DCHWT 27

Chapter 27  

Maya stopped whispering provocatively to herself.

“I did it.”

In a shorter time than expected, she had awakened—just as she promised Tristan she would.

She wondered what kind of expression Tristan would make when he found out.

Would he praise her first?
Or would he scold her for pushing her body this far?

“…It really hurts.”

Maya steadied her hazy mind. Her body, which had been sustained purely by willpower for the sake of awakening, was now screaming in protest.

But collapsing here wasn’t an option.

‘I guess I’ll have to walk.’

The only problem was that the rope that had been connected to her body was now severed.

“That’s a problem.”

She had been too focused on the fight to notice it being cut.

One obstacle after another.

‘Not that knowing earlier would’ve changed much.’

Creak.

A strange sound came from behind her.

Turning her head, Maya saw a wyvern slowly approaching again.

“Weren’t you running away?”

The wyvern paused, then stepped up beside her—with the very rope that had been tied around her neck clenched in its mouth.

“You’re telling me to get on?”

The wyvern tilted its head, not understanding her words, and instead lowered its back toward her.

So it hadn’t run off—it must have been watching her fight all along.

“What, have you decided to acknowledge me as your master now?”

It must be because she had defeated the white serpent, something it couldn’t comprehend during their own fight.

It felt like she had earned its recognition through strength.

“Well, I’m not against it.”

Maya smirked and patted the wyvern’s head. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about falling off now—it wouldn’t throw off its master.

But going alone wasn’t an option.

“…I have to take the white serpent’s corpse too. Think you can handle that?”

Large magical beasts like this were always valuable in many ways.

So she had to bring it back.

The wyvern flinched, then nodded.

“If it’s too much, you can drag it.”

She demonstrated by dragging something along the ground, and the wyvern perked up and nodded eagerly.

Mounting the wyvern, Maya left the forest with the white serpent’s body secured by rope.

The pendant around her wrist, symbol of the White Dragon of Pendragon, was complete.

But when she emerged—

“Maya!”

—she hadn’t expected to run into Kendrick.

*

The moment Tristan saw Maya, he raised a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet.

Not understanding why, Maya shut her mouth.

“Maya, my God—are you hurt?”

Kendrick rushed over in a panic the moment he saw her.

“To ask if she’s hurt when she’s with the Pendragon—what an idiot,” the white dragon muttered beside her, though only Maya could hear it.

Tristan suddenly stepped closer and spoke politely.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Lady Maya. But… where is Lord Tristan?”

…But Tristan was standing right there?

Maya frowned, then remembered—he was still in the form of a boy.

‘Ah… He can’t tell Kendrick about the curse, so he’s covering for it.’

She was almost proud of herself for catching on to his signal, since she’d never thought of herself as especially quick-witted.

But knowing what was going on and coming up with a convincing excuse were two different things.

Cold sweat trickled down her forehead as she thought hard.

“He… went to scout the area,” she finally said.

Normally, Kendrick would have scoffed at such an answer. But he was too stunned that Maya had actually returned alive from the fight.

“…You really beat it?”

His first concern, of course, was checking her over.

Her body felt a bit warm from having been cooled with cold air after the fight, but not enough to make him suspect she was injured.

And since Maya was leaning against the wyvern without moving much at all, the thought that she might have broken bones never crossed his mind.

Kendrick also knew Maya wasn’t the type to hide things or lie easily, so he believed what he saw.

Once he confirmed she wasn’t injured, his gaze naturally shifted to the white serpent.

“Yeah. I awakened,” Maya said.

“Awakened? The power of Pendragon?”

Kendrick’s jaw dropped. He wasn’t the type to be easily shocked around her, but this time he couldn’t help it.

“Congratulations, Maya.”

Since coming north, Maya had felt like a completely different person to him.

She had done it—shown the pride of the Pendragon and proven her own strength.

‘And yet… I didn’t believe in her.’

Kendrick recalled his earlier argument with Tristan—no, with “Arthur”—and his face flushed.

A boy who’d only known Maya for less than a week had believed in her, yet Kendrick had not.

Lowering his head, he silently berated himself.

‘From now on, no matter what she says she’ll do, I’ll support her.’

Her potential was far greater than he’d thought.

He would make up for all his earlier doubt—if she wanted to reach for the stars, he would help her do it.

‘Guess I’ll need to hunt some more monsters.’

But there was a problem—Maya’s exploits had probably pushed him further from the Tower Lord’s favor.

‘Maybe I should go to the capital…’

It was then that Maya’s gaze flicked past Kendrick.

Tristan was smiling at her, the kind of smile that looked ready to be followed by a warm “Well done.”

‘I want him to say it.’

Maya wanted to hear those words from him—he had been the one who believed in her from the beginning and waited for her.

And she needed to understand the situation—how Kendrick had gotten here, and what was going on with Tristan.

Tristan, for his part, also wanted to hear Maya’s side of things.

He needed to check her condition too—she had no sense of self-preservation.

The white serpent was dead; their business here was done.

There was no need to linger.

“This isn’t the best place to talk. Let’s move,” Tristan said.

“Good idea,” Maya replied immediately.

She began seating people on the wyvern one by one.

Kendrick, who was about to climb on behind Maya, was blocked by the duke’s annoyingly quick-witted younger brother.

So they ended up seated in a neat row—Maya, Tristan, then Kendrick.

The wyvern whined at the sudden increase in passengers.

Kendrick, watching Maya handle the wyvern as easily as her own horse, felt himself fall for her all over again.

Her bold, commanding demeanor never failed to captivate him.

“You caught the wyvern too? How’d you find it?”

“By chance.”

Any long explanation might just make him suspicious, so Maya kept it short. But even that sounded wonderful to Kendrick.

‘So she’s saying there’s no need to explain further…’

Ah, love’s blindfold was truly powerful.

“Then let’s head out.”

“Wait.”

It wasn’t Tristan or Maya who stopped them, but Kendrick—finally realizing that Tristan (the duke) wasn’t with them.

“What about the duke if we leave like this?”

Maya rolled her eyes. “He’ll… come on his own, I’m sure.”

Seeing that she wasn’t the least bit concerned about the duke put a cheerful smile on Kendrick’s face.

“Right? He’ll come on his own—he is the duke, after all.”

Just in case, Kendrick glanced at Tristan.

“Are you all right with that, Lord Arthur?”

“As the duke’s younger brother, I can assure you he’ll be fine.”

Younger brother, huh. That’s when Maya finally caught on to what role Tristan was playing.

‘Well, they are about the same age.’

Not a bad cover story.

“Then let’s go.”

*

Following Tristan’s direction, the wyvern landed in the open yard reserved for the knights at the castle.

With a heavy thud beside them, the white serpent’s body dropped—so large it nearly smashed part of the wall.

“Good work.”

Considering how high the wyvern had to fly to avoid dragging it along the way, it truly was impressive.

The wyvern, sensing the praise, panted and shrugged its shoulders proudly.

“What on earth…”

Hearing the commotion, Alec and the knights rushed over, only to be struck speechless at the sight of Maya, Tristan, and Kendrick.

“We can talk later. Alec—be quiet,” Tristan ordered coldly, cutting him off before he could speak.

Alec hadn’t seen that wall-like expression from Tristan in a long time.

Then Tristan turned to Kendrick, indicating the white serpent’s body now lying on the ground.

“Kendrick, I’ll leave the disposal of this creature to you.”

“…Why me, exactly?”

“Because it’s Maya Pendragon’s first northern monster kill, and I think you’ll do the best job of handling it.”

From just a short conversation, Tristan had figured Kendrick out completely.

If he mentioned Maya’s name, Kendrick would turn as docile as a lamb.

“…Understood.”

Just as Tristan had predicted.