Episode 8
He pushed Arzen aside and raised his hand over my body.
In that moment, I felt a warm energy overflowing into my body.
“This is…?”
It was on a completely different scale from the occasional infusion of energy Arzen would give me using his abilities. It was a vast amount, as if lying on a warm cradle, liberating me from endless pain.
That sensation erased even the tiniest trace of lingering pain, leaving no remnants behind.
“Ah, gasp…”
My gasping breaths began to even out.
Instinctively, my teary eyes blurred vision, but beyond that hazy sight, I urgently noticed Ludwig, who was holding onto me.
He wasn’t wearing his mask now.
“Lud, Ludwig…?”
As I called his name, it felt like a breath was released.
With trembling hands, I grabbed onto his collar, and Ludwig spoke.
“It’s okay, young lady. Trust me.”
“…”
He returned the words I said that night.
I realized how much reassurance those few words brought as my posture changed.
And so, without realizing it, I nodded my head slightly.
My trembling body gradually calmed down.
When I was completely liberated from pain, it felt like my consciousness slipped away as my tension was released.
* * *
“Sierra!”
Arzen’s thoughts came to a halt as he saw Sierra suddenly collapse to the side.
All he could do was call out her name.
Sierra, who fell to the floor and suddenly developed a high fever, showed no signs of improvement no matter how much he infused her with his healing power.
Instinctively, he sensed that the situation was too precarious for him to heal with his power alone.
From a distance, Serkan Drenihan pushed through the crowd and ran over.
He was usually so emotionally stable that one might wonder if he even had emotions, but now he had a look as if he was about to crumble upon seeing Sierra collapse.
The elderly physician who rushed over examined Sierra from all angles and then took the tea cup she had been drinking, sniffing its aroma and uttering a shocking statement.
“This is Draeger’s tea!”
Arzen doubted his ears.
Draeger’s tea?
He, Arzen, could recognize the scent of Draeger’s tea that had a distinct aroma, even if Sierra couldn’t?
As if snatching it from the physician’s hand, Arzen took the tea cup and smelled it.
“…”
The physician was right.
It was almost odorless, but the faint tingling aroma was undoubtedly Draeger’s tea.
It had the scent of Hiaren tea mixed in.
Arzen simultaneously felt as if the ground was collapsing beneath him.
Sierra’s tea cup was completely empty, down to the bottom.
For Sierra, who had no immunity to Draeger’s toxicity, it was not an exaggeration to say that death was imminent.
Serkan pulled Sierra into his arms with a desolate expression.
Seeing his trembling hands, it seemed like he could lose his sanity at any moment.
“No, no!”
Arzen once again exerted his power and used it on Sierra.
Crackle…
However, it quickly ended in frustration.
The white light faded away before it could reach Sierra’s body.
He didn’t want to believe that the situation was so critical that his healing power was ineffective.
Arzen felt his vision flickering.
It was at the moment when despair was about to crush him.
“Step aside, Arzen.”
Ludwig pushed him away and took Sierra’s pale hand in his own.
“What are you doing…”
He quickly discarded the mask he usually wore.
Arzen, who had been staring blankly at the mask on the ground, quickly regained his senses and shouted at Ludwig.
“What are you doing!”
What could he possibly be doing while even the healing power was ineffective!
If Sierra were to get hurt for no reason, Arzen would never forgive him.
But then, a bright light emanated from Ludwig’s hand.
“What is this…”
An unbelievable amount of power flowed out of him and soon permeated Sierra.
It was a power that made everyone present doubt their own eyes.
“Haah, ha…”
Sierra, who was gasping for breath, gradually regained color in her complexion.
As time passed in that state, Sierra finally blinked her eyes, her eyelids trembling.
“Lud, Ludwig…?”
Ludwig wiped away the tears that blurred Sierra’s eyes.
He seemed unexpectedly desperate, and his breathing was irregular.
“It’s okay, young lady. Trust me.”
But his voice carried strength.
A strength that seemed to require belief in him.
Before long, Sierra nodded slightly and seemed to relax, losing consciousness.
Ludwig confirmed that Sierra had fallen asleep and let out a low sigh.
“Is, is our Sierra alright…?”
Serkan, despite witnessing the whole series of events, didn’t understand how things had unfolded.
Not only Serkan, but everyone in the audience was the same.
“The poison has been neutralized to some extent, and now she’s asleep.”
Ludwig said as he lifted Sierra in his arms.
“Haah… It’s really a relief…”
Serkan felt a sense of relief as if his choked-up breath had finally been released.
“I’ll take her to the room to eliminate the remaining poison. Please guide us.”
Upon Ludwig’s words, Serkan promptly took the lead.
Witnessing this scene, people were all preoccupied with the shocking situation.
“He’s not a monster, is he…? I might even believe he’s an incarnation of an angel…”
“Are you really saying that he is a grand duke? Then why the hell was he wearing a mask…”
“No, more importantly, who could have poisoned the Pincess’ tea?”
“It seems like it was a mistake made by a servant child who didn’t know that the princess has a unique constitution with no immunity to Dragerus.”
It was when people were whispering with lowered voices.
“It would be best to control the people until the culprit is identified.”
Ludwig looked around and spoke.
The intensity in his gaze was not a misconception.
His deep, overwhelming gaze was filled with an intense aura.
The color became even darker when he was enraged.
The air became heavy, and people unknowingly took a step back due to the unbearable pressure.
Instinctively, they sensed danger from him.
* * *
“Umm…”
When I grasped my throbbing head and opened my eyes, I saw Ludwig holding my hand.
“Are you awake?”
A faint energy was seeping through our joined hands.
The warm energy I felt in my distant consciousness undoubtedly came from him.
Why does he possess such power when he’s not even a healing ability user?
“Ludwig, what on earth happened?”
“First of all, are you feeling better?”
I nodded.
I felt so refreshed that I couldn’t even remember the pain I felt back then.
Was it all thanks to Ludwig…?
As if sensing my questioning gaze, Ludwig parted his lips.
“It’s the ability of the Dragon Clan.”
I widened my eyes at his words.
“The ability of a dragon…?”
He possessed the power of a dragon inherited from his mother’s lineage.
In the original story, his rampage was the result of the power of a dragon running wild, which led to him being taken over by an evil dragon.
But it seems that this power is not only used for destruction.
“I used my ability to neutralize the poison. Although it’s hard to call Dragerus a poison… it reacted in your body like a particularly venomous toxin.”
“Ah…”
Just before I lost consciousness, I saw Ludwig’s face.
He had an unexpectedly urgent expression.
“Thank you, Ludwig.”
Ludwig used the power of the dragon that he had despised so much for my sake.
He said he would repay me, and now he has done so.
My heart felt strangely unsettled.
“When you held my hand earlier, I inexplicably felt relieved.”
It was true.
The trust he gave me in that chaotic situation was a much greater power than I had imagined.
Due to my gripping him so tightly, Ludwig’s clothes were disheveled.
Between the undone buttons, I caught a glimpse of the crescent moon symbol near his collarbone.
‘Was it there before…?’
No, it definitely wasn’t there last time.
I felt like I had seen the symbol of the “red moon” in the original story…
Hope you enjoy ❤️
