“…Noo-Noona?”
The words had escaped my lips reflexively.
Yet, the being before me was distinctly different from Noona.
Instead of Noona’s soft, lustrous hair, this woman possessed dry, brittle strands, their color faded to a desolate gray.
Though her eyes were brown, a crimson tint swirled within them, unequivocally signaling that she was not my Noona.
Even as my mind grasped the truth, my body incessantly urged me to rush towards the woman.
In that instant, I recalled my past self, utterly powerless.
I remembered Noona, who had worked tirelessly to care for me.
Was that the reason?
My legs suddenly gave way, and I collapsed onto the cold stone floor.
A cry of pain escaped my lips as my backside hit the unforgiving rock, and my wavering composure finally shattered.
“Ugh…”
“M-Mino?”
Tears streamed down my face.
I couldn’t discern if it was from the pain or a profound yearning for Noona.
Void was shouting something beside me, but her words registered as nothing more than a distant hum.
In the distance, I saw soldiers rushing towards us, their faces starkly pale.
They swiftly unbarred the prison door, lifted me, and issued a stern warning to Void.
“Harm the Princess, and you shall face immediate execution!”
“How dare a filthy demon such as yourself!”
Upon hearing their threats, Void, wearing a bewildered expression, could only frantically call my name from within the cell.
“M-Mino?”
“…Ho?”
The woman resembling Noona mumbled something and turned to look at me, but amidst my confusion and tears, I couldn’t make out her words.
All I could think was that I should apologize to Void for the trouble I’d caused her once I returned.
Thus, the “playtime” in the dungeon that day came to an abrupt end.
****
Upon entering the prison, Han Yuri witnessed a truly bizarre sight.
[A Demon King has appeared!!!!]
[Hero! Enact justice!!!!]
These messages shimmered before her eyes.
A Demon King? Was this not the land of dragons?
Nevertheless, accepting its presence, she casually glanced around, wondering if she might catch a glimpse of its face.
“……”
Her gaze met that of a young dragon, whose eyes widened in surprise upon seeing her.
The child stared at her with an expression as if they had witnessed something profoundly shocking.
Feeling an inexplicable familiarity with the child, Han Yuri began to steady Damian, who was about to stumble beside her.
“Damian, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. My magic drained all at once for a moment.”
Han Yuri offered a faint smile, observing Damian’s sheepish grin.
Yet, her attention remained fixed on the child confined in the cell.
Just as she was about to enter her assigned cell,
—Thud.
‘Oh dear, they fell.’
‘That must hurt quite a bit.’
The child had fallen.
Still, the child’s gaze never left Han Yuri.
It was as if they were trying to ascertain exactly who Han Yuri was.
‘W-What is it?’
Han Yuri now felt a shiver run down her spine.
The child merely stared blankly at her, not shedding a single tear.
Then, as if reading her thoughts, the child suddenly burst into tears.
It was a cry born of shock, as if they had witnessed something that ought not to exist.
More than pain, it seemed to be a cry of alarm.
Of course, it was natural for a child to be startled by a fall.
However, Han Yuri was certain that the child wasn’t crying merely because they had fallen.
If that were the case, they would have cried immediately; there was no reason to stare at her for so long before weeping.
Just then,
“Princess!”
The two soldiers who had escorted them hastily flung open the cell door and scooped up the child.
“Are you alright?”
“Oh dear… you must have been very startled.”
“Let’s go see the Queen Consort.”
They then began to scold the woman who had been in the same cell as the child.
“Harm the Princess, and you shall face immediate execution!”
“How dare a filthy demon such as yourself!”
Han Yuri knew.
She knew the woman had done nothing wrong; despite the grossly unfair situation, the woman paid no mind to the soldiers.
She was merely calling out the dragon’s name in a wistful, desperate voice.
“M-Mino?”
Suddenly, a ringing sensation echoed through Han Yuri’s head.
‘Mino?’
“Mino?”
Her thoughts and her voice simultaneously uttered the name of a single person.
Mino, the name of the younger sibling who had left her side three years prior.
“Huh? Mino? Do you know that dragon?”
“Ah, no. I don’t know that dragon.”
“But then, how do you know their name…”
“Oh, it’s just that it’s similar to someone I know. I said ‘Mino’ (TL Note: Han Yuri pronounces it ‘Min-ho’ while the child’s name is ‘Mi-no’).”
“That’s a strange pronunciation.”
Damian remarked on the odd pronunciation as he flopped onto the straw bedding.
“Wow~ This is comfy. I don’t even miss the imperial beds.”
Could he truly mean that?
Observing Damian’s utterly relaxed expression, as he guilelessly laughed on the straw without a care in the world, Han Yuri decided to cast aside her worries.
‘Right, there’s no way Mino would be here. It’s just a coincidence.’
After all, Mino was no longer alive, was she?
‘Just a coincidence…’
Han Yuri slumped down beside Damian.
“Oh~ it really is.”
“H-Hero.”
“’Hero’ is a bit too formal, isn’t it? Especially for comrades who’ve shared life and death together.”
As Han Yuri offered a guileless smile, Damian returned it with a faint grin and spoke.
“Let’s drop the formalities now.”
“Sounds good.”
…….
The peculiar thing about dropping formalities:
Despite agreeing to it, actually doing so felt surprisingly uncomfortable.
A slightly awkward atmosphere settled between them.
****
After Mino’s abrupt departure, Void, who had briefly succumbed to melancholy, turned her gaze towards the adjacent cell.
Inside, she saw a Mage and a creature whose identity remained a mystery.
Void once again focused, attempting to read the flow of magic.
‘What on earth is its true nature?’
She found herself utterly unable to discern its identity.
‘Perhaps it would be best to open my eye.’
Unwilling to tolerate any potential threat to her kingdom, Void decided to open one of her eyes to investigate personally.
Having opened one eye and confirmed her suspicions, Void found herself unconsciously addressing Han Yuri.
“…What are you, exactly?”
Though its magical signature was neither human nor demonic—and, if pressed, most closely resembled that of a dragon—its appearance was chillingly human.
“Pardon?”
A startled Han Yuri’s eyes widened as she stared back at Void.
She had not expected to be addressed at all.
Void continued to observe Han Yuri, her single eye still open.
“…Interesting. Hey, Mage, was this your doing?”
Void’s interest naturally shifted from the “experiment” to the Mage beside her.
After all, the “experiment” seemed completely unaware of its own nature.
“……”
“Speak.”
“…The Empire did it.”
“Ah… the crumbling one?”
“……”
“Pfft.”
As Damian remained silent in response to Void’s question, Void closed her eye and began to laugh, clearly amused.
Void’s laughter echoed continuously throughout the entire dungeon.
“How amusing. To think human capabilities had reached this level.”
“U-Um…”
“Silence. I have no interest in the experiment. Frankly, you’re quite unpleasant.”
“…Pardon?”
Han Yuri looked at Void with a bewildered expression.
Void, ignoring Han Yuri, continued to question Damian.
“Were you the one who spearheaded this?”
“You made it well.”
“Was that originally human?”
“Can a human withstand that?”
“It’s surprisingly intact.”
“Are your skills truly that good?”
Damian offered no reply, yet Void continued to babble on by herself.
“If it’s not excellent skill, then is the experiment itself special?”
“…That’s enough.”
“…What?”
“Stop talking about my friend like that.”
“Hah. How amusing, a ‘friend’ for a lab rat?”
“……”
Void mused.
‘Is it like keeping a hamster?’
“Enough. If they’re captured here, they must be a criminal anyway.”
“And their magic is concentrated in one spot, so they’ve been sealed, I see.”
Void, now appearing bored, lay down on the floor, turning her head away and withdrawing her attention from the two of them.
“Oh, you human there? Don’t take it personally. I’m just a bit depressed right now.”
She even offered an apology, of course.
For Void, she was a rather benevolent Demon King.
“……”
Han Yuri, for her part, had developed a profound resentment towards Void.
‘So that bastard is a Demon King. Someday, I’ll slay them.’
****
“Then, we shall accept Void as one of our citizens.”
“Hmph.”
“Haa…”
“Fine, this is a joke… No, a new citizen. In this era of low birth rates.”
“The Princess will surely be pleased.”
“The experiment… No, hmm, excellent.”
Two elders sighed, while three cheered.
“Then, the Demon King shall be appointed as a secretary to the Elder Council.”
“…Understood. It would be disastrous if they caused trouble where we couldn’t see them.”
Lavender replied to Albinius with a dazed expression.
It seemed she truly despised the Demon King.
“…Now then, next.”
It was time to discuss Han Yuri.
“I trust you have all discerned the Hero’s true identity.”
As Albinius began, all five elders nodded in agreement.
“…It appears to be a Half-Dragon. An unstable one at that.”
Half-Dragons.
As the name suggests, they were a race only half-dragon, a species that had been eradicated when the kingdom was unified.
It was a shameful chapter, but in the past, they had been persecuted and fled the kingdom, only to find no paradise in their refuge.
A race that suffered discrimination from all others and met a miserable end.
That was the Half-Dragon race.
For the haughty dragons of that era, their very existence was a source of profound disgrace.
Now, a species thought to have vanished 2,000 years ago had re-emerged.
And through cruel experimentation, no less.
“…Judging by the hair and eye color, it seems royal blood might have been used.”
White hair and red eyes.
These were all symbols of the royal family.
Imperfect, perhaps, but white hair and red eyes.
It was unmistakable.
“Things might become a little easier.”
“…How did they obtain royal blood for such an experiment?”
Hader whispered softly.
Others shared his疑问, but they had already decided to take Han Yuri in.
And if she wished, that abominable Mage would be welcomed alongside her.
“…We shall formally adopt her into the royal family as a Princess.”
“The birth of a new Princess.”
“The Princess will have an older sister, then…”
“Hmm, not bad.”
“Two adorable babies.”
From the dragons’ perspective, 34-year-old Han Yuri and 1-year-old Mino were both considered babies.
Therefore, Han Yuri, too, would have to perform a “Kya-ha! I’m a Princess!” act in front of the public.
In their view, it was only natural.
…Though it would be agonizing for Han Yuri.
