Iris von Dragnar POV
My life… how did it change so much?
It wasn't like this when I was young.
I was born as a demonic dragon, which made every other dragon look down on me.
I lived in the forest — even though I was a dragon, I was still despised.
Why is life so cruel?
Don't I have the right to be happy?
I hunted monsters in the forest — trolls, orcs; back then, the orcs still ruled the Nocthral region.
The world was in chaos, endless waves of monsters, attacks that never seemed to end.
I was wounded countless times, always on the verge of death among beasts…But those were also the times when my power grew the most.
I cried often.
My father and mother both died during one of those monster raids.
When I was eight, monsters destroyed our territory — that's when I became a fallen noble.
There were too many dragons back then — long-lived and powerful.
My father was among the weakest of the fire dragons; despite being a noble, he was only a baron.
My mother… she was a demon. Even now, I can't remember which kind.
Then one day, deep in the forest, an enormous pack of trolls appeared.
They could regenerate; unless you destroyed both the head and the heart at once, they wouldn't die.
I counted thirty of them.
Back then, the Demon God had not yet been sealed, and the so-called "Hero" of that era had not yet appeared.
After the troll attack, I was left covered in wounds, limping through the woods.
The trolls followed behind, enjoying the sight of me suffering — disgusting, green-skinned brutes.
And then, the most important moment of my life happened.
A portal appeared before me, and as I tried to move away, something stepped out of it.
A unicorn. Ah, I thought I was dead…
"COME HERE, YOU FUCKING BEAST! I SWEAR I'LL TORTURE YOUR SOUL!"A faceless dark entity was chasing it.
The power radiating from him was overwhelming.
The trolls stopped approaching me and fled.
The entity leaped onto the unicorn, wrapping its hands around its neck and squeezing.
The unicorn choked violently.
The scene before me was horrifying — shockwaves from the unicorn's dying body, and that being holding it effortlessly, as if it were nothing.
Even gods had trouble hunting such creatures.
The unicorn staggered toward the tree I was leaning against… but the entity seemed to notice me.
"CURSED UNICORN! ARE YOU GOING TO KILL A LITTLE GIRL?" it said —And the last thing I saw was the unicorn's throat being slit as it convulsed.
After that, time passed.
I had fainted.
When I woke up, I thought I'd been kidnapped — I was in a small wooden cabin.
Then I heard a voice.
"Good morning, sleepyhead. I've been waiting for you to wake up," said the entity, carrying a bowl.
I instantly shifted into a defensive stance. "What are you going to do to me?"
"Pft. I'm not interested in little girls. Even if you were grown, I wouldn't be.
But I couldn't just leave a kid bleeding out in the woods, even if I'm a bastard."His laughter echoed in the cabin.
At first, I thought he was a demon god.
He sat beside the bed in the lamp-lit room and handed me soup — surprisingly, it was unicorn meat.
My power grew immensely after eating that.
I knew… it was because of him.
Before he left, he looked at me — helped me eat, taught me how to wield a sword, and channel mana for spells.
He was incredible…But I still remember the pain when he hit me with his staff for messing up my training.
He stayed for a month. I tried everything to learn his real name or true form, but I never could.
No one had ever treated me with such kindness.
"Listen, little girl," he told me, "don't isolate yourself. Leave this forest someday. I'll leave you some gifts.
Don't be depressed, child. One day, you'll find someone who will love you."
He placed his hand on my head."Shhh. Don't cry. Or I'll get angry and won't give you extra meat."
I wiped my tears and smiled. "Hhhh… don't worry, mister."
Sometimes, at night, he would tell stories — his "past, "I never believed him… until much later, when I learned the truth.
One night, I woke and found him outside, lying in the grass, gazing at the stars.
He was singing softly:
"Nestle inside your dreams, chase the daylight
Breathe life into the hidden sun
Turn to the people who keep on gleaming
Face your own visions, face your foes
Turn to the people who keep on gleaming
Face your own visions, face your foes
I'm rising higher with every breath
Trapped behind walls woven from human threads
I'm rising higher with every breath
Trapped behind walls woven from human threads."
An instrument I'd never heard accompanied him.
Tears fell down my cheeks.
"Come, Iris. Let's watch the stars together," he said.
I lay beside him.
Those were the happiest moments of my life.
But then, everything changed.
He stayed for maybe two months in total.
I became an Aura and Mana master — Tier 3.
It was madness, but everything got harder after Tier 4.
Not that it mattered.
Because… the entity disappeared.
He left only a letter.
When I couldn't find him in the cabin, I cried — and cried until blood ran from my eyes.
He'd abandoned me.
But he left books and letters behind.
Through them, I grew stronger.
I even helped Hero to seal the Demon God — all so that he would be proud of me.
He never reappeared.
Years passed — I became Empress. But it was meaningless.
At least I managed to lessen the racism among dragons, though you can never truly destroy an ideology —if you try, it only returns stronger.
A thousand years later… he appeared again.
Some of the stories he once told me were identical to what I'd heard from him.
It was him.
He had returned… but never came to see me.
I waited.
Tried rituals. Nothing worked.
I couldn't control my emotions — he had given me hope to live, then vanished.
And then, one day, I saw someone on the internet.
His name was Raul.
The way he spoke — it was exactly like that entity.
That same sarcasm… that same way of swearing.
He used to call the Demon God "a man with daddy issues."
Late that night, I walked through the palace halls. Guards everywhere, servants rushing to their duties.
Since childhood, I have always had the habit of watching the stars at night.
I reached the top of the palace and looked up again.
"It's been a long time, Iris," a voice said.
That voice…
Oh my god.
It was him.
When I turned around and stood up, my eyes widened.
This… this can't be real.