The originally pitch-black rock walls were gradually adorned with tiny specks of faint light, which seemed to be called shimmering blue fluorescent moss. Now, this moss dotted the entire cave wall like falling stardust, casting a dreamy, pale blue nightscape over the mine shaft.
“Leo, it's so beautiful!”
Leopold followed behind. The explanation he had prepared beforehand got stuck in his throat the moment he saw the sight before him.
He walked up to Isabella's side and smiled softly.
“Yeah.”
After walking a few more steps, the narrow and deep mine shaft suddenly came to an end, and their vision instantly opened up. A massive natural lake, hidden deep underground for thousands of years, stretched out quietly before them.
The entire surrounding cave walls were covered in thick patches of shimmering blue fluorescent moss. Layers of stardust-like light piled on top of each other, completely illuminating the massive cavern.
Starlight flowers and dream fragrance orchids stretched endlessly along the lakeshore, creating a vast, interlocking display of red and blue. The lake surface reflected the endless soft light, looking like a brilliant night sky shattered upon the mortal world.
Leopold stood by the lake, at a loss for words for a moment.
Isabella had already squatted by the water's edge. She reached out and gently touched the surface. Ripples spread, startling a few glowing fish that darted between her fingers, trailing long, slender silver tails of light behind them.
“Leo.”
“I'm here.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank me for what?” Leopold also walked toward the lakeshore.
“Thank you for bringing me here.” Isabella didn't look back, her fingertips still lightly tracing the water. “And thank you for what you said last night.”
Leopold squatted down beside her, mimicking her action by reaching out to touch the lake water. The water temperature was warmer than he had expected.
“Bella, fighting here would ruin the scenery, wouldn't it?”
“...Fighting?” Isabella raised her head and looked at Leopold. “Leo, did you actually take that seriously?”
“What?”
“I mean—” Isabella withdrew her hand and stood up. “When that idiot Blake was talking about 'settling the score' in the dining room, I actually heard everything from the stairs.”
Leopold froze, blinking his eyes. “You... heard it?”
“I'm not deaf.” Isabella turned to face him, a mischievous, successful smirk on her face. “I just wanted to see what you would say to me.”
Leopold's ears flushed red.
“...So you weren't actually angry at all?”
“Who said that?” Isabella pouted. “I was indeed a bit angry. But not because of some nonsense about stealing the spotlight.”
“Then why?”
Isabella fell silent for a few seconds, looking down at where the lake water met the rocky shore.
“Because you took too big of a risk.” Her voice softened. “You clearly knew you couldn't fight, yet you still ran in front of Carlyle to force yourself to hold out. If I had arrived even a step later, you would have died...
“It was clearly so dangerous, yet you were still so reckless. First you blocked an attack for me, and now you went to save two elves who have absolutely nothing to do with you...
“I...
“You don't value your own life enough.”
“Leo, do you know?” Isabella's tears began to fall. “I almost thought I was going to lose you again. Isabella doesn't want to lose you...”
“Bella...” Leopold looked at the tears at the corners of Isabella's eyes. He stood up, opened his arms, and solemnly pulled her into a hug.
“It's my fault. I apologize to you, Isabella...”
Isabella didn't struggle. She simply buried her face in his shoulder.
“This is so embarrassing...” Isabella muttered muffledly.
“It's not embarrassing,” Leopold said softly. “Not at all.”
Isabella finally lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes red and the tip of her nose flushed a pale pink. She reached up to wipe her face messily, turning her head away.
“...Don't look.”
“Okay, I won't look.” Leopold immediately cooperated, shifting his gaze toward the lake.
The two of them stood quietly by the lakeshore like that, with soft starlight flowers beneath their feet and an endless, undulating sea of shimmering blue light above their heads.
Isabella suddenly turned around, as if trying to escape the momentary embarrassment, and walked deeper along the lakeshore.
Leopold followed behind her. He didn't try to catch up, but instead maintained a distance of two paces, keeping a comfortable, quiet space between them.
As the lakeshore extended deeper, the fluorescent moss gradually thinned out, replaced by a type of fungus that glowed with a faint purple light, growing against the rock walls.
Leopold felt a bit guilty. He really hadn't considered Isabella's feelings. Isabella was clearly such a strong white dragon...
Ahead of him, Isabella's footsteps suddenly slowed down. She tilted her head, her ears twitching slightly.
“Leo.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you hear that?”
Leopold stopped and listened closely... Someone was nearby, and there were quite a few of them. Listening carefully, there was also the sound of metal clashing.
“Bella, hide quickly!”
Isabella reacted even faster than Leopold. She had already reached out to grab his wrist, pulling him behind a large protruding boulder on the right side of the lakeshore.
“Shh!” Both dragons gestured to each other simultaneously.
On the opposite side of the lake, three figures were emerging from a fork in the path. They wore dark gray short robes and had short-handled weapons hanging from their waists—exactly like the group Isabella had chased in the North District last night.
“...Confirmed, no one has been to the lake side.” The leader's voice was raspy. “Move quickly, don't leave any traces.”
The other two figures nodded in silence and turned toward a section of the rock wall on the left side of the lakeshore.
Leopold narrowed his eyes. He saw one of them reach out and press the rock wall a few times, and the seemingly solid stone face actually revealed a secret passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.
The three figures slipped into the secret passage one by one. The last person reached back and pressed the rock wall, and the stone door closed silently, returning to the appearance of a solid stone wall, without even a single crack visible.
Isabella turned back to look at Leopold, lowering her voice: “...A Dragon Slayers stronghold.”
Leopold nodded. “Let's try not to alert them.”
“How many people do you think are inside?” Isabella asked in a hushed tone.
“At least three went in. But based on the scale of this secret passage and the previous clues, there's a high probability this is more than just a temporary rest stop.”
Leopold's gaze fell upon the seemingly flawless stone wall. “To have a hidden mechanism and secret passage like this means they've been operating here for quite some time.”
Isabella nodded, her long white hair swaying gently in the dim light. “Should we go in and take a look?”
Leopold hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He didn't rush to move. He crouched behind the boulder for another dozen seconds, and only after confirming there was no sign of the stone wall opening again did he slowly stand up.
“How do we get in?” Isabella asked.
“They pressed a mechanism.” Leopold's gaze quickly swept over the rock surface around that stone wall. “It's near that protruding rock on the right.”
He stepped lightly as he circled around to the opposite side of the lakeshore, with Isabella following closely behind. The two stopped in front of the stone wall, and Leopold reached out with his right hand, groping along the rough rock face bit by bit.
When his fingertips touched a slightly protruding rock, he felt something unusual—the edges of that rock were smoother than its surroundings.
“Here.” He pressed it.
A slight tremor vibrated through the rock surface beneath their feet, and the door disguised as a stone wall slid open silently, revealing a narrow crack just wide enough for one person to pass through.
“We're going in.” Leopold looked at Isabella beside him.
Rate on N.U.
