Charlotte rushed into the secret chamber, her face full of urgency.

Leon and Rebecca immediately approached her.

"Madam? What are you doing here?" Leon asked blankly.

Rebecca held her head in both hands, her large eyes spinning in confusion. "I am utterly baffled—first, master insisted on heading to the Sea Dragon Clan, and now Aunt Charlotte suddenly appears. I feel like I’m missing a whole chunk of memory."

Charlotte, seeing Leon again after so many years, felt both anxious and a tinge of relief.

But now was not the time for reminiscing.

Charlotte didn’t have the chance to explain much to Leon and Rebecca. She quickly moved toward the icy bed.

When she saw the barely breathing Tiger, who was lying on the bed, she felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body. Her legs wobbled, almost causing her to collapse on the spot.

It was Claudia who caught her from behind.

Charlotte looked at the elderly man before her in disbelief. Trembling, she reached out a hand and gently touched Tiger’s weathered cheek with her fingertips.

His temperature was fading little by little, and his breath, heartbeat, aa well as pulse were becoming nearly imperceptible.

Charlotte’s lips quivered uncontrollably, and tears fell silently from her eyes.

"Tiger… I’m here, Tiger... Open your eyes and look at me, will you?”

Her choked voice was heartbreaking.

As if hearing Charlotte's call, Tiger slowly opened his eyes.

Yet, at the edge of life, even this simple movement felt as though it weighed a thousand pounds.

Still, he summoned all his remaining strength, trying to clearly see the person before him.

His wife, Charlotte.

That pale and weary face finally displayed a faint smile. In a faint voice, he used the nickname he reserved only for his beloved wife, “Sha... you’ve finally come.”

Tiger wanted to raise his hand to touch her cheek.

But the pace at which life was leaving him was merciless. Even breathing required his immense effort now, leaving him no strength to lift his hand.

Charlotte, however, cupped his hand in hers and pressed his palm tightly against her face.

“I’m here, Tiger. You can feel me, can’t you?”

As his hand met her cheek, Tiger felt the warmth of her tears.

“Are you crying... Sha? Don’t cry... Don’t cry, or you won’t look pretty anymore... cough, cough—cough, cough—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Tiger coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

His heart was so damaged that it could no longer pump blood. Tiger was now surviving entirely on healing magic and Claudia’s desperate efforts.

Once the magic and medicine wore off—

"Why is Madam here?" Leon walked over to Claudia and asked in a low voice.

“Your master probably told you before,” Claudia replied, “that after you decided to rebel against the Empire, he sent Charlotte to a safe place.”

“The safe place referred to... here.”

Leon’s memory flashed back to the past. His master had indeed said something like that.

But...

“My master said then that Madam had returned to her family home. So, the Sea Dragon Clan is actually—"

Halfway through his sentence, Leon was startled by his own deduction.

Claudia turned to him and slowly said the answer that lingered in his mind, “Yes, Tiger, like you, married someone from the Dragon Clan as his wife.”

“...Wh-what—"

For a moment, Leon was at a loss for words.

The weight of this information wasn’t immense, but it was enough to strike deeply.

It felt as though a bomb planted twenty years ago had finally detonated.

Leon was relatively composed, yet even he was shaken. As for Rebecca behind him, she might have already fainted if not for Roswitha holding her up.

“Now, do you understand why your master insisted on coming to the Sea Dragon Clan in the final moments of his life?” Claudia asked.

“He knew how severe his injuries were; he just wanted to see Charlotte one last time before leaving this world.”

“One last time...”

Claudia patted Leon on the shoulder. “I know about your plan to rebel against the Empire. This is a revolution, Leon. And revolutions always come at a cost.”

By now, Leon could barely absorb any more words.

He moved with heavy steps, like a puppet with its strings severed, to Charlotte's side and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

His Madam was already weeping uncontrollably. She clung tightly to her husband’s hand and refused to let go.

“Leon... Has Rebecca handed you the Recording Stone...?" Tiger asked.

Having met his wife and accomplished the last wish at the bottom of his heart, Tiger wanted to grasp the last few minutes to have a good chat with his apprentices.

“She has... Master,” Leon responded.

“Good... That stone contains key evidence exposing the Empire’s conspiracy. Use it well; it can clear your name…”

"I understand… Master..."

“How are you and the Silver Dragon Queen…”

“We’re doing okay—"

“And... the grandkids? The older girls must be five years old now, and Aurora... she’s three by now, isn’t she…”

“Ma-Master?"

“Why aren’t you saying anything? I’m the only one talking here... It makes me seem so boring, haha...”

He could no longer hear them.

His aged and cloudy eyes began to lose focus.

“Kid... If you ever get the chance, make sure you bring your madam—bring her to meet them... Tell them their Grandpa... is quite so good…”

“I’d... I’d really like to hold them—"

“But alas... I suppose that’s not going to happen.”

He looked upward with unfocused eyes, as though summoned by some unseen force. Yet he continued to murmur,

“My life... it’s ending so uneventfully. Though I accomplished no great feats, I can leave this world satisfied.”

“When I was young, I served in the Dragon Slayer Army, wandering from battlefield to battlefield, with no permanent home.”

“By the time I retired, I thought I had missed my chance for love and marriage."

"If it weren't for meeting your madam, this old man would’ve remained a lonely bachelor his whole life."

“I used to think that the whole world was my home, but in the end, I realized—you are my home, Sha.”

“And yet... your family hasn’t approved of our marriage for over ten years…”

“Still, we spent half a lifetime together. At the end of my life, I’m so grateful to have you with me, Sha.”

“I remember—cough, cough—I remember a line from a novel, it feels like it reflects our story exactly…”

“The wandering dragon must return to the sea… if the sea does not await me… then I will arbitrarily go…”

His hand slipped from Charlotte’s cheek. Even in his last moment, he was trying to wipe away her tears.

“Tiger?... Tiger! Tiger!!”

“Master... Master!”

“Old man!”

Rebecca threw herself against Tiger’s arms and cried with gut-wrenching despair.

Charlotte’s tears seemed to have already dried. She leaned weakly against Leon, overcome by a suffocating wave of devastation and helplessness.

Tiger’s final words echoed endlessly in Leon’s mind.

The wandering dragon must return to the sea...

The drifter, destined to roam the world, found solace and home. When death came for him, he embraced it with peace.

Tiger Lawrence... the once distinguished Dragon Slayer, had ultimately died at the hands of the country he once served with his life.

How could anyone... accept such a fate?

“I’ll save him.”

In the depth of their despair, Charlotte's firm and resolute tone cut through like a steel blade, ripping apart the darkness and revealing hope.

“His heart has stopped functioning completely, Charlotte. Even the Magic Grass had no effect,” Claudia said. “I—"

“I will, save him,” Charlotte interrupted.

She quickly approached Claudia and looked her elder sister straight in the eyes.

"His heart is gone, isn’t it?”

“Yes…”

“I have a way. I’ll use my Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale.”

Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale?

The term startled Leon. He looked at his Madam in astonishment.

He only knew that the Dragon Scale was a kind of "emergency switch" for the Dragon Clan’s powers. At the critical moment, it meant to ensure them could survive.

To form a complete Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale required at least two hundred years.

In a glimpse of the future, Roswitha’s prolonged coma after her self-sacrifice was attributed to the absence of her Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale.

This alone showed how vital it was to the Dragon Clan.

But what he hadn’t known was that the Dragon Scale could also… save a life?

“No, Charlotte. If you give him your Dragon Scale, what will happen to you?”

“I don’t care. I have to save him.”

“Charlotte!”

“Four hundred years!”

Leon rarely saw his Madam lose her temper. But this time, she was truly angry.

“Sister, it’s been four hundred years. I’ve always listened to you, to father. Marrying Tiger was the only decision I ever made for myself. For that one choice, I didn’t return home for thirty years.”

“Besides… Tiger once saved my life. Now it’s my turn to save his. What is wrong with that?”

“Not to mention... after four hundred years, don’t I have the right to rebel twice?!”

“Charlotte…”

“Let me do this, Sister. Please.”

Claudia's expression softened, transitioning from frustration to deep sorrow. She finally exhaled a long sigh.

“Have it your way. I can’t stop you. Everyone else, follow me out. Leave Charlotte here alone.”

Claudia led the group out of the secret chamber.

Charlotte walked slowly to the icy bed. Looking at her husband, she spoke softly,

"I won't let you leave me just like this, Tiger."