Chapter 43: Tears of a Dragon: A Mother’s Sacrifice (Side Story)

Memories of a Distant Past

“Life is a stage with no end in sight, and its actors are all who live.”

A beautiful woman, her white hair cascading to the ground, holds a child in her arms.

A straight horn, a symbol of noble birth, protrudes from her head. A horn only high-ranking dragons possess.

“Cynatria, you must act for your entire life.”

She whispers to her daughter, held tightly in her embrace.

Behind her, a raging inferno consumes the Dragon King’s lair, an all-consuming blaze.

The place where Cynatria just killed her father.

And Cynatria’s mother, Mir, holds her close.

Cynatria still doesn’t understand why her father is burning.

Why she’ll never see her always-smiling father again.

Why he fell asleep with such an agonizing expression.

Too young to understand, she simply says,

“Mother…?”

Tears stream down her face, though she doesn’t know why.

A primal instinct, a premonition of her changing life.

Mir wipes away her daughter’s tears.

A contradictory act, considering she’s also crying.

“The one who killed the Dragon King cannot be so weak. You must be cold and calculating.”

“But…”

At that moment, Cynatria understands death.

Eternal farewell and slumber, the world calls it death.

“The one who killed the Dragon King cannot cry. Stop your tears.”

Tears well up in the woman’s eyes.

While the Demon King is chosen based on power, the Dragon King is determined solely by bloodline.

Because bloodline dictates absolute strength.

But in the rare case of the Dragon King dying ‘accidentally,’ distant relatives will swarm, each vying for the throne.

But Cynatria’s power cannot be revealed.

Cynatria is a hatchling who killed the Dragon King.

Kinslaying. Regicide.

The most damning accusations for a dragon.

This fragile yet powerful child mustn’t be subjected to such criticism.

“You must live as a weak dragon, despite your immense power.”

“Mother, what about you…?”

Mir looks at her sobbing daughter.

Cute and fragile. Yet strong.

A child like a branch of the World Tree.

I wonder if this child can survive without me.

“Cynatria…don’t cry.”

A beautiful woman, a vision of what Cynatria might become.

Mir looks down at her own body.

Covered in blood,

seared with burns,

some limbs reduced to ash.

Though it’s practically giving up, suicide, Mir has no choice.

She wants to see her young child grow.

But if she tries to live in this state, she’ll soon fade into the Void.

The Void. Where dragons and elves go when they die.

Where they can be reborn, but their sense of self is erased.

This child doesn’t know.

So Mir prepared the final chapter that all dragons find shameful.

Wiping Cynatria’s tears, Mir says,

“Dragons do not disappear. Dragons are immortal stars, blessed by the most radiant star of creation. I will become the morning dew, a star in the night sky, a human, and then I will return. Reincarnation, the longest path a dragon can choose. Even if I’m not by your side, I’ll always be with you. And if you ever feel alone, remember:

Life is a stage, and those who live are its actors.

Remember these words.”

***

Valentina stops her attack and starts to cry.

With an expressionless face, vacant eyes.

I wondered if it was a tactic…so I stayed on guard, but…

“Mother…?”

Ah, what is this now?

Ileia squeezed her eyes shut.