7.5

John was left standing alone in the center of the ball room without a partner, without a dance, everyone who had been dancing alongside him started to throw a few dirty gazes at him for allowing his dance partner taken away from him.

It was though the they wanted to scream ‘Why didn’t you stop her from leaving!?’

Unable to take the misplacement of him being at the center of hostile attention, he moved away from the spotlight and went to the sides of the room where the dining tables were at.

What was he to say when Helen showed up then? Tell Helen no in taking Angeline from him and risk the mission that the hero’s team needed to complete into a possible failure?

Angeline was more than just their support, if anything, she was their coordinator. Since she has the most practical knowledge among them, it was often up to her to bring fix pieces of information and run them through before the hero’s team acted on it. Had John said anything and made her stay, Angeline’s head might not be in the right space when she is fulfilling her duties.

Then, there was also something that bothered him.

“Where is Evie? She was the one who invited me here to begin with.”

The dragon girl was supposed to make her appearance to him sometime after the Ball of Paragons had started, she said that she wanted to show him something during the ball but Evie was nowhere to be found despite the 30 minute delay of the event.

Without a concrete idea of what to do next, he returned to the place where he last left his plate of food at, thinking that he might as well finish that plate of food that he left by the table.

When he arrived, the food that he had been expecting to be greeted with was nowhere to be found, most likely a servant had taken it away thinking that it was unwanted. Frustrated, he let out a small sigh and sat dejectedly on a chair while he watched the many people took turns having fun on the dance floor.

“I should have stayed in my room, if I…”

“…‘Knew this was going to happen.’ Isn’t that right, John?” before he could finish his train of thought someone completed it for him.

Immediately recognizing that sound of that sweet voice, he stood up and turned around to face her, “Evie?”

She had a sleek beautiful white dress onvher, the dress was sleeveless and fitted her torso so perfectly that it highlighted her tender waist without compromising any of the design. More importantly, when stood closely to her, John had a great view of her face along with the slight cleavage of her ample bosoms.

He immediately shook his head at that last thought, he will not let his excitement of seeing her in such a delicate dress dominate him with lust, especially not when she had dressed herself so beautifully, her long white dress that was laced with delicate designs that closely resembled a modest wedding gown.

At the sight of Evie’s half-bare shoulders and her meek movements, John unwillingly gulped, her clothes was modest enough that she showed just enough skin to keep his eyes on her but it was not too scantly dressed for him to be repulsed or worried that she was someone who cared not for herself.

The longer I look, the more I don’t want to look away.

“Ufufu, someone missed me, did he not? I don’t have to read your mind to know what thoughts are going in your head right now,” Evie teased as she closed the distance between them ever so slightly. Though she did not have her horns or tail manifested, but John could almost see her white tail slowly curl around his wrist, pulling him closer to her.

But even with the beautifully dressed Evie teasing him, John have not fallen to her charms just yet, his heart wanted more than anything than to indulge himself in her presence, his high functioning mind however still wanted answers from her for her tardiness.

“Oh sure… Because I was wondering, where were you all this time? Hmm? Maybe you can explain yourself when you said you were going to show up, I don’t know, 15 minutes ago?” he said with a tinge of jealousy, “I thought you were excited for the dance?”

“Perhaps you have not noticed me when was watching you from the sides?” she then let out a cheeky grin as he watched John’s calm face changed into a very bewildered one. “It was pleasant to watch how gently you taught the Angeline girl to dance, but I must say, I was tempted to interrupt you two. However, she had pure intentions towards you, so I tolerated her.”

“You have been watching all this time? Then why…”

“From the moment you stepped off the carriage with that dashing suit of yours,” Evie raised her dress, bowing her head in a refined manner. “I was waiting for a suitable time to court you of course, but you were surrounded by people, it seems that you are quite popular.”

“H-hey, don’t just change the subject, if you had been here, why didn’t you say anything?” John said, slightly agitated that she had been watching over him without saying a word. “At the very least, speak to me telepathically.”

Evie casted her eyes to the ground, through her body stood with confidence, her blushed expression said otherwise, “I-I… Would not so rudely impose on your t-time… Besides…I am not as bold as you think I am…”

John widened his eyes, watching Ephinelyth fidget before his eyes was a sight to behold, then he spoke to her in his mind, hoping that she would receive his message.

“So says the dragon who brought me to her room casually.”

Evie’s face turned beet red at his telepathic remark,“John! I explained to you that you are an exception, I was fully aware of sharing a room with another—”

John burst out laughing, his face crinkled happily, “Ahahaha, alright, alright, shy Evie, I got the message, I was just joking…” Evie made a face and gave him a light punch to his right arm. When he was done laughing at her, John asked, “So you just watched over me while I was dancing?”

Evie nodded her head, “I believed that you would come to me when you are done dancing with Angeline. It seems that I was right to bide my time.”

“Bide your time? For what?”

As though she was waiting for his question, Evie’s lips curled upwards, she grabbed his hand, then interlocked her fingers with his, holding him with just the right force to keep him by her side. “Come with me and I’ll explain.”

With great glee, she guided him across the crowded dance hall and headed towards the exit, all the while keeping her azure eyes on him. When they got away from the ball room, Evie quickened her pace and brought John upwards along the stairways that was illuminated by the silvery moonlight.

While the rest of Moxnet students indulged themselves in the Ball of Paragons, here he was escaping the event in favor to follow this upbeat dragon, while his sight was certainly restricted on the dark stairways, he was certain that her heart beat as fast as his.

The sight of an excited Evie in this timeless moment sent a soothing wave of joy in his heart, he could not help but to enjoy her delightful expression as she tried to keep his eyes on her.

Somewhere inside of him, experiencing this moment of unadulterated joy, was enough to make him forget about how the elves had banished him.

It was though his heart had returned to the very one that he had when he was a naïve blissful child, only this time he was sharing it with someone who understood that emotion with him.

If he could choose, he would not mind doing this for the rest of his life, to have Evie smile on him so gently, to have her gaze on him without any judgement, to be connected to her so closely as they shared this moment with the other.

But that moment did not last long, of course, as all good things should be, that shared moment between the two of them came to a halt—quite literally—when Evie lead him towards an open balcony of the academy, extending her free arm, indicating that this was her surprise.

Hung above them was the gallant full moon that emitted its rays on them, despite the unusually pitch black sky that was about to swallow it whole it seems that the moon had made its appearance just for the both of them. John’s cheeks were greeted by a gentle wind across his face as he took in the wide view Moxnet Academy’s nightly scenery in this place, with the sight of the courtyard to his right, and the view of the academy’s garden before him.

“Wow…” he said in a small voice, heart still beating from how happy the hand that was grasping his made him felt.

“Ufufu, this is the place that I wanted to show you! Amazing, is it not?” fingers still intertwined with his, Evie pulled him to the middle and did a twirl under his arms. “Even the moon did her best to light up this place for us. Let us not waste this opportunity.”

“Waste the opportunity of what?” John asked Evie then walked towards her to hear her answer.

“The opportunity to enjoy ourselves in a delightful dance, of course,” noticing that John was still behind on what she was saying, she placed her free hand on his chest, “O-or have you forgotten our promise? T-that would be very mean of you…”

John squeezed her hand firmly before replying, “I haven’t.” He could not help but to smile at her bashfulness, so instead of making her to speak more, he began moving his feet and arms and prompted her into following him for their shared dance.

“Follow my lead…” he said to her in his mind. With his instruction, Evie’s hands eased into his, her muscles relaxed as she eased into his movements. “We’ll keep the dance simple, then slowly progress from there…”

Having Evie’s body within inches away from his, John maintained his straight back as he moved their bodies back and forth, taking great care to move his torso and legs to accommodate her movements. When it seems that Evie had no troubles dancing with him, he started to increase the pace.

“A step forward, then three backwards, move to the right…”

To which Evie quickly followed the moves that he spoke to her in his mind and synced with his footsteps every step of the way. Even when he made a few missteps while attempting to change his body motions, she would purposely allow her body to lean along with his to aid him.

“You are allowed to lean your body closer to mine, John,” Evie spoke as John almost misstep. “You are too accommodating towards me.”

“Ah, sorry. I was just…”

“Trying your best to impress me, ufufu, I can see that clearly,” she giggled but there was no malice in her words, if anything it sounded though she was to explode from happiness but was suppressing her emotions from bursting out. “Fret not, aside from the times my father had taught me how to dance, this is a first for me too,” she comforted him.

Embarrassed, John kept his eyes on his feet and remained silent.

“Perhaps it would be easier for you if we tried…this?” without waiting for his reply, Evie move to plant her chest against John, squishing him with her bountiful bust. Then, she placed her two arms them by his neck, pulling John to a gentle embrace. “The time we spend together is much more important that the dance itself… You need not to push yourself too much.” With Evie’s body so close to his, there was no room for John to move his feet so quickly like earlier, he had no choice but to reduce his pace.

“Yeah…” John replied, like how gently she placed her arms around his neck, his hands found their way to her shoulders and her waist, holding her as though she was his most precious person.

They moved one step at a time, although the dance was slow, their momentum was not lacking, one moment they were by the center of the balcony, the other, they were at the parapet looking down at the academy’s compounds. Each movement he made was without fault and precise, this came to John as a pleasant surprise, since he was never one who was dexterous in any of his limbs, but when he was with Evie, it was though she had an influence over each and every motion of his.

“Evie?” John finally spoke after their bodies attached themselves to the other.

“Yes, John?”

“I noticed that you like secluded places like these, it was the same back in the monastery, and the time you gave me that letter. Why did you bring me here to dance instead of the ball room?” John asked.

The dragon girl who was drowned in his deep gaze answered earnestly, “I dislike crowds, the way they speak, behave, and think… I rather not involve myself with people if possible,” her voice was gentle, but John could tell she had more to say.

John nodded empathetically, “Yeah, I get it sometimes I feel like I know what someone is thinking just based on the way the look at me. It’s fine if you know that person, but when it’s some stranger, yikes.”

“Ufufu, it seems that we both have this in common, being relied on others who you own nothing to is an uncomfortable sensation,” she giggled, still holding on to John as they danced.

“Is it because of your telepathic abilities, that you tend to know too much about people? I mean I don’t have your powers, so I don’t know too much, but I imagine it wasn’t easy for you huh?”

“Ufufu, my powers are part of it, but certainly not the full extent of the picture. You see, even before my powers started to develop, I quite the perceptive child, they simply amplified the notions that I already have.”

John eyes lit up, “Ah, you mean predicting what people would do, that hunch…feeling thing, when you know something without knowing exactly why, but in your gut you are very certain whether something is true, whether something is right or wrong, or that someone—”

“…Is destined to be.” Evie finished John’s sentence for him, her round eyes stared deep into his, implying what she said had a deeper meaning. She quickly shifted from him before long and resumed talking, “S-so, when I started to have my powers, like all telepaths, I initially had no control over it, it ended up with me receiving unwanted thoughts from everyone …”

“What happened?”

Evie took a deep sigh as though she was giving out a dark confession that had never seen light, “From young, I learnt that most people, if not all, had but the same monotonous mindset. Even among the dragons who are supposed to be my kind, dragons who are born with great values and philosophies entrusted to them, were still prone to deal in pettiness. This opinion of mine is harsh of course, I am not denying that. Even then, the dragons are much, much better in comparison to most mortals… Many had nothing of value in them except for what was taught, if not for their upbringing, there would not be any trait that differentiated them from the other.

“It’s funny how mother was quite right when she spoke of the nature of things. The fact that all can achieve greatness but only a few are meant for it.” Although Evie spoke unfavorably about what she learned as a telepathic elder dragon, her face remained tranquil as she looked at him.

“I do know the type of people you speak about, but surely not everyone can be categorized that way?” John who had been listening closely spoke in a gentle tone. He had his share of people who were unwilling to change despite what was done to help them—namely a few elves that he knew—but was it possible that all people could be the same at their very core?

Still, he would not go so far as to call people to be useless, if that was the case, civilizations would not exist in the world that he and Evie lived in.

“Many, many years ago, I was born on a night like this one. A night that had naught for stars and the dwindling light of the full moon, a night that was deemed to be the most sinister of nights according to draconic culture. My parents, whilst on their travels with me still in the womb had the unfortunate timing of me going into labor two weeks earlier than they had planned.

“It was unexpected, of course. But when an elder dragon, such as I, survived the night where most newborn dragons would die from childbirth. It was unusual to say the least, some regarded it as a bad omen, while others thought of it as strength. And since my mother bore the ability of divination, my birth caused many of the dragons to wonder about the future. Their thoughts always drifted between whether I would be the downfall of the dragons, or will I become bring prosperity to them. Even when my future was not foreseen by my mother to have any direct influence on the fate of the dragons, notions such as these have already been firmly planted in their minds.”

“…” John remained silent, he brought his hand and caressed Evie as she continued to speak.

“Perhaps you might disagree with me, but in my world view, much is shallow. When you grow up associated with something that was not part of your control, it shows… It blatantly shows, that despite the facade of the respectful smile that the fellow dragons gave me, the elaborate gifts that they enshrined, the words of praise they shouted to the world for my Elder Dragon descent. In reality, they did so because of their innate fear of me being a potential harbinger of doom to them, all of their hidden intent behind their ‘respect’ for me, of which, I have no desire for.”

John exhaled slowly, somehow, he oddly resonated with what Evie was referencing to. Dragons, for the most part, were very individualistic, even with their defined hierarchy, if it came to be, dragons rather not involve themselves with each other more than necessary. Though Ephinelyth, was born as an Elder Dragon, it was odd that she was expected to shoulder responsibilities that were outside of her age range—considering being 18 years of age in dragon years is merely at the infancy stage.

“But you know what, John?” Evie moved her hand to his cheek. “Things like these, they are but a small part of life. The opinions of people I will never exchange more than a conversation matters not, none of it matters when one is truly able to focus on what they desire the most. The day I learned that one only ever needed was someone to understand them, is the day I no longer agonize over this. It’s surprising what a momentary meeting of minds could do… more so than you know, John.”

“How so?”

“That would be a story for another day, ufufu. Thank you for listening to my silly ramblings with your heart,” Evie took a step back from John, lifting her skirt and bowed graciously at him.

John’s lips drew into a straight line, “Come on Evie, just skip the pleasantries, don’t avoid the question.”

“Like how you avoided using your powers?” she poked a finger at his shoulders, teasing him. “Perhaps I would answer you if you told me about your situation.”

“…”

John’s face became grim when he was reminded of what happened when he tried to keep her safe, he would have forgotten about that incident had she not brought it up.

Demon magic.

Though Evie did not mention it since he woke up in her room that day, he had a feeling that she was waiting for him to speak to her about it every time she paid him a visit.

“I have my reasons…”

“And they are?” she said in the kindest way possible, prompting John who would rather have his lips sealed forever to tell her a small fraction of his past. “My ears are all yours,” she offered.

“You’ve seen the dark mana, aura thing I had... From where I grew up, it is considered demon magic. I believe you know that much already, it is obvious, you must have sensed it from me already.”

Though they had long stopped dancing the moment Evie opened up her past, his hands remained on her waist, but now, he had retracted them from her and turned the other way.

Instead of continuing his words next, he said to her telepathically. “You knew, didn’t you? It is impossible that an elder dragon like you won’t see that. Especially after what I displayed that night when I tried to save you. Not that you needed my help.”

“…”

John went and leaned against the parapet of the widely spaced balcony before he stared into the distance, waiting for Evie’s response silently. But to his surprise, instead of replying, she seized the opportunity and hugged his open back with her slender arms firmly wrapped around him.

“Your back is wide open for me, don’t mind it if I claim it as my own!” she joked.

“H-hey! This isn’t a game! I am serious here!”

Evie paid his remarks no heed, and instead gently placed her forehead on his back. “John, aside from the mana we use for magic, did you know there is actually another overshadowed aspect of people have?”

“!!!”

“Though it had no records, nor did it bore any significant value if one acknowledged its presence, this thing, this inner energy is what people use whenever they used their physical strength. The inner energy, or known to many as skills, martial arts, or what-have-yous, is what allowed people to surpass their physical limits and achieve strength that surpasses the norm. It is usually not accessible to anyone who do not have the ability to control it but there are cases where people end up using their inner energy in life or death situations and temporarily achieve what they could not achieve.”

“And? What is your point here?”

“I do not see you as a demon, despite witnessing the magic you used the other day. That much I am certain. Though, what I deduced from the dark energy you so disliked, was in fact, the application of mana and inner energy similar to what us elder dragons use, especially when it involves any complex magic.”

“I am not going to grow a tail, am I?” John nervously spoke, he was still unsure of what Evie said to him.

“Ahaha, that was not what I am trying to say. What I am trying to tell you is that you might be mistaking that part of you to be something else that isn’t.”

“Is it though?” John straighten himself as he asked. “Or it is all a lie to make me feel better?”

Evie then switched from placing her forehead to placing her cheeks on his back, “Does it matter though? Why do you fear a label that does not suit you? To me, you are John, the one and only that I care for, nothing would change that for me, Ephinelyth.” The Elder Dragon place a hand against her chest with her head lowered, the sincerity behind her words is no doubt, absolute.

“Still, I can’t help but worry that I might be… a d-demon…” Flashes of blood spurting on that fateful night came back to John, he was not afraid of dirtying his own hands when it came down to criminals who deserved it. Hell, if he was tasked with torturing them, he would do it without any sense of guilt. “W-what if I end up losing control of my the dark aura that I emit? What if they consumed me? What if I hurt the people around me, people who are innocent, people who I care about…”

His heart sank whenever he entertained the idea that the dark energy that he used would somehow, unbeknownst to him cause him to go into a rampange, with him hurting the Harvests as a result. What if he mishandled it back when he jumped down the cliff for Evie and caused permanent harm to her.

Evie seemed to completely understood his statement, because she moved to hold his hand in hers, “Take it from someone who knows what demons are first hand. You have nothing to worry about, without knowing the gravity of responsibility, you would not have authority. Fearing your power means that you are qualified to wield it.”

“Those are some complicated thoughts you have there, Evie,” John said in a neutral voice, his disturbed heart slowly became tranquil.

“It is my nature to spend time dissecting my own thoughts, these are the same fears that plagued me when I am yet to control my telepathic powers well. My fear was that I might erase memories of my loved ones accidentally, thankfully I have never done something like that.”

“Ahahaha, you too? Sometimes I wonder if you and I have too much in common. I suppose you are right, as long I take my fear and deal with it positively…” John’s voice dissipated, his sentence came to a halt, his eyes blinked a few moments as he processed what he heard from Evie two sentences earlier. The part where she mentioned about them, the monster that the elves had associated him with, “Wait, wait, wait, you know what demons look like? Actual ones!?”

“It has been a long time, but yes.” Evie tilted her head sideways, “Is there a problem?”

“No, no, there is no problem at all! In fact, if possible, I want to hear from you about what happened!” Realizing he spoke a little bit to loud, John calmed himself, lowered his head and spoke in a more polite tone, “If you would…of course.”

Evie nodded with pleasure, “With my notoriety of being the child who was born against the odds of life and death, I became the obvious target in various demon’s schemes to rile up dragonkind when I was a weak child. Think about it, if I were happened to be killed or captured, do you think dragons, who hold themselves so high would allow it?” Evie poised the question to him, knowing that they both knew the answer to it.

“It would meant war the moment any of the dragons learned an elder dragon, was under threat. By the sheer mentality of ‘If the existence of supreme beings such as Elder Dragons were threatened, what would be left of the run of the mill dragons?’, they would go to war, all of them at a moment’s notice, not for pride, not for their own pleasure, but for the perseverance of our race.”

“And what happened? What did the dragons do?”

“They hunted down the demons who were plotting against me of course. Lead by my father, the demons who sought to harm me were all destroyed, some dragons even went as far as hunting down those who had ties to the very demons who wanted my life,” Evie said with a straight face. “Despite, what my convoluted views towards my kind, credit is due where it is due, the dragons’ appreciation and dedication towards upholding their loyalty is truly commendable. Still, I wished mother and father told me about what they did for me earlier, perhaps… I might have shown more gratitude while they were around.”

Sensing Evie’s emotions are shifting towards a low, John made a light cough, bringing her back to the present, he was going to ask for the details regarding the very demons that attempted to end but he was not insensitive nor selfish enough to do that to Evie. “I’ll give it a thought, but I’ll be counting on you when I have more questions.”

“Ufufu, of course. If not anything, I am confident in things like these.” the dragon girl brimmed at him and tucked a hair behind her ear. “I am simply happy that you are so attentive to me.”

John blushed, he scratched his head, then did his best to redirect his blushed face away from her, “B-but I still wonder, Evie. If you already have such a background, one that gave you power, knowledge and riches—which I assume from the various gifts you’ve gotten…” John became quiet and allowed her to confirm that fact.

Evie bowed her head and replied, “Yes, the gifts dedicated to me for my birth, not even all the gold could amount to what they are, sadly, my use for them are less than none.”

John continued in a melancholic expression, “Then, why are you here, among humans and Lower Races alike, when you are so much more? Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate you a lot. But when you have powers that are equal to the gods of old…”

…why bother with someone like me? He finished the sentence to himself doing his best to not let her read his mind.

“Even gods have things they cherish, things they love, things they want to do, an Elder Dragon is no different. Am I wrong to pursue that? To want to reach for that one thing I wish for so desperately? That is why I am here, I am here because I do not wish to let this opportunity pass me by.”

“…”

“John, please believe me when I say this, the reason that I—"

All of a sudden, Evie stopped her sentence.

Her soft expression changed into a serious one. It was evident from her eyes that she was irritated by what interrupted them, but she kept a cool composure, as she lowered her head.

“I apologize, John. Please allow me to deal with an underling of mine.”

She quickly lifted two fingers and placed them by the side of her forehead, this was the default gesture of whoever was using [Message] to communicate. A long-distance communication spell that allowed two people to speak however long their mana could sustain the spell.

“What is it Zondrac?” her voice, getting more and more irritated by the second replied to the caller. “You know better to not call for me this moment, if the matter is irrelevant— What!? Are you positive that is accurate?” she asked, then proceeded to nod as the caller seemed to be explaining something to her. “The urgency of our operations, must they be this moment? Just when I was about to… I… …” she clenched her fist tightly, held it for a long moment before she released them. “Understood. I will be there in a moment,” with that, she ended her conversation that she had with [Message].

“Guess that’s the end of that conversation,” John gritted his teeth, fully knowing that Ephinelyth would leave him soon.

Evie looked towards him and lowered her head, “I… I have to leave for a few days, there is an urgent matter that I need to attend to. It is regarding the safety of our— My, my interest,” she corrected herself halfway, but her expression remains to be filled with pain.

“What about that important thing you wanted to tell me?”

“I-I, this isn’t how I wanted to confess.”

John scrunched his brow at her, “Con…fess? What do you mean by confess—”

“When I return by Tuesday… I’ll tell you everything, all of it. I can’t just summarize it in a few sentences, that would be rude to you. I promise, the next time we meet, I, Ephinelyth will make sure of it.”

“Everything? Even that confessing thing that I don’t know?” John joked, still curious to what she wanted to tell him earlier. “What happens if you don’t?”

“I-In that case…” she fidgeted, her eyes looked nervously around the balcony area, she fumbled for words. She was in a hurry, but she did not want let him down, especially not when she was the one who invited him to dance with her this very night.

Woosh!

Evie’s body then became a blur, John lost sight of her briefly and the next thing he knew, she was in front of him, lips pressed against his as she gave him a direct kiss, one where all romantic intent was filled in it.

“My first kiss, and all the countless kisses that I will have in the future, shall be for you, John.”