CH 96

***

It was a strange looking animal. It looked like a lizard or snake, but it had wings. It’s like……

Nelia’s eyes were directed to Zenuit.

‘It looks a lot like a dragon.’

That’s why she thought this book wasn’t related to the curses and explaining more about Sigrit’s myth for a moment, but the dragon drawn in the book was silver, not gray.

In other words, the creature drawn in this book was not Sigrit.

Nelia was bewildered.

She knew that the only dragon in the past was Sigrit, but was there any other dragon that existed at that time? Or was it just another race that resembled the dragon?

“Dragon……?”

Duke Hart muttered while staring at the picture.

Nelia directed her gaze to the picture again.

The creature that looked a lot like a dragon was depicted as in great distress.

“I think it would be wise to look through the book and come up with a conclusion afterwards.”

The duke seemed to have a hard time assessing things with just one picture.

However, as he went through the pages, the story grew even deeper into a labyrinth.

This was because there was no creature resembling a dragon in the next picture. Instead, there was a depiction of a monster with missing wings and feet.

This monster has a similar appearance to the duke when he turned into a monster on the day of total lunar eclipse.

Of course, the duke looked more like a snake, meanwhile the creature in the picture inside the book had a shorter body than him.

In conclusion, they looked similar but had a subtle difference.

The duke continued to turn the pages. There was a creature resembling a snake in the several pictures they stumbled upon.

Halfway through, they encountered a human being again. The man was holding a bottle of blue liquid. There were unknown leaves drawn together on the side.

‘Is it a drawing of the time when the transformation inhibitor was developed?’

It came in a form of pill that is easy to consume now, but she thought it could have come in a liquid when the transformation inhibitor was just developed.

Much to her regret, there were several pictures in the back.

There was one in the last chapter, and as in the first chapter, there was a picture of someone that seemed to be prying while looking at what was supposed to be the moon during the day of the total lunar eclipse.

The book was eventually closed, but no one was willing to speak for a while. As if everyone has a lot on their mind.

It was the duchess who spoke up first.

“The animal in the front…… doesn’t it look like a dragon?”

Nelia and Duke Hart couldn’t answer hastily. Then, the duke spoke up first.

“Did Mother ever hear anything about it?”

The duchess shook her head.

“It’s already been several decades since I’ve become a member of the ducal family, but I’ve never heard of anything other than snakes.”

The duke caressed his chin.

“I think knowing when this book was made will help to understand the content better……”

Nelia agreed with the duke, so she turned the book and looked at the cover.

It was when she found something at the bottom of the back cover, it was written in very small letters, 505, with a symbol indicating the power of the imperial.

‘505……?!’

It meant that this book was 500 years old.

Nelia hurriedly informed the duke and the duchess this fact.

“I think the year this book is written is located at the back.”

The duchess checked the numbers and her eyes opened widely.

“This book is unbelievably from 500 years ago…… How can it still be intact?”

“It’s been a long time since it’s sealed with magic, it seems to be the reason why this has been preserved well.”

Duke Hart said while looking around the basement.

“We can’t stay here forever, so let’s take the book upstairs first.”

***

Four people stared at the book on the table with a serious look in the drawing room.

Zenuit has been quiet since they came out of the basement. To be precise, it seemed that he acted that way after he saw the book with pictures in it.

Nelia spoke up first in order to break the silence.

“Could it be possible that the ancestors of the Hart Family were dragons?”

Of course, snakes and dragons are as different as the sky and the ground, but it was difficult to explain that the pictures earlier weren’t dragons.

Honestly speaking…… she thought if it had wings and feet in the shape of a monster, it would look similar to a dragon.

It was related to the dragon, so she wanted to ask Zenuit, but she didn’t have time to talk about it just with him.

She thought it would be possible to ask Zenuit only when the two of them were back in their bedroom after today’s schedule.

She threw a glance at Zenuit secretly, but he was just doing something else, as if he wasn’t interested in the talk about dragons.

The duchess spoke up, her brows furrowed elegantly.

“That’s what I think…… If it’s a dragon, which is known as a noble creature, how did it turn into a snake?”

The duke spoke expressionlessly.

“It’s a story that shakes the origin of the Duke of Hart. if they were originally dragons, it meant that the heads of Duke of Hart are not humans in the first place.”

His straight gaze created a colder feeling than usual.

Nellia understood what the Duke of Hart was trying to say. Nelia understood what Duke Hart was trying to say.

If he was a dragon in the beginning, but then turned into a snake, as inferred from the contents of the book, then the true appearance of the heads of the Duke of Hart were snakes, not humans.

It also meant that in the first place, there was no entity to the curse. Becoming a snake meant going back to their true self.

Duke Hart’s eyes twitched slightly. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.

The seemingly invisible truth has become a huge sandstorm and hit everyone.

After that, they exchanged opinions about the contents of the book, but nothing became clear, so Duke Hart eventually stood up in frustration.

“I’m going to get some fresh air.”

“……Go ahead.”

The duchess answered, and Duke Hart left the drawing room.

Nelia looked at the duchess. The atmosphere has remained grim since a while ago.

“Your Grace…… are you alright?”

The duchess barely smiled, as if she was frustrated with this. However, the corners of her mouth, which rose vaguely, gave off a pitiful atmosphere.

“There are not many people I can open up to in the Ducal Castle, so it’s difficult for me to hide a hint of expression at this age.”

“What do you mean? I like it when Your Grace expresses your true feelings.”

The duchess smiled bitterly.

“I called you here to help Shilian, but I feel bad because it seemed to make him confused. If I knew this would happen, I should have checked the basement and then contacted you two……”

Duke Hart couldn’t hide his stiff look after they left the basement.

Even Nelia was conscious of the duke’s rare expression.

However, Nelia didn’t think badly of the duke.

“I may not know exactly what the book is about, but we’re taking a step closer to the truth. The duke may be overwhelmed now, but I think this is something he eventually has to face someday.”

“Thank you for your words, Young Lady Nelia.”

The shadow that had casted on the duchess’ face eventually disappeared.

“The reason I called Duke Hart is because of the upcoming total lunar eclipse. I thought that if the book is related to the curses recorded by our ancestors, there would be something useful we can do on that day.”

That must be why the duke wanted to come here.

It was hard to believe that he was much more afraid and anxious about the day of total lunar eclipse than she thought.

She often knew it when he stared blankly or tapping the desk with his fingertips. The behavior was hard to imagine on the usual duke.

She witnessed this side of the duke last year, but it was different now. Did his fear get worse?

He must be confused and frustrated with the current situation.

She came here to find the way so he didn’t turn into a monster, but what he found was the complete opposite.

Perhaps, it can be more devastating…… and cruel.

“Shilian couldn’t control himself when he turned into a monster compared to the other previous heads of the family. Therefore, since he was young, he had a hard time whenever the day of total lunar eclipse approached.

“Yes, it seems to be that way.”

The duchess hesitated and uttered.

“Actually…… I’m the one who made Shilian like that.”

Nelia, who was staring with her eyes downward, slowly looked up. The duchess continued while touching her fingertips.

“In the past, I married my husband without knowing he was suffering from this curse, but I loved him, so I stayed with him even after knowing the truth.”

She also heard this from Duke Hart before.

Most of the Hart Family members were married while hiding their curses. It was the same with the current duchess.

“I felt sorry for my husband who suffered such a curse, that’s why I searched for the way to solve the curse by going all over the empire.”

The duchess blinked slowly as if she recalled the past.

“However, I was probably predicted to be unable to find a way to solve the curse. It’s a curse that even the smart heads of the Hart Family couldn’t solve no matter what they did, so what can I even do to solve it? And eventually, he died at the hands of his close friend. When he was in the form of a monster.”

It was a terrible story she had to hear again. Nelia looked at her sorrowfully.

“Your Grace……”

“I can’t go back to the capital, so I brought Shilian to the ducal castle. And I decided to live for Shilian in the future, but the family’s curse haunted me until the end.”

While blaming the curse, the duchess’ lonely gaze was filled with self-mock in some way.

“It happened when Shilian was 18 years old. During that year, there was a total lunar eclipse, and the sky was unusually dark around that time. Shilian turned into a monster as he always does.”

“……Yes.”

Listening to the duchess, Nelia clasped her hands in anxiety.

“That day, there was a problem in the restraint, so Shilian, who turned into a monster, was freed and turned the castle upside down. And I……”

The duchess swallowed her saliva. The silence felt kind of long as she paused before the important part.

“I just watched Shilian and couldn’t do anything, while he was running around wildly.”

Her faint voice trembled.

“I was so scared, I couldn’t even move. Shilian tried to attack me when he spotted me, but I was able to avoid him because the nearby wizard helped me.”

The duchess closed her eyes as if she deeply regretted it.

“How can I be a mother when I’m afraid of my own children……”

Nelia looked silently at the duchess, who had told her a meaningful story.

“He ruined the castle and I had to rebuild the castle. When I saw the rebuilt castle, I didn’t feel that empty anymore.”

Nelia remembered what the duke said before.

‘Nelia probably didn’t know, but after my father died, mother came here by herself and rebuilt the castle.’

That must be the reason she rebuilt the castle.

She dared not to reckon what the duchess felt at that time, but at least she knew what she should say after knowing how the duchess felt.

“Please don’t blame yourself, Your Grace.”

“……”

“I know it too, because I saw the duke turning into a monster. Terribly burning smell and fierce eyes, it’s natural for anyone to be afraid. I even felt the same way.”

Nelia held the duchess’ hand, which was anxiously adjusting her fan. Her hands were trembling slightly.

“From how I know His Grace, I think he will understand what the duchess felt that day.”

The duchess’ eyes turned red.

“I’m not sure…… I think our relationship has turned bad since that day……”

“Why do you think so?”

Tears fell from the duchess’ eyes.

“Nelia stays at the duke’s residence, so you must have noticed that Shilian and I rarely contacted each other, right?”

“……Yes.”

“On the surface, you probably didn’t know that we have a bad relationship. Although he can’t act silly to me, he’s a good conversationalist and it’s the same to me. But I, who is his mother, know it for sure.”

The duchess continued after wiping away tears with her hands.

“Shilian has been speaking less to me since the day of that incident. And he never came back to the castle unless something specific happened. That’s why I decided to visit the ducal residence in the capital on the day I acted disrespectful toward Young Lady Nelia.”

The day when the duchess was being disrespectful to me……?

Nelia’s face felt warm when she finally understood the duchess’ words.

She meant the day when Nelia spent the night with the duke and she discovered them in bed together.

Nelia glanced at Zenuit who sat beside her randomly, but he didn’t seem to be interested in their conversation.

She was embarrassed for a moment, and soon controlled her expression before continuing her talk with the duchess.

“I think I know why His Grace has been acting that way.”