IBWMD 92

~Chapter 92~

Creak.

Late at night, the window opened quietly.

Beth, who was standing behind me, whispered softly,
“Be careful, Young Lady.”

“Yeah. You take care of Eliza too.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take everything from her today.”

At that, Eliza—who was dressed up to look exactly like me—puffed her cheeks in frustration and glared at Beth. Sparks of rivalry were practically shooting from her eyes.

Beth gave a competitive smile back, then whispered to me again,
“If things get dangerous, you must come back immediately.”

“Of course.”

Whoosh!

I said that and jumped out the window, escaping the Grand Duke’s estate.

“Let’s go.”

Something hard and round rattled inside my pocket as I walked quickly.

It was the snow globe Karl had given me.

“I’ll return you to where you belong.”

There was a reason I was sneaking out in the middle of the night.

While sitting in my room earlier, I had suddenly realized something.

“That was a dragon.”

When I had healed the Grand Duke with my holy power, I’d seen golden light staring at me from deep inside him.

Then I remembered…

‘I’ve seen that same golden light somewhere else, haven’t I?’

At the lake. At the previous Grand Duke’s villa.

And… in my dream.

“Those golden eyes in my dream… that was also the dragon.”

I remembered the words I’d said in that dream:

“Hey, dragon head.”
“Are you complaining that I took the snow globe?”
“Is that why Karl was punished—for giving his mate’s snow globe to me?”

That thought had made me realize something.

“Maybe it wants the snow globe back.”

Maybe that’s why Karl was suffering.

“If I return it, Karl might come back.”

That was the reason I had snuck out.

Even as I walked, doubt began to creep in.

“This is just superstition.”

Normally, I wouldn’t believe in something so silly.

But now…

“I have no other choice.”

I had even prayed earlier to a god I didn’t believe in.

“Please save Karl.”

“I’ll live a good life if you do… well, maybe.”

I had threatened and pleaded with a god that might not even exist, and that had led me to remember the dream about the dragon and the snow globe.

Now here I was, sneaking out with it.

I sighed as I walked until the rough mountain path appeared.

It was the same path Karl and I had used to get to the Mate’s Tower.

I remembered it because Karl had checked the purified blue titanium regularly there.

“Every time we came, the purified blue titanium was replaced with contaminated ones.”

That must have been Karl’s job alone.

“How did he move all that by himself?”

I joked to myself that maybe he could teleport, though I knew teleportation was a high-level spell only an archmage could do.

But… knowing Karl, it wasn’t impossible.

Or maybe he just carried it all with his strong body.

“He should’ve asked me for help.”

I could’ve hunted monsters with him. Climbed mountains with him.

Now I regretted every little thing.

“…Idiot.”

My chest stung.

Even earlier, when the Grand Duke had grabbed my hand as he slept, Karl’s voice echoed in my mind, making me go crazy.

“I told you polygamy is forbidden in the Grand Duchy.”

“In this situation, you’re the other man, you know?”

I wanted to shout at him.

The Grand Duke—my husband—was calling me his bride now.

I couldn’t even say I wanted the marriage annulled.

Was it really so strange for me to hold the Grand Duke’s hand?

Right now, holding Karl’s hand would feel more inappropriate.

“If you didn’t want this, you should’ve been my husband first.”

You shouldn’t have disappeared after proposing to me.

But I knew it wasn’t fair to blame Karl.

He hadn’t wanted to disappear.

“It’s my fault.”

If I had told him about my holy power earlier, he wouldn’t have shielded me with his body.

He wouldn’t have been so badly injured.

All of this was because of me.

That thought made me cling even more to superstitions and prayers.

“I know I’m only doing this to feel better, but…”

When you’re drowning, you grab at even a straw.

Splash.

I suddenly heard the sound of water.

I looked down at the ground where I had just stepped.

“…Why is there water here?”

And it wasn’t just one puddle.

There was a trail of puddles leading…

“To the lake.”

A chill ran down my back.

I didn’t think twice—I ran as fast as I could.

My clothes were quickly ruined by the muddy water splashing everywhere, but I didn’t care.

I knew where the water had come from.

“The lake!”

Something must have happened at the lake.

As I jumped over fallen trees and rocks, I finally saw it.

The magical barrier that had hidden the lake appeared in front of me.

But when I stepped through, I froze.

“It’s gone.”

The barrier was gone.

The lake and the tower that had been hidden were now completely exposed.

I stepped onto the lakeshore and my heart pounded.

“What is this…?”

Even worse, the lake—which had been frozen solid—was now completely melted.

Karl’s words echoed in my head.

“It’s dangerous. If someone steps on it without permission, it’ll break.”

“Someone stepped on it.”

Someone uninvited had stepped on the lake.

But that wasn’t the worst thing.

“…It’s gone.”

“The dragon’s body is gone.”

The enormous husk that had been asleep beneath the frozen lake…

“What happened…?”

As I muttered in shock, my chest suddenly grew warm.

No, not just warm—

“Ow! It’s hot!”

I quickly reached into my clothes and pulled out the snow globe.

“Ah! Oh my god!”

I was so startled I threw it into the snow.

Thump!

It rolled in the snow, and when I looked at it again, my jaw dropped.

The entire glass orb was glowing like a giant eyeball.

A golden eye, slit like a snake’s pupil, burned with power.

“The dragon’s eye.”

It stared straight at me, its gaze sharp… almost sulky.

“…Is it mad I threw it?”

I blurted out the first thing that came to my head.

“What is this… a giant candy eyeball?”

I couldn’t help but lock eyes with it, completely dumbfounded.

* * *

“Fine, fine. I’ll go!”

A few minutes later, I was holding the snow globe—now a giant dragon’s eye—and crossing the lake.

I had been worried about how to cross the melted lake, but when I stepped on the water holding the snow globe, the surface froze solid under my feet.

I felt like some kind of prophet walking on water.

“Is it blasphemous to think that?”

But it wasn’t my idea—I was being dragged along.

I remembered the strange “eye language” from earlier.

“Are you… really a dragon?”

Nod nod.

Its pupil bobbed up and down.

“…Really?”

Nod nod.

I should’ve felt awe, but it was just a floating eyeball the size of a fist.

It felt nothing like the majestic dragon I remembered.

“So you cursed Karl… didn’t you?”

Shake shake.

It moved side to side, like it was shaking its head.

…Did it even know who Karl was?

“You can’t talk?”

Shake-nod.

“So… you can talk, but you can’t right now?”

Nod nod.

Wow. Maybe I was good at this.

I kept asking questions, and I eventually figured out how to communicate: yes/no questions only.

Then I asked the most important question.

“Do you know why the dragon’s body under the lake disappeared?”

Nod nod.

“Then can you tell me who did this to you?”

Nod nod.

The eye rolled its pupil toward the lake, as if telling me to go there.

So I picked it up and crossed the lake like it wanted.

“You… for a dragon, you’re really useless.”

Squint.

The eye narrowed at me like it was offended.

I narrowed my eyes back and added,

“If you can talk to me through this thing, you clearly still have magic or a soul left.”

“…”

“So why couldn’t you stop the intruder?”

I think I was starting to understand its expressions.

Its pupil rolled side to side awkwardly, like it was embarrassed.