Chapter 424 A Honeymoon in Wyrmrest Wilds
They were against it. At least for now.
"Zara, why don't you just take the power back by force?" Aurelion said. "Better him than you."
Dino looked unhappy. "Aurelion, that's awful. Lucian is a good person too. I don't think he'd do something like that. He wouldn't just stand by and let Zara die."
"How can you be so sure?" Aurelion shot back. "Until a few days ago, I didn't think Zara could bring herself to kill him either. But she's spent the past two days plotting how to get rid of Lucian and go home with his inheritance. She even got him to sign the papers."
Zara fell silent.
"It hasn't reached that point yet," Pyrelion said. "Maybe we can delay things for a while."
"Delay what?" Aurelion demanded. "Zara, you can't start hesitating now. Didn't you already decide to kill Lucian? You might as well get it over with instead of agonizing over this."
Dino's eyes filled with tears. "Aurelion, you're scary."
"You bleeding heart!" Aurelion snapped. "Have you watched so much Peppa Pig that you've gone soft?"
Dino blinked. "...What's a bleeding heart?"
Zara let out a long sigh. "Aurelion has a point. Since I've already decided to kill Lucian, there's no reason to hesitate over this."
She paused. "But... what if Lucian really isn't that kind of person?"
"Maybe he wasn't before," Aurelion said. "But after you pressured him over his inheritance, he might be now."
Zara fell silent again.
Pyrelion looked at Aurelion. "You sound exactly like Noctilion did when he was manipulating me."
"That's bullshit!" Aurelion protested. "How can you compare me to those evil dragons? I'm completely innocent, okay?"
Pyrelion said nothing.
After a long silence, Zara said, "Forget it. We're not discussing this anymore. I'll stick to my original plan."
One of them had to die anyway.
Lucian might as well die for a worthy cause.
Before Zara could decide on her next move, however, Lucian returned and found her first.
"You need to come somewhere with me."
The moment Zara saw him, she reflexively put on her sunglasses. "Where?"
Lucian glanced at her. "Wyrmrest Wilds."
"Where's that?"
Dino gasped. "Isn't Wyrmrest Wilds a forbidden zone?"
Lucian noticed Dino in her arms but made no comment. "My father needs me to retrieve something from Wyrmrest Wilds."
Aurelion raised his neck. "Retrieve something? From a forbidden zone? Valerius really does have some nerve."
The Upper Realm had never dared attempt anything like that before. But now that they had Lucian, their precious new weapon, they were suddenly bold enough to dream big.
No one had dared enter a forbidden zone in all these years, yet now Valerius wanted Lucian to stroll in and take something.
His ambitions truly knew no bounds.
And whatever he wanted from Wyrmrest Wilds could not possibly be ordinary.
Zara frowned. "Then why are you taking me?"
"You have half my power," Lucian replied. "If the two of us go together, the old man in Wyrmrest Wilds will think twice before challenging us."
Zara fell silent.
How could he say something so shameless with a straight face?
"He wants Zara to help him commit crimes now!" Aurelion exclaimed.
Lucian waved a hand, and Aurelion's mouth was instantly sealed shut.
He could only make muffled noises.
Pyrelion looked delighted. "Serves you right. You never stop talking."
"Come with me," Lucian said. "Consider it our honeymoon."
The Holy Sovereign and Holy Consort had no tradition of taking honeymoons. The idea had clearly survived somewhere in Lucian's memories of Earth.
Zara stared at him.
A trip into a forbidden zone was his idea of a honeymoon?
He really had no shame.
******
Cyranth arrived in the Upper Realm three days after Zara became the Holy Consort.
He found her at the edge of the floating city, hidden beneath a black cloak and a veil. Soraya was asleep in his arms, looking like an ordinary three-year-old child. Only the faint crimson glow beneath her skin betrayed the violent power sealed inside her.
"I found a trace of her spirit," Cyranth said.
Zara's expression sharpened. "Where?"
"Wyrmrest Wilds."
That was the same forbidden zone Valerius had ordered Lucian to enter.
According to Cyranth, when Soraya had been sacrificed a thousand years ago, her spirit had not vanished completely. A fragment had escaped Moonveil and been drawn into the Wyrmheart Pearl, a sacred object buried beneath Wyrmrest Wilds.
The orb gathered and preserved the spiritual essence of the dragon clan. If Soraya's remaining spirit truly existed anywhere, it would be there.
Unfortunately, the pearl also possessed another ability.
Whoever controlled it could command the dragons of the mystic beast territories.
Valerius wanted Lucian to retrieve it so the Upper Realm could subdue the dragon clan, conquer the remaining mystic beasts, and prepare for an invasion of Earth.
"So we need the same thing Valerius wants," Zara said.
"We need what is inside it," Cyranth corrected. "The pearl itself belongs to the ruler of Wyrmrest Wilds. Taking it by force would start a war."
Zara looked toward Soraya.
The little girl stirred in Cyranth's arms and mumbled, "Mom..."
Cyranth's expression tightened.
Although Soraya had instinctively attached herself to Zara, she still regarded Cyranth as a stranger. She had none of the memories of the woman he had loved, and Cyranth had never tried to force those memories on her.
Zara sighed. "Fine. We'll get her spirit back first. Then we'll worry about the rest."
Lucian entered before they could continue.
He wore the dark ceremonial robes of the Holy Sovereign, and the power inside him made the air around him tremble faintly. He glanced at Cyranth but did not appear surprised.
"We leave for Wyrmrest Wilds in an hour."
Zara put on her sunglasses.
Lucian's gaze settled on them. "Are those necessary?"
"Very."
He could hear her thoughts whenever he looked into her eyes. Until she found a way to stop him, the sunglasses stayed.
Cyranth studied Lucian for a moment. "Do you know why Valerius wants the Wyrmheart Pearl?"
"To bring the dragon clan under the authority of the Upper Realm."
"And after that?"
"To end the conflict between humans and mystic beasts."
Zara let out a humorless laugh. "By enslaving one side?"
Lucian's expression remained calm. "The strong have always created order."
"That sounds exactly like something Valerius would tell you."
Lucian looked at her. "You believe everything he says is a lie."
"I believe a man who altered your memories probably shouldn't be trusted."
His eyes darkened.
The arcane spell prevented Zara from telling him the whole truth without risking his life, but she had tried to make him question the gaps in his memories.
So far, nothing had worked.
Still, she could not stop herself from asking, "Have you ever wondered why your name is Lucian Martin while his is Valerius Imperius?"
"Lucian Martin is the name I used on Earth."
"That wasn't the question."
"It doesn't matter what name I use."
Zara nearly cursed.
[I'm asking why you and that idiot don't even share a family name.]
Lucian's eyes flickered toward her sunglasses, unable to hear the thought.
"We're wasting time," he said.
They traveled to Wyrmrest Wilds aboard a small airship.
Cyranth remained with Soraya in the rear cabin while Zara and Lucian stood near the observation window.
Far below them, the Lower Realm gradually disappeared beneath endless mountains. The ancient forest stretched across the horizon like a dark green ocean.
Lucian broke the silence first. "If something goes wrong, take Cyranth and the child and leave."
Zara turned toward him. "Why bring me if you expect me to run?"
"You possess half my power."
[Your power? That's mine.]
"But even together, we may not be able to defeat the ruler of Wyrmrest Wilds," Lucian continued. "There is no reason for all of us to die."
Zara stared at his profile.
He spoke as if his own death were a minor inconvenience.
"You're the one trying to steal from a forbidden zone," she said. "Don't pretend you're being noble."
"I'm not." He looked down at the forest. "I'm simply telling you that if I cannot get out, you should not stay for me."
For some reason, the words made Zara uncomfortable.
She turned away.
[Don't worry. I wasn't planning to.]
The airship stopped above the central mountains.
The pressure rising from below was so heavy that the ship began to shake despite its protective shields.
Cyranth took Soraya into his arms. "The fragment of her spirit is deeper inside. I can feel it."
Lucian opened the hatch.
Cold wind tore through the cabin.
"I'll go first."
He jumped without hesitation, disappearing into the clouds below.
Zara prepared to follow, but Cyranth caught her wrist. "The power inside him is already responding to you."
She knew.
Ever since entering Wyrmrest Wilds, she had felt the half of her power inside Lucian pulling toward her.
It wanted to return.
"If you reclaim it by force, he will die," Cyranth reminded her.
"And if I don't, he may use it to invade Earth."
"Then you will have to decide which life matters more to you."
Zara pulled her wrist free. "I already decided."
Lucian had signed the inheritance papers.
Once he died, his fortune would belong to her.
There was no reason to hesitate.
At least that was what she told herself as she jumped from the airship.
Instead of following Lucian into the deepest part of the forest, Zara was drawn toward the middle of the mountain range.
She landed beneath towering trees that blocked nearly all view of the sky. Sunlight slipped through the leaves in scattered golden patches, illuminating moss, wildflowers, and ancient roots.
The place did not feel dangerous.
It felt familiar.
Zara had only taken a few steps when a small white dragon emerged from behind a tree.
Its body looked as if it had been carved from snow and ice.
It stared at Zara with enormous disappointment.
"You have no heart."