I sprinted straight to the monster and held out my hand.
The white snake seemed to hesitate, then inched its way up along my hand.
My mouth fell open before I knew it.
It looked timid, so I’d been worried, but to think it would handle this well.
In an instant, all the fretting about humans evaporated. A silly smile slipped out at the pleasant feel.
“Little one, how did you get all the way here? Did you follow me?”
Those jelly-like, luscious peach-pink eyes stared straight at me.
Facing it, I felt like I was getting hypnotized. The corners of my mouth lifted of their own accord, all the way to my ears.
“I’ve been following you the whole time. I called it over because it would be dangerous if °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° other dragons noticed.”
It was a shocking statement.
Varen did call non-dragon monsters “kin,” but he didn’t treat them with any particular warmth.
And yet he’d called it for fear the monster might be in danger?
Did the trip to the Spring of Wisdom make him grow up. To think he’d say something that commendable.
Wearing a satisfied smile, I turned my eyes back to the white snake.
“Oh, pretty thing. How did you manage to follow me such a long way.”
After leaving the forest we’d ridden Tymer across the wide desert. Once we arrived at Belzena, we’d come here by a dragon’s magic.
We borrowed a monster’s power and arrived in an instant, but it must have been a pretty long distance.
News that it hadn’t given up and had chased after me made my left chest ache.
When I looked with gentle eyes, the white snake tilted its thumb-sized head and met my gaze.
“Ugh.”
My chest that had been aching a little a moment ago throbbed.
It wasn’t that I was actually hurt; it was just my heart lurching when my eyes met the snake’s.
That dewy, soft skin. The tingling sensation as it brushed my arm. Above all, that dopey face.
The image of snakes as wicked and sly is just the old media’s discarded husk. In reality, most are timid and mild-tempered.
I slowly ran my eyes over the white snake’s body that had crawled into my arms on its own.
“Still, it looks like Theo fed you well. Seeing how your scales gleam all bright and shiny.”
He was the sort you could grind and drink and it still wouldn’t be enough, but it seemed he hadn’t starved the monster.
When I first saw Rami, she’d been bony and flaky.
But the white snake’s scales gleamed like a well-kept reptile. Slender with no dryness anywhere, it even gave off a faint glow reflecting the moonlight.
When I stroked its head with the tip of my index finger, the white, thin tail swayed gently. The damp belly slid up my arm and then wrapped my neck.
I hunched my shoulders at the pleasantly shiver-raising sensation.
“Miyaang....”
Letting out a cutesy catlike cry, the monster rubbed its head against my cheek.
Then the stuffiness in my chest popped, and all the stress that had piled up until now washed away.
I had wondered why I had to fall into a fantasy world and suffer like a dog.
If all of this was the price to live in a reptile heaven, I could endure it as much as needed.
I rubbed cheeks with that tiny head, then paused and glanced at Varen.
When I shared this kind of affection with Rami, he’d bark thunder at me, but today he was oddly quiet.
“What is it, why so awkward. Why aren’t you saying anything?”
I realized what I’d blurted and winced.
It felt a little embarrassing, like I was prodding him for why he wasn’t jealous.
But Varen just gave a light shrug.
“That little one’s fine. She’s female.”
“...And?”
“Females don’t covet you.”
Where should I start fixing that deranged line.
He knew his jealousy targets were wrong, but I hadn’t expected them to be this wrong.
More than anything, I almost blurted that aside from sex and species, the only one who covets me is you.
Feeling the stress I’d just relieved start to pile again, I looked into the pretty peach-tinted eyes.
The monster’s gaze was not just gentle but downright vacant, and that alone had me smiling.
“Little one, why did you follow me instead of going to your mom and dad.”
“Miyaang, myaang....”
It sounded like it was saying something, so I gave the monster interpreter a look for help.
Varen stood with his arms crossed, just gazing at me and the white snake.
“Myaa, miyaang....”
Even at the repeated cry, Varen didn’t translate.
In the end I had to arch a brow and press him.
“What’s the little one saying?”
“...It says it doesn’t know its parents. It was dragged off by humans while in the egg and hatched in a glass jar.”
So that’s why he couldn’t open his mouth easily. It must have tugged at him that the story was a mirror of his own.
I stroked the white snake’s head with my fingertip.
Now I thought I knew why it hadn’t shot out the moment I opened the glass jar.
After sharing a moment of communion with the monster, I walked right up to Varen.
I took both of Varen’s hands—he’d been lost in thought—and brought his palms together.
“Little one, go to this big brother.”
“What? Why... why to me....”
“It’s fine. He’s not a scary dragon-lizard, go on.”
The white snake looked between me and Varen.
When I gently soothed its hesitation, it slid down my arm and cautiously crossed over onto Varen’s palms.
For a slender thread-snake, it was a washtub of a space. It coiled into a baseball-sized ring and, with only its head held stiffly upright, stared at Varen.
“......”
“Varen, breathe.”
“Y-yeah....”
More nervous than the small reptile was the giant reptile.
Varen, dumbfounded, was even holding his breath until I tapped his shoulder; only then did he exhale.
And he sent me a look like an SOS. A mountain of a body, at a loss before a snake the size of a fist.
Watching the two with satisfaction, I thought of a brilliant idea.
“The little one doesn’t have a name yet. You give it one.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You know better than anyone how important a name is.”
Blue eyes wavered helplessly.
His lips mouthed as if to say something, then those thick brows drooped.
“I... can’t name as well as you, Ceryl.”
Mm, I do have good naming sense.
Truthfully, a lot of candidates floated through my head. I’m not all that creative, but when I see a monster, inspiration comes.
I didn’t bother saying them out loud so he wouldn’t feel pressured.
“It’s fine, you name her.”
“Why would I....”
When I was little, my busy parents brought home a puppy for me, who stayed alone at home all day.
So tiny. With four dainty feet like someone had poked in toothpicks for claws, it tore around the house.
Then it went and polished off an entire basket of strawberries I’d left as snacks.
Its muzzle was stained bright red and its belly was swollen fit to burst as it purred through its breathing in sleep.
An unforgettable first meeting for life.
“Berry. From now on you’re Berry.”
The moment I named Berry, I vowed I’d take responsibility for you and care for you for life.
With that beautiful memory in mind, I faced Varen.
“Giving a name means you’ll take responsibility and care for them for life. Having someone to take responsibility for means you’re truly an adult.”
When you have someone to be responsible for, anyone grows strong.
I wanted the heart of this still-young and tender dragon to harden just a little more.
Maybe he understood my intent, because Varen lowered his eyes with care.
As if not scared of the giant reptile, the monster squirming in his palms let out a leisurely cry.
“Miyaang....”
It was a fascinating cry every time I heard it.
Varen watched my face and opened his mouth.
“...Miya.”
“Miya?”
“Because it goes, miya....”
That low, rough voice mimicked the cute cry.
I barely stopped myself from bursting out laughing and patted Varen’s head once.
“Nice, Miya. Pretty and fitting.”
Varen’s ear tips flushed red, and he looked again at the monster in his hands.
And the one who, for the first time since birth, had a name—“Miya”—lifted its head.
“Miyaang....”
“Looks like Miya likes the name too. Varen, you’ve got a knack for naming?”
“...Do I.”
Good grief. After all that time glued to Varen, I’d never seen him this bashful.
Smiling broad and bright, I watched as Varen raised a hand. Then, like I had done, he gently stroked Miya’s brow with the tip of his index finger.
“She’s still a young hatchling. She should be learning this kind of thing from her parents.”
Varen’s finger trailed down Miya’s body. It stopped around the middle of that long trunk, and white light began to leak from his fingertip.
I stared, dumbstruck at the mysterious sight.
After a moment, Miya wriggled all over. Like it was going to vomit, it jerked its stiff head with a heave.
“M... mweugh....”
“Varen, what are you doing? Are you sure that’s....”
“Myak!!!”
With a sharp cry, Miya’s mouth yawned wide.
Whoosh—there was a sound of something cleaving the air, and then—pop!—the sound of something shattering.
Startled, I slowly turned my stiff neck; the rock opposite Miya had a coin-sized hole bored into it.
“Good job, Miya. You learn fast.”
“Miyaang....”
Watching the two monsters trade affectionate words, I swallowed.
I’d thought it was a slender thread-snake, but it might as well be an air rifle.
I suddenly remembered the jar Miya had been trapped in. Heavy and solid like bulletproof glass—there was a reason.
***
It was late at night by the time Varen saw me back to the reception suite.
Standing at the door, I held the handle and hesitated a moment.
“Varen, where are you sleeping?”
“I sleep in my room.”
“Yeah? I’m curious what your room looks like.”
“Ordinary. Only large.”
At the offhand answer I just scratched my nape.
He’s a guy with not a speck of sense for hints; if I spoke in circles, he wouldn’t get it.
“It’s just... I don’t think Margon wants to see me yet. It seems right for me to avoid him....”
“And?”
I let go of the doorknob I’d been holding and turned around.
Then I asked, in as unselfish a voice as I could manage:
“Can you let me sleep in your room just for tonight?”
