"So this would be a Dragon heart?" Ivan asked, hooded in that cold November of the year X763.

The man he was addressing to had light blue hair, thick eyebrows and an upturned moustache, but this didn't make him a funny or friendly character, on the contrary.

Georg Reizen, infamous Dragon hunter, had in his pupils the murderous glint of someone who has dedicated his existence to a crazy purpose, in which one devours or is devoured.

"Yes… It's big and difficult to treat… Full of nerves and veins… I don't know how to do it, but I know that someone in your area can make a Lacrima out of it…" he told him, with a sly smile on his hungry tiger's mouth.

Ivan got straight to the point:

"How much does it cost?"

Georg's favorite part. He stood up straight and rested his hands on his knees clad in leopard fur pants as the gears in his mind worked to fire a fair amount for the heart of a Lightning Dragon. The Lightning Dragon King.

"Elexion, the Dragon to whom this heart belonged, was a king, revered among his kind. It will cost you 5 million Jewels, what do you think?"

Ivan turned pale at that monstrous figure, but tried not to show it.

He would have spent Fairy Tail's savings, he owed it to his weak son, otherwise he would never have been able to become a valid ally.

"And so be it. Done deal."

Reizen's smile widened even more as he shook Ivan's hand and received the check with the agreed-upon Jewels.

"Thank you." the young raven-haired man told him, after receiving the precious heart.

"No… Thank you…" the ferocious hunter murmured, when Ivan was far away.

Returning to Fairy Tail, Ivan immediately headed to the wing intended for his family.

"Ivan, dear, you are here! How did the mission in Guiltina go?" Vanessa asked him, sweet as always.

In theory, the mission would have required him only to help the inhabitants of the city of Andyvian deal with a group of rebellious monkeys, nothing transcendental, but Ivan had used it as an excuse to reach the famous Dragon Eater, Georg Reizen.

Taking advantage of the day of rest before returning home, Ivan broke away from his group, who remained in the hotel, and reached the Master of Diabolos.

"What's in that box?" Vanessa asked him again, in an ignorant voice.

"It's a surprise. You'll see it later. Let's say it's a rough gem..."

Ivan had smiled at his wife in a sly and sardonic manner, and Vanessa had become worried; that box gave off a strange energy, but she didn't know exactly what kind of energy it was.

At that moment, little Laxus coughed and Ivan couldn't hold back a wave of intolerance; soon, it would all be over and that frail, easily ill child would be a distant memory...

Vanessa had given Laxus some cough syrup and put him to bed.

"How is he?" Ivan asked.

"It's November, yesterday he went for a little run outside and most likely caught a bit of cold... Classic seasonal ailment!"

Vanessa played it down but those stupid weaknesses bothered Ivan a lot, even if they manifested themselves in a child of just two years of life.

"Try to keep him sheltered, today there is frost in the fields. This afternoon I leave again, I'm going to refine the gem to Altair, in the Kingdom of Stella. I'll stay away as long as necessary, hopefully it won't take too long."

Vanessa looked disappointed.

"Oh… I was hoping you could stay with us for a while…" she whispered dejectedly.

Ivan extended his hand to caress her.

"I will return with wonderful gifts for both!"

That promise restored a little serenity to the girl, but not so much for the idea of the gifts, but for the reassurance that her husband gave her with his small gestures. Sometimes he felt so distant, so cold...

Flashes of his true personality.

"Is it a diamond?"

Vanessa's question hovered in the air, made electric by that strange yellow gem, which perhaps was a topaz, perhaps it was amber or a yellow diamond.

The young Mage was afraid of it, she didn't even want to touch it, there was something forbidden about that object.

"This is a Dragon Lacrima. It's a processed heart, a source of inexhaustible power..."

Ivan's cold eyes lit up and became braziers as he uttered words that would dramatically alter the course of history:

"…I want to donate it to Laxus."

Vanessa was appalled.

What did he mean?

"Is it… Some sort of talisman?"

"More or less. I will implant it in our son's body, so he will stop being weak and can aspire to become a powerful Wizard, a Wizard who will surpass my father and even me!"

Vanessa was horrified.

Her husband was throwing his mask away.

A terrible doubt was gripping her mind: had Ivan done all of this to combat his son's difficulties? Was his goal to have a powerful heir? And her? Had he married her as part of the plan?

She didn't want to appear paranoid, so she shook her head and went step by step:

"What does it mean to implant? Why did you do this, Ivan?"

The beautiful coral-haired girl held tightly in her fingers the silver necklace with the ruby heart that her husband had given her from the trip to the Kingdom of Stella, in which he had stayed for four days.

"Laxus has no chance of becoming a powerful Wizard with that fragile and delicate body. The Dragon's heart will help him grow strong and robust and increase his powers. Yes… he will become so strong that he will be able to defeat the most dangerous enemies!"

Ivan had opened his arms theatrically, completely in ecstasy, forgetful of all the illusions with which he had contaminated Vanessa's mind, all the niceties and moves of a caring husband. The Ivan she had fallen in love with had never existed.

"You can't do this, Ivan. A Lacrima is a foreign body, you risk causing rejection, do you realize that?!"

The black-haired man twisted his mouth in an annoyed grimace; he would have to overcome that obstacle too.

"Weaknesses are there to be filled, Vanessa. Being weak is no excuse."

In response, the young woman stood in front of little Laxus's cot.

"I won't let you, Ivan. You will have to pass over my body."

Dangerous words, especially with Dreyar's obsession with strength.

"You mothers are so boring…"

The man was thinking about Porlyusica, about having stopped seeing her immediately after the wedding. She had never understood him and had always hindered him.

He moved, walking with slow, heavy steps, his boot buckles swinging menacingly.

"Put that crystal down, Ivan."

"Easy, Vanessa, you know that if you get too stressed you'll feel bad…"

The young Shannis moved carefully until she reached the dressing table and with her hand she grabbed a granite ashtray, increasing its consistency even more with her Magic. In a sudden burst, she threw it at her husband, grazing his left cheekbone.

The ashtray fell to the floor with a violent thud that woke Laxus from his nap and left a noticeable mark on the floor, also made of granite.

"Do you feel like fighting?"

"No, I would like to talk, make you think."

Ivan, nonchalantly, went to collect the fragments of granite and transformed them into small paper dolls which he then vehemently tossed at his wife, cutting the flesh right under her right eye.

A trickle of blood ran down her peach cheek, like a tear.

Vanessa was saying goodbye to the love that had never been there for her.

She advanced again, wrapped in her delicate, bedazzled robe, a wedding present from her nanny.

She seemed like a deity of light against the wicked demon of darkness.

"I'll tell you one more time, Ivan… Put that Lacrima down."

She advanced, barefoot, resolute. Her silver eyes stared into the hematite ones.

Vanessa grabbed his wrists, well aware of her husband's greater strength.

Between her fingers she held a small object, which, even when Ivan tried to push her, elongated and lodged itself in the cruel Mage's wrist.

Dreyar let out a furious scream.

More blood stained the reddish, black and white granite floor.

The man took out the needle that Vanessa used to mend their clothes and threw it on the ground, continuing to complain, his face purple.

"You… You slut…" he spat out.

With his uninjured hand, Ivan grabbed Vanessa's hair and pulled hard, drawing moans of pure pain from her.

He pulled, pulled harder and harder, without letting out a gasp anymore, in an almost inhuman silence.

Laxus was witnessing that terrible spectacle and was shaking the wooden rails, in a desperate attempt to get off the bed.

Stretching across the floor, Vanessa managed to reach the chair, which was made less substantial and lighter by her Magic, only to become heavier when thrown. It hit Ivan square in the face, sucking the air from his lungs in a ferocious grunt.

The chair, flying against the windowsill, broke its leg and for the umpteenth time a dry, wooden, hard sound was heard.

Ivan, terrified at the idea of seeing someone flock there, used his Thought Projection to reproduce his apparently happy little family in the common room of Fairy Tail, intent on having fun like a normal afternoon.

"That's enough." Ivan muttered, in a cavernous tone.

"I don't care about feelings and the strength of heart. Those are stories invented to indulge on the weak. My son will not be weak."

Vanessa was terrified, her husband seemed completely crazy.

In the corner of her vision was Laxus, waving his little hands in her direction.

And suddenly, the Duchess felt no more pain or anger. She felt at peace.

"How strange… Just before I was fighting against the person I thought was my husband and now…"

There was a blinding light around Vanessa, total white.

"I'm floating…"

She was drawn into a small vortex, but she didn't feel anything special.

"LAXUS!"

It was as if her voice was absorbed, along with her body.

In the room, Ivan stood, sweaty and at the point of collapse.

He panted, sweat lining his lips.

"Shikigami… Origami."

He had transformed his wife into a life-size paper doll, preserving her features.

Power-consuming Magic, which he had never tried before.

He hadn't wanted to kill her, more for fear of being discovered than for any residual feeling. Ivan didn't know how to love, but only how to scheme.

And now… he had a lot of work to do.

First of all, make Vanessa disappear.

Second, make the entire population of Magnolia believe that he found his wife collapsed on the ground, apparently killed by her health perpetually on the brink.

Third, lead the illusion to Magnolia Cemetery, to get rid of the thought of the girl's body.

And fourth, implant the Lacrima in Laxus.

The young man, feeling euphoric, felt the adrenaline flowing through him and erasing all the efforts of those last days.

Finally, no one could stop him from making Laxus the most powerful Wizard in Fairy Tail.