Chapter 45

Chapter 45

“Luciel, I’ll be looking over there for a moment, so you look for the book comfortably.”

“Yes!”

Just in time, a book that I hadn’t seen before was stuck in the magic book corner.

“Oh, I guess this is one of the new books!”

『Legendary Magical Plants』

Magic and plants were two words strong enough to interest Luciel, but Magic Plants was another discovery.

Luciel approached the book as if possessed. The location of the bookshelf was also similar to Luciel’s height, so it was in a place that was easy to take out.

On the green cover, bushes were drawn on the gold border.

As soon as she opened the first page of the book, a bookmark fell off. It was a thin bookmark in the shape of a blue shiny butterfly. Luciel quickly picked it up. The moment she touched the bookmark, a voice could be heard in Luciel’s head.

-It’s you. The child who’s called daughter-in-law.

Luciel’s eyes widened in surprise at the sound of a woman’s voice that came out of nowhere. She looked around, but there was no one there.

‘Gh……ghost?’

Frightened, Luciel hurriedly put the bookmark back with trembling hands and tried to go, but the voice spoke again.

– You’re a cute kid. Don’t be so scared I am Evelyn from the West Tower. I think you can wake me up from my sleep. Please help me. The clue is in this book.

“….What? How can I?”

The butterfly bookmark soon lost its light, and the voice was no longer heard.

‘Who is Evelyn?’

For some reason, it was a name that wasn’t unfamiliar as if she had heard it somewhere. Just in time, Gillard was approaching this way.

“Grandpa!”

“Huh……? That bookmark!”

His gaze reached the butterfly bookmark that she was holding. Luciel showed him the bookmark first and asked him.

“Grandpa, do you know this bookmark?”

“I know. Why are Evelyn’s things here?”

As Gillard narrowed his eyes and said so, Luciel paused as she heard the name Evelyn from his lips.

“……That name.”

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing the surprised Luciel, Gillard asked back.

“I heard a voice from this bookmark. She called herself Evelyn of the West Tower. Is this someone you know?”

Gillard’s eyes widened and he approached Luciel.

“What? Is that real?”

“Yes, she asked me to help wake her up.”

His wife, Evelyn, was definitely asleep. But she spoke with Luciel…. He couldn’t easily believe it, but he slightly subsided his rising doubts. He needed to explain things to Luciel first.

“I see, that’s right. Evelyn, she is my wife. She founded Bellstein with me.”

“Really? Where is the West Tower? Is Madam Evelyn alive there?”

At Luciel’s question, Gillard replied as if he was deeply troubled.

“Yes, there is a hidden west tower in the Duke Castle. That is where Evelyn is.”

Luciel was relieved to hear that she was alive, because she really thought Evelyn was a ghost. Was it because of magic that a living person spoke to me in that way?

“It’s strange. That Evelyn has called you.”

“I don’t know either.”

Luciel shook her head because she didn’t really know why she could hear Evelyn.

“Or maybe it’s time for her to wake up from her sleep?”

“Sleep….?”

“Dragons have a period when they fall deeply asleep. Evelyn is a half dragon.”

“What……? Madame Evelyn, is… a dra…. a dragon?”

Gillard nodded. As he was telling the story of Evelyn, his eyes were affectionate the whole time.

“It is. The fact that the coat of arms of Bellstein is a dragon means that we protect and love it.”

“There was a romantic reason that was really unimaginable.”

After she came to Bellstein and thought there were no more surprises, she continued to be surprised…… She couldn’t believe the Elder Madam was a dragon.

“Luciel, you seem like a very special child.”

‘The sleeping Evelyn recognized Luciel and even sent her a message…… What is Luciel?’

Gillard had an intuition that Luciel was a transcendent being equal to that of a dragon. Luciel didn’t know what was going on either, but she was Grandpa’s wife, so she wanted to help her if she could.

“Oh, Grandpa. Can you take me to the West Tower?”

“Of course. Let’s go now.”

“Yes!”

Luciel packed the butterfly bookmark and books together. As they moved through the portal, there was a round tower in the lush spruce forest where the fortress of the Duke’s Castle could be seen in the distance.

Luciel was worried about the gloomy atmosphere around her.

“Is Madam Evelyn staying here alone?”

“I sometimes come in and out, and Eva takes care of her.”

“I see.”

Antique furniture and golden decorations were scattered throughout. The interior of the tower was luxurious and splendidly decorated. Above all, the fresh air flowing as soon as they entered was different. Was it because of a dragon’s breath? The feeling of pressure on her body made her heart race.

The tower was wide enough for a human to live, but I thought it would be too narrow for a dragon to sleep in, but I understood it only after facing the human form of Evelyn. On a large bed, she was asleep with a very calm face. Luciel looked up and admired her.

‘How long have you been sleeping? By the way, she’s very beautiful!’

She was a middle-aged woman with jet-black hair and fair skin. She is so elegant and dignified that no one will ever think that she is a dragon unless they are told.

Gilliard looked down at her with affectionate eyes, showing how dear Evelyn was to him.

‘It’s the first time I see Grandpa like that. I guess the two of them are on really good terms.’

Luciel had a smile on her face without realizing it.

“Honey, Evelyn. I brought Luciel here……”

Gillard approached and spoke kindly, as if he was speaking to an awake person, even if she was in a deep sleep, as if dead.

“Luciel. Since you came here, can’t you listen to Evelyn’s voice again?”

At his question, Luciel shook her head.

“No. I can’t hear her.”

Luciel looked down at Evelyn. She tried not to miss a single thing, lest she would give Luciel any signal, but there was no change.

Gillard immediately said,

“Usually, when a dragon goes to sleep, they don’t wake up no matter what they do for decades or even hundreds of years. If Evelyn asked you to wake her up first, Luciel, I think you could do it.”

“But how…… Ah!”

Suddenly, I remembered the last words Evelyn had said to me. Luciel opened the book she brought together with the bookmark.

“Evelyn said this book is a clue.”

“This is a book about magical plants.”

Gillard opened the book and looked at it. Luciel, who was silent, asked,

“What is a magical plant?”

“It is literally a plant with magic.”

At his concise answer, Luciel remembered meeting a tree with magical powers with Gillard.

“Like the moonlight dew tree you showed me last time?”

“Yes. However, the legendary magical plants are especially rare and powerful magic plants. They are all different from where you get them, their uses, and their effects, but they all have one thing in common: they are all related to legendary beings.”

“Ah……”

It was a mysterious story the more I heard it. Speaking of legendary beings, Luciel had several legends in her mind.

A mermaid who lives in the depths of the sea, a vampire who drinks human blood, a unicorn with horns…… perhaps fairies were also one of those legends.

My heart was pounding as I wondered if I would be able to meet such beings in person.

“Thinking about it, Grandpa. The fact that plants are associated with legendary beings… Can we ever meet that being?”

“I can’t be sure of that. Such special beings do not easily show themselves to others. But it must exist somewhere in this world.”

Luciel also nodded her head at those words.

Gillard rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking about the past.

“Come to think of it, Evelyn said before going to sleep that maybe she could find a way to control her sleep phase. But the next day, she fell asleep…”

Gillard’s expression darkened. Luciel also dropped her eyebrows like a sad puppy.

“I don’t know how to do it.”

“Unfortunately, it is.”

She couldn’t let go of things like this. Luciel cheered up again and held a large book in her arms.

“I will go back and take a closer look at this book. Maybe there are some clues.”

“That would be good. Let’s find a way to wake up Evelyn. Until now, I never thought there would be a way to control a dragon’s sleep phase. I’ll have to ask the other wizards a little more.”

“Yes, please!”

Luciel hugged the book, sat on the sofa, and began to read it carefully. There were quite a few plants about ‘induced sleep’ or ‘hibernation’, but there were no plants to wake someone up. However, while turning the pages, Luciel found some torn parts. When she returned to the table of contents, it was about a magical plant called ‘Rose of the Phoenix’.

“……A Phoenix’s Magical Rose? Why is this part missing?”

Luciel went to the librarian and asked for help, but he said that was the only data on magical plants.

The Phoenix was a mythical ancient animal. It seemed to be an unusual plant.

‘What does it have to do with Phoenix?’

Gillard, who had been away for a while, returned to the library.

“Grandpa! I looked it up and there were torn pages in the book. It was a page with a plant called the Rose of the Phoenix!”

“The Rose of the Phoenix?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, yes. That’s the only thing!”

“Oh, do you know?”

“That’s right. For wizards, the Phoenix is a legendary, immortal being that symbolizes fire and vitality. So everyone wants to find a Phoenix.”

“Because the power of the Phoenix is ​​that strong…!”

Gillard nodded his head as Luciel said with his eyes twinkling.

“Yes. The Phoenix has a strong power inside its very existence. Feathers made of flame can raise the dead, and it is said that if you eat the heart of a phoenix, you will become immortal. So a lot of people came to the Phoenix to get that power.”