CHAPTER 35: BRIDGE TOWARDS THE MOUNTAINS

When Luke heard this question, he turned to her and, taking a deep breath, said, "For the future, my love."

Although this answer did not mean much to Zoey, the young woman shrugged her shoulders.

"The future?" Zoey asked.

Luke then moved to the pavilion, next to Zoey, and took out some palace sweets that his mother had sent from the palace.

"I am a Hiera, Zoey. Even if my princely title is taken away and I am officially exiled, no one can take my surname from me," Luke said seriously.

"Across the lake and three hundred kilometres beyond. That area is a void," he added to his own words.

At that moment, Zoey understood what Luke was talking about and said, "The Tholien Mountains? You can’t be serious, it’s too dangerous."

"Hi-e-ra. I am a Hiera. My blood is renowned for commanding dragons and even phoenixes. If they won’t kneel before me, there’s no reason for them to be in my territory," Luke replied.

Zoey had never seen such a light in his eyes before. Perhaps such a light might have appeared when the two finally managed to obtain their families’ permission to marry... or perhaps something similar might have appeared, but that was just a metaphor at this point.

Luke’s dark pink and light blue eyes shone with a golden light.

"You’re going to One Mountain, aren’t you? I know you... I’m well aware of how foolish you can be sometimes, Luke. I know you’re about to throw yourself into one of the few places in the world believed to harbour Ancient Dragons," Zoey said, a little worried, but this worry wasn’t about Luke’s power or a lack of faith in his blood. Zoey was simply a woman worried about her husband.

"I seriously can’t escape your gaze, Zoey..." Luke had said, then added, "You’ve noticed that people’s view of the Hieras has started to change lately, haven’t you?"

Zoey honestly didn’t know much about it. She only knew that her father, Kassadin, occasionally held meetings with the northern nobles, and that the topic of war had come up many times during those meetings.

"What are you trying to say?" Zoey asked.

"Rumour has it that the eastern continent is becoming complicated. We managed to find out about this last year, or rather, we heard the rumours... To be honest, I didn’t believe these rumours," said Luke, looking worried.

"But?" Zoey asked.

"According to Mateo, the eastern sea has been invaded by sea serpents. That’s why they came here," Luke replied, then turned to Zoey, shaking his head from side to side, and said, "Sea serpents are peaceful creatures of the sea. They are giant snakes with dragon blood. They live kilometres deep and feed on creatures like sharks, Zoey... There’s no way they would invade a place of their own volition." he added.

"You’re saying something provoked them or used them... Is that right?" Zoey asked.

"Yes. Whoever spoke of approaching us hostilely is responsible for this. I’m certain of it," Luke replied.

"So... that’s why you want to control the dragons... is that it?" Zoey asked suddenly.

"That’s one of the reasons, yes," Luke answered, then smiled and asked, "Another reason is to protect you and the others as I see fit. We know that Callum is one of the most powerful people in this world, the greatest swordsman, and one of the most skilled mages. He can stand up to a dragon, but what about an Ancient Dragon?"

"What are you getting at?" Zoey asked with great curiosity.

"We don’t know who is approaching Callum’s level. The world is changing, and it’s not hard to notice. Even if the whole world burns, I want to gather all the Ancient Dragons that are likely to exist around me so that even if someone surpasses Callum’s level, they can’t come here, especially to you, my love." Luke replied.

Zoey nodded in understanding. The young woman knew she could voice her opinions about Luke’s decisions, but she also knew she couldn’t stop him.

He... was a bit too stubborn.

"Alright..." Zoey said, then took Luke’s hand and added, "Whatever decision you make, I’m with you. Don’t worry."

Luke smiled at her words and then took a deep breath.

"It’ll be evening in an hour; you can see the sunset from here. Do you want to stay?" he asked.

Zoey, of course, nodded her head up and down to indicate yes, and the day passed by and ended.

January, one of the winter months, passed by, and Luke did not accomplish much other than developing the shop panel. Occasionally, he attempted to improve his knowledge of magic theory to a level even higher than his current one, and he also managed to find time to educate himself on magic circles.

Magic circles were much more expensive than he had imagined, and Luke had already spent over thirty thousand gold pieces. The roads he had built, the buildings he had constructed, the animals he had purchased, the food, and the water had all added up to a figure exceeding thirty thousand gold pieces.

He still had a massive amount of money, so it wasn’t that he was short on funds. The problem was that Luke wanted to use this money to build a city.

Every day, the map of the region changed, and even the remaining elves in the village managed to create a centre based on the maps.

The farms had been moved all the way to the edge of the wall, and the roads had been extended. Every house except for the main servants’ quarters had been moved to an area very close to the wall, and efforts to create a central hub had begun.

A circular structure with a heated water fountain at its centre had been created using Moon Stones to form the main part of the central hub.

Quickly and decisively, without letting Luke put Kevin and himself to sleep, and without even letting Zoey get her beauty sleep, they managed to draw twelve sketches during that time.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the trio created wonders.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.