But the solution was brought by Lancer himself.
“Is it possible that Lady Licia knows a magic spell that extends life?
Lancer asked Malek, who was changed to the foreign archmage ‘Lycia’, an unexpected question.
“I know of several ways, but they may or may not work depending on the situation. Why is that?”
“This is embarrassing, but….”
“I will keep it a secret, so please tell me.”
Lancer looked around for a while to make sure no one was listening, then whispered softly.
“Do you know, Lady Licia, that I am a contractor for Rabes?”
“Oh, well…I noticed it.”
“I thought so. Actually, I…I have grown to love Rabes after spending many years with him.”
“Yes…?”
It was an answer that even Malek, who had lived for many years, could not have imagined. And the story that followed was even more absurd.
“I want to live by his side as long as I can. Oh, of course, I am not a mortal who dreams of being his companion, the immortal Rabes. I just…It would be okay if I was just a servant who serves him….”
“Isn’t Rabes’ human form male?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Okay…I see.”
Malek, who had heard of people with same-sex attraction but had never met one in person, tried hard not to look flustered. After all, it was a great opportunity.
“Fortunately, I know a magic spell that can be used in such cases. It’s dragon magic, so even I had a hard time figuring it out.”
“Is it true? Please, please tell me the magic. I will do whatever you want, Lady Licia!”
Malek thought, ‘You’re already doing what I want,’ and taught him the dragon’s sealing magic spell.
“You must cast this directly on Rabes. You must never let Rabes know, as it may be destroyed if he finds out. This spell can only be cast once.”
“Isn’t this by any chance harmful to Rabes?”
“Don’t worry, that won’t happen.”
“Is there anything you would like from me?”
“I am telling you this only to support your love, Lancer.”
Malek smiled kindly and patted Lancer on the shoulder.
Every time Malek touched him, he could clearly feel the magic core of Rabes that had settled inside his body. It was a vivid energy that was on a different level from what he felt from afar as if he could sense even the subtle flow.
Malek planned to attack Lancer as soon as Lancer succeeded in sealing Rabes and devouring Rabes’s magical core within Lancer’s body.
‘If this magic core becomes mine,…!’
If that were the case, the ten or so small dragon stones that fell to the ground would have been nothing.
Unfortunately, Lancer was hit by Rabes’ curse and suddenly disappeared, even though he had perfectly fulfilled his role of sealing Rabes.
“You look happy, Malek.”
Malek, who had been lost in reminiscences of an old event, smiled at Sasha, who had come and leaned next to him.
Sasha, a descendant of Molly, was a human who used the ‘dragon summoning magic’ passed down from Molly.
‘How delightful it was the moment I heard that unforgettable, nonsensical magic!’
Malek, who was impressed by Sasha’s foolishness and took advantage of her, maintained a very lenient attitude most of the time.
“Good. Good.”
Even now, he had no hesitation in telling Sasha the good news.
“I found out where Newt’s illegitimate daughter hid the Dragon Stone.”
“Really? Where is it?”
In front of Sasha, whose eyes were sparkling, Malek poked his chest with his finger and said.
“That was inside her body.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“It’s true. The Dragon Stone is inside that lady’s body. I don’t know how she did it.”
‘I put my hand on Elaine’s waist, and I felt the same energy I had felt when I touched Lancer’s body 500 years ago. The energy of the black dragon Rabes, beating like a heart in her body.’
‘That means, it was Sergey Lindell who suppressed that energy.…It must mean Rabes.’
The reason he was able to hide the energy of the Dragon Stone so perfectly was because he was the owner of that energy. It would have been difficult for other dragons to completely erase the strong and unique magic of Rabes.
It seemed as if Rabes had cast a spell to hide his energy on Elaine’s body, but when they were apart, it was not completely hidden and leaked out, showing how strong his energy was.
‘What a lucky dragon. He escaped from the seal twice.’
In the human world, life imprisonment is a lighter punishment than death, but in the dragon tribe society, sealing is a heavier punishment than extinction.
There was no disagreement that it would be better to be cleanly destroyed than to be locked up forever, unable to die but only conscious.
So it was understandable that Rabes would grant his contractors three wishes and even give them his magical cores. Especially for a dragon with great power like Rabes.
‘He’s a really annoying guy. Could there be another dragon this lucky?’
He inherited tremendous magical powers from his mother and was left alone in the human world where the dragons had left, but he escaped from the seal and was treated as a god by humans.
Then, he was sealed, but then he escaped from that seal. This was something that was impossible without monopolizing the love of God.
“Malek? Malek!”
“Hmm?”
Malek came to his senses suddenly because Sasha was calling him and shaking him.
“What are you thinking so deeply about? I called you several times, but you didn’t even look at me….”
“Oh, is that so? I was just thinking about that annoying guy.”
“That annoying guy? Who is that?”
“There’s just something like that. I’m going to take care of it with my own hands anyway, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
Malek was filled with the dream of sealing Rabes, who stimulated his inferiority complex, with his own hands.
‘If I just swallow the magical core inside that contractor’s body, I can seal that guy myself!’
‘500 years ago, I wouldn’t have dared to try it, but now that I knew for certain that the power of that tiny magic core was enough to seal Rabes, I had nothing to fear.’
The mere thought of it was so ecstatic that it made goosebumps rise on his skin.
* * *
Before her return, Elaine hated winter the most.
While other people seemed to be enjoying the holiday spirit by exchanging gifts, attending year-end parties, and going to the temple to pray for New Year’s wishes, she was left sitting alone in a bitterly cold attic, wrapped tightly in an old blanket, staring out the cold window.
But right now, winter was her favorite.
‘It’s warm.’
The winters at Count Lindell’s were quite different from the winters Elaine remembered.
Elaine’s room was warm all day thanks to the fireplace, but Emily brought out hot tea two or three times a day in case she got cold.
The entire house was sparkling with holiday decorations, and the garden, where even the flowers and fallen leaves had all fallen, was instead radiating a wintery beauty thanks to the thick layer of snow.
Elaine was drinking hot cocoa in the living room on the first floor and looking out the window at the garden when Emily and one of the other maids came bustling up to her.
“Miss Elaine! Look at this!”
Emily carefully unfolded the hand that had been cupped in front of Elaine.
“Oh!”
A very pretty butterfly was sitting quietly in Emily’s hand.
“It doesn’t even fly. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Isn’t it amazing that there are butterflies in the middle of winter?”
“That’s true too.”
While Elaine was amazed at Emily and the butterfly, Rosie, the maid who came with Emily, was fidgeting nervously and smiling awkwardly.
“Rosie? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, that…Wouldn’t it be better to let the butterfly out?”
“If I let it out in this cold weather, won’t it freeze to death? By the way, where did this butterfly come from?”
Elaine asked out of simple curiosity, but Rosie bit her lips.
And Emily, completely unaware of Rosie’s expression, answered with a bright smile.
“I saw Rosie waving in the air, so I went to check and saw this butterfly fluttering around Rosie.”
“Really? Have you been to the greenhouse by any chance?”
At Elaine’s casual question, Rosie nodded and smiled brightly as if she had finally found an excuse.
“That’s right! Greenhouse! I went to the greenhouse. I guess it followed me then. Hahaha!”
“Well, where else would there be butterflies this winter if it weren’t for the greenhouse? Unless you’ve created it by ‘magic.’”
Emily chimed in, but Rosie’s smile grew even more awkward at the sound.
At that moment, the butterfly that had been sitting comfortably on Emily’s hand flapped its wings and then flew up.
“Oh! I must have held on tight!”
“What should we do?”
Elaine looked at the butterfly flying around the room, wondering how to catch it.
Strangely, the butterfly kept disappearing for a moment and then reappearing.
‘Huh? Are my eyes weird?’
Elaine rubbed her eyes to get a better look at the butterfly’s blinking form.
But suddenly Rosie started making a fuss.
* * *
Rosie knows ✨ magic ✨ right