Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 65 - 64 - Selena Velmoria 2.

While Siris moved toward the mansion with Royal insignia, something else was happening inside.

The sound of brush gliding over the canvas, slow and reverent, was the only sound heard inside a chamber lit by dim candlelight.

She was sitting on a stool.

Selena Velmoria.

She sat with poise, one hand balancing the pallet while the other, holding a paintbrush, moved carefully across the canvas.

Each stroke of paint whispered obsession—deliberate and smooth as if anything less than perfection would be a sin.

Before her bloomed an image that had taken root in her mind and refused to leave.

Raven Von Vaise.

He stood in the center of the painting, posture unyielding. He had a sword’s blade in his palm, and despite his black scale-covered arm being cut through, he didn’t let go of the blade.

His gaze was unwavering as he looked ahead defiantly.

Blood trailed down his arm, but his face wore that maddening smirk—cool, composed, and painfully radiant.

Selena’s sapphire blue eyes were locked onto the canvas, her pupils dilated as though she were in a trance.

She dipped her brush into red.

"Just a little more," she muttered. "Just the right amount for the blood on his knuckles..."

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Her fingers rhythmically drummed the edge of her palette as she scrutinized her work with obsessive care, breathing shallowly.

Then she paused, lips parting as her gaze softened.

"He’s perfect."

The words left her lips like a sigh.

Her expression slowly shifted from gentle admiration to something darker, deeper.

A smile began to curl on her lips, but it was no longer sweet.

It was twisted like a vine coiling around a long-awaited prize.

"He was worth the wait," she whispered, her voice a mixture of awe and hunger.

She rose from her seat, the brush still between her fingers, dripping crimson onto the carpet as she walked—slowly and soundlessly—toward the room’s wall.

With her free hand, she pressed along a section of polished marble.

Click.

A hidden panel slid open.

The warm candlelight spilled into the space beyond, revealing a room within a room.

It was her shrine. Her sanctuary. Her private gallery.

She stepped inside, the air thick with oil paint and devotion.

The walls were covered—not with photographs or magical illusions, but paintings.

Dozens, no—hundreds of them.

All of them were Raven’s paintings.

Each brushstroke bore her signature style.

There were no repeats.

Every canvas captured him in a new light, a new pose, and a new emotion.

In some, he laughed. In others, he stood wounded yet proud.

One showed him walking through fire, another sleeping peacefully beneath a tree.

The largest canvas, framed in dark silver, depicted him in armor, a crown hovering behind his head like a halo. His eyes glowed faintly with golden power.

Selena stood before that one in particular, her brush now forgotten, still dripping at her side.

"You’ve made me wait so long," she murmured, her voice fragile, reverent. "Now..."

Her fingertips brushed the edge of the painting.

"I’ll make you mine."

A small chuckle escaped her lips. It was sweet before it wasn’t.

Memories surged forth—hazy and colorless until his name had painted her world anew.

She had been a husk two years ago.

A silent, broken creature in royal robes, surrounded by guards who whispered and nobles who lied.

Until Clara Vaise had arrived.

Clara had brought letters.

Clara had spoken of someone who didn’t care for rules or reverence.

"He’s crazy," she would mutter, a rare smile tugging at her lips. "But brilliant. He’s probably the only person alive who can tell death itself to shut up and get away with it."

She had read the letters aloud.

Raven’s insane rants. His sarcastic complaints. His jokes, his threats, his impossible plans.

Selena had laughed.

Quietly, at first.

Then freely.

Clara had told her that Raven had said he would save her from her problems.

At that time, Clara hadn’t thought those words would do much, but she had never noticed how tightly Selena gripped Raven’s letters long after the readings ended.

How her dreams started to feature a faceless figure slowly gaining a face that felt like the one Clara described.

Her life had been full of silence, sorrow, and stagnation.

But Raven?

He sounded like motion.

He sounded like hope.

Now, he had stood before her.

And everything had clicked.

He wasn’t just a name anymore.

He was real.

He had faced pain for her and smiled.

He had looked at her and seen the real her.

She turned slowly, her eyes shimmering in the low light.

"I love you," she said. "Even if you don’t know yet..."

But her smile had sharpened.

Not with hope.

With intent.

But just then—

Knock. Knock.

—That sound echoed like a crack in the glass.

Her eyes turned cold. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

The warmth drained in an instant.

It was as if she had become a different person.

If Raven were to see her right now, he would be shell-shocked as she didn’t look like the fearful and innocent girl she was supposed to be.

She looked like a ruthless queen.

She turned slowly, her voice no longer dreamy, but sharp as a blade’s edge.

"Enter."

The heavy door creaked open, revealing the person she wanted to see but couldn’t because he had been unconscious.

It was the knight who challenged Raven with bravado and arrogance.

Now?

He was pale.

Trembling.

His legs nearly buckled as he stepped inside, his armor clinking unnaturally loud in the silence.

He immediately dropped to one knee.

"I-I apologize, Your Highness! I-I didn’t think my attack would—that it would move toward—"

"Silence."

Her voice was soft but sliced through the room like a guillotine.

The knight froze, lowering his head further.

Selena’s gaze bore down on him.

"Do you think I care about your excuses?" she asked, slowly walking toward him. "I ordered you to do one thing: make a scene to see how he would act. But you let your arrogance get ahead of you."

Yes, she was the one who had ordered the knight to act that way.

She wanted to see how Raven would react.

She wanted to know if the one she dreamt about was as good as Clara had told her.

And honestly? She was more than satisfied—until this knight messed it all up.

He dared to injure Raven.

The knight, on the other hand, had his breaths grow erratic, cold sweat drenching his back.

He was shaking in fear, and that fear wasn’t from something hypothetical but something he had witnessed.

It was the fear of something only a few knew about.

"I-I was foolish! Please, forgive—"

"Forgiveness?" Selena interrupted, stopping just before him. "You don’t deserve that."

She leaned in close, her breath brushing against his ear.

"You’re alive only because he didn’t care enough to kill you."

Her hand gently touched the knight’s helmet.

It was as if she was showing him the last mercy.

"You may leave."

The knight didn’t wait a second longer. He stumbled up and practically ran out the door.

Once he was gone, Selena turned back toward her shrine of Raven.

Her smile returned.

She clasped her hands before her chest like a girl awaiting a letter from her beloved.

"Don’t worry, my dear..."

She whispered, the shadows of her room wrapping around her like velvet.

"...I won’t let anyone else have you."

But then, the candles flickered—

"W-Who are—Gahh! Wait—"

Slice!

—Then silence.

Selena’s eyes sharpened as she turned around.

She could hear footsteps.

Light and wet. Approaching her room.

Before long, the door of her room was flung open.

Tumble!

The head of the knight rolled in, stopping inches before her feet, making her frown.

’Raven wanted him to live...’

She frowned, her fists clenched as she turned to look at the one responsible for all this, only to pause.

"You..."

The one before was none other than the girl she had seen beside Raven.

But unlike before, when she had a blank gaze, right now, those sapphire eyes held coldness unlike any she had seen before.

"...Siris Vaise."

Yes, it was Siris.

She stood at the door with a bone dagger, dripping fresh blood on the carpet below, in her palm, her eyes locked with Selena’s.