Thump. Thump. Thump.

With each heartbeat, every vessel in his body pounded wildly. His stomach burned like it contained hot coals, and his muscles twitched with a life of their own.

Leah, oblivious to Helix’s state, chattered away. “The more I think about it, the angrier I get. If I ever meet those elves or even their grandfathers again, I’ll pinch those high-and-mighty noses of theirs and—mmph?”

Helix urgently captured her chattering lips with his own.

Unlike his usually gentle and considerate kisses, this one clung to her with thirst. It was so fierce it threatened to consume her completely, and Leah was swept away by it.

“W-wait…!”

She couldn’t breathe and could barely think. Leah frantically pounded her fists against Helix’s chest and shoulders.

Only then did Helix briefly part his lips from hers and look at her. His eyes held no composure whatsoever.

“Leah.”

A shiver ran down her spine at the sound of her name from his cracking voice. His eyes held only her.

“Leah.”

It was the face of a man whose restraints had been removed.

With that expression, Helix’s hot, long fingers traced down Leah’s spine like pressing the strings of an instrument.

The tingling sensation made her curl her toes. Her body trembled, infected by his heat.

“Helix…”

Though he was overwhelming her with a ferocity that seemed impossible to match, enclosing both her breath and body, she wasn’t afraid.

“Leah.”

Helix whispered, “I can’t let you go.”

Leah’s hands gripped him tighter.

“Don’t let go.”

“I wanted you to have me. Not me, but you, Leah. Then you would like me, and even if you eventually grew tired of me… I thought I could accept that.”

Helix embraced her so tightly she might break.

“But now I can’t let go.”

“Too late.”

Leah chided him.

“What do you mean ‘accept it’? Why are you thinking about letting me go already?”

“I’m a Guardian, and you’re the Dragon’s Holy Maiden.”

“I’m Leah Piert, and you’re Helix.”

Leah pressed her body against his. With her arms spread wide to capture him, she said:

“It’s too late, so you can’t leave now.”

It was the gentlest prison in the world.

Helix, now a happy prisoner, slowly pressed his lips to hers while maintaining eye contact.

“Are you mine forever?”

And are you also mine?

This warmth.

This trembling body.

This gaze that looks at me like I’m the most perfect and lovable thing in the world.

“Yes. Don’t let go.”

As he held her tightly, Helix felt for the first time a fullness that threatened to burst through his entire body.

The scabs of past wounds he himself had forgotten, emotions he thought had dried up and frozen.

Leah filled all the cracks in his heart.

That’s when it happened.

[You.]

His head spun.

His heart beat frantically.

Different from the overwhelming heartbeat he felt moments ago, something felt like it had burst.

[Finally.]

Familiar.

A familiar voice.

“…Azura?”

***

Archaik received unexpected news from his subordinate who had been tracking the Second Imperial Princess.

“There’s a village in the Southern Desert that worships dragons?”

“Yes. Many legends and stone monuments about dragons remain there.”

Reading through the materials his subordinate brought, he inwardly trembled. To think that the legacy of his ancestors, whom he believed had been exterminated by humans, still remained.

‘…What’s this?’

But the content of these legends differed from what Archaik had expected.

There were no stories of being attacked or betrayed by humans. Instead, there were more tales of dragons thriving and betraying humans.

‘This can’t be right?’

His finger stopped at one passage while sifting through the documents.

<…Thus the Dragonlord and the Tower Master agreed to appoint a Guardian from among the elves. This Guardian holds the authority to confiscate mana from dragons and mages who disturb the order of mana.>

Confiscate mana?

Suddenly, he remembered the ability Helix had shown when he tried to kidnap Leah.

Archaik focused on scanning through the information about Guardians. His subordinate, who had been watching his reaction, spoke up.

“The villagers pride themselves on believing these legends are more than just stories. They say the Dragon’s Holy Maiden has actually appeared…”

“Dragon’s Holy Maiden?”

Archaik reacted to the unexpected term.

“Yes. She appeared in that village not long ago!”

The subordinate explained quickly. It wasn’t difficult to relay what he had heard directly from the village chief.

They had received a revelation that the Holy Maiden would appear and had been waiting, when a seemingly noble woman truly emerged from the desert. She was an incredibly beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes who received the staff of the Dragonlord passed down through generations, and the staff acknowledged her as the Holy Maiden.

The more Archaik heard, the more his dark eyes wavered.

There was only one person he could think of who matched the description of an incredibly beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.

‘Leah Piert…?!’

Misinterpreting his expression, the subordinate quickly added:

“It’s true, they say. When the Holy Maiden used the Dragonlord’s staff’s power, an oasis reappeared. And the village chief said something strange too.”

At what followed, Archaik’s face hardened.

“He said the Holy Maiden took the dragon eggs…”

***

After Helix blurted out “Azura” in the medicine storage, Leah remained in low spirits for a while.

She had thought they were confirming their deeper feelings for each other and filling each other completely, but he suddenly called out another name, so her reaction was understandable.

He had furrowed his brow deeply when saying the name, and mentioned that “he suddenly heard Azura’s voice in his ear,” so it seemed related to some kind of seal or something similar.

‘Still, what feels bad feels bad.’

Inwardly cursing Helix’s sense of timing, she headed toward the ward where the poisoning patients were. There was a commotion outside the ward.

Pitter-patter.

Urgent footsteps sounded as maids dispatched for nursing ran out of the ward. They were in such a hurry that they only managed a quick bow to Leah before rushing off.

“Why are they like that?”

Another maid poked her head out from the ward, clutching a bunch of dried washcloths.

“Janet, help us!”

“Coming!”

The voice calling for Janet was urgent too. Leah approached the ward.

The maids inside bowed quickly to Leah.

“Lady Leah, we apologize. We’re in a hurry right now.”

“What’s happening?”

The maid’s face was filled with anxiety.

“The patients are collectively developing fevers.”

Leah quickly entered the ward. The patients filling the beds were all struggling with burning faces.

“Why are they suddenly like this? Where’s the doctor?”

“Someone just went to call him. We don’t know the cause either.”

They said everyone was burning with fever, and cool washcloths only helped momentarily.

“What should we do…”

“My Lady!”

The doctor the maid brought was Leah’s personal physician. Seeing him rush over, Leah quickly asked:

“Doctor, what did you do when I had these symptoms?”

“First, we brought down the fever. Prolonged high fever can be dangerous. Janet, other maids, and I all worked together, constantly wiping you down with cotton cloths soaked in ice water. Then, fearing your temperature might drop too much, we always dried the moisture with soft linen after the ice water wipes.”

“So we need to lower their body temperature with cold water or ice.”

Leah bit her lip.

That method had been possible because several people attended to just her. Now there were many more patients and far too few hands.

“What about wind?”

“Pardon? Wind?”

“It’s winter now, so opening the windows would immediately lower the room temperature, right?”

“My Lady, the human body is more delicate than you might think.”

The doctor waved his hand.

“The winter wind is so harsh. Trying to lower a fever could instead cause a cold and worsen their condition.”

“Hmm…”

Leah thought deeply. So even lowering fever needed to be done carefully and moderately.

“Then, not harsh wind but moderate wind would work, right?”

“Pardon? Yes, that should… be fine?”

“Janet.”

Leah commanded, “Go with several others and bring lots of cold water.”

When Janet and the maids returned with cold water, Leah took out many bed sheets and soaked them. Then she covered the patients with the wet sheets.

“Oh, my Lady. What are you trying to do?”

“You’ll see.”

She extended her hand.

‘I should have brought my magic staff if I’d known.’

She hadn’t expected to use magic in the laboratory and ward.

‘I’ll have to carry it with me from now on.’

Resolving to become a mage who’s always prepared, Leah concentrated.

‘For now, let’s do what I can!’

Wind began to blow from her hand.

***

It was a cool, dry breeze like one that blows on an early autumn evening.

The wind whirled around the ward, drawing moisture from the wet sheets. The patients’ skin naturally cooled as the water evaporated, taking heat with it.

“The fever… it’s going down!”

“We’re saved!”

The maids exclaimed in surprise as they checked the patients’ temperatures. Leah directed them:

“The fever might rise again, so quickly collect the sheets. And prepare more ice water!”

“Yes, Lady Leah!”

The maids followed her orders, though they had been skeptical about what she might know. After all, respecting someone as a noblewoman and trusting them to give proper practical directions were two different things.

But to think she could lower the patients’ fevers with magic like this! With such a bold yet practical idea, certainty gleamed in the maids’ eyes.

‘Our Lady is truly someone worthy of trust and following!’

‘There’s a reason Janet always calls her “our Lady”!’

The maids moved quickly with this shared thought. The doctor also diligently examined the patients.

“My Lady, this patient’s temperature seems to have dropped too much!”

At the doctor’s words, Leah hurried to the patient’s bedside.

A young girl patient was shivering with blue lips. Leah quickly conjured a small flame and wind simultaneously.

“My goodness!”

The maids watching couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.

They had thought she was only a fire mage, but she used wind too, and now she was casting two spells at once!