Time Passed

Lila and I had an age gap of eleven years.

At the time, I was only twelve, while she already seemed more like an adult than a sister.

One afternoon, all of us were gathered in a forgotten corner of the palace grounds.

Lila and Zach were engaged in a mock sword duel, their wooden blades clashing loudly as neither was willing to surrender. Resu and Shashaya were arguing over some made-up rule of the game, while Loid, Ryuk, and I were hiding among the old stone walls.

We were playing hide-and-seek.

As expected, Shashaya found me first.

That meant it was my turn to search for everyone else.

Unfortunately, I was never very good at following rules.

Or staying focused.

While looking for my siblings, I noticed an old structure standing beyond the palace gardens. It was connected to the royal grounds, yet no one ever went there. The building looked abandoned, almost forgotten by time itself.

Naturally, I wanted to know why.

I had always been a strange child.

Tell me not to touch something, and I would immediately want to touch it.

Tell me a place was dangerous, and I would spend the entire day wondering what secrets it was hiding.

So instead of searching for my siblings, I wandered toward the abandoned castle.

The deeper I went, the colder the air became.

Dust covered the floors.

The walls were stained with dark marks.

Scattered throughout the corridors were animal skulls and bones so old they crumbled at the slightest touch.

There were even human remains.

Looking back now, any normal child would have run away.

I only became more curious.

As I continued exploring, a massive door suddenly creaked open by itself.

I froze.

The sound echoed through the empty halls.

For a moment, I thought I should return to the palace.

Then curiosity won.

It always did.

Beyond the doorway stretched a vast chamber hidden beneath the castle.

At its center lay a gigantic creature.

At first, I thought it was an enormous snake.

Its scales shimmered faintly in the darkness, and its body seemed to go on forever.

But then I noticed the horns.

The claws.

The wings folded against its sides.

A dragon.

A real dragon.

It appeared asleep.

Despite its terrifying size, it looked strangely exhausted, almost pitiful.

I stared for several moments before finding enough courage to pick up a small stone.

Then I threw it.

The stone bounced harmlessly off its scales.

Nothing happened.

I threw another.

Still nothing.

And another.

The dragon remained asleep.

Determined to get a reaction, I searched for the largest stone my twelve-year-old self could lift.

With great effort, I raised it above my head.

Just as I was about to throw it—

The dragon opened its eyes.

My entire body froze.

The stone slipped from my fingers before I could move.

No.

Not slipped.

Something had pulled it down.

As if an invisible force had taken control.

The dragon simply watched me.

Its golden eyes seemed ancient.

Older than kingdoms.

Older than history itself.

I could neither run nor scream.

Then a familiar voice shattered the silence.

"Ares! What are you doing here?"

Lila.

I immediately pointed toward the dragon.

"There!"

But when Lila looked, confusion appeared on her face.

"Ares... there's nothing there."

My heart stopped.

I turned around.

The dragon was gone.

The chamber was empty.

No scales.

No wings.

No golden eyes.

Nothing.

As though it had never existed.

For years, I questioned whether I had imagined the entire encounter.

Life moved on too quickly for me to find an answer.

Zach and Lila became old enough to shoulder the responsibilities of adulthood.

Resu and Shashaya grew into beautiful young women admired throughout the kingdom.

Eventually, Lila married the king of a powerful neighboring nation, strengthening Laceril's influence across the continent.

Meanwhile, I continued my studies.

Politics.

Swordsmanship.

Military strategy.

History.

The endless lessons expected of a prince.

Yet despite everything, I never forgot the dragon.

Not a single day.

Then I turned eighteen.

And war returned.

This time, Laceril was stronger than ever. With the support of my brother-in-law's kingdom, victory seemed certain.

We were wrong.

War does not care about certainty.

It only cares about what it can take from you.

By the time it ended, my father was dead.

Lila's husband was dead.

Ryuk had vanished without a trace.

Loid was publicly hanged.

And the kingdom I once called home lay in ruins.

That was the year I learned a simple truth.

Sometimes the beginning of a tragedy looks exactly like the beginning of a fairy tale.

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