### Chapter 105: The Dragon Returns to the Sea
Charlotte burst into the secret room, her face lit up with sheer panic.
Leon and Rebecca quickly rushed over.
“Master’s wife? What are you doing here?” Leon asked, utterly bewildered.
Rebecca had both hands on her head, her big eyes spinning in circles. “I’m completely lost! First, Old Man says he’s coming to the Sea Dragon Race, and now Aunt Charlotte suddenly appears! I feel like I’m missing a chunk of memory compared to everyone else!”
Charlotte glanced at Leon, whom she hadn’t seen in years, feeling a mix of anxiety and gratitude.
But there was no time for a reunion.
Without explaining much to Leon and Rebecca, Charlotte quickly moved to the ice bed.
When she saw Taige lying there, barely hanging on, it was as if all the strength drained from her. Her legs felt like jelly, and she almost tumbled to the floor.
Fortunately, Claudia was there to steady her.
Charlotte stared in disbelief at the old man before her, trembling as she reached out and gently touched Taige’s weathered cheek.
His warmth was fading, and it was becoming hard to detect his breathing, heartbeat, or pulse.
Charlotte’s lips vibrated uncontrollably as tears streamed down her face.
“Taige… I’m here. Taige… can you open your eyes and look at me?”
Her voice was a heart-wrenching sob.
As if hearing Charlotte’s call, Taige slowly opened his eyes.
But at the brink of d*ath, his gaze seemed burdened with a thousand weights.
Yet he still exerted every last ounce of strength to get a glimpse of the person before him.
His wife, Charlotte.
A pale, tired smile formed on his face as he weakly called her nickname, “Cha… you finally came.”
Taige attempted to raise a hand to gently poke his lover’s cheek.
But the speed at which life was slipping away made even breathing feel like a Herculean task; there was no energy left to lift a hand.
Charlotte cradled his hand, pressing his palm firmly against her face.
“I’m right here, Taige! You can feel me, can’t you?”
At that moment, when his palm met her cheek, Taige felt the warmth of her tears.
“Did you cry… Cha, don’t cry! You’ll end up looking all messy… cough cough!—cough cough—”
Before he could finish, he coughed up a mouthful of bl**d.
His heart was shattered beyond repair, barely keeping him alive through healing magic and Claudia’s earlier desperate attempts at resuscitation.
Once the magic and medicine wore off—
“Why is my master’s wife here?” Leon whispered to Claudia.
“Your master should’ve told you long ago. After you decided to fight the Empire, he sent Charlotte to a safe place.”
Claudia said, “And that safe place refers to here.”
Leon’s memories flickered back to the past; his master did say something like that.
But…
“My master said she went back to her family, so the Sea Dragon Race is—”
Before he could finish, his own speculation startled him.
Claudia lazily turned to him and voiced the answer he had in mind, “That’s right. Taige, like you, married a member of the Dragon Race.”
“…Huh, how—”
He was momentarily at a loss for words.
It wasn’t much information, but it was earth-shattering.
It was like a bomb that had been buried for over twenty years finally exploding.
And Leon had a relatively strong capacity to process this, but behind him, Rebecca would’ve fainted already if Roswiser wasn’t holding her up.
“So, now you understand why your master insisted on coming to the Sea Dragon Race at the end of his life?”
Claudia continued,
“He knew how severe his injuries were. He just wanted to see Charlotte one last time before leaving this world.”
“One last time…”
Claudia patted Leon’s shoulder. “I know about your plan to oppose the Empire. This is a revolution, Leon, and revolutions are always accompanied by sacrifices.”
Leon was beyond hearing anything now.
Like a puppet that had lost its strings, he trudged over to Charlotte and gently embraced her shoulders.
Charlotte was nearly a crying wreck, clinging to her husband’s hand and refusing to let go.
“Leon… did Rebecca give you the Shadow Stone?”
Taige, having seen his wife and fulfilled his last wish, wanted to chat with his pupil one last time during his final moments.
“She did… Master.”
“Good… it contains evidence that reveals the Empire’s conspiracy. Make sure you use it well; it can help clear your name…”
“I got it… Master…”
“How’s the Silver Dragon King these days?”
“We’re doing—”
“What about the granddaughters… the sisters should be five years old now, and Little Light is three…”
“Master?”
“Why is everyone so quiet? Am I the only one talking here… making me seem so boring, haha…”
But he couldn’t hear anymore.
His aged, murky pupils began to drift.
“Kid… when you get the chance, you definitely should take your master’s wife to meet them… tell them their grandpa is actually quite impressive…”
“I really want to… hug them—”
“Too bad… there probably won’t be any chance left.”
He looked upward, as if called by some unseen force, but continued murmuring,
“My life has been so hastily lived. Though I haven’t achieved much, I still feel somewhat satisfied in the end.”
“When I was young, I served in the Dragon Slayer Army, fighting battles and living a nomadic life.”
“By the time I retired, I was past the age for romance and marriage.”
“If I hadn’t met your master’s wife, I might have spent my entire life as an old bachelor.”
“I once thought that wandering the world would be my ultimate home, but unexpectedly, my true home turned out to be you, Cha.”
“Only… it seems your family hasn’t recognized our marriage for over a decade now…”
“But we still managed to spend half our lives together. As I reach the end of my life, I’m so grateful that you’re by my side, Cha.”
“I remember—cough cough—I remember a novel where there’s a line that closely describes our experiences and endings.”
“The wandering dragon returns to the sea… the sea doesn’t welcome me… it has come—”
His hand slipped from Charlotte’s cheek, and in his final moments, he still tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.
“Taige?… Taige! Taige!!”
“Master… Master!”
“Old Man!”
Rebecca collapsed onto Taige’s arm, wailing inconsolably.
It seemed Charlotte’s tears had run dry long ago; she leaned hopelessly against Leon, as an overwhelming despair engulfed her entire being.
Meanwhile, the master’s last words echoed in Leon’s ears.
The wandering dragon returns to the sea…
The wanderer, who should have drifted for a lifetime and called the world home, had found someone to rely on and belong to, accepting the end with calm.
Taige Lawrence… this old Dragon Slayer, ultimately fell at the hands of the country he had sworn his life to protect.
How could one accept that…?
“I’m going to save him.”
As despair cloaked everyone, Charlotte’s resolute voice cut through the gloom like a sharp blade, ushering in clarity.
“His heart has completely failed, Charlotte. Even the Ghost Lotus won’t work.”
Claudia said, “I—”
“I’m going to, save him.”
Charlotte strode forward to face Claudia, looking straight into her sister’s eyes.
“The heart is destroyed, right?”
“Yeah…”
“I have a way! I can use my Heartguard Dragon Scale!”
Heartguard Dragon Scale?
Leon stared in shock at his master’s wife at the mention of this term.
He only knew that this item was the “insurance switch” of the Dragon Race, able to shield them from d*ath at critical times.
However, it took at least two hundred years to condense a complete Heartguard Dragon Scale.
In the future timeline, Roswiser fell into a prolonged coma after sacrificing herself because she didn’t have the Heartguard Dragon Scale on her.
This showed just how important it was for the Dragon Race.
But Leon didn’t know that the Heartguard Dragon Scale could… save a life?
“No way, Charlotte! If you give him your Dragon Scale, what will happen to you?”
“I don’t care! I need to save him!”
“Charlotte!”
“It’s been four hundred years!”
Leon rarely saw his master’s wife genuinely angry, but this time, she was truly upset.
“Sister, it’s been four hundred years! I’ve always followed your orders, listened to Father, and marrying Taige was the only decision I’ve ever made for myself, for which I even stayed away from home for thirty years.”
“And… and it was Taige who saved my life back then. Now, it’s my turn to save him. What’s wrong with that?”
“Besides… have I not earned the right to rebel twice in my four hundred years of life?!”
“Charlotte…”
“Let me do this, sister… please.”
Claudia’s expression shifted from anger to calm, and finally to resignation.
She closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
“Do as you wish. I can’t control you. Everyone else, leave with me. I’ll leave Charlotte here alone.”
Claudia led everyone out of the secret room.
Charlotte walked slowly to the ice bed, looking at her husband and softly said,
“I won’t let you leave me like this, Taige.”
