SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant-Chapter 473: Caelvyrn [II]

Trafalgar held Caelvyrn’s gaze for a moment, then said, "I’ll go first. I have something."

That alone was enough to make the dragon’s expression change. The amusement did not disappear completely, but it moved aside. His eyes sharpened, the violet in them turning quieter and colder. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Trafalgar rested one arm over the chair and spoke without wasting time. "I have new information about the Primordial who was watching the last battle of the war."

The room stilled. Caelvyrn’s fingers, which had been resting lazily against the arm of the chair, stopped moving. "Do you." Not really a question. More a demand for the rest.

Trafalgar nodded once. "In the last Council, something happened. I ran into a girl there. At first I thought she was just another strange person hiding behind a false face." His gaze lowered for a second, recalling Vivienne. "She approached me because the Primordial was looking for me."

Rhosyn turned to him at once. "What?"

Caelvyrn stayed still. "Explain."

Trafalgar did. He told them about the encounter during the Council. About the girl. About the lies at the start. About how the truth had come out after that. He kept it clean, giving them what mattered and leaving aside the parts that didn’t. By the time he finished, the room had gone quiet again.

Rhosyn was the first to speak. "You’re serious."

"Yes."

"The Primordial wants to see you."

"Yes."

For a brief second, she did not know what face to make. That was the problem with long searches. After enough years, after enough wrong turns, false hopes, old ruins, and broken clues, the mind stopped expecting things to move cleanly. So when they finally did, the result did not feel simple. Relief came first. Then doubt. Then a strange tension in the chest that had nowhere proper to settle.

Rhosyn looked down for a moment, then back at him. ’After all this time...’ It should have felt better than it did. It did feel better, in a way. But it also felt sudden. Too sudden. Like a door had opened in front of them before either of them had fully prepared for what might be behind it.

Trafalgar understood the look on her face. "I know," he said. "It sounds absurd."

"A little," Rhosyn muttered.

"But it’s true. I didn’t expect it either. Still, sometimes fate decides to stop being useless for a minute. We were looking for the same thing."

That made her let out a faint breath through her nose. Caelvyrn said nothing for a few seconds. Then he reached for one of the drinks Garrika had left on the table and picked it up with the same casual ease he had shown since entering. The motion looked relaxed, but Trafalgar could tell his mind was not.

"Are you certain?" Caelvyrn asked.

"More than certain." Trafalgar’s gaze stayed on him. "The girl knew too much. Enough to make the rest believable. And the way she approached me..." He paused briefly. "No. I’m sure."

Caelvyrn took a slow sip from the glass. Rhosyn watched him. Trafalgar watched him too.

"I can’t meet her yet," Trafalgar added. "The wedding comes first. But after that, I already gave my answer."

Caelvyrn lowered the glass slightly. "And?"

"The three of us will go."

Rhosyn glanced at him, though this time she did not interrupt. She had already understood that much from before. If this really was a path toward their bloodline, neither of them would let the other walk into it alone. And Caelvyrn, whatever else he was, had already tied himself too closely to this matter to be left behind now.

Caelvyrn leaned back in his chair, the glass still in hand. "I see."

Trafalgar studied him for a second, then shifted the conversation. "Now my turn to ask something."

Caelvyrn’s gaze returned to him fully. "Go on."

"You warned me before. You clearly had your reasons. I understand that much." His eyes narrowed slightly. "But what I want to know is your real objective. Is it really about preparing for what’s coming? The Void Creatures. The one that escaped. The possibility that this wasn’t the end." Caelvyrn did not answer. So Trafalgar kept speaking. "Because if that’s the truth, then fine. I can understand it. But if there’s more behind it, I want to hear it now." His gaze did not leave the dragon’s face. "You know more than you’re saying."

Caelvyrn stayed quiet for a few seconds. Then he said, "Yes. That is one of my real objectives."

Neither Trafalgar nor Rhosyn interrupted him.

"I’m not lying about that part," Caelvyrn continued. "I’ve lived for a very long time. Longer than either of you." His eyes shifted toward Rhosyn. "Much longer than you, little one."

Rhosyn’s expression hardened at once. "Oy."

Caelvyrn ignored the complaint without much effort. "After enough years, certain desires become simple. I want to keep living quietly. Calmly. Those things do not let the world remain calm." His fingers tapped once against the glass. "The Void Creatures are not something you ignore and then hope the problem solves itself. If one escaped, then the problem remains. That’s enough reason for me."

Trafalgar kept watching him. "And that’s all?"

Caelvyrn’s eyes moved back to him. "No." He paused. "There is another reason."

The room went still again. Caelvyrn lowered the glass onto the table. "The energy I felt... it belonged to an old friend of mine."

That made both of them look at him differently. Rhosyn reacted first. "A friend of yours?"

"Yes."

She frowned. "Are you sure?" Her tone turned dry. "Because the first impression most people get from you is... hard to describe."

Caelvyrn looked at her without offense. "Peculiar?"

"Yes. Let’s leave it at peculiar."

For the first time since entering, Caelvyrn’s expression lost some of its usual amusement. "I thought he was dead," he said. "A long time ago."

That changed the weight of the room.

Trafalgar leaned slightly forward. "Then what can you tell us about this old friend of yours?"