Chapter 11
[11] What Kind of Fate Do You Say We Have?
After their reunion following 2,500 years apart, every moment she spent with Minjun felt like a dream.
She had waited for this moment for a length of time no ordinary human could imagine. How could she be anything but happy?
And she had believed that happiness would continue.
Why wouldn’t it? Two lovers who had longed for each other were finally reunited, with nothing standing between them.
She had thought all that remained was to enjoy a sweet, carefree life together.
Then, in the middle of training, Minjun suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Oppaaaa! Oppa! Oppa! Minjun, wake up! Minjun!”
Sia screamed his name, repeatedly shaking his unconscious body.
‘After everything it took for us to be together again!’
At the same time, she cast every healing spell she knew on him.
“His breathing. I need to check if he’s breathing.”
With trembling hands, she checked Minjun’s pulse.
It was faint, but thankfully, it was there.
That was all, however.
There was no sign that he would regain consciousness.
Even she couldn’t tell exactly why he had suddenly passed out or what condition he was in.
‘An underlying illness? No. He never had anything like that. Then is there some other problem I don’t know about? No, that’s not it either. Then why did he collapse? The healing spells aren’t helping. No, it’s worse than that. His condition is deteriorating.’
Had she not been a dragon, she might already have fainted from the shock.
Barely holding herself together, Sia tried to determine what had caused Minjun to collapse.
But no matter how hard she thought, nothing came to mind.
“Before… before it gets any worse…”
She had to do something.
Anything.
Her ability to think rationally was beginning to fail her.
With violently trembling hands, she began pulling every healing artifact and potion she possessed from her subspace.
But was this really the answer?
Looking at Minjun’s condition, she suspected they might have no effect—or worse, cause an adverse reaction.
Then what about Dragon Tongue?
“There’s no time to think.”
One powerful Dragon Tongue spell might be better than a handful of inadequate artifacts or potions.
Just as she was about to utter the words to awaken Minjun—
“I wouldn’t do that.”
An unfamiliar voice addressed her, and Sia turned to see who had spoken.
But the owner of that seemingly unfamiliar voice was someone she knew.
“H-how…?”
Someone she had never expected to meet here on Earth.
“Grandfather, why are you—?”
The former Dragon Lord who had suddenly vanished shortly before she turned a thousand.
Her grandfather, Rokan, stood before her.
“Shasha. Are you worried about that man?”
Sia—or rather, the Red Dragon Shasha—nodded vigorously.
“Then, first, move far away from him. I’ll take care of the rest.”
***
Just before losing consciousness, I had wondered whether I was going to die.
But since I had woken up, I apparently was still alive.
Even if all the strength had drained from my body.
I opened my eyes and slowly sat up.
“Where…?”
After passing out, I had expected the first thing I saw upon waking to be a hospital room.
It wasn’t.
This wasn’t the training ground where I had collapsed, a hospital, or even my home.
Where on earth was I?
The cavernous space was so enormous that most indoor gymnasiums would pale in comparison. But it didn’t seem to be an ordinary cave.
Judging by the furniture, someone appeared to live here.
‘Wait. Where’s Sia?’
She had been right beside me before I lost consciousness, but now I couldn’t sense anyone nearby, let alone her.
“Sia! Sia!”
Growing anxious, I shouted her name.
What if she had disappeared again?
She couldn’t.
Not after we had finally found each other again.
“Your name was Minjun, wasn’t it? I see you’re awake.”
An unfamiliar voice spoke.
I was certain I hadn’t sensed anyone approaching.
Yet a man who looked to be in his forties was standing over me.
What stood out was his red hair and red eyes, just like Sia’s.
“Judging by those wavering eyes, you must be terribly confused. Understandable. I would be too, in your position.”
“Who… are you?”
No matter how hard I thought, I had no idea. Other than his hair and eyes being the same color as Sia’s, I had no clues to his identity.
“I’m Sia’s grandfather.”
“…Pardon?”
Her grandfather?
Both of Sia’s grandfathers had died before she reached adulthood.
Then if he was her grandfather…
“Forgive me for asking, sir, but were you reincarnated too—?”
“What are you talking about?”
Then what was going on?
He looked far too young to be her grandfather.
Based on his appearance alone, I would have believed him if he had said he was her uncle.
But I had overlooked something.
After being reincarnated as a dragon, Sia had red hair and red eyes.
Her grandfather had the same hair and eye color.
And this strange, overwhelming presence I could feel from him was unmistakably…
“Are you… a dragon?”
“Took you long enough to notice. Yes. As you suspect, I am indeed a dragon.”
He laughed heartily.
“You must have plenty of questions. Well, what would you most like to know?”
I had countless questions, but naturally, the most pressing was Sia’s whereabouts.
“Sia. Where is she right now?”
“Down below. Don’t worry. She’ll come up soon. My granddaughter has been terribly worried about you.”
“Whew. Thank goodness.”
I let out a relieved sigh, though I couldn’t completely shake my anxiety until I saw her face for myself.
“You still seem worried.”
“How could I not be? Sia must have been terrified when I collapsed…”
“She was more than terrified. She was in a state of panic.”
“Haah. I’ve only made her worry.”
I had been training perfectly normally before suddenly collapsing. Of course she would have been shocked.
“Then, sir, how did you—?”
Boom. Boom.
Just as I was about to ask my next question, loud thuds began reverberating through the ground.
Thinking the cave might be collapsing, I hurriedly looked for somewhere to take shelter. Sia’s grandfather, however, merely smiled calmly.
“Shasha. I know how you feel, but didn’t I tell you your boyfriend still needs to rest?”
Boom. Boom. Boom.
“You seem even more childish than when I last saw you two thousand years ago. Shasha, I know you’re anxious, but wait a moment. Didn’t I ask you to be patient?”
He spoke gently, as though soothing an impatient granddaughter. Apparently, Sia really was somewhere beneath us.
Shasha, though…
She hadn’t told me herself, but that seemed to be the name she had received after being reincarnated as a dragon.
“As you can see, my granddaughter is very worried about you.”
Did that mean those heavy tremors had something to do with Sia?
I still didn’t fully understand what was happening, but if her grandfather said so, it must be true.
“I had intended to let you talk and rest until you were fully settled before allowing you to see her. But my granddaughter seems too impatient for that.”
He placed a hand on my head and began muttering in a language I couldn’t understand.
“There.”
I had no idea what spell he had cast on me or what had changed, but he seemed satisfied and called for Sia.
“Shasha. You may come out now.”
Rrrrrumble!
The ground suddenly split open, and someone emerged from the gap.
It was Sia.
“Oppaaaa!”
The moment she emerged, she rushed toward me at literally the speed of light and pulled me into her arms.
“Oh, right. I might make it hard for you to breathe. Oppa, are you okay? Are you fully awake now? How do you feel? You suddenly collapsed, and—”
“I’m fine. I’m fine. Calm down.”
She was beside herself, apparently terrified that something might still be wrong with me.
I patted her back, doing my best to soothe her.
“You really are okay, right? Grandfather, he’s okay, isn’t he?”
“As you can see, he is. He just needs a little rest.”
Her grandfather watched us with a kindly gaze.
Though this was our first meeting, I could tell how deeply he cherished Sia.
“Still, Oppa? Shasha, you’re over two thousand five hundred years old, while this young man you call Oppa is only twenty-five by this world’s reckoning…”
“Grandpaa!”
“Heh heh.”
Apparently unable to resist teasing his granddaughter, he gave her a mischievous smile.
Sia puffed out her cheeks and pouted.
‘Should I tease her too?’
Now that she was some 2,500 years older than me, I found myself wondering how she would react if I called her Grandma.
But—
“…Oppa? What are you thinking about?”
“N-nothing. Nothing at all. Just that you and your grandfather seem close.”
“Oh. Is that all?”
Thankfully, she didn’t press the matter.
“Then let’s leave as soon as you’re feeling better. We promised to go on a date after training, remember? Is there anything you want to do?”
“Hmm, good question. I probably shouldn’t push myself yet, so how about we order some delivery and spend the day at home?”
Nothing seemed seriously wrong with my body, and everything appeared to have worked out.
I thought all that remained was to go home and enjoy a cozy date together.
But…
For some reason, I felt as though we shouldn’t.
The moment I turned toward Sia to tease her, a sudden chill ran through me.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but there is something the two of you need to know.”
Sia’s grandfather, who had been quietly watching us, spoke up.
“Fate dictates that the two of you must never meet.”
“…What?”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
What kind of absurd thing was that?
“Grandfather, w-what are you talking about…? What?”
“Shasha. I understand that you want to spend every moment by your boyfriend’s side. But if you do, the man you love will continue to suffer episodes like today’s. And perhaps…”
He slowly turned his gaze from Sia to me.
“He may even die.”