The greenhouse was built by the first Grand Duke for the Grand Duchess. The story hadn’t initially sparked any particular curiosity in her. She didn’t know the true identity of the first Grand Duke back then.

“It’s strange. If the first Grand Duke was really… a dragon, why would he build a greenhouse for a human Grand Duchess?”

Moreover, it was said that the bloodline of the Grand Ducal family would lose control and go berserk upon entering the greenhouse. Did this mean the Grand Duke himself wasn’t affected in the same way? Or did he create it to protect the Grand Duchess from himself?

It all seemed odd. Wasn’t it like handing over his own weaknesses?

That was why she had been reluctant to accept the greenhouse; it felt like being handed a bomb. It was unsettling and frightening, which was why she hadn’t thought much about it. It was right not to even have those kinds of suspicion.

“….”

This was the first time she had entered the greenhouse alone. In truth, while she hoped the door would be open, she also hoped it would be locked. She had a feeling that once she entered this time, she couldn’t just overlook things.

“It’s more organized…”

Perhaps it was consistently maintained by Julia, the greenhouse felt much more tidied up than before.

Entering the greenhouse didn’t change anything as she expected. Was it because she wasn’t of the Grand Ducal bloodline? He had said that only the Grand Ducal bloodline would lose their reason in this place.

It felt like an explosion throughout his body as if his blood was racing…

“I’m not of the Grand Ducal bloodline, so maybe that’s why.”

The more she learned, the stranger it seemed. A love between a dragon and a human… Why would he create a disadvantageous greenhouse for his descendants? And would the first Grand Duke himself have been whole in this greenhouse?

There seemed no reason for either scenario. But a dragon was considered the mightiest of races. He wouldn’t have created the greenhouse without good reason.

“There must be a reason.”

Wondering if she would undergo any changes, she clenched and unclenched her hand but felt nothing. Damon had seemed a bit troubled after entering the greenhouse.

“There’s only one way to maintain complete sanity in this greenhouse. There’s no such thing as immunity.”

That was what he had said back then. There was only one way to keep a sane mind here.

“But… that’s just… something he might say, right?”

It was so… It was the way to hold hands.

“If the wife holds my hand, it won’t happen. Don’t worry.”

At the time, Elysia didn’t take it seriously when she heard it. She thought he was really just saying it. It was also strange… He had insisted on holding her hand even when falling asleep, making up ridiculous excuses to do so.

If that really was the reason?

“No… that can’t be right… how could holding hands heal anything?”

She was no healer. Although she hadn’t met the first Grand Duke, she knew he must have been a very peculiar dragon. Not only did he marry a human, but he also handed her something that could potentially be his weakness.

“Should I even bother looking further?”

Elysia wandered around the greenhouse.

The lush greenery, combined with the sunlight filtering through the glass walls, was very beautiful. The state of the greenhouse seemed to be improving, which honestly surprised her, considering she had neglected it since receiving it from Damon.

“Ah…”

Something caught her eye.

It was the swing they had used together that evening. She had been sitting on it while he pushed. It had remained a fond memory for her.

Had the first Grand Duke and Grand Duchess done the same? It had been a long time since that swing.

Now, after some restoration, much had changed, though the structure was still the same. It was evening back then, so it wasn’t very visible. Now, she could see the signs of age in various places.

“The restoration must have been difficult…”

She could see that efforts had been made to preserve the first form. She had heard that no one maintained the greenhouse… It was miraculous how well the swing had held up over time. While they said it had been maintained later, it seemed like it had been made with great care from the beginning.

Creak. Creak.

As she sat on the swing and started to rock, the sound softly echoed, soothing her.

How many times had she rocked? Just as she was about to open her eyes, a strange sensation struck her. It didn’t feel like she was pushing off the ground.

It was as if the floor had vanished altogether.

“What?”

When Elysia opened her eyes, she was no longer in the greenhouse. Although she had been swinging inside the greenhouse just moments before, all she could see now was darkness surrounding her, as if she was suspended in the middle of space, still sitting on the swing.

“Wh, what…”

She couldn’t even muster the courage to stand up. There was nothing beneath her to support her. Her body trembled in the darkness. She wondered if this might be a dream, but the cold sweat streaming down her face felt all too real.

“….”

Elysia couldn’t even scream.

She realized the truth that if someone is too afraid, they can’t even scream. She only managed to cling to the swing. Even the swing, which had been sturdy and reassuring in the greenhouse, now creaked ominously under her grip.

“Da, Damon…”

She didn’t understand why his name came to her in such a desperate moment. She instinctively called out for him. It was as she had once done before…

Was darkness always this terrifying? She was too frightened to even close her eyes lest things change again.

She hung onto the swing as if it were a lifeline.

“Damon? Is that the name of the current Grand Duke?”

The voice from the darkness made Elysia whip her head around, searching for its source, but she could see nothing. All she could see was black.

“Who, who’s there?”

“Ah, it seems I should show myself. I’ll appear in a form that’s familiar to you.”

As soon as the voice finished speaking, a blurry shape began to materialize in front of her. It flickered and buzzed into clarity like an image coming into focus on a screen.

“Damon…?”

“Regrettably, I’m not the Damon you are thinking of. I’ve merely chosen an appearance that you find pleasing.”

The figure before her resembled Damon so much that she could believe it was Damon himself. From the color of his hair and eyes to his handsome features, everything was the same—except his voice, which was distinctively different.

“Who are you? How did you get into the Grand Duchy? No, Damon will be here soon…”

The Grand Duchy was protected by multiple layers of barriers to prevent external intrusion. More than that, it was under strict surveillance. Elysia wondered how anyone could have penetrated such defenses.

Regardless, Damon would soon realize that an intruder had been detected and would come looking for her. This thought somewhat calmed her fear.

She needed to stay alert.

“Damon will be here soon.”

“You seem to be on good terms with him. Of course, it’s not surprising, given I can only survive by clinging to Suze.”

Suze? Why was he referring to her as ‘Suze’?

“Are you… are you human?”

Given the odd darkness around her and his resemblance to Damon, it seemed highly likely that this man wasn’t human. Edward had mentioned days ago that the Grand Ducal bloodline descended from the Black Dragon and that the first Grand Duke wasn’t human.

“The first Grand Duke…?”

“You’re quite quick-witted for a human.”

“Is it even possible for you to still be alive?”

Dragons were known for their longevity, far exceeding that of humans.

“It would be nice if I could be. I’d love to just push this empire over the edge right now.”

…Was the founding myth true? Did the dragon, the first Grand Duke, really put the Empire at risk?

“But I was already dead a long time ago. What you see now is merely a semblance of my consciousness.”

“Why to me…?”

Elysia was puzzled. If this really was the consciousness of the first Grand Duke, why appear to her and not to Damon, his descendant?

“While you know I’m a dragon, you seem unaware of everything else.”

“…Everything else?”

“Yes, you entered the greenhouse, didn’t you?”

She had entered the greenhouse hoping to uncover something, not because she knew something in advance.

“I don’t understand why the greenhouse was built. Why the bloodline of the Grand Ducal family goes berserk here.”

“It seems nothing was explained to you. You need Suze. I certainly didn’t teach them to keep quiet like this…”

What did he mean he didn’t teach that? The first Grand Duke continued to speak in things she couldn’t understand, which only added to Elysia’s frustration.

“What is ‘Suze’?”

“You didn’t know? It seems they really haven’t told you anything, yet you managed to figure out who I was.”

Did he mean there was a connection between him being a dragon and something called ‘Suze’?

“How much do you know?”

“That the first Grand Duke was a dragon and that the Grand Ducal family carries dragon blood.”

“Did you figure that out on your own?”

Elysia nodded. Damon hadn’t told her that.

“So, you haven’t heard anything about Suze?”

She still didn’t understand what this ‘Suze’ was. Even the fact that the first Grand Duke was a dragon was something she was still half-doubting.

“Suze was the name of my wife.”

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