes.

Even Goz had felt a strange sensation more than once when looking at her.

‘And someone like that….’

Their reunion had been the worst.

That ridiculous maid uniform.

That behavior of a young servant.

And that utterly foolish question.

That question, born from a weak hope, had nothing to do with the Cutting Wind.

Everything about her irritated him.

Was that what had once made him feel threatened…?

But more than anything, what truly irritated him was—

‘Perda Valdrova….’

That human who had stood against him.

Annoying humans had always existed.

Those who believed they could control dragons.

Those who relied only on authority.

Those he executed without hesitation, as an example.

That was normal in dragon society.

‘But he is different.’

He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt it clearly when he looked into his eyes.

That man had a presence closer to that of an immortal than anyone else.

That was why Goz could sense it.

‘If that insolent one is there, this revenge will not be fulfilled.’

He clenched his fist.

Since Silverwind’s death, not a single day had passed without remembering him.

Not a single day without wishing for revenge.

He could not allow everything to be ruined now.

‘The revenge must be fulfilled.’

At any cost.

***

Ruri walked silently behind Perda.

The place was so quiet that the sound of their footsteps echoed through the long corridor.

“Did the conversation go well?”

“……”

Ruri remained silent.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“…I don’t want to talk.”

“Is that how you speak to someone who helped you?”

Ruri’s steps came to an abrupt stop.

She stood there.

With her head lowered, she spoke.

“…Go away.”

Her damp voice came out with difficulty.

“Who asked you to help me?”

“……”

A completely shameless situation.

But Perda said nothing.

She was right.

She had not asked for help.

Perhaps it was something she could have resolved on her own.

Maybe he had acted hastily.

“Alright.”

Perda accepted it calmly.

“I suppose I did something unnecessary.”

He turned around without hesitation.

He began to walk away alone.

“Sorry for interfering.”

He kept walking.

Ruri remained standing there, watching his back in silence.

***

After leaving the Silverwind chamber, Ruri continued walking behind Perda.

She didn’t know what words to choose.

Her emotions were in chaos.

She slightly raised her gaze toward his back.

It was broad.

It felt like a firm support, as if she could lean on it without it giving way.

Like her father—

Silverwind.

But the feeling that back gave her was different.

It made her boil inside.

I have lived longer than him.

I have faced death more times.

Then why am I inferior to that back?

“Did the conversation go well?”

Perda asked.

When he didn’t receive a response for a while, he spoke again while glancing over his shoulder.

His blue eyes shone through his gray hair.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Ruri forced her mouth open.

“…I don’t want to talk.”

Instead of a mature answer, a childish reproach came out.

“Is that what you say to someone who helped you?”

Help?

If Ruri had not intervened at that moment,

Perda would have ended up with a broken neck, and a wind of calamity would have swept across the continent.

And yet he said he had helped her?

She criticized him internally, but Ruri also knew.

That if from the beginning she hadn’t clung to that small hope, none of this would have happened.

That she should be grateful because Perda intervened.

That everything could be resolved with a single word.

But.

She didn’t even want to give that small acknowledgment now.

Because if she spoke, she feared her trembling voice would betray her.

That, as a servant who had served Valdrova, she would show her incompetence.

That she would once again reveal her weakness to him.

She clenched her fists tightly and lifted her head.

“Who…?”

She held back her emotions and spoke.

“Who asked you to help me?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake.

It was not a mature reaction.

It was the pathetic image of someone unable to accept her own weakness.

That of a child who could only cling to her pride.

She felt miserable, but her throat tightened and she couldn’t continue speaking.

Perda looked at her from above.

Those eyes, as if his emotions had sunk to the bottom of a deep lake.

Those eyes seemed to sink Ruri’s heart even deeper.

Finally, he nodded.

Ruri regretted it instantly.

“Alright.”

That was not what she wanted to say.

“I suppose I did something unnecessary.”

That wasn’t it.

“Sorry for interfering.”

Perda started walking again.

Within her field of vision, Ruri saw his figure moving away down the corridor.

She reached out her hand reflexively to stop him.

But he was already too far to reach.