Dion looked at the face of his only friend with astonished eyes. Sometimes he looked like a childish kid, sometimes like a vigorous young man—a face he had encountered countless times.

But now he saw the face of a frail old man.

In that moment, Dion realized he had long noticed that Leon was dying. It was a fact he had been avoiding, not wanting to acknowledge it.

If Leon left, Dion would have nowhere to rest in the world.

“Do you know Leon? Even so, I won’t let him go. Not to you, not to the god of death.”

“Hmph! By what means? Leon will die. Even gods can’t change that. Think about making his remaining time good. Don’t think about continuing to roll him around in this cruel war. Cough, cough, making a dragon commit murder. You should make them do what they’re meant to do.”

“Ha. Do you think that’s up to me? Besides, it’s instinct.”

“Instinct? Cut out that nonsense! Who says that? That murder is instinct?”

“Well, these creatures originally—!”

Dion hesitated for a moment and stared up at Leon. By now, Leon and the strange dragon were playing, splashing water at each other.

“Think carefully. Was there ever a time when dragons attacked first? Apart from minimal hunting to satisfy hunger, have these creatures ever harmed other animals?”

The woman sat down heavily near the puddle. Then she carefully took off her shoes and dipped her legs in the water. Leon slowly approached her.

She cupped one hand to scoop water and carefully poured it over Leon’s neck area, stroking him.

“Think carefully about whether they’ve ever attacked humans first.”

Dion’s eyes wavered in confusion. It was a subject he had never thought about. Moreover, even though Leon was quite gentle compared to other dragons, he was still a dragon. To offer his neck so intimately to someone who wasn’t his master…..

This woman before him must definitely have some secret.

“I thought it would be fine if only I disappeared, cough, cough, cough. That d*mn human not only betrayed me but is now ruining my daughters too. So save my daughters. Then, I’ll give you what you want. At least you’ll be able to keep Leon’s traces.”

“Groooowl.”

“I have it. Cough, cough.”

Rarely, Leon interjected from the side. The woman kept coughing dryly. Her strained voice added a metallic sound, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

“What exactly are you?”

“Me?”

The woman twisted her lips and smiled bitterly.

“Caroline Sustain.”

Only after finally receiving Dion’s promise did she disappear into the darkness.

⁕⁕⁕

Clementina sat alone in the tent that Dion had hurriedly set up, still in her wet clothes. She couldn’t escape Dion’s penetrating gaze. Thinking that lies wouldn’t work, she confessed the truth.

That she had seen Arakan giving the prey he had hunted to Mago.

Dion, who had thought Mago was just stealing Arakan’s meat, was once again shocked by this fact and removed his suspicious gaze from Clementina. Or at least, that’s how it seemed.

Even inside the tent, the air was chilly. Sitting in wet clothes for a long time, she began to feel cold. Only then did she take off her wet clothes and thoroughly dry her hair.

When leaving Sustain Castle, she had expected some inconvenience by not bringing even one maid, but moving alone felt better than she had thought.

Taking care of her own body with her own hands gave her a greater sense of fulfillment than expected.

When she reached Drasia territory, she would need to hire new ladies-in-waiting and maids, but they wouldn’t be Count Sustain’s people, so they wouldn’t remind her of traces of the past. She wanted to leave her old self at Sustain Castle and start anew.

She placed her clothes on the cot. Wearing light underwear and a linen dress with just a gown-style dress over them seemed easier than expected. It might seem much simpler than when a maid dressed her, but it would cover her body anyway, so there was nothing to regret.

As Clementina was holding her underwear, trying to figure out which was the front and back, she heard singing from outside the tent.

Clementina hurriedly put her beautiful curved body into the dry clothes. She wore a dark green dress with exposed shoulders over her under-dress and stepped outside.

Some part of the under-dress was wrinkled, making her chest feel tight, but she had succeeded in getting fully dressed nonetheless.

People had gathered near the fire that Dion had lit earlier. He had thrown off his wet top and was cutting something with his bare skin exposed.

Judging by their expressions, they had successfully hunted some great delicacy. Clementina approached them readily but froze when she saw the animal carcasses at their feet.

“W-what is that?!”

The people who had been laughing stopped their gestures at once upon hearing Clementina’s shout.

It was about the size of three people combined. Its glossy wings were larger than Clementina’s body. The well-developed muscles of its four legs were drooping, rolling on the ground.

Its entire body was pitch black, with vivid green patterns along the blood vessels that would surely stand out in the dark night.

Except for the wings, it closely resembled a horse, but true to being a demonic beast, it had one large horn on its nose and two on its head.

The carcasses of two demonic beasts lay limp at their feet, and one already seemed to have been completely dismembered.

When Berche placed the well-trimmed meat on the fire, a familiar sizzling sound was heard. Though his eyes seemed to be watching Clementina’s reaction, there was no hesitation in his actions.

Tilaite, Halia’s delicacy, was a demonic beast.

“You eat demonic beasts?”

Clementina’s brow furrowed mercilessly. She had never heard of eating demonic beasts.

“Ah! Caught red-handed. Why did you come out so soon?”

Dion scratched his cheek and stood in front of Clementina, blocking her view. He gently held Clementina’s hand, which was tightly gripping her skirt.

“It’s okay to eat this one.”

“It’s a demonic beast.”

“We’ll remove all the poison.”

“It’s a demonic beast.”

“We eat it every time we come here. But look. I’m not dead yet.”

“Isn’t this too reckless?”

Dion chuckled. It seemed like he was mocking her, so Clementina’s hand gripping her skirt tightened.

But unlike Clementina’s miserable feelings, Dion raised his warm hand and covered her eyes.

“Don’t look now. It’s just a meal. I’ll eat first. I won’t force you, but why not give it a try? You’ve never tried it. Won’t you regret it later if you refuse without even tasting it?”

Clementina turned her head, escaping from the hand lightly placed on her eyes. Dion had a faint smell of sweat. Seeing his upper body stained with the green blood of the demonic beast was uncomfortable rather than embarrassing.

As Clementina hesitated without affirming or denying, Dion took her hand again, which had moved away.

Sizzle.

Once her mind calmed a bit, the sound of cooking meat sounded delicious. The smell was also not bad, contrary to expectations. She thought that perhaps trying the roasted flesh of a demonic beast for the first time might not be so bad after all.

“Your Highness, Everything is ready.”

Berche held plates of meat in both hands, flashing a smug smile.

When Clementina sat still holding her plate and fork, Dion stabbed a piece of meat from her plate with his own fork and brought it to his mouth.

After chewing a few times, the meat visibly slid down Dion’s throat with ease. As soon as it disappeared, Dion speared another piece of meat from Clementina’s plate and brought it to his mouth.

“Mmm, Tilaite always tastes good no matter when you eat it. Aren’t you going to try it? Should I eat it all?”

Dion began eating the meat on Clementina’s plate at an extremely slow pace. With his eyes slightly closed, he slowly moved to spear the last piece of meat with his fork, but just as he was about to bring it to his mouth, Clementina grabbed his hand.

“I’ll try it.”

Clementina finally surrendered to the increasingly strong smell of Tilaite meat. It was the first time she felt like eating something. The feeling was even more desperate than when she used to eat only tiny amounts of meat and greens.