“I can heal myself.”

So there’s a way like that!

Leah quickly held out her pinky finger.

“Promise.”

“Promise?”

“Leah and Helix will dance the first dance together at the ball.”

Helix held out his pinky finger in return and asked.

“Only the first dance?”

“We’ll see about the next ones after trying the first.”

Leah spoke primly as she linked her finger with Helix’s and shook it as if making a pledge.

Helix stared down at the gesture before tightly intertwining their fingers.

“It’s a promise.”

***

After traveling all day, the Piert return party stopped in front of an inn late in the afternoon.

“We’ll stay here tonight and depart early tomorrow morning.”

At Ruyan’s command, the knights and hired hands began moving in unison. The door to Leah’s carriage opened.

Tap.

“…Ugh!”

“Careful.”

Helix caught her and set her properly on the ground.

“You almost fell. What’s the rush?”

“I feel sick…”

She felt like she was dying from exhaustion and nausea.

“My lady, are you alright?”

Janet came running with the luggage.

“You’ll feel better if you go inside, wash up and rest a bit. I’ll give you a massage too.”

“That would be good, Leah.”

Helix touched her cold hands worriedly and infused a bit of mana.

Pop.

“Ugh…”

“Feel better?”

Leah nodded weakly.

“I guess even magic can’t cure motion sickness…”

“Magic isn’t omnipotent. I’ll make some medicine, so go rest first.”

At Helix’s words, Leah gathered her wits a bit.

Feeling unwell seemed to bring out her old habit of whining from when she was sick, making her feel slightly embarrassed.

Everyone’s busy, I should pull myself together and stay strong too.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Seeing Leah trying to respond energetically, Helix narrowed his eyes.

Even though she could lean on others and ask for help when things were hard, she tried to handle the crucial things alone.

‘While that’s very like Leah.’

Sometimes when he felt that distance, it felt like having sand in his mouth.

Helix was about to say something more but instead gently pulled down her hood.

“It’s dangerous in inns like this, so keep that pretty face covered.”

“What’s that about?”

Seeing her chuckle softly, a smile spread to his lips too.

Leah smiled again in response.

‘Well, what does it matter.’

When his contractor was smiling in front of him.

Helix turned away with a faint smile, then turned back toward the inn.

His face hardened.

“This mana is…”

***

Leah entered the inn with a smile. Janet, walking beside her, also looked relieved.

‘The young lady seems to be feeling better.’

She had been worried about Leah suffering from motion sickness all day, so this was fortunate.

‘I should make her more comfortable quickly.’

Janet quickly stepped forward.

“Innkeeper, we need your best room. One with a private bath.”

“Ah… that room already has a guest…”

“There’s already a guest?”

Janet was flustered but quickly asked again.

“Are there no other rooms with private baths?”

“That’s the only one.”

The troubled innkeeper perked up his ears. He could hear horse neighing and footsteps from outside.

“Um… do you have many in your party?”

“Yes, quite a few. The others would be willing to give up their rooms, but we’d really like our young lady to have the room with the bath.”

The innkeeper became anxious hearing Janet’s words.

It seemed to be a large party traveling with a noble lady, but there was no room with a bath to offer her.

‘I can’t lose such important customers!’

The innkeeper swallowed hard as he spotted a guest. His face brightened.

“Oh, there’s the guest from that room now.”

“The one staying in the room with the bath?”

“Yes. If you two ladies talk to him, who knows? He might be willing to give up the room to you… Sir!”

The guest turned his head at being called.

‘Huh?’

Black hair and black eyes.

Leah unconsciously blinked at the color combination she’d never seen in this world before, when suddenly the air changed. Her chest felt compressed as if under water pressure, and she could barely breathe.

‘What is this, what’s happening?’

She pressed her hand to her chest as she looked at the guest.

Tall with a solid build. A handsome man with delicate features and a gentle impression, but an atmosphere that somehow felt unapproachable.

‘…I don’t know him?’

Yet there was something familiar about him, an unpleasant feeling.

This sensation of being pressed down – she had definitely experienced it before.

The black-haired man approached without taking his eyes off her.

Step.

Her skin tingled with goosebumps wherever his gaze fell.

Step.

Leah froze like a hamster before a python, breathing raggedly while her guard was up.

He reached out to grab her shoulder and whispered.

“Found you.”

For a moment, golden flames flickered in the man’s eyes.

“My mage.”

***

What?

“How are the macarons doing?”

Leah blinked.

‘Macarons?’

Her mind couldn’t process this word that seemed so out of place in the current situation.

That’s when it happened.

“Remove that hand.”

A cold voice was heard as a large hand pushed away the man’s arm.

‘Helix!’

Leah took a deep breath.

Just having him block the front made it much easier to breathe.

As she inhaled his characteristically fresh scent, the pressure from the man’s mana lessened.

“…You.”

The black-haired man glared at Helix with a frown, then turned his gaze to Leah.

“How dare you…”

The man stared at her with fierce eyes while smiling only with his lips.

“Not recognizing your master, and keeping such a guy by your side?”

Who’s whose master? Just as Leah was about to flare up.

Swoosh.

Helix moved to completely shield her from the man.

“Master, you say…”

Helix’s voice was low.

“What uncouth nonsense is this.”

“…Uncouth nonsense?”

“Trying to force ownership through power over a sentient being with free will, that’s what uneducated ruffians do. Karai!”

While the man was stunned by the refined insult, Karai came running.

Though staggering as though he were about to collapse, he desperately ran over with sweat dripping from his face. Helix set him on his left side and grabbed his shoulder.

“Prepare to cast a barrier.”

“Yes!”

Veins stood out on Helix’s left arm as he gripped Karai’s shoulder.

Leah caught Helix’s intention.

Calling Karai to cast a barrier while infusing him with mana – he was preparing for a proper confrontation with the man before them.

‘I can’t just stand by either.’

She tensed her body, ready to use magic if needed.

The moment her mana cores in her lower abdomen and heart moved, Leah realized.

The black-haired man’s mana was similar to hers but several times more powerful.

‘…I won’t be able to handle him?’

Somehow it was scary. Leah shuddered and racked her brain.

‘We need to increase our fighting power. But I don’t think I’ll be much help right now…’

Having made her assessment, she tensed her stomach with a huff.

And shouted.

“Brother!”

Whoosh!

There was a sound of wind.

The next moment, Ruyan appeared in the doorway.

“Leah!”

He immediately drew his sword and pointed it at the man after confirming Leah’s location.

“What’s this fly now?”

From uncouth guy to ruffian, and now a fly.

The man briefly froze at this treatment he’d never received before, then looked around.

Helix, Karai, Ruyan.

After checking the men surrounding Leah, the black-haired man’s expression twisted.

***

After the man retreated and disappeared, Leah collapsed from exhaustion.

Thump.

Karai also fell face-down beside her with a drained expression.

“Master…”

Karai asked with a pale face.

“Are you alright? What was that person just now? The feeling…”

“…You felt strange too?”

“Yes!”

Karai nodded vigorously.

“When I faced him, my heart started racing and it was hard to breathe, cold sweat broke out and my legs went weak…”

Those are exactly the same symptoms as mine.

As Leah’s face hardened, Karai hesitated before speaking.

“And somehow… I felt like I shouldn’t go against his will.”

“You felt like you had to obey him?”

Helix placed his hand on Karai’s shoulder as he couldn’t answer. He had a guess.

‘Since Karai is also a magic user who consumed Dragon’s mana, he would naturally submit to Dragon’s energy.’

The reason he wasn’t immediately controlled by the black-haired man was probably thanks to his loyalty to Leah and the mana Helix had infused.

Helix said.

“Leah, you felt overwhelmed by him too. Since you’re a mage, you might be able to maintain your will better, but it would be different for magic users.”

Was that why the man ignored Karai and was only fixated on Leah? Helix quietly watched her with worry.

Leah muttered.

“Why did we react to him like that?”

Helix whispered quietly to her as she frowned.

“I sensed Dragon’s mana from him.”

“What?”

“Shh.”

After hushing Leah again, Helix looked around the inn.

Mercenaries and hunters, merchants and travelers and pilgrims.

It was a good environment because dangerous people were mixed in.

“Leah, we need to leave here.”

***

After Leah’s party left again like the wind.

The innkeeper sat disappointed in the first floor dining room.

He had been excited when what seemed like important guests suddenly arrived, but after the young lady said a few words, they all left again.

“I thought today’s business would be great.”

As the innkeeper sighed deeply, his wife scolded him.

“Oh my goodness, dear, come to your senses. Those people clearly looked like nobles of high standing, how could we possibly serve so many nobles?”

“If we send away all the guests…”

His wife glared at him.

“Have you lost your mind! If we chase away our regulars for one big score, what will we eat from then on?”

That’s when it happened.

Creeak.

As the door opened, a group of people burst into the inn.

“Welcome!”

They were wearing similar clothes like the noble knights from earlier. The innkeeper greeted them loudly, hoping for more important customers.

And then he collapsed right there.

Swoosh.

Belatedly, blood spurted from his body.

“Kyaaah!”

The innkeeper’s wife fell on her behind with a scream.

“Where is the mage?”

The black-haired man who had somehow appeared right next to her asked.

“M-mage?”

“The blonde, extremely beautiful noble lady.”

“T-that young lady came in but left right away…!”

Before she could finish speaking, the innkeeper’s wife collapsed. The black-haired man stood up expressionlessly and closed then opened his eyes.

Golden flames flickered in his black eyes.

“How dare…”

He recalled the mage he had finally found.

The beautiful face slightly visible under the hood and those clear blue eyes that had looked at him.

But more than her appearance, other things lingered longer.

The expression as she regarded him with caution.

Then hiding behind another man and visibly relaxing – it was incomprehensible.

Between him and the mage was an unbreakable mana connection.

‘You are mine.’