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Chapter 21………………………………………………………………….
“Yo… you mean a dragon?”
Shurandis smiled silently. Seeing that reaction, I barely held back a scream that threatened to burst out.
A dragon?! Are you insane?!
No, weren’t abilities something you were born with from the start? But are you saying Erina was originally someone who had the potential to become a dragon?!
I thought I’d already broken three characters’ personalities the moment I possessed her body—but was I the one who was actually broken?! Is that it?!
Or was she originally written like this, but the author nerfed her just to prop up the heroine?!
My mind spun. Dragons—were they some kind of common thing? In the original story, there were only two dragons: Shurandis in front of me and the saintly heroine!
And now you’re saying Erina was actually someone who could become a dragon? And that because she couldn’t fully realize it, she ended up with a failed awakening?
As I struggled to catch my breath after the shock of continuous revelations right after possessing her body, I felt dizzy.
“Please calm yourself, my lady.”
A gentle voice, almost soothing, tickled my ear. I blinked hard at his words.
“I’m just… a little confused.”
“I understand. It is not a light matter.”
Shurandis, who had nodded lightly, curved his eyes gently.
“But I have no reason to lie to you. Even if it is something any living being on this land would long for.”
My mouth went dry. What he said was true. Becoming a dragon was something any living being would desire.
Humans, animals, plants—anything could become a dragon in this world.
Dragons leave the mortal realm and become whole, traveling between worlds with godlike power, using their strength where needed.
I recalled the original description that suggested dragons might be another form of gods. That only made things more confusing.
Then why couldn’t Erina become one?
Shurandis had said that sometimes, when awakening occurs without fully utilizing one’s given power, such things can happen.
And that trigger… could it be, don’t tell me…
A disturbing possibility formed in my mind. If what I was thinking was true, then those bastards were truly trash.
“…In that sense, I must refuse your request. However, I can grant you something else.”
It was Shurandis’s voice that stopped my increasingly heated thoughts.
I looked up. He was smiling faintly.
“I am not forcing you to answer immediately. I only mean to say that I cannot accept your request, but the offer I made still stands.”
I felt something off about his words.
Was Shurandis always this kind?
The opportunity to make a request had itself arisen due to his whim, but a strange sense of discomfort kept poking at my back.
Of course, he was kind to the heroine. Thinking about that made his attitude understandable.
But what about other characters besides the heroine?
The emperor was obviously a rival, so ignore him… but the others? Did Erina even have contact with them?
…Not many. And strangely, I couldn’t recall any memories related to Shurandis. It was as if someone had scribbled over the pages of a book so badly that nothing could be read.
“Ah… thank you for your kindness.”
“It is not something you need to thank me for… but if you insist, may I ask you something?”
“Pardon? Yes. Anything I can answer.”
A question for me? What could it be? Did Shurandis have anything to ask Erina?
I straightened my posture and met his gaze. At that, Shurandis let out a low laugh.
His eyes had already changed again. Narrowed like a reptile’s, glinting with something mysterious.
“Tell me… do you perhaps remember me?”
It was a sudden question.
Erina remembers Shurandis? Was there ever something like that?
There was no way I’d remember anything like that—there wasn’t even a single line about it in the original story! Erina and Shurandis had never even met alone!
And now he’s asking if I remember him? What kind of bombshell is this?
I couldn’t answer immediately and just stared blankly at him. Then, as if sensing something, his gray eyes deepened.
“…So you don’t remember?”
His voice was calm, but I had no choice but to nod.
Of course I don’t remember! There was nothing about Erina meeting this dragon candidate in the past!
I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud, so I stayed silent, eyes lowered. Then a softened voice reached my ear.
“It doesn’t matter. Whether then or now, I have always been looking only at you.”
His voice, once heavy and chilling, now sounded gentle—filled with affection. And the fact that it was directed at me made me flustered.
That means Erina must have met him before. When, where, and how?
My confusion deepened as much as when I learned three characters had gone out of character.
Erina had a connection with Duke Shurandis? Then why didn’t they ever meet in the original story?
“You seem troubled by my question.”
I quickly lifted my head at his calm voice. His eyes had already returned to normal.
“I did not intend to make you uncomfortable… are you alright?”
“Ah… yes. I’m fine. It was just an unexpected question.”
“I see. Well, I suppose that makes sense.”
His last words were almost a murmur and I couldn’t catch them. What did he say?
“If we had met, rumors would already have spread throughout high society.”
That was true. A person connected to a dragon—especially Shurandis, who rarely left the southern duchy. It would be stranger if there were no rumors.
Even meeting him like this will probably cause rumors anyway… or maybe it already has?
Thinking that drained my energy. I had been trying to find a clue about awakening, but it had slipped away like this.
No—wait. It wasn’t completely gone, right?
“Then… how can one fully bring out their given power?”
Shurandis narrowed his eyes. He stroked his chin as if thinking for a moment.
“There are several methods, but you seem to want a definite one. Am I correct?”
I nodded. I needed something certain. Otherwise, I might end up following the same path as the original Erina.
“The most common method is something you already know well—something most nobles do. Experience many things before the awakening ritual and stabilize the mind. Nothing draws out potential better than that.”
Right. That was why Erina—and Russell before awakening—had not been allowed to visit the duchess, fearing it would negatively affect the awakening.
Even the duchess had gone away to rest in seclusion for that reason.
And right now, stabilizing my mind is impossible anyway.
With three people constantly breaking character and wrecking my mental state in real time, “mental stability”? As if.
On top of that, thinking that those bastards might have crushed Erina so badly that she ended up with such a failed ability made my anger boil.
“Of course, that is the orthodox method… but it seems not to be what you want.”
His tone suggested there was another way. When I met his gaze, a faint smile appeared in his gray eyes.
“There is another method. Difficult in general—but possible for you.”
“…What method?”
A strange, uneasy feeling crept in—not entirely bad, but unsettling.
“Creating a path is difficult. But following one already made is easy.”
…Huh?
“Do you know why nobles flock around dragons? It is because they hope that even a drop of dragon blood might appear in their lineage.”
Shurandis frowned slightly, as if even the thought displeased him.
“I do not know where such a simplistic and selfish idea comes from—that merely being near one can make you a dragon… but if I were to help you, it would not be impossible.”
A dragon smiled.
Though wearing a human form, something beyond human was looking at me as if testing me.
“So? Do you wish to choose this path and become a dragon?”
I swallowed hard at his words. A dragon… a dragon.
A laugh slipped out.
The answer had already been decided.
“I don’t desire anything that grand.”
His gray eyes blinked slowly.
“If I could become a dragon, that would be nice. But I don’t particularly want to become one.”
Dragons, in the original setting, were too distant to feel real.
Even if Shurandis said it was possible, who knew if it would actually happen?
“However… I became worried after hearing what Your Grace said. I was anxious and afraid. I was scared I might end up like my older brothers.”
At the very least, I just wanted to avoid a situation where my abilities were crushed before they could even bloom.
“I don’t want to be a dragon… I just want to revive the possibility that was trampled.”
I met Shurandis’s gaze, which shimmered with surprise and admiration, and finished speaking.
“Will you help me… Your Great Dragon?”
