Chapter 569
Chapter Title: The Marriage Vow
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569
Retracing his memories from the entrance of Dragonia, Leo arrived at a historic site that now recreated the Dragonia of the past.
“Black Rabbit. Are you saying this ruin is the place we need to visit?”
Ar asked with a puzzled expression as she entered the deserted site.
The students from Wisdom had already returned with Enkinias.
“This place is complicated, so I’ll guide you.”
Melina stepped forward.
“Since we’re here at the Dragonia ruins anyway, how about we have a field trip?”
“I’d rather not.”
Ar shook her head.
“How about we have a field trip?”
“Like I said, I’d rather not…”
“We’re having a field trip, right?”
“…”
Ar had no choice but to nod as Melina suddenly leaned in, her face right in front of hers.
“I’m all for it! This ruin is a famous spot where you can see the beautiful architectural style of the Dragon race from the Age of Gods!”
Driana clenched her fists with enthusiasm.
“This is my chance to reinterpret this beauty with my own hands.”
“I’m being serious. Don’t. You might actually get cursed by the dragons if you do that.”
Ar gave her some sincere advice, but Driana wasn't listening.
Watching the scene, Lunia clicked her tongue.
“No matter how I think about it, she really needs to meet Lord Dweno again.”
“If she meets him again, that Dweno fellow might actually smash Driana’s head in.”
“That’s what I’m saying. That would be for the best.”
Lunia was completely serious.
“By the way, Leo. What are you looking for in these ruins?”
She had followed Leo because he said he had something to do, but she hadn't heard the exact purpose yet.
“I’m planning to find something Lisinas hid in the old Dragonia.”
“Something Lord Lisinas hid?”
“What? Is it a powerful divine artifact? That would be a huge jackpot!”
“Even if it’s not a divine artifact, if it’s something Lord Lisinas left behind, it must be incredible!”
The voices of the excited Lunia and Chelsea grew louder.
“What are you all talking about so excitedly?”
Just then, Ar popped her head between Lunia and Chelsea.
Seeing Ar, Lunia and Chelsea put on an innocent act.
“What about?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ar’s eyes narrowed at the two of them.
“You two. You’re keeping a secret, aren’t you?”
“Not at all.”
The fact that Leo was Kyle, the Hero of the Beginning, was still a secret.
No matter how close Ar was, they couldn't reveal it unless Leo did.
“Black Rabbit! What secret are you hiding?”
“Don’t bother Leo.”
“Right, look at this instead.”
Lunia produced something like a foxtail from somewhere and waved it around frantically.
“Do you think I’m an idiot?!”
“Tch, didn’t work.”
Lunia clicked her tongue, having failed to distract Ar.
Seeing her, Ar glared daggers.
“Do you really think I’d be distracted by such a flimsy toy—.”
*Jingle-!*
“…huh!”
*Swat-!*
When Leo took a bundle of keys from his pocket and shook them, Ar instinctively swiped a hand toward them.
“…”
“…”
Lunia and Chelsea stared at Ar with looks of pity.
“Seriously! Stop treating me like a caaat!”
Ar hissed, grabbing Leo and shaking him wildly.
Driana, paying no mind to what was happening behind her, was busy admiring the ruins of the buildings.
Melina smiled warmly at the sight.
‘These children are the future of the world.’
It wasn’t that she doubted Leo’s choices. Not at all, but…
‘Will it be okay?’
With a slightly worried expression, Melina began to guide them through the ruins.
***
*Whoooosh-!*
The group had arrived at a high point within the Dragonia ruins, a spot that overlooked the entire city.
Time had flown, and the night had given way to the late dawn.
“The sun will be up soon.”
“*Yaaawn!* I think we’ve pretty much seen the whole area.”
“To think we wandered around these vast ruins all through the early morning.”
Lunia muttered with her arms crossed.
Ar rubbed her eyes while yawning, and Chelsea patted her legs, shaking her head.
Leo stood a little apart from the group, silently gazing at the entire landscape of Dragonia.
“What are you thinking about?”
Melina approached his side and asked cautiously.
“About the old days.”
Leo looked out at the prosperous Dragonia.
“5,000 years ago, when I first came to Dragonia, this place was a literal living hell.”
“…”
“That was the first time Lisinas ever showed a moment of weakness.”
“It’s because dragons love their homeland.”
Melina could understand how Lisinas must have felt at the time.
“So I made a promise to Lisinas. That I would help rebuild Dragonia, even if it took a lifetime.”
Leo smiled bitterly.
“Well, we couldn't do anything in the end. Still, if he saw Dragonia this prosperous, he would surely be happy.”
“What do you mean you two couldn’t do anything? The world as it is now exists because of you Great Heroes.”
Melina said firmly.
Leo nodded at her words.
“By the way, it’s surprising. Given Lady Luna’s free-spirited personality, I thought she would travel the world once peace was restored. How did she decide to settle down in Dragonia?”
When Melina asked with curiosity, Leo replied as if it were obvious.
“That tomboy would never settle down in Dragonia. She had a duty to revive the elves, after all. Well, if she were alive, she probably would have dumped it all on Berkia and gone off to play anyway.”
“Of course.”
Melina nodded at Leo’s words, but a strong doubt suddenly struck her.
“Lord Leo, didn’t you say you would help Lord Lisinas rebuild Dragonia?”
“I did.”
“So you would be in Dragonia, while Lady Luna traveled the world?”
Leo nodded.
‘What? I thought Lord Leo and Lady Luna were lovers, so why wouldn’t they be together?’
Melina wore a bewildered expression.
‘Is it because they both have such free-spirited personalities? But still…’
If what Leo said was true, didn’t his relationship with Lisinas sound more like that of lovers?
Just as Melina was looking perplexed, Leo, who had been silently observing the ruins, muttered as he saw the rising sun.
“Right, I remember now.”
“Pardon?”
“The location of Lisinas’s house. I just remembered.”
The place Leo arrived at was a small house.
Since the ruins were reconstructed based on blueprints of Dragonia that remained after the Age of Calamity, no one knew who had lived where.
*Creeak-!*
Leo opened the door and went inside.
*Thump- Thump-*
The rest of the group followed him in.
There was no furniture, but the room had a small, cozy feel.
It was a perfect historical replica of its appearance during the Age of Gods.
“This place is?”
When Chelsea looked puzzled, Melina glanced at Leo’s back before answering.
“This is presumed to be the house where Lord Lisinas lived as a child.”
At those words, everyone’s eyes widened.
“This is the house where the King of Wisdom lived as a child?”
“This is amazing!”
“To think a place like this still remains! Dragonia is truly something else!”
Melina smiled at the highly excited students.
“Yes. Of course, it’s not the actual house Lord Lisinas lived in, as it was restored based on data left after the Age of Calamity. But it is true that Lord Lisinas’s house was in this location, and this one was built to look just as it did back then.”
Melina explained calmly, but she herself was the most excited of all.
‘I must maintain my composure, but… oh, goodness.’
Melina gazed at the interior of the house with trembling eyes.
This was the place where the King of Wisdom, revered by all dragons, had lived as a child.
While everyone was busy looking around the house, Leo entered one of the rooms.
Recalling the ruins from the depths of his memory, Leo knelt in the middle of the room and swept his hand across the floor.
‘Here?’
He could feel a faint trace of magic, so subtle that only he could notice it.
Leo conjured his magic.
A magic circle appeared on the floor.
Normally, this was a seal that no one but Lisinas could open.
However, the seal responded perfectly to Leo’s magic, which was imbued with the essence of Lisinas’s mana.
Startled by the sudden magical reaction, the group rushed into the room.
“Black Rabbit, did you find something?”
Ar asked excitedly.
Leo reached his hand into the magic circle.
Within the subspace beyond, his fingers closed around a small wooden box.
Leo pulled it out.
Though 5,000 years had passed, the wooden box was just as he remembered it, thanks to being preserved in a subspace.
“Is it something Lord Lisinas left?”
“A grimoire? Is it a grimoire?”
“Hurry up and open it, Leo!”
“Now, now, everyone, please calm down.”
Melina smiled calmly at the girls crowding around Leo.
Of course, she was dying to urge Leo on herself, but she suppressed the feeling.
Leo opened the wooden box.
*Click-!*
Inside the box was a thin shard that looked like obsidian.
Seeing it, Chelsea blinked.
“What’s this?”
“This… is a dragon’s eggshell. It’s from a black dragon… Could it be?”
Melina’s eyes widened.
“The eggshell Lord Lisinas was born from?”
“Gasp!”
“Th-that’s still around after all this time?”
If that were true, it was a monumental discovery.
Amidst everyone’s shock, Leo picked up the eggshell and turned it over.
And then he smirked.
‘There it is, the slave contract.’
The image of Lisinas, smiling mischievously and wickedly as he wrote his name, flashed through his mind.
“Hmm. It’s in the draconic tongue.”
“What does it say?”
“The names of Lord Kyle and Lord Lisinas are written in the draconic tongue. Judging by the handwriting, it seems Lord Lisinas wrote his own name.”
Lisinas had left behind a great deal of knowledge for posterity, so his handwriting was relatively well-known.
“Then does this mean Lord Kyle wrote this?”
Driana tilted her head as she looked at Kyle’s name.
“Th-this is…?”
Melina’s trembling voice was heard.
Everyone’s gaze turned to her.
Seeing Melina’s face, pale with shock, Lunia asked.
“Lady Melina, what’s wrong? Is this an incredibly special item?”
“S-special, yes… Yes! F-for us dragons, it’s a v-very… a very special item.”
Melina’s voice trembled.
She stared at Leo with an indescribable expression, her mouth agape.
Leo’s brow furrowed at her reaction.
“What is it?”
“Writing one’s name on the eggshell one hatched from… it’s a contract made by those who will spend their entire lives together.”
A silence fell over everyone at her words.
Chelsea stammered as she asked.
“Th-that means… so… this is…”
“I-if this is authentic… it’s the marriage vow of Lord Lisinas and Lord Kyle.”
Everyone’s face was a mask of pure shock.
“What kind of bullshit is that? This is a marriage vow?”
“Black Rabbit! How dare you speak to Lady Melina like that!”
“Why are you getting so excessively agitated?”
Ar and Driana were aghast, chiding Leo.
“It’s a tradition of us dragons. A tradition passed down since before the Age of Calamity… since the Age of Gods.”
At that answer, Ar spoke up.
“Wait a minute! Wasn’t Lord Kyle in a relationship with Lady Luna? Then why does something like this exist? Don’t tell me it was a love triangle?! Was Lord Kyle two-timing?”
“Hmm… if that’s true, then Lord Kyle was certainly a scoundrel.”
Driana muttered seriously with her arms crossed.
The recently descended Progenitor of the Nebula, Luna, had declared her love for the Hero of the Beginning, Kyle.
But now, a marriage vow between the King of Wisdom and the Hero of the Beginning had appeared.
This reality, which far surpassed their imagination, was more than enough to stimulate the young girls’ fancies.
“Wait. But if there’s a marriage vow… does that make Lady Luna the second?”
“Are you trying to die?! You stupid cat! Who are you daring to call the second with that nonsense! Should I burn your brain right out of your skull?”
“B-but! It’s weird! What in the world happened?”
As things descended further into a quagmire, Melina was looking at Leo with complicated eyes.
In those eyes that were once full of respect, a light of disbelief had now appeared for some reason.
Leo looked at Lunia and Chelsea.
Their gazes were not much different from Melina’s.
With trembling eyes, Leo stared down at Lisinas’s contract in his hand.
‘You crazy lizard bastard. Of all the scams to pull, you had to backstab me like this!’