Surprising Even Breathing



1 – I Look Frightening

I had never lost my temper or intimidated anyone before.

But since I was little, people often mistook me for being scary.

Clink.

The teacup collided with the saucer.

The maid who had been serving me tea startled, her hands shaking as she made the noise.

“So, so sorry! Prince Demetrius! I, I disturbed your rest…I, I deserve to die for this crime…”

The silent study.

Sitting quietly at my desk reading a book amidst the tranquil atmosphere, I blankly regarded the maid bowing before me.

“Please spare me! Wah!”

I heard she was a new maid.

Apparently no one wanted to serve the second prince, so they forced a newbie to attend me.

“I have no plans to kill you.”

“Ah, so, so sorry! I’m sorry…!”

I truly don’t plan to kill her.

I have no intention of punishing this maid for clattering the teacup, nor am I upset by the minor mistake.

I’m simply glad to converse with another person for the first time in a while.

Everyone avoids and flees from me for being frightening.

So for the new maid to make a blunder and speak to me like this was actually a pleasant situation.

“If you’re sorry, then continue serving me from now on.”

“Wah! Tha, that is…!”

When I made the simple request to have her keep attending me, the maid reacted as if she’d received the harshest punishment imaginable.

From her trembling body and tear-filled eyes, it seemed that’s how she felt.

“You may leave if you’ve finished your tasks.”

“Yes, yes. I understand! Prince Demetrius…!”

Sniffle, sniffle.

As she backs away wiping off the tears flowing down her cheeks…

I worry she’ll quit right away.

It’s the first time we’ve talked, so I hope she works here for a while.

“Haa.”

I sigh, feelings of regret and joy mixed together.

Resting my chin in my hand, I gaze at the door the maid left through.

I understand why she reacted that way.

I look frightening.

Extremely, horrifyingly frightening.

Everyone’s said so since I was little.

I’ve done nothing wrong, yet they feel fear, paralyzed by terror, avoiding me.

Because so many people avoid me, I developed social anxiety.

The second prince of the Dragonian Kingdom, Draykna – the most terrifying being.

That was me, Demetrius.

‘What’s so scary about me?’

Feeling strangely upset, I took out the hand mirror placed beside my desk.

And examined my face in it.

Jet black hair brimming with the dragon’s powerful blood, amber eyes, sharply angled brows, slit pupils like a lizard’s.

My nose and lips jaggedly jut out.

My face was that of a mere 8 year old boy, but the spirit and ferocity contained in it surpassed any dragonian’s.

‘I wish I could have talked to her longer.’

I absentmindedly grasped and twisted my inky black strands.

That new maid I met today.

She’d only heard rumors about me and was seeing me for the first time, but still shook in fear.

Yet she bravely apologized for her mistake.

Most people can’t even speak to me. As soon as they make a mistake in front of me, they panic and faint.

Not many can meet my eyes and keep their sanity.

Is it because the dragon blood flowing in me is too powerful and frightening?

Or is it simply because I look scary, so they can’t endure it?

Again today, no one dared face me, so I read alone.

Books never avoid me.

Unable to communicate with others for being too terrifying, I found solace in books as I read.

*

Screech-

The sky was shrouded in darkness, unable to emit light.

The earth rumbled violently as if an earthquake hit, buildings swaying left and right.

Curious what anomaly had occurred, I left the study and walked out to the balcony.

None of the maids, knights, or other servants stopped their steps because of me.

They were too focused on what was happening outside.

Stepping onto the balcony and looking out, I saw the hulking presence that had landed in the palace courtyard.

The shadow of a dragon from legend.

“Gwahahahahaha! Is this the place my bloodline remains? How quaint and shabby!”

As the dragon’s silhouette burst into raucous laughter, the deafening volume made my mind go numb and overwhelming energy pushed me back.

I could barely stand, my legs weakening.

“Where, where are my descendants?”

The dragon’s head swung left and right.

From head to tail, an Ancient Dragon of pure black ebony.

Our Dragonian. It was the dragon called Progenitor, ancestor of the dragonian tribe.

His name was Kahl-Kshantrokahn.

“Oh-ho.”

The dragon peering down at the ground.

His bright amber eyes met mine.

“You do not fear me?”

He asks, looking right at me.

With so many Dragonians in the palace, why ask specifically me?

I briefly glanced around.

Everyone else already had their heads lowered submissively.

Many Dragonians had even fainted.

I was the only one properly standing on two feet and looking up at the dragon.

I stood out even more as I surveyed my surroundings.

“I’m afraid. Is this truly fear?”

I asked the dragon.

Someone was squeezing my heart in their fist. My insides cramped up and cold sweat dripped down my spine.

My hands dampened and my legs weakened.

Was this the feeling of fear?

Feeling the emotion others had felt from me, it was somehow new and unfamiliar.

I was learning an emotion I hadn’t fully understood before.

“No, what you feel is joy, not fear.”

The dragon who had been observing me intently corrected my words.

“You are delighted to behold me. What a greedy creature.”

“Joy? Is this sensation joy?”

A living being I could converse with.

A noble existence who did not fear me.

I felt a profound joy in my heart receiving this new emotion from such a being.

“It’s only natural for a lifeform to feel fear toward an existence above its station. So it follows that discovering a being close to your level brings joy.”

The dragon diagnosed my feelings as he spoke.

“You certainly inherited my bloodline.”

His majestic voice held the same joy I felt.

“I shall give you a gift. A legacy I leave to my lineage before I slumber.”

Just as I was smiling at the dragon,

Something heavy rose up in my chest.

My heart swelled as if to burst, and tension ran through my whole body.

“You can endure it. Since you have my blood.”

The excessive pressure from within made my head throb and ache.

Uncontrollable stimuli flooded into my brain. Breathing grew difficult.

I gradually lost consciousness.

In my dimming vision, the dragon’s form gazing at me faded away.

*

I don’t know how long I was asleep.

“A dragon heart has appeared in his chest.”

I heard someone’s voice.

Unable to open my eyes, I couldn’t tell who was speaking.

My body felt powerless.

“Oh my, Kahl-Kshantrokahn. The progenitor gifted this child with a dragon heart?”

A grim voice.

I immediately recognized it upon hearing.

The king of our Dragonian Kingdom.

My father.

“Incredibly, that seems to be the case, Your Majesty. When the progenitor manifested in the kingdom, he took notice of the prince.”

“I see…why…”

The king trailed off, seemingly conflicted.

After a pause,

“Can this child endure a dragon heart? He hasn’t regained consciousness since the progenitor’s visit.”

“Well, since nothing like this has happened in history before, I can’t guarantee when he’ll awaken. But the prince’s body is already adapting to the dragon heart, so there is hope.”

The one speaking to the king was the court sorcerer.

I could tell from the voice.

“I don’t understand these changes. Not only did the progenitor, merely a legend, suddenly manifest, but for this child to gain a dragon heart…what chaos the world will face.”

“The progenitor must have had a purpose for granting the prince a dragon heart. It will bring prosperity to the kingdom.”

“I hope you’re right.”

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t open my eyes.

My heart fluttered.

“At this rate of change, it will take at least 10 years. Possibly longer.”

“It will take that long?”

“For a Dragonian to endure a dragon heart itself is remarkable. His current condition is practically a miracle.”

“I suppose so. After all, it’s Demetrius…”

After that voice, my consciousness faded again.

I sank into inky black waves, as if submerging a brush in India ink.

Flicker, flicker.

My awareness blinked on and off like a candle flame.

Sometimes I could open my eyes, sometimes I could twitch my fingers.

But I still couldn’t get up.

I had spent roughly a decade lying in bed.

When I finally regained consciousness and stood up, I felt that everything about me had changed.

I was already 18 years old.

I had become an adult.

My height had grown significantly, altering my eye level, and my body was flawlessly sturdy.

My senses were sharp, and my muscles were overflowing with strength, making me feel as if I could burst anything I touched.

And then.

The fear of others towards me had grown much more intense.