The Problem with That One
The boy who had been startled and startled in advance.
“You, how did you…!?”
“I know, don’t I? The technique was taught directly by your mother.”
It was no clumsy act.
Rune even displayed the high-difficulty windmill spin technique.
‘Let me show one more to drive in the wedge.’
Since it was Perdi kion’s consciousness world, it would be smoother for him to accept Rune’s existence.
“There’s this too.”
Rune lowered both hands and took a deep breath.
And a clear melody rang out.
“The house I miss in the sky. Return to where your body can rest, and when your tired wings settle down.”
Perdiki on listened to the song and tilted his mouth in confusion.
The lullaby he had heard from his mother was being sung in the little thing in his hand.
Soon, the red-haired boy, who had regained his senses, fidgeted and flustered, and before the next verse even ended, he stuffed Rune tightly into his palm and silenced it.
Thanks to this, the suddenly crumpled Rune tapped his palm with a tiny fist.
“What are you so surprised about? You only sang one verse.”
Perdiki on looked around and whispered urgently.
“Hmph. Be quiet! The song is forbidden by Father!”
Rune looked up at Perdi kion who cautiously opened his hand and threw a calm gaze.
“Yeah. And I know it’s a very precious memory to you.”
“…What do you know.”
Unlike the blunt response, the boy’s Adam’s apple surged with something, and he bit his lips.
Perdiki on, with a face that seemed to be holding something back, spat out each word one by one.
“I’ve never heard of someone like you existing. That there was someone who knew about my mother…”
Pasiyas had long since cleared all the things related to Kuzna.
So as not to get caught up in meaningless pasts and focus on the duties that needed to be done now.
But knowing Kuzna’s song and mana weaving technique.
At least, there was no denying the truth that he knew about Kuzna and Perdi kion.
Rune met his red eyes.
“This song and weaving technique, I’ve also heard and learned. I’ve known you since long ago. And I wanted to help you in trouble. Believe that much.”
By this point, Perdi kion could not help but soften his suspicion.
The song and mana weaving technique of his mother, Kuzna.
Things that only someone who knew about her, at least about Perdi kion, could mention.
“Really… do you know me?”
“That’s what I said.”
Rune smiled faintly and crossed his arms leisurely.
It seemed like, since it was Perdi kion’s childhood, there was a raw, unpolished reaction and somewhere a gentle appearance peeking through.
Meanwhile, Perdi kion looked down at Rune blankly and thought.
‘This little fairy really… came to help me.’
Since his mother Kuzna died, Perdi kion had given up on having anyone’s side.
Not even once in his life.
For Perdi kion, proving his suitability as the lord of fire was the only life goal.
But he decided to believe his words a little.
“For now… I understand.”
‘Good.’
Rune looked at the wounded cheek of Perdi kion, which had been worrying him since earlier.
“Sit down first.”
Rune, arms crossed, pointed to the bed with a chin gesture.
He had changed into human form, but the cane marks remained on his cheek.
“What are you trying to do?”
“To heal you.”
Rune raised his index finger and pointed to his own cheek.
Perdiki on rubbed the cheek in the direction Rune pointed with the back of his hand.
A little blood came out, but Perdi kion wiped the collar with a look that seemed a bit irritated.
“Hey, don’t rub it. I’m trying to heal you.”
“Hmph! The proud Red Dragon race doesn’t get noisy over small wounds.”
Hearing that, Rune was dumbfounded.
‘If it had been Christina, she would have flatly said it was ridiculous.’
Thinking of Pasiyas, the protector of Perdi kion, Rune shook his head in his heart.
“It’s a bit awkward just seeing the wound, and I want to talk too. Sit down quickly.”
Even in the illusion, leaving the burn mark on the little boy’s cheek would not make one feel at ease.
Moreover, it was to gauge if there was the minimum trust to entrust the wound to.
‘Originally, pointing to the injured place can feel a bit embarrassing sometimes.’
Upon the word ‘little’, Perdi kion sharpened the end of his glare with an annoyed expression, but immediately replied bluntly.
“…If you lie, I won’t let it slide.”
“Why would you do that?”
The little boy of the fire tribe showed a cautious glare, but slowly sat down.
Seeing the glance, Rune used the magic that reduced pain and heat.
‘He even showed it.’
Although he was a young hatchling, since he was a dragon child, it was a wound that would heal in a few days even if left alone.
But even while saying it casually, seeing him willingly offer his cheek, it seemed like his internal vigilance had been loosened quite a bit.
“Only the cheek got hit? If you were hit elsewhere, show me.”
Upon Rune’s words, Perdi kion hesitated.
When their eyes met, the boy who rolled his eyes slowly took off his shirt.
Rune did not show it and secretly sighed.
On the boy’s body, there were cane marks scattered everywhere.
Not only burns, but also places where the skin had peeled off and ragged.
‘Father had cruel hands with his child.’
Rune knew that Christina had extended a helping hand to Perdi kion bit by bit.
But since there was Pasiyas, the main guardian, her help must have had limits.
Suddenly, Rune recalled their first meeting.
‘Having lived for hundreds of years like this, the first meeting was probably like this.’
By this point, it felt like the first meeting had been quite mild.
When Rune applied the healing magic to the old wound, Perdi kion watched him silently.
Feeling that gaze, Rune fixed his eyes on the wound and recalled the current problem.
‘Since I intervened, I stopped the unhappy memories from invading, and now I had to make Perdi kion realize that this illusion was false.’
He had already guessed.
In this era, Perdi kion’s only goal was to have Pasiyas acknowledge his lordly suitability.
But the desire to be acknowledged by his father was always betrayed.
That memory had left behind a side and created this illusion.
‘Pasiyas… as expected, that one is the problem.’
Painful and difficult memories are not easy to forget or escape.
Even after a long time, it influenced.
‘For a long time, Pasiyas had been both an object of hatred and one to be acknowledged by Perdi kion. If I could cut off that chain even a little, it would be good.’
To realize that Pasiyas here is false.
And to become independent from the false Pasiyas.
If he achieved both at the same time, the future Perdi kion would make while breaking the illusion would be much freer.
“Here. Even though it’s an old wound, there will be scars but it won’t hurt.”
After the pain disappeared and the healing ended, Perdi kion’s expression changed to a relieved one.
Rune, taking advantage of the gap where the wall in his heart had slightly receded, asked casually.
“I’m asking because I’m curious, but do you like your father?”
“…I respect him.”
It was an ambiguous answer that strayed from the question of ‘like’.
“Have you never felt that your father is particularly harsh?”
“Shut up.”
It was definitely a direct hit.
The voice seemed uncomfortable, but Rune continued calmly.
“I didn’t ask for nothing. The one you believe is your father is cursed.”
“Cursed?”
“You felt it too after receiving my treatment, didn’t you? I handle darkness-attribute magic. So I can sense related powers quickly.”
This place was the world made from Perdi kion’s most powerful and negative memories.
If he honestly said that Pasiyas was fake and Perdi kion did not accept it, his rebellious spirit would only grow, and he might even see Rune as a false one.
‘The best thing is for Perdi kion to realize on his own that his father is not.’
Rune leisurely flew and placed his foot on Perdi kion’s knee and looked up at him.
Since he was a race that inherited magical talent, Perdi kion seemed to believe that Rune was a darkness-related magic user.
“Your father Pasiyas does not look at all like someone filled with the aura of fire. It was too dark.”
Perdi kion’s eyes sharpened.
But Rune faced that gaze head-on.
When the calm, gentle black gaze met, it was Perdi kion whose pupils trembled.
“It’s a lie.”
A tremor was felt in the words.
It was the reaction Rune wanted. Starting to doubt the strange point himself.
The first step towards truth was to begin contrasting the inconsistencies one by one.
“You shouldn’t casually utter such sacrilegious words like ‘Your father, the Lord of Fire, was struck by darkness and curses.’”
The voice that rose with anger as if growling carried an overwhelming pressure unlike that of a young child.
But Rune smiled inside.
‘As expected, he answered. It’s almost delightful.’
He leisurely spread his hands and threw his winning proposal.
“Go check for yourself. It was a power so terrible that it could swallow all the fire aura and still remain.”
Rune’s purpose was one.
To make him aware that the real father was not.
‘I don’t need to persuade hard. Just hold it up right in front of me. Once he knows it’s an illusion wearing the father’s skin, it will no longer be possible to believe him as a father or deceive himself.’
Perdi kion’s eyebrows twitched and he glared fiercely.
“If you were lying, I’ll kill you.”
The little one’s face was quite fierce.
A chubby little boy, but he thought that when he became an adult, his momentum would be quite powerful.
Of course, to Rune he was a mere puppy.
‘Moreover, with the scent box… I don’t think he could even think of unconsciously harming me.’
It was not the intention, but during the time in Christina’s lair, Perdi kion had sparred with Dullahan and talked about various things, indirectly exposing him to the ‘Dark-stained Scent Box’.
No matter how much he threatened, it would not threaten Rune, so the boy’s assassination threat was not scary at all.
“Do as you like.”
Rune answered comfortably and immediately moved his seat to the table, distancing himself from the boy who seemed about to grab and shake him.
There was no need for small talk here.
Once he realized that Pasiyas was fake and caught the scent of the current pain from the violent pressure, it would be done.
‘Painful memories are more easily trapped. I’ve seen it often when exorcising those possessed by ghosts.’
On the other hand, there was an interesting point.
Whether Perdi kion’s bucket was suitable for staying as a king of just a small area or a larger one.
It was also an appropriate timing to test it.
Meanwhile, Perdi kion was confused while watching Rune answer calmly.
‘Could it be… that the words of this little guy are real?’
The guilt over the sacrilegious act of doubting the father and the intuition that Rune’s words were true.
The two fought fiercely inside, increasing the confusion.