Shadow Dragon: The Fallen Angel Is My Teacher-Chapter 9: Birthday Party, Meeting An Old Nemesis

As evening came, the party began. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The hall had changed completely. Decorations gleamed under the chandeliers. Tables stood neatly in rows while the catering staff moved quickly between them.

It didn’t look like a child’s birthday anymore.

It looked like a high-society gathering.

Guests arrived one after another.

Men in suits and women in dresses filled the room, greeting each other with polite smiles.

I spotted faces I had seen on TV before. Politicians. CEOs. Even a few celebrities.

’Seems like I underestimated my parents’ influence.’

I sat quietly in my stroller while the guests greeted my parents, keeping an eye out for Seris and her mom. I was looking forward to their gifts.

But before Seris arrived, someone else approached.

It was a man, tall and broad-shouldered, with the same sharp jawline as my father.

His smile was calm, and his steps were confident.

Next to him walked a woman in a red one-piece dress.

Her shoulder-length black hair framed a pale, elegant face, and her crimson heels clicked softly against the floor.

The moment I saw the man, something hot and bitter stirred in my chest.

He walked over to my father, who greeted him with open arms.

They shook hands like old friends.

My father was smiling, genuinely happy.

I recognized him instantly.

My father’s older brother.

The one who would go on to betray me in my last life.

The man who took everything that should’ve been mine.

He glanced at me and smiled, stepping forward.

"Well, look at this little guy," he said, crouching and pinching my cheeks. "Getting big already, aren’t you?"

My mother laughed at the sight, clearly not noticing the way my fists had clenched.

He straightened and gestured toward the woman beside him.

"This is Liana Ferndale. My girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Liana gave a polite nod.

But my attention wasn’t on her words. It was on her family name.

’Ferndale?’

It was a family tied to the Dracula Clan.

The blood in my veins ran cold.

The Dracula Clan, a hidden society, was one of the oldest Exorcist Clans to walk the earth.

They were part of the legacy that had manipulated nations from the shadows.

Why was someone like her with him?

After they moved on, greeting other guests, I sat quietly in my stroller.

The lights, the chatter, the elegant music. All of it faded into the background.

’Why is someone from the Exorcist side of the world with that bastard?’

Coincidence didn’t feel like a reasonable explanation. The more I thought about it, the heavier my thoughts became.

’What if he used her to kill my dad in the previous life?’

The idea made my stomach twist.

I had always suspected my dad’s death wasn’t just an accident.

Everything had wrapped up too cleanly in my last life.

But I never had proof.

Seeing him now, with her—someone with connections to Exorcists—was more than enough to stir those old suspicions.

The people from the Exorcist side of the world rarely mingled with normal humans unless there was a reason.

And relationships between normal humans and Exorcists?

Those were almost always transactional.

Liana wouldn’t date someone like my uncle, who was a normal human, unless she needed something.

’Is it my family’s assets?’

Money wasn’t useless, even in the Exorcist world. It could buy precious materials, rare artifacts, even silence.

And our family was wealthy.

’If she’s really going to help him kill my parents... then I need to grow stronger fast.’

If my parents’ death had been orchestrated, I would make sure they paid. Every single one of them.

I wasn’t going to be satisfied with just protecting my parents.

While the party continued, I remained quietly, the flicker of golden chandeliers reflecting in my dark eyes.

Laughter echoed around me. Clinks of glasses. Clapping. A live band was playing soft music in the corner.

But everything felt distant. Like I was watching it all from behind a wall of glass.

Until a small hand grabbed mine.

"Sad?" a soft voice asked.

I turned and saw Seris standing there, her amber eyes wide and filled with concern.

She wore a frilly white dress.

"Don’t be sad," she said, squeezing my hand.

I blinked, slightly stunned. I gave a small nod, and she smiled.

After the party wound down, Seris refused to leave my side.

Her mother looked surprised as she leaned down.

"What’s gotten into you today, Seris?"

Seris didn’t say anything. She just looked at me and tightened her grip on my hand.

My mother smiled. "Looks like she wants to play more. Why don’t you stay the night? We have plenty of room."

Seris’s face lit up, and she looked at her mother hopefully. Her mother hesitated for a moment, but eventually sighed and nodded.

"Alright. But Seris you must behave, okay?"

Seris clapped her hands excitedly.

Meanwhile, I was quietly panicking.

’How am I going to do alchemy or absorb mana if Seris is staying in my room?’

Damn it.

Later that night, after the guests had left and things quieted down, my mother and Elira placed both of us in the same room.

The lights were dimmed, and soft lullaby music — the same nostalgic lullaby that Seri’s mother sang — played from a speaker in the corner.

Seris stopped faking sleep when everyone left.

She bounced onto my bed and sat cross-legged, her hair swaying as she moved.

"Let’s see what you got!" she said, her voice full of excitement as she reached for the pile of birthday presents.

I sighed under my breath. When she was like this—playful, loud, curious—there was no stopping her.

She started unpacking, holding up each box to my face like she was analyzing my expression under a microscope.

A set of wooden cars with glossy finishes.

A detailed model of a pirate ship with sails that fluttered slightly when you blew on them.

Some sort of science kit that looked like it belonged to a middle schooler.

I gave her the same neutral expression every time.

But she didn’t seem disappointed.

If anything, she looked more excited, as if she couldn’t wait to see my reaction upon the grand reveal.

Then she held up one box and paused dramatically.

"This one’s from me," she said proudly, raising her chin a little. "I picked it myself!"

"Gugu!" I said, playing along and showing my enthusiasm to open the gift.