The man was no longer holding back his emotions; sadness and regret overwhelmed him, and soon tears were rolling down his face. The drink glass was left on the table, but the man rested his head on the table as well.
Shame, disdain, and disappointment are not enough to define how the man feels at this moment. He would love to disappear, suddenly and simply vanish, leaving all this burden behind.
But he can't give up now; he doesn't have that option, and there are only two ways for everything to end quickly. One option would be for everyone in this room to die, and the other option is for everyone in this room to be captured and imprisoned.
Neither is better than the other, which is why the mission he was tasked with was crucial for their survival. But he failed... Failed miserably and stupidly, returning home worse than when he left.
In the middle of the way, he thought about giving up everything, ending it all with his own hands. Hours and hours were spent debating and discussing internally to come to a conclusion. And for a moment, very briefly, he almost chose to give up.
The most important factor for him not giving up was not thinking about what would happen to him if he chose that option. In fact, he only didn't give up because of what would happen to the three women.
Without him, they would be alone, unable to move through any habitable zone and without contact with anyone else. They would be worried, isolated, without help, and literally alone in this place.
It would only be a matter of time before the three began to go insane because of the environment of this place. And nothing good would come from this situation, as they would cause havoc in the surrounding area and disturb the aura of the place.
Moreover, it would be only a matter of time before they found some populated area and caused colossal damage. Until they were found and neutralized one way or another, the damage would be enough to warrant a death sentence.
The man knows this; there have been several previous cases where, for some reason, a dragon went mad and caused a catastrophe. He doesn't want that; these women may have committed a crime, but he would never want them to be known in history for causing a massacre.
For this reason, he decided to move forward... Even knowing that everything would get worse from now on, at least he wants to stay with them until the end. It's the least he can do for them.
"I understand... You failed, so we'll have to try another kind of plan."
One of the women spoke, not as sad as the others but also dejected by the news. She is a red-haired woman with orange-toned hair and eyes of the same color as her hair.
She has a rounded face with small lips and a thin chin. With her well-drawn eyes, she seems to exude youth. Smaller in height than the others, she is also quite modest in her attributes compared to the other two women.
Her name is Nendula Zindor, 348 years old, a former aspirant to Dragon Lady. An apprentice graduated by the Great Dragon Lady Irina Alphard.
Interim professor of Introduction to Aura Electromagnetism at the Primus Draco Magister Regulus Fomalhaut University, the most prestigious university on the entire Bordium continent.
"Humphh, as if it were so easy to plan something without even knowing what the superiors are planning... Although by now, they must have sent someone to track us."
The other woman, the one who stopped the man from drinking more, is Felicia Martin, friend and participatur statera of Nendula. This means that they share a Statera, and therefore live in participatur matrimonium.
Basically, they are married to a Statera and share it equally. But there are many more details that are not easy to explain. They themselves still don't fully understand how participatur matrimonium works.
Anyway, Felicia is a tall woman, taller among the three, a bit larger than the man sitting with them. She has long and voluminous hair that takes over her back, with some strands reaching her shoulders.
The color is a dark and intense green, much like the leaves of a tree; her eyes are slightly lighter green. With a long and symmetrical face, her hair works to obscure some expressions on her face.
Even so, her thick and full lips stand out. Maybe she wouldn't be as beautiful without those lips, but even so, she would still be beautiful. Unfortunately, of the three, she is the one with the most pronounced anger and disappointment in her expression.
She is another ex-aspirant to Dragon Lady, 319 years old, and also an apprentice graduated by the Great Dragon Lady Irina Alphard. She is, or rather was, one of the aura-mechanics engineers from Beta Mirach, one of the 25 great metropolises of Bordium.
She specializes in heavy and large machinery and was part of the main research and development team. A stable job, worthy of admiration and with recognition and support from her old Master.
A little younger than Nendula, but she has a maturity that is lacking in her soror. She understands the gravity of the situation they are in and how low they have fallen.
She also understands and has already made it clear how important the mission the man would execute was. The same mission that failed was, perhaps, the last hope of finding a way out of their situation.
The anger in her expression is not due to the incompetence of the man in front of her, her Statera. Perhaps it's her own incompetence in choosing a worthy Statera. And the disappointment might be because she couldn't foresee the consequences of her foolish actions before.
"I guess we just have to wait, girls... Gregory, I want to ask you to end our Matrimonium."
The calmest and most serene among the three was the woman with black hair and eyes as black as her hair. She is Cristhine Ferguson, a woman of medium height, with wavy hair at shoulder height, with thin and wide shoulders, a long and proportioned face.
She doesn't show emotions on her face, just an expression of someone who is at home sitting on the sofa. Of the three, she doesn't seem to have hope for the future and is resigned to whatever destiny prefers.
She is another ex-aspirant to Dragon Lady, 327 years old, an apprentice graduated by the Great Dragon Lady Tatiana Petrova. But unlike the others, Cristhine is an independent botanical researcher, specializing in plants for body enhancement and combating aura diseases.
Of the three, Cristhine was the one with the greatest chance of ascending. She had already gone through tests, interviews, and observation; only the final combat and aura tuning test was missing.
She believes that in less than 15 years, she would already achieve the ideal level of aura tuning. And with another 5 years, she would have enough combat ability to pass the test. But none of this matters anymore; at this point, nothing will help them.
"Forgive me... I failed you all the only time I couldn't fail. I broke all the remaining trust we had. I'm not worthy of you, and there are not enough excuses to justify this crime."
Desperate, scared, and maybe a little anxious, the man gets up from his chair and kneels on the floor. With resignation, he tilts his neck to the side and exposes his neck.
In dragon culture, this is an act of submission, an act equivalent to offering one's own life. A humiliating act that degrades the honorable and dignified image of the dragon. This act is not looked upon favorably by the dragons themselves because it is seen as cowardly, unworthy, and irreversible.
"I got lost, lost my way, and allowed circumstances to take control of my judgment. It was my fault that we're in this situation; I should have known what our decisions would entail. That's my role... And I couldn't even do that right."
Still in the same position, the man continued to speak, or rather, apologize for his mistakes. This is Gregory, a young aspirant to Dragon Lord, 398 years old, the Statera of Felicia, Cristhine, and Nendula.
An apprentice graduated by the Great Dragon Lady Choi Haeun. Not specialized in any area, he decided to focus on improving and studying his own aura tuning and Statera. A common decision among young male dragons.
But he cannot be considered an intelligent person. He is dedicated and likes to learn, which are good characteristics but not enough to make him above average. And he, like many others like him, is what dragon society classifies as Non Ingeniosus.
It is said that someone Non Ingeniosus can work until they bleed, but they will never come close to someone truly Ingeniosus. Perhaps this is the fate of most and also the heaviest burden for them to carry.
Working so hard to achieve something, only to realize that someone has already achieved much more than you.
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I hope you can help me correct any spelling errors in the chapters.
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