The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 253

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 253
The human body is so fleeting and fragile. I must separate the space here from the outside world.
Muttering thus, the divine being released a surge of immense power, then fell into a deep slumber within the new vessel.
Time within the Cave seemed to halt, flowing with agonizing slowness.
Kalid slept deeply alongside the Dragon God, waking and sleeping in endless cycles.
Before long, the young boy had grown into a man.
Judging by his physical development, several years must have passed, yet Kalid realized the world visible beyond the bars had changed dramatically.
The dragon must have used its power to separate this place into a space entirely distinct from the outside world.
The two beings slowly intertwined.
Kalid absorbed all of the infinite memories of the Dragon God, and unconsciously mastered several magics he had known.
Summoning magic, oath magic—all of it had been taught by the Goddess.
Would a good day ever come for me?
A day when I could be grateful to be alive?
I had forgotten what I once yearned for.
As the dragon’s incarnation, I merely waited for the Goddess herself to return, driven by his intense emotions.
The ancient divine being with its grotesque obsession was now me, and I was now that divine being. We were entirely different yet the same. Light and shadow, thread and needle.
Endless waiting had become my burden.
As the barrier gradually weakened, lost humans occasionally wandered in. Each time, the dragon’s power stirred and erased them, silencing them. It was not what Kalid desired.
Some even approached claiming they could break the chains, but it was merely an excuse to save their own lives—all of it lies.
And so, endless time passed once more.
I suddenly wondered what difference this waiting held from death itself.
A boy who survived with the dragon’s aid, yet was shackled as the price.
The incarnation of an ancient god, descendant of the dragon, vessel of the First Mage King.
Or perhaps,
Simply a fortunate little member of the Mercenary Company who was brought back to life.
Whatever I was called, I survived.
And….
After countless ages had passed, one day.
“…But why am I trapped in a place like this?”
Light kindled in my eyes.
* * *
It was a storm once more.
“….”
I quietly observed my own past.
Then, suddenly, I turned my head toward the warmth I felt in my hand.
“….”
“….”
Blue eyes meeting as if by fate.
Rubian gripped my hand tightly and spoke.
“I am….”
She couldn’t even speak properly through her tears. Kalid gazed down at Rubian in silence.
‘This is….’
It must be her mana that had flowed into me.
Which meant this place was neither reality nor a dream, but something in between.
And yet, in this moment, Kalid wanted to speak with all the strength he could muster.
“You found me.”
A life of nothing but falling, devoid of anything good.
“You were the first person to take my hand.”
He embraced his only light and smiled.
Damn it, Goddess.
You were right. If I just kept living, someday a good day would come.
Ah.
I endured well.
* * *
“Gasp.”
My body convulsed violently.
My lungs expanded painfully, as if I had been holding my breath for an eternity and suddenly inhaled. Yet no air seemed to enter.
“Ugh…. Ugh….”
“Calm down, please. Rubian. Breathe.”
Warm, large hands swept across my back endlessly. I gripped Kalid’s clothes and slowly focused on my breathing.
Physiological tears streamed down as I clawed at his chest in inexplicable agony.
“Stay still…. Yes, you’re doing well.”
As I gasped in ragged breaths, only a handful of air filled my lungs. I panted and pressed my head against his chest.
“Kalid…. Kalid….”
“Rubian, I’m here. So please, calm down.”
Kalid held me gently and continued to murmur softly.
The trembling in his hands as he stroked me endlessly to raise my body temperature suggested he was deeply shaken as well.
I nestled in Kalid’s arms, leaning against the wall, and focused on breathing for a long while.
Once I finally regained my senses and looked around, I saw a golden ring shattered haphazardly on the floor. The room was in ruins.
“That, the power….”
“I don’t know. It escaped somewhere. More importantly, are you alright?”
“Yeah….”
“Why is your mana in this state?”
“You….”
I tried to say that, but suddenly I burst into tears.
“You took it with you…!”
“….”
In Kalid’s past, that child’s emotions washed over me poignantly, engulfing me like a wave. Yet he accepts it so well—I don’t understand why I’m falling apart.
My heart ached as if being wrung.
It was difficult to articulate what this emotion was.
Kalid continued to comfort me with soothing words. I wanted to calm down quickly, but it wasn’t as easy as I wished.
‘But that last memory…’
Wasn’t it slightly different from my recollection?
Childhood.
When I realized this world was from a novel, before he grew into an adult.
So I had pulled Kalid—barely eleven years old then—out of the Cave. And we wandered the Battlefield together…
But according to the memory I just witnessed, Kalid had grown into an adult.
And I was an adult as well.
‘That memory was almost like… the two people from the original story that I saw in dreams.’
Suddenly, the Dragon God’s words about ‘hidden time’ nagged at me.
‘There’s still more to come.’
I instinctively sensed it. That there was another memory waiting.
“I’m sorry. Rubian.”
Then Kalid gently pulled me into his embrace and whispered. As cool, tender mana flooded through every point of contact between our bodies, my thoughts scattered slightly.
“I thought that since it was my body, I could never do anything rough to you… yet I forcibly took your mana…”
I wiped away my remaining tears and shook my head.
“No. That’s… it’s fine.”
“…That’s fine?”
Kalid’s expression turned puzzled. He pulled away slightly, then his face hardened as he saw the red marks remaining on my wrists and calves.
“Did I do this?”
“You’re not at fault…”
His expression became even more devastated.
“…Ugh, I want to die.”
Kalid bit his lip and muttered those words. My heart sank.
“No! Why would you say such a thing…!”
After surviving all this!
As I started crying again, Kalid panicked and frantically wiped my cheeks.
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to. Don’t cry. Why are you crying like this?”
“Because…”
Because you’re pitiful.
A boy who endured, clinging to hope for just one good thing. Yet he eventually became the Dragon God’s vessel and spent long ages alone.
“And you had to meet someone like me…”
“Don’t say that.”
Then Kalid cradled my chin. His expression looked somewhat resolute.
“Why would you say such a thing?”
“Hic…”
“You’re my only salvation.”
Then he pulled me close again, holding me tightly as I sat between his legs. Burying his face in my neck, Kalid murmured in a muffled voice.
“I will surely be punished for hurting you. For now, just… stay like this with me.”
I could feel his heartbeat pounding clearly. I wrapped my arms around his neck.
Soft light had gradually returned to the interior. After a long moment, he carefully withdrew and met my gaze.
His eyes burned with an intense heat. That gaze alone seemed to set my blood ablaze.
I traced the tear mole beneath his eye. Kalid’s expression tightened slightly.
“You… are you alright? Where did that power of the Dragon God go? Is there something I should do for you…?”
At my question, Kalid gazed at me in silence for a moment.
“I’m fine. I should investigate where the Dragon God’s power went, but right now…”
His arm around my waist tightened. His face suddenly drew closer.
A sweet warmth mingled with his shallow breath.
“Comfort me more.”
Our noses nearly touched, hovering impossibly close.
His eyes shifted slightly, his gaze fixed upon my lips.
That observant stare continued with relentless intensity, and I understood instinctively.
“Your lips…”
The moment he murmured this, his brow furrowed.
I realized I could no longer restrain myself.
I shut my eyes firmly, cupped Kalid’s cheeks in my hands, and pressed my lips against his.
Something surprisingly soft and tender met me, touching and withdrawing. His prominent nose pressed against mine, forcing me to tilt my head slightly.
I never imagined such a tender place could exist on a body otherwise so rigid and unyielding.
‘He had reason to ask for comfort through a kiss.’
But could something like this truly provide comfort?
Regardless.
Touch.
Our lips met briefly, then parted.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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