Ch.155The Emperor’s Secret (2)

# Chapter 155: The Emperor’s Secret (2)

“Hmm, something’s wrong.”

The Saint appeared to be gasping frantically inside her psionic barrier, then made the barrier itself semi-transparent, blocking any view of what was happening inside.

I was a bit worried that something might be wrong, but then I thought:

‘Well, she’s been using psionic abilities for thousands of years longer than us, so she’s probably not stupid enough to self-destruct with her own powers.’

Realizing it wasn’t something we needed to worry about, I turned my attention in the opposite direction.

And there was Artraia, glaring at us with a face much redder than before.

“That’s not it, Arto…”

“What do you mean?”

“No… it’s absolutely not what you think…”

‘Huh?’

The problem was that Artraia kept repeating denials while large teardrops formed in her crimson eyes.

‘…We’re screwed. Whatever it is, we’re definitely screwed.’

Seeing those teardrops that foretold disaster, I tried to ask Riel for help.

“Riel, quickly go get some new popcorn to comfort Artraia…”

But Riel, who had already made that sex joke, had long since disappeared from the scene.

‘…I’ll deal with you later.’

After making plans to give Riel at least three bumps on the head soon, I decided to take the remaining popcorn and apologize to Artraia.

“I’m sorry, Artraia. Soon, Riel and I will get on our knees and apologize properly for that inappropriate comment.”

“…Is that really what’s important right now?”

“Huh?”

I didn’t expect Artraia to go into “don’t you know why I’m angry?” mode.

‘What should I do?’

This would be enough to send an ordinary person into panic.

In fact, as an ordinary person myself, I was about to panic too, but…

[Time Pause]

I had my one cheat ability: Time Pause.

Using this abundance of time, I began to organize my thoughts carefully.

But in the current situation, the cause of Artraia’s reaction was all too clear.

‘Who would feel good about having their intimate activities exposed in front of others like that?’

Moreover, although Artraia had weathered all kinds of storms as an emperor, that was her life “as an emperor.”

How often would she be involved in such crude jokes about sex?

‘Hmm, let’s kill Riel.’

I thought the only way to calm Artraia’s anger was to offer Riel as a sacrifice.

With the determination to prostrate myself, I bowed my head to Artraia and said:

“I’m sorry, Artraia. You had to hear such messy talk about our relationship… I’ll make sure to catch Riel and make her pay the price, so you can rest assured…”

“That’s not what I’m talking about…”

“…?”

Then what on earth was the problem?

Could it be, like in those marriage jokes from my previous life, some kind of test to see if I remembered our anniversary?!

“Artraia! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how you squeezed me like fresh fruit juice that night!”

“…”

“I’ve never forgotten the memories of those days! Artraia!”

“…”

I desperately tried to argue that I hadn’t forgotten our anniversary, attempting to express my grievance to Artraia…

“That night when you squeezed me from head to toe…”

“THAT’S!!! NOT!!! WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!”

Along with Artraia’s sincere shouting that I hadn’t heard in over a decade…

-PABABAT! PPUDDEUK!

“…Oh.”

I could see huge horns and a tail sprouting from Artraia’s head and behind.

And right after seeing that sight.

-Diriririring♬

[Time Pause]

With a unique alert sound I’d never heard before, Time Pause activated on its own.

Then before my eyes appeared a summary… no, an event message explaining exactly what was happening.

[Event: Ether Dragon]

[There is a theory that the races that make up the Holy Empire of Eternia are descendants of giant dragons that once roamed among the stars.]

[However, since these great dragons have been extinct for hundreds of thousands of years, there was no way to know the truth…]

[After coincidence upon coincidence, by some heavenly fortune, the dragon’s blood has manifested in just one distant descendant.]

[But the person in question knew that these characteristics would cause disgust, fear, and hostility in others, so they had been suppressing these traits as much as possible.]

[However, you have continuously provoked and mentally terrorized this person, finally causing their suppressed characteristics to emerge.]

[Your tactless mental pressure has resulted in you witnessing the existence of the universe’s last Ether Dragon race.]

[For discovering the universe’s last Ether Dragon, the discoverer is granted the trait “Observer of the Last Dragon” (5% increased favorability with races that have dragon-blood characteristics)]

It was a long, brick-like event message, but every detail captured my attention.

‘…So Artraia wasn’t even the same race as us, but something completely different?’

And not just anything, but an Ether Dragon, one of the most powerful single raid bosses in the game.

The content of the event message was incredibly surprising, but thanks to it, I felt all the mysteries being solved at once.

‘No wonder I was overwhelmed despite using special stamina potions and various tools.’

I had thought it strange that Artraia possessed strength and stamina surpassing not only ordinary people like me but also superhumans like the Purge Squad, without any body modifications or implants…

Until now, I had no way of knowing more, so I just assumed she had some powerful traits, but…

It turned out her racial value itself was overwhelmingly superior and on a completely different dimension compared to ordinary people.

‘Wait, so I was squeezed by an Ether Dragon?’

This was truly a remarkable experience, and I nodded inwardly as I realized the truth about this matter.

‘So what Artraia and the Saint were talking about wasn’t marriage, but this.’

As written in the event message.

Apparently, Artraia didn’t particularly like her large horns and tail.

And the intangible aura that naturally emanated from her, called Dragon Fear.

‘Come to think of it, Artraia never once told me about her past.’

Even after we became as close as possible, she never brought up her past…

It seemed that for Artraia, the past was filled with nothing but unpleasant memories.

And the cause of those memories was very likely these alien features like horns and tail.

Why else would the event message seriously explain these characteristics?

‘Disgust, fear, and hostility… carrying around three negative things like that.’

This was exactly the kind of thing that would create trauma from childhood, so I could vaguely understand why Artraia was reacting so strongly.

But as the Saint said, she couldn’t keep hiding it forever.

‘It’s time to make Artraia face reality.’

[Time Pause Release]

As soon as I released the time pause, I walked straight toward Artraia.

“Uwuh…!”

As I approached, Artraia backed away in surprise…

But that was only two or three steps at most.

The last step was barely half a foot.

Eventually, she lowered her head deeply to hide her flushed face, fidgeting her fingers behind her back, not knowing what to do.

“A-Arto… you see… this is…”

As I watched Artraia, a new event message appeared.

[Event: Embarrassed Appearance]

[Emperor Artraia is feeling extreme shame and doesn’t know what to do about showing you her dragon-person form.]

[Above all, she is anxious that you will dislike and despise her for this appearance, just as many others have done.]

I dismissed the event message immediately.

One step.

Then another step toward Artraia.

Carefully raising both hands toward Artraia’s face…

I grabbed the horns on the sides of her head and exclaimed in amazement.

“Wow! These horns are real, Artraia!”

“Eh…?”