Reborn as an Extra Chapter 591: Elisia Mistilteinn, The Dragon Who Bent Reality. Part-1.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
Approximately two and a half years earlier, following the chaos of the Lava Lake Dungeon event, Liam and Ellie returned to the Aldif Mansion for some time.
In contrast to fellow students such as Rio and Link, who crossed paths with the demon prince, or the instructors entangled with the demon prince's underling, Liam avoided any such encounters entirely.
He merely ran into the corrupted form of Jiang, yet even during that moment, Liam refrained from battling him.
To Liam, the whole Lava Lake ordeal felt like a simple stroll through the dungeon; the sole event that truly shook his world was Kira's act of betrayal.
Kira, formerly a clever and sharp-witted young woman, had turned painfully narrow-minded after developing feelings for Fade Crest, shattering Liam's heart in the process.
Yet Liam refused to wallow in defeat.
He had consistently remained composed and sharp-minded; he wasn't one to drown in excessive sorrow over a rejection from the girl who captured his interest.
Indeed, he harbored affection for Kira, but that wouldn't drive him to abandon his dignity, begging her to return after she had openly selected another and turned him away.
This resolve led Liam to choose moving forward.
On that very day, Liam remained oblivious to the fact that Kira had already fallen under the demon prince's control as a mere puppet, and this ignorance persisted even after he was dragged into the spire of ascension against his will.
Without Ellie's intervention, he would have perished without grasping the full reality.
However, even armed with that knowledge, Liam could alter nothing; events from the past stayed forever fixed.
Still, during the initial sting of betrayal, though not deeply heartbroken, it left him with a touch of lingering unease.
"How long do you plan to dwell on this?"
Ellie gazed at Liam, who sat motionless on the swing, lost in thought as a gentle breeze rocked him slowly to and fro.
"Those cookies you baked taste pretty delicious... why not share them with me?"
As she uttered those lines, Ellie reclined against the back of her chair.
One foot propped up on the tea table, she contentedly munched on the sugary treats while occasionally sipping from her glass of juice.
"Sigh... I'm making an effort, alright... My heart got shattered just yesterday; allow me a moment to sigh and grieve that lost affection..."
At Liam's response, Ellie shook her head and commented.
"That wasn't real love, merely your one-sided fantasy, wasn't it? She hardly spared you a look~"
"Honestly, I always knew she wasn't a decent person; you simply refused to heed my warnings~"
Liam let out a helpless sigh upon hearing Ellie's remark.
"I suppose... I was just fooling myself... maybe..."
"I simply feel... it's such a shame that a gifted and bright girl like her wound up that way.... Life truly holds so many twists..."
A chilly gust of wind brushed against Liam's features, tousling his locks and enhancing his already striking appearance.
Even amid his melancholy and sorrow, his visage retained its customary allure.
"Cheer up! Don't mope around like this; constant worry will etch lines into that good-looking face of yours!"
Liam found the praise a bit odd.
"Good-looking, huh?... I once believed dragons and humans judged beauty differently..."
"Now that I think about it... what traits do shadow dragons seek in a mate?"
Ellie paused briefly at the inquiry before offering an evasive reply.
"Haha, um... you could say we value the luster of the other's scales!"
"But none of that matters to me... I believe a person's character holds greater weight..."
In that instant, Ellie resorted to fibbing to Liam.
The shadow dragons formed a doomed lineage, afflicted by unending torment, and far from seeking companions, they struggled to preserve their mental clarity.
As the sole remaining rational and alive shadow dragon of her kind, Ellie couldn't hope to discover even one stable dragon among her kin, much less an ideal match.
Truthfully, after a millennium of isolation in a single location, her own thoughts had grown unsteady.
It was only through Liam's summoning and their mutual pact of friendship as equals that she managed to linger in the material realm for an extended period, the first such opportunity in ages!
Liam stood as the individual Ellie had shared the most moments with across the prior centuries!
His lively spirit, strategic mindset, and concern for his summoned companions had more than secured her devotion and affection.
Liam captured Ellie's heart through not just their shared predicaments and situations, but also his natural genuineness and attentiveness.
Ellie had firmly decided long ago to lay down her life for Liam should the need arise, though she never foresaw that his own father would eventually emerge as his greatest foe.
"Character, is it?... Well, all you seem to do is eat and lounge about... hold on... don't tell me every dragon is essentially a massive, plump lizard forever dozing and idling?"
Ellie rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly at Liam's query and answered,
"Haha, th-that could very well be the case... enough about dragons! We were discussing you!"
"You're dodging the subject!"
Ellie had never visited the Dragon Valley, leaving her clueless about the true nature of dragons.
Her whole species endured agony and decline each day; they lacked the privilege to idle and revel in joy constantly.
Yet she couldn't possibly weigh Liam down with such heavy truths, knowing that aiding her race bordered on the unattainable.