Sleeping Beauty

Randolph was silent.

There was no expression on his face.

He did not look up at the brilliant golden canopy of the sky.

Instead, his gaze fell on the cheering crowd below, a ghostly light flickering in his eyes.

‘As expected.’

‘The prediction of Divination Magic was correct.’

‘The plan I spent so much effort on has failed after all.’

Just now, when the black rain had appeared as scheduled, he had once thought that this situation was unbreakable.

He had even thought that Divination Magic could sometimes be wrong.

But then that huge firework had appeared.

The moment the firework bloomed, he knew that he had failed again.

Using fireworks—no, it looked more like a large-scale Fireball spell.

Using the high temperature generated by the explosion of the Fireball spell to evaporate the magic of the black crystal, allowing the rain of light to return to its original color.

A perfect way to break the situation.

But what he couldn’t understand at all was how the other party had found out about the black crystal.

Divination Magic?

No, even Divination Magic could not predict such a detailed matter.

No matter how broad Randolph’s experience was as a former Pope and a Dragon-Tier Priest, he still couldn’t find an answer.

Because of Divination Magic, he had already anticipated this failure, so he was not overly surprised.

But with this, the original plan, which was linked one after another, had completely failed.

And there was no need to proceed with the parts that had not yet been carried out.

Their outcome would only be failure.

‘Ah, forget it.’

Randolph sighed, a gloominess appearing on his face.

Now that things had come to this, he could only adopt Silver Dragon’s plan.

Although that man, Silver Dragon, was sinister and cunning, his plan would surely be effective.

It was just that he would have to sacrifice Alvin.

At the same time, he himself should also retreat behind the scenes.

At this time, at the main hall of the royal palace.

Everything that was happening at the Church of Creation fell into the eyes of Elizabeth and Noa.

From the pillar of light shooting into the sky at the beginning, to the appearance of the black rain, followed by the huge smiley-face firework, and the black rain turning into golden rain.

Even the two, who were of high status, had not anticipated such a turn of events.

Noa’s face was calm, but the smile at the corner of her mouth seemed strange.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, gripped her hands tightly, her face pale. She could already feel the vast magical power contained in the black crystal—no, the now golden rain.

She looked up at Noa, her voice trembling slightly.

“This… what on earth is going on? Golden rain? Why would such a thing appear?”

Noa did not answer her. He just smiled and looked into the distance, a strange look in his eyes.

He had long known there would be a golden rain.

He just hadn’t expected that the golden rain would contain such a vast amount of magical power.

He looked in the direction of the distant church, a meaningful smile on his face.

The church, indeed, could not be underestimated.

Elizabeth looked at Noa, a trace of despair on her face.

She knew that Noa must know something.

But, she could do nothing.

The golden rain meant that she had failed.

She looked at the token in her hand, a bitter look on her face.

‘Is this… our destiny?’

‘No, I’m not willing to accept it.’

She abruptly raised her head and looked at Noa, a trace of hope in her eyes.

“Noa, is there no other way?”

Noa withdrew her gaze and looked at Elizabeth, a playful look on her face.

“There is, but… do you dare?”

Elizabeth was stunned. She looked at Noa, a little confused.

But the corner of her mouth curved almost imperceptibly, and she whispered to herself.

“Interesting…”

“Truly interesting.”

She turned to Elizabeth at her side, her tone tinged with a bit of playfulness.

“Two forces are making their appearance, fighting over each other, as if they don’t even have the Imperial Family in their eyes.”

Elizabeth was not moved by Noa’s words.

She just quietly watched the fireworks in the distant night sky.

After a long time, she finally parted her red lips, her voice like a cold spring striking jade.

“It’s quite lively today. The capital hasn’t had such a commotion in a long time, has it?”

She paused and then said.

“This person is quite unique. To set off several thousand Fireball scrolls as fireworks. Such a grand gesture, such a mind, an ordinary person couldn’t think of it.”

Noa raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you going to order the arrest of those who set off the fireworks?”

“The moment the fireworks were launched just now, you must have sensed their location, right?”

Elizabeth did not answer.

She tilted her head back slightly, letting the light of the fireworks flow over her face.

The interplay of light and shadow made her face stunningly beautiful, capable of toppling cities.

“Oscar will give the order.”

She spoke, her tone flat.

“But, whether they are arrested or not…”

“Although these people have violated the imperial laws, by letting the dark night return to its original color, they have avoided civil unrest and panic. Logically…”

She glanced sideways, and a very faint light flashed in her eyes.

“I should even give them some reward.”

Noa chuckled softly and shook her head.

“Including this time, the Church has had quite a few problems recently.”

“One after another, full of twists and turns. It seems the mastermind who has been plotting in the dark is about to show his claws.”

Elizabeth was not worried, as calm as the wind and clouds.

“Let him come.”

“A mere church, compared to the dragons, is ultimately not worthy of the stage.”

From her calm and unwavering words, one could hear that from beginning to end, this Empress who held the power of the empire, even though she had long been aware of the stirring of certain people in the Church, had never truly taken them seriously.

On her chessboard, only the dragons were the real threat, the disaster that could subvert the entire world.

Noa smiled, not surprised.

She knew she would say that.

Her gaze returned to the distant night sky. That huge, smiley-face firework was still brilliant.

Accompanied by the rain of light like golden weeping willows, it was exceptionally magnificent.

Noa suddenly felt a little emotional.

“These fireworks are quite beautiful.”

She said softly, her tone, for a rare moment, shedding some of its usual sharpness and gaining a bit of distant nostalgia.

“The last time I saw fireworks of this scale was probably twenty years ago when you and I were traveling the empire… I really miss it.”

She turned her head and looked at Elizabeth’s side profile, thoughtfully.

“At that time, you didn’t have any airs. You were just a cold and proud swordsman girl.”

“Oh, right, you also wore a veil every day. Can’t be helped, you were called the number one beauty in the empire.”

“That fellow Winston, in order to pursue you, insisted on coming along on the journey… It was also him who set off that huge, heart-shaped firework, wasn’t it?”

A teasing arc curved at the corner of Noa’s mouth.

“I remember the commotion was huge. It made his old man so angry that he later threw him into an elite dragon’s nest to train.”

“I didn’t expect that guy to be so tough and actually come back alive.”

She paused, and her voice lowered a little.

“It’s just a pity. The flower was willing, but the stream was heartless.”

The old events of twenty years ago were brought up, but Elizabeth said nothing.

It was as if the young woman in Noa’s words, who was being passionately pursued, had nothing to do with her.

But, when her gaze unconsciously swept over the smiley face in the night sky.

The corner of her mouth unconsciously curved up slightly.

‘What a comical smile.’

…

In a place very far, far away from Servia.

The Holy City of Eden.

In a towering, spire-like building that reached into the clouds.

In the room on the top floor of this building, the curtains might have been forgotten.

The clear moonlight, like silver gauze, streamed in, casting a hazy, soft light on the interior.

From here, one could have an unobstructed view of the surrounding scenery and could see the silhouettes of things even further away.

At this moment.

A young dragon, its entire body covered in fine golden scales, was curled up on a soft cushion by the window, fast asleep.

Its breathing was light and even, its small wings folded at its sides, glowing faintly in the moonlight.

Behind it, on the bed in the inner part of the room, a young woman lay quietly.

Her light pink hair was scattered like silk on the pillow. Her sharp eyes were gently closed, her long lashes lowered.

Her pride was put away, leaving only a bit of tranquility.

The delicate line of her neck extended to the slightly open collar of her nightgown, vaguely revealing her exquisite collarbone.

The thin, white silk nightgown clung to her curves, outlining a slender waist and soft undulations.

Her breathing was light and even, her chest rose and fell slightly, and her hands were unconsciously clasped in front of her.

Even in her sleep, that elegance had not faded.

Anyone who saw her would exclaim, this must be a sleeping beauty who will never wake up.

Suddenly.

The young dragon, as if it had sensed something, woke up without any warning.

It raised its small head, blinked its eyes, and looked out the window at the distant night sky with some confusion.

Then, it saw it.

On the far, far horizon, in the deep night sky, a brilliant firework, the likes of which it had never seen before, bloomed.

That flower was so bright in the night sky.

The young dragon was stunned.

It was the first time it had seen such a thing, and it was instinctively curious.

It let out a few chirps of excitement in the direction of the firework, its small tail gently patting the soft cushion.

After watching for a while, the young dragon seemed to remember something.

It turned around, flapped its wings, flew away from the window, and landed on the large bed in the room.

It crawled to the sleeping young woman’s pillow, drew close to her fair and serene cheek, and licked it with its tongue.

Once, and then again.

As if trying to wake her up, wanting her to also see that wonderful scene from just now.

But the young woman’s eyes remained closed, her breathing was long and even, and there was no sign of her waking up.

The young dragon stopped its movements, a trace of disappointment in its eyes.

It let out a low whimper and finally found a comfortable spot by the young woman’s neck and quietly lay down.

It snuggled its warm little body into the crook of her arm.

Before long, it closed its eyes again and, accompanied by the young woman’s steady breathing, once again fell into a deep sleep.

The moonlight flowed quietly, enveloping the person and the dragon, as gentle as ever.