This magic was the most difficult among summoning spells. Beyond simply summoning someone needed, I had to inject numerous conditions, and even cast memory erasure magic through the circle for those who refused.

If I failed, I might be swallowed by the magic circle and die.

‘But that’s nothing special.’

Born without even a speck of the magical power most people naturally possess, I tried everything to gain magic after becoming emperor.

I once charged into the Erhil Mountain Range dungeon alone with just a sword, nearly died, but ultimately survived.

There were countless other things I’d done in pursuit of power.

The title “tyrant” attached to my name partly reflected the nobles’ fear of my near-madness in craving power.

In their eyes, I was a monster who always got what I wanted and calmly crushed anyone who opposed me.

‘But problems exist to be solved.’

In my current situation, whether I get assassinated by nobles or die trying to fix things myself, the result would be the same.

I slowly raised my hand.

I couldn’t appear clumsy in front of whoever I summoned. Besides, the magical activation words were crucial for manifesting magic, so I needed to pronounce them precisely.

I tensed my lips and then chanted the spell slowly but clearly, enunciating each syllable.

[La Meidins (Creation).]

In the blink of an eye, a magic circle appeared in midair with a brilliant white light.

The intricately woven magical formula was obviously complex to anyone who saw it.

The essence of magic lies in manifesting the magic circle. When a magic circle is properly manifested, half the battle is won.

I quickly issued the next “command.”

[Riestis (Summon).]

Whoosh!

At that moment, a dazzling white light burst from the floating magic circle, accompanied by a cold wind. Simultaneously, the wind began to blow.

I grimaced at the unexpectedly powerful gust.

Perhaps because I had imposed so many conditions, it wasn’t easy from the start.

With a slightly tense face, I stared at the summoning circle that emitted only light but remained silent.

Surely at least one person would respond. Otherwise, I’d truly have to pretend Rigan was my father.

Just as I was thinking this.

The previously unresponsive summoning circle began to shake, and suddenly, one part of it distorted, creating what looked like a hole. My magical power started being absorbed chaotically.

‘Someone is absorbing my magic?’

At that moment, I became a bit tense.

Even among other races, no one could control my magic this easily.

Yet someone was doing this difficult feat, and judging by the current situation—

‘Have they accepted the summoning?’

Who could it be?

Who had responded to my summons?

As events unfolded differently than expected, I prepared to attack, ready to kill the other party immediately if necessary.

Or rather, I tried to prepare.

If only I hadn’t staggered from the sudden gust of wind that hit me.

“Ah!”

I quickly tried to turn my body to steady myself against the floor.

But then, the light suddenly vanished, and a warm breeze enveloped me, gently supporting me.

“Indeed, children are troublesome.”

As I straightened myself, a deep voice reached my ears.

I hurriedly looked up and surveyed my surroundings.

Then, by the window, a hazy figure gradually took shape, revealing a man.

He was leaning against the window, with one leg on the windowsill and the other on the floor.

Perhaps due to the lingering effects of the summoning magic, his silver hair swayed slightly, creating a peculiar impression.

Beneath thick eyelashes on his sculpture-like face were pale blue eyes, a prominent nose bridge, and firmly closed lips.

He wore a long coat over his sharp, statue-like features, but it couldn’t fully conceal his broad shoulders and tall stature.

I stared at the man blankly.

I knew him.

“It’s been a while, Esht, no, Estria. Since I last saw you, you’ve become much…”

“…?”

“…smaller.”

The deep voice and languid tone. That cold expression suggesting complete disinterest in everything in this world.

The man who appeared was none other than Lerrhagen.

The leader of dragons who ruled above all races, and the strongest being in this world.

At the same time—

“But really, coming out after so long makes even breathing bothersome.”

“…”

“I should research a way to live without breathing.”

He was also the strangest being among all living creatures in this world.

I was shocked.

Why did the Dragon Lord appear when I summoned someone to be my fake father?

This wasn’t the scale I had in mind.

* * *

In truth, Lerrhagen and I weren’t strangers.

Unlike other dragons who mostly stayed confined to their territories, he interacted with quite a few humans despite his character that extremely disliked anything troublesome.

I first met him when I was about ten years old, when Father invited him to the imperial palace to become the teacher of my fourth older sister, who was rumored to be a magic prodigy.

My fourth sister Ameli, though a concubine’s daughter, had a natural talent for magic from a young age and was a genius praised by all mages.

She often used that as an excuse to torment me, shooting fire to burn my hair or dumping ice chunks on me in the dead of winter.

So I was quite afraid of her becoming Lerrhagen’s disciple.

If she became his disciple, she would surely grow stronger and torment me more thoroughly.

However, after watching her perform magic circles more perfectly than usual, Lerrhagen coldly muttered with his statue-like face:

“This is what you call a genius?”

“…Pardon?”

“Humanity’s future looks bleak. To think someone like this is called a genius.”

As soon as he finished speaking, my sister Ameli, who had never heard a negative word in her life, burst into tears.

Father and the ladies-in-waiting rushed to comfort her, but it was futile.

Lerrhagen surveyed my sobbing fourth sister and my father, who was filled with rage but couldn’t utter a sound, with indifferent eyes and an unconcerned expression.

Watching this with a face full of fear while squeezed among my siblings, I thought he was quite remarkable.

Then, an unexpected twist occurred that no one anticipated.

Lerrhagen, who had been indifferently surveying his surroundings until just a moment ago, suddenly fixed his gaze on me.

After some time passed, he said while calmly staring at me:

“You will be my seventh disciple.”

Naturally, the imperial palace was thrown into an uproar at that moment.

The despised youngest imperial princess becoming the disciple of the great Dragon Lord?

But I couldn’t be happy about the fact that Lerrhagen had chosen me. Because my father’s chilling gaze, who had been comforting my fourth sister from afar, was now fixed on me.

Nothing is more frightening to a young child than a parent’s contempt and disdain.

In the end, I shook my head slightly at Lerrhagen.

Lerrhagen looked at me with a somewhat peculiar expression. After some time passed, he glanced at my father and indifferently opened his mouth.

“If you don’t want to, then don’t.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared.

Watching him, I thought he had chosen me by mistake or on a whim. Or perhaps he was angry.

It was absurd for a mere human girl to refuse becoming the Dragon Lord’s disciple.

However, he never appeared at the imperial palace again after that. The only fortunate thing was that after that day, my fourth sister stopped tormenting me directly.

Of course, the others continued as before.

Anyway, after becoming emperor a few years later, I completely forgot about Lerrhagen. Or rather, I never thought of seeking him out or summoning him.

He was the Dragon Lord who ruled above all beings.

It would be ridiculous to approach him again after rejecting him once, and above all, by then I no longer expected help from anyone.

So I thought we would never cross paths again.

I became bewildered.

Lerrhagen was rumored to be the one who hated troublesome things the most across the continent, no, across all dimensions.

Yet here he was, revealing himself.

“How did you come here?”

“Through the summoning circle, of course.”

Lerrhagen replied indifferently to my voice, still filled with shock.

I fixed my gaze on him as calmly as possible.

He was yawning while slouched on the windowsill, seemingly exhausted for some reason. Yet even in that state, an overwhelming presence emanated from his large, solid physique.

I examined his expression.

I hoped he wasn’t still holding a grudge about my rejection and had come to take revenge.

Surely a dragon who had lived for thousands, no, tens of thousands of years wouldn’t…

While I kept my guard up and observed him, he leisurely turned his head.

“No need to look at me like that. Weren’t you the one who summoned me?”

“I summoned someone to become my father, not the Lord.”

“Yes, that’s why I came.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You were looking for a father, so I came to be your father.”

What did he just say?

I was completely dumbfounded now.

Yes, I had planned to make a deal with a non-human who met the conditions.

But the fact that it was Lerrhagen threw me into a state of shock.

I knew how much he disliked troublesome things. Moreover, he was a being worshipped by everyone on this continent, no, in this dimension.

Yet Lerrhagen was acting like becoming my father was the most natural thing.

“Are you… serious?”

Seeing my bewildered expression, Lerrhagen finally finished his fifth yawn and slowly descended from the windowsill.