“It doesn’t matter how I heard the story. How long were you planning to keep it from me?”
Carlisle couldn’t give an answer to Elena’s question. He didn’t want to lie. He hoped that he would never have to tell her the ugly truth about himself.
“If you’re asking that question, there is only one person who could have told you about it.”
It was easy to guess that it was his father Sullivan, who Elena happened to return from a meeting with. Carlisle knew more than anyone about Sullivan’s obsession with the bloodline, and how the old man would do anything to keep it alive.
Carlisle looked at Elena with darkly hooded eyes.
“Let’s move on. There may be ears listening nearby.”
“…Very well.”
They continued to walk again, but this time in silence. They could sense each other’s feelings without the need to exchange words.
Elena had many questions about the Dragon’s Orb and the Imperial Family…
And Carlisle was not happy to answer any of them.
*
*
*
They finally arrived at the door Carlisle’s office. Security was tight, and it was the best place to have a private conversation. They entered the room, and Carlisle invited Elena to sit down.
“You must be tired after going out with your injury. Don’t tell me that you’re not, and don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Thank you for your concern. But don’t worry, I’m fine.”
Carlisle hesitated for a moment and then followed with a nod of his head.
“…Would you like anything to drink?”
“No thank you.”
No matter how delicious the drink, she was not in the mood for it. Carlisle sensed her state of mind and simply sat down.
“Very well. You want to know what I wished for on the Dragon’s Orb?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know what you heard, but you don’t have to worry about it. After seeing you hurt, I wondered if it worked.”
“You made a wish related to me.”
“As I said before, as a child I wanted to go with you to all those places. Even if you were to become the wife of another man, it would be only possible if you were alive.”
“So that means…”
A thought suddenly struck her. Carlisle had confessed that he liked her from the start. The ominous prophecy about his first wife dying a miserable death must have been on his mind.
‘Surely…’
Realization slowly dawned on her, and her red eyes widened in disbelief. Carlisle continued speaking, oblivious of what was going on in Elena’s head.
“I prayed to the Dragon’s Orb to keep you from dying.”
“Ah…!”
Elena was thunderstruck. She had always wondered, how did she get back to the past? Now, for the first time, she had her answer. She thought someone had given her another chance, but she never dreamed that it would be connected to a boy she had only met once.
Carlisle looked at Elena’s shocked expression and continued to speak.
“Even so, don’t put yourself in dangerous situations. As I said, I don’t even know if it works.”
He voiced his concerns to her, but Elena didn’t even hear it. There was something else more pressing.
“Caril, we only met once. Why did you make a wish to save my life?”
She could not understand his mindset. Why would he use a wish to protect a girl he only met that day? He could have wished for anything, but he chose only one thing: for Elena to be alive and not dead.
Carlisle smiled back.
“It’s true that I was too young to be overly concerned about what wish I made. But I have never regretted it.”
“…Caril.”
Her throat tightened at the knowledge that Carlisle had loved her all this time without her even knowing it. He had told her he liked her from the start, but this was the first time she understood it with her heart. It was love beyond measure.
“You…you are such a fool.”
Carlisle lifted his eyebrows at her. She did not stop there, continuing to say what she wanted to say.
“You should have made a better wish that could have helped you. My life is—”
Elena’s breath hitched and she stopped speaking. Carlisle, who was watching her, spoke with a faint smile.
“Don’t say that your life is worthless. Because you’re everything to me.”
“Really, you stupid…”
Elena’s voice was thick with tears. She had no idea about this until now, and it would have been unfair if she had gone on not knowing how much he cared for her.
‘If I tell him, will he believe me?’
She had an entire past where her family died and she alone survived, dedicating her entire life to exacting vengeance against Paveluc. It was a lonely hell, and she died without ever achieving her goal.
And then, like a miracle, Elena was given new life…
It was all because of Carlisle’s wish on the Dragon’s Orb. A portion of the prophecy came to mind.
[The first to marry the Crown Prince will spend their life in solitude. They will die a miserable death.]
Elena had never considered it before, but the prophecy described her first life. She had spent it in solitude and then suffered a miserable death, unable to avenge her family in the end.
Elena’s head spun from all the information she learned today. It was as if all the unsolved mysterious in her life had been answered.
However, the most important thing was that Carlisle loved Elena, and Elena loved Carlisle. The curse on the Imperial Family, the myth of the dragon, the wish-granting Orb —many hidden truths were found, but it all paled in comparison to the feelings they had for each other.
Carlisle looked at Elena with a tense expression.
“You must have more questions.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well. About how my arm mutates into something like a monster, and how much power I can use with it.”
Carlisle’s voice grew lower and deeper.
“What if we have a son, and the blood of the dragon flows through him strongly like me? Don’t you wonder?”
Of course she did. She wondered whether the physical changes to the body were dangerous, what they would do if they had a boy child, and whether they could break the curse.
But first Elena wanted to say something to Carlisle, who still bore the shadow of hurt in his eyes.
“Stop calling yourself a monster. You are my husband.”
“…Do you really mean that?”
Both relief and disbelief played across Carlisle’s face. Elena answered with a firm expression.
“Of course I mean it.”
“But didn’t you hear everything? How my ancestor stole this power, and the terrible thing we must do to maintain it…?”
His expression twisted in pain.
“Do you want me to tell you about the day when I was thirteen and I first drank blood? Or how horrible it was to instinctively enjoy the taste?”
Carlisle seemed to deliberately raise questions meant to disparage himself. Elena looked at Carlisle with calm but steady eyes.
“Do you want me to point to you and call you a monster?”
“…!”
When the word “monster” left Elena’s mouth, Carlisle’s eyes widened as if in pain. Elena continued as if she had expected it.
“You’re delusional if you think there’s something wrong with you. I don’t care if you’re a monster.”
“What?”
“Whether you are a monster, a person, a dragon, or anything else, the fact that you are my husband does not change. I’m not the kind of woman you think I am.”
