While things were unfolding with Shin Noya and Yusa in the distance,
events were also taking place at the park.
A woman, having been grabbed by the arm, turned around.
Our eyes t.
For a mont, both the woman and I fell into silence, caught off guard by the sudden encounter.
The cold sensation in my hand and the eyes staring at —
seeing them made swallow involuntarily.
I had prepared so many things to say,
but now that I was face-to-face with her, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
‘Mother.’
My guess was right.
The mont I saw her, I knew.
This woman was undoubtedly my mother.
How could I ever forget?
Even after decades had passed, I had never forgotten her.
I thought I had lived my life forgetting, but now that I saw her again,
the mory had only beco clearer.
The silence stretched on.
Though my hand remained still, gripping her arm,
I knew I had to say sothing—anything.
But what should I say?
My mind went blank.
All my thoughts burned away in an instant.
“Um…”
“…!”
A voice.
It was my mother’s.
Beneath the veil, her eyes curved gently.
“Is sothing the matter?”
“…”
She glanced down at my hand gripping her wrist,
prompting to release her without realizing it.
Thump—! Thump—!
My heart pounded.
Even more intensely than before a battle.
What should I say?
Should I express longing?
Or should I speak words filled with resentnt?
Or perhaps…
No matter how hard I tried to think, nothing ca to mind.
Still, I had to say sothing.
Forcing myself, I finally spoke while looking at my mother.
“…This…”
I pulled sothing from my robe.
A handkerchief.
“You dropped this.”
“Oh my.”
My mother accepted it with a soft smile.
“When did I drop it?”
I had seen her drop it earlier when she passed by.
I picked it up imdiately, intending to use it as an excuse to talk to her.
That was my plan—
to confirm things by speaking to her.
“Thank you. I hadn’t noticed.”
She smiled and expressed her gratitude,
but she showed no other reaction.
Watching her, I bit my lip slightly.
Was Shin Noya right?
‘Does she truly not recognize ?’
Even though our eyes were eting like this,
my mother seed unable to recognize .
That thought scratched at my insides.
Perhaps…
‘Is it because of the spell?’
The spell cast on my body—
it affected not only my appearance but also my very soul.
Could that be why she didn’t recognize ?
Would things change if I removed it?
That thought filled my mind, but—
‘Hold it in.’
I clenched my fist and forced myself to endure.
It was too dangerous of a gamble.
Hadn’t Noya warned ?
Right now, my mother not only didn’t recognize ,
but if she did—if she found out—it would put in danger.
‘A dragon is a target for extermination.’
The re existence of a dragon was unacceptable.
That’s what they had said.
If they discovered , they would kill on sight.
And yet—
‘I’m standing here like an idiot.’
Even knowing that,
I was still looking at my mother.
Even though I knew everything—
This was an act of foolishness driven by emotion.
But at the sa ti,
it was also a ans of confirmation.
With trembling eyes, I stared at my mother.
The eyes that looked back at , smiling.
The distinctive hair peeking out from beneath the veil,
the gaze eting mine—
I swallowed dryly, without realizing it.
‘…What is this?’
How could smiling eyes feel so cold?
At a glance, they seed endlessly gentle,
yet within them, I sensed sothing chilling.
An utter lack of emotion.
There was no trace of warmth in the way she looked at .
Realizing this, I bit my lip hard.
I was certain now.
‘…Noya was right.’
My mother truly didn’t recognize .
I had hoped otherwise, but—
it seed that was the reality.
And if that was the case—
‘Then all my fears were true.’
If she ever realized who I was,
it would indeed beco a life-threatening situation.
I averted my gaze.
I looked at the person standing behind my mother.
I knew who it was.
‘Yarang.’
One of the generals known as Yarang.
The current daughter of Mangye.
In other words, soone claiming to be my mother’s daughter.
And, at the sa ti—
‘…Divine Sword, Wi Seol-ah.’
The one I believed to be the Divine Sword.
I narrowed my eyes slightly as I looked at her.
It made sense now why my mother didn’t recognize .
Thanks to the spell, she didn’t even realize I was a dragon.
That was a relief.
But—
‘Then why…?’
Yarang should know about .
Not only had we t face-to-face before,
but according to Cheonma, she had been watching all this ti.
Yet she remained silent.
That led to many thoughts,
but one stood out the most.
‘Could it be…?’
Was she staying silent despite knowing?
Soone called the eyes and ears of Mangye—
Was she choosing to keep quiet?
If so—
‘Why?’
Why was she doing this?
If she was truly the Divine Sword,
was she keeping silent for my sake?
Was this just a logical deduction based on the situation,
or was it rely my desperate hope?
I wasn’t thinking straight given the circumstances.
“Um…”
“…!”
My mother’s voice snapped back to reality.
“Do you still have business with us?”
“…No, it’s nothing. I was just…”
I shifted my gaze from Yarang back to my mother.
“I saw you walking through the park and wondered what brought you out here.”
“Ah.”
My mother smiled again at my words.
That smile hurt more than anything.
“I’m simply out for a stroll with my daughter.”
“…A… stroll?”
“Yes. The weather is nice today, isn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
The sky was indeed clear.
Not a single cloud in sight—beautiful, even.
But—
“So I decided to take my daughter out for a rare outing.”
Hearing those words, I found myself unable to respond.
Out for a stroll with her daughter.
As my mother spoke and took Yarang’s hand,
the image of my younger sister walking beside her overlapped in my mind.
That was why—
“Thank you for picking up my handkerchief. I hope you enjoy your day as well.”
I couldn’t bring myself to stop her as she turned away.
The mother who had looked at with such cold eyes—
I was too afraid to even ask if she truly didn’t recognize .
I just watched as she walked away.
And—
I could feel Yarang’s eyes piercing through as she followed after her.
******************
The woman left the park and stepped back into the crowd.
Ignoring the constant noise in her ears, she walked for a while.
She walked in silence for quite so ti,
before finally stepping into the shade of a building.
It wasn’t because of the heat.
She rely sought to avoid the sunlight—
and at the sa ti,
to take a mont to steady her breath.
“Hmmm.”
She exhaled softly.
After calming her breathing—
“Daughter.”
She called for Yarang.
At her summons, Yarang responded.
“That child from earlier.”
“…”
“Doesn’t he seem familiar to you?”
Yarang quietly observed the woman.
She was trying to read her expression,
but the veil covering her face made it difficult.
Her voice was as languid and gentle as ever,
yet Yarang sensed an odd dissonance beneath it.
She had been born from this woman—
which ant she could recognize even the slightest differences.
Was it simply curiosity?
Or was it sothing else?
As Yarang pondered,
the woman continued.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? I feel like I’ve seen him sowhere… and yet, at the sa ti, I don’t.”
Tilting her head slightly, she mused aloud.
“Hmmm. Should I remove my veil?”
If she took it off, she would know imdiately.
Yet she didn’t.
She had made a rare decision to co out today,
and for now, she wanted to endure the uncertainty.
Still—
‘Hmm.’
It was bothering her.
She had returned to this body after a long ti,
and with most of her form sealed beneath the veil,
she hadn’t even noticed dropping the handkerchief—
nor that soone had picked it up.
It had been so long since she had felt this way.
She was indulging in the comfort that ca with vulnerability.
As she savored that feeling,
she recalled the one who had returned her handkerchief.
‘Hmm.’
His face was hazy.
Even though she had seen him up close.
Perhaps it was because she had dulled her senses in this body, but—
‘Strange.’
Even so,
she found it oddly difficult to recall his features.
What did he look like?
The boy who had spoken to her—
what expression had he worn?
And what kind of voice had he used?
She couldn’t rember that either.
Yet, in the gaps of her mory,
she sensed sothing peculiar.
That was why she asked.
“Was he soone you knew?”
It would be odd to feel such emotions for a complete stranger.
There had been sothing familiar in his voice—
a trace of longing, for so reason.
And in his reply,
an unplaceable sadness.
That—
That was what unsettled her.
So she asked Yarang,
wanting to know if she recognized him.
But—
“…”
Yarang simply shook her head slightly.
Seeing this,
the woman gazed at her with slow, crimson eyes.
“I see.”
“…”
“Is that so?”
She didn’t press further.
She didn’t think Yarang was lying.
After all,
Yarang could not lie to her.
However—
‘Hmm.’
There was still sothing off.
Why?
If she was curious, she could simply investigate.
And yet,
not only did she refrain from asking Yarang—
she didn’t try to find out herself either.
That wasn’t like her.
If sothing piqued her interest, she would uncover the truth.
On this land,
there was nothing she couldn’t know.
“Hmmm.”
The woman did not dwell too deeply on her own doubts.
Or rather,
it felt as if sothing was preventing her from doing so.
And yet—
‘…What was it?’
The curiosity lingered.
The voice that had spoken to her
echoed in her mind.
She couldn’t help but stop walking for a mont.
***************
After my mother left,
I stood frozen for a while.
It wasn’t just because I hadn’t processed the situation yet—
my mind was simply too tangled to move.
So all I could do was
try to sort through everything, piece by piece.
‘First…’
Why had my mother appeared here?
That was my first question,
but there was no way to answer it right now.
If this world belonged to her,
then it wouldn’t be strange for her to appear anywhere.
Even so—
‘I need to know how often she shows up.’
It was better to have that information than not.
I had to be certain.
And more importantly—
‘She really doesn’t recognize .’
After looking into her eyes,
I could no longer doubt it.
The cold gaze she had given
was nothing like how she used to look at .
I had to accept it now.
I forced myself to let go of the last sliver of hope I had been holding on to.
The mother before truly had no mory of .
And—
‘Yarang is pretending not to know .’
The one I regarded as the Divine Sword,
who had been watching all this ti,
She had looked at my mother,
and still chosen not to say anything about .
Did she not realize I was a dragon?
I had no way of knowing.
But the important thing was—
‘If Yarang really is the Divine Sword…’
I wasn’t even sure if she was.
But if she was—
Did she rember ?
Like my mother, had she also forgotten?
Or did she know the truth?
I needed to find out.
‘…Right now, it feels like…’
Like she wasn’t completely unaware.
Like she knew,
but was choosing to stay silent.
And I couldn’t help but hope—
that if my mother had forgotten ,
then at least she hadn’t.
‘Damn it.’
I hadn’t expected to run into my mother so suddenly,
and my mind was a ss because of it.
The situation was already complicated—
“…And now, what the hell is this?”
The scene before made my head ache even more.
Because—
“Oh, you’re here.”
Shin Noya greeted with a bright smile.
But the problem was what he was holding.
Soone—
bound tightly with rope.
“Mmph! Mmmph…!!”
A general of Mangye.
Yusa was looking at —
in an utterly pathetic state.
Reviews
All reviews (0)