When dragons wake up, they train with their dragon riders in the morning and eat an enormous amount of beef and pork. After nap time, they have afternoon training and eat a considerable amount of fruit and different special treats each time. And after that, it’s all rest.

The dragon’s nest at the time when morning training was almost over was quite bright except for one spot.

Only the window behind Gerard’s thorn bush nest still had its wooden shutters down. It wasn’t completely dark, but sunlight wasn’t coming in either.

It might have been an appropriate brightness for nap time.

Jeremiah was sitting in front of Gerard’s nest, carving wood.

Thump, thump. When Dion and Clementina’s footsteps were heard, Jeremiah turned his head. Gerard, perhaps because Jeremiah was with him, seemed much less wary than at dawn.

“What’s wrong with Gerard? Is he hurt? He seemed fine when I came to check on him at dawn.”

Dion examined Gerard’s face with a worried expression. Jeremiah, who had been sitting, slowly stood up and shook his head.

“I don’t…… know.”

“If you don’t know, who does? Did Gerard eat breakfast? He looks a bit thin.”

Looking carefully, Jeremiah seemed to have been by Gerard’s side the whole time, but he wasn’t there when they came at dawn.

She thought about asking why, but swallowed her curiosity, afraid he might ask why she had been there.

Besides, it was dark at dawn so she couldn’t see well, but now in the light, Gerard’s once massive body seemed to have become a bit slimmer. He was said to be the largest among the Gold Dragon Knight Order’s dragons, but now he looked similar in size to Arakan.

“He keeps not being able to eat.”

“Is he not eating, or can’t he eat?”

“He keeps throwing up when he eats.”

“He keeps throwing up? Could his stomach be upset?”

Clementina, who had been trying to stay quiet, urgently asked Jeremiah. The reason he hadn’t shown much interest in her or the sugar water at dawn might have been because he was sick.

“What about training?”

“He doesn’t go to training either. He just keeps lying in his nest.”

“Gerard might be injured too, don’t you think?”

“No. He’s not injured anywhere. He exhausted himself bringing back Lili, Dimint, and me, but he wasn’t injured.”

“It’s not normal to just lie in the nest.”

“Yes, it’s driving me crazy. I really don’t know what to do.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“He’s my dragon. I’ve been trying to figure it out. I grabbed Henry to check if he was under a spell. I got scolded by Hessen while checking if he was injured. At night, I thought Gerard might eat something, so I made food with different meats.”

It seems this was the reason she hadn’t encountered Jeremiah at dawn. Clementina thought she should refrain from dawn visits for a while.

“He’s not injured, and he’s not under a spell. Lili has a broken wing and Dimint is bedridden, and I couldn’t tell you about something when I don’t even know the cause. I wanted to try everything I could first.”

The large man sniffled. His shoulders drooped as much as his downturned mouth.

“I’ve tried coaxing him, pleading with him, getting angry, trying to drag him out forcibly, but he just won’t listen. This is the first time. He’s never disobeyed me before, and I just can’t understand it.”

“Is that why you were carving wood?”

Dion nodded toward the piece of wood in Jeremiah’s hand. The wood carving, about the size of a human face, had almost taken the shape of a dragon.

“Gerard likes the toys I make.”

Jeremiah’s voice kept getting smaller, unsuited to his large frame.

Awakened by the sound of their conversation, Gerard turned his head to look at them. He laboriously raised his body and slowly turned, then brought his face toward Clementina’s basket.

Then he put his nose against the basket and pressed the cloth.

“Huh? What’s in the basket?”

Clementina remembered the sugar bowl she had placed near Gerard’s nest at dawn. She reached into the basket, took out a fist-sized candy, and held it out to the dragon.

Gerard tilted his head, then stuck out his tongue and put Clementina’s candy into his mouth.

Crunch, crunch. The sound of candy breaking could be heard. Gerard sat in front of Clementina with a satisfied face, folding his front legs.

“Goo—”

“Hm?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Goo—”

Gerard made a sound toward Clementina. Dion quickly turned his head to look at her.

Clementina’s gaze slowly moved from Gerard’s face, past his shoulders, to his belly. Dion observed her actions intently.

“What is that? What is it that Gerard eats so well? Could you give him more, Duchess?”

“Ah, of course. I’ll give her as much as she wants. But, I…… Sir Jeremiah Dezia.”

Clementina handed the entire basket to Jeremiah. He smiled brightly as he received the basket and lifted the cloth.

“Thank you. Please speak, Duchess.”

“Did you name Gerard, Sir Jeremiah?”

“Yes, I named him.”

“Why?”

“Pardon? Why?”

“Well, um—”

Clementina felt frustrated, not knowing how to explain. She needed to choose her words carefully to avoid looking like a madwoman.

“What are you curious about? Tell me. Gerard might starve to death at this rate. I won’t say anything no matter how strange your thoughts are. What is it?”

Dion gently grabbed Clementina’s shoulder and slowly patted it, but his words became increasingly rapid. He was becoming anxious without realizing it.

Clementina fidgeted with her fingers and clutched the hem of her skirt.

“Well, Gerard is typically a male name.”

“That’s right.”

“So why did you give him a male name?”

“What? Well, because he’s male. Look at this build. Strong shoulders, handsome face, sturdy legs. From any angle……”

Jeremiah made a puzzled expression, then dropped his head to the floor and fell into thought. Then he suddenly lifted his face and looked at Gerard again.

And then he turned toward Clementina with a face full of shock. Jeremiah’s mouth opened so wide that his jaw seemed about to fall to the floor.

“A-are you saying, Duchess, that Gerard might not be Gerard?”

“Uh……”

Clementina’s head dropped involuntarily. Dion clicked his tongue with a displeased face at her hesitant attitude. Whenever she was with dragons, he kept wanting to probe her.

At other times, she would speak her mind without any hesitation, but only when it came to dragon matters, she would hesitate like a puppy that needed to relieve itself.

She wasn’t lying, but that attitude of cleverly hiding something displeased him.

Clementina’s mother, Caroline, had never revealed her daughter’s identity. He had only vaguely guessed based on how she treated dragons.

So he had been hoping that Clementina, Caroline’s daughter, might be similar to her mother. If it were true, she would be a great asset to the Ronakia Empire.

‘No, wait. This must never be revealed to His Majesty.’

If Dion’s guess was correct, Clementina might forever be dragged around by the Emperor.

Just like himself.

Then it would be better to keep it a secret like now.

“Wait, wait a minute. Then it’s not that he’s sick, but perhaps…”

Jeremiah has seven younger sisters. This means he had witnessed his mother’s morning sickness, pregnancy, and childbirth processes several times before leaving home.

Jeremiah’s past flashed before his eyes like a kaleidoscope. Jeremiah slumped down weakly. Tears rolled down from the eyes of the man whose build was as big as a mountain.

“Then what should I call this one?”

“You should call her Gerard. That’s the name you gave her.”

“What if she doesn’t like that name? I spent days thinking about it. I named her similar to my name. All my siblings are younger sisters. Sob, I wanted a younger brother.”

Jeremiah cried out loud. Dion looked around. Fortunately, there were only three people and one dragon, no, two dragons in the dragon’s nest.

Dion thumped Jeremiah’s shoulder repeatedly.

“Calm down. Gerard might feel hurt if she sees you crying.”

Dion’s words seemed to have an effect as Jeremiah swallowed his tears. Judging by his heaving chest, he seemed to be barely holding back his tears.

Jeremiah slowly stood up and turned to Gerard. His face was suddenly full of smiles. Despite his face being covered in tears and snot marks, his smiling face looked just like a child’s.

Jeremiah stroked Gerard’s face. Gerard rubbed her face against Jeremiah’s hand in response.

“You’ve grown up. To become a mother. I’m proud of you, Gerard.”

The dragon and the dragon rider pressed their faces together in communion.

Then suddenly Jeremiah opened his eyes wide and lifted his head.

“Wait! But who’s the father?!”

⁕⁕⁕