Childhood Friend of the Zenith Novel MTL - Chapter 966

Chapter 966

While events involving Shin Noya and Yusa were developing elsewhere, the park was the stage for its own significant encounter.

A woman, having had her arm seized, turned around. Our gazes locked.

For a heartbeat, we were both silent, equally stunned by the abrupt meeting.

The chill of her wrist under my grip and the eyes regarding me—seeing them made me swallow hard.

I had rehearsed so many words, yet now that I stood before her, my voice failed me.

‘Mother.’

My assumption had been correct. The instant I saw her, I knew. This woman was unquestionably my mother.

How could I possibly have forgotten?

Decades had flowed by, yet I had never truly forgotten her. I believed I had lived my life letting the memory fade, but seeing her again now only brought it into sharper focus.

The silence between us stretched.

Though my hand still held her arm, I knew I needed to speak—to say anything. But what words could I possibly use?

My mind emptied, every thought incinerated in a single moment.

“Um…”

“…!”

A voice. It was my mother’s. Beneath her veil, her eyes softened into a gentle curve.

“Is something the matter?”

“…”

She looked down at my hand encircling her wrist, and I released her without thinking.

Thump—! Thump—! My heart hammered against my ribs.

It was even more intense than before a battle. What should I say?

Should I voice my longing? Or hurl words of resentment? Or perhaps…

No matter how I struggled to think, my mind remained blank.

Still, I had to speak. Forcing the words out, I finally addressed my mother.

“…This…”

I drew an object from my robe.

A handkerchief.

“You dropped this.”

“Oh my.”

My mother accepted it with a soft smile.

“When did I drop it?”

I had seen it fall when she passed by earlier. I retrieved it immediately, intending to use it as a pretext for conversation.

That had been the plan—to confirm the truth by speaking with her.

“Thank you. I hadn’t noticed.”

She smiled and expressed her gratitude, but she offered no other reaction.

Watching her, I bit my lip slightly.

Had Shin Noya been right?

‘Does she truly not recognize me?’

Even though we were looking directly at one another, my mother seemed utterly unable to place me.

That realization clawed at my insides.

Perhaps…

‘Is it because of the spell?’

The enchantment placed upon my body—it affected not just my appearance, but the very essence of my soul.

Could that be the reason she didn’t know me?

Would things be different if I removed it?

The thought consumed me, but—

‘Hold it in.’

I clenched my fist and forced myself to endure.

It was far too dangerous a gamble. Hadn’t Noya himself warned me?

Right now, my mother not only failed to recognize me, but if she did—if she discovered the truth—it would place me in mortal peril.

‘A dragon is a target for extermination.’

My mere existence was considered an abomination. That was what they had declared. If they found me, they would kill me on sight.

And yet—

‘I’m standing here like a fool.’

Even knowing that, I could not look away from my mother.

Even with full awareness—

This was a foolish act, driven purely by emotion.

But at the same time, it was also a necessary confirmation.

With trembling eyes, I stared at my mother.

The eyes that looked back at me were smiling.

The distinctive hair visible beneath the veil, the gaze meeting mine—

I swallowed dryly, without meaning to.

‘…What is this?’

How could smiling eyes feel so cold?

They seemed, at a glance, endlessly gentle, and yet within them, I sensed something deeply chilling.

A complete absence of emotion.

There was no trace of warmth in the way she beheld me.

Realizing this, I bit my lip hard.

I was certain now.

‘…Noya was right.’

My mother genuinely did not recognize me.

I had held onto a sliver of hope, but—this was the undeniable reality.

And if that was the case—

‘Then all my fears were true.’

If she were to ever learn who I was, it would indeed become a matter of life and death.

I averted my gaze.

I looked at the figure standing behind my mother.

I knew who it was.

‘Yarang.’

One of the generals known as Yarang. The current daughter of Mangye. In other words, the one claiming to be my mother’s daughter.

And, at the very same time—

‘…Divine Sword, Wi Seol-ah.’

The one I believed to be the Divine Sword.

I narrowed my eyes slightly as I observed her.

It made sense now, why my mother didn’t know me.

Thanks to the spell, she didn’t even perceive that I was a dragon.

That was a relief.

But—

‘Then why…?’

Yarang should know about me.

Not only had we met face-to-face before, but according to Cheonma, she had been observing me all this time.

And yet, she remained silent.

That opened the door to many possibilities, but one stood out above the rest.

‘Could it be…?’

Was she staying quiet despite knowing?

Someone called the eyes and ears of Mangye—

Was she deliberately choosing not to speak?

If so—

‘Why?’

Why would she do this?

If she was truly the Divine Sword, was she keeping silent for my sake?

Was this a logical conclusion based on the circumstances, or was it merely my own desperate hope?

My thoughts were hopelessly tangled.

“Um…”

“…!”

My mother’s voice pulled me back to the present.

“Do you still have business with us?”

“…No, it’s nothing. I was just…”

I shifted my focus from Yarang back to my mother.

“I saw you walking through the park and wondered what brought you out here.”

“Ah.”

My mother smiled again at my words.

That smile was more painful than anything.

“I’m simply out for a stroll with my daughter.”

“…A… stroll?”

“Yes. The weather is nice today, isn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

The sky was indeed clear. Not a single cloud in sight—beautiful, even.

But—

“So I decided to take my daughter out for a rare outing.”

Hearing those words, I found myself unable to respond.

Out for a stroll with her daughter.

As my mother spoke and took Yarang’s hand, the image of my younger sister walking beside her superimposed itself over the scene.

That was why—

“Thank you for picking up my handkerchief. I hope you enjoy your day as well.”

I couldn’t bring myself to stop her as she turned away.

The mother who had looked at me with such cold eyes—I was too afraid to even ask if she truly had no idea who I was.

I could only watch as she walked away.

And—

I could feel Yarang’s gaze piercing through me as she followed.

******************

The woman left the park and melted back into the crowd. Ignoring the persistent noise in her ears, she walked for some time.

She moved in silence for a considerable while before finally stepping into the shadow of a building.

It wasn’t due to the heat. She merely sought refuge from the sunlight—and simultaneously, a moment to steady her breathing.

“Hmmm.”

She let out a soft exhale. After her breath had settled—

“Daughter.”

She called for Yarang. At her summons, Yarang responded.

“That child from earlier.”

“…”

“Doesn’t he seem familiar to you?”

Yarang quietly studied the woman. She was trying to decipher her expression, but the veil made it difficult.

Her voice was as languid and gentle as always, yet Yarang detected a strange dissonance lurking beneath it.

She had been born from this woman—which meant she could perceive even the subtlest of shifts.

Was it simple curiosity? Or was it something more?

As Yarang pondered, the woman continued.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere… and yet, at the same time, I don’t.”

Tilting her head slightly, she mused aloud.

“Hmmm. Should I remove my veil?”

If she took it off, she would know immediately. Yet she did not.

She had made a rare decision to venture out today, and for now, she wished to endure the ambiguity.

Still—

‘Hmm.’

It bothered her.

She had returned to this body after a long absence, and with most of her form concealed beneath the veil, she hadn’t even noticed dropping the handkerchief—nor that someone had retrieved it.

It had been so long since she had experienced this sensation. She was indulging in the peculiar comfort that came with such vulnerability.

As she savored that feeling, she recalled the one who had returned her handkerchief.

‘Hmm.’

His face was indistinct. Even though she had seen him up close.

Perhaps it was because she had deliberately dulled her senses in this body, but—

‘Strange.’

Even so, she found it oddly difficult to reconstruct his features.

What had he looked like?

The boy who had spoken to her—what expression had he worn? And what kind of voice had he used?

She couldn’t remember that, either.

Yet, in the gaps of her memory, she sensed something peculiar.

That was why she asked.

“Was he someone you knew?”

It would be odd to feel such emotions for a total stranger.

There had been something familiar in his voice—a trace of longing, for some reason.

And in his reply, an unplaceable sadness.

That—

That was what unsettled her.

So she asked Yarang, wanting to know if she recognized him.

But—

“…”

Yarang simply shook her head slightly.

Seeing this, the woman gazed at her with slow, crimson eyes.

“I see.”

“…”

“Is that so?”

She did not press the matter further.

She did not believe Yarang was lying.

After all, Yarang could not lie to her.

However—

‘Hmm.’

There was still something amiss.

Why? If she was curious, she could simply investigate.

And yet, not only did she refrain from questioning Yarang—she made no attempt to discover the truth herself.

That was unlike her.

If something piqued her interest, she would uncover it. On this land, there was nothing she could not know.

“Hmmm.”

The woman did not dwell too deeply on her own doubts.

Or rather, it felt as if something was preventing her from doing so.

And yet—

‘…What was it?’

The curiosity lingered.

The voice that had spoken to her echoed in her mind.

She couldn’t help but stop walking for a moment.

***************

After my mother departed, I stood frozen in place for a long while.

It wasn’t just that I hadn’t processed the situation—my mind was too knotted to command my body to move.

All I could do was try to sort through everything, piece by piece.

‘First…’

Why had my mother appeared here of all places?

That was my first question, but there was no way to answer it immediately.

If this world was hers, then her appearing anywhere would not be strange.

Even so—

‘I need to know how often she shows herself.’

It was better to have that information than not. I needed to be certain.

And more importantly—

‘She really doesn’t recognize me.’

After looking directly into her eyes, I could no longer harbor any doubt.

The coldness in her gaze was nothing like the way she had once looked at me.

I had to accept it now.

I forced myself to relinquish the final, fragile shred of hope I had been clutching.

The mother before me truly possessed no memory of me.

And—

‘Yarang is pretending not to know me.’

The one I considered to be the Divine Sword, who had been watching me all this time—

She had looked at my mother, and still chosen to say nothing about me.

Did she not realize I was a dragon? I had no way of knowing.

But the crucial thing was—

‘If Yarang really is the Divine Sword…’

I wasn’t even certain she was.

But if she was—

Did she remember me?

Like my mother, had she also forgotten? Or did she know the truth?

I needed to find out.

‘…Right now, it feels like…’

It felt as if she wasn’t completely unaware.

As if she knew, but was choosing to remain silent.

And I couldn’t help but cling to the hope—that if my mother had forgotten me, then at least she had not.

‘Damn it.’

I hadn’t anticipated encountering my mother so abruptly, and my thoughts were in disarray because of it.

The situation was already complex enough—

“…And now, what the hell is this?”

The scene before me made my head ache even more.

Because—

“Oh, you’re here.”

Shin Noya greeted me with a bright smile.

But the problem was what he was holding.

Someone—bound tightly with rope.

“Mmph! Mmmph…!!”

A general of Mangye.

Yusa was looking at me—in an utterly pathetic state.