I could feel that the Eterna Nest was close. I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes yet, but I could tell from how Varen had changed.
“Somewhere around here. I’m sure of it.”
His pace, which always matched mine, kept quickening. When he widened his eyes, a gleam lit his blue irises.
I kept breaking into smiles at how excited Varen was.
“Think you can find it?”
“Yes. I can feel it.”
All month while we wandered the forest, I’d kept asking myself what riches I expected to gain from doing this.
But watching Varen—who for the first time in his life had sensed a trace of another dragon—so flushed with anticipation, all that effort melted away.
“Easy. We can’t get lost when we’re this close.”
“I won’t get lost. A Dravergh can feel it by instinct.”
I looked at Varen, unable to hide how fond I felt as he failed to hide his delight.
I wanted to reach the Eterna Nest as soon as possible and see the golden dragon. Yet the thought that this might be the last of his human form left me oddly reluctant.
Varen, who had been looking around for the path, suddenly stopped and looked down at me.
When he’s doing something truly shameless he acts brazen, but now—unlike him—he looked shy.
“Thank you for coming with me, Ceryl.”
What’s with him. At that cheesy line, I smacked his broad back.
I kept forgetting it was only my hand that ended up hurting. My knuckles throbbed, but I couldn’t stop smiling.
“I should be the one thanking you—for getting us here safely.”
We hadn’t even arrived yet, but my chest swelled for no reason. Varen quietly laced his fingers with mine.
“Ceryl, I have a question.”
The voice was so sweet it set off alarms. I edged away and he pressed that burdensome bulk closer.
“Hey, say it from right there. What is it.”
“Yesterday you told the Noak you loved her. Did you mean it?”
I frowned at the sentence I couldn’t parse. Varen met my eyes with a serious look.
“Do you truly love the Noak?”
“Well... yes.”
“......”
“Why bring that up now?”
I was the confused one, but Varen’s eyes were busy, darting all over.
He stared at the ground, suddenly lifted his head, stared at the sky as if stifled, then looked back at me.
Every time our eyes met, I was uneasy—not fear, exactly, but the dread of not knowing what he’d try.
After chewing his lip for a long while, Varen drew a deep breath. His already thick chest swelled even more.
“Ceryl, love me.”
Love. Did that word mean what I thought it meant?
Love is, by its nature, an expansive feeling. Not only for lovers—also for family or friends.
What I feel for Rami is the latter. Isn’t that obvious? How would a human love a hand-span lizard like a lover.
“Love me. Please.”
Varen repeated himself. This time his voice carried a little more force.
It seemed the love he meant belonged to the former category.
I let out a long, long sigh. I had always known we’d have to talk about this sometime, but I didn’t expect it to ambush me like this.
I patted Varen’s tense shoulders as he stared, eyes wide and keyed up.
“Of course I love you, too. But the love you mean is—”
“Got it.”
“Huh? What did you get.”
“You said you love me. I get it.”
After snatching love from me, Varen smiled, satisfied.
“No, hold on. How does that become the takeaway? You should listen to people to the end.”
“I’m a dragon. I don’t follow human rules.”
Shameless, sly bastard. Picking only what he wants to hear again.
I tried to pull my hand free, still trapped in his, but he wouldn’t let that go either. How was I supposed to fix this nasty habit of doing whatever he pleased.
“Hey, don’t misunderstand. What I meant was—”
“I love you, too.”
Varen cut me off again and said only what he wanted to say.
Having him keep stealing my turn to speak was absurd enough, but what I’d just heard was even more disconcerting.
My ears, which had heard what they shouldn’t, burned red. I mouthed silently, unable to find a proper reply, and another fastball came blazing in.
“Ceryl Aylos, I love you from the depths of my heart.”
“......”
“When we reach the Belzena Mountain Range, there’s something I want to say. So let’s hurry.”
Having had my love stolen wasn’t enough; my bonded dragon’s surprise confession knocked the soul right out of me.
I had no idea where ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) to start setting any of this straight.
Varen gave our joined hands a light tug. With that small motion, a frail human body fluttered.
I lost my balance and was pulled easily; he didn’t miss the opening and brushed his lips to mine, then drew back.
After three pitches in a row, I finally exploded.
“Hey! I told you not to do that whenever you feel like it!”
I was burning up with anger, but Varen laughed, delighted.
Not a faint smile or a quiet chuckle—he laughed aloud, happy.
“Ha ha ha, Ceryl. Wait just a moment. I’ll go look for the Eterna Nest.”
“What? All of a sudden?”
“If a human is nearby, the entrance won’t show. I’ll find the nest and come bring you. I want to go quickly.”
How giddy was he? With those out-of-character actions and laughter, he felt like a different Varen than the one I knew.
But the unannounced brush of his lips snapping against mine again cleared my head.
“You little—!”
“I’ll be right back.”
Beaming, Varen moved away. Even with that heavy body, he walked so lightly it looked like he might take flight while still Humanized.
I covered my face with both hands, which was stinging from the triple hit. My palms were hot, no help at all in cooling it.
I fanned myself for no real reason and turned around. The face I met made the heat drain cold.
“Love really is beautiful.”
An adolescent girl, hands clasped, eyes dazzled with rapture.
Damn. She was the one I least wanted to find out.
My irritation and anger aimed not at the eavesdropper, but at the bull-headed dragon. There’s no way Varen didn’t know Kallen was this close.
And I had even shown her the sight of me failing to answer properly and getting my lips stolen. So much for adult dignity.
“Ahem. It’s not what you think.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking, to say that.”
I didn’t feel like answering, so I ignored her and walked past. High-spirited Kallen fluttered after me.
“Ceryl, what do you plan to do now?”
“What plan.”
“Varen! Since you’re visiting his homeland together, is it a wedding?”
Was this world always this free of prejudice?
I stopped dead and glared at Kallen, but the softened girl took no damage at all.
“What would a wedding between a dragon and a human look like? I want to watch.”
“You’ll never see one in your life.”
“Why not? Ah—do you like romance but hate marriage? They call that free love!”
“Haah...”
Every syllable struck my skull. My head throbbed.
One adolescent dragon was already more than enough; I couldn’t handle an adolescent girl, too. Maybe it really was time to part ways.
“Mind your pack. Don’t leave anything behind.”
“Tch, I guess you’re not even a little sad, Ceryl.”
“Where there are meetings, there are partings. Why be sad about it.”
“That’s too mean. But I know the truth now. Deep down, you’re incredibly sad about it.”
“...That’s enough.”
Once we found the Eterna Nest, Kallen was to leave with Ella.
Triven, the village we promised to visit together, was right ahead. On Elfera, it was an hour away.
I’d been pushing her to go for days, but Kallen insisted on following to the very end.
She said she wanted to see this journey’s conclusion with her own eyes or whatever.
If I’d known she’d catch me looking that pathetic, I would’ve forced her to go.
“Don’t just take care of your siblings—take care of yourself. You saw it this time, too: the guardian has to be solid before they can take care of the kids.”
“Ahaha, right. Every time you got sick, it felt like the sky was falling.”
“And don’t rush into marriage.”
“Please, what would I even do if I didn’t get married.”
Of course, I’d prepared a parting gift for Kallen.
“A bank account will arrive in your name. Use it for school.”
“Huh? What is...?”
“I don’t have any use for money.”
I’d decided to give Kallen all the salary Ceryl Aylos had accrued.
I had nowhere to spend it, and the girl head-of-household had a lot of mouths depending on her. It was simply giving it to the one who needed it more.
“Wait, Ceryl. What are you talking about?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“Why are you giving me money? If you’re looking to hire a maid, then...”
“What would I pay for, buying you.”
Feeling awkward for no reason, I kept my eyes forward and walked. Kallen chattered on that she couldn’t accept the money.
The forest we’d wandered for a month was now past familiar—laid open. I could have found the path with my eyes closed.
“Don’t make me say it again. Just take—”
“Kyaaaa!”
At that moment, the firm ground dropped out. I’d nagged her so much to watch her feet. I had warned myself not to get careless.
Clearly I was excited, too. To fall into a trap with the destination right ahead.
“Agh, that hurts...”
“Kallen, you okay?”
“Mm—yes. I’m okay.”
Thankfully, the pit was filled with soft soil. We’d fallen quite deep, but both of us were perfectly fine, uninjured.
Seeing no barbed harpoons inside, it looked like a simple capture trap rather than for killing. The pathetic situation wrung a sigh out of me.
“Tch, I got careless. Still, better we fell when Varen wasn’t here.”
“Right? Of all times to fall when Varen isn’t here—what a pity.”
The reply wasn’t Kallen’s. It didn’t come from inside the pit, either.
It was a voice I could never forget. I stiffly lifted my head and looked up.
A familiar face greeted me.
“...Jed.”
My last memory of Jed was with one side of his head smashed, blood everywhere. Leobin and Margon’s handiwork.
“Ha ha, long time no see, Ceryl. How nice to meet like this again.”
An eyepatch covered his right eye; the cold gray left eye that remained gleamed with pleasure.
