Shi-en could not conceal the pounding sound of her heart.
Although it was a long-awaited meeting with Sir Ian, her feelings were trembling and tense beyond anything else. Various anxieties and worries surged like the dusky light of dawn.
What if I cannot receive forgiveness?
Shi-en had sensed Ian’s true intentions during the past “Royal Assault Incident on Central Avenue.” Although she secretly thought it unlikely, a small shred of anxiety remained.
As a result, she made many mistakes when facing Ian.
Surprised, Shi-en did not even know what she was doing. She merely wanted to express her apology to Ian as much as possible.
When she felt it might be a bit excessive, it was right after she kissed Ian’s foot.
Of course, Shi-en felt nothing.
If asked if it was humiliating and shameful, then yes, it was. However, Ian was the owner of the Bloodmark, and above all, Shi-en had committed worse acts against him.
She could endure such humiliation and shame without issue.
It was merely one of the processes to cleanse the sins she had committed against Ian.
But Ian did not seem to think so.
Suddenly, the air that had been flowing smoothly turned cold. Feeling the awkward atmosphere, Shi-en raised her body and had to fidget with her fingers while observing Ian’s demeanor.
Ah, I’m a fool…
She should have approached him in a more gradual manner, but her heart had raced ahead, preventing her from doing so. The original objective of impressing Ian seemed to have already sunk.
Shi-en quickly lost the cheerful expression that had appeared moments ago.
Ian’s comment, which broke the silence, was a fatal blow.
“…Are you usually this oblivious?”
Shi-en’s complexion turned pale at the clear reprimand.
Hesitating, she again bowed her head to the ground.
“I-I’m sorry…!”
“No, please don’t do that.”
Clears throat, Ian coughed as if to indicate there had been a misunderstanding.
“Well, you have ‘eyes,’ don’t you? Yet it seems you’re not good at reading people’s psyches.”
Upon hearing those words, Shi-en fell silent for a moment before revealing a bitter smile.
You knew, didn’t you?
If one were the owner of the Bloodmark, being the Emperor’s closest aide was a given. It wouldn’t be strange if they knew secrets others did not.
Shi-en absently fiddled with her eyes.
She was well aware of how much pain she had suffered because of her gray eyes and how much she relied on that power despite everything.
Especially, the two weeks of events that began with her collision with Ian provided Shi-en with many realizations.
“…I thought I knew well, at first.”
In a suddenly subdued voice, Ian swallowed hard and turned his gaze away.
It seemed he sensed something serious was about to be discussed.
“With this ‘eye,’ I sometimes see things I wouldn’t want to. Mainly, people’s desires. There are no emotions with as intense a color as that.”
It was not a coincidence that Shi-en likened emotions to ‘colors’ so naturally.
In reality, the ‘Eyes of the Dragon’ that Shi-en possessed made emotions appear as colors. Although she couldn’t read everyone’s psyche as she did in childhood, she could still discern emotions with her eyes.
Naturally, she could only absorb the emotions with the most vivid colors.
The most fundamental emotion possessed by humans was indeed ‘desire.’
“It’s simple. Once something starts to be visible to the eyes, all you have to do is adapt to that emotion. Hostility can sometimes be converted into goodwill, and malice into kindness. I was living by that.”
Shi-en’s smirk turned woeful.
The maiden tried hard to appear unconcerned, shaking her head vigorously.
“But actually, that wasn’t the case. Since I met Sir Ian, I’ve come to realize that I’m quite oblivious. Until now, I thought I could see everything just by looking. But now, I find it hard to trust my eyes…”
While continuing, Shi-en began digging into her pocket and pulled something out.
It was a small pouch.
Bowing her head low, she extended the pouch as if to express her gratitude, which Ian received with a startled expression.
It was light. The thin pouch appeared ordinary at first glance.
However, considering it was a gift from an imperial princess, it couldn’t be an ordinary pouch.
Ian casually opened the opening of the pouch to peek inside and then spoke as if he had realized something.
“…It’s a spatial expansion pouch.”
“Yes, I noticed during the last time that Sir Ian carries many things during battles… and, there’s one more thing inside!”
As soon as those words were heard, Ian’s hand brushed against the inside of the pouch, causing a large mystic gemstone to drop out.
The gray mystic gemstone.
It was the last item left by Shi-en’s mother.
Shi-en offered a slightly sad smile.
“As you already know, it’s something my mother left behind. Until now, I couldn’t bring myself to part with it. Until now, I didn’t understand why, but now I do. I couldn’t take a step forward from that day’s memories.”
Ian gazed silently at the gray mystic gemstone.
It was high-quality.
Its color was unique, and its size was large enough, making it hold great monetary value by basic standards. Moreover, it wouldn’t be strange if there were hidden secrets behind it, given that it had once belonged to the Empress.
It was a gift meant to express gratitude but was excessively grand.
However, the events of the past few days carried even more significance for Shi-en.
“The memory of that day kept tormenting me. I couldn’t trust humans, so I misunderstood and caused more pain… If this continues, I might regret it for the rest of my life. So, please accept this, Sir Ian.”
Ian’s silence stretched on.
After a moment of hesitation, he nodded his head.
Only then could Shi-en let out a sigh of relief.
It’s over now.
Finally, she could escape the nightmare of the past.
No matter how one looked at it, the bond between mother and daughter was divine, and the items she had kept all this time were something she couldn’t part with easily.
Once upon a time, her mother was Shi-en’s only ally.
But now, Ian was there, and at that moment, she had an opportunity to escape the pain of that day. So, although it felt a bit sad, it was alright.
It was time to let go of her mother.
With that resolution, a bitter smile reappeared on Shi-en’s lips.
It was then that Ian, who had been silent for a while, spoke.
“…But do people’s psyches and emotions always align?”
“Huh?”
At the sudden question, Shi-en tilted her head.
What was he trying to say?
However, there was no hesitation in Ian’s words, as if he were expressing a long-held dilemma.
“It’s strange. Sometimes people don’t even know their own heart, so how can we explain a person with a single psyche and emotion?”
“…Is that so?”
Although it was an unexpected assertion, there was a strangely persuasive quality when it came from Ian.
Shi-en fell into thought silently. Reflecting on it, she realized that despite having felt countless emotions, she had never seen them manifested in a singular color.
Human emotions displayed themselves in more complex and diverse colors.
Shi-en, who had never trusted humans, had thought that was some kind of pretense. The most intense color was always the domain of desire.
“A color being less vivid doesn’t mean that emotion is false. The same goes for psyche. At one point, one might harbor a particular thought, but at the same time, they could have another thought, right? Humans are such beings. Inherently contradictory and complex…”
As Ian spoke, he tossed the mystic gemstone into the air and caught it.
The scenes shimmering through that gemstone reflected Shi-en’s childhood.
The bad people who had tormented Shi-en.
But also the good people she had once loved.
Since birth, Shi-en had grown up reading the psyches of humans. Back then, she could love even their disheveled appearances without a second thought. She had never thought of them as bad.
So, had she innocently exposed the psyches of others?
Suddenly, a question pierced Shi-en’s mind.
But why had she concluded that they were all bad people?
“…There was an orphanage director I met who was the same.”
As Ian took a step forward, Shi-en stiffened and looked up at him.
Her pupils were dilated.
Even though she knew what it foreshadowed, Ian didn’t appear the least bit afraid.
“Me too.”
With that signal, a wave of all kinds of information flooded Shi-en’s optic nerves.
It was a wave of emotions.
Never had the emotions of the other party approached her so dramatically. That was likely because the other party had no reluctance to be read.
Even if one did not know of Shi-en’s power, every human tried to hide their true feelings. This was even more true for someone who was aware of her abilities.
Until now, no one had broken down that barrier.
But Ian was intentionally suppressing that instinctual rejection. Countless shades spread out, creating a vibrant spectacle of colors.
It was a visual revolution.
The atmosphere, which had been tinted in monochrome, was now illuminated in splendid hues.
As colors spread like dye dispersing in water, the swells of vibrant shades were so pure and diverse that Shi-en lost her words.
Is this what true ’emotion’ is?
The palette contained not only bright and beautiful emotions but also dark and melancholic ones together darkening her view.
Yet, Shi-en did not find any of it ugly.
It was beautiful.
The profound sincerity resonated deeply within her.
“…Perhaps, your mother felt the same.”
Shi-en’s gaze dazedly turned towards Ian.
Wasn’t she afraid?
It is frightening for anyone to reveal their true feelings. All the humans Shi-en had seen until now, her mother, and even herself, had done the same.
So she had never witnessed it.
The fact that unmasked sincerity could produce such beautiful colors.
The fact that even dark and ugly hues were just a part of that harmony.
Long ago, the dragons had loved humans intensely.
Now, Shi-en finally understood why they could love humans.
Ian’s question pierced her ears.
“How does my heart look?”
Tears began to well up in Shi-en’s eyes. Because she was a crybaby, she whispered a justification to herself, unsure of whom she was addressing.
She managed to squeeze out a single response.
This too was Shi-en’s unguarded sincerity.
“…I-I don’t know.”
There were too many colors visible, which rendered her unable to comprehend.
Upon hearing that answer, Ian smiled ruefully as if he had expected it.
Then Ian placed the mystic gemstone he had been holding back into Shi-en’s hand.
“It’s my gift.”
Thus, the gray mystic gemstone returned to Shi-en’s possession.
However, Shi-en could barely handle the weight of that gemstone. Her hands trembled as she took the jewel once again.
Struggling to hold back tears, Shi-en asked.
“W-what should I do?”
Ian’s gaze was fixed kindly on Shi-en.
He patiently waited for the tearful girl to find the courage to speak.
“W-what should I do about… my mother…”
Emily’s long-standing feelings of resentment towards her mother surged back, entangling Shi-en’s thoughts.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
The man watching her responded with a straightforward answer.
“First, you need to find her.”
“But…”
“I will accompany you.”
Shi-en’s breath caught suddenly.
Ian had said that while taking both of Shi-en’s hands, which held the mystic gemstone.
That warm touch made her heart start to beat again.
Shi-en resented that she could not see herself through her own eyes.
Unable to grasp the identity of the surging emotions.
“…Later, for sure.”
The maiden decided to trust that brief but firm promise.
In the end, Shi-en laughed while crying.
For the first time, she felt both deeply sad and happy.
“…Yes.”
The girl with the Eyes of the Dragon learned the hearts of humans that day.
The room the imperial princess had left was silent.
Without saying a word, I picked up the whiskey that had been on the table. After filling the glass to the brim, I poured it down my throat without hesitation.
It wasn’t a bad feeling.
The last image of the girl, with her tears streaming down her face and her smile, appeared in my mind, causing me to chuckle.
Even so, none of the issues regarding the Bloodmark had been resolved.
Yet, I decided that the path I had walked until now had some value.
At the very least, I had managed to bring a smile to one girl who had been trapped in the nightmares of her childhood.
As I drank to somewhat cheerful spirits, I began to feel incredibly drunk. Absently, my gaze fell on the letter I had left on the table before sleeping, its back revealing the sentences written there.
‘Those with the Eyes of the Dragon do not know the hearts of humans.’
I had no idea what the thought meant.
However, with the effects of the alcohol kicking in, I added another sentence to those words written on the back.
‘But the girl does.’
It was a short sentence, a plain assortment of words lacking in eloquence. The limited expression of a drunken swordsman.
But after writing it down, I found I quite liked that line, and I stared at it for a while before drifting off to sleep.
Soon, a high-ranking official from the Imperial Court would be arriving.
Yet my heart felt surprisingly calm. The more intoxicated I became, the duller my senses grew, and my emotions relaxed.
Closing my eyes with the feeling that it would somehow be alright, the next moment I opened them wide and saw that it was still dawn. Perhaps I hadn’t had enough to drink, as my heart was making a rough noise.
As I poured more whiskey into my glass, my eyes caught sight of a letter that had been placed on the table before I fell asleep.
Another sentence was added to the two sentences written in sequence on the back.
‘Maybe so.’
That hastily scribbled brief sentence seemed to reveal a hint of the man’s temperament, making me smile softly.
Then I downed the rest of my whiskey. Once again, I fell into a deep drunken slumber.
That night, I dreamed.
A strangely vivid dream featuring a certain man.
It had become a familiar occurrence. My eyes fluttered open along with heavy breathing, quickly turning to the table beside my bed.
A calendar, the date already passed, and a letter envelope I had never seen before.
It didn’t allow even a moment of respite.
“…Hah.”
Feeling a pounding headache like something probing my brain, I picked up the letter envelope.
I didn’t even have the energy to curse.
It was the beginning of a new incident that would shake the world.
