CHAPTER 174: CHAPTER 174 - AURELIA’S AMBITION

The night was calm, the gorge below whispering with the faint rush of water that echoed in the distance. The moon hung above, silver and solemn, casting its glow over the jagged cliffs where Luca and Aurelia sat side by side. The stars, faint against the brilliance of the moon, only deepened the quiet serenity of the scene.

Luca shifted, turning toward her. "So... what is it?"

Aurelia didn’t look at him. Her gaze remained fixed on the pale moon suspended in the dark sky. For a moment, she seemed carved from the night itself, her expression unreadable. Then, her voice came, low and hesitant.

"Have you... have you ever felt that your ambitions, your dreams are being denied, for a trivial reason?"

Luca tilted his head, surprised at the depth in her tone. After a pause, he let out a short chuckle. "To be honest, I never had any grand ambitions to speak of. And... even if I had, there was only my situation that could deny them."

His words were half-joking, but there was a hint of bitterness hidden underneath. He leaned back slightly, eyes glimmering in the moonlight. "Did it happen with you?"

Aurelia stayed silent for a moment, as if weighing the decision to speak. Then, softly, she exhaled. "You know I have some conflicts with my family, right?"

The laid-back ease drained from Luca’s body. He straightened, eyes sharpening. "Hmm."

"Actually..." She pressed her lips together before continuing. "My father... he is not of Drayden bloodline. Many nobles already know this. You must have heard of it as well."

Luca’s eyes widened in disbelief. "W-what?" His mind reeled. Her father is not Drayden? Then that means Kyle as well... He felt his chest tighten. I played the game so many times, yet it seems I knew nothing about the characters at all.

Noticing his shock, Aurelia arched a brow faintly. "Hmm? You didn’t know? Well, anyway... my mother is a Drayden."

Luca nodded stiffly, forcing his thoughts to settle. Still, confusion lingered, and he asked, "But... what does it have to do with the conflict?"

Her eyes never left the moon. "My mother was a great warrior. But at that time, my grandfather had no other children. She was the only heir to the Drayden Dukedom."

Luca’s brows furrowed. He said nothing, simply listening as the night air grew heavier with her words.

"But... Draydens don’t allow a woman to be head of the family." A wry, almost bitter smile curved her lips. "So, my father was married into the family as a potential heir."

Luca’s mind flickered with thoughts of his old world. So, even here... rules that choke possibilities still linger. Patriarchal systems, traditions that refuse to change. He stayed silent, gaze fixed on her profile, waiting.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the faint glint of determination in her violet gaze as she continued.

"From my childhood, I was also quite exceptional, like my mother... even more so. I am considered the greatest talent the Draydens have had since the great ancestor of our family."

"So I really had the ambition that one day, I will and can become the next head of the Drayden family. I didn’t know about this tradition of our family back then, so I did it all—I proved myself at every juncture, every moment, excelling in everything."

Her face carried both pride and melancholy as she spoke, before her voice dropped low. "But last year, when I got admitted to the academy as the top student, I talked about this with my grandfather. I thought he would be happy... proud of his granddaughter. But..."

As her breath hitched, Luca gently placed his hand around her shoulder. "You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to."

Aurelia shook her head slightly. "No, I... don’t want to run away from this now."

Her eyes turned distant as she pressed on. "My grandfather, after hearing me, wore a very cold expression. One I had never seen before. And then he said—’Give up, Aurelia. We are Draydens. We can’t be led by women.’"

Her lips trembled as she recalled, "I looked at him in shock, but he continued—’Your brother Kyle will be the next heir. No further discussion.’"

But Aurelia wasn’t finished. "Kyle was there too, and he said himself that he wasn’t interested in the position. He’s a free spirit, he said, and wouldn’t suit the role of family head."

Luca sighed quietly in his mind. Sounds like Kyle, alright...

She looked up faintly, a flicker of hope in her eyes as she remembered. "I thought then... maybe Grandfather would listen to me. But instead—" Her voice cracked. "He turned to Kyle and ordered him to become family head regardless. Kyle refused outright, and that made Grandfather furious."

She swallowed hard, her words unsteady. "I tried to persuade him again, desperately. And do you know what he said, Luca?"

Her gaze met his, shimmering with tears. "Even if Kyle won’t take the role, I still won’t be considered. Instead, I’m to marry the one who will become the next family head."

Luca blinked, stunned. "W-what?"

She nodded, her voice breaking. "They won’t have me as heir... but they’re willing to trade me for an heir. T-that was the moment everything changed. I began distancing myself from my family—everyone except Kyle. It shattered me so deeply that even my strength, my progress... all of it faltered. I failed my chance at the weapon acknowledgment ceremony. The reason? My mind was not in a good state. And... just like that, a year slipped by. My strength stagnated with a little progress, still enough to be strongest in my year. Kyle got admitted into the academy this year, and on the day of the weapon acknowledgement ceremony..."

Luca leaned back slightly, his hand still resting on her shoulder, his voice low and steady.

"You met me."

Aurelia’s throat tightened. She nodded, her lashes trembling as she forced herself to meet his eyes. "I saw you at the weapon acknowledgement ceremony. I thought... maybe you were the one , the one who could be the key to all my problems."

Her fingers clenched into the fabric of her dress, knuckles whitening. The words left her lips as though they weighed a hundred pounds each. "I investigated your background overnight. From everything I found... you were timid, hesitant, the kind of person who wouldn’t resist."

Luca’s expression didn’t shift, not even slightly. His face was carved into stillness, as though carved from marble.

Aurelia’s breath caught in her chest. She had always spoken with pride, with confidence, but now her words trembled, spilling out in uneven pieces. "Y-you were the perfect person I needed. Acknowledged by the legendary weapons, a minor noble. The tag of legendary weapon user was enough for my grandfather to consider... You were timid in nature, too. With looks also... good enough... I thought...I thought"

She trailed off, unable to finish.

Luca lowered his gaze, his voice slicing gently into the space between them, completing the sentence she had left hanging.

"You thought you could use me, to fulfill your ambitions."

The words hung in the air like a blade poised above her neck.

Aurelia flinched as if the very sound of them cut through her. Her lips parted, but no sound came at first. She reached out instinctively, her hand hovering midair before retreating to her lap, fingers tightening as though she feared to touch him now.

His tone had been calm, too calm. There was no heat, no fire—only a stillness so absolute it unnerved her more than if he had shouted. His eyes, steady and unreadable, reflected the wavering light, giving nothing away.

Her chest rose and fell quickly, a tremor escaping her voice when she finally spoke. "Y-you... A-are you angry with me?"