Chapter 222: Silverleaf Academy (LXX)

Plop…

The quiet of the night lingered as Aestrea finally landed on the ground.

They had flown far from the capital. Past cities, forests, and hills… until they reached the edge of a noble district far away from the center of the capital.

There it stood.

A tall, elegant mansion nestled behind a curtain of flowering trees. Moonlight rested gently on its walls, and fireflies blinked softly in the distance.

Aestrea walked forward.

Lilith was already gone, back into the realm she had absorbed. He was alone now, aside from the pale woman walking quietly beside him.

Victoria stood straight, her hands folded neatly in front of her.

Her condition had improved slightly thanks to Aestrea transferring bits of pure mana onto her system, her hair now cleaned and tied back, her eyes more alert… though still faint with exhaustion.

Aestrea stopped in front of the door and raised his hand.

Knock, knock…

He tapped gently and then waited.

There was no sound at first.

Just the quiet chirping of the birds… and the soft sound of footsteps approaching the other side.

Click.

The door slowly opened, and from there, a familiar figure stood.

Violet Von Luxuria.

Her violet hair was still tied up, like always, and she wore a simple royal-blue robe over her nightclothes. Her sharp, intelligent eyes, usually filled with calm focus…

…shimmered.

The moment she saw the person standing just behind Aestrea, her lips parted and her body… completely froze.

“…Mother…?”

Her voice cracked, tears swelling up.

Victoria raised her head slowly… and managed a faint smile.

“Violet.”

The name came out like a breath, almost too light to be heard, but Violet didn’t hesitate as her legs moved without her even thinking.

She ran forward.

And before Aestrea could even blink, the two women were wrapped in each other’s arms.

Plop!

Victoria nearly fell over from the force of it, but she held on tight. Their foreheads touched. Tears spilled down Violet’s face in seconds.

“You’re alive… you’re alive…!” she choked, sobbing openly now, her hands clutching tightly at the back of her mother’s dress.

“I thought I lost you forever—”

“I’m here,” Victoria whispered. “He brought me back to you.”

Violet’s body trembled as her tears soaked into her mother’s shoulder. She didn’t speak for a while, just cried, holding on like she’d never let go again.

Aestrea stood off to the side silently, not interrupting their special moment.

He didn’t even move, and just waited calmly, arms crossed, his eyes scanning the stars.

Eventually… the two separated. Violet wiped her tears with the back of her hand and looked back at him.

Her eyes were still red and wet, but they were steady again.

“You… kept your promise.”

Her voice was quiet.

Aestrea met her gaze and nodded once.

Then she smiled.

A beautiful, grateful smile… a smile that reached all the way to her heart.

But she knew what Aestrea was waiting for, so, taking a deep breath and calming herself, she stepped forward.

“You’ve realized your part of the deal,” she said gently, her tone respectful and sincere.

Her eyes locked onto his.

“Now… what do you want in return?”

Aestrea didn’t hesitate at all.

“The Dragon’s Heart that is going to appear in that auction,” he said flatly.

“Give me it.”

Violet froze.

Her breath caught for a moment.

Out of everything she expected, the Dragon’s Heart was not in her expectations. She honestly thought that maybe he would ask for wealth, her loyalty, even her body.

But never did she think about the Dragon’s Heart, after all, in her mind, he wouldn’t have any use for it.

“Ah….”

She lowered her head slightly, closing her eyes.

Then slowly… she smiled again, having a bittersweet, soft expression.

“If it’s for you…”

She looked up, tears still in the corners of her eyes.

“I’ll give it away without hesitation.”

She turned, opening the door wider.

“Please come in. I’ll retrieve the Dragon Heart for you.”

Aestrea gave her a small nod and stepped forward along with Victoria, the door closing behind them.

Violet escorted them to the living room, which, surprisingly, wasn’t full of expensive furniture considering Violet’s wealth.

“I’ll go retrieve the Dragon’s Heart now,” Violet excused herself, giving a small yet polite bow.

Aestrea nodded silently as she left the room.

And now, only the soft ticking of a wall clock remained.

He sat quietly on one of the long couches, arms resting lightly on his legs.

His silver hair fell around his face in soft strands, and his crimson eyes stayed lowered for a moment, deep in thought.

Next to him, Victoria sat gracefully.

Her body was still frail, her cheeks still pale, but she was dressed in a soft velvet robe now, warm and clean.

Aestrea hadn’t even noticed when she had changed clothes, but perhaps a few minutes had passed as he was lost in thought.

A faint cup of herbal tea steamed quietly on the table in front of her.

She looked at Aestrea and softly smiled.

“…My daughter,” she began gently, her voice low and warm, “she likes you, doesn’t she?”

Aestrea didn’t move at first.

His eyes blinked once, but the slight twitch in his fingers gave away his surprise.

Victoria chuckled lightly, her voice filled with something closer to relief than teasing.

“You must’ve noticed too. The way she speaks around you. The way she looks at you.”

She leaned back slightly, hands folded neatly on her lap.

“But what’s interesting…” she continued, tilting her head with a soft hum, “is that she doesn’t even realize it herself.”

Aestrea looked up slowly, meeting her eyes.

Victoria met his gaze calmly, still having the same doting smile.

“Before I was imprisoned,” she went on, “Violet was very different. A cold and sharp girl.”

She smiled faintly at the memory, though it was tinged with a strange sadness.

“She was obsessed with numbers. Business, assets… Always thinking about how to turn things into a gain. Her mind was constantly working, always trying to find leverage, value, profit…”

She glanced out the nearby window for a second.

“She treated people like investments, tools, chess pieces. Even nobles feared dealing with her. And she liked that reputation.”

Her eyes lowered now, and her tone turned quieter.

“She only truly cared about two things: her future… and me.”

There was a pause.

Aestrea remained silent, listening carefully.

“…So you can imagine my surprise,” Victoria said, her lips curling faintly again, “when I looked at her today, and saw her crying in my arms like a little girl.”

She turned back to him, this time her eyes gentler.

“Then I saw the way she looked at you. And I knew right away… something inside her changed. She’s opened her heart. She’s allowed herself to care for someone else. That’s not something she ever did before.”

Aestrea’s gaze remained calm.

He didn’t speak at all, but the slight narrowing of his eyes said enough.

“…And what if I don’t return those feelings?” Aestrea asked after a moment, his voice quiet but blunt.

Victoria didn’t flinch; she simply gave a soft smile, graceful as ever.

“Then that’s up to you.”

She placed her hands on her lap again.

“I’m not here to make decisions for her. Or for you.”

There was silence for a moment.

Only the soft clink of her cup being lifted.

“…I’m just grateful,” she said finally, “that the person she fell for… is someone who risked his life to bring her mother home.”

Aestrea’s expression didn’t change much, but his gaze turned just slightly away… thoughtful.

’…She must have heard Violet’s words about us having a deal… why is she telling me this?’ he sighed inwardly.

Step, step…

Aestrea turned his head slightly as footsteps echoed gently through the hallway, approaching with a composed rhythm.

Violet reappeared in the living room.

Her long violet hair was brushed neatly behind her shoulders. Her eyes, still red from earlier tears, had now regained their clarity, though the softness lingered.

She was holding something.

A large, finely crafted box made of obsidian wood, trimmed with silver edges and delicate carvings that glowed faintly in the light.

Aestrea’s eyes narrowed slightly. He could feel it even from here, the dense and extraordinary pure mana coming from the box.

Violet walked forward slowly, her heels tapping against the polished floor, and gently placed the box down on the table between them.

“…As promised,” she said softly.

“The Dragon’s Heart.”

She clicked open the latches and lifted the lid.

The faintest breath of cold air escaped.

Inside… pulsed something dark.

It was a heart.

Roughly the size of two fists, black as night, but slick and glossy like polished obsidian. Faint veins of glowing red ran through its surface, lighting up with every pulse.

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

It still beat.

Despite being removed from any body, it beat with terrifying calm.

Mana bled from it with each pulse like a slow leak from a high-pressure vessel. The entire room dimmed, as if the light bent away from it.

Aestrea stared at it silently.

The sheer weight of the energy inside it made even his violet swords flicker faintly in their sheaths.

“…It’s from a Nether Dragon,” Violet explained quietly. “Slain three hundred years ago. Its heart was preserved, sealed, and passed down as one of my family’s highest treasures.”

She looked at him, her expression calm, but with a strange mix of respect and curiosity.

“I don’t know what you’ll use it for… but I’m sure you’ll manage something terrifying.”

Aestrea didn’t reply right away.

He stood there, looking at the heart for quite a while, and after examining the Dragon’s Heart for a moment longer, Aestrea finally looked toward Violet.

“…May I borrow a room?”

Violet blinked once, then nodded gently.

“Of course. Follow me.”

She led him down the corridor until she stopped in front of a simple door.

“You can use this one,” she said softly.

“…Thanks.” Aestrea gave her a nod and stepped inside, the door clicking shut behind him.

He looked around, and after seeing the bed, he headed towards it.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and slowly leaned back until his spine met the wall. His silver hair flowed gently across his shoulder, and the Dragon’s Heart now pulsed in his hand.

Aestrea closed his eyes slightly and looked inside his body.

Thump! Thump!

He could feel his two hearts.

The natural one in his chest, and the Lich Heart nestled deeper in his mana circuits.

“…Let’s do this.”

Then slowly, he pressed the Dragon’s Heart against his own chest.

It was slow at first, but then…

KRRRRK.

His breath hitched, and the heart started pulsating violently.

It didn’t wait for permission, and almost immediately, the dark energy surged forward.

SSSSHHHH—

Wisps of inky black mist burst out from the Dragon Heart, wrapping around his chest, then crawling across his entire torso like grasping tendrils.

“H-HAAAH…!”

Aestrea gasped out, gripping the bed sheets.

The mist pierced his skin.

Dozens of black tendrils stabbed through his ribs, cracking open his flesh with terrifying precision. Blood spilled across his stomach as his veins turned dark, throbbing.

And then…

CRACK!

His ribs shattered one by one.

His normal heart… stopped beating.

In its place, the Dragon’s Heart slowly sank in, embedding itself where the original organ once sat.

“GHAAA—AAAHHHHH!!”

Aestrea let out a strangled scream as pain surged through every nerve.

His body arched back violently, his bones creaked, his veins started swelling, and his blood felt like it was boiling.

THUMP!

The Dragon Heart pulsed again.

BOOM.

It was starting to beat in rhythm, finally replacing his old heart.

And suddenly…

Crack!

His muscles spasmed, and his bones twisted as his own body started trembling violently.

“F-fuck…”

That was when he finally realized… that the Dragon’s Heart was rebuilding his body so he could actually fuse with it!

His cells began to shift and started to mutate.

His crimson blood turned faintly black.

His skin cracked, healed, then cracked again, layer after layer shedding like a snake’s molt. His spine stretched, muscles tightened, and his mana core flickered with unstable light.

And just when he thought it was over…

The worst came.

FSSSH!

A deep black tendril of energy rose from the Dragon’s Heart and pierced straight into his soul.

“RRRRAAAAAAGHHHHHH—!!!”

Aestrea screamed so loudly that it echoed through the mansion, rattling the windows.

Victoria and Violet, sitting in the hallway, immediately shot to their feet.

“That was—!” Violet’s eyes widened.

“Let’s go!” Victoria shouted.

They rushed to the door Aestrea had entered earlier.

But the moment they tried to push it open…

SHHHHHHHHHHHHH—

A cocoon of black mist had formed over the entire bed, pulsing like a breathing heart. Veins of glowing red throbbed across its surface like ancient dragon runes.

“Aestrea!” Violet called.

But there was no reply.

“…Gods above…” Victoria muttered, covering her mouth.

“What is that thing…?”

Minutes passed.

Then the cocoon… stopped pulsing.

Cracks began to spread along its surface.

And with a sharp hiss—

SHHHHH-SSSSHHHH!

The cocoon split open.

Smoke poured out.

And from within…

A figure slowly stepped forward, barefoot, topless, and completely reborn.

Aestrea.

But not the same.

His silver hair now reached his lower back, flowing like silver silk with faint black streaks woven near the ends.

His height had increased as he stood nearly four centimeters taller now, his posture sharper, his silhouette even more dominating.

And his crimson eyes…

They were no longer human.

They were vertical slits.

His gaze glowed softly like molten rubies, filled with dangerous calm.

And finally… his body had been completely restructured.

His upper body was covered in tightly defined muscle.

Not overly bulky, but clearly honed for power and speed. His abs were carved, tight lines forming a perfect eight-pack.

Every movement made his shoulder muscles ripple beneath skin that seemed tougher than before, no longer soft flesh, but something inhuman… something stronger.

Dark dragon scales faintly traced over his collarbones and down the sides of his arms, barely visible like tattoos of living power.

“…A-Aestrea…” Violet whispered.

His gaze slowly turned to her.

And then…

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

A cascade of glowing screens filled his vision.

[Your attributes have increased tremendously!]

[Your attributes have increased tremendously!]

[Your attributes have increased tremendously!]

He ignored the notifications.

Aestrea slowly lowered his hands, flexing his fingers. Then, he slowly turned towards Violet and Victoria, smiling lightly.

He didn’t care the way Victoria was ogling his upper body, or the way Violet’s face was completely red.

“…I finally feel alive…”

He breathed out.

Neither of them didn’t understood his words, however…

Aestrea, for the first time, really felt alive.

[Remaining Lifespan: 1092 years, 11 months, 17 days, 36 seconds, 111 milliseconds.]

One could not explain how happy he was.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep