To Jeremiah and the other dragon riders, Clementina was the former Duchess of Drasia. Though they knew Dion desperately searched for Clementina, they didn’t know the current relationship between the two.

Even so, embracing a woman so readily like that.

“You, you! What kind of knight acts that way! Do you behave like that with just any woman? If so, as soon as we return to Aeskis Castle, prepare to retake chivalry lessons from the beginning!”

“Why such hurtful words? The Duchess is like a sister to me. You’re being too harsh about a greeting out of gladness. You’ll break my wrist at this rate. Aren’t you being overprotective?”

Jeremiah blinked his kind eyes in protest. Rightly so, since Jeremiah was one of the very few men who wouldn’t harbor ill intentions toward Clementina.

But when it came to Clementina, Dion was jealous even of the air she breathed.

“Still no. If you’re glad, just be glad from far away. Don’t stick close. Don’t get too near.”

Jeremiah pouted and pulled out a cloth pouch from his chest.

“What tremendous love. If you love her this much, why on earth did you divorce? Duchess, look at this.”

Jeremiah took out an opaque stick-like object from the cloth pouch.

“What is this?”

“Candy I made. I made it the way you taught me, so I make it pretty well now.”

Jeremiah threw a candy to Gerard with a gentle smile. Gerard caught and ate it familiarly.

“He eats well. Then shall we go give some to our Mago too?”

Clementina was glad to meet them. But she couldn’t hide her anxious heart. She was extremely worried since Lillian had spoken so boldly yet still hadn’t returned.

Berche felt the same. Though he didn’t scream like when inside the whale Hiu’s belly, the clear wrinkles stamped on his forehead showed his patience had run out.

Dion didn’t wait any longer either.

Reconnaissance was necessary. If something happened to Lillian because they’d let their guard down, it would be a huge blow to their pride.

Greetings with friends she met after a long time were sufficient at this point.

Sue meticulously sharpened her knife. She didn’t know how many days she’d been sharpening it. She just had to sharpen until the time came. Her dragon only stared blankly at Sue. It showed no resentment and didn’t try to escape.

Sue was everything to the black dragon. It listened to Sue’s words blindly. Perhaps natural since she’d drained its energy with herbs.

The dull black dragon was the first dragon to resonate with Sue.

From its vacant eyes, it seemed to have already accepted death.

“What are you trying to do?”

Meanwhile, this pitiful man still questioned her.

“Just give me food. I’m hungry. That meat earlier was delicious—give me more.”

Since coming here, Sue had continuously fed Jerbek dragon meat and dragon eggs. But it seemed to have little effect on him.

He remained full of desires. Not once did he pluck a single flower for Sue. Though he’d stick flowers on his own body, he’d never once offered Sue even a sip of water.

“Ugh! It hurts so much! Please make it stop hurting. Don’t you have medicine? You bragged about your skills—don’t you have painkillers?”

Sue didn’t give her beloved man painkillers. Though the easiest medicine to make, she absolutely wouldn’t give painkillers.

If the pain lessened, this man would try to find his own way to survive again.

Still, Sue would do as he wanted. His happiness was Sue’s happiness.

“Dragons gain wisdom when they choose humans. Since you’re a bit lacking in thinking, if you gain more wisdom, you’ll become a more excellent emperor.”

“Really? Can I still become emperor?”

Jerbek swayed his uncomfortable body left and right, pleading. His bloodshot eyes looked ready to bleed any moment. Even in this situation, he couldn’t let go of his greed.

“My father was the stupid one. Kicking away the Empire’s emperor position with his own feet. What’s so great about love? Hehe. Then getting abandoned by Mother—how miserable.”

“Abandoned?”

“Right. Mother said she was disappointed when Father threw away the crown prince position and came to Umbarot. She said marrying him instead of sending him back was her biggest mistake. What choice did she have when the Empire pressured her? A mere princess of a palm-sized kingdom. No matter that she’d inherit the throne, she had no choice but to accept marriage under Ronakia Empire’s pressure. In the end, Mother went around meeting men outside. Cough, cough. Ugh—it hurts. I really feel like I’ll die soon. Isn’t there a way to cure me?”

“Dragons live long when they gain wisdom.”

“Why do you keep talking about dragons? What are dragons? What does it matter if those damned creatures choose humans? Please just focus on me, hm?”

“When dragons choose humans, they gain wisdom, and thinking with wisdom makes them live long. I’ll make you live long too. Live long, long with me. Jerry.”

Sue ran her finger from Jerbek’s forehead down to his nose bridge, then rubbed his lips with her thumb. Then she stared for a long while. With affectionate eyes like he was the most precious treasure in the world.

Jerbek frowned but just left her alone. He couldn’t resist her in his physical condition anyway.

Sue slipped her arms under Jerbek’s armpits and moved him to a wooden cart. Then she opened the wooden house door and went outside. In front of the wooden house, Sue’s black dragon was tied to a rope connected to a large tree. Five herb piles around the dragon were smoking.

The black dragon’s eyes had no focus. It probably didn’t know where it was, what it ate, or even what it was thinking.

Sue placed the wooden cart carrying Jerbek in front of the house, picked up the sharply honed knife, waved it left and right, and approached the black dragon. Jerbek glanced at the scene.

“Kahaha, what, are you going to give me dragon meat?”

Sue didn’t answer. She slowly approached the black dragon and stroked its nape. This was the dragon she’d met before Jerbek. The companion who’d been with her longest in her life. So at least this dragon would understand her heart.

Dragons were just dragons. They couldn’t bear children with Sue or share body warmth. They were beings that couldn’t fill her loneliness. That’s why Sue needed Jerbek. Jerbek had to be by Sue’s side in whatever form.

The one king said eating dragon eggs cured any illness. But though she’d fed Jerbek dozens of dragon eggs, it was useless. Then what about a wise, resonated dragon?

Sue raised the knife high. She’d need a special dragon to give to Jerbek. Just as she was about to strike down toward the black dragon’s neck, a sharp arrow flew over, knocked away the knife Sue held, and stuck in a tree.

Sue turned around with venomous eyes. A beautiful knight with red hair riding a purple dragon was glaring at her.

Seven dragons with brilliant scales glided through the sky. The place where Sue stayed with her lover was northwest of Diahart Island. A place with many trees but also many rocks. Currently the midpoint between the north where Dion and Clementina stayed and the west where Sue had abandoned Clementina.

Dion, who hadn’t brought the rock dragons, mounted Kitan’s back. Kitan grumbled openly but at least didn’t drop Dion.

Clementina was with Tahan. Though Tahan didn’t want to see Sue’s end, he was steeped in a sense of duty to watch to the finish. Since she was a child Caroline had cared about until the end, he had to witness Sue’s end in her place.

Clementina folded and unfolded her fingers several times. Her fingertips kept tingling.

She hoped nothing had happened to Lillian.

Today especially, gray dust flew unusually thick in Diahart Island’s sky. Trees swayed, lying down and standing up along the direction the dragons flew.

Dion turned his head several times to check Toter volcano visible in the distance. Then he pointed with his index finger toward Sue’s wooden house.

Fortunately, red hair fluttering in the wind was visible far away.

“Lillian!”

Berche, who spotted Lillian, called her first. Lillian was rapidly drawing her bowstring atop Mago. Round objects flew toward Mago and Lillian from below.

They looked like round fur balls, but each time Lillian hit them with arrows in midair, they burst with red smoke, exploding into powder. Lillian’s left shoulder had clothes melted from fire, and the exposed bare skin had turned red from burns.

So Lillian was shooting down all the pouring fur balls before they came near Mago. Even amid this, she shot arrows toward Sue.

The five dragon riders flew at high speed and shot arrows at the fur balls pouring toward Lillian.

“What is that, Lillian?”

Arakan flew over and stuck right next to Mago. Berche quickly examined Lillian’s condition with his eyes.

“I don’t know either. That mage is throwing strange bombs.”

At the cliff edge where Sue was, a cannon sat. It wasn’t the type that ignited gunpowder by setting fire. Sue pulled a handle at the cannon’s bottom once and pulled a round handle at chest level toward herself.

Then red fur balls flew into the sky from the cannon hole.

The cannon sat on a large box filled with fur balls. It was a weapon Sue had created.

“Why interfere with my happiness? What did I do so wrong to you? Leave us alone. Just leave us alone!”

Sue cursed with fire in her eyes.

“Tsk! What are you doing? Go tear those dragons’ wings right now!”

Sue’s mud-colored dragon flew slowly but kept looking back, alternately glancing at the black dragon and Sue. The mud-colored dragon began breathing fire toward the Gold Dragon riders with a sad face.

But even at a glance, Clementina could see one mud-colored dragon was no match for six dragons.

She’d rather Sue just put down the knife and surrender. She felt sorry thinking they might have to kill Sue’s dragon too.

Sue’s black dragon was still tied to the tree. Normally it could have easily snapped ropes of that level.

But the black dragon drooled with vacant eyes. From the herb piles smoking nearby, it was clearly already in a lethargic state.