Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 262
-Does that even make sense?
Her bewilderment was brief. Tiamatrak’s expression slowly hardened.
Young human.
Traveling with Lion Asteri had often been amusing or flustering, but this was the first time she had felt such an unpleasant emotion.
If she still had the temper of her younger days, she would have immediately possessed Lion Asteri’s body and flipped this castle upside down just to vent her anger.
‘…Hmm.’
But following her old temper would mean forgoing Lion Asteri’s movements, which were slowly drawing her curiosity.
Of course, that did not make this situation forgivable.
From her perspective, it was no different from something that should never have happened taking place.
Even as a soul, she was of the great race. A dragon.
Yet why did her aura have to be sensed in something belonging to a human house?
And stuffed away in a storage room, no less.
And on top of that, this.
‘A mere frame.’
A plank of wood humans made to honor themselves by putting their portraits inside.
No matter how much skill they had put into it, it was crude, unable to compare to an object made by a dwarf.
Of course, that frame was on the better end for something made by humans, but it was hardly to her taste.
And above all.
She had never granted a blessing or an object to this human family.
‘The things I’ve given to humans were…’
Tiamatrak shook her head internally.
Either way, it was meaningless now.
So it would be better to just get rid of it.
-I don’t know what this is, but I’ll retrieve it. Since it’s my aura.
She thought so and reached out her hand calmly—
“Tiamatrak.”
Lion stopped her.
“Calm down and wait a moment.”
-…
“Even if you retrieve the aura, you’re in a soul state right now. No one knows what might happen.”
-Mm, you’re right!
-Then, Lion. Will you retrieve it for me instead?
Instead of answering Tiamatrak, Lion carefully examined the frame.
On the surface, it was nothing more than an old frame that was no longer in use.
It might have been quite extravagant in the past, but that was how it looked now, at least.
However…
‘The portrait hasn’t aged.’
A painting of a boy with red cheeks staring straight ahead with a soft smile.
No matter how well-maintained a portrait is, after decades, it should show signs of discoloration or fading.
Yet while the frame was this old and damaged here and there, the painting alone remained intact.
‘That’s unnatural.’
Anyone who knew nothing might have even found it frightening.
Especially since it was a portrait depicting the face of the Grand Duke’s son, not the Grand Duke himself.
The last visage of the Grand Duke’s son, who was brutally murdered by his beloved father.
It wasn’t incomprehensible that people, out of fear, couldn’t dispose of it and just tossed it into a storage room like this.
Well, that was from other people’s perspective.
Fortunately, Lion could see it.
The source sustaining this portrait.
However, if this source were to be retrieved carelessly, the ghost of the Grand Duke’s son would disappear.
‘I’d prefer it if he could pass on peacefully…’
But it probably wouldn’t be that. It might literally vanish. That is, undergo the procedure of extinction.
Thus, Lion made a decision.
“Heave-ho.”
He lifted the frame easily and set it down nicely to one side.
Then he inspected the other objects.
“For now, it’s dark here, so I’ll take this portrait to the room and look at it.”
-What?
Tiamatrak wore an expression of absurdity, but Lion brazenly ignored her.
“Pooch. Is there anything suspicious among the other objects?”
“Kying!”
Apparently not.
If so, then the source of the ghost of the Grand Duke’s son was likely this frame.
Lion casually threw out a remark to Tiamatrak, who was still staring this way with a dumbfounded face.
“But do you really not have it?”
-What do you mean? You shameless Lion.
-You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Because you feel sorry for that crybaby ghost…
“I mean, did you really never give a part of yourself to a human?”
-…
Tiamatrak shut her mouth tight again.
‘Really now.’
It seemed like she might know something herself but couldn’t acknowledge it.
Lion shook his head and recalled his earlier conjecture.
In other words, the connection between Tiamatrak and House Grand Duke Dragnas.
Honestly, the oddities numbered more than one or two.
Let’s assume that a dragon who lived for eons as a soul and didn’t lose a hint of her ego could do so.
She was, after all, that dragon who only appeared in legends.
But what about Grand Duke Dragnas?
Wasn’t he just a child?
‘Yet he could be said to be in the same situation as Tiamatrak.’
Quite coincidentally.
And second.
Whatever the reason, something bearing Tiamatrak’s aura existed within the Grand Duke Dragnas family.
Moreover, if it was placed in the frame of his so dearly beloved son, it might have been used as a kind of heirloom and ‘talisman’.
‘Lastly…’
The surname Dragnas.
Didn’t it look to anyone like it was taken from ‘dragon’?
Honestly, this couldn’t even be called a conjecture.
‘Because it’s a fact.’
Historical records stated that House Grand Duke Dragnas were descendants of those who inherited dragon’s blood thousands of years ago.
Even though the lineage had now been severed, and even mentions of House Dragnas had disappeared from world history.
‘It’s also an aspect Tiamatrak overlooked.’
No matter how all-knowing a dragon was, there would be limits to grasping human affairs.
First of all, from a dragon’s perspective, human history was probably too finely fragmented.
If not that…
‘Perhaps she wanted to deliberately turn a blind eye.’
I didn’t know the hearts of people, so how could I know the heart of a dragon?
Anyway. The conclusion Lion drew was this.
The ancestor of Dragnas was likely Tiamatrak.
To be precise, it was probably Tiamatrak who came down to the human world to amuse herself long ago.
Well. Because of that…
Just as Lion was about to speak about the next step—
-That’s only half of it.
Tiamatrak blurted out in a sullen voice.
She was still frowning deeply and standing askew, clearly displeased with this situation.
-The other half must be held by that grand duke or whatever.
“Well, that’s likely.”
-Retrieve them both for me.
-It was a gift I gave long ago, and I didn’t wish for it to be used like this.
-Well, they’ve probably died a hundred times over by now anyway, so I should take it back now.
-…
Having said that, Tiamatrak glanced sidelong this way.
It was a look suggesting she wanted some sort of response from Lion… but.
“Really? Sure, why not.”
Without prying further, Lion agreed cleanly.
In any case, there was a high probability that the place where the Grand Duke’s soul was and the Hero’s final destination discovered by Grandfather were the same location.
‘I have to go anyway.’
And Lion had no intention of needlessly digging into others’ wounds.
If the other party spoke about it, he would listen. If not, it simply meant they weren’t emotionally ready, and he would just wait.
Whether the other party was a child or a dragon, it was the same.
-No…
-Aren’t you usually curious about these things?
It was Tiamatrak who was flustered instead.
In truth, until a moment ago, she hadn’t wanted to talk about it.
She wasn’t the type to tell others this sort of story.
But she had never dreamed the answer would come back in such a totally uninterested tone!
“You’ll tell me when the time comes. More importantly, go find out which floor this storage room is on and come back.”
-You really are… an oddball.
“Grrr!”
Pooch, uncannily quick to recognize an insult aimed at its master, growled at Tiamatrak and pounced.
Then he snapped his jaws fiercely at the empty air.
-Ow! You crazy demonic beast! You’re getting drool on me! Aah!
-Really, both the master and the beast!
A few minutes after the creature made a fuss and left the spot.
-It’s the end room on the 4th floor. There’s a door among that luggage.
Tiamatrak, who returned after finding out about the storage room, answered as usual.
Though it had only been a few minutes, it seemed her mood had improved a bit from cooling her head.
-Are we going to check it out right away?
“No. First, I’ll go near the Great Barrier with Grandfather, and then decide.”
The Great Barrier was not a range that could be toured in a single day just because Lion set his mind to it.
And since this place was truly a ‘danger zone’, the moment he stepped outside, Grandfather would likely appear and stuff Lion back into his room.
If that happened…
‘It would end before I could properly check.’
His head shook of its own accord.
“Let’s head back for now.”
Lion hefted the massive frame and staggered out.
Seeing his unsteady, wobbling figure, Tiamatrak sighed and took the frame for him.
“Oh. Thanks.”
-Good grief… Let’s go. Just go.
It was a moment when Petrick Asteri’s hardships were keenly felt.
Anyway, thanks to that, the three were able to return to the room safely!
It was also thanks to the commotion on the lower floor.
And the next day.
An incident occurred.
* * *
“A ghost appeared?”
“S-so they claim, my lord.”
“Haa…”
Petrick, who was racking his brains over matters concerning the Great Barrier, let out a deep sigh.
He had just confirmed aberrant behavior among lesser demons near one part of the Great Barrier, and now he had to receive such an absurd report.
“H-however, Marquis. There were multiple witnesses just last night. They say they saw feet moving in the darkness, or a portrait floating in mid-air.”
“A portrait?”
“Yes, well… they say it was a portrait of a child… As you know, my lord. There are no paintings, let alone portraits, in this old castle.”
Petrick closed his eyes gently and pressed his throbbing brow.
He was already aware that idle rumors circulated in the old castle.
However, he hadn’t known the rumors would grow this large in a single day and cause a problem.
Even worse…
“Are you telling me the temple priests departed earlier than scheduled because of such a trifling rumor?”
“…That is correct.”
“You may leave.”
The mage who had delivered the report quickly finished his farewell and fled the room as if escaping.
Petrick placed the documents on the Grand Duke’s desk and let out a groan.
‘The plan has gone awry.’
According to the original schedule, the priests were supposed to arrive the day his grandson was to leave.
So that Lion could grasp the situation more comfortably.
‘Separate from my own surveillance.’
If things turned out this way, the situation would become quite tangled.
It meant he would have to drag his grandson around here and there before he could even shake off his travel fatigue…!
Whoosh!
As Petrick released his energy, the candles illuminating the surroundings blazed fiercely.
“It can’t be helped.”
Petrick rubbed his dry face and rose to his feet.
Handling lesser demons was something he could solve with a snap of his fingers, but that ‘mad bastard’ was not so easy to deal with.
So, he had no choice but to hurry things along.
Petrick exited the room and entered the Grand Duke’s Son’s room where his grandson was.
And then…
“…”
He witnessed Lion conversing with that very ‘portrait’ he had heard about in the report just moments ago.
Feeling the back of his neck stiffen, Petrick first calmly closed the door.
It was partly because all hell would break loose if others found out.
“Lion. You brat!”
And also to give his grandson a proper scolding.
At that moment.
“Grrr!”
Pooch puffed out its little chest with imposing dignity and planted itself in Petrick’s path!