Do I Look Like You?
Christina’s eyes were filled with tears as she looked at the inscription.
Before she could decide whether she should pretend not to understand, she spoke up.
“I’m sorry.”
‘Is that guilt I’ve been carrying all this time?’
She finally understood.
The period she thought her child had died had passed more than a day or two—it had to have been hundreds of years at least.
‘If it was an egg with no chance of hatching in the first place, there’s no need to apologize so much.’
She was on the verge of feeling sorry for herself for wanting to become Rune’s mother, since she couldn’t speak honestly.
No matter how hard you try, there are always things you can’t do, and the “right” choices often harm both the present and the future.
That was why even gods and immortals had regrets and no perfect beings.
‘Because I was born, I abandoned the egg that could have been born, and that fact kept feeding the guilt.’
She had protected Rune the best she could.
She had taught him.
She had always been there in human form for Rune, who struggled with the pressure of his true self.
All of that came from the mix of her apologies and warm affection.
‘So Christina should understand this. No, I have to say it.’
Rune told her what he felt.
“Thanks to how much you’ve helped me grow, I’m the one who should be grateful.”
It was sincere.
If the place where he was born hadn’t been Christina’s lair or if she hadn’t happened to discover him, he would have died.
Or even if he survived, he probably wouldn’t have reached this moment.
“So… you don’t have to apologize to me anymore.”
‘Only I can understand that Christina did her best.’
The stain on her life that the strong woman had carried.
Abandoning the hatchling that could have lived—it was something she could never forgive.
Rune chose words a child would understand.
“No matter how strange it sounds, I hope you know how to forgive yourself. A little kid like me can understand that Christina did her best.”
Christina raised her head and looked at Rune.
“You’re kind. You’ve always been that way.”
Her body gave off a faint scent of soil and sunlight, cool and herbal.
Rune answered calmly.
“That’s because Christina has always been like that.”
If Christina had been a villain, Rune wouldn’t have said such words.
His natural answer made her smile faintly.
“This is different from my mother. She had a bit of a cold feeling.”
In Rune’s view, his real mother wasn’t even that, so it wasn’t a conversation that reached his heart.
But thinking of the dead child who was the original owner of this body, he couldn’t help asking.
“What kind of person was my mother?”
Christina fell into thought.
“She was strong, but her personality was cold like winter. Still, she always chased higher goals without losing her compassion.”
It seemed she and Rune shared some traits.
‘Good. A mother who has similar traits to me.’
Seeing her call her teacher, there must have been a special connection.
If so, having similar traits would make it easier to receive affection.
In fact, Christina looked happy, lost in nostalgic memories with a gaze that never forgot the past.
“She was also skilled in battle, standing at the front of the battlefield. The one who taught me combat was her.”
“…”
‘So that over-the-top training method was real?’
Her intuition was right—it was definitely the case.
Rune felt a wave of complaint toward his master, the Dark Elf Elder.
‘Please be a little gentler.’
Of course, Rune had also been strict with Amelia in training, but still.
Rune asked with a hidden curiosity.
“Do you resemble me?”
“Well… you look alike physically, but I don’t know about your personality. Maybe it’s because you’re too cute to look like me?”
“…”
‘Cuteness and personality have nothing to do with each other.’
At that moment, Christina suppressed a chuckle and said,
“Not quite. The way you help people seems a bit similar. You always try to shoulder the biggest burden alone.”
“…”
Rune got a rough idea of her personality.
‘If I handle this flow carefully, I might be able to naturally introduce dangerous materials.’
Rune opened his mouth, having gauged the atmosphere.
“So that’s it?”
“What do you mean?”
Rune continued.
“You and the others connected to me are all in Christina’s lair, helping.”
Seeing Rune’s words coming as expected, Christina’s eyes shone with deep intensity.
Looking at the child with black hair and a round face, Rune spoke again.
“I suddenly thought… Christina wanted to keep me from living alone like my mother.”
“…I definitely had that feeling too.”
Christina, who had lifted her head, looked much lighter than when tears had been in her eyes earlier.
And Rune guessed why Christina had helped Perdikion and Amelia—not by scolding their recklessness, but by watching over them closely.
‘It’s perfect timing now.’
Having sensed the best moment, Rune kept his expression easy, pretending he didn’t know.
“You know, I’m going to make the next doll a bit more fun. It just so happens that the Fairy’s Path is available, and I can use the collection warehouse.”
The stories about the devil-related fairy might have been unpleasant, but Christina listened calmly.
After hearing the story, her eyes showed a slight surprise.
“You said you got the Fairy’s Path, and now you’ve taken over the fairy’s house? There are so many things you do that I could never imagine.”
Rune answered casually.
“I got it by chance, but now that I have it, it’s better to use it for training. I want to try the various materials inside. Please allow it.”
Christina remained silent for a moment, as if pondering.
There were certainly dangerous materials, but…
Why did she look so cautious and deep?
It seemed safe.
‘Should I be more bold? What a fun kid.’
Worried about her always touching dangerous things, Rune felt a desire to cheer her on.
In the end, Christina agreed.
“Do as you like. If you need anything, I’ll support you.”
Rune secretly rejoiced.
‘Great. Since the mood is good, I can ask for more?’
Rune showed a slightly puzzled face, carefully hiding his excitement.
Then, as if remembering at the last moment, he placed his right hand over his left palm and punched it with his fist.
“Ah, can you give me some of Christina’s scales?”
At that, the Gold Dragon Elder Christina turned her gaze to Rune.
“My scales… how many do you need?”
Snap!
Rune’s right hand unfolded three fingers.
“More is better, but I’ll ask for just three for now.”
“Hmm.”
Christina’s eyes narrowed.
A child with a pure face making such brazen demands.
‘What will Rune become later.’
The scales of a living Elder Dragon were priceless—each one could be worth several top-tier mana stones, which would normally be impossible to obtain.
But Christina simply nodded.
“While experiments are good, always be careful not to get hurt.”
After speaking, Christina rolled up her sleeve and turned her arm back into a dragon’s.
Crunch. Crunch!
After the eerie sound of bones and flesh reassembling, the front paw and claws of a massive Gold Dragon appeared.
Christina casually pulled out three golden scales.
Thud. Thud.
Because adult scales were so hard, her other hand’s fingertips had to change into dragon claws to tear them off.
Crunch.
Once done, she transformed the dragon’s body back into human hands.
“Here you go.”
Rune received the gleaming golden scales with both hands.
“Thank you. I’ll use them well, Christina.”
With the fairy’s materials and the scales of a Gold Dragon Adult, he could use them freely.
He was already excited to see what kind of doll he could make.
‘With this, I should be able to make something decent.’
Watching Rune hurriedly stuff the treasure-like scales into his spatial pocket, Christina murmured as she passed.
“Indeed, every time I see you grow like this, it seems like you’ll come looking for Word Magic soon.”
“!”
The words pricked his conscience slightly.
He had to check his own expression.
‘She isn’t secretly reading my mind, is she?’
Just as he stayed silent, pretending to be like someone who had secretly eaten honey, Christina spoke again.
“I remember you had a song lesson with Perdikion before. Were there any results?”
“Yeah. Thanks to that lesson, I learned a lot.”
At Rune’s calm words, Christina recalled the advice she had given then.
“When I heard about Perdikion’s song, I guessed it was made with Word Magic.”
It was a part Rune had noticed earlier.
Thanks to that, he had gotten a hint about Word Magic.
Christina continued.
“Dragon Word Magic is the purest ‘desire’—the most sincere word that gives the most understood ‘meaning’.”
“We dragons acquire different Word Magic as we live.”
“So that’s Word Magic? Perdikion and Amelia both have one, so I could figure it out too.”
Instead of answering directly, Christina smiled softly.
“These children of this generation are especially outstanding—they’ve already created their own Word Magic. But… I think the process must have been difficult.”
Rune thought about the Word Magic he had acquired.
‘Resurrection’
Word Magic was ultimately the most intense and pure desire—the wish.
And it was the language that could be manifested when fully understood.
So it was natural that it was hard to manifest at such a young age without knowing anything.
Perdikion, who wanted to burn his own heart and the unreasonable things in it with rage.
And Amelia, who wanted to purify her body and parents and the sea.
Rune recalled these two cases and thought.
‘Because I wanted to live, ‘Resurrection’ was born. It suited my dead body perfectly.’
At the same time, Rune thought of something else.
‘It’s the ability to realize the thing you want most. Like a wish-fulfilling pearl.’
A wish-fulfilling pearl.
As an Imugi who never touched it, Rune recalled the pure heart and virtue he had accumulated for its owner.
Then another possibility came to mind.
‘What kind of Word Magic would a dragon who didn’t grow smoothly acquire?’
Rune recalled the favor he had asked of the Brown Dragon Rand in the Elf Kingdom.
***
“I’m a dragon, but not a dragon—my little brother. Please save Lize. That’s what you have to do instead of helping me use the Seal of the Forest.”
Rand, with short brown hair, looked up.
The moon, half-hidden by clouds, hung at the end of his gaze.
Rune asked.
“Originally, why is Lize a dragon? By age, she should still be a hatchling.”
Rand furrowed his brows at Rune’s question and planted a wooden staff on the ground.
“When the Forest clan went extinct, I didn’t even know it existed. Then, suddenly, it appeared. Using the Dragon Lord as its foster dragon.”
Rand’s melancholic and unpleasant feelings colored his voice.