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Chapter 11
The heads of the maids huddled together in a cluster beside mine.
On the surface of a silver cup filled with dark red wine, an image was actually appearing.
At first, it showed the backyard of our house, then, as if someone were holding a camera, the scene shifted vividly.
It passed through the backyard, went up a mountain path a little, and after crossing a few ridges, a wide clearing and a cliff came into view.
Inside that cliff, a massive cave appeared, and it froze there.
Then, as if retracing its steps, the same scene repeated—from our backyard to the cave inside the cliff.
“Th-That’s…”
It looked almost like it was guiding the way.
As if it were telling me to follow the path.
I was staring seriously at this inexplicable repeated video(?) of the path when suddenly:
“Pfft! What is that?”
“Oh my. What is it? A dragon?”
“It looks like a transparent dragon! Oh my goodness!”
“The transparent dragon is roaring!”
“…?”
I jerked my head up and looked around at the maids.
Whatever they were seeing seemed completely different from what I saw.
I carefully asked Betty, who was laughing the hardest:
“Betty, what do you see?”
“The transparent dragon is roaring! You can’t see it because it’s transparent, but you can tell from its breath! Hahaha!”
“….”
What’s so funny about that?
Well, putting that aside… a transparent dragon?
It felt vaguely familiar.
I wanted to ignore this persistent intuition, but… I couldn’t avoid it any longer.
‘It seems like it wants me to go to the cave alone.’
Honestly, until just a moment ago, I had absolutely no intention of going into that ominous place by myself.
That’s the kind of thing that leads to a predictable death scene in a horror movie.
What’s the difference between that and the supporting character who dies first because they do exactly what they’re told not to?
‘But…’
Hearing the maids talk about a transparent dragon or whatever somehow drained the tension from me.
Maybe the author of “The Empire’s Strongest Magic Transparent Dragon Roared” and the owner of this silver cup are the same person?
‘And that transparent dragon the maids saw earlier…’
Even if they weren’t the same person, there was clearly some connection.
Above all, my curiosity skyrocketed.
That silver cup, the transparent dragon…
It felt like they were desperately calling me.
Sigh. I had no choice.
‘I’ll go first thing tomorrow morning.’
After making that resolution, my heart felt lighter.
For the first time in a while, I fell asleep peacefully.
The next day.
I put on a stylish hat and cloak that Garnet had swiftly made with dazzling hand stitching and left the house.
The sun hadn’t fully risen yet.
I had planned to move only after dawn… but thinking about it, the maids wouldn’t let me go unnoticed.
‘I told them to sleep in, so they shouldn’t wake me… but I have no choice but to move quickly to avoid those busybodies.’
I started walking as the mountains ahead began to glow crimson.
There was no time to waste.
The same repeated video from yesterday still played on the silver cup.
Even in the dark forest, the cup glowed by itself, illuminating the ground like a flash.
It was definitely no ordinary object.
Following the cup’s guidance, I crossed a small stream and climbed over a ridge.
“Oh, is that it?”
Finally, the cave I had seen in the video came into view.
After climbing for quite a while, the sun was now perched on the mountain ridge when I arrived.
Phew, I felt like I had lived a proper day.
‘Not bad at all.’
If only it weren’t for this cursed silver cup.
I wiped the sweat off my face roughly on my cloak and stared at the cave ahead.
gulp
“It’s bigger than it looked in the video.”
And dark!
So scary!
“I probably shouldn’t have come alone…”
The cliff was higher and the cave deeper than I had imagined.
I just thought it was a hill behind the house, but here I was doing a full-blown mountain climb.
What kind of place is this duke living in?
I half wanted to punch the air thinking about some stranger instead of my husband.
He’d never know I was doing this on his backyard mountain.
Of course, I had no intention of telling him.
“I must be crazy.”
Why did I suddenly decide to come here alone?
Should I turn back now?
As my internal conflict deepened, the slowly moving clouds parted and strong sunlight poured down, hitting the silver cup directly.
The intense sunlight reflected off the cup, shooting a straight beam into the cave.
‘What the… this isn’t even a laser. What is this?’
It was absurd for a natural phenomenon.
‘Better turn back. I should drag the maids along and sneak in between them.’
Just as I decided to turn, suddenly:
“Ah! My eyes!”
???
A thunderous voice echoed from inside the cave.
The booming sound reverberated over the cliff as if reaching the edge.
Every hair on my body stood on end.
“Who is it! I just opened my eyes and can’t see!”
Could it… be because of me?
But I was innocent. I had only followed the cup, and the sunlight just happened to shine straight in.
I had no intention of blinding someone who had just woken up!
The owner of the thunderous voice would have called me a smooth talker if they heard me, but I was being completely honest.
‘If I get caught, I’m screwed.’
I put the cup down as quietly as possible and planned to tiptoe back and run.
Luckily, the cave was still quiet.
One… two… three… and I’d run.
“One…”
“Two…”
“Three…”
“Hey.”
“Eeeek!”
Suddenly, a whisper sounded in my ear!
I literally jumped on the spot.
“Don’t scare me like that!”
“Did you wake me up?”
Startled, I turned to see a man rubbing one eye.
His appearance didn’t match the natural scenery at all.
He looked like he had just gotten out of bed, wearing a loose silk shirt and pants.
His long green hair swayed at his waist.
‘Suspicious.’
A man coming out of a cave in pajamas?
‘At least he’s crazy.’
Despite thinking that, I couldn’t move easily, feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
Then…
Through the slight gap between his index and middle fingers, his closed eye suddenly opened.
“…!”
‘His eyes…’
His flashing eyes were like a snake’s.
Vertical pupils on bright yellow irises.
Clearly reptilian, not human.
Looking again, he radiated authority.
Over two heads taller than me.
Slender but muscular, not weak at all.
A sharp jawline and thin lips twisted in displeasure.
“Who are you?”
He asked sharply, brushing back his hair, radiating a murderous intent with just his gaze.
I swallowed dryly and asked back:
“Are you… the transparent dragon?”
But he’s green…
Does he become transparent later?
Just as I cautiously guessed his identity:
“W-Wh-Wh-Wh-What did you say?”
An unexpected reaction.
He clearly hadn’t anticipated that from me.
He jumped up like a spring, clutching his head.
His pale face flushed bright red.
The earlier thunderous voice vanished, replaced by a trembling, goat-like voice.
“How did you… know that?”
“Huh? I saw it, so of course I know.”
“What did you see exactly?!”
“The book… and the silver cup…”
His face turned deep blue this time.
Red and blue shifting, his embarrassment showed through like transparency.
“Damn! I already burned all of that!”
“Was I not supposed to see it…?”
“Yes! Damn! I used that when I was only fifty!”
‘Only fifty…’
I was sure of his unusual age.
“Hmm.”
The author is a dragon.
