Mother’s objection didn’t make Varen loosen the hard pressure of his hand on my shoulder.
Neira let out a scoffing breath, as if it were absurd. At the same time, she drew back the killing intent aimed at the humans.
I rolled my eyes briefly and took the temperature of the room.
The title of Varen’s guest wasn’t very nourishing. The expiration date on “benefactor of her son” seemed to have run out.
“Ceryl, did I keep you waiting long?”
A husky voice whispered at my ear.
If we’d been alone, I would’ve kicked his butt to stop him from clinging.
“...Yeah. I missed you.”
I gently let my head rest on Varen’s shoulder. A pleased breath tickled my hair.
Neira’s mouth hung open at her son’s shocking scandal. Even as she pointed at us, only a thick, throttled groan came from her throat.
The dragons surrounding us sucked in a breath and drew back.
All at once, this thick, solid, golden arm became unbearably dear to me.
“Varen, I’m so tired.”
“This won’t do. Let’s go inside.”
Varen moved at once, his arm still around my shoulders, ready to step off.
I jabbed his side in a hurry and muttered through my teeth.
“Hey, hey. Kallen.”
“Ah.”
Varen, who’d been looking only at me, glanced back.
Kallen stood there like a jointed doll drained of life, face blank.
“Hey, little human. You’re coming too.”
Maybe a month of living and nearly dying together had bred some attachment.
The adolescent dragon—no, now a complete dragon—Varen still looked after Kallen, who was only a girl.
***
Varen took me, Kallen, and even Margon and led us deep into the caverns.
I hadn’t toured the inner parts yet, afraid I’d get lost in the ant-nest structure, but Varen walked as if everything lay plain before him.
“Varen, are you okay? Anything hurt?”
“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Really? You’re really okay?”
I’d asked the same question how many times now, but Varen answered without the slightest sign of annoyance.
Walking the dim corridor, I caught him and stopped him. Staring at a face that felt both familiar and strange, I raised a hand and checked his forehead.
The heat that had always been high enough to scare me was down to a faint fever.
“You’re not feverish anymore? You’ll be fine at night too, right?”
Varen smiled kindly and lowered my hand. Then he brushed a light kiss to my fingertips.
At the cloying affection, I checked the others.
Margon wore a face like he’d been chewing dung, and Kallen’s face still showed no emotion at all.
Igram’s death had shocked her badly, it seemed. I’d have to speak with her separately.
For now, I had more to ask Varen, who had returned after three days.
When I slipped my hand free and started walking, Varen laced our fingers again.
“Why are you shy? We’re going to be mates.”
“God... stop with the mate talk. Didn’t you hear your mother?”
“What did she say.”
“How can a human be a dragon’s mate? And both of us men, at that.”
Setting our feelings aside, it was nonsense from the start.
A barbed tone slipped out before I knew it. Having dodged disaster, I felt guilty my attitude had shifted, but I couldn’t help it.
Varen only tipped up the corners of his mouth, delighted with who knew what, and looked with pleasure at our interlaced hands.
“We will be mates. I’m sure of it.”
“Sure of it? Without asking what I want?”
“I watched our wedding.”
I stopped dead.
“Our wedding” rubbed me wrong by itself, but what followed made even less sense.
Smiling, Varen gazed down at me—as if seeing something that wasn’t me.
“Ceryl, white clothes suit you well.”
“......”
“I’m not fond of red roses, but if you like them, then I do too.”
At the concrete description of a wedding, my brows knit.
Before I could ask what the hell he meant, his lips touched my forehead.
He left a light kiss and then dropped a weight on my chest.
“The future Dravergh saw does not change.”
“...You saw the future?”
“Yes. Don’t worry, Ceryl. We will definitely be happy.”
With that, Varen opened the door of the room we’d reached.
Left behind, I pressed my forehead and steadied my tangled feelings. That brief contact left a heavy aftertaste.
Varen threw the door wide and jerked his chin for us to enter. We stepped in awkwardly, and a space like a storeroom greeted us.
Unexpectedly, Varen spoke not to me but to Margon.
“Human without a right arm. Pick what you want.”
Suddenly singled out, Margon was dumbfounded.
Even so, the moment he stepped in, his eyes lit as he looked around.
What I’d taken for a storeroom was an armory. Piles of human swords and shields—things a dragon would never use—filled it.
“...Pick what I want?”
“Yes. You’re a swordsman. You’ll need a sword.”
What in the Spring of Wisdom had happened?
What kind of future had Varen seen that he was handing a sword to Margon?
My head had been reeling since earlier. While I fumbled wordlessly, Margon walked to the piles of blades.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
With his left hand he began rummaging and choosing a sword.
I scrubbed my face dry and looked at Varen.
Having fully awakened, Varen had returned after three days, and without a proper explanation he was doing things I couldn’t make sense of.
“Varen, can we talk—”
“Little human. You take this.”
Then he did something I could not accept at all.
Varen was handing a thin sword to Kallen.
I went straight over, caught his wrist, and shook my head.
“What are you doing. Why are you giving a weapon to a kid.”
As if nightly nightmares weren’t enough, Kallen now had another trauma.
After driving a short knife into a man’s neck atop the tower, she ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) turned pale and trembled at the sight of any sharp edge.
And he wanted to put a weapon in her hand. Even if what Varen offered was slimmer and finer than other swords, I couldn’t let Kallen touch a thing like that.
“Put it away. You’re scaring her.”
“She doesn’t look afraid to me.”
I stared at Kallen in shock.
As Varen said, there was no trace of fear in her. With a vacant face, she simply accepted what he gave her.
“Not that one. Take the one above it.”
Eyes in the back of his head, Varen spoke to Margon, who was picking through blades behind him.
With a disgruntled face, Margon looked back, set down what he held, and took the sword above it.
“Told me to choose, and then it’s all his way. Fine.”
Then he muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear.
***
Back after three days, Varen went straight to see his parents. I had a lot to ask him, but there was no chance to talk.
We returned to the reception suite and gathered around the living-room sofas.
I kept my mouth shut and tried to sort Varen’s words, while the other two only stared quietly at their new items.
“Phew, this is... unbelievable.”
Suddenly Margon sprang to his feet. He scrubbed his short hair with his left hand and started pacing the room.
Things were complicated enough; having that big lump of a man bustle around made it impossible to think.
I squinted and snapped at him.
“Margon, sit. You’re scattering my brain.”
He only turned his back to me and sighed again and again.
While Varen soaked in the Spring of Wisdom for three days, Margon had also slept the whole time. After he woke fully recovered, he’d stayed like this.
I could understand his confusion. He must be wondering how he’d ended up in the middle of dragons.
After a sigh deep enough to cave the floor, Margon whipped around to look at me. His thick brows twitched.
“Ceryl, I have a question.”
“...Sigh. Sure. You must have a lot. Ask.”
Right before we left for Belzena together, we’d promised not to ask anything for now.
Days had passed since then. It was time to clear Margon’s confusion.
“About the Kalium Mushroom.”
But what came out of his mouth was entirely unexpected.
I thought he’d ask about dragons. He led with an ingredient.
“Kalium Mushroom?”
“...Ceryl, do you like Kalium Mushrooms?”
Kalium Mushrooms are rich with juice and chew like meat. Kallen often picked them in the forest, and they made a superb stew.
“Yeah. I like them. Why?”
Unlike my offhand answer, Margon wore a face like his world had collapsed.
He clawed his hair with his left hand and glared up at the ceiling.
“Margon, what on earth is wrong?”
The tone was curt, but it was concern in its way.
Margon only drew the sword from the scabbard he’d left on the floor.
Was he going to practice swordplay indoors? I just watched.
“...Margon?”
The brown-haired idiot whose thoughts were always easy to read did something unexpected.
“When you were little, you got sick from eating Kalium Mushrooms. After that, the smell alone made you retch.”
“......”
“And an Aylos never lusts after a dragon.”
The bodyguard who’d said he’d give his life to protect me stared with a fierce gaze.
“Who are you. Where is the real Ceryl.”
