Gardenia’s Heart

“Are those spikes, Rose?”

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, a beautiful silver-haired woman watched with curiosity as a bluish tentacle covered in sharp points swayed in front of her.

“Yes! I started being able to do this after I devoured my first prey!” Spinning in place with her arms stretched out, Rose spoke cheerfully, making sure her mother could see every detail.

After managing to hunt and absorb the body of the Forest Devourer, Rose had acquired its innate ability. Now, from any part of her body she chose, she could project gelatinous spikes with strong piercing power and adhesion.

“Very well done. I’m so proud of you, my love.” Clapping several times as she watched the little girl, Lily wore a wide smile.

With everything that had happened over the past few days, Rose hadn’t found the right moment to show her achievement to her mother. Because of that, now that they were alone in the visitors’ garden, she wasted no time showing off.

“Hehehe…” Letting out a triumphant giggle, Rose placed her hands on her slender hips. “It was a tough fight! It was super tough and strong, but I was faster!”

“My little girl is amazing!” Clapping even more enthusiastically, Lily watched as her daughter’s cheeks puffed up.

“But I’m not a little girl!” Pouting, Rose protested, flailing her arms energetically.

Seeing her daughter’s lively reaction, Lily lowered her head, wiping away a nonexistent tear. “Oh? In that case, I guess my beloved girl doesn’t want to be hugged and spoiled anymore, right?”

With exaggerated devastation written across her face, Lily discreetly glanced over her shoulder, watching Rose’s expression shift from annoyed to panicked.

“No! Then I am a little girl!” Jumping into her mother’s arms with such speed that Lily had to adjust to catch her, Rose shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Yes, you’ll always be Mommy’s little girl.” Smiling from ear to ear, Lily embraced her daughter tightly, clearly victorious.

Her exaggerated movements sent waves of ticklish sensations through Rose’s body. Even as she protested, twisting her small frame as if resisting, she made no effort to escape her mother’s embrace.

After long minutes of receiving careful, relentless kisses on her face and gentle affection, Rose finally let out a long, satisfied sigh.

As the soft sunlight touched her skin, the little girl took a deep breath, letting the delicate fragrance of the surrounding flowers fill her senses.

“Aunt Thelira and Cherry haven’t come back since lunch.” Resting her head on her mother’s thighs, Rose relaxed, feeling the green grass brush against her bare arms.

“Thelira already did what I asked her to do yesterday, and now they’re just handling the final details.” Running her fingers through her daughter’s silver hair, Lily whispered, “Selene will take care of them, don’t worry. Today is the last day of our deadline—we have our own things to handle now.”

Three days.

That was the maximum time Bahamut had given Nia to fulfill her demands, for Ignis to assume the role of leader of the Wing Clan, and also the limit of how long Tiamat’s body could endure before inevitably failing.

Whether an all-out war would truly begin and the already fragile balance of the world would once again collapse—or not—everything would be decided in the coming hours.

Lily concluded that the belief that the journey between Lampides, the elven capital, and Athamas, the dragon capital, would take at least a month was the only reason no scouts had been sent to monitor the elven delegation. The certainty that they could capture them even if they tried to flee now gave Ignis the confidence not to impose any strict surveillance.

In the distance, even across the vast plains, the two could hear the restless movement in the Wing Clan district. It was obvious—they were preparing for battle with all available combat members.

And even so, Lily didn’t have a trace of unease in her heart.

Sleeping normally and simply spending the day playing with her daughter, she hadn’t done anything different from her usual routine.

But that was about to finally change.

With one hand pressed firmly against her chest and the other gently running through her daughter’s hair, Lily formed a soft smile before turning her head slightly toward the sliding door behind her.

“Is it time, Akasha?”

Lying on the wooden floor, a large black wolf kept its spectral blue eyes fixed on its master. In response, the tip of its long snout moved a few times.

“It took longer than I expected, but at least I didn’t have to take extreme measures. There’s still time.”

Carefully holding her daughter in her arms as she stood up, Lily extended her right hand toward the wolf. In an instant, the creature’s large body emitted a strong bluish glow, transforming into an ebony staff that flew into her grasp.

“Rose, let’s go for a little flight, alright?” Lily said, placing the staff at her waist as she looked at the curious expression on the girl’s face.

Like a storm forming over a field of flowers, arcs of blue lightning burst from Lily’s back. The chaotic currents intertwined, gradually forming a majestic wing of electricity.

Slowly, Lily lifted off from the visitors’ quarters, heading toward the plains—and then into the sea of clouds.

Descending along the mountainside, the dense, icy mist enveloped them once more.

Thanks to the barrier surrounding them, even the purple miasma that dominated the vegetation of the Valley of Dawn posed no threat. As they flew downward, the thorn-covered flora that Rose knew so well became increasingly vivid.

“Mama Lily doesn’t need to worry about me—you can fly faster,” Rose whispered, her arms wrapped around Lily’s neck, finally noticing that her mother was moving much slower than usual.

“Don’t worry, my love, it’s not because of you.” Hugging her daughter a little tighter, Lily beat her wings more strongly, continuing their descent. “I just want to make sure I don’t move too fast.”

That answer made the little girl tilt her head in confusion. Rose remembered her mother saying they would resolve everything by sunset, so she wondered where they were going with only a few hours left. Still, trusting that her mother had her reasons, she didn’t press further—though her curiosity remained.

Without the resistance of the wind thanks to the barrier, Rose could easily observe their surroundings.

After a little over an hour, the mountainside gave way to an expanse of thorny trees. The rugged terrain became more pronounced. Even from above, through the dense fog, it was possible to see valleys and ravines cutting through the land like macabre spiderwebs.

It was a breathtaking sight no matter how many times she saw it. Even so, the girl couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows as a colossal, unnatural crater came into view.

“Isn’t this the place where Mama Lily and Mama Nia defeated the dragon?” Gripping her mother’s black cloak a little tighter, Rose asked in confusion.

“Yes, this is the place.”

Flying closer to the ground, Lily’s differently colored eyes scanned the terrain filled with destroyed trees.

Even though Nia had removed Fafnir’s body using a portal, the impact of their battle had left marks on the forest that couldn’t be repaired in just a few days.

It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight—but they hadn’t returned here out of nostalgia.

“Rose, do you think you can show me where you found the dragon’s body you used to make your daggers?” Calling out to the little girl who was curiously observing the area, Lily asked with a smile.

“The Moon Fangs?” Tilting her head, Rose carefully pulled two daggers from beneath her dress.

Grayish-black handles contrasted with crescent-shaped white blades that gleamed like fragments of the moon. The first weapons she had forged were far from what could be called masterpieces, but they were still worthy enough to receive a name from Sylvan.

Seeing her mother nod in response, Rose closed her eyes, thinking about how she should do this.

Just like before, if her mother was asking for something, there was definitely a reason—so she needed to do her best.

Even if she wasn’t as good as her metamorph mother at remembering coordinates, Rose would never forget the characteristics of the surroundings she had mapped with her mana-location.

“That way.” Pointing with her little finger in a specific direction, Rose guided Lily through the forest, as Lily calmly flew above the treetops without rushing her.

With a basic sense of which areas she had already mapped or not, it was simply a matter of retracing her steps.

Back then, since she had been carrying Cherry while she recovered from her fall, Rose had avoided moving too fast. She hadn’t traveled very far between the place where she encountered Fafnir and where she found the last herb for the healing potion she had made.

“Down there.” Pointing toward the ground, the girl indicated a deep but relatively narrow ravine.

The surroundings were a mess, but there was no mistaking the place. Along the rocky wall that seemed to lead into an abyss, a vertical purple trail ran downward.

“You did your best, didn’t you?” Pressing her lips together as she looked at the line formed by her daughter’s blood, Lily murmured, pulling the girl closer and wrapping her in both arms.

“Hehe…” With her vision completely buried between two warm mounds, Rose couldn’t see her mother’s pained expression, but she felt her body relax.

Given how narrow the ravine was, Lily couldn’t freely spread her wings. Dispelling the spell, the silver-haired girl leapt down to the bottom. Though the interior had little light, it wasn’t covered in mist.

“There are a lot of passages at the end of the corridor.” With her voice completely muffled, Rose spoke cheerfully.

Holding the girl a bit tighter, Lily began walking deeper into the spacious cave. Just as her daughter had said, numerous cavernous tunnels branched out like an anthill.

There were so many paths that it could easily take an entire day to map everything if they didn’t know where to go. However, thanks to mana-location, their destination was found within minutes.

“It still doesn’t smell very good here.” Rose frowned.

The heavy, dust-filled air did nothing to mask the putrid odor that seemed impossible to dispel.

Covered in mushrooms and herbs with a faint bluish glow, the enormous, lifeless skeletal carcass of the colossal dragon lay within the vast cavern.

Like a labyrinth of bones, its giant ribs formed macabre arches. The foul stench—reminiscent of sulfur—made the air so acidic it was enough to make the tongue tingle.

“Even if it’s left alone for centuries, that still wouldn’t be enough time for a dragon’s body to completely disappear.” Murmuring, Lily walked closer to the dragon’s remains, carefully stepping over the many cracks in the cave floor. “Even for someone known as a national disgrace, this is still too much.”

Even without sunlight or water, thanks to the richness of mana in the corpse, a large number of mana-infused herbs had grown beneath the creature’s body. Still, given the overall aesthetic of the place—which looked like it could collapse at any moment—everything felt extremely crude and precarious.

“At least he’ll be able to help us sort out this mess.” Lily commented as she reached the opposite end of the cavern, gaining a clear view of the entire body.

“Mama Lily is going to solve everything using the dragon’s bones?” Finally climbing her way out from her mother’s overwhelming embrace, Rose asked, visible doubt on her face.

“No, not really. I just needed to come here to lure out our rat.”

“A rat?” The little girl tilted her head.

Adjusting her daughter in her arms, Lily brought one hand to her chin, thinking about how to explain it.

“You see, Rose, when someone clever feels like they have everything under control, even the smallest possibility of an unknown factor ruining everything can make them desperate—no matter how confident they are in their plan.” Lily let out a mischievous laugh. “Yesterday, Mommy made quite a flashy declaration in a place full of people.”

Moving her hand to her waist, Lily gestured with her chin toward the dragon’s corpse.

“Dragons aren’t buried like this. There’s a reason it’s down here—something that should never be discovered. For the innocent, there’s no reason to worry about whatever proof we take. But for the real culprit—the one who knows the truth… they can’t afford to let us leave this place alive.”

Placing one hand on her waist, Lily slowly tightened her fingers around the hilt of her stardust blade.

“Not just the older brother, but the middle sister too. Killing your own family to try to claim the position of clan leader… sounds a bit excessive, doesn’t it?”

Turning toward the entrance of the vast cavern, a cold gleam shone in Lily’s eyes.

“Don’t you think, Cicuta?”

Her words fell into the air like a summons.

And from the darkness, came the answer.

“I really underestimated you, human.” The soft voice, barely louder than a whisper, sounded so fragile it could have been swallowed by the air itself.

Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed.

Her slender body was wrapped in a white mantle of the finest silk, flowing over her modest curves like spilled milk. The folds shimmered faintly even in the near-total darkness.

A pair of feathered wings remained still behind her back, like frozen auroras. Each white feather moved only as much as her breathing allowed. Long white hair fell in wide waves, while a long tail of golden scales swayed slowly from side to side, matching the yellowish mask that covered her eyes.

“Who would have thought someone would actually find this place…”

The woman, whose breathtaking appearance was paired with a presence as faint as a human’s, let out a heavy sigh, bringing a hand to her face.

“You know, all dragons hate caves, so no one would come to a cramped place like this. The mountain itself would have taken care of it for me over time, so I didn’t bother destroying it.”

A soft click echoed.

The shining golden mask fell to the ground with a dull thud, revealing a thin, pointed nose that matched her flushed cheeks. Two pale gray pupils gleamed in the darkness.

“What made you suspicious?” Cicuta asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

Showing no surprise at the dragon woman’s presence, Lily simply shrugged.

“While I was walking through the city’s plains, I came across several distinct flowers. One of them caught my attention.”

Watching the woman approach with slow steps, Lily began to explain.

“Centuries ago, long before the great war, a tea made from a certain subspecies of mana herb became very popular among the elves.” Carefully pulling it from her cloak, Lily held up a small flower whose stem and petals were both red. “Rubra Berula proved to be excellent for relaxation, and its sales skyrocketed. However, it led to extinction after it was discovered that it couldn’t be expelled from the body. It accumulated without being metabolized or eliminated, until every vein in the body was completely clogged.”

Letting the red flower fall to the ground, Lily released a tired sigh.

“It was just a hypothesis that I had a friend confirm through testing. Dragon blood can heal wounds in the body, but that doesn’t seem to apply when those wounds are within the blood itself.”

Mana-enhanced blood could grant regenerative properties to the body—a healing power so strong it mimicked returning from death after a fatal wound. However, the blood itself was not omnipotent; it couldn’t heal itself.

“But even so, a dragon is still a dragon.” Lily shrugged again. “A single cup of tea wouldn’t be enough to cause any symptoms. Such a tiny amount wouldn’t even kill a human.”

Selene had informed her that for a creature as massive as a dragon, an overwhelming quantity of poison would be required.

That very factor led everyone to believe the poisoning had been caused by magic, rather than by a simple subspecies of mana herb applied meticulously over time.

“I really wanted to believe I was wrong. That someone else had convinced you to serve that tea to Tiamat, and that you didn’t know about its side effects. But now… I can’t think that anymore.” Lily narrowed her eyes, staring straight into the core of the woman before her. “Exactly how many years did you spend serving that to your sister, day after day? Meal after meal?”

Slow, muffled claps echoed.

“The lethal dose would have been at the banquet, you know?” Applauding Lily’s conclusion, Cicuta looked at the little girl in her arms. “I had calculated everything perfectly. If that child hadn’t interfered and delayed her from drinking the tea, she would’ve consumed the concentrated version and already be dead. But well, since she kindly got in the way, taking the blame isn’t such a bad punishment.”

“So your plan really was to blame the dwarves.” Pulling Rose closer to her as if forming a barrier between them and the woman, Lily spoke coldly.

That statement made Cicuta raise an eyebrow, a spark of amusement appearing in her gray eyes.

“Did you notice?”

“Tiamat would only allow someone she trusted to send out the invitations for the council meeting. You were in charge of that, weren’t you, Cicuta?” Lily narrowed her eyes further, anger evident in her voice. “You delayed sending the invitations so they would only go out when there was no longer time for the elven delegation to arrive. That removed suspicion that you had orchestrated everything to prevent the elven queen from coming to Athamas.”

A soft laugh escaped the dragon woman’s lips.

“Having the greatest physician in the world here wouldn’t have been convenient.” Cicuta shrugged. “After all, the Rubra Berula tea was something discovered by the elves. If she recognized it, I would’ve had problems.”

Stopping when they were several dozen steps apart, Cicuta let out a weary sigh as she glanced at the dragon’s corpse.

“May I ask the reason for all this?” Lily questioned. “Just like with your older brother, even after Tiamat’s death, the clan won’t make you its leader. You know that.”

“Why are you asking that now? You said it yourself yesterday.” Curling the corner of her lips upward, a wide grin spread across Cicuta’s face. Her voice echoed through the cave in a harsh, distorted tone, like metal scraping against metal. The emotion emanating from her body held no trace of falsehood. “War.”

That was all.

“I see…” Letting out a sigh, Lily shifted the little girl in her arms onto her back, a purple tentacle holding her firmly and tucking her inside her cloak. “Rose, hold onto Mommy tightly and don’t let go, okay?”

Nodding in confirmation, the little girl hid within her mother’s cloak, gripping the fabric tightly as several purple tentacles wrapped around her protectively.

“All the clans and their idiotic culture deserve to rot in flames.”

Turning her palms upward, the entire cavern was engulfed in an emerald flash.

And then, the heat came.

It was vivid—enough to be felt against the skin.

Flames of a vibrant green spilled from Cicuta’s fingers as if they were alive.

The sickly fire spread across the cave floor with an eerily silent speed, orbiting around the dragon woman like an infernal shield. The flames didn’t crackle like ordinary fire, but emitted a low, continuous hiss, like snakes uncoiling, filling the air with an unnatural emerald glow.

Staring at the vivid green flames, Lily narrowed her eyes.

That wasn’t an innate ability.

She knew the answer.

“A dragon that can use magic.”

Defying everything her kind believed in, Cicuta extended one hand, the emerald flames dancing around her and casting warped, almost psychotic shadows across the cave walls.

“That’s right… I got a little excited that day and showed you this in the library that night, didn’t I?” Cicuta sighed. “I guess I’ve been getting careless.”

The entire cave seemed to glow from within, the cold, feverish luminescence making everything appear grotesque.

“But none of that will matter—as long as you die here and the Elder Brother’s bones disappear forever.”

The only exit had been sealed by the green inferno. Watching the flames dance in the air, waiting only for a command to surge toward her, Lily couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s the grand plan?” Confused by the human’s reaction, Cicuta raised an eyebrow.

“To start… let’s see…” Lily paused for a moment. “I think I’ll beat you up for what you put my daughter through.”

That sarcastic reply made the emerald flames flare even stronger.

“You really intend to face me? While I can’t match a monster like Bahamut physically, not even that hero has mana control as refined as mine. The elder brother didn’t last long.” Cicuta said, her jaw tightening as her voice dropped to a dangerous tone.

In response, Lily brought both hands to her waist. With a calm, deliberate motion, two black blades gleamed within the cave.

“Don’t worry about me. We haven’t known each other long, so let me tell you something about myself.” Taking a battle stance, the silver-haired girl formed a wide smile. “I’m used to fighting people much bigger than you.”