Chapter 211 - My Dragon Wife Is Feeling Down
We spent a good while talking about life at the academy, which gave me the chance to learn more about Nora. She was part of the prince's class in her second year and mentioned that she possessed the water element. Her dream after graduating was to become a Builder Mage and work at the healing potion factory.
The task of Builder Mages of Water was delicate and demanded absolute precision. Nora explained that potion containers, due to their fragility, could only be handled by water mages since even wind mages were considered too unstable for the job. The factory had a fully flooded area beneath its facility where the potion containers were immersed in water. Water mages like Nora controlled the flasks through this environment, guiding them through the production process with gentle, exacting care.
Additionally, the potion-making process demanded a special type of water—mana-infused water generated by a mage's own power. Purity was essential in this process, which made regular water unusable. Any contamination, no matter how minor, could ruin an entire batch, making the precision and control of water mages absolutely crucial.
Not to brag, but I think I'll do well on that healing potion exam.
My mother and Martha continued talking with the Norfolk family in the sitting room, so I decided to head up and check on a certain "little one". When I entered my room, I found Cylla curled up on the bed. She lay with her back to the door, staring at the wall with a posture that radiated a stormy mood.
"Need a hug?" I asked, approaching her quietly.
She glanced at me sideways, her eyes glinting slightly.
"Not even that's gonna fix my mood…"
"Sorry," I sighed, "I shouldn't have joked like that."
She's really feeling sensitive.
I turned to leave when, suddenly, she called out:
"Wait!"
I stopped, turning back and trying to decipher her feelings.
"What is it?"
"You… wouldn't abandon me, would you?" she asked softly, hiding her face in her paws.
I sat down beside her on the bed and, without hesitation, began to gently pet her head.
"Don't worry. I'll never let anyone take you away. Whether it's a king, queen, emperor, or even a god… I'll never abandon the ones I love."
This was a promise I held in every fiber of my being—my family came before anything, even my own life.
"We'll stay together until the end," I added, teasing her with a gentle tweak to her tiny nose.
She let out a soft sigh, almost like a whisper.
"Yeah… until the very end," she said.
To cheer her up, I decided to do something she had once hinted at in her thoughts. I lay beside her, pulling her close in a gentle hug. It was funny how calm she looked, almost vulnerable, lying there.
"Can you stay with me like this tonight? I'm cold…" Cylla murmured.
I rolled my eyes, smiling.
"Liar. You're a phoenix, you don't get cold."
'Darn… almost had him convinced…' I heard her think softly, like a faint whisper.
I was surprised to realize that our bond had deepened to the point where I could hear her thoughts. This occasional telepathy was happening more often now, though I didn't fully understand how. Maybe it was best to tell her—I didn't want to invade her mental space, or hear something that might embarrass us both.
Finally, Cylla's mood seemed to have improved. Ever since the incident earlier, she'd been unusually sensitive, her reactions strangely more human, as if, little by little, she was absorbing these feelings and vulnerabilities. It reminded me of how my own childlike body had affected me, shaping my mindset, and it was clear that Cylla was experiencing something similar in her current form.
That guy, Sebastian, nearly undid all the progress I've made over these years… he has no idea the danger he was in.
I thought back on how much she'd changed over the years. From an angry, vengeful phoenix, marked by months of imprisonment and suffering in those chains, she was now gradually allowing herself to feel and trust again. Her hatred for humans, forged in that prison, had been a barrier that I'd been trying to break down with patience and care.
I understood her anger – after all, I'd once destroyed all of Olympus out of a festering grudge, even knowing that not all gods had wronged me directly.
"Can't get rid of that white mark on your forehead?" I asked, standing up and sitting on the edge of the bed, considering a solution. "If we could remove that mark from your forehead, maybe you wouldn't be recognized as a moon panther."
She shook her head, frustrated. "I can't do that. My Body Aspect isn't flexible enough for that. When I tried to imitate Carnellian's form, I had to stay in dragon form for nearly a month before I could adapt it to a phoenix form."
I was surprised to learn it was such a lengthy and complex process.
"I'm constantly using the Body Aspect to maintain this phoenix appearance," she continued, "but my flexibility for altering details is limited. This form is an 'outer shell,' and my dragon form is developing inside. To modify the 'shell,' I'd have to reverse everything and revert to dragon form."
I sighed, realizing just how challenging it was for her to keep her form. Part of me had already suspected as much.
"Then maybe it's better to leave it as is," I said, resigned. "There's no way to hide a dragon in a place like this. And you don't have to pretend it's just exhaustion... I know you're like this because your mana is constantly low from sustaining this form. You're straining yourself to keep this appearance, and it's hurting you. I need to find a way to handle this."
Before I could continue, she jumped into my lap, her expression distressed.
"Please don't send me away. I want to stay here with you… especially after what happened with those assassins. I don't want to lose the only person I have in this world."
The sincerity in her words hit me like a punch. I looked into her eyes, now brimming with unshed tears, and the weight of her request struck me.
"I don't want you harming yourself by keeping your mana this low. Can you shift back into phoenix form?"
"No… I need to go into beast form first… it'll take some time before I can regain the phoenix form…" she said, looking a little downcast.
I don't want to hurt her, either. Just as I care about her, Cylla also worries about me.
I thought over my options and realized there was a small window of opportunity.
"The academy takes a break for a few weeks to allow nobles to return to their territories, since many of them hold political positions. Normally, academy time is four years, but here it's five, specifically to include advanced content and these breaks they give. We could try shifting you back into phoenix form during that break and return to Evenhart territory."
Cylla thought for a moment, looking at me with a bit more hope.
"All right, thank you for understanding… my beloved," she said, resting her head on my lap.
"You mean 'beloved' in the sense of friends, right?"
"No, more than friends."
I sighed.
I'll have to have a talk with her about that later…