Chapter 2

2

I felt a bitter smile tugging at my soul.

Was I the malicious one? It was they who had moved on, treating me with nothing but coldness since my return from the Abyss.

I had expected a warm welcome, or perhaps some care for my broken body.

Instead, one was busy humming Caelum to sleep, while the other spent her days hunting rare monsters to find him treasures.

I had returned to my quarters like a stray dog, only to find my room had been converted into Caelum's storage closet. It was filled with toys he had grown bored with.

From the whispers of the palace maids, I learned that Kaelith had rescued Caelum shortly after I left for the Abyss.

Both women had fallen for him instantly, pampering him to the point of scandal.

Because of their high status, anyone who tried to speak up for me was dealt with through their private, brutal justice.

Slowly, the entire Celestial Heights forgot about me. No one dared mention my name for fear of upsetting Caelum.

I struggled against the silk ribbon, but my aether was depleted from a thousand years of guarding the dark.

Combined with the injuries Lyra and Kaelith had inflicted, my resistance was pathetic, almost comical.

I stopped moving and spoke softly.

"I said nothing. If he was denied, it is because he is unworthy. Is their devotion not enough for him?"

Caelum was just an ordinary siren.

If Kaelith hadn't saved him, he would be nothing.

Even with a thousand years of cultivation, he wouldn't have reached divinity.

Yet, they had showered him with rare herbs and celestial pills to force a divine skeleton to grow within him.

But his foundation was unstable, leaving him sickly. That was why they hadn't hesitated to take my dragon core.

Lyra trembled with rage, the air around her practically vibrating.

"You filthy dragon, shut your mouth! His grace, his talent... someone as useless as you could never understand!"

"Look at you, pathetic and jealous. You don't possess a fraction of Caelum's purity!"

Her eyes glinted with something truly wicked.

"You are so insecure, aren't you? So afraid that Caelum will take us away from you? Did you gouge out your own eyes just to gain sympathy? You are disgusting."

In an instant, the lower officials who had been lingering nearby began to swarm like flies sensing rot.

Their faces were twisted with contempt as they began to point and jeer.

"I thought the last Divine Dragon would be a legend. Look at this wreck. He is an embarrassment to his race! He thinks he can compare to Lord Caelum? He's not even fit to lick Caelum's boots!"

"My god! This loser actually guarded the Abyss? I bet he couldn't even handle a shadow-imp! What a disgrace, still breathing and wasting our air!"

"I've seen Lord Caelum before. He is true elegance. Comparing him to this trash is an insult. No wonder the Princess and the War Goddess prefer the siren!"

The words struck me like thunderclaps, tasting of pure humiliation.

I couldn't understand it. I had given everything for the peace of the three realms, only to be spat upon by everyone.

At the end of the day, Caelum was simply more important to Lyra.

My expression turned to ice. Ignoring the searing pain in my soul, I forced my remaining aether to surge.

The power roared through my veins like a wildfire, centering in my limbs.

With a sharp crack, the silk ribbon binding me exploded into tiny, useless fragments.

Lyra's eyes widened in disbelief.

She let out a sharp, horrified gasp.

"Alaric! I know how much effort you put into making that ribbon for me. How dare you destroy it?"

"You have become so arrogant. Caelum is just an innocent boy. Why must you treat him like an enemy?"