Chapter 9 Let’s Scheme with the Evil Dragon!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After the night’s intimacy, Yaten and I took a bath together.
Since the Underground Temple was built as the final dwelling place of past heads of the clan, it was designed with comfort in mind. A large cypress bath had been installed so one could truly relax. I sat shoulder to shoulder with Yaten, soaking in the hot water.
”Fuu, many things happened tonight…”
Yaten tied up her long black hair and sank her shoulders into the bath, exhaling deeply after our “work.”
She stroked her pregnant belly, narrowing her eyes at the warmth of the water, letting out a small sigh. After what happened with Sakuya, it was as if she was healing her wounded pride as a parent. She looked so lazy, not at all like a world-destroying evil dragon, her limbs spread out as if her strength had drained away.
I leaned back beside her, gazed at the ceiling, and asked a question.
”By the way, how did you show our lovemaking to me? I didn’t sense Sakuya’s presence or any spell.”
”Mm, that was a skill of the evil dragon. Simply put, it was clairvoyance.”
”Clairvoyance…? If it was magic, I should have felt it.”
”That is why I said skill. Not a supernatural spell, but an ability I was born with as an evil dragon. If you had paid attention to my gaze, you could have noticed it. Still, who would think I was peeking at the night’s play through the wall?”
”Ugh…”
I felt a little creeped out by the fact that evil dragons could see through walls without magic.
Yaten laughed at my reaction and turned her eyes toward the ceiling as if looking far away.
”What about this temple? Even with my eyes and Sakuya’s, we cannot see outside.”
”I told you before. This place is close to the hidden world [T/N: yūyo refers to the spirit realm]. To keep your miasma from leaking outside, the space is cut off from the outer world. Only when supplies are delivered is a passage opened. Otherwise, it’s completely isolated.”
”Strange, then. The miasma here is thin. In a space with no escape, the density of my miasma should only grow thicker.”
”That is the branch family’s technique. I don’t know the details—it’s a secret art—but apparently, they discharge the miasma safely.”
The Shiryuin Clan had long divided information between main and branch families.
Maybe it was said to make the main head more focused on sealing the dragon, but in truth it was mostly about protecting the branch family’s vested interests. If the main family, as guardians of the nation, also took control of handling the dragon’s miasma, then the branch’s role would be useless. If the main house could do everything, the branch might lose their place and have their duties handed off to others. Of course they wanted to keep their monopoly on the techniques.
The barrier of the Underground Temple and the arts to handle miasma—yes, the branch family struggled hard to keep control.
Sharing skills openly between main and branch would be the most efficient way.
But the Shiryuin Clan was bound by vested interests, locked in old customs. The main house was forced to bear the role of human sacrifice, while the branch enjoyed the profits. Even if it was “for sealing the dragon,” being born into such a cursed lineage as the clan head was heavy.
From just our short talk, Yaten seemed to understand all this and snorted in boredom.
”Fools. With worthless politics, they forgot their true role.”
”If they hadn’t forgotten, the sealed evil dragon would have been destroyed.”
If they had used a thousand years of skill and power correctly, Yaten would probably already be gone.
But her value as deterrence, the blessings enjoyed by those in power, and the empty continuation of custom—that was what kept her alive. Human greed had led to keeping the world-ending dragon alive, so as her partner, my position was always unclear.
Without those customs, Yaten would not exist. Without them, my own generation of Shiryuin would not exist either. It was hateful, but since that was the reason we were alive, I didn’t know what to feel.
”Even so, their foolishness does not change. When we leave this Underground Temple, what should we do to those who continue this custom?”
To Yaten, sealed for a thousand years, the heartless reality of her enemies must have filled her with rage.
Her pride as a powerful being made her demand worthy opponents. She held back from speaking of killing out loud, for my sake as Head of the Shiryuin Clan, but she clearly wanted to give them punishment. I understood her feelings. As long as she did not go too far, I had no intention of stopping her.
To me, what mattered was not the branch family who made me a human sacrifice, but Yaten, my mate, and our daughter Sakuya.
That was why I had to warn her.
”The branch family… most likely, they have already prepared a countermeasure against you in these thousand years.”
The branch would never let their lives rest in the hands of the clan heads.
They saw value in keeping the dragon alive, and by holding the sealing role, they gained power. They enjoyed the blessings, but surely they also prepared for the chance the main family might rebel and free the dragon. No fools would hand their lives away for generations. Even if the outside world believed only the main family could handle the dragon—
”They must have a trump card, a kill switch against you. The branch’s last resort is unknown.”
When the dragon returned to the surface, the hidden card of the branch would surely be revealed.
To truly end the Shiryuin customs, facing the branch family was unavoidable.
The prosperity of the clan stood upon two sacrifices: the sealing evil dragon and the human pillars of the main family. If Yaten, Sakuya, and I returned to the surface, conflict would be certain. To keep the benefits of custom, they would seal the dragon again, replace the head, and pretend our half-dragon child had “never existed.”
When that worst thought crossed my mind, anger rose in me just like Yaten. A father could never ignore a threat to his daughter’s life.
”The Shiryuin Clan will be destroyed. For that, we will deal with the branch.”
”Yes. If it is your order, my lord, I will gladly risk my life.”
But Yaten’s voice held no joy, only anger.
Even though she was an evil dragon born with cruel instincts, who found delight in schemes, when it came to Sakuya’s life there was no room for fun. As a mother, she could not enjoy such things when her child was in danger. She was only thinking of crushing the enemy with her world-ending power, her killing intent leaking out. Terrifying, but also reliable.
”Not yet. It has only been delayed a little.”
”Yes, we must wait for Sakuya and the unborn child—Uigetsu—to grow.”
”That too. But I plan to strike on the clan’s festival day. At a time when they cannot make excuses, as head of the clan, I will declare the revival of the evil dragon and the reform of custom. I know it is hard, but please hold back your power from hurting people, even if they are branch family.”
On the day of the festival, I too must go above for the rituals.
The great families and rulers of the nation would gather there. To end the old customs, we needed a grand act. We had to show overwhelming power, but if it brought casualties, we would lose the justice needed for our plan. The more valuable Yaten was as an evil dragon, the more likely our reform would succeed.
”Not sealed, but worshiped. As a rough spirit, Yaten will descend to the surface.”
As an evil dragon, Yaten was feared as the embodiment of evil.
No one would believe in words like “It is safe, exorcised as a shikigami [T/N: protective spirit].” And since there were groups who wanted to use her power, the only path left was to have her rule as a guardian deity of the nation.
Feared as a rough spirit, yet worshiped and honored, the evil dragon would be placed as a guardian of this country.
Otherwise, the world would never allow a being that could casually bring calamity. We had to show Yaten’s value to the world.
Especially since this country had used the evil dragon as a deterrent, if the seal broke, she would no longer be only a world-ending disaster. If she became a god who could be bargained with, then both sides could gain from the relationship.
The nation would receive blessings by worshiping her, and Yaten, as a god, could live freely on the surface.
”It annoys me to be used by humans, but for our children’s sake, I will endure it.”
”Even as a rough spirit, being the children of a guardian god will give Sakuya and the others the title they need. In human society, they won’t be accepted without the stamp of a powerful god.”
”We must think of our children’s future. For that, we should endure some discomfort.”
”Strange, though. If it all goes as planned, I’ll end up as the priest of Yaten, who is also my shikigami [T/N: a spirit bound to serve].”
If this plan succeeded, we would be freed from the Shiryuin Clan’s customs.
Yaten would no longer need to be sealed as an evil dragon, and I would no longer be forced into the role of clan head. But next, Yaten would be bound by her place as a god, and I would be set as her priest, the one who once carried the duty of sealing her.
Even if we cut the old customs, our past would still cling to us. Yet, this time, it would not be fate decided by birth, but something we chose with our own will.
”It is better than a thousand years of sealing I never wanted. If I take the god’s seat by my own wish, I will not complain.”
”And I will not stand by to seal you anymore. I’ll stay by your side as the priest of the god Yaten.”
”What is this? Are you unhappy to serve by my side?”
”No, it’s just… I feel like your selfishness will cause me a lot of trouble—ow!”
Her elbow hit my stomach, and I let out a cry without thinking.
When I turned my face, Yaten was pouting, but soon she burst out laughing, unable to hold it in.
”For me, the evil dragon, to become a god—what strange fate this is! To serve as the shikigami of a human child as well… Since my awakening, I have never once been bored. Truly, as expected of you, my lord.”
Yaten, who was supposed to be a being of pure evil, was trying to part with her nature.
As a mother who had awakened to feelings more important than instinct, she was rewriting her fate with her own will. The miasma flowing from her dragon body was slowly thinning. For the sake of her children, Yaten was beginning to be reborn in the truest sense.
It was only a sign, and she was still an evil dragon. But something inside her had definitely changed.
”My lord, let us spend our whole lives together—just us and our children.”
A soft kiss touched my lips.
When we parted, the gentle expression on Yaten’s face, one that went beyond her nature, was something I knew I would never forget for the rest of my life.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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