Everyone had guessed that the Duke’s condition, who couldn’t move due to a long illness, was not good.

Although it must be very difficult to wash and turn his body, Lady Briar was doing all of this herself.

This was because the Duke didn’t want to show his weakened state to others.

Seeing Lady Briar entering the Duke’s room alone, a maid muttered.

“Those who still talk behind her back, saying she seduced the Duke for social climbing, should see this.”

“Taking care of a sick person is so hard. She’s doing it all by herself.”

“Remember how surprised the retainers were last time? They said the Duke still expressed his deep love for the lady.”

“A maid and a Duke’s love. How romantic!”

The maids gazed at the door Lady Briar had entered with envious eyes.

However, contrary to the maids’ thoughts, Duke Granite’s room was not empty.

Lady Briar, who had entered the Duke’s room, leaned against the door and took a deep breath.

A maid sitting in the room looked at Lady Briar with a tearful expression.

“M-my lady.”

The room was very cold. Cold ice was placed here and there around the Duke.

And surrounded by that ice, the Duke’s complexion was pale.

As if he were dead.

In fact, Duke Granite had actually passed away.

He was already in this state when Grisha and the retainers came. She had only briefly made him move with magic.

Magic to move a corpse. That was the effect of the magic potion given by the former Duchess.

The maid, trembling, said to Lady Briar.

“We’re at our limit in hiding this. We must announce it soon…”

No matter how much ice was put in, it was impossible to completely prevent the decay of the corpse.

This was the last chance to announce the truth without being suspected of killing the Duke.

Lady Briar knew this fact as well.

She bit her lip until it bled. It felt like a scream would burst out.

‘Cedar!’

Not just witch-like, that woman, the former Duchess, must have been a real witch.

Otherwise, there’s no way she would have given a potion to control corpses.

‘If only she hadn’t given such a potion…’

Lady Briar recalled that day.

It was true that Duke Granite had been ill.

Lady Briar hadn’t done anything. She had merely asked this.

[If you were to suddenly pass away like this, Cedar would be the only one I could rely on. Please assure me that you’ll pass on the duchy to that child.]

The Duke’s suspicion of her because of this was the beginning of the tragedy. He hysterically drove Lady Briar into a corner.

[Don’t tell me you’re trying to harm me to take over the entire duchy? Like how you poisoned Aristella?]

That was absolutely not true.

How could now be the same as back then when she couldn’t grasp even a handful of anything in the Granite family as long as Aristella and Grisha were around?

Lady Briar just wanted to get a definite answer.

Grisha had returned from the academy, and Cedar was actively rebelling against her words, even marrying a woman in a vegetative state.

But Duke Granite, whose body had weakened considerably, didn’t have enough reason left to discern the true meaning of Lady Briar’s words.

He angrily threw everything he could grab, raging fiercely.

[You cunning woman like a snake! I knew this would happen, so I’ve been managing her safety. The maid who poisoned Aristella on your orders, Daisy!] [That can’t happen!]

It was fine if he resented and tormented her, but it would be troublesome if the fact of the poisoning came to light now.

The moment it became known that Lady Briar had murdered the former Duchess, everyone would point fingers at her and Cedar.

Even if Cedar was a Sword Master, the moment public criticism was directed at them, it was clear they would have to live only as shadows.

‘Cedar might not be cast out because he has abilities. But me?’

Above all, what troubled Lady Briar was that everything she had built up until now would crumble.

That was even worse than being driven out after giving birth to Cedar when she was young.

At least she was young then, but now, accustomed to a comfortable life, she couldn’t bear even the slightest discomfort.

[No! Darling, please!]

Duke Granite tried to call out loudly to expose what Lady Briar had done right away.

What happened next was completely an accident.

Lady Briar, who rushed to stop him, couldn’t remember exactly what happened then.

After frantically struggling back and forth, Duke Granite’s breath had stopped.

[Oh, what should I do. He hasn’t even left a will yet.]

At that very moment, Lady Briar recalled the magic potion that the former Duchess had given her a very long time ago.

[The method to control a corpse is very simple. You drink that potion, and also drip it onto the corpse’s lips. What’s wrong with using someone who’s already dead?]

Did that witch know that Lady Briar would kill Duke Granite in the distant future? No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand.

Anyway, the die was cast, and Lady Briar had come this far making what she thought was the best choice she could.

But now it was the limit. Both hiding the Duke’s death and delaying the succession.

‘Cedar, please!’

Lady Briar squeezed her eyes shut.

[This is the timeline separator]

After breakfast, as always, Hail came to the mansion.

Cedar left me with Hail and went to work at the knights’ order.

These days, Hail would brag about Maggie whenever he got the chance, so I deliberately avoided Hail and didn’t come down from my room.

Naturally, I ended up sitting by the window, looking down at the Dragon Knights’ Order.

I couldn’t see Cedar, but somehow just looking in his direction made me feel at ease.

Thinking about Cedar naturally reminded me of Lady Briar who had visited yesterday. I rested my chin on my hand and sighed through my nose.

‘It might be better to have a more serious conversation. There must be a reason why she’s acting so urgently.’

Lady Briar’s state yesterday was very strange.

She got angry at me, then pleaded again, shouted at Cedar, then cried like a heartbroken mother. It seemed like she was using every method she could until Cedar would say he would become the Duke himself.

‘But no matter how I think about it, Lady Briar has no reason to be urgent. If anything, it would be understandable if Grisha acted like that…’

Remembering Grisha despairing that even his birth father had abandoned him, I became depressed again.

I wanted to improve the relationship between Grisha and Cedar, but looking at the current situation, it seemed like an impossible dream.

‘First, let’s reject Grisha’s confession. The issue between Cedar and Grisha comes after that.’

What if Grisha says he doesn’t want to see me again after that?

‘Ah, I don’t know.’

I hunched over and lay down.

As I was fidgeting, I noticed the dragon egg placed on the windowsill.

‘Huh? Has the egg tilted a bit?’

The pattern had changed from when I had left it.

Looking closely, it wasn’t my imagination. The top and bottom of the egg had switched. As if it had rolled over once by itself.

‘Is it really moving?’

When I tapped the surface of the egg, it felt warmer than last time. There was definitely a change.

“Is it time for you to hatch?”

As if answering my whispered words, the egg trembled slightly.

I was startled and opened my eyes wide, then burst into laughter.

“Zeke, wake up soon.”

When I placed my palm on it, mana flowed from me to the egg as if it was feeding.

‘It’s fortunate that the mana I received from Cedar hasn’t run out yet.’

I patted the egg like a baby. Seeing such a clearly different reaction from before made my heart flutter.

‘It seems like it’s almost time to hatch!’

Indeed, there’s nothing bad about listening to the words of ancestors! They entrusted this egg to me because I could hatch it sufficiently.

‘At first, I only felt at a loss about what to do, knowing nothing about dragons. I’m really glad.’

It could only be called a stroke of good fortune in many ways.

If Cedar and I, who was born with such strong mana that he could be mistaken for a dragon, hadn’t become a couple, there would have been no way to infuse mana into the egg.

‘No, if I hadn’t lost my mana in the first place, I wouldn’t have tried to absorb mana from Cedar.’

At first, the state of mana depletion was so painful that I wanted to die, but thanks to that, my heart raced at the thought that I might be able to see dragons that had completely disappeared from the earth.

‘What if the egg hatches while I’m away from the room?’

Even after pouring all the mana I had into the egg, the excitement didn’t subside.

I hugged the egg and fidgeted here and there.

Would the baby dragon hatched from the egg look like a lizard? Or would it have wings and fur?

The only documentary information about dragons was a phrase saying they were similar to giant crocodiles, and the academic consensus was that while the large skeleton might be reptilian, the details would be different.

Any creature needs fur to withstand the cold.

In fact, many of the places where dragons were sighted were deep mountain ranges, and most of these places boast cool temperatures of about 20 degrees even in midsummer.

‘A furry reptile. That would be super cute. Would its eyes have a silver tinge like Cedar’s?’

Somehow, I felt certain about that part even before rational judgment.

Cedar’s mirror-like silver-gray eyes are so mysterious that it’s hard to believe he’s human.