Eventually, both the light and the dragon’s form had completely vanished.

While Riena was looking around in bewilderment at the dreamlike situation, an unfamiliar sound reached her ears that she hadn’t heard before. She turned her head toward the sound and immediately backed away, startled by the human figure walking toward her from a distance.

“What, what is this…”

Her purple eyes trembled uncontrollably. Walking from where the dragon had been moments ago was a large man. As he approached close enough for her to make out his face, Riena momentarily forgot her situation, her mouth slightly open in amazement.

He had silver-gray hair the same color as the dragon’s scales and piercingly clear blue eyes.

The shadows cast in the dim place added mystery to the man’s face, and the harmony of his straight eyebrows, sharply prominent nose, and appropriately angular jawline was so perfect that Riena momentarily forgot reality and became dazed.

She had never seen such a shockingly handsome face even in the capital. Her hand covering her mouth lowered automatically, and her gaze gradually moved downward.

His broad shoulders and chest, muscles woven so densely they looked capable of handling several magical beasts at once, appeared perfect both functionally and aesthetically. The elegant lines of his body and the large tail visible between his veiny thighs also captured her attention.

‘Wait. Tail?’

A person with a tail? Is that possible? Riena blinked and looked at the lower part of the man again. She quickly realized what the “tail” actually was and hurriedly raised her eyes.

Riena tried hard to close her gaping mouth and made an effort not to look at that area. What she had just seen wasn’t a tail but g*nitalia so large she wished she could erase it from her memory.

While Riena was struggling with herself, the man came closer. Momentarily distracted by his appearance, she suddenly became aware of reality again and hunched her shoulders. It was difficult to make sense of what was happening.

After fleeing to avoid death and falling into a dragon’s den, when she thought she would surely die, a completely n*ked man appeared out of nowhere. Though she rarely became flustered, this time it was hard to regain her composure.

Judging by those firm muscles, it wouldn’t be strange if he had just eliminated the dragon, but the fact that a hero who could instantly vanquish a dragon might be an exhibitionist pervert was hard to accept. Looking at his flowing silver-gray hair, the theory that the dragon had transformed into a human seemed more plausible.

‘Polymorph!’

Yes, she had heard such stories from village elders. Dragon magic was boundless, allowing them to transform into humans for brief amusement. The assumption that the dragon had transformed into a human was more convincing than the assumption that another human had been in this space.

While she was lost in thought, the man came closer. In this situation, the sight of a n*ked man walking toward her was beyond terrifying, causing her shoulders to instinctively hunch. Wishing this were just a dream, she tightly closed her eyes, but when nothing happened after a while, she cautiously opened one eye.

“Who are you?”

As soon as she opened her eyes, she met blue eyes that rippled toward her. The man, who had been standing with an unreadable expression, opened his mouth, and a deep voice echoed off the stone walls. Riena, who hadn’t expected him to speak, flinched and curled up more.

“Well, that, I mean…”

The man’s voice was also sweet, but this wasn’t the time to consider such things. What should she say? Should she beg for her life? Should she brazenly ask him to let her out? Should she kneel and plead?

But if she knelt now, wouldn’t that enormous g*nitalia be right in front of her face?

Her lavender eyes darted around, unable to focus. Her stumbling words failed to form complete sentences.

Strangely, the man seemed to ignore her completely and muttered with an ambiguous look.

“Where is this place?”

Where else could it be? It’s the Rutwal Mountains where he was sealed. Has he lost his mind after waking up after so long? Judging by his clueless expression, he didn’t seem to be in his right mind.

“Um, well, this is Rut…”

She tried to answer diligently, fearing he might kill her for not responding. However, just as she was about to say “Rutwal Mountains,” she remembered that the dragon had been sealed by the Grand Temple in the past.

The memory of being sealed couldn’t have been pleasant, and she worried he might kill her if she angered him by bringing it up. She changed her words due to this reasonable concern.

“Do, don’t you remember?”

“…”

The man blinked slowly with a languid gaze. Then gradually, his expression changed. His blue eyes, previously inanimate, sparkled coldly.

Riena, momentarily entranced by his beauty, met those deep-sea blue eyes.

She couldn’t fathom the depth of his eyes. They were deep like the ocean and distant like the sky beyond the horizon. He stared at her with an unreadable face. His gaze sent chills down her spine, resembling that of a predator contemplating whether to devour its prey.

Only then did the reality of the situation hit her, and her lips began to tremble slightly.

“Pl-please spare…”

She wanted to beg for her life, but her voice wouldn’t come out, her throat feeling completely blocked. The blue eyes facing her somehow seemed to burn hot. His piercing gaze felt like a tsunami about to engulf her.

The color drained from Riena’s frightened face. The trembling in her fingertips spread through her shoulders to her entire body. The man, presumed to be a dragon, observed her for a long time as she shook pathetically like a squirrel before a predator. Then he moved closer and reached out to touch her face, seemingly measuring something.

“Ah…”

She tried hard to open her mouth, but her blocked voice wouldn’t come out immediately. Was he gauging how easily he could kill her? The hot sensation of his fingers on her cheek felt vivid.

“What memories are you talking about?”

“Any, anything at all…”

Riena barely managed to answer. Ironically, the man’s touch was so warm and careful that her tension was gradually easing.

Seeing Riena trembling but not avoiding his eyes, the man slightly raised the corner of his mouth before speaking.

“I can’t remember.”

Huh? Riena’s pupils dilated. After acting like he was going to eat her, he suddenly claims he can’t remember? Even staring at his brazen, handsome face, it was difficult to discern whether his words were lies or truth.

To her bewildered expression, the man emphasized again.

“I can’t remember.”

That’s not right. It doesn’t seem right… But she wanted to avoid the misfortune of becoming a skewer for telling a dragon he was lying. Riena confirmed with a suspicious face, stumbling over her words.

“You can’t… remember?”

“…Yes.”

The man suddenly showed a docile expression and nodded. Though she was usually quick to assess situations, this one was truly difficult for her to grasp. Her frustration was beginning to override her fear. As her rigid vision relaxed, the enormous g*nitalia below the man came back into view.

“You really can’t remember… anything?”

A faint hope appeared on Riena’s face. The man kept his eyes fixed on her face and slowly nodded. For someone who claimed to have lost his memory, his answer was clear and straightforward.

“I don’t recall why I’m here, where this place is, who you are, nothing comes to mind.”

The man suddenly frowned and touched his brow, his head clearly hurting. Even when Riena cautiously asked several more times, the answer remained the same.

As the claim that he couldn’t remember anything was repeatedly stated, Riena’s suspicion gradually cleared. She covered her mouth with her hand to hide her increasingly rising smile.

‘I’m saved!’

A dragon with genuine amnesia! Was the shock of being sealed too great? 

Well, it was understandable, considering the legends that thousands of holy knights, knights, and mages were mobilized to seal one rampaging dragon.

He could be lying, but no matter how much she thought about it, there seemed to be no reason for him to tell such a lie.