Splash.

“Aack!”

Suddenly, water splashed down from the sky, and Clementina’s black rose dress became completely soaked. Dion, who was beside her, shouted as he brushed up his wet hair.

“Arakan! Stop that right now!”

Dion jumped up and shouted at Arakan, who was trying to bite Mago’s neck.

Arakan had entered Mago’s puddle and was biting various parts of Mago’s body, and Mago was splashing water on Arakan with her wings. Dion walked along the mound forming the puddle, shouting at Mago and Arakan, grabbing Arakan’s wing and pushing him into another puddle.

Arakan looked at Mago’s puddle with a reluctant face, but when Dion kicked his side several times, he spread his wings and flew away.

Clementina, who had suddenly become soaked all over, was relieved that the water was warm, but soon felt a chill as a cold wind blew.

“Achoo.”

At the sound of Clementina’s sneeze, Dion ran nimbly from the narrow mound. There wasn’t even a slight wobble.

“Are you okay? Oh, just a moment.”

Dion ran toward the wooden box and began rummaging through the pile of luggage again. He opened a white wooden box with gold trim, stirred through it, and pulled out a large blanket.

Dion leaped over with his long legs in one bound and wrapped the blanket around Clementina’s shoulders as she stood soaking wet, hugging herself with both arms.

“Here we go again. Arakan keeps bullying Mago. I need to separate them completely, this can’t go on. Are you okay?”

Dion spread the blanket draped over Clementina’s shoulders and pressed her wet arms firmly. He picked up the end of the blanket and patted her face gently, feeling the clear gaze of her golden eyes.

Water dripped from Dion’s brown-gold hair onto Clementina’s face that he had just wiped.

“Ah….. Sorry.”

Water continued to drip one drop at a time from Dion’s hair, but he didn’t let go of the blanket he was using to wipe Clementina’s face.

A strong earthy scent emanated from the two soaking wet bodies.

Dion’s eyes, resembling the blue sea, were cool and refreshing. Gentle waves broke into small pieces.

“I like it.”

The refreshing sea instantly froze.

“What?”

Unlike Dion’s stiff expression, Clementina’s behavior was extremely calm. She looked up at the sky where Arakan had flown away while pressing the blanket against her dripping lemon-colored blonde hair.

“I said I like it.”

“……”

“Arakan likes Mago.”

“What?”

Dion shook his head as he looked alternately at Mago, who was irritably splashing water in the puddle, and Arakan, who was flying in the sky, snorting.

“That’s absurd…… They’ve been fighting so annoyingly.”

Dion stood there dumbfounded for a while. He only came to his senses when he noticed the body of Clementina in front of him swaying. She had wrapped the blanket Dion gave her around her head and was tousling her hair.

Dion smiled with narrowed eyes and just the corners of his mouth raised.

Clementina could feel his gaze without looking. His soft voice tickled her ear, but the cold face that had been perplexed just moments ago kept appearing before her eyes.

“How did you know?”

Clementina wrapped her still-damp face with the blanket on her head. With only her golden eyes exposed, she raised her head.

His kind and friendly attitude exists only because of the contract. He’s behaving like that just so he could get what he wants from her. She felt the desire to gauge her true feelings in his cold eyes. Could she tell him everything honestly?

No, it’s not time yet. She needed to gauge how useful she was. Unlike Clementina’s tightly closed lips, her golden eyes shone sharply.

Four years ago, Dion had faced eyes identical to those. That’s why he kept feeling the impulse to test Clementina.

A voice more mature than Clementina’s with a rough tone seemed to echo in Dion’s ears.

‘Save my daughters.’

⁕⁕⁕

Four years ago, it was after fighting a battle as usual.

Dion arrived at Halia after flying for a full day covered in blood from head to toe, and soaked his body in the red spring water for the first time in a long while.

Unlike his strong body covered in wounds, his face still showed signs of youth. The aged dragon Leon settled in the puddle across from Dion.

Unlike Dion, who was exhausted with fatigue and full of sharp vigilance, dragon Leon was leisurely enjoying the hot spring bath.

“Save my daughters.”

It was a breathless voice.

The experienced and seasoned dragon seemed to know that the woman who suddenly appeared wouldn’t harm him.

But Dion, unlike Leon, didn’t lower his guard.

“Who are you?”

“Leon is dying, isn’t he?”

“……”

Dion instantly drew his sword and revealed himself outside the water. The woman approached him without hesitation, not even glancing at Dion’s sword.

In the forest thick with darkness, moonlight the size of a fingernail illuminated her figure.

The terrible smell of blood continued to torment Dion. He wanted to wash. Though he knew that even washing wouldn’t remove this harsh smell of murder, he still wanted to escape this terrible fatigue and rest for a while.

But no one allowed him to rest.

The tedious war had no end, and his heart was freezing cold. Even when he returned to the imperial palace, only voices full of harsh coldness and tiresome heat circled around him.

The only comfort left to him was the wise but old dragon beside him.

“Leon won’t die.”

“Dragons are animals too. No matter how wise a dragon is, it’s just a lowly creature. It will soon reach the end of its life.”

“Shut up. If you’re going to talk nonsense, you’ll have to offer your neck. How did you get in here alone anyway?”

This place, Halia, is the territory of His Majesty the Emperor, the one and only sun of the Ronakia Empire. A hot spring given exclusively to the Gold Dragon Knight Order. With hot magma flowing deep in the earth, it was a suitable place for dragons to warm their bodies.

A place where those without permission cannot enter.

Dion never thought he would encounter a stranger here. Who would dare to set foot in this place, which is His Majesty the Emperor’s territory and where the Gold Dragon Knight Order is resting?

“Who said I came alone?”

Behind the woman who came to Dion with her skinny body, a dragon that had been crouching in the bushes revealed itself. It had white skin with green and yellow intertwined thread-like patterns drawn from head to toe.

It was a beautiful dragon even though it was missing one eye.

“You’re a rider?”

The tip of Dion’s sword now touched Caroline’s neck.

“Are you a spy from Akarti? I don’t recognize your face.”

“Hmph! You’re talking nonsense. Don’t dare compare me to those fools.”

The dragon mixed with nature’s mysterious colors stood in front of Caroline, pushing Dion’s sword aside with its foot while looking down with its proud one eye. Its gaze resembled that of untamed wildlife.

The woman tapped the dragon’s neck lightly with her hand, and the dragon stepped aside.

“It’s okay. Cough, cough, cough.”

She suddenly gasped for breath from a burst of coughing. The coughing showed no sign of stopping and choked her breathing. Dion moved his sword to the side without lowering his vigilant gaze. Water droplets fell along the blade, creating ripples on the spring water.

“Judging by how you’re dying, you’re not a spy. What do you want?”

“Save my daughters.”

“Look. I’m starting to get annoyed now. Who exactly are your daughters? Why are you asking me for such a thing?”

The woman stared at Leon intently.

“Listen, youngster. There are three cases when dragons die. Cough, cough. Either betrayed by their master, or slaughtered.”

“I have no intention of betraying Leon. I won’t let him die at someone else’s hands either.”

“Or when their time is up.”

“…… Are you saying Leon’s lifespan is over?”

“Are you seeing properly? Cough, cough. Don’t pretend not to know, look carefully.”

Leon slowly raised his head from the puddle, trying to smell the dragon that came with Caroline.

When Leon approached, the strange dragon erased its vigilant gaze and slightly raised its head. Then the two dragons brought their foreheads together.

It looked like an affectionate greeting to an old friend they hadn’t seen in a long time.