He Awakened When I Died

Shana looked around. Obviously, there was no one other than Bliss and her in the room.

As soon as she looked at his head, wondering if she heard it wrong when the voice spoke once again.

[Young wizard, can’t you hear my voice?]

The voice became clearer to the point she couldn’t ignore it anymore. 

‘Who is it?’

Who was it that suddenly talked in her head like an almighty god?

Shana looked at Bliss with a slight shiver.

“Did you hear that by any chance, Young Master?”

“What?”

“Just now, someone……”

[My master cannot hear this voice.]

‘Shana shut her mouth when he said ‘My master’.

Bliss raised his eyebrows sharply as she spoke.

“Who and what is it?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Shana shook her head and turned to look at the basket. No way, no way……

[yes, here.]

Bliss’ Guardian, who made eye contact with Shana, scrunched the bridge of his nose up.

‘Is Bliss’ Guardian talking to me now?’

Shana looked at the Guardian with an incomprehensible look on her face.

[You may wonder why this body talks to you personally.]

Mhgaa.

Unlike the dignified voice in her head, the Guardian was actually making small petty cries and shrieking sounds.

[I have a story to share with you alone.]

Beck.

[Take me to a place where my master is not present.]

Mhgaa. Beck. 

[Right now!]

Mhgaa!

Shana closed her eyes and opened them again.

‘What is going on here?’

Her ears were filled with shrieking noises while the stern voice demanded her in her head.

‘He is a Guardian who, most likely, lived like a dead mouse until he finished growing up.’

In the original plot, it was not mentioned whether the Guardian had any personal conversations with Bliss’ incompetent guide.

‘And take me to a place where my master isn’t around.’

She wondered what the hell he was trying to say to her.

Shana’s instincts were usually spot on, and they told her that whatever was coming would be troublesome.

‘Should I pretend to not know?’

The Guardian spoke to her unilaterally, and she has never responded directly.

‘Yes, let’s pretend I can’t hear it.’

Shana hummed awkwardly, casting her eyes to the window as if she had never heard the Guardian’s voice.

[Young wizard, don’t tell me that you are pretending you can’t hear me.]

Mhgaa!

[Will this body have to move so you start listening?]

Mhgaa.

Shana glanced secretly at Guardian’s warning. The guardian, speaking as if he would follow his promise, was squirming inside the basket.

[It’s an urgent matter of life and death regarding my master!]

Beeck!

The Guardian cried quite loudly.

Shana could no longer pretend to be ignorant afterward.

‘What do you mean it’s about Bliss’ life and death.’

Her eyes spontaneously turned toward Bliss.

A skinny body with a listless face.

Although he had enough troubles already, it was not to the point that he was hanging between life and death.

Bliss, unaware of his Guardian’s concerns, glared at the basket with an irritated face.

“Why are you crying so loudly? It has been quiet till now.”

“He must have felt uncomfortable somewhere.”

Shana quickly moved towards the basket at Bliss’ words.

Then she reached into the basket.

The Guardian’s round black eyes looked disapprovingly at her hands.

‘You’re not going to bite me, are you?”

Shana stroked the Guardian’s body carefully with her fingertips.

Fortunately, the Guardian never bit her finger. She didn’t think he’d leave any marks on her hand in his current form. He didn’t seem to have grown any teeth yet. 

“I think he feels a little cold.”

The Guardian’s body was actually warm, but Shana lied.

“Do you want me to soak him in warm water?”

“Are you going to soak him in warm water?”

Bliss looked at Shana with doubtful eyes.

“What if he drowned and died?”

“Then I will stand close by and watch to ensure such an incident doesn’t occur.”

Despite Shana’s cool response, he was reluctant.

“It’s the servants’ job.”

Bliss folded his arms and cast his eyes down. After a short while, he went on to say.

“You are my guide, not my subordinate. You don’t have to do that.”

……Didn’t he treat his subordinate disrespectfully to his heart’s content?

Shana’s words rose to her throat, but she held it back. 

‘I don’t have an interest in doing odd jobs either.’

‘But your Guardian wants to be alone with me. It’s about your life.’

She couldn’t bring herself to say that, so Shana decided to give Bliss a reassuring smile.

“It’s better for me to do it. Ordinary people will find it difficult to deal with the Guardian.”

She got up from the sofa with the basket.

“Please do it yourself next time, Young Master. You’ll get closer to him if you feed and wash him.”

“I don’t want to get close to it.” bliss replied sternly.

Shana laughed, smiling awkwardly, and headed quickly to the bathroom connected to the bedroom.

Even if the Guardian seemed to not pay them any attention, he was attentively listening on as well.

‘Wouldn’t the Guardian be hurt if he gets the cold shoulder from it’s chosen owner?’

‘From the way you spoke, you seemed to have a strong sense of pride.’

After entering the bathroom, Shana put down her basket next to the bathtub and turned on the water.

No matter how shabby the separate building was, the water came alive whenever it wanted, perhaps because it was the famous wizard family.

It seemed to be operated by magic rather than by being equipped with water facilities.

[This body doesn’t like too cold water.]

Hearing the brazen voice again, it didn’t sound like Bliss had hurt him.

“Wait a minute.”

Shana reached for the hot water faucet. It took mana to be able to use warm water.

She assumed they did this to prevent wasting hot water, which prevented Bliss, who had no magic, from using hot water to his desire.

If he needed hot water, he would have to ask each servant for a favor.

It’s one of the deprivation factors that led to his weak self-esteem.

She reflected on Bliss’ terrible circumstances as she looked at the gradually warming water in the bathtub.

[I don’t like it when it’s too hot. I’d like the temperature to be about the inside of the human armpit.]

The Guardian openly treated Shana as its own. She sneaked a glance at the Guardian.

‘What a fussy being.’

Contrary to her disapproving look, she was diligently adjusting the temperature of the water as she tried to put her hands under her armpit.

“Is this the right temperature?”

The temperature of the water seemed fine, and the Guardian wriggled out of the basket.

Beeck!

With a short cry, the Guardian threw himself into the bathtub. The Guardian’s soaked body floated in the water with a splash.

Shana watched the floating Guardian with wide eyes.

The water turned black everywhere he passed.

‘What is that? That evil-looking black energy?’

Obviously, she had no choice but to recall the description of the Guardian she had read in the original book.

The dragon who brutally slashed monsters at his owner’s disposal.

The dragon who cried gruesomely while drinking the blood of monsters.

‘Is that a vast amount of mana coming out of you?’

‘How powerful it must have been to turn water pitch black with just his mana.’

Shana didn’t realize that she took a step back.

[Cough.]

The Guardian saw Shana stepping back and coughed to clear his throat.

[This body has been asleep in the ground for a long time……]

The Guardian trembled quietly. His black fur swayed like fins in the water.

[These are the traces of nature that have been permeated in this body.]

“What? Then this is all……”

‘That’s the dirt in the water?’

‘What sign of nature! He’s just dirty and the water became dirty because of him!’

Shana moved back even more.

‘Somehow, he is a Snow White Dragon but the fur is black, how strange.’

Shana was morbidly fascinated to see the Guardian’s fur turning white as the dirt eventually faded away.

[Young Wizard. This is not the time to make a fuss over such trivial things.]

“Don’t take it personally, but I don’t think that much dirt coming out of such a small body is normal.”

[Oh. Don’t talk about unnecessary things and come hither.]

Shana reluctantly approached the bathtub.

[This is how I look now, you need not be scared of me. No one would have dared to ignore me if I had finished growing up.]

“I see.”

[You do not believe what I say.]

“No. I believe you.”

Shana answered quickly with a serene look. She already knew who he was, what was there to not believe?

[It’s weird. You look indifferent but you do not sound deceiving either.]

The Guardian squinted his eyes and looked at Shana.

[I am originally a Snow White Dragon, and I was born to bring peace by using evil force.]

“Wow. Really? Cool.”

Shana pretended to admire blandly.

‘I already knew that, Baek Ryong.’

When she read the original book, she called Bliss’ Guardian Baek Ryong[1].

It was said in the ‘blood festival’ that Baek Ryong earned his name. 

At first, the name Snow Dragon was too long and awkward.

‘It doesn’t seem aristocratic to call him Snow White, Baek Ryong fits much better.’

The Guardian- No, Baek Ryung continued, dissatisfied with Shana’s halfhearted reaction.

[Do you know why I chose the third son of the Hope family as my master?]

“Well. Is it because Young Master has a great amount of mana potential?”

[……Precisely.]

Baek Ryung widened his eyes. He glanced at Shana with a look of reappraisal.

[I must not ignore my master’s guide just because she is young. Have you felt his mana as well?]

Shana, after a moment’s hesitation, nodded. Baek Ryung was even more surprised.

[Then you must know what my master’s problem is!]

Shana didn’t answer and looked at Baek Ryong with serious solemn eyes.

She couldn’t have known about Bliss’ problems.

‘I can’t give an answer to him that Bliss’ personality seems to be the problem.’

『••✎••』

TL/N: Baek Ryong means ‘White Dragon’ in Korean.