It was a familiar smile that didn’t reflect his absence. That kind smile was incredibly brazen.

Clementina was about to bring up her resentment and hurt feelings toward him again but swallowed her words, thinking it would make her look too petty.

She thought it was absurd that he claimed everything was for her benefit.

But it had worked as he intended. Her food intake had tripled compared to before, and she slept well. She didn’t feel tired going from one end of the castle to the other.

As her head cooled, she became curious about his activities. He must have been somewhere in the castle all this time.

“Yes, you’ve been very busy.”

“You knew? That’s a relief. I was worried you might think I was just lazing around.”

To think that’s all he had to say when he never actually thought that way.

What an annoying face.

“Well, this is perfect timing. Let’s go together.”

Dion extended his hand to Clementina, who was still sitting inside Mago’s embrace.

“Where to?”

Clementina naturally took Dion’s outstretched hand. Since the wedding, she had always been escorted by this hand. It felt natural despite the gap in time.

“I’ll show you. What I’ve been doing while supposedly lazing around.”

“I never said you were lazing around.”

Clementina muttered softly as she turned her gaze away. Dion pretended not to hear, twitching one corner of his mouth as he adjusted his grip on the torch.

Her tone was irritable, but clearly mixed with relief. She could confess whenever she felt comfortable. He was confident he could wait as long as needed.

“Shh, Mago. Go back to sleep.”

Dion gently placed his palm in front of Mago’s nose and whispered softly. Mago tilted his head back as if accustomed to this and returned to his original position, quickly falling asleep.

When Dion turned around, a pair of eyes gleaming in the darkness was watching them.

Arakan lay with his head resting on his front paws, watching them as if he had never been asleep. Dion went to Arakan’s side with a gentle voice and stroked his head.

“Arakan, I’m sorry. You must be sleepy, but something’s come up. You need to come with us.”

Arakan readily rose at Dion’s words. His actions seemed familiar, as if this happened often.

Despite this, such consideration toward a dragon….. That consideration didn’t extend to Clementina who was here now. The comparison was right before her eyes, making her relationship with him even clearer.

Because she wasn’t completely his person. It was just a contractual relationship he had to take responsibility for.

Dion and Clementina left the dragon’s nest. Arakan followed behind them.

The surroundings were dark, but stars poured down between the two of them. A cool breeze blew, ruffling Clementina’s hair. There was a faint scent of grass and the distinctive fragrance of sunflowers.

Dion was walking the exact path Clementina had taken. Clementina stole a glance at him, already feeling nervous.

By the time they reached the small door of the castle she had come through, she was even sweating with anxiety. But Dion didn’t even glance at the small door and instead stopped in front of a white brick building further west.

It had the lowest roof in Aeskis Castle but was also the widest area.

The building had a large semicircular iron door painted black. Dion pushed the thick iron door with both hands, applying force. After opening both sides of the door, Arakan went inside as if it were his own nest.

The inside of the building was rectangular, a completely open space without any rooms. The walls held numerous bottles containing strange, unidentifiable liquids on shelves, and books lined the opposite wall.

As Clementina entered the building, she smelled a warm scent like freshly baked bread.

‘Where have I smelled this before? Surely……’

“Wow.”

Before she could identify the source of the faint smell, Clementina’s attention was drawn elsewhere. It was the massive bay window directly in front of her. Most of the wall opposite the door consisted of windows.

A round moon hung luxuriously over the Elmar coast. Aged planets orbited around the moon.

As the deeply sleeping sea sparkled in the moonlight, countless stars created another universe.

Under that luminous moonlight stood someone with black hair carelessly tied up. Even at a glance, the thin linen shirt and black pants looked slender and attractive.

This person was gently scraping the surface of a black rock with a small, sharp knife.

“Henry. I brought Arakan.”

When Dion spoke, the person turned around. The overall facial features were thin, but unmistakably male.

And an extremely handsome man at that.

He merely nodded slightly with his chin to Dion as if to say welcome.

Despite such a disrespectful attitude toward a duke, Dion didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Say hello. This is Miss Clementina.”

“……”

“Hello.”

As Clementina approached his side, following behind Dion, the black-haired man looked her up and down. His persistent gaze made her feel as if she were placed on an examination table.

“She’s my wife.”

“……”

“……”

When Dion grinned, the black-haired man glared at Dion and clicked his tongue.

Clementina bit her lower lip. She blushed with embarrassment and shame.

It was true, but was it really true?

Henry wiggled his finger at Arakan who was behind Clementina. This time, Dion clicked his tongue.

“He’s a mage. Henry Roselman.”

Dion stuck close to Clementina and whispered quietly in her ear.

“The quack mage I told you about.”

Henry gathered what he had scraped from the black rock and placed it in a dish on an iron table in front of the window.

Thin, black bark-like pieces fell with a rustling sound.

Behind them, Arakan seemed bored and was already nodding off with his head propped up on his front paws.

“Arakan.”

When Dion lightly tapped Arakan’s forehead with a sweet voice, Arakan immediately opened his eyes and stood up.

When Henry’s eyes met Arakan’s, he pointed at the black rock with his chin.

Arakan flared his nostrils wide, narrowed his eyes, and continued staring at Henry. He apparently didn’t want to respond to Henry’s commands.

Dion went to Arakan’s side and patted his neck. Only then did Arakan trudge toward the black rock.

“This one, this. You need to breathe fire here.”

Arakan half-listened to Dion’s words while keeping his gaze on Henry, slightly turning his head and opening his mouth.

“Whoosh—”

“Oh my.”

The fierce flames Arakan breathed out completely burned everything on the table. Only black ashes remained.

Only the iron table lost its original elegant color and turned completely black.

⟨”All brawn and no brains.”⟩

When the handsome Henry opened his mouth, a strange sound came out. It was as if there were two people’s voices coming from one person. It sounded like scraping metal, but with a low male voice and an androgynous voice.

Clementina turned her head toward Henry with wide eyes, then quickly looked away. She felt embarrassed, thinking she might have made a mistake if he was ill.

Dion seemed to notice her feelings and patted Clementina’s back.

“He’s not sick or ill or anything like that.”

Henry snorted and walked toward the table, starting to gently brush away the parts that remained like black bark with a feather.

“He just took the wrong medicine.”

Henry took out a knife from his back pocket and lifted a black, sticky liquid with the blade.

“Arakan. Isn’t that too much? What are we going to do if you burn everything like this? It’s not like you haven’t done this before. What? Were you just born yesterday?”

Dion frowned and scolded Arakan as he walked toward the iron table.

“Growl.”

Arakan raised his head high and made a sound with a dry tone, pretending not to care.

“Is it a success?”

⟨”Hmph.”⟩

As Henry wiped the sticky liquid off the knife with a rough cloth, Dion excitedly ran over and patted Arakan’s back repeatedly.

“Now, this is important. Don’t burn it all. Don’t breathe too much fire. Just touch the surface of the egg. Understand?”

Arakan sat crookedly without even looking at Dion and stared at Henry. His attitude was clearly full of discontent to anyone watching.

⟨”Tsk. Petty bastard. Are you still sulking because I didn’t give you that? I’ll give you one when we’re done.”⟩

Arakan narrowed his eyes and twisted his mouth.

⟨”Three.”⟩

“……”

⟨”Five. No more than that.”⟩

Only then did Arakan approach the black rock with a smile on his face. Dion grabbed Clementina’s wrist and stepped back, whispering in her ear.

“Arakan loves Henry’s snacks. Not just anyone’s snacks, but specifically the ones Henry eats. It’s a kind of power struggle, you could say.”

No sooner had Dion finished speaking than Arakan rounded his mouth and slowly began to breathe fire.

The black rock didn’t budge.

As Arakan, like the experienced dragon he was, breathed fire a little more strongly, a sticky black liquid began to melt from the top of the black rock.