* * *

‘…If this keeps up, His Grace won’t be able to hold on much longer.’

Amid the diminishing tremors, Ed got to his feet and slowly approached the platform.

The Grand Duke noticed him but couldn’t stop him, as he was focused on maintaining the barrier.

Rumble, crash!

Just as Ed nearly reached him, another powerful tremor struck, as if it were the final blow.

Ed stumbled and fell, and the ground around him began to split and crumble.

Irtel and Jaynon, nearby, tried to reach Ed, but they couldn’t abandon the people they were protecting.

“Knights, don’t move hastily! Watch for secondary collapses and protect those around you!”

Ed felt a sense of calm spread among the panicking crowd at the Grand Duke’s commanding voice.

Reassured that people wouldn’t endanger themselves for him, Ed was swept by another worry.

‘I can’t have Ronen or His Grace feeling sad because of me….’

As the ground beneath him gave way, Ed felt someone pull him into an embrace before everything went dark.

---

Crackle, crackle.

In the dim darkness, the sound of a small fire crackling echoed softly.

“Water…”

A groan-like murmur escaped Ed’s lips.

“Here, Ed. Just open your mouth a little; you might have hit your head when you fell.”

Cold water trickled into Ed’s mouth, and he swallowed eagerly.

Then, realizing something felt off, he shot upright—only to collapse back down with a dull pain.

“Don’t try to move. Really, Ed…”

That’s when Ed understood where he was and who had shielded him from harm before he fell.

“You’re safe now, Ed.”

With effort, Ed opened his eyes to see the Grand Duke’s worried expression.

“…Are you alright, Your Grace?”

“It’s you who’s hurt, not me.”

“But earlier, I saw blood at the corner of your mouth.”

“Did you move because you saw that?”

“…Yes.”

“It was just temporary, nothing serious, as you can see.”

Ed’s unease finally began to fade as the Grand Duke smiled gently, pointing to his mouth.

The tension in Ed’s heart eased.

“Has the earthquake stopped?”

“It seems so.”

“Do you think everyone else is okay?”

The Grand Duke spoke in a calm voice.

“Fortunately, the tremor that caused you to fall was the last. Even if it hadn’t been, the magic shield was still active, and I had asked Irtel to handle any aftermath, so there would have been no casualties.”

Finally releasing his last bit of worry, Ed sighed and looked around before speaking again.

“Then, are we underneath the ground? I didn’t expect there to be a hollow space down here.”

The Grand Duke nodded slightly.

“I did a bit of scouting while you were unconscious, and this place is surprisingly expansive. Who would’ve thought there was a secret chamber this close to the Northern Fortress?”

Feeling his dizziness subsiding, Ed forced himself to stand.

His body ached, but he spoke determinedly.

“Then we should probably look for a way out. Everyone must be worried about you, Your Grace.”

The Grand Duke knew Ed was overexerting himself, but getting Ed medical attention as soon as possible was a priority in this unknown place.

“Judging by the statues and murals around us, there’s likely a passage leading outside…”

“Trying to escape upward would be too dangerous, right?”

“If I use magic incorrectly, the ceiling might collapse entirely from the damage caused by the earthquake. It’s best avoided.”

Instead of feeling disheartened, Ed held up a piece of firewood from the campfire and illuminated the surroundings, pointing to a wall.

“Most of the writing is faded, but the murals seem to point in one direction. If we head that way, we might find something. Let’s go that way, Your Grace!”

Ed’s fear had melted away, replaced by the thrill of exploration.

‘This is the kind of fantasy adventure I wanted! Not palace politics or aristocratic scheming!’

The Grand Duke watched as Ed, now brimming with excitement, and gently ruffled his hair before moving toward the direction Ed had indicated.

Then Ed exclaimed softly.

“Your Grace, the paintings on this wall seem a bit unusual.”

The Grand Duke’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Ed’s torch illuminated faint images of dragons, the symbol of the North.

“Is it really a dragon, Your Grace?”

“Yes, though I can’t tell much else from just the images.”

Ed raised the torch higher, revealing countless murals that had been hidden in plain sight.

From dragons carrying people to dragons moving in herds alongside ancient humans, the wall was covered with diverse depictions of dragons and the people who coexisted with them.

Ed studied the murals intently, eventually realizing they all seemed to converge around one central image.

The mural stretched out like a panoramic photo from the past.

“What do you think this means?”

The Grand Duke carefully studied the part Ed pointed at with his hand.

“If this is drawn in chronological order…”

Ed watched the Grand Duke’s profile, illuminated by the light.

The Grand Duke, propping his chin with his hand, observed the mural intently.

Ed was curious about what else the Grand Duke was thinking, but he refrained from interrupting him.

After silently looking at the mural, the Grand Duke seemed to realize something and called out to Ed.

“Ed, come here for a moment.”

“Yes.”

Ed moved quickly at the Grand Duke’s request.

“I think this explains why there are so many dragon-related paintings at these northern ruins.”

“Oh, then we can also understand why the black dragon became a symbol of the North?”

The Grand Duke looked into Ed’s eyes, which sparkled under the light, and spoke again.

“You could say that. The origins are so ancient that, unless it’s the Imperial Palace, there’s hardly any information about the black dragon in the North.”

The Grand Duke pointed to the mural’s beginning and looked at Ed.

“It looks like the place where the black dragon fell from the sky is the northern castle we live in. The flowers and rocks painted around here still exist in that area.”

Listening to the Grand Duke’s deductions, Ed admired him internally.

‘I never would have guessed that this place in the mural was the northern castle. But His Grace managed to infer all that from just a small clue.’

“At first, I thought the people gathered around the dragon were trying to hurt it, but now it seems unlikely. What do you think, Ed?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Ed paused but soon gathered his thoughts.

“I also don’t think the ancient people attacked the dragon. If they had, they wouldn’t have lived alongside it, as shown in the surrounding murals.”

The Grand Duke inwardly smiled, noticing the joy in Ed’s eyes, but he playfully voiced a counterargument.

“Hmm, but what if the ancient people captured the dragon and raised it as a beast of burden? From the dragon’s perspective, it would’ve been a painful time, and maybe the murals are twisted from the ancient people’s point of view.”

Ed tilted his head slightly at the Grand Duke’s words.

“While it’s possible, I doubt the northern castle’s symbol would be a revered black dragon if they had treated it like livestock. They wouldn’t have worshipped it so sacredly.”

The Grand Duke pointed to more murals and spoke again.

“Here, this painting shows the fallen dragon placed on an altar. Could this be evidence of them hunting the dragon?”

Ed examined the mural and the surrounding details.

“I think the ancient people moved the dragon to the altar to save it. Look at this part, where a priest-like figure is touching the dragon’s body. If they had hunted it, as Your Grace suggested, the next mural would’ve shown them celebrating with their prey instead of tending to an injured dragon wrapped in bandages.”

“Then why did humans appear where the dragon once stood? The dragon seems to have vanished… where did it go?”

Ed faltered, hearing the Grand Duke highlight the part that troubled him the most.

“Well, it’s just a hunch, but… what if the dragon transformed into a human? I once read a book that mentioned dragons being able to change into different species. Maybe it couldn’t maintain its original form and borrowed the appearance of the ancient person who healed it. See here, where parts of the figure are shaded black? Maybe that’s what it means.”

‘I never thought I’d be discussing a mythical dragon story in this world…’

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ed decided to embrace the absurdity with a touch of humor.

‘Besides, dragons in fantasy novels and the ones depicted here look similar, right? It could all be the same.’

The Grand Duke, who had been deep in thought, agreed with most of what Ed had said.

“I find myself agreeing with you, Ed. I don’t know if dragons can really turn into humans, but there’s definitely some secret between the ancient people and dragons. However, one thing still bothers me. Do you see how the priest-like figure is holding the dragon’s neck rather than using herbs or bandages? If it was healing magic, shouldn’t it be applied directly to the wound?”

“Couldn’t it be a high priest of that era?”

“At first, I thought so too, but it feels different. Normally, healing magic is cast directly on the injury, but this figure is embracing the neck, not tending to it.”

Only then did Ed realize the strangeness that the Grand Duke had sensed.

When Ed turned away from the mural, his eyes met the Grand Duke’s.

* * *