༺ Eyes of a Dragon and the Human Heart (34) ༻
‘The blood of Dragons flows in the Imperial Family’s lineage..’
Regardless of its veracity, such a rumor was known to anyone on the continent. This was because the Imperial Family themselves asserted the matter.
A ‘dragon’ was a wise creature that lived on the surface of the earth in ancient times.
They were the firstborn of the Heavenly God Arus, Guardians of order and balance.
During the Mythological Age, where various races and monsters ran rampant, mankind was weak. This was the reason why the Dragons, the Heavenly God’s representatives and lovers of the weak, stepped in to protect mankind.
So, the Dragons bestowed mankind three Gifts.
The first Gift was Fire.
With the advent of fire, mankind underwent many changes.
They began to cook and were able to endure winters without needing thick fur. Naturally, the frequency of relocating their dwellings to maintain the fire’s embers increased.
Fire also gave birth to metallurgy. Agriculture, which until then had been at a primitive level, flourished due to fire.
The second Gift was writing.
For mankind, who conveyed knowledge through speech and pictures, writing was a revolutionary invention.
All kinds of knowledge were recorded and passed on to subsequent generations, and humans, due to their fragile bodies, decided to use Wisdom as a weapon.
With the advent of writing, mankind finally stood shoulder to shoulder with other races.
The third Gift was Magic.
The origin of all magic techniques in the world were the Dragons.
They, inherently curious, have pursued the truth of the world for a long time, using magic as a means.
Humans who received magic from Dragons evolved it in their own unique way.
From this branching path, the art of Aura Cultivation was created, and several schools, including alchemy, began to flourish.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the root of the heyday that mankind enjoys now lies in magic. Once a mere minor race, mankind now stood tall as the dominant species of the continent.
The first humans did receive favor from the Heavenly God and the Dragons, but they did not recklessly abuse that power.
Until then, there was no concept of ‘Sin’.
Humans had no hesitation in sharing the Gifts they received from the Dragons with other races, and the continent developed and prospered day by day.
That was until the appearance of Delphirem.
She, the betrayer of mankind and the Evil God’s follower, committed seven sins. Based on this, the Evil God bestowed power unto him and received numerous sacrifices.
Kings and Queens of each race.
The richest people and bards on the continent.
And by offering even Dragons to the Evil God, the concept of ‘Sin’, previously unknown to mankind, took root, leading to the spread of death throughout the world.
It was known that all Dragons went extinct during the centuries-long War of Gods and Demons.
However, there were rumors that their blood was being passed down due to the forbidden love between Dragons and humans, the ‘Eye of the Dragon’ was one of the pieces of evidence.
Dragons, who loved justice and order, were born with unique abilities.
The ‘Eye of the Dragon’ was one of them, a power that could read others’ emotions or psychology.
Dragons, based on this ability, often unraveled problems entwined with complex interests with clarity. Those who could even peer into the hearts of people were worshiped even more as sacred beings.
They were great and powerful.
But humans were not.
Therefore, it was a misfortune for a young and fragile girl to be born with the ‘Eye of the Dragon’.
The girl, born with dark blue hair, was beautiful. Sometimes it was hard to tell where her gray eyes were looking, but still, not many people cared about it.
She was a noble child of the Imperial Family.
She was beautiful, and it was clear that her future would be bright even without looking at it.
Until that point, she had been expected to grow up under everyone’s blessings. However, it didn’t take long for that misconception to be dispelled.
It all started with one of the maids.
The maid was cleaning the princess’s bedroom that day as well. The princess, known for her exceptionally quick wit, was also famous for being fastidious.
Even if that wasn’t the case, the maid was even more careful in her actions because she had been scolded by the Head Maid not long ago.
As the princess was still young, her ‘bedroom’ was closer to a playroom. As the maid was tidying up all sorts of toys, she suddenly felt a suspicious gaze.
It belonged to the princess.
Her unfocused gray eyes were staring straight at the maid. As soon as the maid noticed it, she had a creepy feeling.
Whether it was just her feeling or not, the princess’s pupils seemed to slightly split vertically.
The maid hesitated for a moment and then asked.
“Y-Your Highness? Did I do something wrong……”
“So you were bullied by the Head Maid?”
At the sudden words, the maid’s body immediately stiffened.
Her wide-open eyes turned to the princess. But Cien had a sweet smile filled with goodwill.
Though it was such a lovely sight, it only made the maid feel even more that there was a world of difference between herself and the princess.
The maid immediately started stuttering excuses.
“I-It’s a misunderstanding! Your Highness, I don’t know where you heard the rumor… but nothing has happened between me and the Head Maid…”
“I didn’t hear it.”
The girl tilted her head and said as if she found it genuinely strange.
“I can see it. Weren’t you cursing the Head Maid in your mind just a moment ago?”
The maid’s face turned pale.
With a thud, the broom she was holding dropped.
Regardless, the princess continued.
“And not long ago, you were speaking ill of my mother, also when you were offering candy, you were thinking about how best to impress me. And now… huh?”
The princess’s head tilted curiously back and forth. Each pendulum-like swing of the girl’s head made the maid’s trembling grow more intense.
“Muddy, and dark… Huh, it’s unsettling. What exactly is this emotion……”
“…..Y-Your Highness.”
Stammering, the maid barely managed to say a word.
“I, I’ll excuse myself.”
With that, the maid hurriedly left and soon returned to her hometown.
After that, a strange rumor began to spread among the maids.
It was a rumor that the young princess was able to read people’s minds.
The princess apparently never thought to hide her ability, and incidents initially dismissed as coincidences eventually turned into suspicions, then into wariness.
No one would ever want their inner thoughts revealed.
It was natural to have at least one secret that one wanted to hide, and it was impossible for anyone to be completely flawless down to their innermost feelings. It was just that they filtered the emotions they displayed outwardly for their social life’s sake. .
But even such actions were meaningless in front of Princess Cien.
She could see through everything.
The secrets they want to hide, the ugly desires, and even the trivial private lives and relationships.
It didn’t take long for the once affectionate and respectful gazes to turn cold.
And that hostility and fear more effectively burrowed into the young princess’s heart.
Because her eyes could read emotions.
The visualized emotions gradually tore at the young princess’s heart. It was even more so because she had been loved until then.
Being so young, the princess did not realize that peering into others’ emotions would evoke such animosity.
Since her birth, she had always been able to see into the hearts of others.
For Cien, it was something so natural that she couldn’t even dream it might be wrong.
At first, she earnestly tried to regain the love she had lost.
She attempted to approach them first and solve their problems.
However, each time she tried to look into someone’s heart to do so, the person would eventually erupt in an outcry, unable to bear it.
“……Please, just stop!”
The eyes of the maid looking down at the princess were stained with fear.
One by one the servants began to quit and soon, the palace where Cien stayed was immersed in silence.
By then, Cien inevitably came to a realization.
She realized exactly how much fear peering into someone’s heart could instill.
But it was already too late.
The rumor that Cien could see into people’s inner thoughts had long since spread throughout the palace, and whenever Cien passed by, people cast her looks filled with aversion.
In the torrent of muddy emotions, Cien was suffocating.
Everyone hates me.
Even a robust adult would have found it difficult to withstand. Not to mention a young child who had not yet fully grown.
Cien grew increasingly withdrawn day by day and became more and more silent.
The hatred stabbed and carved out the child’s once cheerful emotions, making her emotions rather numb.
She just always had a gloomy look on her face.
The more this happened, the more her mother, who had given birth to her, suffered alongside her.
The fourth Imperial Consort had not had a day without tears since Cien turned that way. One day, holding her daughter tightly in her arms, she wept and said,
“Oh, my poor daughter… It’s because people in the world can’t be honest that they hate you.”
The face of the girl embraced in her mother’s arms remained gloomily sunken. She murmured in a faint voice.
Her tone was one that seemed to have given up on everything.
“There’s nothing I can do, everyone is greedy. There’s no one who truly likes me and worries about me.”
“What are you talking about, my daughter…”
Tearing up, the Imperial Consort comforted her daughter with all her sincerity.
“At least I, at least I truly love you. I can guarantee that… I am, after all, your only ally.”
Despite the tearful and earnest pleas, there was no sign of the princess’s face softening.
Only after a long while, Cien finally responded.
“……Really?”
“Of course, I am your mother.”
Then, silence fell again. The Imperial Consort, who had been rubbing her daughter’s back and sobbing for a while, felt something strange then.
Her eyes, filled with perplexity, looked down at her daughter.
Her gray pupils were unfocused.
Looking as if she was staring at a far-off place, Cien opened her mouth.
“……But then why did you think that way?”
Abruptly, the Imperial Consort’s hand, which had been stroking her daughter’s back, froze.
Her face took on a dumbfounded expression.
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