The Dead Dragon is a legendary being.
Long ago, it was a dragon that attempted to steal the moon,
the most feared mythical dragon in the Empire, but why Arwen was talking about it was a mystery to me.
In the past, it might have existed, but it has been a legendary being that hasn’t been seen for a thousand years.
These days, it seems the general opinion is that it’s just a fabrication.
Having reincarnated several times, I had never heard that the Dead Dragon really existed, so I looked at Arwen with a puzzled expression.
What does the Crown Prince’s foggy mind have to do with this?
“It seems you know a bit about the Dead Dragon. That makes this conversation a little easier. It may seem unrelated, but I believe their connection is quite deep,” Arwen said.
“…When you say they’re deeply connected, does that mean the Crown Prince is related to the Dead Dragon?”
“As I mentioned earlier, this is just a hypothesis based on my research. It may not be accurate, or perhaps it could be complete nonsense. However… I believe that there’s a very high possibility.”
After a brief pause, Arwen placed a piece of paper on the table.
I glanced over it, and it seemed to contain the information she had investigated.
Among the highlighted details was the content of a mural located at the Southern Temple, and as I slowly examined it, Arwen continued.
“The Empire’s moon is peculiar. Unlike other places where the full moon rises once a month, here it sometimes appears twice a month. We celebrate the Full Moon Festival during such periods.”
“Since the Empire was born under the moon’s blessing, I’ve never thought of that as strange.”
“…Back when the Dead Dragon tried to steal the moon, the Moon God Eden tricked the Dead Dragon into stealing darkness instead. As a result, one new moon disappeared, and in its place, the full moon was restored. You know this story, right?”
The legend of the Dead Dragon was quite a widely told tale, like a fairy tale.
Even little children must have heard it at least once, so I couldn’t help but know the details of the legend.
As I listened to Arwen’s story, I couldn’t help but think of the Full Moon Festival and looked back at the mural.
It was rather intriguing.
While the mural depicted the legend of the Dead Dragon, there seemed to be another story unfolding, not just what was typically portrayed.
“…Residual Thought?”
“The Dead Dragon is dead, but it hasn’t completely disintegrated. The lingering thoughts it possessed tend to grow stronger by its will to survive.”
“So you’re saying that now, after dying once, the remaining residual thoughts have grown even larger?”
“I think the current moment is the peak of that growth, perhaps to an uncontrollable extent.”
Arwen’s words sounded like the Crown Prince was being swayed by these residual thoughts.
However, the bloodline of the Imperial Family wouldn’t be easily swayed by mere curses.
Surely the blood of the moon wouldn’t exist for no reason.
It’s the purest and cleanest; any regular curse could be purified simply by breathing.
No matter how daunting the Dead Dragon’s residual thoughts may be, wouldn’t the probability of him enduring it be higher?
In response to my question, Arwen nodded.
However, as if she was already pondering this, she pointed to another part of the mural and opened her mouth.
“Advance while bearing the shadow, but never be swayed by the abyss.”
“Have you interpreted the characters written in the mural?”
“I believe it refers to the residual thoughts. The image preceding this inscription shows the dead dragon perishing. Perhaps it means, even if one comes into contact with those residual thoughts, do not be swayed by the madness they harbor…”
Thinking simply, one could indeed arrive at that conclusion.
However, why was the Crown Prince exposed to the residual thoughts of the dead dragon, which had no connection to him at all?
Regarding this perplexing question, Arwen provided an answer.
“Kaitel’s goal is quite different from that of the current Emperor. Unlike maintaining a proper balance between nobles and the Imperial Family, he aims to concentrate power within the Imperial Family.”
“So that’s why he created Icarus? To build his own organization.”
“Icarus has existed since long ago. Kaitel merely distorted its purpose. He probably intended to construct his own power using Icarus. And that intention was likely pure on his part.”
Arwen let out a small sigh, then pressed her temples as if her head was aching.
To summarize the conversation so far, the Crown Prince is being swayed by thoughts.
And those thoughts are causing events to unfold that need not have happened, compounded by the will the Crown Prince harbors.
If so, what will happen afterward is that the Crown Prince’s mind will be consumed by those thoughts.
But is that really the case? No, I remembered the look in the Crown Prince’s eyes.
Those eyes, colder than anything, revealing no emotion besides pure rationality.
There was that reason, but overall, it was a puzzling story.
If he were being swayed by residual thoughts, then at the very least, the Saint would have noticed first.
Having been endowed with divine power directly from the God, she would have realized that a foul energy was entangled with the Crown Prince.
Though they had met recently, the fact that she didn’t recognize it…
Wouldn’t it be more correct to think that there are no such thoughts in the Crown Prince?
So, when I mentioned the Saint, Arwen said she had considered that possibility as well.
Then what about the connection between the Crown Prince and the residual thoughts? When I asked, Arwen furrowed her brow and answered, looking troubled.
“…It might not even be residual thoughts. It’s possible that Kaitel isn’t being consumed by thoughts but is trying to manipulate them instead.”
After a brief pause, Arwen, with her eyes gently closed, added,
“For the resurrection of the dead dragon.”
#
The dead dragon was a being standing in direct opposition to the Empire.
As one who sought to seize the moon, it could be considered a being that the Empire could never accept.
Especially since the Imperial Family had once tried to erase the name of the dead dragon from history, it could rightly be viewed as a complete enemy.
‘…That’s why it’s even stranger.’
Now, in a space where only she remained, Arwen narrowed her eyes and stared into the void.
Everything else was mere speculation.
Even if there were materials, those would ultimately be based on speculation derived from those materials, and could easily be wrong.
So they said to exclude it, but isn’t there still one remaining ‘fact’?
The Crown Prince is trying to utilize the existence of the dead dragon.
A secret of the Crown Prince that I accidentally discovered before departing from Icarus.
Mill.
This was both the reason for being chased up until now and the reason why he almost died.
What if Robert Taylor hadn’t appeared in such a situation?
He would probably be dead by now.
The assassins, now corpses, would have buried him somewhere no one would find.
No matter how many times he thought about it, it sent chills down his spine, and on the other hand, it raised questions.
How on earth did Robert Taylor find out about that ambush?
“It must have been highly classified.”
There was no way the Crown Prince would leak the assassination to anyone else.
Even a Duke couldn’t know such a thing, so how did someone who was practically abandoned by his family come to know?
And wasn’t he quite different from what he had known before?
When he first saw him, he even doubted whether he was the same person.
The Robert Taylor he learned about during his investigation could be described as mild in many ways.
He could be called a model of a good person.
He was rumored to be overly caring about his surroundings, even sympathizing with the death of a mere beast.
Even though he frequently received ‘punishments’ within his family, his nature didn’t easily change.
He almost wandered down a twisted path a few times, but that was short-lived. Arwen knew very well that a part of the widely spread rumors was quite exaggerated.
He was known as a ruffian, yet weak in character, but Robert Taylor was just an inherently kind person.
The problem was that his kindly nature was exploited by others countless times.
Thus, even while meeting the current Robert, he couldn’t help but doubt whether this was indeed the same person.
How could a person change so much?
It was as if he was hiding his true nature; the vacant eyes he now had left a weight on his heart.
It could have been an act. Maybe he was ready to completely change his behavior when the time came.
The power to kill four assassins alone isn’t built overnight.
How much training would Robert have had to undergo to achieve such prowess, having never even held a sword before?
If he really had been quietly preparing for everything, that would have been truly impressive.
It was as if he had anticipated all these situations.
He managed to fend off being assassinated and even prepared to head south in advance.
– The resurrection of a dead dragon, huh.
– I can’t know for sure right now. I’ll have to investigate more in the South, but the Temple of the Moon can only be accessed by the Saint.
– Then I’ll go look into it. I’ll head south in winter.
Who would have thought he’d have ties to the Saint? Last time, he was with the Grand Duke of the North, Igrit.
However, even so, rumors were still leading to a negative outlook on him.
With the Grand Duke of the North and the Saint, plus the backing of Taylor.
What was he aiming for?
After taking the Crown Prince’s head, what exactly was Robert Taylor thinking?
If Robert Taylor was of the same ilk as the Crown Prince, Arwen would think about facing death to stop him.
If he seemed like he would summon blood like Kaitel, Arwen would have blocked him the moment he reaffirmed his intention to kill the Crown Prince.
That’s why she asked the question. What was his reason for wanting to kill the Crown Prince?
I asked him the reason. What is the reason for wanting to kill the Crown Prince?
I thought this was a simple coup for power, but the answer that came back was unexpected.
-…Because too many have died.
The moment I recalled Arwen’s hazy eyes, her expression became strange.
Even when she killed the assassin, and even when she declared her intent to kill the Crown Prince, her gaze was calm.
It didn’t waver at all, as if etched there like a doll, those empty eyes filled with nothingness.
But at that moment, it was different.
Countless emotions were contained and shaken.
Her expression seemed as if it could crumble at any moment, as if it would shatter right away, and I couldn’t respond.
Sadness, hate, regret, lingering attachment.
Unable to find the words to describe the other feelings, I ended up revealing what I knew instead…
In that moment of seeing those eyes, I couldn’t help but believe.
As far as I knew, the only person who had died beside Robert was his mother, but the heart he held was true.
What kind of wind would the words he uttered today bring about?
Robert compared the Crown Prince to a tiger.
And then he said that there might be someone who knows how to strangle the tiger by the neck.
What could he possibly know to say such a thing?
As if he knew everything about himself, as though he had known him for quite a long time.
Groaning, Arwen finally got down from the chair and moved toward the window.
It was supposed to be the last sky from the last time.
However, having been saved, she still survived. What meaning could this salvation hold for her?
Arwen simply stared vacantly at the sky.
The wind began to blow.
From afar, as winter approached, the wind flowing from the north grew intense.
It was cool and cold, a chilly wind that swept away all the warmth she had briefly held.
After feeling that wind for a moment, she eventually closed the window tightly.
“Kaitel. Robert.”
I don’t know what kind of bad fate exists between the two.
But what’s curious is that both are targeting each other’s throats.
Arwen let out a small laugh as she gazed into the darkness.
Perhaps it was for such a reason that Robert had begun to move now.
Because he realized that Kaitel was trying to kill him someday, he too was trying to strike first.
But how could he have known such a fact?
When he realized that the Crown Prince was trying to use the dead dragon, there was an order given at that time.
To find out everything about Robert from the Taylor family.
What I know about him now is also from that investigation, which made me aware that the Crown Prince was indeed interested in Robert Taylor.
And that someday he would try to kill him.
What exactly does Robert Taylor possess?
After pondering for a moment, Arwen shook her head as if to say she didn’t know.
It was something she didn’t need to know. Just like Robert said, she only needed to focus on strangling the Crown Prince.
Once again, a heavy breath escaped her.
“…Only an eternity can endure the dawn that approaches, huh.”
Recalling the last words of the mural, she gazed into the air.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
