"No, mother, it's me, your son."
Caspian said with an emotional choke as if something got stuck in his throat.
The emotions within him felt turbulent.
The side of himself he had 'merged' with was now a part of him, so he felt what he would.
A young man who had it all, but, because of an unfortunate situation, felt he had lost it as he withered away in bed, and his mother's tormented and guilty look drowned him in his own shame of not living up to what he thought she deserved in a son.
That guilt and pain may have been self-imposed, but it didn't hurt any less when the now new Caspian stood face to face with his mother.
She didn't react to the correction; she just moved quickly, nearly quicker than what Caspian could register and hugged him.
Her face buried into his shoulder as she said, "Of course, my son, how could I mistake you for someone else. I am just so overwhelmed you have finally recovered."
She pulled away and looked her son over before saying, "And you seem better than ever! What happened?"
As Caspian frantically looked for an excuse, the invisible dam that was holding back suppressed guilt broke, and she couldn't help but shoot out rapidly.
"Sorry, Val, it was all my fault! I could never say it to you when you were bed-bound, but maybe now..."
Caspian smiled and said, "Mother, I know that I am a hybrid, some kind of angel, right? Is that the reason my body couldn't handle my mana?"
She was shocked at his deduction, but the guilt weighing on her seemed to override her logical brain when it came to questioning how he knew, as she bombarded her son with the full truth.
Apparently, the story goes:
_______
Sera, his mother, was the youngest of the Dragon King's children and the weakest.
She was berated by the eldest and second son for being weak, even though she was 150 years old; she was still only a Level 2 Evolved, while her other siblings were at least Level 3 at the time.
Especially within the dragon race, being weak was shameful, more so as a royal, so to be treated to that kind of behaviour was to be expected.
The only reason they didn't do more was that they knew their father loved her the most.
She just reminded him so much of the woman who made his life worth living, his late wife.
But one day, after drinking too much and having enough of the constant slander and degrading words, she confronted her father and blamed him for coddling her all her life and stunting her growth.
It was an unfair thing to say, but at the time, she was at her breaking point.
Her father, even though he was nearly a millennium old and seen as the strongest, couldn't rebuke her.
She was his weakness.
The next day, she left a letter in her room and set out to explore the world, hoping to experience combat and adventure that would finally help her evolve after so long.
She went from one place to another, fighting in battles and exploring until she arrived at the outer area of the angel continent, Land of Virtues, where she met him: Michael, one of the Seven Virtues and the Saint-Warrior of the angels.
She saw him leading his troops on pegasuses toward the demon continent, a land aptly named Land of Sins.
She flew in her dragon form and followed from a distance, watching him with curiosity, hoping she could learn something from studying him.
But she knew that was an excuse; she became enraptured from the moment she first laid eyes on him.
Soon, a battlefield of untold proportions, in constant war for millennia, where millions of angels and demons fought, came into view.
Michael swooped in with his elite unit, tearing through the enemy and laying waste to an untold number of demons.
She was immediately even more captured by him as she saw him fighting.
His golden hair flowed all the way down to his feet like a cape as he spread his 18 large, feathered wings and lifted his sword aloft, bringing judgment to the evil-doers.
His golden, pristine armour and pale white skin that never got one speck of dirt or blood on it, even when slaying untold numbers of demons, seemed to catch her eye.
However, her time being discreet ultimately came to an end when, as she neared the battlefield, the demons and angels obviously sensed a dragon in their full form; they are not very discreet after all.
Michael, noticing the commotion, appeared like a phantom in front of her, thinking she was here to interfere in the war, but when she shifted back into her humanoid form, he seemed star-struck despite her wearing commoner's clothes.
She decided not to tell him the truth about her lineage and instead to tell a half-truth: that she was a dragon on a journey across the world to grow stronger, that she happened to notice him, and that, seeing as he looked strong, she wanted to learn a thing or two by observing.
Knowing dragons' penchant for strength, Michael bought the story.
Despite being on a battlefield and being the renowned Saint-Warrior, Michael was still a man, and one who had just experienced his love at first sight.
He immediately introduced himself and, once he had finished his obligations on the battlefield, decided to visit the angel continent with her, knowing she had yet to visit, and offered to show her around as an excuse to get close to her.
And that was exactly what they did, and they ended up spending a year getting to know each other before they officially entered a relationship.
Some rebuked Michael for being with a "commoner dragon," but with one word from him, they relented.
Nearly ten blissful years passed, and she was finally with child.
They were both ecstatic.
After giving birth to Caspian, a surprise happened.
She evolved into a rare dragon species, the Moonlight Dragon, seemingly completing one of her objectives.
Her black hair now seemed to reflect the moonlight constantly, and her skin grew even paler to match the moon's pallor.
Her silver irises seemed to morph into what looked like moons from their original vertical slit-like shapes, and the scales on her dragon form had gone from red, representing her flames, to silver.
While her regal red horns on her forehead shrank to something more akin to deer antlers, radiating a peaceful presence.
Known for their fairy-like beauty and serenity, they were revered by many for their wisdom, and what they lacked in physical strength, they made up for with magical power.
Both of them were beyond happy with the birth of their child and with Sera's evolution.
At this point, she decided to tell Michael her real identity; she expected the amazing life she had created to come tumbling down, but he already knew.
Thalric had searched the world twice over looking for her; everyone had known about the missing dragon princess at this point.
That shouldn't be enough for people to know she is the missing princess, but Michael, being the one closest to her, realised she was way too refined to be a commoner and with their first encounter seeming odd, it didn't take a genius to understand.
With a heavy weight off her chest, they both prepared to visit her father and offer apologies while asking for his blessing to get married.
However, as they prepared to leave, the castle of Michael was attacked by the Sins.
Four of them.
They had been in many a battle together, and she thought they could defeat them even if they were Sins.
But Michael disagreed, and instead of arguing with her, conjured a portal and pushed her through with the baby.
The last words she heard from him were.
"Don't worry, I will find you both... I love you."
She ended up many miles away, and after a whole day of flying, she finally came upon the castle that had been their home for a decade, completely brought down, with blood and signs of a struggle, but no sign of Michael or the Sins.
Eventually, knowing she didn't know where to start looking for him and that she had a baby to raise, she decided to head back home.
Her father was over the moon to have her back and ecstatic that she had evolved into a rare species of dragon, but seeing that spark gone from her eyes, it didn't matter how hard he tried; she was never the same as the girl he once knew.
Add to that the fact that she had a child out of wedlock with an unknown man, the abuse escalated, and because she refused to tell anyone what happened and who the father was, it was only worse.
However, she couldn't bring herself to talk about Michael; she had isolated herself in the back of the palace in a private suite, as her father had to remain neutral now, given her actions.
He couldn't do any more as dragon king; her actions were deemed exile-worthy.
So, this was the best he could do considering the pressure he was under.