[Ch. 58] All For You (Past)

I pulled Sylvia's soul back into her body as I was forced to hear her soul scream in agony.

The girl opened her eyes as she returned to her body, but stared wordlessly. I forced my eyes to open as my head throbbed painfully. Seeing her just stare, I clicked my tongue. Her soul had spent too long outside that she didn't even recognize her own body.

It seems it isn't enough to drag a soul back from the dead and place it into a living body.

I already used the dark arts to reanimate her, now I just needed to fix her body and soul incompatibility. As I worked on fixing the incompatibility, I felt my magic running out. As I strained myself, I heard footsteps coming towards the room and cursed under my breath. I could easily fix this, but not if I am caught prematurely.

I smeared the blood mark to avoid others investigating the spell. I grabbed the girl's head gently and placed my lips to her forehead to leave my mark. This way I will be able to feel her at all times and will be able to find her much easier next time. Likewise, she could do that for me as well.

I heard the door open and pulled away. A commanding voice bellowed, "Who are you?!" In the blink of an eye, I disappeared. The large man rushed over to the girl that was laying down with her dull eyes open and staring at the ceiling. Guards ran in after him.

"Your Majesty!" One shouted, "What is it?"

He grimaced, "There was someone standing over her."

"That's impossible! Only the servants pass by us. What did they look like?"

The Emperor thought carefully but realized he couldn't remember the face of the intruder. He swore, "Whoever it was warped their face. All I remember is that their body was slender and they were dressed like a boy."

"Your Majesty! Should we go search for them? They can't have gotten far."

"No." He shook his head, "They teleported away. No matter who they are, they were highly skilled in magic. They probably used it to get in here without being detected. I doubt we would be able to find them even if we tried."

"But your Majesty, doesn't the barrier prevent teleportation magic?"

"It does."

He looked at the small girl who stared back at him dully. Sylvia was finally awake after all these years and he recognized that it had been the dark arts that brought her back. However, he couldn't figure out the purpose behind someone waking her up.

Just what possible purpose could this frail girl serve?

….

I realized too late how difficult teleportation was due to the barrier. I was in a hurry when leaving and didn't have the strength to appear back in my room. Without being strong enough to choose my destination, I could only hope for the best.

Meanwhile, Korph was dragging himself out of bed and yawning. Everyone had already left for their morning class. As he was walking toward the gate, a body appeared out of thin air and dropped in front of him. He screamed and jumped backwards.

I crashed to the ground squirming in pain. The pain was so severe that it gave me tunnel vision and prevented me from thinking clearly. I attempted to stand up and fell over. Korph rushed over to me and gasped in horror.

My eyes, nose, mouth, and ears were gushing blood. I was already pale, but now I was turning blue. I choked on my blood as I struggled to move. Korph shouted in a panic, "You need help. I will go get someone!"

"No." I coughed out another mouthful of blood, "No one can know."

If Raylon found out what I did to bring back his sister, how would he look at me? Would he be thankful?

Or would he look at me with hatred and disgust?

The possibility of the latter was too high. I can't bear to see him look at me with not only hatred but disgust as well.

Korph protested quickly, "But!"

I snapped sharply, "No one."

The light in front of my eyes began to disappear. I fainted while convulsing from the pain.

Korph flung me over his shoulder with tears welling up in his eyes, "I'm sorry, Moao. But I can't let you die."

….

[Author's note: This section is from no one's point of view.

Korph rushed towards the headmaster's office without hesitation. He pushed past the secretary and threw open the door. The Headmaster jumped at the intrusion and noticed Korph breathing heavily as he carried someone over his shoulder. The secretary shouted running into the room after him, "Hey! You can't just rush in there!"

The Headmaster raised his hand to silence her and nodded at Korph, "Follow me."

He quickly brought him to a secret door that led to a small room. There was a bed inside where Korph laid Moao down gently. The Headmaster bent down with a faint frown, "What happened?"

"I don't know! She just appeared out of the air and started bleeding. Then she was convulsing. She told me not to tell anyone before she passed out. I-I didn't know what to do."

The headmaster closed his eyes as magic poured out from his body and into Moao's. He stopped immediately with a grave expression, "Moao. What did you do?"

Korph sobbed silently, "What is it? What's wrong?"

The headmaster sighed and stood up, "She's redirecting my magic. I can't heal her even if I tried."

Korph didn't understand, "What does that mean?"

"It means she will die. She can't be healed through magic."

Korph wailed, "I can't- she – she can't-"

The headmaster patted his back, "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

Korph made an oath. He would do anything to save her. He looked around the room and saw a letter opener.

He grabbed it with a determined expression, "Anything."

He stabbed it into his hand and put his bleeding palm over her mouth.

The Headmaster grabbed his wrist to stop him, "Wait! You can't do this!"

Korph threw him off and growled, "She can't die. I won't let her."

….

[Author's note: This part is back to Moao's point of view.]

I felt my eyes flutter open. I blinked in pain as my head felt like it was being stabbed by thousands of small needles. I tried to move, but my body was completely numb. Giving up, I looked around the room.

It was small with brick walls. The only window was the one on the ceiling. I felt something heavy on my body and looked over to see Korph sleeping peacefully. He sat on the floor while leaning against the bed and using me as a pillow. He had swollen eyes with dark shadows underneath them. I noticed movement and glanced toward it.

The headmaster looked at me with a stern expression, "I see you're up."

"Mmn."

"He has been at your side this entire time."

I croaked in a raspy voice, "H-how long?"

"A week. You're lucky this boy valued that oath so much."

Oath? I looked down and noticed his hand had been bandaged with black blood dried on it. My body shook in anticipation at the sight of the dried blood. I desperately wanted to grab his hand and bit into it.

I forced myself to look away while the sensation sent shivers down my spine. This idiot. Did he really give me his blood?

The headmaster smiled as if hearing my thoughts, "You're lucky he's an idiot. You should have died the day he brought you here."

-Are you reading my mind again, Old man?-

He chuckled, "I am. Usually you have a strong barrier making me unable to, but now your magic is low."

I attempted to reconstruct the barrier, but felt my magic go to another place. It seems my seal on Sylvia is working. She should be receiving all my magic in order to fix her untethered soul.

He frowned, "Where has your magic been going?"

-I'm sorry, but I made a promise not to tell.-

"Very well. I will respect that and not probe further. I do not understand why you went to such lengths. Whoever you're fixing must be really important, but it doesn't change the fact that what you are doing is forbidden."

-Will you kick me out?-

"No. I won't. However, the Baron will find out eventually. Prepare for that."

-I see. So he really has started making his move.-

"Yes."

-Does anyone know I'm here?-

"No. I told the teachers you and Korph were caught fighting, but since you are friends I made an exception and gave you two a cruel punishment instead. I told Miss Amanda you were safe, but she would be unable to see you until I decide that your punishment is over."

-Thank you.-

"You should thank him."

I glanced down at the poor little dragon who was sleeping so helplessly on me. I hesitantly reached out and rubbed his head.

"I hope it was worth it to choose this path I warned you against."

I muttered in determination, "It will be."

"You can use this room to detox. Don't leave until it's out of your system."

He walked out the door shaking his head. He was concerned that the amount of blood I received from Korph would turn me into an addict with a broken mind. However, there was nothing he could do now to stop it. He could only stand off to the side as a bystander and watch fate unfold.

It's such a shame I refuse that kind of fate.

Eventually, my strength slowly returned. I decided to let enough magic recirculate in my body in order to move while still redirecting the rest of it to Sylvia. It was more complicated than I expected. In the history of this continent, some individuals succeeded in reanimating and controlling corpses, but none had returned a human soul to a body.

It was all thanks to this little dragon that I could succeed.

I pet his head affectionately. He stirred and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. He shouted in excitement and hugged me tightly when he noticed I was awake. I groaned and he immediately let go, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay." I could smell the dried blood on him so much that it was intoxicating. I covered my nose as my body shook in desire, "Why did you commit such a sin?"

He hid his hand immediately knowing he was caught, "I couldn't watch you die. I made an oath."

I raised an eyebrow, "An oath. Is that really all?"

"Ah... Well..." He made a complicated expression, "It's more than that…. B-But... I don't know. It's complicated."

"I understand." I rubbed his head once more before pausing, "Korph."

"Yes?"

"If I used the dark arts, would the Dragon clan accept me?"

He looked at me in surprise, "Did you really do such a thing?"

"Mmn."

"As long as it wasn't to harm anyone, we would still accept you." He shook his head, "No, even if you did harm someone we still would. We are forever indebted to you. Nothing can destroy our bond now."

"I see."

"Why do you ask?"

"I will need to return to the Baron's estate once I leave here. When I return, he will sentence me to exile."

"What?! Why?"

"He was waiting for me to slip up and I finally did. I'm not sure how he found out, but he did."

Korph grasped my hands, "Well, who cares about him? He's stupid and its about time you live somewhere that you will be appreciated..."

My lips slowly curved up, "You appreciate me?"

He blushed and looked away, "T-That's not important..."

I let out a chuckle and felt my stomach constrict from pain. I couldn't stop myself from making a pained expression.

He looked at me with concern, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Just a little sore."

"That's good. I was worried when I saw you like that." He immediately up in a panic as soon as he remembered a crucial detail, "I-I'm so sorry for going against your wishes! I didn't know what to do when I saw you like that."

I shook my head, "It's done now. Did you tell anyone other than the Headmaster?"

"No! I made sure to hide your face when I rushed you here."

"Good. You can't tell anyone else."

"But, I think you should-"

"No. No one can know."

"Fine. I won't tell anyone." He gave a sly smile, "On one condition."

"What is it?"

"I want you to help me get my wings."

"Don't they grow on their own?"

He shook his head, "No. They grow once the ancient dragon blood is awakened. It's incredibly hard to do. But if it happens, then I will be the next Dragon King."

"You want to be the Dragon King?"

"Of course! I'm tired of everyone looking down on me. I want to prove myself!"

I looked at his conviction and noticed he was being uncharacteristically serious. My lips twitched in admiration, "Fine. I will help you. But, how exactly do you awaken your blood?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Nope."

"How did the previous King get his wings?"

"No idea."

Well, this seems like a lot of work.

He smiled, "If anyone can figure it out, it's you."

I rolled my eyes, "Fine. But you will have to follow my every word."

He hugged me in excitement, "Thank you! Thank you so much! You're the best!!"

Feeling his scent so close, my body pulsed. I stared at his neck wanting to bite down on it and rip it into shreds. I closed my eyes and strained to speak, "Okay but you need to stop hugging me and leave now."

"Huh?"

"I'm addicted to your blood. It's all I can smell and it's driving me crazy. I really just want to stab you and take a bath in your blood."

"How cruel!" He got up and rushed to the door.

I shouted at him, "Oh, if anyone asks, tell them we got in trouble for fighting and the punishment was so cruel you can't even speak about it."

Korph's smile caused his eyes to curve, "Gotcha!"

章節 58: [Ch. 58] All For You (Past)

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章節 58: [Ch. 58] All For You (Past)

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