She raised the magic staff.

Whoosh…

She felt dizzy and nauseous.

The nighttime desert seemed to expand endlessly, then rushed into the staff in her hand.

The world narrowed and narrowed and narrowed around Leah as her heart pounded heavily.

It appeared that only her mana core and the massive flow of mana remained in the world.

Leah held her breath.

The rushing power penetrated her from head to toe.

“Ah.”

A single moan escaped her lips.

“Aah.”

Leah, her eyes wide open, desperately endured. No, she simply withstood the power flowing through her and washing over her.

She blinked her tear-filled eyes and gripped the magic staff tightly.

The moment she felt the power finally settle, Leah turned around with a bright smile.

“Helix, did you see? I did it…!”

She froze in place.

The pooled tears rolled down her cheeks.

‘Where did you go?’

Tears continued to flow down Leah’s pale cheeks.

‘Where are you?’

“Leah.”

She shook her head, dismissing what sounded like an auditory hallucination.

“Leah. Why are you crying?”

Leah whirled around.

It was Helix. Helix with a gaunt face, looking at her restlessly.

Thwack!

Leah hit him with the staff.

“Why am I crying? You’re asking why I’m crying? You have the nerve to ask that?!”

Thwack! Thwack!

“If you’re going to leave, you should at least say something!”

She angrily hit Helix repeatedly.

“What did I say? I told you just to tell me! You said you would! But, but…!”

Leah, who had been hitting him, wiped her tear-stained face with her sleeve.

“Leah.”

“Don’t touch me, you jerk!”

Helix grabbed her arms as she wailed loudly while still hitting him. Leah started hitting Helix’s chest with her hand that wasn’t holding the staff.

“You jerk! I was so! Worried, and I missed you, but you were gone! After you insisted on coming! Then disappearing alone! You, you really…!”

Helix pulled Leah into a tight embrace.

***

Helix’s strong arms restrained her as she struggled wildly.

The cold air touching her legs. The cold sand hitting her body with each gust of wind. Unlike this cool desert night, his embrace radiated nothing but warmth.

His lips touched her forehead, which was hot and dizzy from crying so much.

“I’m sorry.”

His rough lips lingered for a long time, seemingly trying to take away all her heat.

“I’m truly sorry.”

“…What are you sorry for?”

“Everything.”

Leah grumbled.

“Do you think I’ll just forgive you when you speak like you’re giving in completely and try to get past this all at once?”

“Won’t you forgive me?”

“Hmph. Just this once.”

She nuzzled her face against Helix’s chest. Helix stiffened.

“If you do this again, I won’t let it slide.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I mean it. Next time, I won’t be understanding or patient.”

Leah raised her head to meet his eyes while clutching his clothes.

“I’ll chase you to the end of the world, catch you, and put a leash on you.”

Helix looked down at her.

“…Put it on me.”

He said in a husky voice.

“Wearing a leash would be better than seeing you cry.”

When he had opened his eyes beside the eggs, having lost all motivation, Helix didn’t know what to do.

If he couldn’t take revenge or kill a young dragon for Leah, he knew he should disappear.

A Guardian who had lost his direction would only be a burden to Leah.

But he wanted to see her.

He wanted to see her so badly that he made the cowardly excuse to himself that he would just see her one more time before leaving, and so he came looking for her and watched her.

‘If you hadn’t cried while looking for me, would I have been able to leave?’

He let out a bitter laugh at his own uncertain question and offered his neck to Leah. If she put a leash on him, he could use that as an excuse to stay by her side.

A selfish wish filled his heart.

“So please, put it on me.”

Tears welled up again in Leah’s eyes as she focused on his words. Helix felt someone pecking at his heart.

“Don’t cry.”

His face moved closer to Leah’s, pecking her lips like a bird.

On her eye corners, reddened from crying.

On her cheeks, where tear tracks remained.

And on her lips, chapped from being bitten repeatedly…

Helix unconsciously stopped his actions and stroked Leah’s lips with his finger.

“You’re hurt.”

“That’s because someone made me worry.”

While gently rubbing her lips to heal them, he said:

“Someone. A bad person.”

“Yes. A really bad person.”

Seeing Helix glancing at her nervously while healing her lips, Leah pretended to be sulky and lowered her eyes.

But it didn’t last long.

“Leah.”

At that gentle call, a smile escaped her lips.

Just for a moment.

“Holy Maiden! You’ve done it!”

The village chief’s joyful cry was heard from behind.

“Holy Maiden?”

Helix’s questioning voice was cold. Leah, not noticing, shook her head.

“Yes. These people keep calling me a Holy Maiden.”

He asked with a hardened face.

“What kind of Holy Maiden did they call you?”

“Huh? Something like Azura’s Holy Maiden? Dragon’s Holy Maiden…? Something like that…!”

Helix’s hand, which had been touching her lips, turned ice cold.

In an instant, that hand pressed firmly against Leah’s throat.

“Dragon’s… Holy Maiden?”

A voice like a sob escaped through his clenched teeth.

“You? After all?”

“He-Helix…!”

It was a slender neck that would break instantly if he decided to apply pressure. They both knew it.

The large hand that couldn’t bring itself to apply more pressure fell away.

“Cough! Helix…!”

Helix turned around and strode away. Like he was running away. Like he had to leave.

“Helix!”

***

Leah was in shock.

Janet, Karai, and the village chief paced anxiously as they watched her waste away, not eating anything, but it was no use.

What roused her was an unexpected creature.

“Chirp!”

The creature flew into Leah’s quarters with a loud cry, excitedly flying over her head and waking her up.

“…Who are you?”

It was a young hatchling, flapping its small wings.

***

“Chirp!”

The hatchling howled.

“Chirp! Cheep! Chiiirp!”

“Oh, the Dragon Lord… Ohhh…!”

The village chief and the villagers prostrated themselves with their heads touching the ground, overcome with emotion. But to Leah, the hatchling’s fierce(?) roar was just adorable.

‘I thought it would look creepy like a reptile!’

The hatchling had large, bright yellow eyes, and its glossy black body was small and plump like a baby tiger.

Its long tail kept twitching constantly to maintain balance. Its bat-like wings were so thin and small that it was hard to imagine how it could fly with them.

“How cute!”

Leah instinctively hugged the hatchling before quickly letting go.

“Ah, you’re a dragon. Sorry.”

The hatchling looked startled for a moment, then rolled back to her and rubbed its cheek against her arm. Its young scales were cool and soft.

Leah spoke with mock sternness as she detached the hatchling.

“You’re excessively cute. Don’t do this. I’m supposed to have a bad relationship with you.”

“Chirp!”

“Puffing your cheeks won’t help. You’re a dragon baby, a hatchling, and I don’t get along with dragons.”

“Cheep? Chirp?”

“You’re asking how I have dragon mana flowing in my body? There’s a story behind that. It wasn’t what I wanted. Besides, do you know how much the dragon who owns this flame mana torments me?”

“Chiiirp!”

“You’ll scold that bad dragon for me? Thanks, even if it’s just words.”

The hatchling flew around Leah, flapping frustratedly.

“Chirp! Chiiirp!”

“Hm? Really? You’re saying even if it’s difficult alone, it’s possible with many?”

The hatchling shook its black head vigorously.

“Cheep. Chiiirp.”

“…You’re saying there are other eggs still sleeping nearby? And you want me to wake them up?”

Leah’s eyes lit up. She grabbed the hatchling and asked:

“How did you wake up? How did you get here?”

“Cheeep. Chirp. Cheep chirp.”

Leah’s mouth fell open.

“A silver-haired human… came and destroyed buildings… using mana and left? You woke up because of that mana?”

Helix?

***

Leah returned to the capital of Peiren, carrying bundles of eggs, holding the awakened hatchling, and firmly gripping the staff.

“Chirp.”

The hatchling, who had been restless in the large box, flew around happily when released in the glass greenhouse of the Piert ducal mansion.

“Chirpy, do you like it?”

“Cheep?”

“You’re asking if I sleep here too? No. I have my own room.”

Chirpy promptly landed in front of Leah. It tapped the floor with its front paws, showing its displeasure.

“Looking at me like that won’t change anything. You can’t sleep in my room.”

“Chirr.”

“No.”

She firmly refused and hugged Chirpy. The small body that fit perfectly in her arms didn’t resist and nuzzled its snout against Leah.

“Chirpy. I wonder where Helix is?”

“Cheep…”

Chirpy said that Helix eventually left the dragon nest without breaking any of the eggs. It said that his mana aura seemed very sad when he left.

“But when I said I was the Dragon’s Holy Maiden…”

How betrayed he must have felt.

As she was feeling dejected, she raised her head. Somehow, she felt wronged.

“No, I didn’t know. Would I have done that if I had known?”

“Chirp.”

“Right? I didn’t know. It’s not my fault…”

Leah’s voice grew quieter. Whether she was at fault or not didn’t matter.

She wished Helix was by her side. She wished he hadn’t left.

‘But the dragon hatchling likes me, and they say I’m the Dragon’s Holy Maiden…’

A man who had been imprisoned by dragons for hundreds of years because of dragon eggs, in the end, couldn’t overcome his nature and couldn’t even break the dragon eggs. His desire for revenge couldn’t surpass his righteousness.

Wouldn’t it be too cruel to ask such a man to stay beside the Dragon’s Holy Maiden?

“…I should go see Master.”

Leah bit her lip as she made her decision. Master, who had known Helix for a long time, might know the answer.