Chapter 64: Chapter 64

JONEA RAWLING

When I woke up, I was already in Daran's arms. Daran walked carefully under the moonlight that night. The jeverics jumped around us, and the cats saw us off.

"Miller?" I asked in a panic.

"Calm down, Jonea. Don't move or you'll hurt yourself. You need to restore your energy."

"But, where is Miller? What happened to him?"

"He's fine. Like you asked, I didn't even touch him at all. After you managed to neutralize the magic energy in the lake, you fell unconscious. At that time Miller left with the girl who came with him."

"Really?" I muttered softly.

There were still many things I wanted to ask Miller, but I never had the chance to talk to him. I relaxed the muscles all over my body and leaned back into Daran's chest.

"Daran?"

"Yes, Jonea, what's wrong?"

“Did you just erase my memory?”

Daran’s footsteps immediately stopped. He looked down to look at me from behind his mask. While I could only see Daran’s expressionless mask.

“Why do you think that?” Daran asked.

“When we just arrived at the dragon hill, I saw a very big dragon standing behind me. The dragon was going to pounce on me. Then there was a dragon rider. He…”

“Are you telling me your dream Jonea?”

Then I stopped talking. Maybe it was just a fragment of my dream. But it still felt like it really happened.

I looked back at Daran’s face from below. It felt extraordinary. The mask he wore did not represent Daran’s true expression. Only his pair of eyes behind the mask shone like a child. Unconsciously, I reached out and stroked Daran's mask.

“You don’t need to be that afraid, because I will always be by your side.”

***

DARAN CARVER

Jonea fell asleep again in my arms. Meanwhile, the jeverics and cats who continued to follow us did not stop commenting and teasing me.

"It's not because you look pathetic that I won't leave you," said the jeverics to tease me.

The cat king approached and spoke to me. "After a long journey, you finally got what you've been looking for all this time."

After saying goodbye to them, I brought Jonea back to the Blue Sapphire. She was still sleeping soundly.

***

MILLER RAWLING

He kicked me until I was thrown, and my back hit a tree quite hard. I tried to sit up straight while enduring the excruciating pain all over my stomach and back.

"Go away, Arabel!" I said.

"No, L!" Arabel denied while pointing her gun at the man who had just jumped from the tree and kicked me.

The man took his long claws from the tips of his nails and pressed my left shoulder, which was no longer armless.

"I only asked you to take the magic residue, right? Can't you do such a simple task?"

I winced in pain as his claws pierced my flesh until blood poured from my torn shoulder. Then he pulled his claws out, and I could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well, never mind," the man muttered. "I could see at a glance because there was a lycan king there. I knew you were no match for him. If you don't want to see Arabel become my next experiment, you better do your job properly."

The man smiled coldly at me and walked away from me. He disappeared among the dark bushes.

Holding my left shoulder, which continued to bleed, I walked a little unsteadily to approach Arabel.

“L, why would you follow his request? He even took one of your arms!” Arabel protested while supporting me in standing up straight.

“You don’t have to worry about that, Arabel. It’s my duty as a leader to protect my pack, including you. Trust me.”

“But,” Arabel said in a desperate voice.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan!”

***

JONEA RAWLING

After returning to the blue sapphire, I tried hard to forget everything that happened in the land of cats. I’m finishing a painting ordered from one of Daran’s acquaintances.

“A few shades of red and it’ll be done soon.”

While painting, I also added the magic runes that Daran taught me. My painting was not ordinary, but a rune hidden behind the picture. These runes neutralize black magic and cure the person who ordered the painting.

“Jonea, when will Mrs. Dahl’s order be finished?” Daran came out of the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee and placed it on the table beside me.

“Just now,” I answered without looking at him. “I mixed some of the ingredients we managed to collect in the forest yesterday as a watercolor mixture. I hope the aroma of herbs and runes that I have added can help Mrs. Dahl overcome her insomnia. I also added fairy dust to eliminate her nightmares.”

“Hmm... just like I taught you, huh?”

I packed up the painting that I had just finished. While doing my activities, I continued to think and talk to myself. I more or less already knew what Daran’s purpose was in buying me. In the remaining time, I had to be able to protect myself. Therefore, I was serious about learning about magic from him.

What kind of effects would it produce? Who should I ask for help? What should I avoid, as well as strange traditions from ancient times passed down from generation to generation? I learned all of that seriously from Daran.

Daran came again, this time wearing a coat. “You’re not going to campus today. Can you come with me?”

I nodded, and we drove towards a village on the border of Blue Sapphire. This time, Daran changed his appearance into that of a handsome man in his 30s.

I couldn’t stop admiring his handsomeness. Every now and then, I glanced at his jawline. After doing that silly thing, I kept cursing myself.

What am I doing? It’s useless because that’s not Daran’s natural face.

“We’re going to check the black dog,” Daran said while focusing on the busy street ahead.

“Black dog?”

“Yes, also known as a guardian fairy. He’s a dog or maybe a wolf whose job is to protect churches and holy tombs. It seems like there’s a holy tomb near here. Our job is to make sure he’s dangerous or not, before the auction party decides to sell him or not.”

“Are there any dangerous ones too?” I asked.

Daran glanced at me briefly. “They’re not dangerous as long as they don’t do anything. Usually.”

“Usually?” I kept repeating Daran’s words. “Does that mean…”

“This is the third, final task.”

I quickly turned to Daran. “If the second task is to neutralize the magic residue in the cat country, the third task is to check the guardian fairy, then what about the first task? Checking out the dragon country?”

“Oh, I’ve already finished it. On the first day when I took you to the border, you fainted again and I had to finish it myself.”

I remained silent and didn't listen to what Daran said. Something seemed odd. I was sure the memory fragments about the dragon rider really happened. But how could I not remember the whole thing? I was also too afraid to ask Daran.

"Jonea, are you okay?"

I was shocked. "Oh, nothing. Why do the auction house always ask for your help? Aren't they capable enough to do all the tasks themselves?"

"I made a mistake before. They've been watching me ever since. Because I was lazy to deal with them, so I decided to take tasks from them in exchange for ignoring me."

There were many things I needed to learn about Daran.

We arrived in a rural area. We drove along the coast. Then Daran suddenly pulled over.

"Are we there yet? Is the place here?" I asked.

"No," Daran replied.

He took something from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was a small blue velvet box.

"What is this?" I asked.

“I asked Evangelista to make this for you.”

I accepted the small velvet box and opened its contents. There was a reddish ring inside.

“A ring?”

“Just think of it as me proposing to you,” Daran said casually.

I was stunned and completely shocked. It all happened so suddenly. There wasn’t even any romantic impression or moment from this process. Was he joking?

“You know why the lifespan of the red moon maiden is short, right?” Daran asked.

“Although we are very strong in creating and absorbing magic energy, our bodies are very weak, right?” I said.

“So I think you will need the ring to limit your magic creation. The ring is different from the dragon’s tears that you currently have. Dragon’s tears give you the ability to absorb as much magic energy as possible. On the other hand, the ring is to neutralize the excess magic energy in your body to extend your lifespan.”

Daran was silent for a moment before continuing.

“However, if you get too excited, then the ring won’t be able to help. So stay calm.”

“I turned to Daran. If the dragon tears given by Aland really make me absorb magic energy faster, which means it only shortens my lifespan, should I let them go?”

Daran didn’t answer. But I kept thinking in my mind.

Didn’t Miller and Aland forbade me from letting go of the dragon tears no matter what? They even asked me to keep it. Who should I trust now? Daran or Aland?