It wasn’t the nauseating, fishy smell typical of demonic beasts, but the aroma of well-aged meat marinated in spices for a long time that tempted Clementina’s nose and mouth.

When she put the warm Tilaite meat in her mouth, she felt its chewy texture. The intense sweetness and spiciness that grew stronger with each chew stimulated her tongue. Despite its dark red appearance, the meat wasn’t tough at all, flowing down her throat almost before she had a chance to chew it properly.

As Clementina’s eyes widened, Dion’s eyes curved like bows. Watching the ice-cold mask of the doll crack was more enjoyable than he had anticipated.

“How did you remove the poison?”

“The advantage of Tilaite is that the poison is visible. See those green stems on the skin surface? Those are blood vessels, and their blood itself is poison. But it turns out that poison actually makes the meat taste better.”

Dion pushed all the meat from his plate onto Clementina’s empty plate and used his fork to bring another piece to her mouth. Clementina naturally accepted the meat while listening to Dion’s explanation.

“Of course, I didn’t learn this by choice. I had a blood-like experience where I nearly starved to death. I actually brought Tilaite to Drasia estate. I gave it to that mage Henry, and after trying various things, we found that Tilaite blood was effective for marinating other meats too.”

This was the most delicious meat she had ever tasted. It was so different from the dry, tough foods she had eaten before. It was moist yet chewy, savory, and even smelled good.

“Without the tedious process of smoking, aging, and marinating, you just soak meat in Tilaite blood, the toxicity disappears, and you have excellent food in just a few days.”

The act of chewing food was surprisingly enjoyable, with sweetness lingering on the tip of her tongue.

⁕⁕⁕

The full moon shone as bright as the sun, illuminating Clementina’s entire body. Thanks to the countless stars, Clementina wasn’t afraid of the unfamiliar, dark pool.

She lifted the pouch she was holding in her hand. Inside were expensive food ingredients she had obtained from Berche.

As she sat at the edge of the pool with her feet in the water, a strange feeling bubbled up below her chest.

Despite Dion’s persistent temptation, she felt embarrassed when actually trying to do it. So she waited until nightfall to secretly dip her feet. The tingling sensation on the soles of her feet was pleasantly ticklish.

Just then, ripples formed in the quiet pool where Clementina had her feet. Luminous purple eyes emerged, followed by a deep purple face that revealed itself, blowing air from its nostrils that made the water surface bubble.

Clementina opened her pouch and very slowly, carefully poured its contents in front of dragon Mago’s nose.

White powder, sparkling as it reflected the moonlight, fell in front of Mago’s nose and disappeared into the water.

Mago, who had been watching Clementina’s actions with wary eyes, flicked his tongue and took a sip of water. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he began gulping frantically.

Soon, Mago, having swallowed nothing but water, glared at Clementina with sharp eyes. Without moving much, he lowered his head, focusing all his attention on Clementina’s every move.

The next moment, Mago, who had been staring at her without even breathing, rose up and lunged at Clementina in an instant.

Mago, who had never once lost his prey, caught Clementina’s skirt hem with good momentum and quickly entered the water.

In the sudden turn of events, Clementina helplessly swallowed water.

She flailed her hands and struggled. The more she gasped for breath, the more water she swallowed. Then something supported her buttocks and pulled her above the water. When her breath suddenly cleared, tears poured out.

She felt foolish for underestimating the dragon. She had thought she might be somewhat special.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Gasping for breath, she rubbed away the flowing tears with her hands. Then a moist sensation touched her hand.

Mago was pressing his nose against her hand with round eyes. Somehow, Mago seemed confused as well. Clementina only then realized that she was sitting on Mago’s back, half-submerged in water.

Mago had a small pouch in his mouth. It was the sugar pouch that Clementina had brought.

Mago turned his head, elegantly swam to place Clementina on a mound, and rested his head on her thigh.

She had heard that dragons were naturally temperamental and fierce, extremely wary of strangers and avoiding contact with humans. That’s why it was difficult to find dragons that were skilled in combat, could communicate with humans, and were intelligent.

It was a stroke of fortune that Clementina could see a dragon this close.

There are only a few dragons in the world that allow human touch. The cost of maintaining a dragon is also enormous.

The amount of meat a single dragon eats in a day exceeds twelve cows or more than twenty sheep or pigs. They particularly love gold and jewels, often eating them as snacks, so most countries couldn’t even think of keeping dragons.

To people, dragons were both precious and frightening. They were used as powerful weapons to tear apart demonic beasts and protect citizens from enemies. They were the most effective tools for demonstrating a country’s power.

The reason Dion was called a being blessed by the great dragon Rakane began with rumors that he resonated with twelve cruel dragons.

The avatar of dragons who resonates with all dragons.

As the imperial people’s fantasies about Dion grew, he became a target of jealousy and scrutiny among those in power.

The only being with power exceeding the Emperor’s, the Emperor’s beloved brother, but simultaneously had to be placed under the Emperor’s feet with the shackle of being the Knight Commander.

The Emperor, without correcting the rumors, used Dion according to his own taste whenever Dion brought victory in war. Thanks to that, rumors became facts.

But Dion said all this was thanks to Leon. He did not become arrogant, saying that dragons responded to him because of his left arm created with dragon magic, containing Leon’s will.

He seemed to always remind himself that the only dragon that resonated with Dion was Leon alone.

Now she understood that when he occasionally mocked himself as “the d*mn avatar of dragons,” it wasn’t a joke.

Clementina felt that her thoughts about Dion, whom she had only heard about through rumors until now, had changed a lot.

Clementina looked at Mago, who was resting his head on her leg, not daring to stroke him with her hand.

How arbitrarily are they being judged by humans?

The dragon before her eyes is just a gentle animal.

Is this also an arbitrary judgment?

Just as there is a difference between the rumored beautiful and arrogant Clementina and her real self, is there anyone who knows their true nature?

Does Dion really understand them?

‘Can I understand? No, can they understand me?’

All sorts of thoughts poured down like stars in the night sky. Just then, Mago quietly moved away from Clementina.

A moment later, there was a soft sound of footsteps on the soil, and a large hand gently gripped Clementina’s shoulder.

“It’s dangerous to be alone with a dragon. You need to be careful. Shh. Mago, move away.”

Mago, who had already moved away from Clementina, seemed to understand Dion’s voice and slowly disappeared into the water.

“When did you get all wet again? Did you go in with your clothes on?”

“I accidentally fell into the water.”

Clementina smiled softly. Dion looked incredulous but came over and sat beside her.

“Still, the night air is cold, so shall we go in?”

Dion wiped Clementina’s feet with a soft cloth he had brought. He put one arm under Clementina’s knees and gently lifted her body.

Clementina tried to look for traces of someone in the pool visible over Dion’s shoulder.

The cool breeze struck Clementina’s warmed body. The fresh scent of grass and soil permeated her soaked golden hair and swayed.

Raising her head at the unfamiliar gaze, she saw Dion’s blue eyes reflected in the moonlight looking at her. Despite his kind and friendly attitude, his eyes were constantly testing her and trying to gauge her intentions.