Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Siege Preparation
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Valenhardt Duchy's current king.
Joseph von Valenhardt was utterly dumbfounded right now.
It had been just one week.
Merely a week, yet never had that time felt so endlessly long.
Ever since his daughter—
Elysia declared she would head alone to the Dragon's Nest, he hadn't slept properly once.
Lying in bed, he only closed his eyes—sleep never came. At mealtimes, he picked up his fork only to set it down repeatedly.
Government reports didn't even register, and instead, his mind swirled with nothing but the worst possible scenarios.
‘Can she return safely? No, can she even return alive?’
He endured like that, day by day.
And finally, when a familiar presence stirred beyond the castle gates, Joseph shot to his feet almost reflexively.
It was Elysia.
With her personal maid and butler in tow, his daughter had returned unharmed on her own two feet. He let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“...Thank goodness.”
If that had been the end of it, it truly would have been a fortunate homecoming.
The problem lay in what followed.
The instant he spotted the figure trailing Elysia like a shadow, Joseph's thoughts ground to a halt.
It was clearly no ordinary being.
No, "no ordinary" fell far short of the mark.
The form was human, but the presence was anything but.
Its mere breathing pressed down on the air itself.
Before their eyes even met, an overwhelming pressure instinctively straightened his spine.
He had faced countless nobles and generals as a king, yet before this entity, even his sense of being a "king" felt utterly meaningless.
‘...A god?’
To be precise, it was an ancient dragon in anthropomorphic form.
A legendary existence, revered as deities even by dragons themselves, now casually stepping into Valenhardt territory.
Joseph's mouth fell open of its own accord.
“...Huh?”
That single syllable was all he could manage.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Aurelion, one of the five ancient dragons overseeing life in the Dragon's Nest.”
Before those words even finished, Joseph bowed reflexively.
“A-Aurelion...! For a legendary ancient dragon known only from tales to grace us here—it is truly our honor!”
His heart thundered.
Forgetting his station as the duchy's king, forgetting all decorum—his instincts had already grasped that the being before him transcended humanity by an unfathomable degree, a divine existence.
However.
“Raise your head, Duke Joseph von Valenhardt.”
Aurelion said quietly.
“I have not come today to receive honors, but to apologize.”
“...Apologize?”
Joseph's voice lagged a beat behind.
Apologize.
He had to repeat the word in his mind just to confirm that was truly what he'd heard.
A dragon god.
An ancient dragon.
A being that had never once appeared directly in human history, now showing up out of nowhere to apologize?
Even as the duchy's king, this defied all common sense.
By rights, the moment a carriage appeared at the gates, soldiers should have formed ranks, banquets prepared, full protocol observed.
Yet now, Aurelion merely waved a hand dismissively, as if it were nothing.
“No need for troublesome formalities. Today, I am the one in the wrong.”
And with those words, rather than taking the lead, he quietly positioned himself behind Elysia.
As if host and guest had completely reversed roles.
His daughter at the fore, the ancient dragon following in her wake toward the castle.
Gazing at the scene, Joseph felt a peculiar shiver crawl up his spine.
‘...What in the world is this situation?’
It was a sight far beyond anything he could comprehend.
Joseph cautiously turned, gesturing to the one at the rear of the entering group—Jinwoo, who always attended Elysia—to come closer.
“Jinwoo.”
“Yes, Duke.”
“That person... why exactly have they come here?”
Jinwoo paused as if in thought, then replied with perfect composure.
“Ah, well. They said they wanted to cooperate with us.”
“...Cooperate?”
Joseph's eyes widened.
“A god with humans?”
Jinwoo simply nodded, utterly nonchalant.
The mere fact that an ancient dragon had set foot in his domain was surreal enough.
So at that moment, Joseph von Valenhardt had thought to himself:
'Right. Things have come this far—no more surprises ahead.'
But that was pure delusion.
The tales Jinwoo and Miya later recounted from the Dragon's Nest shattered every shred of common sense.
His own daughter Elysia receiving a marriage proposal from an ancient dragon.
And rejecting it outright.
As a result, fighting for her life against a god.
Even driving an upper-god-tier ancient dragon to the brink of death—a mere human daughter, no less.
Joseph couldn't interject even once while hearing it all.
Beyond shock, his emotions had simply evaporated.
This was what it felt like to have one's soul turned inside out.
And amid it all—
“It was all my doing.”
Aurelion, seated across the round table, said calmly with his head bowed.
“So if there's blame to cast, lay it all on me.”
Joseph could only press his temple, at a loss for words.
This was neither politics nor diplomacy—nor even a dream.
‘...I'm losing my mind.’
Muttering inwardly, Joseph vowed to himself.
Fine. If even more shocks arise in this bizarre mess, just roll with it.
However.
“From now on, I intend to reside in this Valenhardt Duchy.”
Those words dropped.
“...Pfft?!”
An utterly undignified sound burst from Joseph's lips.
His vision swam for a moment.
Never in his life had he imagined witnessing an ancient dragon declare residency.
Joseph slowly lifted his head.
“...Aurelion.”
“Yes?”
“If I heard that right—?”
“I plan to stay in the duchy.”
The ancient dragon delivered it with perfect casualness, like remarking on the fine weather.
“As its guardian dragon.”
In that instant, the last flickers of "normal human reasoning" in Joseph von Valenhardt's mind quietly—but definitively—extinguished.
‘...Guardian dragon.’
Ah, that thing from the legends.
The kind that occasionally pops up in tales.
A dragon indebted to humans, taken with a nation, or bound by contract to protect it.
Of course, all just "they say it happened~" level rumors—no one had ever actually seen it.
But not some ordinary dragon—this was an ancient dragon?
‘No way... doesn't that make our duchy the first?’
Joseph finally grasped the heart of the matter.
Was this a boon, or an overwhelming burden? He couldn't tell.
“A-Aurelion... you're truly becoming Valenhardt's guardian dragon?”
A grace, yes—but honestly, a bit terrifying.
No, downright frightening.
And just when he hoped the shocks might finally cease.
“A war seems poised to erupt among the gods soon.”
“...Pardon?”
It took Joseph a moment to process those words.
Gods.
And war.
“The gods? They're... going to fight?”
Humans warred constantly.
Kings toppled, nations crumbled—that was history.
But gods?
They were always the judges, never the combatants, weren't they?
Mouth agape, Joseph stared blankly at Aurelion.
He'd thought the day's shocks sufficient—apparently not.
“My reason for coming to Valenhardt Duchy is simple.”
Aurelion slowly opened his mouth.
“I wish to forge an alliance with this duchy.”
“...An alliance?”
Joseph echoed, and the ancient dragon nodded.
“Yes. The heavens are in turmoil now. On the surface, all seems peaceful, but it's the calm before the storm.”
Those words alone weighed down the room's air.
“If the gods clash in earnest, the shockwaves will inevitably reach the mortal realms. The earth will quake, the skies will rend, and it will become a battlefield touched directly by divine might.”
Aurelion's gaze fixed on Joseph.
“When that happens, nowhere will be safe—not the Dragon's Nest, nor any human kingdom.”
His meaning was crystal clear.
A great war among the gods loomed in the heavens.
And its ripples would spare no part of the lower world.
In that chaos, even we ancient dragons might fail to safeguard everything.
Thus, ally with a power rivaling his own—Valenhardt Duchy, home to Lady Elysia—and hold out together as a stronghold.
At that moment, Elysia stepped forward.
“Father. I feel the same.”
Joseph turned to her, and Elysia pressed on with unshaken eyes.
“If the gods go to war... truthfully, my power alone can't protect this entire nation.”
“Elysia...”
The atmosphere already leaned toward conclusion.
In truth, the real voices here belonged neither to the duke nor the ministers.
An ancient dragon who had stepped into the divine realm, and Elysia, now wielding matching might.
The two were already aligned.
Yet one lingering concern gnawed at Joseph's heart.
“I understand your intent.”
Joseph spoke slowly.
“For Aurelion to become our duchy's guardian dragon—that alone is grace beyond measure.”
He paused briefly.
“Even so... I remain uneasy.”
His gaze drifted to the ceiling.
“The heavens hold not only upper gods. If even the supreme gods above them clash...”
Joseph laid it bare.
“As this duchy's king, I worry whether just you two can withstand such a war.”
His words held no offense to anyone present—purely pragmatic concern.
Silence fell for a moment.
And then—
“Don't worry, Duke.”
Someone shot up a hand, shattering the quiet.
“...Jinwoo?”
All eyes converged on one spot.
By birth alone, the lowliest status in the room.
A butler, once a slave.
Yet in this moment, the most audacious—and unreliable—play.
The true joker of this game was quietly opening his mouth.