IMTDIK 68

Episode 68. Change

The sun was setting in the west, painting the sky with shades of red. Ruri was cleaning up after the tea party, using spirits to help her. Water spirits washed the dishes, and wind spirits dried them. As for the leftover desserts that Ferda and Valdrova didn’t eat? They went straight into Ruri’s mouth. It was a perfect division of roles. Except for one thing—Ferda had not gotten up yet.

“Why did you say something so useless?” Ferda asked. If he had no emotions in his voice, that would be a lie.

Ruri looked at him with a professional, calm face.

“Womanizer.”

Ferda frowned.

“That’s not true.”

“I only said what I saw. You held hands with that woman.”

“Did you say that just to ruin the mood?”

“Ruin the mood? You should be thanking me.”

“What?” That made no sense.

“If I hadn’t said that, would you have even held her hand?”

“Hand?”

“Yes, hand. The hand that enjoyed touching my master’s hand. Who do you think made that happen?”

What nonsense… But when he thought about today’s events, it wasn’t entirely wrong. Ferda had attended the tea party with the thought of not hurting Valdrova. He never planned to hold her hand today.

‘If Olivia hadn’t been mentioned…’ He wouldn’t have held Valdrova’s hand.

‘If she hadn’t said I didn’t go hunting today…’ Valdrova would have spent the night in distress. Everything happened because Ruri said things that could be misunderstood.

“So, you planned all of this?”

“Of course.” Ruri snorted. “Master is a greedy person. If you get provoked even a little, you take action. I knew you’d move if I mentioned that woman.”

For a brief moment, Ferda had forgotten. Ruri had been managing this castle for a long time. She had been watching over Valdrova longer than anyone else. So, she understood Valdrova better than anyone.

Ferda was quietly surprised. Has she ever helped him this much before? Ruri, as a maid, had tried to help before. But it was always indirect—only for Valdrova’s sake. This was the first time she directly interfered to help. Maybe that’s why she looked a little different today.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Ruri asked. “You seem a bit different than usual.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure… Should I say cute?”

Ruri froze.

“Cute…?”

“If I had to define it, I’d say a cute little pig.”

“……” Ruri’s face twisted in an instant. Ferda recognized that look well. It was the same expression she had when they first met—disgust. No, it looks even worse now.

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, get out. You’re in the way of cleaning.”

“Fine.” Ferda didn’t want to get caught in her bad mood, so he quickly stood up to leave.

“Ferda.” Ruri called him. She stood with her back to the dimming sunlight. At that moment, she didn’t look like a strict maid. She looked like a young girl.

“Don’t worry.” Before she could say anything, Ferda spoke first. Ruri didn’t respond. She simply nodded lightly.

Valdrova’s Lair

A place like a massive, raw cave, except for the thick iron doors. Inside, a dragon knight with a red dragon helmet entered. The presence of fire and power—Valdrova. She had just returned from the tea party. Standing in the middle of the cave, she slowly lifted her head. Only then did she truly feel it. She was alone.

She pressed the jewel embedded in her chest.

Srrrk—. The armor opened, revealing the person inside. A woman, 160 cm tall, stepped out.

“Huaaah…” Valdrova took deep breaths, as if escaping from a battlefield. No—fighting in a battlefield would have been easier. Even when she hunted monsters for six hours straight, it wasn’t this exhausting. It was only about two hours. All she did was sit and talk with Ferda. Yet, every second had been overwhelming for her. Even though she was wearing such heavy armor.

She looked up at the armor and muttered.

“I couldn’t take it off today either…”

The armor was made by a Bronze Dragon for her. It was designed to make her look like a fearsome Red Dragon—big, intimidating, and powerful. It was meant to show her dignity as a dragon and ruler. But in reality, it became a place to hide. Like a snail’s shell.

“If Uncle saw me, he’d scold me…” She let out a weak laugh and looked at the mirror.

Two sets of horns. Golden cat-like eyes. Shimmering red hair, like threads spun from ruby. Very few had seen this form. Only Ruri and the dragons remembered her face. So, there weren’t many who could judge her appearance. Ruri called her beauty a balance between strength and softness. The dragons just called her a softie. And Ferda…

“Huff…” She didn’t want to think about it. If she recalled his face from that moment, her mind would go blank. Her body would float, as if a hundred hands were tickling her. She couldn’t control herself.

“I want to hear it…” She wanted to hear him say she was pretty. She wanted to hear him say she was beautiful. That’s why she wore a dress under the armor. Did Ferda know? That beneath the armor, she was wearing a dress? That she hid herself every time because she was too scared to show him?

“Even though I’m like this…” Her voice was filled with shame. She recalled what Ruri had said before the tea party.

— Olivia Arken held hands with Ferda while touring the White House.

Valdrova understood. A man like Ferda could easily hold hands with a beautiful woman. Yes. That was normal.

“…Really?” She felt jealous. Of course, she did. Her fiancé was holding hands with another woman. The man she was supposed to spend eternity with was touching another woman’s hand. Jealousy filled her, but at the same time, she found herself pathetic.

“I was the one always running away…” Ferda had always been waiting for her. She was the one who had no courage to show herself. Yet, she dared to feel jealous.

“Idiot.” She blamed herself.

“Stupid fool.”

But in the end, she smiled.

“Still… I did well at the end.” Who would have thought she’d ask to hold his hand? It was impulsive, but if not for that impulse, she wouldn’t have been able to say it.

“……” Valdrova blankly stared at her right hand. The hand Ferda had held. His warmth still lingered.

“It was warm…” She felt it clearly. How warm his heart was. How much he cared for others.

“This castle is getting noisy.” It had been a year since he entered this castle. The castle walls were filled with activity, and news of the land’s development kept coming. Ferda was achieving things that Valdrova had never done before—things she had never even been able to do. She admired him.

“So, I must change too.” She also felt challenged. Valdrova repeated those words in her mind. This was the best reward she could give Ferda, who had come here as her fiancé.

“Sleepy…” Her eyelids felt heavy, and her body relaxed. There were nights when her dragon blood burned, making it impossible to sleep. But now, she felt like she could fall into a deep slumber. She knew she had to return to her dragon form to sleep properly. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to feel this warmth, this trace of him, just a little longer.

Valdrova lay down. She curled her body like a coil, hugging the warmth in her right hand tightly. She thought about tomorrow. Tomorrow has always been filled with pain. She didn’t want to think about it. Whenever she did, she would quickly go to sleep to escape. But today was different. The tomorrow she imagined made her feel alive.

What should she do? How should she act? What would make Ferda happy? With endless thoughts that led nowhere, she fell asleep.

The Blue Tower

In the central part of the Serdes Continent, there stood a towering building that reached the sky. It was the tallest building on the continent—the Magic Tower. Built by the Blue Dragon, Iorga, this tower housed all the Blue Dragon Spawns. Its name was The Blue Eye. Eyes existed to see. As its name suggested, The Blue Eye was a surveillance network designed to observe everything beneath the sky.

The hierarchy of the tower was determined by its floors. At the very top was the residence of the dragon, Iorga. Directly below was the floor of Erica Iorga, the leader of the Blue Dragon Spawns. And now, she was—

“The humans are starting to notice.”

“They’re not openly saying it, but they are pointing out weaknesses in The Blue Eye’s surveillance magic.”

She felt old, more than ever before. Surrounded by elder wizards, she was reviewing documents and issues.

“What do they estimate?”

“They don’t have exact data, but they assume surveillance has dropped by 30%.”

30%. A number that could not be ignored.

“If this continues, they might realize Iorga is absent.”

The Blue Dragon, Iorga. A symbol of magical power, possessing nearly absolute strength. He alone provided 50% of the tower’s magic power. But even Iorga was being consumed by Godwin’s Darkness. Simply hiding away was too risky. So, Iorga had made a drastic decision—to crystallize his own body.

“What should we do?”

The old wizards hesitated, waiting for Erica’s answer. As the leader of the Blue Dragon Spawns, she remained calm. She read the last page of the documents and tossed them onto the desk.

“This is still within normal limits.”

The elders were shocked.

“30% is normal?!”

“The actual loss of magic power is 50%. That means the missing 20% is being replaced by something else.”

Instead of forcing the old ways, she was searching for flexible alternatives. They focused the surveillance on critical areas and relied on the Adventurer’s Guild for human surveillance.

“We must continue analyzing and finding replacements.”

“We can’t rely on adventurers forever. If we don’t heal the source, all of this is meaningless.”

“That’s exactly why we are struggling now, isn’t it?” Erica’s sharp gaze pierced the elder.

“If you have a better solution, go ahead. I’ll stay quiet.”

“That’s… not what I meant…” The elder shrank back.

Erica sighed and softened her tone.

“I understand your worries. I feel the same. The Blue Eye is facing an unprecedented crisis. To maintain our reputation, we must use all our magic.”

But that was impossible.

“If we do that, we won’t be able to create Iorga’s cure. He entered hibernation because he sensed his condition worsening. Our time is limited.”

They lacked everything. Mana. Time. People.

“But we must appear strong. If we show weakness, this entire tower will collapse.”

The Blue Eye ruled and watched over magic. They had to show that they were still in control.

“…Understood.”

“We have no choice but to trust you.”

The elders left one by one. Once the last elder exited and the door closed—

“Fuuuuuuu!!!” Erica let out a long breath, like releasing steam from a pressure cooker.

“…Damn it.” A curse escaped her lips. They said a crown is heavy. The crown Erica wore felt like it would snap her neck one day.

“I can’t just destroy everything…”

Dragon Spawns naturally looked down on other races. If it were any other Dragon Spawn, they would have threatened or even attacked the humans for daring to question them. But Iorga’s descendants could not do that. Magic was a tool for rational beings. Losing one’s temper was irrational—a sign that magic was unstable. Their greatest weapon was composure. They had to show that nothing had changed and that they could overcome anything. So, as their leader, Erica could only suffer in silence.

“…Sigh.” She stood up. Sitting still would make her explode, so she decided to clear her mind by looking at the scenery. The colors of early autumn painted the land. Though the view changed every year, her thoughts remained the same.

To the north—A land of frozen idiots.
To the west—A land of hypocritical priests.
To the south—A playground for self-destructive extremists.
To the east—A land of black earth.

“……Ferda Valdrova.” No, her thoughts were a little different now. Before, she would have called it a decaying grave of greedy men. But after the Grand Council, his name was all she could think of.

“What will you do in the end?” His words still echoed in her mind. The final secret created by Godwin.

“The end, huh…” She had thought about it many times. But there was no answer. A bright future. A dark future. Neither felt right. No one could know the future. It could only be predicted, not truly seen.

“Arrogant bastard…”

Iorga’s descendants prepared for the future by living in the present. Erica was the same. She neither worried nor hoped. That was Iorga’s philosophy—pure logic. Yet whenever she thought of Ferda, that voice whispered in her mind.

What will you do? What can you do? What will you do about it?!

“Ugh…!” She had reached her limit. She raised her hand. A tiny droplet of water formed at her fingertip. It expanded, covering her entirely in a watery veil. Then, she took a deep breath—

And screamed.

“SO WHAT?!”
She stomped and flailed her arms.
“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!”

She vented for several minutes.

Knock, knock—

“Um, Lady Erica?” Her secretary entered.

Erica immediately dismissed the water barrier and sat down like nothing had happened.

“What is it?”

Her secretary, unaware of Erica’s tantrum, began reporting.

“It’s about the investigation into Rosnova House…”

Then, bad news arrived. Ferda Valdrova had killed a Silver Dragon Spawn. And the Silver Dragon’s leader was coming for war. The fuse had been lit.