Isvarn stared directly into Yuuta's eyes. The gentleness that had been present while he watched the children was still there, but something heavier had entered his expression, as though the memory he was about to reveal wasn't one he carried proudly.
"That her own great-grandfather..."
He paused briefly.
"...once wanted her dead."
Yuuta froze.
For a moment, the laughter of the children around them seemed to fade into the distance. He stared at Isvarn without speaking, genuinely wondering whether he had misunderstood what the old man had just said.
"...What?"
The words made no sense to him.
Yuuta had seen Isvarn and Elena together. He had seen the patience the ruthless old dragon somehow possessed whenever Elena was around, the way his expression softened when she spoke to him, and the quiet affection hidden beneath all his usual complaints. Their bond was one of the few things about Isvarn that Yuuta had never questioned because it always seemed completely genuine.
