Book 12 Chapter 3
Episode 1
The Child Who Weaves Hearts (1)
“The dazzling sun flashed its face! It's time for justice, morning has come! Morning! Morning! Morning!”
A voice is heard, crushing the landscape of memory and shining brighter than the morning sun, no, even brighter than the sun.
Rain groggily opened his eyes.
What he felt on his upper body was unusual, but now a familiar weight.
“Did you sleep well?”
Even before he could register that weight, a lovable object bathed his eyes in golden light.
“Nen.”
The morning routine was terribly busy.
Time to prepare for the day, starting from a simple wash to tidying up his clothes.
He still hasn't gotten used to the help of butlers or maids, even after 30 years, so he prepares by himself.
‘Yes, alone.’
This time was usually spent alone.
‘But now…’
He glanced sideways to see Nen, who was vigorously brushing her teeth, smiling brightly. Saltwater streamed from her open mouth.
He didn't reprimand her.
He didn't scold her.
He had no time for that. Her appearance was so lovely and amusing that he burst into a wry laugh.
“Hahahahahahaha…!”
“Hehehehehehehe…!”
As the sink became a mess of saltwater, the edge of a hand fair-handedly landed on both their crowns simultaneously.
“What are you doing first thing in the morning? Oh no, Nen's clothes are all wet with mouthwash.”
Escaping from the violent mistress, Miria, would also be part of the routine.
“Let's run, Nen!”
“Let's run!”
Though she possessed ‘true madness’ 300 years ago, her childhood spent as Miria made her adopt normal human thought processes.
The hiding place was always the study.
The dusty scent emitted by old books always calmed his mind and body. And the mind of the one scolding.
“Then, Nen, it's time to do the homework Master Yoshuhar gave you, isn't it?”
Even Miria, who had chased them all the way to the study, couldn't get angry here.
He picked Nen up and seated her at the far end of the study, then pulled out a religious doctrine book of the Light Dragon Orthodox Church, which was a span thick.
Nen's face turned pale.
“Making us do such penance first thing in the morning is evil itself!”
Nen's back as she quickly fled from the study. Such rich emotions, perhaps, were Nen's strength.
He felt relieved.
Unlike when they had reunited, it seemed her old self was recovering.
- Ah, Dad…!
When he received a summons from Cardinal Yoshuhar at Seollyeongjangseong and rushed to the Papal State, his mind felt completely blank.
‘It's pitch black… the entire space where Nen is located.’
It felt less like it was emitting darkness and more like it was swallowing all light, and that power gradually grew until the entire interior was nothing but blackness.
- Your Eminence, what happened…?
- I had her accompany me to every meeting discussing important matters, by the Light Dragon's command to raise Setsunen as the next leader… but it seems to have adversely affected that child's soul.
Nen ran and hugged Rain's leg.
At that moment.
Suddenly, negative thoughts began to directly extend tentacles into his mind.
- You are alone.
- Solitude, only solitude.
- A straggler left alone in a world 300 years in the future.
Rain doubted his senses.
‘What on earth is this…?’
Is it making the darkness in my heart raise its head?
- It must be the backlash from when she was previously swallowed by the Dragon Slayer. The darkness of a soul, which dragons do not inherently possess, is gnawing at her insides.
- …!
- Inner darkness consumes other inner selves. That child can read the texture of every creature's soul, and by reading and reading so much, she seems to have been, in turn, consumed by that darkness.
How could that be…?
Come to think of it, even before being sent to the Papal State, Nen suffered because of her ability to read others' minds.
That power wasn't something she could turn on and off at will; it merely functioned as a sense.
‘Should I think of it as one more sense that humans don't have?’
Even if she wanted to close it.
A sense that could never be closed.
- I was relieved when I saw her again during the Ashilon Incident, growing up healthy…
Nen had become a risk factor.
Hagon, one of the five cardinal archbishops, is said to have advised Light Dragon Haraderman to reclaim Setsunen's soul and use it to govern the imperial body.
- The reason given was that the current Setsunen was becoming an entity that absorbs, amplifies, and spreads all negative emotions of the world.
- That's ridiculous!
- Yes, of course, the greatly benevolent Light Dragon would not approve of such a thing. However, it is a known fact that she cannot be left like this. The one who can cure a human's illness is you, a fellow human.
- Me…?
- It is profoundly regrettable that things have come to this. I too wished to raise that child under my care with fervent devotion…
Yoshuhar's eyes were truly sad.
Come to think of it, Yoshuhar's feelings for Miria were extremely profound even 300 years ago.
Yoshuhar placed a hand on Setsunen's head and spoke.
“The Light Dragon said. Setsunen is a sad creature who must live an immortal life with a fragile, mortal heart.”
No…
That cannot be…
I cannot let that happen…
- It's okay, Nen, it's okay. Everything will be okay. I'll make it okay.
Rain hugged Nen tightly.
In that process, the waves of defilement that poured over his entire body didn't bother him at all.
‘The one suffering the most is Nen… it's my fault for not recognizing her delicate heart, unlike Aki and Mir.’
A dragon with a human's emotional illness…
This was how Nen came to be brought to the mansion.
Fortunately, there was no problem in her getting along with the people in the mansion, and she was even able to grow up under the great love of her grandparents and parents.
‘But…’
A bird must break out of its egg and leave the nest.
When he took Nen, Yoshuhar said that. His words were so clear and firm that Rain felt afraid.
The bird is Nen. The egg and the nest are the world that protects her childhood.
- Remember, the age of dragons is ending.
My heart hurts…
Rain clutched his chest in pain from that past and stepped out of the study.
He saw Nen, who had somehow been caught by Miria and was having her hair neatly brushed.
Miria smiled gently.
“Nen's hair is as fine as sunlight. It feels like caressing the sun.”
“Nen feels like caressing the sun!”
“Yes, no silk in this world could be softer than this.”
He wondered if she was being forced to have her hair brushed, but Nen was also smiling and tilting her head, which put him at ease.
‘Such a daily life, such a routine.’
Something that blooms like a single flower in the colorless world of morning, adding a delicate yet distinctly fresh splash of color.
‘The name of that color is Setsunen.’
After finishing the boisterous breakfast, he put on the family's ceremonial robes and stepped out to the entrance, where Nen was following, tightly holding Miria's hand.
“Have a good trip!”
Her spirited gesture, her cheerful voice.
Each one seemed to weave and merge, creating a color named happiness.
‘That's why the Magic Alliance is suddenly so hateful…!’
He wanted to retire and enjoy his daily life, but they suddenly made him vice-leader…
The vice-leader position was one that had to be passed through before becoming the leader, exercising final approval authority over administrative matters throughout the magical world.
Since it was a position he had to pass through someday to achieve the unification of the magical world, perhaps it couldn't be helped.
“This feels like the first time I've ever had such a happy morning in my life? Miria, isn't that right?”
“Yes, it is.”
Miria let out a chuckle.
Only Nen tilted her head.
“Waking up to Nen's greeting, preparing breakfast together, eating breakfast together, and even being sent off.”
Like Aki and Mir, Nen's eyes were golden.
But that was the only similarity; unusually, her pupils were cross-shaped.
Why they were cross-shaped was something only the providence of creation would know, but he believed there was certainly a great meaning behind it.
“Nen, listen well to what Grandma and Grandpa say. You can listen a little less to Miria.”
“What are you talking about?”
“And Nen.”
It was exactly as Miria described.
Nen's hair felt exactly like caressing the morning sunlight. It was cozy, warm, and fluffy.
“It'll be okay.”
The fact that there wasn't a significant physical difference from when they reunited during the Ashilon Incident was evidence that she hadn't undergone spiritual growth as a dragon.
‘But it's okay.’
She can grow from now on.
In the right direction…
He folded this thought into a letter of the heart and sent it to the sky.
‘Right, Dean?’