〔You’ll have to fish alone. I don’t need it.〕

When Dion pretended to kick the side of Kitan, now lying back down, Kitan tripped Dion’s foot with his tail. Then Dion spun and flopped onto Kitan’s belly. The two roughhoused for a while before both ended up sprawled on the grass.

After catching his breath, Kitan slowly raised his head and sat up.

〔You don’t just understand dragon language. Right? You can speak it too?〕

At Kitan’s question, Dion grinned broadly.

〔I learned together when the Order’s dragons taught the rock dragons. Thanks to my time with Clementina, I understand pretty well. I’m good, right?〕

〔So that’s why you talk like a baby dragon.〕

“What? My speech is strange?”

〔Hehehe.〕

Kitan tilted his neck back laughing and teased Dion.

By the time the sunlight made the wet grass fluffy, Clementina woke up.

Kitan flew through the sky carrying Dion and Clementina. With two people riding on medium-sized Kitan’s back, it was cramped as expected. So Dion held Clementina even tighter.

Dion focused on Clementina, Clementina on finding Lili’s nest, and Kitan flew without thinking—none of them realized they’d come this far.

They seemed to have come a bit west from where the waterfall was. In the distance, Clementina’s eyes caught sight of a familiar wooden house.

Clementina tapped Kitan’s neck. Only then coming to his senses, Kitan quickly hid his body.

The wooden house door opened and a woman came out. The Sue, who’d abandoned Clementina in a place with only rock dragons and never returned.

Seeing her, Clementina’s breathing suddenly quickened. The nightmare seemed to resurface. Though the rock dragons now lived peacefully after resonating with Dion, they hadn’t been like that with Clementina.

Drooling, with sharp claws and hard skin, they’d pressured her psychologically. Spending over a month with them, she’d had to stay on edge every day, feeling like walking on thin ice.

Sue had left saying she’d return quickly with sugar, but she’d abandoned Clementina there alone and never came back.

Though she still hadn’t heard the reason, she could guess. The fleeing Jerbek Sichenti suddenly pressuring nobles with swamp dragons was clearly Sue’s doing.

The swamp dragons, like the rock dragons, had been test subjects. Jerbek couldn’t even control the swamp dragons.

When the drug wore off, the swamp dragons attacked mercilessly regardless of ally or enemy.

When Jerbek was cornered, Sue brought uncontrollable swamp dragons and headed straight for Kentlen Palace.

Clementina hadn’t been in her thoughts at all. Living together, she must have known how soft-hearted Clementina was toward dragons. Sue had thought Clementina looked unpromising. Good if it worked, disposable if not.

Sue had once been jealous of Clementina. So perhaps she’d hoped she’d die lonely, trembling in fear.

For Clementina, it was utterly unfair. How could she persuade and talk to drugged dragons?

Sue only filled her own greed and never considered others’ positions. If she treated people that way, she certainly wouldn’t have treated dragons properly.

Clementina’s breathing grew faster. Then she felt a touch stroking her back.

Dion was running his large hand down her back.

“Shh. It’s okay. Take a deep breath, and—exhale.”

Dion guided Clementina’s breathing in rhythm with his stroking hand.

Where Sue had settled was at a cliff’s edge. Kitan hid among the trees on the opposite cliff and landed.

Dion came down to the ground while holding Clementina. His touch continued. Clementina finally calmed enough to see her surroundings. The forest they’d flown over resembled where Clementina had stayed with the rock dragons.

When that terrible experience resurfaced, Clementina squeezed her eyes shut. Then Dion embraced her. He squeezed tight like he’d never let go again. She felt strength in the hand stroking her back too.

Dion’s behavior seemed strange, so Clementina raised her head. His face was pained, eyes squeezed shut.

“Why, why are you like this?”

Dion slowly released his strength and let her go. His face showed clear pain. Tears pooled in his tightly shut eyes. He seemed to be holding back tears.

“Are you crying?”

“Shh! I didn’t know you’d struggle this much. I’m sorry I couldn’t come right away. Sorry I only thought of my situation. You must have been scared alone, and I’m sorry I couldn’t help at all.”

Though Dion’s words were a half-confession, Clementina could understand. He was apologizing for not coming right away when she was alone here with the rock dragons.

Having lived his whole life as a noble being, Dion never apologized to anyone. His position didn’t allow it. So he’d never properly apologized to Clementina until now. Not just because he’d lived that way, but because he hadn’t felt the need to apologize.

From Dion’s position, he’d done his best. But for that reason, he’d lost the woman he loved.

Clementina no longer wanted to be with him. Dion’s pain came from his own choices. Yet just because she’d left his side, he’d forced his feelings on Clementina.

Telling her to stay by his side.

Only now did Dion think he had no right to be by Clementina’s side. But living without her was agony. Dion just felt sorry toward Clementina. He felt despair and helplessness at the situation where he could neither let her go nor hold her.

“Haha. Crying again? You cry quite well, you know. Did you know?”

Dion pushed the tears up with his palm. Though Clementina teased him for being a crybaby, he wasn’t embarrassed at all.

Until now, Dion had never honestly shown his emotions to anyone. But before her, he could be a complete person.

Dion looked more like a patient than Clementina, who’d hyperventilated just from spotting Sue. Because of that, Clementina regained her composure instead.

Clementina gently wiped Dion’s eyes. Dion also gripped Clementina’s cheeks.

Just as their faces drew close enough to almost touch, a face suddenly popped up right beside them.

〔The affection is nice. But, you know, I’m here too?〕

“Oh my!”

“Huh!”

The two startled people plopped down.

〔We have something to do now. Right?〕

“Mm! Right, that’s right. Yes, yes. Uh, mm!”

Clementina ran her hand through her hair, scratched her cheek, then stood up awkwardly. Dion leaned back and glared resentfully at Kitan.

〔No, you can’t. To win a woman’s heart, you have to do it properly. If you try to slip past carelessly, you’ll get indigestion later.〕

“I’m not trying to slip past. I’m serious about winning Clementina’s heart every moment. Help me out.”

〔Then you should have done it where I wasn’t. Right, batum?〕

“What? You damned dragon just like the King of Leila!”

“Uh, mm!”

While Kitan and Dion bickered, Clementina stood beside them and cleared her throat. Her face showed clear displeasure.

“Save the lovers’ quarrel for later.”

“I don’t want to do that with Kitan. I want to do it with you. Ah, of course not the quarrel. Just the first part.”

Dion pouted and grumbled with a sulky face. Perhaps embarrassed from crying earlier, he seemed to be acting out more on purpose.

Would Dion get angry or happy if she said that was cute? Clementina was curious but didn’t ask.

She still couldn’t be certain of her own heart. She’d resolved to definitely end things after the month they’d agreed to spend together before parting, but in truth she was hoping the month’s end wouldn’t come.

Shallow and cowardly.

Clementina shook her head to clear the complicated thoughts. Dion and Kitan said nothing. Since Clementina seemed angry, they both thought staying quiet was best. At times like this, they were perfectly united.

Kitan gestured and spoke carefully.

〔This way.〕

Kitan led the way.

Dion extended his hand to Clementina. There were many slippery, rough rocks. Clementina didn’t have enough strength left to refuse Dion’s hand. So she used that excuse to take his hand. No one could blame Clementina.

Dion and Clementina hid among the trees at the cliff’s edge. Sue’s wooden house was visible on the opposite cliff. Since the distance to the cliff wasn’t far, they had to hide as much as possible.

The wooden house door stood wide open, and before it was a well-tended field. It showed signs of carefully cultivating the land for a long time. Many crops seemed to have grown, with lush green leaves clustered together.

All kinds of herbs must be growing in the field. If Clementina saw them up close, she could probably identify what herbs they were now.

Then Sue came out from inside the wooden house. She came out with a basket tucked under her arm and plucked leaves from the field. Seeing her pick red berries, there were clearly vegetables as well as herbs. She moved to another spot and dug up lumpy potatoes hidden in the ground.

Then she went to the flowing water and washed them. No matter how you looked at it, she seemed to be preparing to cook a meal.

Seeing this, Clementina felt both absurd and angry. She fumed enough for steam to rise from her head. When she’d been with Sue, she’d never properly eaten a single blade of grass or piece of fruit, let alone a proper meal.

Thinking about it made anger surge up again. In her sudden burst of strength, she accidentally broke a branch.

Snap—

In that moment, despite the distance, Sue somehow heard it and jumped up, staring precisely at where they were hiding.

Like she knew exactly where they were hiding among the trees.

But that was brief. Sue picked up the basket and went inside the house. Though the sound couldn’t have carried from such a distance, Sue had a sharp, wary feeling.

Kitan, who’d cautiously peeked out to look at the opposite cliff, spoke.

〔Sharp ears for a batum.〕

Sharp ears aside, Sue’s nerves must be on edge right now.

“It’s strange to be so sensitive about stepping on a branch on an island where dragons and demonic beasts live. Don’t you think there’s something there?”

Clementina narrowed her eyes and tried to see where Sue had been. Dion, already knowing the answer, rolled his eyes and watched Clementina’s reaction.

Though she couldn’t know Sue’s exact situation, preparing food so carefully wasn’t for herself but for someone else. Judging roughly from how Sue had treated Clementina, the person with Sue must be someone she cherished.

Sue had only one such person.

“That’s impossible.”