"No..."
Then Rachel muttered weakly.
Tears suddenly fell onto Rachel's face as she stood there blankly, like someone possessed.
"No, brother, no..."
Rachel shook her head vigorously and approached Noelier.
Someone quickly picked Rachel up. It was the Minister of the South, Dragon Hopper.
"Let go...!"
Rachel struggled to break free from his embrace. But Hopper did not let go of Rachel.
"Miss, no."
"Let go of me...! Brother, no...! No!"
Rachel cried out to him in distress. It was a scream never heard before.
“No.”
Nevertheless, Hopper retorted firmly with a stiff, hardened face.
"I have been ordered to protect the others in case something happens to the Leader."
However, Hopper also looked very distressed as he said that.
"What?"
Rachel's struggling stopped. She parted her lips as if in disbelief.
I was just as surprised by Hopper's words.
'So, are you saying Noelier vaguely knew it would turn out this way?'
And yet he didn't imprint on me?
I couldn't understand what had happened.
I urgently grabbed Hopper.
" Didn't Noel say something else?"
"..."
"Didn't he say anything other than 'please take good care of them'?"
Suddenly, I felt a lump in my throat. Hopper's face, facing me, blurred. I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand.
“Lady Eve.”
"Tell me. Don't hide anything, everything."
I urged Hopper for an answer.
"...From the leader."
Hopper, catching his breath as if hesitating, opened his mouth.
"He said that if this situation persists, he should lock himself up in the lair."
"...If it’s a lair."
He said that no one should get hurt because of him.
Ha. A hollow laugh burst out of me without me realizing it.
You mean to die a painful death alone in the lair so that no one gets hurt.
'Why on earth did you think that?'
You promised me you wouldn't lie to me and that you would make it clear.
To think there is nothing I can do while the person I love is dying.
A deep sense of helplessness gnawed at me. I felt pathetic for having boasted that I could save him.
My hands trembled. I was afraid that I would face the destruction of him that I had read about in books.
'No, snap out of it.'
I couldn't just sit here stupidly.
I had to save him. If there was no way, I had to create one, and I had to cling desperately to even the smallest hope.
'Think of a way to save him.'
Or at least a way to delay it!
I whipped myself and racked my brains.
Then, an old woman comforting a terrified Zion came into my view.
'Right. Grandma's magic is...!'
I approached Grandma. Grandma, who had been comforting the frightened Zion, looked up when she saw me approaching.
"Baby."
"Grandma."
I opened my palm. As I applied the weak pressure that had been swirling around, the ice crystals that had risen on my palm melted away.
"Please take it from me."
"What...?"
"Magic stone, please make a magic stone."
Grandmother said that she made her own magic stones and distributed them to her children.
So, couldn't she create someone else's magic stone as well?
There are two types of magic in my body.
Ice and white paper.
The two were mixed together; although it was a power too weak to boast of, Noelier's fire could be controlled.
'So, if we give that magic stone to Noelier.'
At least we might be able to slow down the rampage.
I held my grandmother's hand again.
It seemed my grandmother had read my mind, too. She nodded.
We held hands and pressed our foreheads together. I slowly closed my eyes.
I felt as if the strength was draining from my body. It felt as if the blood flowing through my body was flowing backward.
And not long after, that energy vanished. I slowly opened my eyes.
We let go of each other's hands.
Blue crystals formed on the palms I held with my grandmother.
"I'm not sure if it's possible."
Grandmother muttered in an awkward voice.
"...But I guess I’ll have to give it a try. Whatever it is."
Grandmother placed her hand on the blue magic stone.
For a moment, a light emanated from her hand. The blue magic stone absorbed the radiance and appeared to shine even brighter.
"I've cast an amplification spell, so it will be stronger than your usual strength."
Saying that, she floated a magic stone in the air.
The magic stone that was shining blue flew to Noelier's side.
And it slowly seeped into his body.
"..."
But Noelier still didn't get up.
I slowly sat up. I reached out my trembling hand and clasped his.
"...!"
The heat had subsided a little.
I held his hands with both hands.
The surging heat snatched away the chill from me as if it had been waiting. It felt like all the energy was draining from my body, but I could endure it.
'We can stop the runaway.'
My face was colored with hard-won hope.
Then Hopper shouted at the dragons around him.
"Hurry and escort Lady Eve and the Leader inside. Hurry!"
***
The wedding of the century, which was thought to be a once-in-a-lifetime event, ended without even taking place due to the Dragon Leader's rampage.
Since that day, I haven't been away from Noelier's side for a single moment.
It was because of the hope that he might get up again.
I did not let go of his hand, as if clinging to hope.
"Baby."
Just then, a gentle voice burrowed into my ears.
My mind, which had been deeply submerged in darkness, gradually rose to the surface.
It seemed I had dozed off. I slowly pushed up my eyelids. An image cleared in my blurry vision.
"Grandma..."
I blinked my eyes, which wouldn't open properly. An old woman with a sad face approached me.
"...Do you know how many days it has already been?"
Worry was in her voice.
"...I’ll look after this place, so go get some good sleep. We just need to keep casting amplification magic on him. It won’t be insufficient."
I shook my head slowly.
"No... I don't know when Noel might wake up. I have to stay by his side."
I gave a faint smile. It was then that my grandmother, who always smiled kindly, suddenly crumpled.
"You know he can't get up, don't you?"
"..."
"Staying like this won't change anything. That dragon can't get up."
"...You will wake up.”
My voice trembled in denial. I swallowed the tears welling up inside me.
"If I keep applying the cold like this, the heat will dissipate. It has always been that way. Noel can wake up. So, I have to wait by his side."
I struggled to compose my surging throat, as if trying to hide the anxiety within me.
Then, Grandma grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.
Although Grandmother's strength was not great, my body, exhausted from not leaving his side for days, moved weakly in her hand.
"Then you, you! Are you going to stay like that for the rest of your life? For that day that might never come?"
The blue eyes looking at me began to well up with tears. I lowered my gaze. To turn a blind eye to her feelings, which were likely similar to mine.
"...Eve."
Grandma called me in a voice full of tears.
" I am afraid of losing my family again."
"..."
"...I'm more worried about you than that dragon. You might call me selfish, but I can't help it."
The hand gripping the shoulder trembled.
"Please... Please stop. I beg you."
Grandmother suddenly hugged me tightly. As if clinging to me, she held me tightly in her embrace.
I blinked slowly. Even though I had cried like that, tears welled up endlessly.
Tears welled up to their limit and soaked my cheeks. As I stared blankly beyond my blurry vision, I saw something moving.
A black-haired girl with a small frame that fits in one's arms.
It was Rachel.
It was only then that I felt like I was fully coming back to my senses.
I hurriedly pulled away from my grandmother and rubbed my eyes vigorously with the back of my hand. My eyes were swollen and red.
“Rachel.”
Then, smiling as if nothing had happened,
I welcomed Rachel.
"...sister."
Rachel also had red eyes, just like me.
I said in a deliberately bright voice.
" Did you come to see your brother? Do you want to come this way?"
"..."
Rachel shook her head slowly, as if trying to hold back. She bit her lip tightly, but her red eyes were filled with sorrow.
"Sister... I'm sorry."
Rachel spat out the words as if vomiting and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears splattered down the child's white cheeks.
“It’s all because of me.”
“Rachel.”
"It's because no one gets happy when they're with me. I'm sorry, sister."
Rachel wiped her swollen eyes with the back of her small hand.
"Rachel, that's not true."
I quickly comforted the child.
"I'm so happy to have met Rachel, really."
"But, my brother..."
"He's just sick for a moment. He'll be fine, so please stop crying. Okay?"
Even with my comforting words, Rachel could not easily stop crying.
I should act more maturely at a time like this, but tears kept welling up.
No. Hold back. What are you doing in front of the child?
I pushed myself, but the fear that even I could not overcome eventually brought tears to my eyes.
A deep sense of despair ensnared me once again. It was just as I was about to hang my head listlessly in despair.
"Eve!"
Someone burst into the room with a loud voice.
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