"That's the perspective of a mortal."
The girl's argument, while logical for an ordinary person, meant nothing to Muria. From his perspective, it was irrelevant. After all, he could clearly see the golden dragon slumbering in her heart—this was unquestionably his mother's reincarnated body.
"I can confirm your identity."
"And what exactly are you basing that on? What makes you think I'm your mother?!" Arina's temper flared. How could someone casually decide something so outrageous? She had her reputation to maintain in the imperial capital, and she was still a virgin who had never even held a man's hand.
"On the basis of your true spirit," Muria answered after a brief moment of thought. For an epic being, physical forms could change, but the true spirit was immutable.
"Right now, you're not exactly my mother," he continued calmly. "You are her reincarnated form. You lack the memories of being my mother, which is why you find this so difficult to accept."
Muria had no intention of playing games or hiding the truth from the reincarnated form of his mother. He laid it all out openly. But sometimes, the truth itself is the hardest thing to accept.
"Reincarnation?" Arina was stunned. How was she supposed to argue against that? Reincarnation was one of those things that defied logic and evidence. "And based on this completely unverifiable claim, you're saying I'm your mother?"
"It may be unprovable to you, but to me, everything is crystal clear."
Muria rubbed his forehead, a hint of frustration flickering across his face. "There's no room for doubt here. The facts are right in front of us. Whether you want to accept them or not doesn't change reality, and I'm not interested in arguing with you about it."
"Give me a break! I'm only sixteen years old! And now you suddenly show up claiming to be my son? What am I supposed to do with that?!"
Arina's face twisted into an expression of utter exasperation. There was no way she could process or accept this situation in such a short time.
"What do you mean, what are you supposed to do? Isn't having a son as powerful as me a good thing?"
Muria looked at the spirited young woman in front of him with a hint of bemusement. Did she not realize how strong he was compared to her?
"Good? Good?! How is this good?!" Arina snapped back, her voice rising. "How am I supposed to get married now? I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone!"
"Married? Who do you want to marry?"
The atmosphere instantly turned suffocating. A terrifying pressure radiated from Muria, blanketing the entire area.
The knights accompanying Arina collapsed to the ground, unconscious from the overwhelming force. Even the serpent dragon, which had consumed Muria's dragon blood, lay trembling, prostrated in fear.
The sight of such a massive creature quivering like a frightened child might have been comical, but Arina couldn't bring herself to laugh. She was frozen in fear, shocked by the boy's sudden surge of anger.
"What do you mean, who do I want to marry?!" she retorted, her voice trembling slightly but still defiant. "What does my marriage have to do with you?"
"I'm your son. Your marriage obviously has everything to do with me."
"And since when does a son have the right to dictate his mother's marriage?!"
"I also have a father, you know," Muria said, his voice laced with an ambiguous tone as he narrowed his eyes. "If you want to marry someone, you'll have to get his approval first."
"A father? Are you saying I already have a partner?" Arina was completely bewildered, unable to process this revelation.
"Of course. How else do you think I was born?"
"Then where is he? Where's your father—my partner?" she asked, a flicker of expectation in her voice.
"I have no idea." Muria shrugged.
"You don't know?"
"If nothing went wrong, he's likely been reincarnated as well, just like you."
"So you don't know where he is or even what he's become, do you?"
"Exactly. I can't even be sure of his species."
"What do you mean by that?" A sinking feeling began to creep into Arina's chest.
Her mind, for a moment, entertained the idea that this mysterious "son" of hers might lead her to an extraordinary partner—someone powerful and otherworldly, a match for the child's strength and aura. But the way Muria was speaking dashed her hopes.
"My father could have reincarnated as anything—a human like you, an intelligent tree, or even an underground insect..."
"Stop. Don't say another word." Arina hastily cut him off, her imagination already running wild. The thought of her partner being a tree—or worse, a bug—was too much to bear. If that were true, she'd rather remain single forever.
"Fine, I'll stop," Muria said with a faint smile. "But tell me this: what's this about marriage? Who are you planning to marry? Just tell me the name, and I'll take care of him."
Muria's anger flared again, his words dripping with barely-contained rage. His killing intent was so intense that Arina momentarily envisioned mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
"What are you so worked up about?! I'm only saying I'd like to get married someday! I haven't even found anyone suitable yet!"
Despite the boy's overwhelming aura, Arina felt no fear. On the contrary, an inexplicable sense of familiarity and closeness radiating from him reassured her that he would never harm her.
"No suitable candidates yet?" Muria's anger subsided slightly, his expression relaxing.
"Exactly. All the boys I've met at the banquets are useless. Not a single one has caught my eye."
"I see. Just like your past self—your standards are ridiculously high. You rejected every dragon that came your way until you met my father, and only then did you choose a mate."
Muria nodded thoughtfully. Even though the true consciousness of the golden dragon hadn't awakened, it clearly still influenced the behavior and preferences of her reincarnated body.
"And what was I like back then?" Arina asked, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. Despite her skepticism about his claims, she couldn't resist asking about her supposed past life.
"There's no need for you to know that," Muria replied, brushing off the question.
"Why not? Maybe if you tell me, it'll jog my memory as your mother!"
"If only it were that simple," Muria said with a wry smile, shaking his head. "Anyway, why are you here? I'm curious. Running into you like this—it's either an incredible coincidence or something more deliberate."
"Why am I here?" Arina pointed at herself, then gestured toward the radiant light in the sky.
"Obviously, I came to see the otherworldly gate behind you. I wanted to explore and see the wonders of another world. What's the problem? It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Even my father doesn't know I'm here."
"Exploring, adventuring—it makes sense," Muria said, nodding knowingly. He wasn't particularly surprised. Gold dragons, after all, were natural wanderers, often roaming the world to uphold justice.
"By the way, who's your father?"
"Duke Benedict. Why do you ask?"
"No reason. I just want to meet him," Muria replied nonchalantly. Though he held little hope, he wanted to verify whether this duke could possibly be related to his own lineage. After all, stranger coincidences had happened.
"You want to come back with me?" Arina took several steps back, her voice rising.
"Is there a problem?"
"Of course there's a problem! A sixteen-year-old girl goes out on a trip and returns with a child your size. How do you think the people in the capital will see me?!"
"Why care about the opinions of mortals? Their judgments are fleeting, mere dust in the wind. In a thousand years, how many of them will even be remembered?"
"Don't give me that philosophical nonsense! You may be above it all, but I still have to live in this world. I don't even have the memories of being your mother. We're fundamentally different beings who shouldn't even intersect. Just go and do whatever you need to do—our so-called mother-son bond ends here."
"You don't get to decide that," Muria said with a chuckle. With a gesture, the serpent dragon lowered its menacing yet awe-inspiring head beside him. "I make the decisions here."
The black-haired, golden-eyed boy took a step back, standing atop the serpent dragon's jagged bone crown. From his elevated position, he gazed down at Arina, his reincarnated mother.
"I say you're my mother, so you are. You can doubt it, but that's all you can do. No matter what I choose to do, you'll have to accept it. The power I command is beyond your ability to resist."
"You rebellious child!" Arina shouted, furious.
"Call me whatever you want," Muria replied, completely unfazed. "The fact remains: I'll stay by your side until my mother's true consciousness awakens."
"My life is over!"
The golden-haired girl, who had set out on this adventure never expecting such chaos, took a few steps back before collapsing onto the ground with a defeated sigh.
"Mother, do you still want to explore that gate? If you do, I can take you there," Muria asked with a smile.
"No, I want to go home," Arina replied, her tone weary.
"Alright."
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