Calamity of the Dragon (3)

It must have been just after I turned fifteen.

To celebrate the Empire’s New Year’s Festival, the nobles of the Kingdom of Talua visited the Asktalin Empire.

I participated as the representative of my family, standing in for my father.

At that time, the Vanhart family was already on the verge of ruin, so I had to endure the cold gazes of other nobles while maintaining my place.

‘What’s with these guys?’

Ironically, my figure standing alone and apart in the banquet hall seemed to draw the interest of the Empire’s noble heirs.

The noble youths, approaching in a group, began to mock me, picking on trivial matters.

Already troubled by the family’s situation, the annoyance from these bothersome imperial youths made my irritation surge.

The problem was, there was nothing I could do about it.

Getting into a conflict with nobles from the powerful Asktalin Empire would only bring losses on my side.

More than anything, I had no allies. Who would step forward to help the heir of a count’s family destined for ruin?

Right then, it was Riya Asktalin who came to my aide.

“Move aside.”

It was a commanding voice, as if questioning who dared to block her way.

Though there were plenty of other paths, she stood in front of the nobles who were mocking me.

The imperial princess didn’t even spare a glance at the confused group. After glancing briefly at the crest on my chest, she spoke.

“Sir Vanhart, it’s crowded here. Let’s move.”

As if we had made plans, she naturally guided me away.

I quietly admired her.

With just a brief look at the crest on my chest, she had recognized which kingdom and family I hailed from.

Once we’d reached a spot with few people, she smiled softly at me.

“… Please, don’t hate the Empire.”

For some reason, I thought her smile was hollow.

However she interpreted my reaction, she quietly disappeared.

That was my first meeting with her.

* * *

“Aaaaaaah!”

Shards of a broken horn tumbled to the ground.

A reptilian pupil, slit and long, locked onto me, my face reflected in her shining golden eyes.

I could see the human reason, submerged beneath the dragon’s instinct, surfacing.

According to Grancesia, this was only a temporary phenomenon.

In the moment the horn was broken and the dragon’s instinct faded, she regained her senses and looked at me with wide, astonished eyes.

Her lips moved, but I couldn’t make out her words. All I could hear was ringing in my ears.

Not that I had time for conversation anyway.

I pushed her staggering body up against a large tree.

‘No time.’

It wasn’t only the risk of the princess falling once again under the dragon’s instinct. I myself felt on the verge of fainting.

Perhaps because of the reckless use of magic power and borrowing Grancesia’s vision, my legs trembled and my eyesight blurred.

I felt her gaze looking up at me, pinned against the tree.

As she opened her mouth to say something, I shoved my thumb straight in.

Chomp!

“…!”

“Urk!”

Startled by my sudden action, the princess reflexively snapped her mouth shut and bit down hard on my thumb.

She must have really bitten down—my wound bled.

“Calmly, swallow it.”

Formalities didn’t matter as I struggled to steady my spinning thoughts and instructed her.

No doubt, it was a baffling situation for her.

Recovering her senses only to find an unknown man with his finger in her mouth—of course it’d be shocking.

Fortunately, she followed my command. Carefully, she swallowed the blood trickling from my thumb.

The effect was immediate.

Though the horn atop her head remained, the scales that had grown over her body began to fade.

The fierce dragon’s aura, which had overflowed from her, melted away like snow.

With this, the curse would be lifted completely.

According to Grancesia, though the awakened dragon factor would mean she would live a life quite different from before, there wouldn’t be a repeat of the dragon’s instinct overwhelming her.

In a sense, it was a miraculous encounter.

She might have acquired a possibility to become an even more dangerous existence than one awakened by the calamity of the dragon.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

I could see it in my eyes.

==

〈Riya Asktalin〉

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Role in Work: First Imperial Princess of the Asktalin Empire (Extra)

Abilities: Dragon Tongue, Dragon Eyes, ……, ……, magic (6th Circle)

Noteworthy Information: An unprecedented existence who overcame the Curse of Dragonification by the power of Divine Blood and gained the power of the dragon.

Though she hasn’t fully made the dragon’s power her own yet, in time it will naturally become hers.

==

She was no longer the seventh calamity, no longer the monster called the calamity of the dragon.

She was now an extra.

It was the same ending as Baian, but the meaning was entirely different.

“With this…”

The debt was repaid.

I couldn’t finish my sentence before collapsing onto her shoulder, using her for support.

Startled, she caught me as I slumped, but there was nothing I could do. The fact that I’d lasted this long was remarkable in itself.

‘Michelle will come for me…’

With the thought of the priestess likely watching over this whole situation as my last memory,

I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

“……”

The imperial princess, Riya Asktalin, stared blankly at the person who’d fainted atop her lap.

It was a face she’d seen before. Perhaps it was at the Empire’s New Year’s Festival some years ago.

That day, at that place, they’d briefly exchanged words.

But that was all.

A connection so fleeting it might as well be described as a mere passing encounter.

Who would’ve thought that such a tiny thread of fate would circle back like this?

“Sir Vanhart.”

She didn’t know his given name. She only knew his family.

Riya, repeating his surname under her breath, was suddenly alerted by a presence.

There stood a priest, frozen in place.

“… Who are you?”

“Y-you should be the one to answer! P-please, return Sir Vanhart!”

Amused by Michelle’s attempt at bravado, Riya let out a soft laugh.

“It’s all right now.”

“W-what?”

“I’m human now.”

Hearing her calm voice, Michelle felt her pounding heart begin to settle.

It was almost hard to believe that this was the same monster who had raged moments ago.

‘Sir Vanhart must have performed a miracle.’

Michelle had witnessed it.

Clay’s brave figure, charging toward that terrifying woman.

And then—the silver light that fell upon him!

‘Sir Vanhart truly is the agent of the god!’

He used the saint’s relics and received the divine revelation.

With that power, it made sense he could work a miracle and redeem a wicked monster.

‘… But she looks familiar, somehow?’

The horns were still present, but with the scales gone, her beautiful face was revealed.

Michelle thought she’d seen that face somewhere before.

“Priest.”

The quiet voice snapped Michelle to attention.

“Do you know this man’s name?”

‘Gasp!’

Her gentle smile gave Michelle goosebumps for some unknown reason—a deep, inexplicable fear.

“It’s S-Sir Clay Vanhart.”

“Clay… Sir Clay.”

As Riya repeated Clay’s name over and over, Michelle could do nothing but freeze in silence.

Who knows how much time passed like that. Riya carefully examined Clay’s right hand.

Thanks to his healing magic, the wounds were roughly treated and nothing serious remained.

Except for one thing.

“……”

A small scar remained on the thumb she’d bitten so hard.

After gazing at it for a moment, she traced her index finger over the back of Clay’s hand.

Crackle!

A dark, dragon-shaped mark appeared on the back of Clay’s hand.

Riya, satisfied as she gazed at it, called out to the priest still standing dumbfounded.

“Priest, please take him with you now.”

“Y-yes?”

“Didn’t you just ask me to hand him over?”

Indeed, she had.

With a lingering sense of unease, Michelle carefully lifted the unconscious Clay from Riya’s lap.

Suddenly, he realized there weren’t any severe wounds on Clay’s body.

“Did you heal Sir Vanhart?”

“Yes, I know a little healing magic.”

“… That’s impressive.”

Having watched the battle from a distance, Michelle knew.

Clay’s wounds were in no way minor.

To be able to heal so much with mere recovery magic, and not even holy power, was extraordinary.

‘So that’s not the extent of her power.’

The image of her wiping out the Kainzel kingdom’s army just by opening her mouth was still vivid in his mind.

If she had used magic as well…

The thought alone sent chills up Michelle’s spine.

“Of course, he’ll still need some healing with holy power.”

“I understand. I’ll do so as soon as we return…”

“But please be careful about one thing.”

“Yes?”

When Michelle looked at her as if to say, ‘What now?’ Riya smiled serenely.

That’s when Michelle realized why he’d felt fear at their earlier encounter.

This woman’s mouth smiled, but her eyes did not.

“Please don’t remove the scar on his thumb. And the mark on the back of his hand.”

“The mark I understand, but… isn’t it better to heal the scar?”

“Leave it.”

“U-understood.”

“Well done.”

What did she mean, ‘well done’?

Curious, but eager to get away from this strange woman who smiled only with her mouth, Michelle held his tongue.

“W-well then, we’ll be going.”

“Goodbye. Please take good care of him.”

Riya remained seated atop the snow, unmoving.

Michelle glanced back repeatedly as he carefully carried Clay down the mountain.

Riya watched the pair, saying nothing more.

And only after their figures had vanished completely did she slowly rise to her feet.

“Hm.”

Her physical condition was not good.

Though Divine Blood had removed the Curse of Dragonification, reckless movement while out of her senses had left her muscles aching.

“My horn…”

She picked up a snapped half of her own horn from the ground.

As she felt atop her head, one horn was intact, but the other had broken cleanly.

Somehow the wound felt a little lovely.

“……”

Looking back once more in the direction where Clay and Michelle had disappeared, Riya slowly started off.

Heading in the direction of the Empire—a place she’d thought she’d never return to.

* * *

When I came to myself, I was in bed once more.

It seemed Michelle had managed to bring me back safely.

‘… It’s over.’

Only then did I truly feel the matter had ended.

The seventh calamity would not occur.

Moreover, considering the abilities gained through this ordeal, it hadn’t been so bad after all.

At the very least, I no longer had to worry about dying from poison or illness.

[But I think you’re in more trouble than you realize.]

‘What?’

What did she mean, “more trouble”?

[Do you know much about dragons?]

‘I wouldn’t know, would I?’

Except when they amuse themselves, dragons generally sleep the days away.

For a normal person, it’s only natural never to encounter one in their lifetime.

[Dragons, you see, are extremely greedy. Anything they determine is “theirs” — they never let it go.]

‘And why bring that up now?’

[Look at your hand.]

My hand?

Following Grancesia’s words, I struggled to lift my shaking right arm and looked at the back of my hand.

There was an elegant symbol drawn across it.

I knew that symbol. It was the imperial family crest.

[You’ve been marked.]

‘… No way.’

Staring at the symbol of the imperial family, I was at a loss for words. That’s when I finally understood what Grancesia meant.

‘But why?’

It’s not that I disliked the princess, but this was too sudden.

Frankly, we’d never even had a real conversation.

‘… If she’s as clever as people say, I’m sure she has her reasons.’

For now, that’s all I could tell myself.

Maybe she rated my abilities highly and planned to take me in as a retainer.

No, upon reflection, perhaps that was even more likely. With that logic, everything more or less made sense.

The Curse of Dragonification was a horrible plague on the Asktalin royal family. Having cured it, I must have appeared as an incredible talent from her point of view.

‘I’ll find out when I meet the princess again.’

Whether such a day will come, I don’t know, but for some reason, I had a feeling I would cross paths with her again.

She was not someone who would end her story as an extra, just like me.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

[Dragon waifu has marked the stand-in author.]

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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