Sho stepped outside the training hall, the cool evening air brushing against his skin. His mana still hummed faintly, residual energy from hours of experimentation. The forest near the estate was quiet, bathed in silver moonlight, the shadows stretching long between the trees.
He walked slowly along the dirt path, mind replaying the morning's training. Domination Pulse… resonance… radius… all his thoughts revolved around the pulse he barely controlled.
> Nothing else… right?
No disturbances, no spikes… just me and my practice.
Sho relaxed slightly, letting his shoulders drop. The forest seemed ordinary — peaceful, almost too peaceful. But then, something caught his eye.
A soft glimmer of silver, partially hidden by shadows, shimmered in the moonlight.
He stopped. Ahead, beneath an old apple tree, sat a girl about his age.
Long, silver-white hair tumbled down her back, catching the moonlight like threads of liquid starlight. Her crimson eyes — striking and vivid — were fixed on an apple she held delicately in her hands. She bit into it slowly, her movements serene, almost mesmerizing.
Sho's breath caught.
> Who… is that?
He took a careful step forward, then another, slow and deliberate. His instincts told him to pause, to not startle her.
The girl's head lifted slightly, sensing movement, and their eyes met.
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Sho felt something deep stir inside him — calm yet electrifying, as though the forest itself had paused in respect for her presence.
She smiled faintly, just enough to suggest she knew something he didn't — a secret the world had never told him.
> She's… human? Or something else entirely?
Sho stopped a few meters away, frozen between curiosity and awe.
The girl tilted her head, crimson eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Are you going to stand there all night… or will you join me?"
Sho swallowed hard, words failing him. Slowly, he stepped closer, and with each step, the world seemed to whisper: this encounter is no ordinary meeting.
And for the first time in centuries, the Dragon Queen, disguised as a girl beneath the apple tree, met the boy who would one day stand by her side.
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