Chương 13: Meeting with Mighty Dragon

"You are not Nathaniel." All of a sudden the immense pressure decreased considerably, until Cecilia was able to breathe.

"Ha... ha…" She started to take deep breaths.

"Who are you, child, and what are you doing in my mind space?" Cecilia's mind was still struggling with the overwhelming fear of the being in front of her. But she didn't dare delay her response.

"Lord of the sky, this insolent one is Cecilia Von Rosenkreuz." Rrrrrr.

"You are too physically weak to have come here on your own, even if you bear my blood. Then how did you get here?" Cecilia also wanted to know how she was suddenly in the presence of the mighty dragon.

"I don't know, your Majesty. I was with my butler when I suddenly lost my consciousness. And the next thing I knew, I was here." Rrrrr. She felt an unfamiliar mana entering her body but she didn't try to resist. And then a very strong gust of wind hit her all of a sudden. She protected her face with her hand.

"You can look up now," said a manly human voice. Cecilia slowly moved her head and noticed that a man was sitting in front of her, on a chair made of earth. He was quite tall, with golden hair and a face that could enchant almost any woman. But the overwhelming fear she still felt from glimpsing the being's true form let her break out of it.

"It looks like someone has overfed you with my blood." The man's voice was sweet, extremely pleasant to hear, like a lullaby a mother sings to her child at bedtime.

"What is the surname of that butler of yours?" Cecilia broke out of her daze with one tight pinch on her hand.

"His name is Edwin Mistborn." The man put a hand on his chin and made a face as if trying hard to remember something.

"Ah... Mistborn. So that lineage still exists." Then he looked at Cecilia from head to toe.

"You were not supposed to be here, at least not yet."

"But there is no changing the facts. Now listen carefully, I'm not going to explain it again. Those who come here may ask me for two things. It can be anything, there is no mortal limit to what I can give you. The only limitation is your own imagination."

"But since you look like you have no idea where you are or who I am, I'll guess this was something of an accident. But it doesn't matter to me. Now, go ahead." Cecilia was confused by what the mighty dragon was saying, but not for long, the being in front of her was telling her she could get anything she wanted. Maybe this is what Edwin was talking about, a chance to get stronger, a chance to finally beat that woman. She knew exactly what she wanted, so without even thinking, she opened her mouth to ask.

"I…"

"No, no, no, and no. I can't give you that. Not possible." But the man interrupted her. Cecilia grew confused as to why the mighty dragon would say that.

"But your Majesty, you said I could ask for anything."

"Yes, I can give you anything, but can you truly take what I would grant, what you desire, without dying? I told you, you shouldn't be here right now. The timing is wrong. So despite there being no limit to what I can grant, there is a limit to what you can have. And it looks like you don't understand the most important question. What you should be asking me is how to remove the curse." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Cecilia's mind went blank for a few moments.

The man noticed her confusion.

"Oh-ho. You don't know about the curse?" He broke into a small, elegant laugh.

"Haha."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, your Majesty. Am I cursed? I don't feel like it."

"Yes, it's a curse. A tiny, terrible curse that is going to kill you within a year."

"But how can that be? If something like that were happening, my family would have noticed. Even if they hadn't, my father would surely have noticed it."

"How would I know."

"What is the curse?" she asked.

"Are you sure you want to waste one of your wishes on this?" Cecilia thought about it, and as much as she wanted to gain something from the mighty dragon and become stronger, she couldn't do that if she died in a year.

"Yes, your Majesty, I'm sure."

"The curse placed upon you turns your mana poisonous to your own body. The more mana your body holds, the more poison it produces, and at a certain point it will start eating away at your life force. And since you share my blood, it's even more terrible, the power you gain from my bloodline will also become a slow weapon that kills you from within. That means any bloodline ability you awaken only speeds your death."

"But it is quite surprising that you are still alive." Cecilia was still processing all this unfamiliar information when he told her this.

"What do you mean by that, your Majesty?"

"I mean the curse is old, very old. It was placed on you a long time ago, likely soon after your birth…"

"So you should not even be alive right now. It doesn't make sense." Then, as if he'd suddenly remembered something, he burst into animalistic laughter and for a brief moment his human form began to shake and reveal his true form beneath.

"Hahahahaha."

"Oh, Nathaniel, you ugly beggar." He laughed for some time, which scared the hell out of Cecilia. After a few more minutes of laughing, he finally calmed down and regained his composure.

"Child, go ahead, ask one more thing." After finding out that she has a terrible curse upon her and will die within a year, there's only one logical question that she could ask. She was really feeling disappointed for not getting any powerful ability from the mighty dragon. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, something that would never come again. But now, this curse has ruined everything for her. She wanted to scream her lungs out, but she couldn't.

"How can I remove this curse, your Majesty."

"You just need to stay close to that butler of yours." Cecilia wanted to ask what he meant by that, but before she could, the sky began to tear apart and the world started to shake.

"Your time is up, child. Also, since you made me laugh after so long, I will grant you a gift." A small white light drifted from the man and entered Cecilia's body. She slowly started to lose consciousness. But there was one more question in her mind that she wanted answered.

"Who is Nathaniel, your Majesty?" The man began to revert back to his dragon form and looked at her.

"He is…" But before she could hear the answer, she lost the consciousness again. — (Edwin's POV) This was supposed to work. Oh my god, what do I do now! After drinking the Heirflame liquid, she was supposed to gain an overpowered ability, but she just fell unconscious and was now trembling in pain. I used Butler care multiple times, but it was not working. I clutched my head. Oh my god, I'm so dead.

I moved hurriedly from one place to another, panicking as I looked at Cecilia's body on the ground, still struggling with the pain.

"Ah… ah…" The sound came out of her mouth from time to time. Nothing was really working now. I had no choice but to get a little physical. I moved my body and then sat down near Cecilia, my knees against my stomach. I poked her pained face.

"Wake up, my lady." Why was sovereign composure not working right now? I needed it in a moment like this. I said a little louder while poking her cheek harder.

"Wake up, my lady."

"Ahh…"

"I guess I have no choice…" Slap!

"Wake up, my lady." Still no response from her. I moved my body and placed one leg on her right side and one leg on her left. Now I was sitting directly above her stomach.

"This is for both of our own good, trust me. I don't wanna do this." I moved my hand and slapped her.

"Wake up, my lady." Slap!

"Wake up!" Slap!

"Wake up!" Slap!

"Wake up!" I continued slapping her for a few minutes until her face was as red as a tomato. And then I moved my face closer to hers, put my hand on her shoulder, and started shaking her body.

"Wake up already!" Then I noticed her eyebrows twitching. Wait… she is waking up. Thud… But my attention was grabbed by the noise. I moved my head up and saw a bucket on the ground, with water all over the place. I noticed white, beautiful legs. Then I slowly continued moving my head upward. I saw her thighs, with thin white leggings tightly wrapped around them, and a black skirt. Then there were two massive "melons." Finally, I noticed Bella's face, which was looking at me like I had done something terrible.

Her face was even redder than Cecilia's. Then she took a step back. I looked at myself or more specifically, the position I was in. Then back at her. Then back at myself. This looks really bad. Then she took another slow step back.

"Wait, I can explain." But before my voice could even reach her, she ran away screaming like her life depended on it.

"I see nothing!"