Elsa stared at the silver-haired girl.
"My... aunt?"
The young dragon smiled.
"Yes."
Elsa didn't know how to respond.
She had spent sixteen years believing she had no family.
Her mother was a memory she had never been allowed to know.
Her father was gone.
And now, suddenly—
An entire family stood before her.
---
The Dragon King lowered his head.
"Her name is Lyra."
The silver-haired girl stepped forward.
"My mother was your mother's younger sister."
She hesitated.
"We were told your mother died before you were born."
Elsa's fingers tightened.
"But she didn't."
"No."
Lyra shook her head.
"She disappeared."
---
Elsa looked toward the Dragon King.
"You knew?"
His eyes lowered.
"I knew she escaped."
"Then why didn't you find her?"
The question wasn't angry.
That somehow made it worse.
---
The Dragon King remained silent.
Finally, he answered.
"Because I was a coward."
Elsa's eyes widened.
---
"I believed the elders were right."
His voice was heavy.
"I believed that allowing a half-human child to exist would bring disaster upon our people."
He closed his eyes.
"So when your mother fled..."
"I let her go."
---
Elsa stared at him.
"You abandoned her."
"Yes."
---
There was no excuse.
No justification.
Just one painful word.
---
"Yes."
---
The Dragon King looked at Elsa.
"I have regretted it every day since."
---
Elsa lowered her gaze.
She wanted to hate him.
Perhaps she should have.
But Edward had taught her something important.
Understanding someone's mistake didn't mean pretending it wasn't wrong.
---
"You should have gone after her."
"I know."
"You should have protected her."
"I know."
"You should have protected me."
The Dragon King's eyes trembled.
---
"I know."
---
Elsa looked away.
For several moments, nobody spoke.
Then Lyra quietly approached.
---
"You don't have to forgive him."
Elsa looked at her.
Lyra smiled sadly.
"Not today."
---
That sentence surprised Elsa.
No demand.
No expectation.
Just understanding.
---
"You can be angry."
Lyra continued.
"You can hate him."
She placed a hand against her chest.
"But..."
"...please don't leave before you get to know us."
---
Elsa stared at her.
---
The words were strangely familiar.
Not because she'd heard them before.
Because they sounded like something Edward would have said.
---
She smiled faintly.
"I don't hate you."
Lyra's expression brightened.
"Really?"
"I just met you."
Lyra laughed.
"Fair enough."
---
Behind them, Rowan quietly whispered to Jack.
"She's going to like that girl."
Jack smiled.
"I think so."
---
Then—
A horn sounded from the village.
Jack immediately turned.
A soldier came running.
---
"Sir Jack!"
"What happened?"
---
The soldier pointed toward the western road.
"Royal forces."
---
Everyone became tense.
---
Jack looked toward the Dragon King.
The dragons immediately spread their wings.
The villagers began retreating.
---
Elsa stepped forward.
"Don't."
---
The Dragon King looked at her.
"They are coming for you."
"I know."
---
"And they will attack."
"Maybe."
---
The Dragon King narrowed his eyes.
"You don't understand what humans are capable of."
---
Elsa smiled sadly.
"I do."
She looked toward the village.
"That's why I don't want you fighting them."
---
The Dragon King was silent.
---
Elsa walked toward the road.
Jack followed.
"So what are you going to do?"
---
Elsa looked at him.
"The same thing my father would have done."
---
Jack smiled.
"Talk first?"
---
"Yes."
A pause.
"...And probably get hit later."
---
Rowan laughed.
"Definitely Edward's daughter."
---
Elsa smiled.
But the smile disappeared when she saw the approaching army.
---
At its center...
A single figure rode beneath a white banner.
---
The Holy Sword rested across his back.
---
The king had finally come.
---
Not sending soldiers.
Not sending assassins.
---
He had come himself.
---
The army stopped.
The king dismounted.
His eyes met Elsa's.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
---
Then the king looked beyond her.
At the dragons.
At the villagers.
At Jack.
At the soldiers who had abandoned his command.
---
His expression became complicated.
---
"Elsa."
---
She stiffened.
---
"You know my name."
"I know more about you than you realize."
---
The king looked at the flower crown still resting on her head.
His eyes softened for the briefest moment.
---
Then he looked at the Dragon King.
---
"And now..."
He whispered.
"...I understand why everyone was so afraid."
---
The Dragon King stepped forward.
The earth shook.
---
"You should be afraid."
---
The king's hand moved toward the Holy Sword.
---
But Elsa stepped between them.
---
"Please."
Both turned toward her.
---
"Don't make me choose."
---
The Dragon King stared at his granddaughter.
The king stared at the girl he had once ordered killed.
---
Elsa took a breath.
---
"I don't want humans to die."
She looked toward the dragons.
"I don't want dragons to die."
Then she looked toward the king.
"And I don't want to lose anyone else."
---
Her voice trembled.
---
"I already lost my father."
---
Silence.
---
"I won't let another war take more people from me."
---
The king slowly removed his hand from the Holy Sword.
---
For the first time...
He looked at Elsa not as a threat.
But as a grieving child.
---
And perhaps, for the first time...
He understood why Edward had protected her.