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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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Chapter 2: Return
A space that felt like naturally formed stone walls had been cleanly polished rather than carved out artificially.
In sheer size, it was almost the scale of a baseball stadium large enough to make anyone question what exactly this place was meant for.
Tiny lights scattered around glowed as brightly as miniature suns, illuminating every corner in a mysterious, almost supernatural way, something that couldn’t be explained by modern science.
Click.
A small sound echoed through the quiet cavern, the clack of stones tapping together.
It came from a small table set off to one side of the massive chamber.
A red elephant-shaped piece captured a black cart-shaped piece.
“Is something troubling you? This is the first time I’ve seen you look so pensive since your Awakening.”
The melodious yet dignified question from a small girl echoed softly throughout the wide cavern.
The voice had such refined dignity mixed with its cute tone that it reflexively made one wonder if she might be nobility or royalty.
Click.
What responded to the small question was another sound in succession.
As if he had been waiting, the soldier-shaped piece moved in and captured the red elephant- shaped piece.
“No, you don’t need to worry.”
After a long silence, a calm and gentle male voice finally answered.
The speaker was a man with short hair, mid-180s in height, a solid build, and strikingly handsome.
Though his appearance was strong and commanding, his warm smile softened him.
As if the person in front of him meant the world.
His name was Park Yeonwoo.
“That was the general.”
“Hah...”
Looking at the red pieces encircling his general, Yeonwoo let out a defeated sigh.
“Didn’t see that one coming.”
With a soft voice that admitted his loss, Yeonwoo spoke.
In response, the silver-haired girl sitting across from him smiled sweetly.
Then, as if she was no longer interested in the chess game they had just been playing, she approached Yeonwoo and sat in the chair placed beside him.
Naturally, she placed her hand on Yeonwoo's head, pulled him into her embrace, and began stroking his hair.
Yeonwoo was 36 years old.
On the outside, he looked like a sturdy young man in his late twenties.
The girl, on the other hand, didn’t look a day over sixteen, even at a generous guess.
And yet Yeonwoo didn’t resist or feel awkward at all.
He simply let her cradle him, closed his eyes, and rested as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
This despite the girl looking much younger on the outside.
“Sister.”
At his quiet voice, the girl continued caressing him, her touch soft and affectionate.
“Do you still... want to return to Earth?”
Her question wasn’t unexpected.
For years now, Yeonwoo had occasionally spoken of his thoughts to her, the owner of this cavern, the Dragon Lord Artenis, the one now holding him in her arms like family.
“There may be nothing left of what you once sought. And worse... you may never”
Though she didn’t show it, the quiet desperation in her voice was unmistakable.
Yeonwoo bowed his head in silence under her tender hand.
And then, he answered plainly:
“I’m sorry. But there’s something I absolutely have to do.”
His voice trailed off at the end, tinged with a sadness too heavy to hide.
But he couldn’t stop here.
He raised his head with eyes filled with firm determination and met her gaze.
Then he forcibly swallowed the words that were rising from within.
“I promise... it won’t be long. We’ll meet again. I’ll make sure to bring you back to me.”
And so, Yeonwoo left behind Dragon Lord Artenis, the one who had become his family in this world.
Her long silver hair flowed down to her calves, and despite her youthful appearance, her deep blue eyes were like staring into the ocean itself, vast and immeasurable.
A girl with beauty so overwhelming she could be compared to a goddess, appearing no older than sixteen.
Dragon Lord Artenis was the only first-generation descendant of the ancient primordial dragons who had once existed in this world, and she was the person Yeonwoo loved more than anyone.
Unlike ordinary dragons scattered across the continent, she was bestowed with the title and responsibility of a sovereign, a Dragon Lord.
That role made it almost impossible for her to leave her lair.
If there had been even one other Dragon Lord still alive, things would have been different.
But she was the last one.
No matter how great and powerful a being, a living creature needs connection and affection.
And for one with a life closer to eternity than mortality, that need was even more profound.
Though she thirsted for affection, because of her position as a Dragon Lord and her stance of maintaining perfect neutrality on the Rune Continent, she couldn't build friendships.
She closed her own doors and acted with a cold personality.
But that self-imposed restraint was slowly eating her from the inside.
Then came Yeonwoo not from the Rune Continent, but from another dimension entirely.
Their meeting triggered the deep, long-suppressed longing she’d buried for so long.
Yeonwoo, who had faced death every day, felt the same.
They had comforted each other’s wounds.
More than anyone else, they cherished and loved one another.
And so, they formed a bond as sworn siblings.
Given their ages, perhaps a mother-son relationship might have seemed more fitting but that wasn’t what she wanted, and considering appearances, it would’ve been odd anyway.
Yeonwoo had no reason to object.
“Noona.”
As Yeonwoo walked in alone, adjusting his flowing robe, Artenis softly waved her hand through the air.
In response to her graceful motion, blue powder-like particles spread and shimmered like stardust.
“You’ve finished your preparations?”
Around her, pale green and blue mana surged and swirled wildly, lighting up the surrounding magic circles.
Hundreds of magic circles were connected from the first dimension to the second and third dimensions, forming a high-level magic circle.
If any mage from the Middle Realms saw them, they would have been speechless at its immense structure.
The structure was absolutely staggering.
Even Yeonwoo, who had gained the ability to cast basic beginner-level spells after his transformation into a half-dragon, could tell how absurdly powerful and complex these arrays were.
Somehow, without his knowing, she had built this vast magical construct.
She was cold to others, but to Yeonwoo, she was endlessly gentle, someone who wanted to give him everything.
“I’m sorry for making you worry.”
As emotions swelled in his chest, she smiled faintly, as if to reassure him not to worry.
Though she looked exhausted, it was a smile meant solely for Yeonwoo.
She was a foolish big sister who only worried about him, even now.
In a situation where anyone else would’ve felt betrayed and furious that he was leaving but she didn’t.
Instead, she forced herself to smile in case Yeonwoo might worry.
“Don’t trouble yourself. As long as you keep smiling, I’ll do everything I can for you.”
Yeonwoo said nothing as he was struck speechless by her words.
Reflexively, his teeth bit his lip hard, but he didn't show it.
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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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