Chapter 11 : Dragon Lord

“Damn, what kind of kid dares…”

He tapped his fingers on the table, unable to contain his irritation.

The candle swayed in the wind, creating shadows that danced on the wall.

The unstable shadows seemed to symbolize the darkness of where Peridot was trapped.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I felt inside my chest burned.

‘Why on earth did someone take her away?’

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

Peridot’s butler spoke with a trembling voice.

His usually neatly-tied hair was a mess, and his face was filled with anxiety.

“We’ve even mobilized mercenaries and back-alley gangs to search for her,
but we still haven’t found any clear clues.”

The dark shadows under his eyes clearly showed the sleeplessness and worry of the past few days.

‘Useless old man. I can see you’re worried that your money will be cut off.’

The knight commander who had been silent on one side spoke with a stern face.

“The kidnappers left no trace. They disappeared without a trace, like fog.”

The Knight Commander’s hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword.

Although he had no doubt that he would always be on Peridot’s side, his simple-mindedness and attitude of relying only on force often caused frustration.

Even in this situation, he would eventually try to solve it with force.

Breaking the silence, the sage opened his mouth.

“The situation is very unusual. It’s shocking that there is not even a trace of magic, considering it was a normal kidnapping case.”

His low voice sank heavily like the shadows beneath the candles that filled the room.

“Some kind of fucking evil magic beyond imagination was definitely used. I don’t know where they went.”

“Damn it!”

My harsh words came out without me knowing.

“Then who the hell are you? Those stupid traitors are doing this?!”

He slammed his fist on the table.

The Knight Commander continued with a stern expression.

“It is important to find His Highness Duke Peridot, but if we delay, the situation may become irreversible, Your Highness the Princess.”

His words were logical, but his cold attitude only made me angrier.

The face of my damn grandfather and that damn prince came to mind.

The disgusting expression would not disappear from my mind.

‘Disgusting. How can I be of the same bloodline as those human trash?’

There was no reason for them to be indifferent because Peridot was an illegitimate child.

Even though they were blood-related family, they didn’t lift a finger when he was kidnapped.

And on top of that, they were seriously thinking about clinging to the Demon King.

I couldn’t help but feel sick.

“Those damned kids must be giggling and plotting ways to cling to the Demon King by now.
They won’t even think about finding the brat! They’ll just be plotting to satisfy their dirty lust for power!”

I barely suppressed the urge to slam the table with my fist.

The stuffy air in the closed room seemed to be squeezing my chest.

In this increasingly suffocating situation, all that came to mind was Peridot standing alone in the cold Duke’s mansion.

The more I thought about it, the more horrible it became.

Peri had been subjected to those disgusting experiments since she was young, and had to live with the label of ‘illegitimate child.’

Every time I thought about how much that heavy brand on that small, delicate shoulder had eaten away at that child, my heart would rip.

What on earth did that gentle, kind child do wrong?

If I hadn’t been there to support him, How could he have survived in that cold palace and ducal palace?

“Commander of the Knights.”

I gritted my teeth and broke the silence, opening my mouth.

“Let’s stop expecting anything from those damned bastards. We have to take action ourselves.”

The Commander of the Knights’ face hardened at my words.

But his eyes didn’t waver.

His loyalty and bravery had always been unwavering, so that was all I could trust.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.”

A heavy voice echoed through the room. It seemed to tremble slightly, but the traces of determination were clear.

“If you give me the order, I will summon troops immediately.”

I nodded slowly.

Yes, it was a civil war.

It wasn’t easy to make that decision when Peridot’s safety was not guaranteed.

But I couldn’t waste any more time.

The day the alliance with the Demon King was formed, this country would be irreparably ruined.

“That is a wise decision, Your Highness.”

The butler continued, seemingly satisfied.

“If you stick with that Demon King bastard, all your money will be cut off and you will perish!”

This old fox was a vulgar person to the core, but at least he was right about that.

Joining hands with that Demon King scum was like selling out the country.

“Butler.”

I spoke in a cold voice.

“Secure all possible weapons and supplies through a trustworthy merchant right now.
Don’t spare any funds.”

The butler bowed his head deeply.

“I will keep that in mind, Your Highness.”

Civil war.

My heart pounded violently as that horrible word became a reality.

But I couldn’t back down.

With these hands, I had to bring down my disgusting father and brother, and sweep away the corrupt power.

A firm resolve flashed in the eyes of the Knight Commander.

“I will follow Your Highness’s will. Just give me the order at any time.”

His voice was as firm as a solid shield, and his eyes shone with unwavering loyalty.

Yes, there were still people I could trust by my side.

I wasn’t alone.

That alone calmed my anxiety a little.

But terrible thoughts kept popping up in my mind.

“Sage.”

I hesitated and carefully opened my mouth.

“What if…what if something really happens to the brat…what should I do?”

My voice trembled.

It was a thought I didn’t want to say out loud, but its weight weighed me down.

The Sage was silent for a moment, then shook his head heavily.

“I don’t know right now.”

His answer was closer to despair than hope.

His words were indifferent, but they contained the truth.

Damn it, damn it…?

A mixture of helplessness and anger rose up.

I wanted to wring the necks of those scumbags right away, but that alone wouldn’t solve anything.

A few days passed.

Preparations to overthrow the country were progressing little by little.

But the butler came urgently and handed me a document.

“Found in the duke’s residence. Your Highness!”

I accepted the document with trembling hands.

It was a record of the experiment conducted on Peridot.

I knew that her heart had been removed and a dragon heart had been transplanted in its place.

But it contained something even more horrifying.

‘Hatchling…?’

A record of a newborn baby dragon being torn alive and its heart removed unfolded before my eyes.

My mind went blank.

The words of a wise man came to mind.

Even the expression ‘foolishness that tramples on the laws of nature’ was not enough to describe this act.

This was beyond mere foolishness, it was madness.

I clenched my hands holding the document.

The paper crumpled, and my fingertips turned white.

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

The butler’s voice sounded distant.

I barely managed to come to my senses and shook my head.

There was no way I was okay.

I had touched the hatchling.

The dragon’s wrath could have engulfed the entire country.

This wasn’t just a problem between me and Perry.

“Butler!”

I gritted my teeth and said.

“Find the knight commander immediately! Tell him to gather his troops! There’s no time to waste!”

My voice rang out like thunder.

I kicked the marble floor beneath my feet and ran.

I ran madly down the hallway to the sage’s room.

My footsteps resonated loudly, but that didn’t matter right now.

Only one thought filled my head.

The dragon’s wrath.

I had to stop it before it became reality.

Before that, I had to end everything.

The sage’s room appeared before my eyes.

I turned the handle, breathing heavily.

I didn’t care that my sweaty palms were slipping, and I pushed the door open violently.

“Sage!”

I shouted urgently as soon as I opened the door.

My voice cracked with desperation.

“Fucked! That experiment… That damn experiment used hatchlings!”

The sage put down the book he was reading and slowly looked at me.

A rare look of embarrassment crossed his usually blunt expression.

“What the heck? Hatchlings? That really means fucked up.”

His usually blunt and calm voice shook for a rare moment.

“I know!”

I gritted my teeth.

“We have to come up with a plan right now! If the dragon finds out…!”

My voice trailed off, heavy.

I didn’t even want to imagine it.

The dragon’s wrath was not just a war, it was a disaster.

If engulfed in that flame, everything, not just the country, but the entire continent, might turn to ashes.

The sage closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He stood up quietly and said,

“There is no time, so return to the palace. If you hesitate any longer, everything will truly be over.”

My voice echoed sharply in front of the main gate of the palace.

“Get out of the way!”

The sound of marble underfoot echoed through the hallway.

The guards blocked my path, holding up their sharp spear blades.

The familiar faces were still there, but now they blocked me with cold and blunt expressions.

“Are you out of your mind, blocking me?”

I raised my voice.

The cold air was suffocating, but now was not the time.

“Don’t you know who you’re pointing your sword at right now? Listen carefully to what those trapped inside have done!”

I could faintly hear the clash of knights’ armors behind me.

They were ready to charge at any moment if I gave the order.

I, too, could no longer maintain my patience.

“You touched the hatchling!”

My voice became sharper.

“Don’t you really know what that means? What the authors did was more than just a diplomatic issue!
You touched the dragon’s spleen.

If this continues, this entire country could turn to ashes!”

My shout split the air, and the guards’ eyes shook.

Uncertainty and fear seeped into their expressions.

“Think about it. If the dragon finds out about this, where do you think their anger will be directed? Come to your senses and fall back right now. This is your last chance to save this country and your lives.”

Their eyes wavered, and one of them carefully lowered his spear.

“Your Majesty… Is that true?”

His voice was a mixture of fear and doubt.

I looked straight at him and said firmly.

“If you do not believe, this country will pay the price.”

Another soldier followed and lowered his spear.

The crack quickly spread, and the guards finally gave way.

I gritted my teeth and stepped forward.

In my hands was the determination and anger to change everything.

But the next moment, something completely unexpected happened.

It was darkness.

It was not simply the darkness of the setting sun.

It was a thick, ominous darkness, as if all the light in the world had disappeared.

It covered the entire palace like the shadow of a gigantic being that tore through the sky and descended.

People screamed here and there.

The sound of weapons hitting the floor and groans of confusion mixed together.

The sky I looked up at was pitch black.

No, to be precise, it was covered in gigantic scales.

Hundreds of dragons.

The beings that could turn hundreds of soldiers to ashes with just one, and there were hundreds of them, filling the sky.

The overwhelming sight literally took my breath away.

I barely managed to hold back the trembling of my legs.

“Damn it… You really came…!”

The knight commander muttered under his breath.

A look of bewilderment crossed his stern face.

I trampled past the guards and ran to the audience room.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

Did you cause all this chaos just to see this? You idiots?

The sight of the audience room was so gruesome that it was impossible to describe in words.

There was a being that looked like an old man wearing golden armor.

However, the overwhelming magical power felt by the old man was not that of a human.

The Dragon Lord.

A living legend, the leader of all dragons.

He had two necks in his grasp.

It was my damned father and my disgusting brother.

The sight of them struggling in his grasp was truly miserable.

The golden magic that filled the audience room with rage made it difficult to even breathe.

“Coveting the young is something that cannot be tolerated for any reason…!”

The Dragonlord’s voice echoed through the room.

It was a grand and powerful sound, like thunder crashing right into your ears.

“And to harm a newborn hatchling… You have jumped into the pit of destruction yourself!”

The Dragonlord’s eyes turned towards us.

His cold eyes were burning with anger and contempt.

A fear that felt like the blood in my whole body was freezing surged through me.

I couldn’t breathe.

My heart raced at the overwhelming pressure that swallowed the air with just one look.