Chapter 130

Simultaneously, a headache like a nail being driven into his head began again.

But at last, Asad could understand.

"This isn't reality."

Asad looked at the man with bloodshot eyes.

The man was still fiddling with Asad's hand.

Even in this situation, Asad somehow couldn't harm the man. More precisely, he didn't feel the desire to harm him. Despite instinctively sensing that the man needed to disappear for him to wake from this dream.

Asad muttered irritably, yet unable to hide a careful demeanor.

"What have you done to my head?"

"I'm not the one who did something. You are."

"What?"

"Unlike most dragons who don't know pain and despair, you came to know too much. So you chose to discard what caused you pain. ...Even if it was once something precious."

Despite the confusing situation, there was a compelling quality to the man's voice that made one listen. Asad suspected that his finding the man's voice pleasant might be due to some evil trick.

"If you hadn't wanted it, no one could have taken it from you. But to escape the pain, to protect yourself, you chose to discard it."

Asad quietly glared at the man who continued with incomprehensible words. He had already noticed that the man before him wasn't real but an illusion created by his own mind.

'But don't such things usually take the form of one's self?'

He couldn't understand why it appeared as a man he had never seen before, not himself. Surely, this man couldn't be more important to him than himself.

Asad shook his head. That wasn't what was important now.

"I don't understand what you're saying. More importantly, what did I lose? Where is it now?"

"Don't look for it and continue living without it. That's better for both you and me."

Asad tilted his head in doubt. For himself, perhaps, but why for the man?

"Because I don't want you to suffer."

The man answered as if reading Asad's thoughts. While soothingly caressing the back of Asad's hand, the man whispered affectionately.

"It's okay, you can be happy now."

At that moment, what Asad felt was clearly close to a sense of liberation. As if he had been freed from something that had bound him without his knowledge.

Yet despite feeling light as if released from a long confinement, he felt neither joy nor happiness. Rather, he felt only emptiness.

"I'll make it so you won't even remember that you lost something. Until now, I couldn't erase it completely, but this time I can. Because I have Lady Maira's power."

In contrast, the man spoke as if having a pleasant dream.

"When you open your eyes, you'll welcome a good mate, become a perfect full-grown dragon, and be able to go to the divine realm as you wish. Under the gods' protection, you can live there forever happily, forgetting pain and unhappiness."

"Forever..."

Asad unconsciously echoed. The word "forever" that clung to his tongue felt newly sweet. Until then, it had been a word he hadn't given much thought to, something that had only felt natural.

'This one's proposal isn't so bad.'

If it was something that wouldn't cause problems even if lost, if it was better to lose it... as the man said, was there any need to go through the trouble of finding it? Of course, it felt unsettling, but if he forgot even the fact that he had lost it, it wouldn't matter.

"I just need to open my eyes?"

"There's one thing you need to do, but it's very easy."

Well, in that case. Asad was about to nod.

But at that moment, the man's appearance newly caught his eye.

While he was standing in clean clothes under the sunlight, the man was standing in the dark shade, completely soaked in cold water.

With a face that smiled calmly as if nothing was wrong.

'It's fine, this much is nothing. As long as you didn't fall in, that's what matters.'

Why did those words he had heard just moments ago come to mind at that instant?

Asad unconsciously stepped back.

"I just realized... you have a face that's good at lying. Especially when saying things are fine."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't trust you, so I need to find what I've lost."

The man looked dumbfounded, as if he hadn't expected Asad's refusal. Soon, a sorrowful light settled in his clear eyes at the words that followed. His expression, crumbling for the first time, seemed like a mask had been removed, revealing something raw.

"...We'll both only suffer. It's too late."

Asad snorted. Having already made up his mind, he had no intention of turning back.

"I'm saying I'll find what's mine, why are you acting like this? Stop and tell me where it is."

"I can't help it. If you've decided, I can't refuse."

The man wore a bitter expression.

"What you've lost is something I have and you don't."

It was like a riddle. Asad couldn't help but laugh, "Ha." This man clearly didn't want to tell him what he had lost. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given such a cryptic clue.

As if confirming Asad's guess, the man looked at him with an expression that said, 'You still don't get it?' As if hoping Asad would fail to realize until the end and give up.

But unfortunately, his expectations were dashed. Because the moment Asad heard those words, he understood the answer.

"You can't keep your hands off it."

The man's eyes widened. The black eyes, which had been as calm as a still lake throughout, were disturbed for the first time. Though he hurriedly removed his hand, which had been constantly touching Asad's ring finger, Asad had already figured out the answer.

Asad quickly caught the man's retreating wrist. And brought it up to the man's eyes demonstratively.

"There's a ring on your ring finger."

"..."

"I don't have one."

"Ugh..."

"Is this what I lost?"

The man stared at Asad with his lips tightly sealed.

So that's the answer.

Now it was Asad who smiled, not the man.

"And you're not an illusion I created? What exactly are you?"

The wavering black eyes slowly regained their calm.

As the man looked at his ring, Asad also saw it.

It was a silver ring without any decoration. Clean and shining like new.

Asad's eyes narrowed.

"I feel like I've seen that somewhere before."

"Isn't it pretty?"

The man showed it off with a faint smile.

"Everything you said is correct. But the ring you lost isn't with me right now."

"Then where is it?"

"You'll be able to find it if you want to. Once you find it, don't take it off your body."

Then you'll be able to recover what you've lost, one by one.

As he spoke, the man reached out. A warm, soft hand touched Asad's cheek. It was a touch filled with affection, as if concerned, as if encouraging.

Asad thought this touch felt somehow familiar. That hand seemed smaller and colder than now...

As Asad tried to trace the foggy, faint memory, a gentle voice flowed into his ear.

"But remember. If the ring breaks before you recover everything you've lost... you'll lose everything."

Asad nodded, holding the hand that cupped his cheek. The man looked at Asad for a long time. As if doing so would engrave him in his eyes.

"...Originally, you wouldn't have remembered anything that happened here, just like before, but Lady Maira's power will help you recall important parts."

"Maira? You mentioned that name earlier too? I feel like I've heard it somewhere."

A dragon that existed long ago, the man said.

The reason Asad had fallen asleep this time was also because of magic she had left behind.

"The moment the magic touched me, her memories flowed in, and it seems Lady Maira had seen quite a few moments of the future. So she anticipated this moment and prepared for future generations. Though unfortunately, she couldn't see her own future..."

"Wait."

Asad wasn't particularly interested in the content about Maira. What he paid attention to was one word he had just heard.

"You just said 'like before'? Does that mean... we've met before?"

No sooner had the words ended than the world slowly began to crumble. The large willow tree, the clear lake sparkling in the sunlight.

Amidst the scenery scattering like glass shards, a soft voice was heard.

"Every night, you dreamed of me."

* * *

Asad opened his eyes.