TGDHC Chapter 113

Chapter 113 – The Dragon’s Appearance

“What the—!”

Everyone’s eyes—both knights and spectators—turned toward the sound.

Across the street, a supply cart loaded with ingredients had suddenly tipped over while trying to force its way inside.

Neigh!

The startled horses reared up and neighed loudly. Several of Blenheim’s knights rushed over immediately.

“Is anyone hurt?”

“Someone grab the reins first!”

Barrels filled with drinks rolled everywhere, shattering and spilling their contents.

The panicked driver shouted,
“I don’t know what happened! They were fine, then suddenly went wild!”

From a distance, officials from the management office were running toward the scene.

“Are you all right, Your Highness?”

Norton approached and asked.

“I’m fine. I wasn’t even that close,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

What worried me more was that the tipsy envoys might wander too near and end up hurt.

The area quickly became noisy with people trying to help or just watching the commotion.

“Take care of the envoys first,” I said, “then help clean up.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Norton hurried off to give orders to the other knights.

For a brief moment—it was almost the first time that day—I was left completely alone.

“Greetings, Your Grace.”

“Ah!”

I jumped in surprise when a strange man in a hood suddenly appeared behind me.

From beneath the hood, I could see a long, unsettling grin.

“It truly is difficult to meet someone as noble as you,” he said.

“Sorry, but I’m not buying anything,” I replied sharply.

Everything about him screamed suspicious merchant. Probably some scam artist who’d heard the Grand Duchess would appear and came to sell fake goods.

The man gave a dry chuckle.

“At this point, maybe I’m the one mistaken. Is it my clothing, perhaps?”

He slowly lowered his hood.

His eerie yellow eyes—tinged with a faint red glow—sent a chill down my spine.

I glanced toward Norton.

He was still nearby, pointing and sending several knights to handle the overturned wagon. Thankfully, if anything happened, he could reach me quickly.

“Who are you?” I asked calmly, trying not to show my unease.

“I’m a sorcerer,” he said smoothly.

“A sorcerer? Like a fortune-teller?”

“That sounds much nicer than ‘charlatan,’” he chuckled, the sound crawling up my spine.

“So, what do you want from me?”

The man stopped smiling and stepped closer.

“How about I read Your Grace’s future?”

Reading the future?

Apparently, business was booming in the shopping district if even illegal fortune-tellers had started showing up.

I raised an eyebrow sternly.

“Do you have permission for that?”

“…What?”

The sorcerer tilted his head, confused.

“To do business here, you need a permit from the market office,” I said. “You can’t just sell things on the street like this.”

It wasn’t as if everyone else was paying rent for fun.

The man blinked, then let out a disbelieving laugh.

“Truly, Your Grace is a strange one,” he murmured. “I was foolish to think I could treat someone like you as just another noblewoman.”

His voice grew lower.
“Enough of this silly pretense.”

‘What is he talking about?’

His tone turned cold and eerie, making me instinctively step back.

Suddenly, his yellow eyes glowed bright gold.

“Y–Your eyes…!”

He reached out toward me.

I tried to move, but my body froze under his gaze.

Then, his rough hand grabbed my shoulder—

“Annette!”

I barely heard Loic’s voice before everything went dark.

What… is this?

When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by darkness.

And right in front of me—two enormous golden eyes, slit vertically like a beast’s—stared straight at me.

I stopped breathing out of pure fear.

“Don’t be afraid.”

A low, mocking voice echoed in the dark.

“I only came to greet you today.”

That wasn’t a human’s voice. That wasn’t even a human’s presence.

‘Don’t tell me…’

Are you… a dragon?

The creature gave a deep rumbling sound, like laughter, as if to confirm my thought.

“What do you want from me?”

Why did a dragon appear before me?

The golden eyes moved side to side, scanning me.

“Your soul has finally returned to one piece,” it said, sounding pleased.

“What?”

Returned to one piece? Did that mean it had been split apart before?

“But it seems you’ve lost your memories,” it went on. “At last, everything is returning to its rightful place.”

The dragon chuckled, low and satisfied.

I tried to stay calm, but his tone was full of excitement—too much excitement.

‘If this is good news for the dragon,’ I thought, ‘then it probably isn’t for me.’

Does he have a grudge against me?

Though his words were soft, I sensed a strange hostility in them.

“I don’t hate you,” the dragon said, almost as if reading my mind.

His slit pupils expanded gently.

“If anything, I should say I desire you deeply.”

‘What does that even mean?’ The idea of a dragon wanting me was horrifying.

“I was foolish once, bound by my own pride,” he said. “But in the span of eternity, even that mistake has meaning.”

I couldn’t understand a single word of his cryptic speech.

Then—

“Annette!”

Loic’s voice echoed desperately in the dark.

“Loic?”

Just hearing him brought me a wave of relief.

At least he was looking for me.

The dragon’s golden eyes drew closer. The air grew hot around my face.

“Your mate is calling for you,” he said.

Even without a visible mouth, I could almost see the dragon’s sly smile.

“I was right after all,” he murmured, voice fading like an echo.

“In the end, everything will unfold according to my will.”

Loic stood beside the bed, his face tense.

A priest was examining Annette’s wrist carefully.

Normally, Loic would never allow anyone—priest or not—to touch her, but this wasn’t the time to argue.

At last, the priest let go of her hand.

“Well?” Loic demanded.

“She definitely carries holy power,” the priest said, frowning slightly.

He’d heard the rumors that Annette was a fake saintess, so he looked uneasy.

“However, it’s not in a complete state. As the mage said, it seems someone sealed her divine power long ago.”

He looked toward Enolius, who stood behind him.

“You said earlier you could barely sense it?”

Enolius nodded.

“Yes. Until recently, the holy power was faint. But now…”

He furrowed his brow.

“It’s definitely stronger than before.”

“Does that mean the seal is breaking?” Loic asked, startled.

“I thought such seals were permanent.”

“Normally, yes,” said the priest. “Only a high priest capable of great divine magic could seal power like this, and only the caster themselves could undo it.”

“But in theory, if a force stronger than the sealing magic acted upon it, cracks could form.”

“A stronger force?”

“For example,” the priest said quietly, “a dragon’s magic.”

Enolius added softly,
“Your Grace, you’ve been transferring your dragon’s magic to Her Grace through physical contact.”

“So… you’re saying I’m the reason her seal is breaking?” Loic’s eyes widened.

“It’s not impossible,” the priest admitted. “Even the strongest lock can break if struck by a stronger hammer.”

Loic’s face reddened slightly as he muttered,
“So because I’ve… touched her…”

He hesitated.
“Could that harm her body?”

“Quite the opposite,” the priest said firmly.

“Opposite?”

He explained that the holy power within Annette was extremely pure.

“To keep such strong divine energy sealed for so long would’ve exhausted her body. Has she been ill often?”

“Since coming north, she’s collapsed three times,” Loic said grimly.

Though this time, she had also been attacked.

“If she regains her full power, she’ll likely grow much healthier,” the priest said.

“I see…”

Loic nodded slowly, covering his mouth as if to hide a small smile.

‘So, for her to recover, I have to keep… touching her?’

Just the thought made the tips of his ears turn red.

Knock, knock.

A knock came at the door.

Loic opened it to find Tiern standing outside.

After a pause, Tiern said heavily, “We lost the culprit.”

His face was filled with visible shame.

“He wasn’t ordinary anyway,” Loic said quietly. “Catching him was unlikely.”

He didn’t scold him, only nodded calmly.

“You may dismiss your men.”

“But—!”

As the door began to close, Tiern blurted out, “Is Her Grace all right?”

“She’ll wake soon,” Loic replied.

Which meant—she still hadn’t.

Tiern’s face fell.

Without another word, Loic’s silence told him to leave.

Tiern bowed deeply and stepped back down the corridor.