"Welcome to Rowoon Kingdom, Zhuocheng-ssi and Yanli-ssi."
When Zhuocheng first heard those words after he woke up, he flinched violently enough for others to take notice of him.
He could see the familiar swordsman smiling across him, then to the elf, red cat and the black dragon looking at him with interest.
"Yanli noona..."
Then, a hand tapped his back, making Zhuocheng look to see the familiar face of his sister.
"I'm here, Zhuocheng."
He visibly calmed down then.
"...Where are we going?" He couldn't help but ask when he sees the unfamiliar town around him.
It seems they are in a carriage, an expensive one at that to be able to contain six people inside.
"We're going to the Royal Capital and have an audience with the King, little dragon." It was the elf who said that, making Zhuocheng visibly tense again.
...Did they perhaps do something to catch the eye of the King? Perhaps a crime?
Zhuocheng soon became restless, clasping his sister's hands as he tried to think of any possible reason there is.
"Relax, Zhuocheng-ah. The King won't put you in a guillotine so calm down." It was the black dragon who said those words.
How the hell can he calm down when they were just orphans days ago then they were about to meet the King of Rowoon?!
"But why does he have to meet us?" He couldn't help but ask, finding it suspicious.
No one can blame him, when he grew up in a place where pain and abuse were always present. No one can condemn Zhuocheng for his behavior.
This time, it was the red cat who spoke to them.
"Well, the birth of the dragons are worth being celebrated of."
Dragons?
Not one, but two?
Then that means...!
"Noona, you're a dragon too?"
Zhuocheng couldn't hide the excitement in his voice, happy that his sister was like him.
There, he finally sees the small horns on his sister's forehead. Having the same shade of violet.
Yanli ruffles his hair, quite happy too.
Back in the orphanage, the caretakers would often say that the two of them are not siblings at all, that they do not share a single drop of blood in their veins.
Growing in the orphanage means that the legitimacy of your birth is not known, Yanli and him were simply stuck together because they have the same black hair amongst the people whose hairlines are colorful.
So the pent up anxiety that Zhuocheng have in his entire life dissipated when he finally knew that Yanli is his blood sister.
Dragons are so rare after all, more so in those who have the same horns and color trait.
Zhuocheng was purple, and his sister leans in a more pastel hue of a color.
He was reminded of a wisteria tree he saw in one of the books he had read back in the orphanage.
"Your draconian powers lied dormant until something triggered it." The golden elf starts, and the sibling turned to look at him with newfound attention.
"Goldie gramps, that's possible? So they were humans from birth?"
The elf hums, "Yes, in theory. But dragons and humans can't mate with one another so it will be impossible that they are both halflings. And no one should be mad enough to feed two children with dragon hearts."
Zhuocheng couldn't help but shiver when the topic of eating dragons came, he felt like he would puke his guts out if he got a taste of that.
"The girl was awakened through the peace she felt, and the boy was awakened when he felt something similar to a war happen."
That means the dormant blood in Zhuocheng was awakened when he felt danger, while Yanli's were awoken when she finally felt peace away from the destroyed orphanage.
"Well, that's just a theory I had in mind. In no way I am able to prove it right."
At this point, Yanli and Zhuocheng is curious on why the elf knows this much about draconic traits.
Maybe he's a fanatic? That is what they heard about the elves, so who knows.
"May I ask how you know this much?" Yanli asks politely, making the black dragon laugh.
"Well, goldie gramps is one of us after all!"
The moment that information sinks in their head, Yanli blinks dumbly for a while and Zhuocheng choked in his spit.
The gold elfㅡno, the gold dragon sighs audibly before introducing himself.
"You can call me Eruhaben. I'm a gold dragon who is old enough to be your ancestor."
The red cat then cackles, "He's an ancient dragon, so you can call him goldie gramps like we do!"
Uhm, no thank you. They would rather call the ancient dragon with respect.
"Oh, we're finally entering the castle." The swordsman says before the siblings turned outside to look at the majestic scenery of the palace garden.
They couldn't help but gasp in awe at how beautiful it is.
"Children, listen to me."
Both Yanli and Zhuocheng turned to look at the gold dragon once again.
"Don't let your guard down once we enter the place. There are still many who supports the previous king, or even those from the anti-royal faction still lurks around."
It seems like they entered a troublesome problem in politics, Zhuocheng could only grumble under his breath but he nodded with his sister nonetheless.
"Choi Han-nim, Eruhaben-nim, Hong-nim, Hwan-nim and their companions are now entering!" A guard announces their arrival, and the siblings could feel the tension hang around the air.
The inside of the palace is more majestic than the outside. But the both of them couldn't appreciate the view when there are so many eyes staring and judging them.
The moment they stepped out of the carriage, they could feel calculating eyes around them, making it a bit overwhelming.
Just then, both Yanli and Zhuocheng could feel an authoritative aura come out from Eruhaben. An overwhelming pressure enevleopes the ancient dragon.
Soon enough, the eyes that were looking at them were lessened one by one. There are still those who were brave enough, but it isn't overwhelming as much as earlier.
When they arrived at the front doors of the throne room, Zhuocheng couldn't help but hold his sister's hand in attempt to seek comfort.
Eruhaben then slammed the doors open, not minding his actions that are considered disrespectful in the world of the nobles.
"We have returned, Your Majesty."
The moment Zhuocheng's eyes looked at the king, he felt his heart thump in an unknown emotion, something at the back of his mind seemed to click.
The boy's stare was returned by the King in the same fervor.
"...Your Majesty?"
Their staring contest was cut off when Choi Han called the King, the one who sits in the throne turned to smile at his former lover.
"It's nothing to worry about, Instructor-nim. So, who are these children, Eruhaben-nim?"
Before the ancient dragon opens his mouth to speak, Hwan flicked his fingers before a barrier appeared around them, making sure that none of their words would be spilled out to the outside.
"These are Yanli and Zhuocheng. They are dragons, Your Majesty. Twins perhaps, to share their color with one another is a first to our lineage."
The King looks at them with interest before deciding to introduce himself too.
"Esteemed dragons, this one is named Alver Crossman, the current monarch of Rowoon."
Alver stands up from his throne before walking towards to where they stood, he bows his head in respect at the two dragons then.
Yanli and Zhuocheng couldn't help but frantically return the greeting, albeit imperfect.
"Ah, right. Eruhaben-nim and Instructor-nim, would you like to see the final output of the current project?"
Zhuocheng was almost confused at the sudden change of topic, making him look at Hwan and Hong to ask what the adults meant.
"Oh, they are planning to build a statue of God in Huiss. His Majesty was asking for them to see the final sketch, would you like to look at it too?" Hong explains, then the siblings nodded hesitantly.
"Then let's follow them!" Hwan jovially says as if there is no need to ask for permission.
'I guess dragons do whatever they want, huh.'
When Zhuocheng looked at Alver once again, he couldn't bury the underlying feeling that he had already met him once upon a time, a place he doesn't know the location of.
As he couldn't help but let his curiosity win, Zhuocheng finally told the words he wanted to ask.
"Your Majesty, did we perhapsㅡ!"
When Alver turned to look at him, the blonde simply smiled and placed his point finger atop his lips, stopping him from speaking his full words.
"Let's have a talk later, Zhuocheng-nim."
He knows, the king definitely knows. He definitely felt the sense of deja vu earlier.
"Here is the final sketch." Alver then says as he unrolls a scroll of paper, definitely changing the subject.
"It's good." Hong shares his opinion, his ear twitching in delight.
"What a mysterious God, and his pose clearly depicts it."
Choi Han then nods, "Unknown, yet it does show the God's benevolence."
"The small smile is a nice touch."
Zhuocheng then sees his sister stare at the painting for a long while, as if numerous thoughts were running in her head.
Yanli then creases her eyebrows as if she was confused, making Zhuocheng worry.
"Noona, is there something wrong?"
Yanli looks at him with a complicated expression, seemingly finding words to tell what she's feeling.
"I just...I don't know...I feel sad? It's like I'm seeing his whole expression despite being faceless."
And then there's that feeling that she's missing something important.
Eruhaben then hums in interest, "And what expression do you see, Yanli?"
She was silent for a while, her hands twitching as if she wanted to comfort the God in the painting.
"...Sorrow."
At that point, Zhuocheng wants to the sketch for himself. He wonders what kind of pencil strokes to be this expressive to reach his sister's heart.
"...Ah."
Zhuocheng did his best to stop himself from doing something so stupid. He really did, that is why he crossed his arms and clawed at his own skin to stop his instinct.
His instinct to wail in pain and clutch the drawing in his chest, as if he was yearning to hug someone whom he had lost from his life.
Yet he couldn't stop his tears from falling, he couldn't keep the sob that tore out from his throats as his whole attention was focused in the paper.
There was something aching painfully in his chest, and Zhuocheng almost wanted to tear his heart out to check what the hell is wrong with it.
How can he miss, yearn so bad for someone he had not even met?
"What the hell is this...?"
He wants to stop, but he just can't seem to. He's overwhelmed with grief and agony for something he does not understand.
He mourns for someone he'd never met.