Chapter 69: An Unexpected Guest
While Ariellia is re-living Queen Meti’s chance encounter with Admetus in her dreams, Eren finds himself entertaining an unlikely guest. Seated across from him is a certain dragon lord, leisurely marveling at his earthly belongings like a child at an amusement park, not minding his image at all. The scene reminds Eren of an old saying, ‘never meet your heroes in real life.’ He can feel his rose-colored glasses crack a bit, it’s getting harder to maintain the lofty untouchable image of his idol in his heart. Eren doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry by this point. He never imagined Jasper could just pop into the seal like an unwanted salesman without any prior warning. He’s sweating bullets just thinking about what the other might say.
‘Who are you and what are you doing in my goddaughter’s body?’ or maybe ‘I’ll give you three seconds to pray before I burn your soul to a crisp.’ He’s prepared to hear such threats, what he’s not prepared for is prolonged silence as the old dragon plays with each item on his desk.
…
Ah, this is driving him crazy. He can finally understand why criminals break in silent interrogation rooms, this uncomfortable stillness is killing him. The dragon lord must have many questions for him, yet he’s just fiddling with Eren’s work laptop, oohing and aahing over a ballpoint pen. Just when he’s about to snap from the crippling suspense, Jasper puts down Eren’s phone and faces him directly for the first time. Okay it’s game time, Eren gulps, ready for the accusations and threats.
“Hello.”
?
That’s it! A nonchalant greeting is not what he was expecting. Confused, Eren tries again, “Aren’t you going to ask me?”
“About?”
“Who I am or why I’m sealed in Arie’s body?”
Jasper tilts his head with a knowing smile on his handsome face. “I don’t see why, it looks to me like you’re already prepared to plead your case without any urging from me. Besides, you may not know it since you’re not a native of this world, but my kind are sensitive to the changes of a soul. No two mana waves are the same…yet yours matches my goddaughter’s perfectly.”
So that’s it, Eren sighs, running his hand through his short curly hair before deciding to just go for it. Jasper is a lot older than he lets on, perhaps there are things he knows that they don’t. Similar to David’s dire situation with the unborn dragon egg, maybe he can find a solution for their current predicament as well.
“Here’s the thing, my name is Eren Walden. I come from a place called Earth. I’m here because I found out that Ariellia cast a Soul Calling spell. When I died from a car crash back in my world, my soul was drawn in by her spell.”
“Hmm…makes sense, I could tell something was off since the cottage incident, you were so distant. My precious gem would have known it was a charade the moment she saw my face. So, it’s been you this whole time?” He doesn’t seem alarmed or upset by the news.
“Yes, I took over a day before the wedding. Ariellia was asleep for most of it because of this seal, she only recently reclaimed control when David was about to die. She’s the one that performed the Soul Array spell on the battlefield.”
“Hmm, makes sense. She always had an affinity for life magic. I’ll have to lecture her later about using forbidden life magic without consulting me first. On the scale of forbidden magic, the soul calling spell isn’t as dangerous as others but that doesn’t negate the high risk involved. If you hadn’t conveniently died at that moment who’s to say what she kind of backlash she would have received.”
‘Sir, did you just say conveniently. There’s nothing convenient about dying like a dog on the street!’ Eren’s lip twitches, finding the dragon uncle’s viewpoint to be too refreshing.
Jasper nods his head, not noticing the odd look on the young man’s face. “I guess this is for the best, it’s at least better than what we initially hoped for.”
“Which would have been?”
“When Arie was born, due to the forbidden life magic that made it possible for her birth in the first place, her soul was split. If she hadn’t called you to our world, her life would have naturally been cut short by fate. She would have lived out her life as a phantom of her true self.”
“A phantom? You must be joking right?”
“Not at all, think about it. When did that silly boy finally start paying attention to what’s been right under his nose this whole time.”
Eren frowns. As the game’s protagonist, he’s not used to someone referring to Rei in such a cynical tone. Most of the supporting characters in the game were always appreciative towards Rei, praising him for thinking beyond his age.
Jasper points to the memory playing out on the TV screen. It’s a scene of a lonely black dragon whose injuries had healed long ago but still stayed put, weathering many seasons in a forest clearing, patiently waiting for a certain human girl to return. If Arie is viewing the dream from Queen Meti’s perspective, then Rei must be viewing it through Admetus’ eyes.
“He wasn’t getting the right queues because Arie’s soul wasn’t complete. If you hadn’t shown up, I doubt he would have ever figured it out. His dragon core would have never recognized her.”
“Is that why she doesn’t have a mark like Queen Meti?”
Jasper laughs, smacking his knee like this is the funniest thing he’s heard all day. “I’m afraid not, think about it, Rei just awakened his heritage. This will count as their first life cycle together. Besides, the reason is quite simple, look no further than their unused matrimonial bedroom. In legal speaking terms they are yet to consummate their marriage.”
“Oh”
There’s really nothing more to be said, Ariellia’s body will likely stay unmarked for quite some time then.
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