I Raised A Black Dragon

Adrian finished posting his regular report to the Imperial Headquarters of the Bureau of Investigation and Security when he spotted Eleonora, seemingly on her way back home. He grabbed her by the arm and held up the records he had received that morning from Pecker, a researcher in Harrell, of the secret research that Eleonora was conducting.

“You’re a lunatic, Ellie. Please explain to me exactly what this is. He snapped, thrusting the records of her secret experiment into her face. The experiment was to analyze the strength of the bond between the soul and the body. More than a hundred records detailed how long a soul could last once removed from the body, and how much damage was sustained  when a cloning spell was used on the body. 

Even if investigators combined all of Eleonora’s evil deeds from the past decade or so, the scale of this experiment was incomparably inhumane. Worst still, she first started the experiment half a year ago, shortly after the completion of the second stage of the replica project.

“Who did you hear it from? Pecker? I should fire that bastard.” Eleonora said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She pushed the documents off her face and pulled Adrian’s arm off her shoulder. 

“Don’t try to change the subject.” Adrian yelled as he gripped her shoulder once more, his knuckles turning white. He didn’t care about the people passing by already glancing at them. “We made a promise to never ever touch the soul. That thing you want to do is absolutely impossible through human strength.”

“This is so ridiculous it isn’t even funny. Wouldn’t you know better than to judge me?” Eleonora sneered at Adrian, once again removing his arm from her shoulder. 

“I know. I know it well. But you are not a superhuman.” Adrian had been trying hard to make Eleonora see how unobtainable her goals were. Though she believed herself to be more than human, that’s all she was. Genius as she was, a genius beyond human level was limited to their insurmountable existence as long as they are born as a human being. Eleonora was always resentful of the limitation of human beings; something that drove her to continue conducting such outlandish experiments.

“The third stage is no longer in the field of cloning. It’s in the field of creating.” Adrian said, sighing when Eleonora merely shrugged her shoulders. “It is something that absolutely cannot be done, even if the egg in the Imperial City hatches into a dragon right now. Didn’t you read the ancient text? It mentions the wizards who have been obsessed with creation magic. You must know this…”

Adrian stopped in the middle of his sentence, letting out another sigh of frustration. He knew that these words would not reach Eleonora at all. But if that was the case, what in the world could he say to stop her? He was always on her side. “Can’t I just say that I don’t like you doing dangerous experiments?”

Eleonora, instead of responding, nervously shook her head. Adrian chewed hard on the inside of his bottom lip. He wanted to grab her and let out so many things. Ever since the age of ten, when he had met her on the street for the first time, he had stood by her for fifteen years until she became a minister. Even when she had continued to do the experiments she wanted to do, and eventually went beyond the boundaries of Laurent’s laws. Adrian had been by her side. He had protected her from the death penalty and provided her a safe laboratory, concealing evidence of research prohibited from being further sinned against her life. 

And this is how she repaid him. 

“Ellie, do you really need all these experiments? Can’t I be the one you need?” Adrian said, almost on the verge of pleading with Eleonora. Instead, she only pulled a face that showed that she had misunderstood what he was talking about. 

“Don’t you love me, Ari?” She said, holding her arms close to her and avoiding his gaze. “If you do, then shouldn’t you like it when there are two or three of me? The person you love is multiplying. And who knows? Maybe the Eleonora you really love is among those ‘Eleonoras’.”

Adrian had already blanked out what Eleonora had just told him. His mind was racing with questions, and when he finally found the will to speak, he was overcome by his emotions. 

“Love?” He said, his voice dangerously low. He was so shocked the smile disappeared from his face. “You think that this is all about love? Answer me this, Ellie. Among them, will there be one who loves me?”

He wanted to tell her so much, like how she had been looking at him for ten years, and not once had he ever begged for her love. Yet he kept his mouth closed, partly because he couldn’t pluck the courage to talk, but also because she would not listen. His words would travel in through one ear and go straight out the other. In the end, he grabbed her hand and looked directly into her eyes. 

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