Lord and Dragon

Chapter Fourteen

Dragon Pearl

Synopsis: The little lord is actually deeply in love

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The truth was, there were some benefits to Fruys leaving.

I could dedicate more time now to worry about the people around me — my little brother, for instance.

It was only just recently that I noticed how much he had grown up, and furthermore, it looked like he was a lot like me. He always spoke like he was waxing poetic.

He once said to me, "Brother, it seems like you are living each day waiting for the next, but the next day always comes not much differently than the previous did, so you are perpetually left waiting."

Sounds really philosophical, right?

I felt that my little brother was a budding talent, and so I had him inherit my precious collection of 《The Poet Haider · Collected Across the World · Anthology Edition》.

Time passed slowly and leisurely like this for a year while our power stabilized even further.

One day, I returned to the fortress and found my mother and Anna in the reception hall.

Next to them was a thin, shriveled old lady dressed in a purple gown who my mother introduced as a witch. Apparently, she had appeared the year I was born, blessed me, and suggested that my parents name me "Adam."

The Witch spoke: "My lord, I know I do not have long to live, but I can use my last moments to answer any three questions you wish. In return, I only ask that you grant me a small patch of ground to use as my grave."

I accepted.

My first question was about what Fruys had fed me before he left, and she said that it was a dragon pearl: a dragon's greatest treasure that they would never willingly give away apart from death. My case, she said, was very rare.

Next, I asked her what qualities dragon pearls bestowed.

The witch admitted that she did not know much. All she knew was that I would obtain half of Fruys's lifespan, and I would gain increased defensive ability on par with the dragon race for as long as he lived. Once a dragon dies, all the abilities granted by the dragon pearl would disappear.

I hastily asked whether this would have any impact on Fruys.

She looked at me very calmly, and answered: "A dragon who has lost his dragon pearl will be rejected by his tribe. What you gain, is what he loses — only half of his lifespan will remain, and his strength will weaken similarly.

I heard myself mutter softly, barely audible: "...will I be able to wait for him?"

There was no response.

The old, wizened witch sitting on a chair had her eyes peacefully shut when I looked towards her.

She had already answered three questions, and reached the end point of her life's journey.

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Unease lingered in my heart as I ordered my men to bury the witch.

In the end, I never asked Fruys what kind of circumstances had caused someone as powerful as him to become so injured that he was even forced to fly over the Sea of Death to Finanse.

I also never asked him what it was that he absolutely had to return to do—if it was something crucial or possibly dangerous, why did he leave behind his dragon pearl with me when it was so important to the dragon race?!