The conference chamber remained silent after Duke Kael Draven's warning.
The lantern flames burned quietly against ancient darkwood walls while moonlight stretched pale silver across the massive oval table. Outside the towering windows, the Southern capital still glimmered peacefully beneath the night sky, distant music echoing faintly upward from the ballroom below.
Yet inside the chamber—
The atmosphere had become heavy once more.
Not with political tension this time.
But with memory.
Fear.
Trauma.
The word dragon alone had been enough to shake the room earlier.
Even now—
Several nobles unconsciously avoided speaking the name directly.
As though uttering it too freely might awaken something ancient listening beyond the mountains.
Duchess Seraphine remained quieter than before.
Her pale fingers rested lightly against her wine glass while traces of old fear still lingered behind her elegant composure. The earlier tear upon her cheek had vanished already, yet the emotional fracture remained visible to anyone observant enough.
And Kel—
Observed everything.
From behind Landon's chair, his calm eyes slowly moved across the room.
Fear.
Hatred.
Resentment.
Humanity's perspective toward dragons had become simple over generations.
Calamities.
Monsters.
Destroyers.
Yet—
Kel knew better.
Because unlike everyone here—
He remembered another truth.
Not as a noble.
Not as Kel von Rosenfeld.
But as the player who had completed Destiny twenty times.
And throughout all those playthroughs—
The game itself had never described dragons merely as calamities.
No.
They were called:
Divine Beings.
Ancient existences far older than kingdoms.
Far older than the Empire.
And perhaps—
The only race truly capable of standing against beings humanity called gods.
Not all dragons were kind.
Not all dragons were evil.
They were simply…
Dragons.
And the greatest problem humanity had—
Was reducing everything it feared into monsters.
Kel's eyes sharpened faintly.
Then finally—
He spoke.
"How much do we actually know about dragons?"
The chamber quieted instantly.
Several nobles looked toward him with visible confusion.
Others frowned slightly.
Kael Draven slowly lifted his gray eyes toward Kel.
Kel continued calmly.
"Where do they live?"
A slight pause.
"What are their motives?"
"Why do they destroy human cities?"
His voice remained calm beneath the lanternlight.
Measured.
Thoughtful.
"And more importantly…"
A brief silence followed.
"…what do dragons gain from doing so?"
The room froze slightly.
Because no one expected that question.
Most discussions about dragons focused only on fear.
Defense.
Survival.
Hatred.
Not understanding.
One military Count frowned deeply.
"What do they gain?"
He almost scoffed.
"They're monsters."
Kel's gaze shifted calmly toward him.
"Are they?"
Silence.
The Count visibly stiffened.
Several nobles exchanged uneasy glances.
Sairen's voice echoed softly through the soul-link.
"…Now this is dangerous."
Far away—
At Scarder Lake—
The silver mist surrounding Sairen drifted quietly while she watched through Kel's senses.
Kel answered internally.
"Truth usually is."
Meanwhile—
Within the chamber—
The atmosphere sharpened once more.
Duke Altair narrowed his eyes faintly.
"Mister Heral…"
His deep voice carried warning.
"…be careful with your wording."
Kel remained completely calm.
"I am."
Then—
He stepped slightly forward beneath the lanternlight.
"We call dragons calamities."
His voice echoed softly through the chamber.
"And certainly…"
A faint pause.
"…many of them have brought unimaginable destruction."
Several nobles visibly darkened hearing that memory acknowledged again.
"But has anyone truly asked why?"
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Because no one had.
Not seriously.
Humanity feared dragons too deeply for curiosity.
Kel's gaze slowly moved across the gathered nobles.
"Humans destroy cities too."
Several nobles frowned immediately.
"Wars."
Kel continued calmly.
"Massacres."
"Political purges."
"Territorial conquest."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"Does that make all humans evil?"
No one answered.
Because the answer was obvious.
Of course not.
Some humans were kind.
Some cruel.
Some honorable.
Some monstrous.
Then—
Why should dragons be different?
The chamber had grown unnaturally still now.
Even the lantern flames seemed quieter somehow.
Duchess Seraphine slowly looked toward Kel again.
And this time—
There was no attraction within her eyes.
Only confusion.
Because his perspective felt fundamentally different from everyone else's.
Not naive.
Not sympathetic.
Detached.
As though he viewed dragons not as nightmares…
But as beings.
Duke Kael Draven remained silent longest.
Gray eyes fixed toward Kel beneath shadow.
Then finally—
He spoke quietly.
"Very little."
The room looked toward him immediately.
Kael leaned slightly back within his chair.
"We know very little."
His exhausted voice echoed heavily through the chamber.
"The Wild Southern Mountains."
A brief pause.
"That is where they are believed to reside."
Several nobles unconsciously stiffened again hearing the place mentioned.
Kael continued calmly.
"But no expedition has ever truly mapped those regions completely."
"Those who venture too deeply rarely return."
One older military noble quietly muttered—
"Dragon territory…"
Kael ignored the interruption.
"As for motives…"
A faint pause followed.
"…no one knows."
Silence.
Because that was the terrifying truth.
Humanity feared dragons immensely.
Yet understood almost nothing about them.
Kael's gray eyes darkened faintly.
"Some attack settlements."
"Some ignore humanity entirely."
"Some destroy armies without warning."
"And some…"
A brief pause.
"…have been recorded saving human lives."
The room visibly shifted again.
Several nobles looked genuinely uncomfortable now.
Because such stories existed.
Rarely spoken.
Rarely acknowledged.
But real.
Duke Altair finally spoke quietly.
"There are ancient records…"
His expression tightened.
"…of silver dragons protecting isolated mountain villages generations ago."
One merchant Count immediately frowned.
"Legends."
"Perhaps."
Altair answered calmly.
"But not all records are fabricated."
Kel quietly listened.
And inwardly—
Confirmed something important.
Humanity truly did not understand dragons.
Not completely.
Exactly as expected.
Sairen's voice echoed softly.
"…You already knew this."
Kel answered internally.
"Yes."
Because during his countless playthroughs of Destiny—
The truth became increasingly obvious.
Dragons rarely acted randomly.
Every major dragon conflict within the game had underlying causes.
Territorial invasion.
Ancient artifacts.
Broken agreements.
Corruption.
Forbidden experimentation.
And sometimes—
Human greed.
Kel's eyes darkened faintly.
Humanity loved simplifying enemies.
It made hatred easier.
But reality rarely worked that way.
Then finally—
He spoke once more.
"If humanity wishes to survive future conflicts…"
His calm voice echoed softly through the chamber.
"…then perhaps understanding dragons matters just as much as fearing them."
No one answered immediately.
Because the statement itself felt dangerous.
Almost taboo.
Yet—
No one could fully deny it either.
Duchess Seraphine quietly watched Kel beneath the lanternlight.
And for the first time tonight—
She realized something unsettling.
Heral did not fear dragons the same way the rest of them did.
Not because he underestimated them.
But because he viewed them differently entirely.