TSMMT Ch 155

You Damn Lady

A drop of blood trickled down Tarascus' cheek, drawing a sharp cry from Adelheit.

They had traveled to a desolate realm far from both the Holy See and the Lodbrog Kingdom. A land where the world's most grotesque aberrations slept.

Beyond the mountain range, the barbarians' realm had long fallen to ruin. Even the wind blew with wicked malice.

Trees resembled sharp thorns, and vegetation exhaled the sickly sweet fragrance of toxic blossoms as if seeking to drain the life from every living thing. Animals had turned into monsters, and water had stagnated into viscous bogs.

A stench of decay mingled with sweet perfume, making Adelheit grimace. Everything in this place craved absolute extinction.

Spotting a massive swarm of monstrous rats, Adelheit veered away. Facing an unfamiliar monster in such overwhelming numbers inspired instinctive dread.

[Adelheit] "Are you alright?"

[Taras] "I am unbothered."

Evading the surging horde of monsters, the dragon muttered indifferently.

[Adelheit] "Why can you not command these monsters? Are they not a dragon's kin?"

[Taras] "Monsters are no kin of mine."

He spoke coldly. Adelheit stared at the dragon, a detached, emotionless entity. Never had he imagined they would journey together like this.

[Adelheit] "I never expected us to travel together."

Voicing his thoughts aloud, he prompted a question from the dragon.

[Taras] "Nor did I. Why do you harbor an interest in such matters?"

[Adelheit] "Perhaps because life grew far too dull."

His life had always been unremarkable. Having abandoned his family's goal of reclaiming the throne, peace was all that remained.

[Adelheit] "World peace... Does protecting something like this not make me feel like the protagonist of a novel?"

[Taras] "You are quite peculiar."

Clicking his tongue, Tarascus tracked a massive energy signature. As expected, the two detected energy sources shared the same origin: one mass of malice and one mass of pure energy.

The dragon had descended to eliminate that mass of malice. Adelheit wondered why Tarascus bore such a heavy duty.

[Adelheit] "Can you not request aid from other dragons? This monster is exceedingly troublesome."

[Taras] "They will not assist me. By decree, we don't interfere in the affairs of other dragons."

So dragons observe a non-aggression pact!

Adelheit felt a surge of satisfaction at uncovering this secret. Yet an odd contradiction struck him.

[Adelheit] "Wait, did you not state that if you were killed, other dragons would rise? Furthermore, you claimed dragons die only if they desire death. Are you a dragon capable of dying?"

Is that not interference as well?

 In response to his query, Tarascus spoke.

[Taras] "I am such a dragon."

[Adelheit] "Are they protecting a dragon hatchling?"

Tarascus' cheeks puffed out abruptly.

[Taras] "I. Am. Not. A. Hatchling."

Adelheit refrained from pointing out that such an outburst sounded even more childish, fearing he might unleash the dragon's wrath.

[Taras] "I am the dragon destined for this task."

[Adelheit] "Ah, I see."

So they protect him because he is a child. Just as Adelheit sighed at the rapidly receding energy signature, a sound resonated from nearby. Adelheit produced a communication crystal.

[Taras] "What is that?"

[Adelheit] "Ah, a routine report. Being out here keeps me isolated from news..."

He conversed with the man inside the crystal ball while Tarascus casually dispatched monsters charging at them.

[Adelheit] "Wait, what?! Repeat that!"

[Taras] "..."

[Adelheit] "The Queen of Lodbrog is trapped in a landslide?! How on earth did a landslide happen?! A fortnight already?! Poor connection or not, you should have tried harder!"

He shouted into the crystal. Tarascus froze in his tracks, standing dazed with wide eyes.

[Adelheit] "Ah, Dian, Dian..."

Severing the connection, he clutched his head.

[Adelheit] "O Dragon, my apologies. I must depart first."

[Taras] "Is Dianna in danger?"

At some point, the dragon had ceased referring to her as "creature" or "human woman." Dianna Brienne was simply Dianna Brienne.

[Adelheit] "It seems someone intentionally triggered a landslide. She is trapped inside a cave, so quickly..."

[Taras] "Let us make haste."

[Adelheit] "Pardon?"

Tarascus transformed instantly. His snout elongated, his eyes narrowed into slits, and his massive body stretched into dragon form. Adelheit mounted his back.

Tarascus soared into the sky, eyes wide. Yet thoughts swirled in his mind.

Dianna Brienne is a low-tier spirit summoner. She can summon spirits without expending mana. Is she someone who perishes so easily?

So why am I turning my back on my immediate duty? I must eliminate that target now. Did I not refrain from transforming simply to track it discreetly?

He had to slay that rift. He had descended to this realm and existed solely for that purpose.

Then why am I turning back without a second thought? Anyone can make a misjudgment. Now that I realize it, I should charge toward the rift.

So why am I speeding toward her?

He couldn't comprehend it. In his perception of time, their meeting was a mere fleeting moment. A byproduct of the very rift he sought to destroy.

So why...?

Soaring through the clouds, the dragon realized the truth far too late.

He had formed an attachment. He had grown attached to Dianna Brienne.

That was why he turned back. Holding that realization, Tarascus beat his wings faster.

---

[Guiscard] "You damn lady?"

He appeared startled by her words.

Though drowsy, Dianna was far from asleep. Sitting up on the edge of the bed, she released a quiet sigh.

[Dianna] "Why am I a damn lady?"

[Guiscard] "..."

[Dianna] "Why?"

She knitted her brows.

[Guiscard] "You heard everything?"

Hearing his displeased tone, she responded coldly.

[Dianna] "Why shouldn't I? Aside from calling me a damn lady, you said nothing of significance."

As she spoke, her robe slipped slightly, exposing her shoulder and chest. She pulled the fabric closed.

Thin fingers, the curve of her neck, her soft contours... She failed to notice his eyes locked onto her exposed skin. To her, being called a "damn lady" was all that mattered.

His throat worked as he swallowed hard, his breathing turning slightly ragged.

[Guiscard] "I... said I loved you."

[Dianna] "..."

[Guiscard] "Bathing completely nude before my eyes... burying yourself in my arms like that..."

[Dianna] "..."

[Guiscard] "You torment me far too much, you damn lady."

She stared blankly at him. Looking down at her, his face overflowed with raw emotion.

She knew that look, the expression he wore whenever he craved to hold her, to possess everything. Even as he called her a damn lady, agonizing desire radiated from him. The intensity took her breath away.

[Dianna] "Then do it."

Surprised by the words slipping involuntarily from her lips, she startled slightly before speaking slowly.

[Dianna] "Since when did you exercise restraint? If it causes you pain, simply say you want me."

Having shared intimacy so many times, why does he make such a pained expression?

[Guiscard] "Do you not understand? I told you I love you."

He responded calmly. Expressing his love appeared to be something profoundly sacred to him. His face contorted not with mere lust, but with something far deeper.

[Guiscard] "Because it is love, I let you go."

[Dianna] "..."

[Guiscard] "It means if you don't desire it, I shall force this upon you no longer. What I desire no longer matters."

The man who had once trampled her wishes, dismissed her fury, and crushed her freedom now gazed at her with clear eyes.

Ah, this man is... different. He is distinctly different from his past-life self.

Instead of those murky violet eyes submerged in darkness, clear eyes stared solely at her. Not as a slave and master, but out of genuine respect.

Understanding this, her heart swelled. Yet when granted freedom, she felt completely at a loss. After all, she had never experienced a free existence.

With a trembling voice, she looked up at him.

[Dianna] "Do you want me?"

[Guiscard] "So deeply."

Hearing those words, she clutched the bedsheet tightly.

[Dianna] "If I accept you today, but say I despise you tomorrow, what will you do?"

[Guiscard] "I shall accept it."

[Dianna] "If I call you my husband today, but denounce you as my enemy tomorrow?"

[Guiscard] "That as well."

[Dianna] "If I express gratitude today, but yell at you in anger tomorrow?"

[Guiscard] "That is only natural."

[Dianna] "If I stay by your side today, but wish to leave tomorrow... what will you do?"

That final question was what she wished to ask. Today, she wanted to remain with him.

[Guiscard] "Then I shall live on, cherishing only today in my memory."

She bit her lip. Reaching toward him, she grasped her robe and allowed it to slip down her shoulders.

[Dianna] "Then today... do as you wish."

[Guiscard] "..."

[Dianna] "No... that is not it..."

She swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry. Was it from her heated body, or something else entirely?

[Dianna] "Today, I want you."

Like an obedient slave, Guiscard began to claim her.

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