The dragon grasped me with its large, intimidating front paw.

I wanted to scream immediately after suddenly being lifted into the sky, but I desperately held my breath and remained still.

Fortunately, the dragon placed me in a safe spot in its nest.

Returning to Aaron’s form right away, it spoke with an excited voice.

“Rose, sit here. I’ve prepared many human things for you. Did I do well?”

It pulled a comfortable-looking chair in front of me. After seating me on it, it proudly poured all sorts of gold and treasures before my eyes.

“Here’s gold and jewels that Rose likes. What do you think? Nice, right?”

I was dumbfounded. What was this all about?

The dragon, with Aaron’s face, smiled brightly while randomly bringing sparkling necklaces to my neck.

“Hmm, not this one, maybe this one would be better?”

I watched this scene quietly and decided to wait patiently for just 5 minutes.

Calix would need that much time to make various preparations before coming here.

“…Why are you silent, Rose? Don’t you like this face?”

At its words, I forced myself to smile brightly.

I was pretending to be fine, but there was no way I could be.

The being in front of me wasn’t human but a dragon with a body tens of times larger than mine.

And not the Eastern dragon symbolizing protection, but a Western dragon that smashes everything in its path and thinks it’s the greatest.

My hands were sweating. I needed to keep my wits about me and act calm.

“Of course not.”

“Rose, I am Aaron Crimson.”

The dragon crouched obediently at my feet and looked up at me.

“The one you met was me. I was the one who found you first. So the Aaron Crimson you know and I are the same being. Don’t treat me like a stranger.”

It stared at me with eerily calm, dead eyes. It felt strange. A chill ran down my spine and I felt as if my entire body was being restrained.

“Yes.”

“It’s not ‘yes,’ Rose.”

Its expression hardened and irritation seeped into its voice.

“Do you dislike that I’m not human? Does Rose only like humans? Or do you not like this face?”

In an instant, its face changed to a familiar appearance.

“Oh, Rose’s expression changed.”

I was boiling with anger inside. What was it thinking, changing into that face?

With Calix’s face, it stared at me and said, “Strange taste.”

And then sighed deeply as if displeased.

“Now do you feel like talking to me?”

It asked me with the exact same voice and tone as Calix. I clenched my fists tightly and tried to stay calm, but I kept getting angry.

It was doing this on purpose. Because it knew how much I cared for Calix, so like this…

“What do you want from me?”

I gritted my teeth and spoke as politely as possible, and the dragon with Calix’s face frowned deeply and answered.

“Live with me.”

“……”

For the first time in my life, I understood what it meant for fists to cry. What was this crazy creature saying?

“Humans don’t even live 100 years. If you live with me, I’ll make you live longer.”

It seemed unaware of the feelings with which I was looking at it.

‘This crazy bastard.’

Whether I openly frowned or not, it continued shamelessly without caring.

“You’re a being from another world, so it’s too wasteful for you to play with these insignificant humans. Rose.”

I felt dizzy. Was this even real?

I gathered my scattered thoughts and tried to gauge the time. It should be okay by now.

It would be better to somehow make the dragon lower its guard until Calix stormed in.

“Ha, Aaron. While I’m still being nice, return to your original form.”

I brushed my bangs aside and looked at it with an annoyed expression.

For some reason, the dragon seemed to want me to treat it as I normally would.

At my words, it smiled happily with Calix’s face before returning to the familiar form of Aaron.

“But, Rose. My name isn’t Aaron. It’s Rahut. Rahut. Aaron is just the name of my human shell that I use for amusement.”

I stood up from my seat, sighed, and shook my head. It followed right behind me and said, “Rose, want me to show you something else? Aren’t you interested in magic?”

“What’s that?”

I pointed at something random.

Calix had clearly instructed me.

If I were ever kidnapped by the dragon, I should try to get the d*mn dragon as far away from me as possible and call him immediately.

Fortunately, the creature excitedly ran to where I had pointed, just as I intended.

Seizing the opportunity, I immediately pictured Calix’s face in my mind and called his name.

“…Ah, Rose.”

And at that very moment, swish-.

The dragon with Aaron’s face turned its head toward me. It gave me chills.

“If you pull this kind of trick, it’s quite unpleas- ugh!”

It happened in an instant. A golden magic circle opened right above the dragon, and from there, Calix, gripping a sword, plunged it directly into the dragon’s neck.

Crack! With the sound of bones twisting, Calix quickly pushed the dragon away and flew like an arrow to block in front of me, shouting,

“Restrain it!”

When he thr*st his sword into the cave floor, a bright light emanated from the blade.

Then, magicians wearing Arcadion robes appeared from all directions and bound the dragon with golden chains.

It looked like the same magic I had seen when facing Morisias.

“Your Majesty!”

Looking at the back of Calix’s head, I felt strangely reassured despite the urgent situation, and tears came to my eyes.

“Take the Empress and evacuate!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Knights under Calix’s command who had been summoned to the lair rushed over quickly. Unfortunately, his order could not be carried out.

The knights running toward me all coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.

At the same time, Calix’s body floated up into the air by the dragon’s magic, and he coughed dryly as if his throat was being gripped.

“Kuhak!”

Curses sprang to my lips. My mind went blank.

No.

“Ha, really annoying.”

The chained dragon tilted its neck, from which golden blood was dripping, and glared at me.

“Rose is stupid.”

I quickly drew the dagger I had strapped to my thigh. And with trembling hands, I gritted my teeth and said, “Let him go, you bastard!”

Regardless, it didn’t seem to care as it looked at Calix with a hardened face.

“Human, I clearly warned you not to meddle. Getting arrogant because you gained some power of the absolute being is not the right attitude. Especially when you can’t even handle that power properly.”

“Kuhak, that’s, kuk, just your opinion, you bastard.”

Calix, suspended in midair, said mockingly. Then he pulled out another sword from a spatial pocket and threw it with all his might at the dragon’s face.

Crash!

With a sound like sparks flying, the sword cut through the air and lodged in the dragon’s shoulder.

Then, with a strange scream, the dragon with Aaron’s face began to transform, its features twisting and contorting.

A mouth tearing wide open, reptilian eyes growing larger, scales rapidly emerging.

Calix fell to the ground, clutching his throat with one hand, and immediately embraced me, saying, “Begin!”

The magicians began to chant spells.

Calix, breathing heavily, examined my complexion.

I wondered who was checking on whom right now. I was furious. His throat that had been grabbed was bright red.

“How dare a lowly human try to defeat me. Your arrogance hasn’t changed.”

The cave shook violently. The magicians, perhaps due to the dragon’s breath, began to stagger and fall one by one.

Feeling threatened, Calix pulled out another sword from the air and said, “Back, stay as far back as possible.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Trust me.”

At Calix’s words, I had no choice but to step back, one step, then two.

As soon as I retreated, the magicians cast a protective barrier around me.

With a devastated heart, I could only watch as Calix, still in his ceremonial attire, ran toward the dragon’s mouth.

“Give me the woman!”

A strange voice echoed throughout the massive lair.

The golden dragon opened its jaws wide, trying to swallow Calix whole, and Calix immediately drove his sword into the dragon’s face.

“Give her to me!”

The dragon’s front paw fell in front of Calix. He immediately rolled to avoid the attack and fired another sword strike.

“Aim for the head!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

With Calix’s command, dozens of magicians were summoned to the lair again and began to chant eerily chilling spells.

Grrrrrr-!

Despite being bound in chains, the dragon’s tail slashed across the stone floor and struck toward Calix.

“D*mn it, hurry! What are you waiting for!”

When Calix stabbed his sword into the tail with a thud, his body floated up into the air again. I could hear his groans as he tried to endure somehow.

At that sight, my hands trembled violently.

It was different from Morisias.

The dragon was trying to kill Calix.

Calix slid down the dragon’s tail and tried to cut off its tailbone.

Then the dragon opened its mouth toward its own tail and spewed a hot fireball.

The heat reached all the way to where I was standing.

In the chaos before my eyes, I couldn’t think of anything.