Wren groaned, shaking her head as she looked around the library groggily, "Isn't there a... loud roar outside or am I just hearing things?" she massaged her temples, easing the throbbing pain.
Her mind is hazy and there is something in her memories that doesn't fit in. Zairon groaned, wobbling as he sat back on the chair with Theo's help. Cervi and Boaife were unconscious on the ground.
"Hey, they are not waking up," Milla said while shaking their bodies hard as she can.
It is unusual to see this sight of her spirits, especially Boaife. Looking at her sleeping face somehow makes her mind uneasy. Moreover, she can't feel their spiritual mana that's connected to her.
'as if...'
a knock made them look at the door and Aaron appeared. There's something different from his aura.
he lowered his head, "I greet his Imperial Highness, Prince Zairon," the little prince yawned replying, "You may rise. Is there something you need?"
"Young Master Lexus' requests Young Miss Wren's presence at the laboratory, Your Highness."
Zairon did not hesitate to show how displeased he is with it. The only reason for this is he wants to have time with Wren. With her spirits always around her and Theo, his knight won't leave him alone.
He doesn't have the chance, but as always he still denies that something has changed in him. Which his own family and the others noticed except him and Wren.
They were both oblivious, for example,
"I will take my leave, Your Highness. I'm grateful for the time you lend me. I will have Aaron and the others pick my maid and knight."
in her mind, she thought of how Prince Zairon must be eager to find a way to separate himself from her.
However, this obviously made Zairon stunned. Thinking that Wren doesn't want to be near him seeing how formal she is with him.
Which is half true since Wren is still remembering the scene wherein Zairon killed her. The only choice she have is to be nice and respectful towards him.
"Uh..." he remained stunned as he watched how Wren curtsied, then hurried to go out, followed by Milla. She glanced once again to her spirits.
'... they'll be fine.' she said then walks away.
The library became silent to be broken by Theo's sudden laughter. He kept laughing until the prince finally grabbed him by his cape, dragging him away, gritting his teeth.
"Im sorry, Your..."
"Whatever it is, I don't know it." he said which made Theo laugh even more at the young prince.
He was sure letting it show that the kid doesn't want Wren to leave. On the other hand...
"My lady, is it okay to leave the Prince there?" Milla asked
"Yes," Wren did not hesitate at her answer. It made Milla droop as this is the only interaction she saw from these two whom she heard a lot of rumors about.
Such as the confession of a 3 year old kid, which is, until now, did not vanished for unknown reasons. Even Wren gave up burying it and prayed that somehow it will vanish or something might overshadow that story.
"My lady..."
she will add something when Wren cuts her off saying, "The prince hates my presence. See his gaze earlier? He wants me to leave immediately."
"W... what? Is it...?" see how oblivious Wren is? Everyone saw that the gaze is different from what Wren sees. They cannot tell her because she might refute it.
apart from that she can tell that the young masters do not wish Wren to be associated with Prince Zairon.
Milla bit her lips to stop herself from laughing as it might confuse the confident young miss.
"By the way, why does Lexus call for me?" Now that she asked that question. Aaron began to sweat as his lips pursed into a thin line.
He forgets that they need to hurry. The silence he gave made Wren nod at him.
"..."
"Young Lady Yess..." Wren walks fast, leaving the two knights behind him. The Laboratory is at the end of the hall. She heard the ruckus as she saw a person leaning on the wall, head down.
He, however, was occupied by something while staring at Yessenia's face.
"Lexus." Wren finally caught his attention. He straightened up and pointed to Yessenia.
"I cannot alleviate Yessenia's fever," he said, "... a fever all of the sudden?" she then saw Yessenia bathes on her own sweats. Small groans escaped from her mouth.
Somehow, she felt something familiar with this scene. She's not exactly wrong because it happened to her when she manifested. Unique Magic manifests by having high fever and being unconscious for days.
Lexus looks at her with acknowledging eyes, "Yessenia seems to have her Unique magic."
the question is, when did she acquired it? nothing happened since they arrived in the palace too. What made her to wish?
"She is a time traveler. I do not know the conditions, but it seems the caster and the person she chose can have the memories before the time reverse."
Wren stared at him, mouth agape in astonishment of his explanation.
"how did you kn—" she winced, her breath ragged from a faint throbbing of her head. What's that? Is that a memory... then what Lexus said is real.
"that explains the uneasiness I felt ever since I woke up" she mumbled, "Is that why you asked me about the earth spirit."
he nodded then sighs. "focus on helping Yessenia. I will handle the dragon."
Wren frowned when he ordered her and how will he handle the dragon alone when he's not adept in swordsmanship.
"Dragon?!?!?!" the two knights behind them couldn't contain their surprise to what he said.
Dragons are species that were extinct and haven't been seen for 600 years. When they heard about the dragon they couldn't help, but want to see it.
"..." Lexus glanced around and saw everyone became stiff and anxious with the word dragon. He sighs and grabs Milla out.
Between the two knights, Aaron has more talent than Milla. He decided to bring her along before leaving the mages with some words, "Leave. Let Wren and her knight stay here."
he firmly said and no one dared to ask his reasons. Because even if he was a newbie, he showed his immense talent for magic and knowledge for it that no one questioned him.
Though, he was far behind from the 1st prince and the son of Marquis Satchel in terms of magical aptitude.
"Young Master..." the ground wildly shakes once again. His eyes narrowed as he hastened his steps going up to meet the dragon.
"Your Highness, we should evacuate."
Zairon slaps Theo's hands while biting his lips. The headache is getting worse especially after the quake happened. He even saw how Wren was being toppled by a large concrete. His body tensed instinctively.
Although, he doesn't remember it, he oddly feels weird that he wants to see Wren. Then suddenly a loud roar rang across the palace and there was the smell of something burning.
"...dragon." he mumbled under his breath as his mind became clear.
miles away from the palace, as soon as the ground shakes there is already a man with his sword on his shoulder. Calm while whistling as he waits the dragon to appear between the gap of the ground.
His lips curved into a sadistic smile when he saw a pair of red blood-shot eyes of the dragon who was glaring at him. His black hair flutters as he amusely watches it squint its eyes.
"Ya want to eat me it seems," he said while laughing. Then a big split happened in front of him, almost losing his footing as the dragon flew fast upwards. He was dazed as he remembered what his younger brother said after stumbling at him.
"If you fail to inflict damage to the dragon you will be my slave for a month."
without question he believed Lexus under the reason that he was not the type of person who spouts nonsense and he was true to his word. However, he did not expect that there would be really a dragon in the empire that he ended up laughing at it while his eyes glowed in excitement to slay a dragon.
if he really didn't inflict any damage Laxus just know that he will be humiliated.
he climbed the nearby tower then jumped at the back of the dragon, its shiny red scales captivated him as he touched it.
The scale is hard to break as it seems. He should look for its weak point.
The dragon felt his presence as it glanced behind its back. It suddenly flew fast while roaring. Laxus thrust his sword on the dragon's back to avoid falling as the dragon flew in spiral form.
His grip is so hard that his knuckles turned white. Lexus watches the scene unfold in his eyes. On the other hand, Milla was in awe when she saw Laxus riding the dragon and attacking it.
"Aren't we supposed to help him?"
"..." there is only a reason why he let Lexus fight the dragon. Because in his last memory he attacked the dragon recklessly leading him in a bloodied state.
"living once again isn't bad," he whispered and looked at Laxus who was mouthing bad words.
"Fuck this dragon why dont'cha die?!" he angrily asked while giving it a relentless attack on his back. Another breath of fire came out from the dragon's mouth. The garden is now ablaze.
Zairon runs around the palace hall only to find the emperor with the 1st prince with serious faces. Indeed, the appearance of the dragon surprised the entire palace.
"Go and keep yourself safe, Zairon." Prince Asterion said. He shook his head furiously and turned his heel, striding over the Laboratory.
"hnngg.... I wish you asked me for a contract." An unfamiliar voice made Zairon become wary as soon as he steps inside and sees a woman who was hugging Wren tightly.
Wren almost looks like being squished by her bosom.
This sight made Zairon angry, "Oho, the dragon seems to be angrier." she said without freeing Wren from her arms then looks at Yessenia.
"Your highness, my lady, should leave this place. It will be dangerous," Sir Theo said, "Aaron, carry the young miss."
"heal her while we go out," she ordered to the same spirit she summoned last time, "I can't entirely cure her since this is a matter of her mana. All I can do is temporarily remove the pain she feels." Wren nodded at her.
"Wait, where is Cervi?" she asked them and explained what happened so far.
"If what you say is true that this child has Time Travel... spirits who were exposed to it will fall into slumber as reversing time is a taboo for us..." she stopped.
"... however that's not the biggest problem here—"
dust fanning out everywhere, the sound of the wall crumbling behind followed by a sound of footsteps; cracking the glass then stops, but they can feel dark energy around from not far away from them.
"that kid has short temper when it comes to interrupting his sleep. Making him... furious."
indeed, Lexus and Milla's eyes are wide from surprise at Cervi's appearance. His hair is long and his eyes are sharp; like he let go of his carefree attitude as he drags his sword through the destroyed tower, jumping and landing on the dragon with ease.
"Dragons and spirits are like siblings since we were created at the same time. However, for Cervi, whoever interrupts his sleep will receive his wrath and thus reveal his true form."
The knight they knew was nothing as he swung his sword, even Laxus retreats. It is obvious in his eyes that it wants the dragon to die. His sword keeps piercing the dragon's body repeatedly.
Even with Wren's lack of knowledge in swordmanship, she knows that Cervi is dealing a huge damage on the dragon. It feels heavy and painful seeing him attack like that.
'what if I woke him up accidentally...'
her imagination is taking over as she watches her spirit battle the dragon.
"This is bad, I forgot that Wren has her spirits."
having spirits to finish the dragon wasn't in his plan. Laxus landed beside Lexus who was not aware. This was really unusual for him.
"Hey, Cervi looks like he was struggling." Milla said as she pointed how the dragon flew upwards while spinning
Wren's mouth opened and thought of Boaife. If Cervi has awakened... how about Boaife?
To answer that, she was still asleep and snoring under the table. Unbeknownst to her that there was a Dragon and an Air spirit rampaging because his sleep was interrupted.
"I'll help her. How about paying me?" She smiled wickedly as she thought of having her spoiled after having a contract with Wren.
Somehow, she feels that it is up to no good and makes her want to return her to the spirit realm, but she remembered that she promised that she will form a contract with her.
"Hey! Lexus! Why are ya panting heavily?!" Wren heard Laxus' voice and saw them on top of the tower and her eyes were surprised.
Lexus is pale and trembling, but other than that. She saw what Lexus really looks like, which Lexus was trying to hide for a long time.
"He... doesn't look like his brother."