"Bang!"
The carriage door swung open as Larr leaped out of Mir's embrace, her eyes shining as she looked toward the entrance, only to see the exhausted face of Raphaëlle. It seed the recent battle outside had drained every ounce of her energy.
"Lady Raphaëlle..."
Mir gazed worriedly at the visibly dejected Raphaëlle and couldn't help speaking up.
"Lady Raphaëlle, where's Fischer?"
Larr glanced at the lavender fields outside but couldn't spot the familiar figure of that human male. Monts earlier, their slave marks had completely vanished—Mir and the others knew exactly what this ant, their complex gazes fixed on Raphaëlle.
eting Larr's uneasy look, Raphaëlle gently closed the door behind her. After shutting her erald eyes for a second, she reopened them and addressed Cachil and Fassil,
"You two take the reins. We're turning back toward the tribe... Head south first. After I check Fischer's map, I'll take over driving. Mir, keep an eye on Larr."
"Yes."
Mir bowed slightly and cradled the tiny Larr in her arms.
Raphaëlle swept her gaze over her companions and the carriage interior. Only after Fassil and the others went outside to steer the carriage southward did she approach the first door on the left—Fischer's room.
The furnishings and items inside remained largely untouched, with nurous human books lining the shelves, silently watching Raphaëlle enter.
She initially intended to turn and unfold the Southern Continent map hanging on the wall, but her peripheral vision caught a pale yellow envelope resting on his desk, beneath which lay an aged parchnt scroll.
Raphaëlle reached out and picked up the envelope. On it, written in Fischer's distinctive Nary cursive script, were the words:
"To Raphaëlle."
A letter?
Raphaëlle opened the envelope to find a folded sheet of paper bearing Fischer's handwriting.
"To Raphaëlle's Eyes Only."
"If you're reading this, it ans you've erged victorious in our little ga. First, congratulations—to you and your companions—on winning your freedom. At the sa ti, this also signifies our paths will diverge here, branching toward separate directions until they eventually reconverge or lead to entirely different destinations."
"Your excellence and strength repeatedly made consider eliminating you. Yet my independent judgnt allowed to recognize the simple kindness and passion within the dragonkin race—and made grow fond of you, with your blazing soul. After much hesitation, I resolved to let you go. Your stage isn't in humanity's dark prisons, nor within the modest walls of my Nary ho. The vast wilderness of the Southern Continent is your future."
"I also hope you'll always maintain independent thought, carefully considering every action before taking it. This will aid your decisions and path. The parchnt beneath this envelope contains clues to the ruins of the dragonkin's Fermabah Dragon Court—a parting gift from . Should you wish to reciprocate, you can repay when we et again."
"May your future path be blessed with light."
"Fischer Benavides"
"P.S. You still owe one punishnt. Don't forget to repay it when we et again."
Raphaëlle clutched the thin envelope, lingering over Fischer's signature at the bottom. Silently, she lowered her head and pressed the envelope against her forehead—her crimson, ethereal dragon horns passing straight through the paper.
Strangely, though that human lacked horns and physical objects couldn't normally touch a dragonkin's horns, Raphaëlle felt ripples reverberating through her soul at this mont, as if their hearts had connected.
A long, long ti passed before she reopened her eyes. Her erald pupils now resembled bottomless pools—yet hidden within those depths, countless violently burning flas churned, radiating blinding light like the sun.
It was ti to depart—to accomplish what she'd long intended to achieve.
Under the Southern Continent's scorching noon sun, a carriage set off from the northern reaches, just as it had arrived.
But now gripping the reins wasn't the Nary gentleman from before—instead, it was a dragonkin maiden as radiant as the morning sun.
The crimson Dragon Queen was rising.
(Volu One: The Crimson Dragon Queen)
Reviews
All reviews (0)