I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 101
Chapter 101
Boom!
The situation came to an end with a sound that shook Hestia Village.
Those who had gathered to eliminate the remaining monsters ended up surrounding Valdroba.
Their gazes were all looking down at her.
“What on earth is this…?”
“Ugh…”
Those with weak stomachs gagged as they looked at the scene.
There were also those who recognized that form.
‘A berserker.’
Those seized by rage who destroy everything in their path.
That rage is uncontrollable, and without a mage capable of casting Calm Magic, they are treated as nothing more than small-sized ogres.
The residents could guess why she, who wielded such absurd Herculean strength, was here.
Though the guess was uncertain, fear was quickly contagious.
Everyone feared Valdroba.
Valdroba did nothing.
She merely glanced around, lifting her head slightly, and then sat still in that spot.
Everyone hesitated, glancing at one another.
No one dared to step into the crater where the ground had collapsed from a single blow.
“Are you alright, Sir Knight?”
The man wearing the epaulets of the Captain of the Guard.
The man who had faced the monsters more bravely than anyone else approached and asked.
Valdroba could not answer.
“Can you stand up? Shall I help you?”
William reached out a hand, but Valdroba didn't even look at it.
She remained there as if she had died in place.
It was a single voice that awakened her mind.
“Sir William.”
It was Ferda.
She lifted her head and looked up at Ferda.
“Yes, Regent-nim.”
“I heard a tremendous explosion just now. It seems this was the epicenter…”
Ferda looks at her.
Those cold eyes.
It was not the gaze that used to look at her with such tenderness.
“You are…”
Ferda trailed off.
Valdroba knew the reason why.
‘I am…’
Because I’m a monster.
Ferda walked toward Valdroba.
Unable to bear looking at his expression, she bowed her head.
With her vision obscured, the sound of footsteps rang out even more clearly.
Having approached closely, Ferda spoke.
“Come to the castle. I have something to say to you.”
The affection that had always been directed toward her was gone.
* * *
She had seen this space several times, but it felt very different from those times.
While she had looked around as the master before, now she had come as a guest.
It was a funny story.
The master of the castle coming as a guest.
Ferda was unaware of that fact.
He personally prepared and poured tea in the drawing room.
“Normally a maidservant would do this, but since they are busy sorting out the situation outside, I ended up doing it. Please understand even if it tastes bad.”
“…”
“Still, consider yourself lucky. I made a rule that every knight must wash up upon entering, so it would have only wasted time.”
Ferda held the teacup toward Valdroba.
It didn't matter whether it tasted bad or not.
‘Tea brewed by Ferda-ssi…’
That alone seemed incredibly special.
She wanted to drink it.
However, if she took off her helmet, her face would be seen.
Ferda would be shocked.
If that happened, she would have to explain what she had been doing all this time, and things would get complicated.
He would feel disillusioned.
She did not want to face such a tragedy.
‘Let’s stay still.’
Valdroba set the teacup down without a word.
Watching that action quietly, Ferda began another conversation.
“I heard you took a Vow of Silence.”
Nod, nod.
“It’s a good excuse. If you say you’ve taken a Vow of Silence, you only need to answer what’s asked, and you don’t have to say anything unnecessary. Isn't that right?”
Ferda’s cold gaze seemed to pierce through her.
“It might work on the ignorant masses, but I was raised in a family of knights. A Vow of Silence is something usually only taken by holy knights. And if you served someone, it would have shown in your bearing.”
“…”
“However, you served no one. All you possess is strength and combat skill that exceeds that of knights. If so, why did you tell such a lie?”
He spoke cynically.
“It’s an obvious story. It must mean you hid your identity to escape from your past.”
Valdroba clenched her fists.
Even if Ferda had missed the mark on some details, the essence was correct.
Valdroba hated herself.
She hated herself, who had to make someone tremble, even more than the demons who had driven so many to their deaths.
“Tell me.”
Ferda asked, holding his teacup.
“Have you ever killed someone while seized by that rage?”
Nod.
“So you fled and came here?”
Nod.
“I see.”
A moment of silence.
Ferda, who was contemplating something, asked her.
“Do you regret that day?”
Regret.
How could she not regret it?
For decades, she had fallen into grief, loathed herself, and suffered from nightmares.
She hoped for God’s mercy and salvation, but no one listened.
Instead of moving forward, she stood still and loathed herself.
When she thought of the people sacrificed in the Dragon-Demon War, this was always her only thought.
If only those people she killed could live again, she wouldn't care if she became an evil dragon that turned the whole world into her enemy.
Valdroba nodded her head.
“I see.”
That calm affirmative seemed to create a silence before a storm.
It felt as if insults would fly at any moment.
That a monster like her wasn't needed in this city.
To get out right now.
“You.”
However, there was no storm.
“Do you like this village?”
It was such an easy question.
Valdroba nodded her head.
“Do you also have the intention to protect this village?”
Nod, nod.
“Then… do you have the intention to accept the knighthood I am about to propose?”
No—.
Valdroba lifted her head.
‘If I’m a knight…’
A position to protect the people and safeguard the king.
What country boys dream of is the knightly romance.
Valdroba also had an interest in that position as much as she liked the word ‘protection.’
‘But, why?’
She couldn't understand.
People saw her as a monster.
Even those girls trembled in fear.
I am an evil dragon—no, a wicked person.
Such a person must not become a knight.
“Do you think you are unworthy?”
Nod.
“You think trivial thoughts.”
Unfiltered vitriol.
The fragile Valdroba was hurt.
“Do you know how many adventurers participated in Hestia Village?”
Shake, shake.
“Twenty-three teams came in. In numbers, that’s seventy-three people. Each of them is a person of martial power and wisdom.”
“…”
“And yet, only four teams participated when the defensive battle unfolded. Do you know what that means? It means nineteen teams didn't give a damn whether people died or the village was destroyed.”
Ferda leaned forward and said.
“But you didn't. You could have hidden away along with those idiots, but you moved to protect this village.”
“…”
“That is because you know that those in front of you are more precious than things of the past.”
Hearing those words, something vanished from within Valdroba’s chest.
She thought he was looking at an infinitely cold monster, but he wasn't.
That had been Valdroba’s misunderstanding from the start.
Though not tender, his eyes contained a heart of respect.
“If you have the heart that wants to protect this place, your past has no meaning to me.”
You are not at fault.
And you just need to keep moving forward.
‘What is this…?’
She felt a strange emotion.
She had had conversations like this several times when receiving Ferda’s mana.
Back then, Ferda was always tender.
‘But it wasn't comfortable.’
When Ferda dealt with her, he acted as if she were a flower that might break at any moment.
Those delicate and soft hands would only graze her skin before passing by.
Valdroba could not believe those words, and therefore, that comfort also ended up as a fleeting emotion.
‘It’s different from then.’
An untender tone and gaze.
An attitude of treating a complete stranger.
‘It feels like meeting for the first time.’
He doesn't hesitate to touch, and he draws out a deep empathy from within.
All of that felt like seeing another side of Ferda.
Her heart throbbed.
This, which was even deeper than when she first saw him, was undoubtedly the emotion of love.
“Do you think I am very understanding?”
At his question, Valdroba nodded her head.
“Regrettably, I am not such a person. Pretending to be so understanding is merely because you resemble someone I have seen before.”
Who on earth could that be?
While she wondered inwardly, he spoke.
“That person is a truly beautiful individual.”
Beautiful.
Ferda smiled as he said those words.
At that sight, Valdroba’s chest felt tight.
‘They said Ferda-ssi has never smiled at anyone other than me…’
Ruri had said so.
That being tender was because it was Valdroba, and smiling was because it was Valdroba.
Who on earth was that person to make him like that?
“I’ve only seen her face once, and even then, I can’t say I saw it properly.”
‘Was she such a good person even though he only saw her face once?’
“Moreover, the first face I saw was in tears.”
‘Is she a person who is so beautiful even while crying…?’
“I want to see her face every time, but I just can’t bring myself to say it.”
‘What a bad person. Not even showing her face once…’
“Still, just thinking that she is resting without worry beneath this castle gives me comfort.”
‘Beneath this castle…’
Wait a minute.
That person…
‘Is it me?’
Valdroba realized belatedly.
Tracing back the things he said, wasn't the situation exactly the same as hers?
‘Ah…’
Valdroba’s face turned bright red.
Now that she had started to realize, she wanted to run out of here this very instant.
And she wanted to return to the Lair and roll around the floor making humming sounds like usual.
However, she used all her strength to calm this trembling and acted like a stranger.
‘I really must not be caught now.’
Whether for Ferda-ssi’s sake or mine!
“I’ve rambled too long. So, could you think once more about receiving the knighthood?”
Ferda returned to the main point.
Valdroba also decided to think about it again.
‘If I become a knight… will I become a person… who protects Ferda-ssi?’
Valdroba’s heart throbbed.
If she were the dragon, if she were Valdroba, she couldn't hide her excitement at hearing words she would never have dared to hear like this.
‘I want to protect the village.’
But what was even greater than that,
‘I want to protect Ferda-ssi.’
And what was even greater than that,
‘I want to hear more of what he thinks of me!’
A woman who didn't have the courage to ask to his face, and a man who couldn't speak to her face.
It was a more than perfect moment to hear his inner thoughts directly in such a relationship.
That reason was almost everything.
Just as Valdroba was about to give her answer.
“Ferda-nim.”
Ruri entered inside.
“How is the situation in the village?”
“The cleanup is proceeding smoothly.”
“Is there any bad news?”
“None in particular. The number of deaths is minimal, and although there were many serious injuries, emergency treatment was completed quickly, so their lives are not in danger.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I shall attend to you.”
She skillfully and quickly took her place and served tea.
Ruri’s gaze glanced at the armor.
“Hmm?”
She, who was indifferent to humans, was for some reason staring steadily at that armor.
Ruri stared intently at the armor.
A face that looked as if she was about to realize something yet wasn't quite sure, as if it were a hazy memory.
After a moment,
“…Heh?”
Ruri’s expression rapidly soured.
Valdroba knew that expression.
‘She noticed!’
Her complexion turned pale inside the armor.
Ruri stared fixedly as if it were absurd, but kept her mouth shut according to the Vow of Silence.
Ferda, who hadn't noticed at all, only felt that Ruri’s behavior was strange.
“What is it?”
“…It is nothing. I just happened to think of the filth left behind in the village.”
Ruri finished her service as if nothing were wrong and went behind Ferda.
“Then, continuing the conversation—”
“I beg your pardon.”
Ruri cut him off and intervened.
“May I ask what conversation is in progress?”
“…This is the first time you’ve asked that.”
She was always faithful to her role.
She stood like a folding screen and never interfered.
“Because it seemed like a quite important conversation. I felt that I also needed to know.”
Ferda answered readily.
“I asked if she could swear an oath to me as a knight.”
“A knightly… oath…?”
An expression of utter absurdity.
“So, did you accept?”
“I was just about to hear the answer.”
“Ho-oh…”
Ruri narrowed her eyes and scanned the knight.
“Is that so?”
Valdroba involuntarily cowered.
Was she planning to expose her identity?
Strongly denying it in her heart, she sent her a telepathic message.
Please pretend not to know!
Ruri had no intention of doing that either.
Instead, she responded more cruelly than she had thought.
“Ferda-nim. What do you think of this?”
“What do you mean?”
“A situation where a knight of high status swears loyalty to a commoner.”
Ferda answered.
“One cannot be loyal to a commoner, but it is possible to be loyal to one’s own beliefs. If one chooses to protect the people according to their beliefs, it can appear as if they are being loyal to commoners. That is a noble thing.”
That was why Ferda had made William the Captain of the Guard.
He had even finished thinking about appointing him as a knight if the scale of the village grew larger.
“I was merely using it as an example. Then let me put it a bit differently. For instance…”
She pretended to choose her words before answering.
“What if Valdroba-nim swore loyalty to Ferda-nim?”
Ferda frowned as he answered.
He glared at Ruri as if asking if she were in her right mind.
“That is preposterous. Such a thing cannot happen. I am the one who should swear loyalty and be granted trust; saying she should swear loyalty to me is no different from an insult, is it not?”
“That is exactly my point.”
“If you knew, do not say such things carelessly. I cannot tolerate it even as an example.”
“My apologies. I merely asked because I was curious.”
Ruri crossed her arms while glaring at Valdroba.
An expression asking if she understood how absurd this situation was.
“So, what will your answer be?”
Ferda asked.
Her answer could only be decided.
