Mr. Dragon Knight, the dragon girls are chasing you!

"Your Majesty is four thousand seven hundred years old this year."

Eldron slowly lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the yellowed animal hide scroll. His voice was hoarse and heavy, carrying a lingering melancholy that had lasted for millennia.

"My Eternal Night Dragon Clan has been burdened with a cursed destiny for generations, and the lifespan of all Dragon Kings is forever frozen at six thousand years."

"His Majesty has only 1,300 years left."

"For a dragon with a long lifespan, thirteen hundred years is but a blink of an eye. I have lived for twenty-seven thousand years and have witnessed the fall of four Eternal Night Dragon Kings without exception."

"Every Dragon King, when their lifespan reaches six thousand years, is consumed by the backlash of their own original spiritual power, ultimately annihilating their soul and turning into nothingness, leaving not even a trace of their remnant soul behind."

His voice trembled slightly, his aged fingers clenched the animal skin scroll in his hand, and his tone was choked with barely concealed sobs: "I really don't want to see the fifth Dragon King suffer the same fate again."

"I promised your father that I would take good care of you. Even if it costs me my old bones, even if I have to bear His Majesty's resentment and misunderstanding, I will make sure you live."

"This is my promise to the late king, and it is my only obsession in this life."

Eluvia's body stiffened abruptly.

Father.

This word was like a blunt knife, viciously stabbing into her heart.

She still remembered her innocent childhood, when her tall and majestic father always liked to carry her steadily on the broad and sturdy back of a dragon, taking her soaring through the vast sky above the Eternal Night Mountains.

The night sky was clear and vast, the evening breeze was gentle and warm, and her father's dragon back was safe and warm. Lying on it, it felt as if someone would protect her even if the sky collapsed, and all the storms in the world had nothing to do with her.

Those peaceful, carefree days, filled with pampering, were the only light in her long, lonely years.

until that day.

Her father and mother gently instructed her to stay and guard the dragon's nest, saying that they would travel to the ends of the continent and traverse the four seas and eight wastelands to find a way to completely break the curse of the eternal night dragon clan.

The two left resolutely, never looking back, and were never heard from again, completely disappearing from the world.

He never came back.

"I thought that I would spend my whole life hoping to never see the curse broken, and could only watch helplessly as you walked towards your predetermined fate." Eldron's voice continued to echo slowly in the empty, silent stone chamber, carrying a hint of bittersweet relief.

"Until that human boy appeared out of nowhere in the dragon's nest, barging into your world, and also into the old man's silent remaining years."

"I told him the truth about the curse of the Eternal Night Dragon Clan, the fact that you only have a little over a thousand years left to live, and the difficulty of obtaining the three sacred artifacts, all in detail."

Eldron paused, his dark purple dragon eyes churning with complex emotions: "At first, I thought he would hesitate, back down, weigh the pros and cons, and then decisively refuse."

"After all, he is just a human, with a lifespan of only two hundred years. Living a peaceful and uneventful life would be the best outcome. There is no need to gamble his life and step into a deadly situation for a dragon king who is destined to fall."

But he didn't.

He was silent for a moment, then looked up and said something to the old man.

Eldron slowly raised his head, looking directly at Elluvia, and repeated the sentence word by word:

He said, "The mission of a dragon knight is to fight and protect his dragon at all costs."

"Even if I die, I will keep her alive."

"He knew full well that the path ahead was fraught with danger, and he knew that this mission would bring him no benefit whatsoever, yet he still accepted it without hesitation."

As he finished speaking, Eldron slowly bowed deeply to Eluvia before him, his posture respectful yet filled with remorse.

"Your Majesty, it was I who presumptuously entrusted your fate to that human. If you harbor resentment or hatred, feel free to blame me. I will have no complaints and am willing to accept punishment."

Eluvia's pupils suddenly contracted.

Those words struck her like a thunderbolt, leaving her frozen in place.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found that her throat felt like it was blocked by something, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Luo Ye's image uncontrollably dominated her thoughts, and scenes flashed through her mind rapidly—

His mischievous grin when he teased her, the tenderness in his eyes when he looked at her intently, the focused way his eyelashes trembled as he kissed her, and the unwavering determination with which he stood beside Serafina and declared, "I am also her dragon knight."

That idiot.

That self-righteous idiot.

Who told him to go and die on his own initiative?

Who told him to go on that dangerous trip without telling her?

Who told him...

Why are you being so good to her?

Eluvia's eyes welled up with tears.

She turned abruptly, no longer looking into Eldron's eyes that made her heart race, her voice trembling with a stubborn insistence:

"...Old Dragon is too meddlesome. Who asked him to interfere in my affairs and save me? I can resolve my own destiny; I don't need him at all."

"Yes, yes, yes." Eldron had already figured out his emperor's proud and stubborn nature, so he immediately went along with it gently, a doting smile hidden in his eyes.

"Your Majesty is the most talented dragon king in the history of the Eternal Night Dragon Clan. With exceptional talent and formidable strength, you are naturally omnipotent."

He paused, then deliberately asked in a low voice, "So, Your Majesty, are you planning to go and settle accounts with the Dragon Knight right now?"

"...Mind your own business!"

Eluvia stomped her foot angrily, then turned and stormed out of the stone chamber without looking back. Her petite figure instantly disappeared into the dark and deep corridor, leaving only a hurried yet stubborn afterimage.

Eldron stood with his hands behind his back at the entrance of the stone chamber, watching the petite figure disappear into the distance, a helpless yet doting smile appearing on his aged face.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you say you don't want him, but deep down you probably can't live without him anymore."

He gently shook his head, turned and strolled back to the black stone table, his fingertips continuing to peruse the yellowed ancient books, his tone carrying a touch of wistful nostalgia for the passing years:

"Alas, it seems His Majesty will never grow up."

"I just hope that when you learn that lifting the curse requires the lifespan of a dragon knight, you won't blame this old man."

"Everything is for the Eternal Night Dragon Clan."