“You’re right. When eggs hatch, she experiments with herbs. Some become rock dragons, some become swamp dragons. Who knows what other dragons they’ll become. But why does she even need such dragons?”

〔Those aren’t the only dragons.〕

“Then?”

〔There are small ones too. They look similar, but they’re very small. Those ones look just like turkeys. The turkeys you serve with all the feathers plucked! Like big turkeys. Really not tasty at all. Smack smack.〕

“Tu, turkeys?”

〔Right, that woman. She eats the small dragons.〕

“……!”

Clementina’s breath caught. Yes, people ate chickens and turkeys. But dragons resonated with humans. They had wisdom, and though not with all humans, they at least conversed with Dion and Clementina. Yet she raised them to eat?

Clementina felt bile rise instantly. This was a reaction that only came when she’d forced down her emotions while living at Sustain. After several dry heaves, Clementina vomited pale yellow liquid into the grass.

Dion stroked her back with his large hand. His other hand, not touching Clementina, trembled in a clenched fist. Rather, Kitan was calm. Kitan tilted his head and peered at Clementina’s face.

〔What’s wrong? Are you sick? Has your body gotten worse?〕

“You’re not bothered? She’s eating your own kind.”

〔Ah, that. Hehehe. We don’t eat our own kind, but sometimes we get eaten by other demonic beasts. We eat demonic beasts and animals too. What’s so strange about that? You batum are apex predators. So you might raise and eat them.〕

Kitan spoke like this was the natural order.

“How can you think that way? Even so, eating dragons.”

〔Strange. You batum eat other batum when cornered. At least we don’t eat our own kind. Why are you looking at me with disgusted eyes? That’s unpleasant.〕

Kitan unconsciously blew a puff from his nose. Worried ice might form, Dion quickly turned and embraced Clementina.

“Hey! Ice dragon. Be careful. Planning to freeze us all?”

Dion criticized Kitan in a blunt tone. Kitan, not having thought of it, tapped his nose with his front paw.

〔Sorry. Didn’t think of that.〕

“Kitan, I wasn’t looking at you with disgusted eyes. I just don’t understand what you said. And how do humans eat humans? That’s impossible!”

Clementina leaned out from inside Dion’s arms and spoke toward Kitan. She wasn’t startled by Kitan’s breath. During her past year with Kitan, she seemed to have found her own way.

〔You need to travel the world more. In the cold country where I was, when food ran out and someone died, they froze the body and took it out to eat when needed. That’s how batum survive winter. Don’t assume the world you know is everything. The world is wide, and batum are many.〕

Eating dragons was maddening enough, but eating fellow humans too?

Clementina looked up at Dion with intensity in her eyes. Dion didn’t tell her it wasn’t true. He frowned and stayed silent.

“Really?!”

Clementina’s hand gripping Dion’s arm tightened. Dion frowned. Not because the arm she held hurt. Certainly during war, when falling into starvation, such cases occurred occasionally. She didn’t necessarily need to know the truth. But he didn’t want to lie to her either.

Realizing Dion’s silence meant affirmation, Clementina vomited yellow liquid into the grass again. Now her stomach even burned.

Sue ate dragons. She understood why Sue had made a field planting only vegetables and fruits. She had meat separately. And from Sue’s perspective, she procured meat in a very efficient way.

If Sue had offered that meat when they’d lived together, Clementina would have eaten it without knowing what meat it was. Thinking that, she barely held back the bile rising again.

〔What now?〕

Clementina wiped her mouth and stood up. Firm determination showed in her eyes. Dion wiped the moisture remaining on her chin with a worried face.

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know either. What should I do? Shouldn’t we save all the dragons?”

〔Your batum was right—your meddling is like the Elmar Ocean. I’ve never seen a batum who deliberately seeks hardship like you. Well, that’s why I helped you too. I’m grateful for that, but not this. Right?〕

“Still, I want to save them. They’re so pitiful.”

〔Strange. You eat cows and pigs just fine.〕

“That’s different!”

〔You’re really a funny batum. My belly button will fall off. Hehehe〕

“You don’t even have a belly button. You hatched from an egg—what nonsense!”

〔Hehehe. My belly button! Hehehe.〕

“Hmph.”

Beside the giggling Kitan, Dion smiled. No matter how serious the worries, being next to Clementina made him keep smiling. Dion’s emotions kept swinging. Up and down. If he left her side like this, he’d never feel these emotions again.

〔Let’s go back for now.〕

“Wh, what? Just leave?”

Kitan flapped his wings and tapped Clementina’s back, pushing her up onto his back. Dion also swiftly leaped up behind Clementina.

“Kitan! Dion! Let’s watch a bit more. Please?”

Ignoring Clementina’s words, Kitan kicked off the ground and flew into the sky. Dion wrapped his arms around Clementina’s waist, grabbed Kitan, then put strength into his legs straddling the dragon’s body.

Though he’d spoken lightly, Kitan actually wasn’t comfortable either. Just because reality didn’t differ from what he knew didn’t mean he was okay with directly seeing humans raising and eating dragons like livestock.

Moreover, Kitan was a dragon with wisdom. Directly witnessing such a scene only made him realize more that he as a dragon was no different from demonic beasts or other animals.

Dragons were just dragons, not batum.

Batum, a word meaning foolish ones. This was what the golden people used when referring to humans.

But dragons who’d gained wisdom understood differently when the golden people called humans batum.

Batum, the ones who go ahead, the wise ones—they’d called the humans they chose that way.

Now that the golden people had all disappeared, only dragons with wisdom knew batum. Whether dragons sneered at humans as batum or regarded batum with admiration, humans didn’t know.

Humans never thought to consider the dragons’ intentions in calling them that. Some would get angry, some would laugh heartily. Only those who knew the dragons’ sincerity would accept it differently.

Flying through the sky carrying Clementina, Kitan resolved inwardly.

〔Batum. I’ll do as you wish.〕

“Tahan! So there’s this woman. She eats dragons.”

〔You kill dragons too. What’s different? Let her do as she wants. You suffered so much from that woman, what more do you want to do?〕

Clementina came to where the waterfall was and told Tahan what she’d just seen. But talking with Tahan didn’t change anything. Kitan promptly entered the water and splashed with his wings. And Dion remained silent throughout. He didn’t step forward saying he’d save them, nor did he stop Clementina.

Clementina found Dion’s attitude frustrating. If he was trying to win her favor and turn her heart, shouldn’t he step forward actively? If not that, if he worried about Clementina, he should actively oppose her.

But while Clementina argued with Tahan, Dion gathered dry branches beside them and lit a fire. When the crackling sound of burning wood was heard, he now skewered cleaned fish on wooden sticks and placed them over the fire.

Clementina couldn’t understand what Dion was thinking at all. So she felt irritated for no reason.

Everyone except Clementina spent their usual leisurely daily life. Watching this quietly, Clementina suddenly put her hands on her hips and declared.

“I’ll save all the dragons captured by Sue!”

Startled by Clementina’s sudden loud voice, Tahan jerked his head up, then with an indifferent face lay back down in the flowerbed and basked in the sunlight with a relaxed expression.

“Ugh! Tahan!”

Clementina only tugged at her beautiful lemon-colored hair in frustration at Tahan’s nonchalance. After staying here a few days, she’d learned Tahan was like a leader among the dragons. The wild dragons seemed to mostly follow what Tahan said. Like a ‘Pata.’ The name the golden people gave to the wisest one of the clan, Pata.

Due to Tahan’s attitude, the wild dragons didn’t attack Clementina and Dion.

Of course, she couldn’t think the wild dragons didn’t attack simply because of Tahan’s favorable attitude toward Clementina and Dion. Even the rock dragons without drugs had only sniffed Clementina and never directly attacked.

‘No wait, they shook the house to scare me—were they trying to attack then?’

Since she hadn’t directly faced them, she couldn’t know for certain if the rock dragons had tried to attack her. But Pink Lili and Leon used to shake her body like that when Clementina slept rolled up in blankets.

Did they want to play?

The more she thought and worried, the more complicated her head became, so Clementina shook her head vigorously.

Dion looked up and gazed at her with gentle eyes.

“Will you oppose me?”

“I won’t oppose anything you do. Besides, they’re criminals. It’s right to capture both Jerbek and the mage. You want to save all the imprisoned dragons? If you want it, I’ll do anything.”

Dion made bold promises to Clementina. If she wanted, he’d capture the mage right away.

Dion promised her affectionately. But rather, Clementina hesitated briefly at Dion’s attitude. Could she take responsibility for his answer? Dion would do anything for her. Was it okay to lean on this affection?

Though they’d clearly set an end after one month, Clementina had stopped counting days at some point. How long had it been since they came to Diahart Island……

Dion smiled and pulled Clementina, standing with intensity in her eyes, to sit by the fire. Then he pushed toward her fruit on a large leaf from somewhere.

When at Aeskis Castle, whenever Clementina read books or sat in a sunny spot, Dion would approach her side and give her fruit like now or read books together. She’d liked that comfortable daily life. Knowing there was an end to their marriage period made that time more precious.

But they were together like this now even after the promised marriage period had ended.

Promising another one-month deadline.

One side of her heart ached. So she shook her head vigorously and slapped both cheeks. Her cheeks reddened enough to sting. Dion looked at her with worried eyes, and Tahan raised his head for no reason, then made a chuckling sound and collapsed back onto the flowerbed.

Yellow marigold petals fluttered in the breeze. Those yellow marigolds kept reminding her of where Leon slept. Why did the same flowers have to be scattered everywhere here too? There Clementina had made countless promises with Dion.

Even now Dion was beside her just like then. Thinking she had to speak of parting once more for his sake, Clementina suddenly felt sad.