Chapter 165 - North Korean rabbit

Chapter 165

Late in the morning.

The ladies-in-waiting entered the antechamber adjoining Sia's bedroom, treading with utmost caution.

Their faces flushed, they whispered as softly as they could.

"As expected… there's been no response at all……."

"They didn't even call for dinner last night……."

"…The Head Lady-in-Waiting said we must not disturb them……."

All of them, without exception, had faces flushed crimson, and smiles spread across their lips.

For the past three months, the Crown Prince's Palace had been perpetually gloomy with its master absent.

Now that the master had finally returned, it should be brimming with vitality, yet the palace was filled with an unusual, almost alien, quietude.

Isabel had been stripped of her position as Empress, and Evangeline had also been dragged to the underground dungeons on charges of attempting to disrupt the imperial lineage.

One couldn't fathom how exhausting it had been to constantly jockey for position against the once-overbearing attendants of the Empress's Palace over the last three months.

The moment their master returned, the oppressive atmosphere was swept away in an instant.

Their shoulders lifted as if dancing of their own accord.

Having concluded their great task and returned safely, the Crown Prince and Princess had entered Sia's bedroom.

No one in the Crown Prince's Palace dared to disturb their private time.

One of the ladies-in-waiting blushed, recalling how Crown Prince Arpad had carried the Crown Princess in his arms last evening.

It had been shortly after they emerged from the Temple of the Heavenly God within the imperial palace.

Carrying Hilia like a princess over quite a distance, he had walked without the slightest tremor.

'Just like the first day the two of you entered the palace.'

Back then, Hilia had not yet been recognized as Crown Princess.

In the situation where the entire imperial palace had been turned upside down by the sudden marriage of abduction, no one had expected the two to enter through the main gate so imposingly.

Consequently, the imperial palace had been turned upside down once more.

But now was different.

Even if Arpad carried Hilia a long distance, the palace attendants reacted with familiarity.

Were they not the couple who had boasted a honeymoon as sweet as flowing honey since their entry into the palace?

The number of incidents where the Crown Prince and Princess had astonished people in the imperial palace during this time was not small.

Considering that, one might think this level of affectionate display was nothing special.

But the ladies-in-waiting who had served them at close quarters knew.

Yesterday, the atmosphere had been very different from usual.

Perhaps that was why. Even though it was not uncommon for the Crown Prince and Princess not to emerge from their bedroom, the palace attendants were being unusually cautious.

Especially since the Head Lady-in-Waiting, the Duchess, had given them strict instructions.

"You must not disturb them under any circumstances. Until the bell rings from within, be careful even with your breathing."

And even if there was no sign from Sia's bedroom, she had ordered them to prepare simple meals and drinks three times a day outside the antechamber.

The ladies-in-waiting cleared away the untouched, cold food and replaced it with warm offerings.

All holding their breath, they quietly left the antechamber.

This situation continued for three full days.

Chapter 18. Fate and Destiny

"Rather than your wounds or comfort… I simply want you."

The moment those words left my mouth, I was certain Arpad could not refuse me.

In truth, I was aware this might be an act of taking advantage of a weakened Arpad.

But I thought it didn't matter if I was selfish.

'Because I intend to be even more selfish.'

Moreover, it was I who wanted comfort more than anyone.

It was I who clung to him, wanting Arpad more.

I wanted to touch his warm body heat. I wanted to confirm his emotions more directly.

So this was, ultimately, nothing more than an indulgence of my own greed.

The passionate night seemed as if it would last forever.

The pale blue light of dawn scattered over the heads of Arpad and me, tightly embraced beneath the covers.

On the pillow, my hair and Arpad's were tangled together in disarray.

Just as we had mingled countless times the previous night.

The words left by the dragon, unknown to Arpad, echoed in my mind.

- I will now send you back to where you were.

"No, wait! There's something I need to confirm first!"

- What is it?

A faint sense of shame welled up. It was undoubtedly embarrassing to ask someone else about this with my own mouth.

But right now, I needed certainty.

"If I become physically intimate with Arpad, is it certain that his madness will be resolved?"

This was the method I knew, through Gaspard, to cure Arpad's madness.

Tower Lord Gaspard was the human on the continent who knew the most about dragons.

'But he wouldn't know more than the dragon itself.'

It couldn't be more certain than a direct answer from the dragon.

Artanus struck right at the core.

- Did I not say that if my successor 'becomes complete,' there would be no need to worry about the madness?

"That 'becoming complete'……!"

Anger and resentment tangled together, preventing me from finishing the sentence.

It felt as if speaking the dragon's words verbatim would make them true.

It was a revolting, horrifying, terrifying thing.

Shaking my head, I stated firmly.

"I won't do it. That 'act' you mentioned. Absolutely not. No matter what happens."

- That is not something you can choose simply because you desire it.

"…!"

- It is closer to a predetermined destiny, no, a fate.

Gritting my teeth, I shouted.

"Like hell! I absolutely don't believe in that nonsense. I won't let it happen."

The dragon looked at me with expressionless, glass-bead-like eyes.

The only time emotion mixed into his gaze was when he looked at his sleeping bride within the crystal.

- For now, you may believe and act as you wish, but…….

I cut off the dragon's words.

"I don't care if it's destiny or fate, just answer my question, you damned lizard."

- …….

"If I join bodies with him, is it correct that the madness will never torment him again?"

The dragon observed me intently.

It was a gaze that seemed to be properly observing me for the first time, having always seen me as a mere accessory attached to Arpad.

An emotional fluctuation was felt in Artanus's words and expression.

- …It reminds me of her.

It wasn't difficult to guess who 'her' referred to.

- The resemblance is only in hair color, and even that is a coincidence.

It seems the similarity between my hair color and Princess Istride's was coincidental.

It must mean it's not a physical characteristic possessed by the Bride of the Dragon.

The fact that this damned lizard was thinking of the princess while looking at me was significant.

It meant it could be used.

"If you truly loved your bride, then speak."

I spoke almost threateningly, but in truth, I had no power or means of coercion.

He could ignore me as much as he wished.

But could the dragon, who yearned to vanish and go to his lover's side, truly ignore me, who made him think of the woman he loved?

I was certain it was impossible.

No, hoping desperately he would, I persisted stubbornly.

"Tell me!"

After a silence that felt as long as eternity, the dragon finally spat out the information I desired.

- If it is merely a physical joining, it is temporary. After a considerable amount of time passes, there is a possibility the madness will recur.

"…!"

My heart sank with a thud. Had Gaspard been wrong?

If this were the case, I could not leave Arpad's side.

If the madness recurred in my absence, Arpad would ultimately die.

My heart ached as if being squeezed.

'So no matter what choice I make, the result is the same!'

Perhaps that was what that wretched lizard wanted.

Then, the dragon's words continued.

- However, it is not that there are no other ways to be freed from the madness.

I jerked my head up. It wasn't over yet.

- The first is for the successor of the dragon's blood to have a child through his bride. However, in this case, only one person is freed from the madness. The child of the two cannot escape.

"That's… no different from passing the madness on to the child."

- Your expression is not greatly mistaken. Indeed, the family you call the imperial house was born in that manner.

Hearing only this, it sounded as if the current imperial house was a byproduct created to free them from the dragon blood's curse.

Contrary to the content, the voice the dragon emitted was utterly emotionless.

- The second is even simpler. The bride and the successor of the dragon's blood must earnestly desire and love each other, and then join bodies.

"You just said merely joining bodies isn't enough!"

- Correct. Merely overlapping bodies is not enough. You must, sincerely, with your whole body and heart, desire each other and become one. That… is not an easy task.

It was essentially a test. Of how much I loved him, and how much he loved me.

- Including ancestors and descendants, apart from Istride and me, it is something that has never succeeded even once.

Artanus declared coldly.

- Do you not also wish to free him from the madness? If so, there is a much simpler and more certain method.

Artanus activated the 'thing' he had 'given' me—no, the 'magic he had placed'—just before this conversation.

Magical power, red as blood, coiled around my left hand and soon formed the shape of a dagger with a crimson blade.

The dagger's hilt shone with a golden light.

A blade made from Artanus's heart, a hilt forged from scales and bone.

The horribly selfish dragon made another 'demand' of me.

- With that, stab the heart and kill him as a human. Then, as a dragon, he will become complete. He will finally become my true successor. This is something only the bride can do.

The dragon, who deserved to be cursed, was telling me to kill Arpad.

Him as a human.

Perhaps the dragon before my eyes now was also born in that manner.

If Arpad became such an existence, would he still be the one I loved, and who loved me?

Before that, one brutally cruel question arose.

'Could I really stab Arpad?'

The answer was one.

"I absolutely refuse. I will never do such a thing, no matter what happens."

This was one of the reasons I had actively seduced Arpad.

Because it was the method to fundamentally resolve Arpad's madness.

So that he would be fine even without me by his side.

Romance, Fantasy,