I glanced at his expression and saw something indescribably complex.

“Are you okay…?”

“I feel strange.”

“How so?”

“Even though I wanted to go out so badly, I couldn’t… It’s hard to believe that just a few steps will do it.”

How suffocating must those 700 years have been? I couldn’t even begin to imagine that feeling. How could I, who had lived such a short life, understand his long pain?

So I grabbed Lux’s large hand. When our fingers interlaced, warm heat filled the spaces between them.

“Since you don’t believe it, we should go further. That way you’ll know for sure.”

He nodded. Strength entered our clasped hands. We moved forward little by little. One step, two steps, three steps continued until we had only the final step left, when he stopped.

“What should I do from now on?”

“What do you want to do, Lux?”

“What I want to do…?”

His handsome face crumpled. Large hands covered his face. The voice that came was helplessly trembling.

“I don’t know. I should get revenge for my family… I should resent humans… and also…”

“Do you really want that?”

“That too… I don’t know. The humans who killed my family died long ago. What revenge have I been living for all this time…?”

This poor dragon. My heart ached at his confusion-filled appearance. You probably knew too. That the revenge you wanted so much couldn’t be achieved. But you had to endure to survive, and to survive you needed a target for your resentment. And when you reached the end, you lost your life’s destination.

“I’m not good with grand words, so I don’t know what to say. But I’m certain of one thing. If you lived for your family’s revenge all those long years, now… couldn’t you live for yourself?”

“…For myself?”

“If you don’t know, let’s find out together from now on. I’ll be by your side until the very last moment of life.”

Lux caressed my cheek with his hand. His fingertips touching my skin were cold like ice. But the look in his eyes was as warm as a spring breeze.

“Alright.”

Finally, we took that last step. He said that even after leaving the manor, he still felt trapped there. I told him we should go outside more often than before.

Lux didn’t seem opposed to the idea. Instead of answering, he gently kissed my lips. We smiled at each other and climbed up the mountain.

The mountain preparing for winter had plenty to see. Trees gradually becoming bare by shedding their clothes, the rustling sound of leaves underfoot, and squirrels stuffing their cheeks full of food to prepare for winter.

Lux found the squirrels so cute he couldn’t take his eyes off them for a while. I noticed his pupils narrowing slightly, though faintly. I found him so lovable that I couldn’t help but kiss his cheek.

Going deeper into the mountain, familiar berries caught my eye. I picked some and offered them to Lux.

“Want to try these?”

“What are they?”

“When my siblings and I got really hungry, we’d climb the mountain to pick berries. I used to eat these often back then.”

He didn’t hesitate to pop the berries I gave him into his mouth. But before long, his face turned pale. He swallowed what was in his mouth after barely chewing a few times. His brow furrowed deeply.

“How is it?”

“This… is a taste that shouldn’t exist in this world.”

His disgusted reaction was so funny I laughed. Lux expressed his horror, saying he’d rather starve to death than eat such things. When we got a bit hungry, we ate the lunch Emily had packed.

Languid happiness weighed down my entire body. It truly couldn’t be anything but a dreamlike moment.

“But Lux, I’m curious about something.”

“What?”

“Have you ever seen your true form since the magic was broken?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“…I am curious.”

“Then why don’t you check? That’s why I deliberately came to this mountain where there are no people.”

He hesitated with his answer, his lips twitching. The emotion I felt in his gaze was deep anxiety. When I gently stroked the back of his hand soothingly, Lux muttered quietly.

“If you see my true form, you might hate me. Humans fear me…”

“I won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Suspicious eyes turned toward me.

“Because no matter what form you take, you’re still you.”

Whether he was human or not, Lux was just Lux. Besides, it wasn’t like I’d never seen his dragon form. Not only had I seen that adorable baby dragon with my own eyes, but I’d watched him grow up. Honestly, I was excited to see how magnificently that cute baby dragon had grown.

I looked at Lux with sparkling eyes, but he kept avoiding my gaze. So when he avoided it I’d meet it, and when he avoided it again I’d meet it again, repeating this for a while until he finally gave up and let out a deep sigh.

“Even if you’re scared, I don’t care.”

Lux got up and walked somewhere. He seemed to want to get far away from me first. He looked puzzled, seemingly unsure how much he would change.

After getting a certain distance away, Lux closed his eyes. When he muttered something, his form instantly grew enormous. In the process, the surrounding trees broke with cracking sounds. I felt like I might be blown away somewhere by the sudden gust of wind.

When I opened my eyes again, he had transformed into a dragon larger than the manor.

“Wow…”

He looked like a perfect mix of the Silver Dragon and Black Dragon. His silver scales were lustrous like finely sprinkled stardust, and his golden eyes were beautiful like jewels.

If they were still alive, they would have smiled warmly seeing Lux’s magnificent grown form.

Lux also seemed unfamiliar with this form of himself, turning his body to examine himself from various angles. He tried swishing his long tail and repeatedly spread and folded his wings at will. After smiling innocently like a child for a moment, our gazes met in midair.

His pupils wavered, then he pressed his massive body flat against the ground. The earth shook like an earthquake with a thud sound. Startled birds flew into the sky.

His face, which had been floating high, came down right in front of me. Large golden eyes bigger than my body rippled. He looked pitiful, like he might cry at any moment.

“Am I scary?”

“Not at all. This form is also you.”

When I placed my hand on Lux’s face, I felt bumpy scales. The hard, cool texture felt amazing under my fingertips. Unable to bear my touch, he puffed out lots of breath through his nose.

“It tickles.”

“You’re unbelievably beautiful.”

“Liar.”

Come to think of it, the humans Lux had met were either busy fearing him or trying to k*ll him. So it would be hard to erase the painful memories carved deep in his bones. But there was no way to change past memories now.

‘How can I make this suspicious dragon understand my sincerity?’

After pondering, I decided to show him my honest heart. I moved closer and kissed what I assumed were his lips. Lux’s eyes widened at my sudden action.

He returned from his original form back to human shape. Then he grabbed the back of my head and began showering me with kisses. Hot breaths intertwined and melting heat rose. As I stepped back to catch my breath, Lux trapped me in his arms. His red lips came down along my neckline. The increasingly intimate contact made my breathing gradually rougher.

“Mmh, someone might come.”

“I don’t sense any other presence nearby. No one will come.”

“But…”

His hands eagerly burrowed under my clothes. My body shivered at the cool temperature. When he rubbed the pink peak between his index finger and thumb, heated arousal bloomed.

“Ahh…!”

“I’ve been thinking it would be nice to have a child who resembles you.”

“A child… who resembles… me?”

“I think it would be really pretty. What do you think?”

Was such a thing possible? I was human and he was a dragon. I’d never heard of children being born between different species. But I didn’t want to crush his hopes. Such a dreamily happy expression.

“Yes. One son who resembles you. One daughter who resembles me, how about that?”

“Good. Then we’ll have to work hard starting now.”

His round pupils narrowed thin. I couldn’t understand what had excited him. Lux’s face boiled with sinister desire. His groping hands also grew more intense.

I hadn’t expected this.

“Surely… not here, right?”

“If you don’t like it, we can change locations.”

When he waved his hand once, our surroundings changed. The cool breeze and the leaves underfoot all disappeared. Before I knew it, we were back in the bedroom where we’d been staying.

“How did you just do that?”

“Now there’s no problem, right?”

“That’s not the point… actually, we went out today so I’m tired, and also…!”

“Eliat, you don’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of everything.”

He held me without giving me any chance to escape. Resistance and persuasion were useless. The more I tried, the more excited he became. Today too, I had to writhe endlessly in pleasure beneath his body.

Only when the sun set and the red moon rose in the night did Lux smile with satisfaction. I fell asleep in his arms and woke up at some point. Looking at Lux, I saw his gaze directed toward the window.

“Lux? Aren’t you tired…?”

“Just thinking about something for a moment.”

“What about?”

“Thinking about where I should go with you next time.”

His eyes, which had been lifeless like a doll’s, now sparkled like a living person’s. I laughed at the sight.

“Anywhere you want to go is fine with me.”

I don’t know how long we’re allowed, but I’ll be eternally happy until the moment I close my eyes.

fin.