Chương 133: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 133 - Let Anna Protect Brother From Now On

Anna heard Su Nian's voice, and her slender shoulders shook. She lifted her eyes, those eyes that had turned deep crimson-gold, and stared blankly at the Black Dragon. Those tightly shut dragon eyes were open now. And what lived inside them was exactly what Anna knew, what she'd always known: warmth. Safety.

"Brother, wuu, wuuuu..." She called his name through trembling breath and threw herself into his arms like a bird flying home. Her soft, slender hands opened as wide as they could go, wrapping around a creature far too large for her to hold. As if she could press herself all the way inside him.

"Don't cry. I'm not dead." Su Nian stroked her head gently with his wing. Anna looked up at him, wretched and wet-eyed. Tears rolled down her face in fat, unbroken drops.

"Brother, you... how could you..."

"Did you want to leave Anna all alone? Why would you do something like that behind my back — swapping hearts, of all things — it sounds so dangerous, what if... what if... wuuuu..."

"You promised we'd always be together!" Her voice cracked from the crying, hoarse and breathless, each word dragged out with effort. Her words were all accusation, top to bottom. But her tone was soft and teary and trembling, less like anger, more like begging. Her peach-blossom eyes were swollen almost shut from crying. They were full of hurt and grief and nothing else. Exchanging hearts was, objectively, a deeply moving thing.

But for two people who loved each other, especially with Anna's attachment to Su Nian, that profound and bone-deep kind of love, the feeling of being moved had been completely buried under everything else. Guilt. Fear. Relief too tangled up in anguish to feel like relief.

"Brother, did you really think..." Her voice dropped. Quiet and distant now.

"Did you really think that by giving your heart to me — by sacrificing yourself, I would just... go on living?" She cradled his great head in both hands, pulling it gently against her chest. The dragon heart was still adapting inside her. Her strength was rising, quietly and quickly, without her even noticing.

"No." Her tone was soft, but absolutely certain.

"If you had died. Anna would have died too. Without a single doubt." Not a negotiation. A statement of fact.

"Anna, I'm sor, " Su Nian had never faced a moment quite like this. He started to apologize, because he had made that decision without her, entirely on his own, and that part wasn't nothing. But he didn't get the chance. Anna was already holding his head in her hands. She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him, quiet and sure, right on the mouth. Well. Stronger now, apparently. He could tell. Su Nian shut his mouth and stayed still. He let her kiss his dragon face.

The cool, soft pressure of it settled something in his chest, slow and steady, like a tide going out. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Prprprprpr~" Damn. Still couldn't hold it back. He felt genuinely embarrassed about that. Anna didn't say a word. She just closed her eyes and let him do it, perfectly relaxed, giving him free rein.

"Ahem. Right, well. Couldn't help it. Force of habit." He licked his lips sheepishly after a moment. The problem was his dragon tongue had its own opinions and only occasionally checked with his brain first.

"Brother." Anna opened her eyes. The redness hadn't left them, and there were still tears caught at the corners, but her gaze had gone soft as still water.

"Don't say sorry."

"It's Anna who should be sorry."

"If Anna weren't such a burden, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much. You wouldn't have had to tear your own heart out to save me." Her voice caught.

"It's all, it's all Anna's fault..." She was winding up to cry again. Su Nian pulled her into his arms before she got there.

"Hey. Stop. I'm not dying, I'll just be weak for a bit. And you know what your brother is?" He said it with complete confidence.

"A dragon."

"You understand? A dragon."

"A legendary creature. Unkillable as a cockroach~""And besides, Anna, you should actually be happy right now. Because you really, truly can stay with me forever now." Half true, half nonsense. Completely adequate for the girl in front of him.

"Pfft, " Whatever fear and lingering dread Anna was still carrying, it cracked open. She laughed through the tears, sudden and helpless. What dragon in the history of dragonkind had ever called itself a cockroach? Dragons were proud. That was basically law. Only her brother would drag himself through the dirt just to make her smile. The thought settled warmly in her chest. She looked at him, and the love in her eyes was so open it nearly spilled over.

"Brother... are you really okay?"

"You're not allowed to lie to Anna anymore, you know~""Completely fine. Don't believe me? Listen to my heartbeat, it's much stronger than before." He said it like it was obvious. Then he quietly sped up his blood flow, pushed his heart a little harder. The beat did pick up. So did the dull ache from somewhere deep inside, radiating out from more than one place, actually. But he was a Black Dragon. As long as he chose not to show it, nothing reached his face.

Anna pressed her ear to his chest anyway, still not quite satisfied. Her little ears twitched with each beat. They tickled. Su Nian, primarily to avoid punching an accidental hole in Serestia's palace, redirected his attention to Anna's newly updated status panel.

[Name: Anna Hathaway (Full Dragonification)] [Rating: SSS Grade] [Personality: Lively, Gentle, Kind] [Race: Dragon Elf] [Power: Level 29 (Third Tier) Draconic Archmage] [HP: 9200] [Magic: 4800 (Spirit x40) (Affinity Bonus)] [Strength: 36] [Constitution: 92 | Armor: 920] [Spirit: 120 | Attack: 2400 (Spirit x20) (Affinity Bonus)] [Status: Dragon Heart Adapting] [Talents: Supreme Water Affinity, Supreme Light Affinity, Nation-Toppling Beauty (Active), Delicate Constitution (Passive), Alluring Fragrance (Passive)] [Skills: Draconic Elemental Magic, Half-Dragon Form, Water Orb (Auto-learned), Illumination (Auto-learned)] [Current Favorability: 100 (Undying)] [Evaluation: A very lucky girl]...

He checked his own panel afterward. Then stared at it for a moment. He might not actually be able to beat her right now. Might. Emphasis on might, his weakness was temporary, and the System's modifications to him had come through the heart transplant almost entirely intact. So there was that. But his little treasure had made quite a leap. From a frail mage apprentice to something else entirely. Her Strength stat alone was enough to crush most dedicated warriors, and that was before getting to the magic.

The dragon heart combined with her natural talent had pushed her magical output somewhere near its absolute ceiling. He couldn't put an exact number on it, but if she used something like Fireball right now, he suspected the yield would be roughly equivalent to a TNT detonation. Anna listened to his heartbeat a while longer. His pulse was steadier. Better. Her body was telling her the same thing her ears were, the worst had passed. He was going to recover. The danger wasn't gone, but it wasn't immediate anymore.

Still. He'd said it himself. He'd be weak for a long time. That thought brought a fresh wave of gratitude and guilt, complicated and tangled, pressing up against each other until her heart ached with it. Brother's heart is inside Anna now... And Anna's heart is with Brother... She pressed one soft hand to her chest. The heartbeat she felt there was strong and full and steady. A warmth climbed into her face without her permission.

"Brother." She raised her head.

"Starting today, let Anna protect you." She smiled, bright and clear as sunlight. Then she rose onto her tiptoes and kissed the stunned Black Dragon gently on the cheek. ➤ Next: Return to the Dragon's Nest