Chapter 140

Hasan approached the window. Snow was pouring down outside.

It was the first snow he had seen in his life.

The dragon had brought snow to a country where it had never fallen before.

'This is real magic...'

It was a power on a completely different level from black magic, which had clear limitations and always exacted a great price. That's why 'he' had said that 'black magic is merely a counterfeit derived from real magic.'

His past self, intoxicated with the power of black magic, had dismissed those words... but after seeing the dragon's power firsthand, he realized that statement had been true.

'I can use this.'

Hasan was certain.

'Because the dragon...'

Hasan looked out the window, recalling the moment when the dragon first appeared on the ground.

It was early dawn.

"Wh-what is that?"

A servant working in the royal palace shouted, pointing at the sky. Everyone looked where the finger was pointing at the loud voice. And they all froze in shock.

A massive silhouette was revealing itself through the clouds. With shining silver scales, it looked like living lightning.

"A m-magical beast!"

So magical beasts had finally reached the royal palace! People who belatedly came to their senses were in chaos.

But when the flashing light disappeared, what appeared on the ground was not a magical beast, but a silver-haired man like moonlight.

Anyone could tell that the man who descended from the sky was no ordinary being.

"Oh God..."

Some devout individuals knelt on the spot and began to pray. They believed this man was a god who had descended to save everyone from this chaotic world.

Until the man sent the rushing soldiers flying with a single gesture.

The man was neither a god nor a savior. He was an uninvited calamity.

And he was looking for the king.

"He's heading to His Majesty! Stop him!"

Even the elite knights who had trained rigorously for years couldn't lay a finger on the man. After shattering both the bodies and pride of knights who had never known defeat, the man calmly broke down the door of the office where the king was and entered.

"Are you the king?"

That was the moment Hasan first faced the dragon.

"...You."

Hasan saw the dragon's irritably crumpled face become tinged with agitation. As if he had encountered an unexpected opponent.

Hasan was equally agitated. Not because a mythical being had appeared in reality.

Hasan had already heard from 'him' that the dragon would come looking for him, so there was no reason to be surprised.

So his surprise was for a different reason.

Eyes of gold that shone brilliantly like the sun.

Hasan knew a monster with exactly the same eyes.

The last time he had seen them, the monster's eyes had looked like flames burning with anger and despair. Such eyes were not easy to forget, so Hasan momentarily fell into the illusion of returning to that day.

But when he closed his eyes and opened them again, standing before Hasan was not a monster turned into a pincushion of arrows, but a beautiful man who seemed to have stepped out of a sacred painting.

Hasan smiled to hide his tension. While habitually stroking his bracelet, he asked.

"Dragon, it is an honor to meet you. I am Kinaine, the king of this country."

"...Kinaine."

The dragon murmured. Hasan had the feeling that he already knew that name.

"Please, have a seat."

Even as he offered, Hasan thought the dragon wouldn't follow his words. He was a being who had appeared by breaking down the door, as if he had never even heard of knocking.

Hasan's strength was his ability to quickly assess others. Wasn't it because of this that he had realized before anyone else that his brother would turn him into a shadow?

Hasan knew immediately upon seeing the being before him that he was closer to an uncontrollable disaster than a sacred representative of the gods. One cannot confront a disaster with human power. The best strategy would be to give him what he wanted and send him away quickly.

"Alright."

But surprisingly, the dragon complied with Hasan's words.

Hasan suddenly realized that the dragon's gaze had not left him once from the beginning until now.

'...What is this?'

"Bring this one to me. You should be able to find him quickly."

On the wanted poster the dragon handed over was a familiar face. Hasan was surprised, but didn't show it outwardly.

'So this is why he told me to kill Kinaine before meeting the dragon.'

'He' had already known that the dragon would look for Kinaine.

Though his expression remained calm, Hasan's mind was racing. 'He' doesn't want the dragon and Kinaine to meet. So just like seven years ago, instead of taking action directly, he tried to work through Hasan.

'No, is it that he can't take action?'

Hasan looked away from the wanted poster. The dragon was still looking at him. It wasn't particularly a friendly gaze, but it didn't feel hostile either.

That gaze was closer to observation. With a slight discomfort.

Pretending not to notice that gaze, Hasan asked.

"What wrong has this person done to the dragon?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Hasan is a criminal whose whereabouts have been unknown for seven years. As the king of this country, I need to know all the crimes he has committed and impose appropriate punishment."

Though he thought the dragon might not answer, he opened his mouth, not erasing his annoyed expression.

Through the brief conversation with the dragon, Hasan learned that Kinaine had been in the spirit realm all this time and had participated in the dragon's bride selection. Also that becoming the dragon's bride could grant a wish.

He felt a chill at those words, imagining what Kinaine might have wished for if he had succeeded.

If he had wished to take back what Hasan had stolen...

'No, that didn't happen.'

According to the dragon, Kinaine had run away without completing all the selection tests.

That part was also puzzling.

His brother was never one to abandon his goals and run away. If he had been such a person, Hasan wouldn't have hated him so much.

If Kinaine had truly run away, there must have been a good reason.

It felt like something was hovering just beyond his grasp. Like holding puzzle pieces that didn't match.

To see the completed picture, he needed the final puzzle piece.

Hasan had two choices: follow 'his' orders, or not follow them and solve the current sense of déjà vu by completing the final puzzle.

If he followed the former, he would maintain a life no different from now, but if he followed the latter, there was a high possibility of gaining more.

Hasan made his choice.

He brought Kinaine before the dragon's eyes.

"...It's not a lie."

When Kinaine, conversing with the dragon, briefly showed a hurt expression, Hasan felt elation.

That unexpectedly fragile expression was what he had always wanted to see from Kinaine, but had only succeeded once in his lifetime. It was when he told Kinaine that his lover had died.

Because the dragon had hurt Kinaine, Hasan knew that Kinaine loved the dragon.

That was the final puzzle piece.

'His' orders, the dragon with eyes identical to the monster's who seemed to recognize him, and Kinaine's reaction...

'I suspected it, but...'

Hasan was convinced that the dragon was the monster he had killed, or rather, thought he had killed.

Because that monster was the only one Kinaine had truly loved.

Interestingly, however, the dragon didn't seem to remember the past. If the dragon had come with all his memories intact, he wouldn't have forgiven Hasan, who had the appearance of the lover who betrayed him.

'This can only be called divine help, can't it?'

Hasan returned to reality. His face was reflected in the window. He knew this face was almost unchanged from seven years ago. Because he had tried not to change.

The dragon clearly seemed interested in this face. Though he wasn't sure what kind of interest it was.

In any case, it was a positive sign that the dragon, who wouldn't even glance at others, behaved differently only toward him. He could use that quite well.

Above all... when it was this enjoyable, was there any reason not to do it?

"Haha."

Hasan let out a laugh.

Kinaine, under a taboo, could not reveal the truth.

Just seeing him become intimate with the dragon in his former appearance would hurt Kinaine.

'It would also be fun to humiliate him in front of the dragon.'

The dragon seemed quite interested in Kinaine... but didn't seem to love him.

Of course, Hasan had no interest in love. It was an emotion he had never experienced and couldn't understand. So all he knew about love was what Kinaine and that monster had done.

If it had been that monster, he wouldn't have remained still seeing Kinaine wearing a leash that even a dog wouldn't wear. He would have immediately knelt and apologized if he saw Kinaine getting hurt.

But the dragon didn't do that.

Well, now he was a dragon. A being who could have anything he wanted had no reason to desire mere Kinaine. Perhaps even if he regained his memories, there was a high possibility he wouldn't give Kinaine a second glance.

"I'd like to see that too."

Hasan couldn't stop laughing. How could he not laugh?

He had finally obtained a weapon that could shatter Kinaine into pieces.