“You had the mark of the Lord when you caught me in that vision. Isn’t that also something that should never happen?”

“…Chrys, I told you I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Even though she knew it wasn’t real, Chrys couldn’t calm her racing heart. The puzzle the Parent Tree had thrown her way kept her thoughts spiraling. No matter his denial, the Dawn dragon, Naskan, was the sole heir in the divine realm.

One day, he would become the Lord… That was a fact without variables.

“I’d like to tell you to think it was just a bad dream, but that’s not possible, is it?”

“I’ve been troubled by this dream for quite a while. It’s already past time to dismiss it as just a nonsense dream.”

Moreover, Chrys had made several decisions she wouldn’t normally make because of that dream.

Sitting here with Naskan was also an event brought about by the anxiety the dream induced. He kissed her forehead in an attempt to soothe her, a gesture of affection similar to what he’d done in their childhood. However, perhaps due to the vision, she felt a slight aversion.

As she attempted to get down from his lap, Naskan held her back with a gentle but insistent touch. It was the most stubbornness Naskan could show in this situation.

“It would be better if it was really just a bad dream. Then I could at least get angry at you for seeing me that way.”

“Right. It’s ridiculous to be like this over something that hasn’t happened. Sorry.”

Naskan had never once been angry at Chrys since they met. Though she had seen him angry, it was never because of her. If anything, he treated her as if she were too fragile to touch.

“Actually… I was a bit…angry earlier. Wondering if that’s how you see me.”

“Sol Noctis is the one who’d burn down the Parent Tree, and Axen Arc is worth killing, but you are innocent?”

Naskan rested his forehead on Chrys’s shoulder. He was like a child seeking comfort. His shoulders shook, indicating he was laughing.

“…Yeah.”

“You really have no conscience.”

Eventually, Chrys’s tension dissolved into laughter. It wasn’t that Naskan’s conscience was corrupt, but he was just that capable. While he’d lived as a reckless maverick, he had never once harmed a hair on her hair.

Though it was undeniable that he would become the Lord one day, Naskan really wasn’t the type to do such things.

But in the dream…

“You did worse things than just imprisoning me.”

“He’s a real bastard. Should’ve cracked his skull open.”

Naskan spoke as if discussing a stranger, which made Chrys feel more at ease talking about it.

“How would I kill you?”

“Tell him to kill himself. If that b*stard were really me, he’d listen to you.”

“The one in the dream doesn’t listen to me.”

“Then he’s not me.”

The two laughed together with their foreheads touching.

“Anyway, trust me. Unless your life is in imminent danger or it’s an unavoidable situation, why would I ever harm you?”

“So, you’re saying you might make such a decision if my life is in danger?”

It was meant to be a joke.

However, upon hearing it, Naskan abruptly fell silent. After gazing intently at Chrys for a moment, he gave a clear response.

“…No, that will never happen. You wouldn’t like that.”

The conversation could have ended there as light-hearted banter if Naskan hadn’t hesitated, even for a second. Still, in that brief moment of hesitation, Chrys sensed a faint ‘possibility.’

Naskan, her long-time friend, had said he wouldn’t harm her. But what if an inevitable situation arose that required him to suppress Chrys? What decision would Naskan have to make once he became the Lord if she truly were a disaster?

“…Naskan, I want to see more.”

“Why would you want to see more of that b*stard?”

If that vision wasn’t just something that wouldn’t happen but held a slightly different possibility. It was better to clarify things than to remain anxious and uncertain.

“I want to hear all the sounds and feel all the sensations. I think it’s better to know exactly what’s going on.”

“Chrys, that’s…”

“Impossible?”

“It’s possible. But it will be uncomfortable. You’re already disliking it.”

Naskan seemed even more uncomfortable discussing the topic than Chrys. He was quick to notice things. Perhaps he had already sensed the possibility she felt. That was why he got angry with Sol Noctis, trying to hide that unease, and came to find her when she was alone.

“Naskan.”

The cool evening breeze played with Naskan’s bangs, revealing the handsome forehead where the mark of the Lord would eventually be. No matter how much time had passed, how much his physique had grown, or how the reasons for their meetings had changed, the way he looked at her remained the same.

Just as Naskan, once her guardian and now a maverick, remained her friend, their relationship would stay even if he became the Lord.

Or so she believed.

She could feel her heart beating like the ticking of the clock. Like the flowing time, their relationship had been changing subtly.

Don’t look at me with such sad eyes.

I really want to trust you.

“Dawn, help me.”

“…Okay.”

Naskan, who had been on guard, easily relented to her small request, as he always had.

Always? No.

No matter how much Chrys rummaged through her memories, she had never asked Naskan for something like this before.

She hated the idea of being protected. She hated that someone better than her would effortlessly handle things she had to strive hard for. His smugness in handling things alone that she found challenging was unbearable.

That was how she had seen it.

“But remember one thing. It’s going to be confusing at first. You’ll be bombarded with unfamiliar things. The most important thing for you to guard against is…”

“Okay.”

“Never get swept away by your emotions.”

Was there really a reason to just reject him out of pride?

Having voiced her thoughts, she realized that in front of her was just a large friend who wanted to help her but was cautious not to upset her.

Chrys took his hesitant cheek in her hand and initiated the kiss. A deep sigh mixed with desire escaped him, and a much heavier magic power than she had ever felt wrapped around her entire body.

At the border between the hazy reality and the vision, she heard someone desperately cry out, ‘I love you.’

❖

Chryselua had been running through the forest for a long time. There was only one purpose for her run.

To escape.

She needed to escape to meet ‘Him,’ who had promised to free her from this oppression. Despite her hands and feet becoming bloody, Chrys didn’t care. She even spared her sleeping hours to keep running.

That was the only way to escape this torment.

However, she was quickly captured. The moment she saw Naskan, whose breath wasn’t even disturbed despite using immense magic power to find her, a chill ran through her entire body.

“I didn’t expect you to run like this.”

“…Let me go!”

Naskan was reputed to be the strongest Dawn ever. Could she, a Twilight, really have the ability to outwit the Lord of the divine realm for long?

He effortlessly held her as she tried to resist and unfurled his massive navy-blue wings.

As Chrys saw him effortlessly return along the path she had run through all night, she finally broke into tears. Her face was covered in tears until they returned to Naskan’s stark and vast lair. Once back in the bedroom where she had been confined, her tear-stained face turned pale.

The reason he had dragged her all this way and brought her here was obvious.

Chrys struggled in his arms.

“N, no, Naskan. No…”

As he held her cheek and pulled her into a kiss, goosebumps covered her entire body.

__