REFDL 32

I should’ve just stayed put instead of doing something meaningless…

I regretted it, I was drained of all strength as if every ounce of my energy had been sapped.

I couldn’t stay like this forever.

Damage control.

I had to clean up……!

I jumped to my feet, grabbed the strongest-looking liquor, and shoved it to Nitan’s mouth.

“Uh…… alcohol……? That drink…… I don’t usually drink…….”

[Drink it! It’s good!]

“Hmm. Well, if you say so….”

Nitan took a sip. His eyes widened slightly. Fortunately, it seemed to be genuinely good liquor.

[You drink well!]

“Pwahah… Really? That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Feels good.”

Yeah. Drink more.

Drink and forget!

You didn’t say a single word to me today!!

* * *

“…What is it?”

‘……’

Kaelus eyed Yuram suspiciously.

‘This is strange.’

His intuition was usually spot-on.

And Kaelus currently felt restless.

After a moment’s thought, he nodded. It was simple.

“You’re too well behaved.”

‘…….’

It was because the Kremlis, who had been causing all sorts of chaos, had been dead quiet these past few days.

It was like coming home from work to find your usually cheerful dog acting incredibly cautious.

The back of your neck prickling, immediately thinking, ‘What did this guy break this time…?’ It was exactly that kind of situation!

Of course, let’s set aside the question of whether it’s actually okay to think of a dragon as a pet dog.

…Because this guy sometimes acts more like a dog than an actual dog.

“……”

Is this right?

Kaelus’s eyes clouded over for a moment, but he quickly turned back to normal and did what needed to be done.

So, feeling something was wrong, he grabbed the squeaky red slipper attempting to make a hasty escape and yanked him up.

“…….”

‘…….’

But even Kaelus had never interrogated a dragon before, and now that he had one right in front of him, he was at a loss for words. He had no idea what questions to ask or how to phrase them.

Meanwhile.

Our red slipper, burdened by guilt that weighed about as much as a megaton, tried his hardest to look as nonchalant as possible.

Result.

The tip of his snout stretched out long.

“…….”

A philtrum appeared where none had been, and his eyes rolled in a direction that looked suspicious to anyone watching.

Yes. It backfired.

He had no talent for this to begin with.

Kaelus’s eyes narrowed.

“You…….”

Kya.

Realizing this wouldn’t work, Yuram changed tactics. He gathered his four legs demurely and put on an expression of complete ignorance.

What kind of habits he’d picked up in Forest Village?

He’d steal jerky to eat, even though he could ask for it anytime. And then, when surrounded by the servants, the look he showed them was exactly the same as now.

Kaelus knew. He knew the servants deliberately left the jerky in plain sight to see this look, effectively encouraging the theft.

Just as he realized that.

Kaelus’s thought was ‘What are they doing?’.

“……”

Seeing him like this, he somehow understood.

Impulsively, the man flicked the crushed and even dumber looking tip of the snout.

“You look stupid.”

…A sudden personal attack?!

Yuram gaped, looking shocked.

Then, Kaelus laughed.

“…!?”

The man, unaware he’d laughed, lost all desire to confront him.

‘Fine.’

If there was anything wrong, Nitan, the expert, would have noticed first.

He casually let the broken dragon go and went back to his own business.

He flipped through documents.

Suddenly, he remembered that Nitan, not long ago, had shown up groaning after downing a huge amount of alcohol the previous day, something he never usually drank.

‘It seems like a mishap that happened during a get together with the First Knight Order after a long time?’

He didn’t know why it ended as a question, but since that was the case, he dismissed it as unimportant.

But now. His intuition sent a signal.

That the dragon’s abnormal behavior, moving like a chameleon, extending his front and rear legs on the same side simultaneously, and the drunken Nitan were somehow connected.

“……”

He couldn’t even begin to guess how they might be connected.

Kaelus tilted his head, then gave up.

His intuition was keen, but not infallible, and he was far too busy a man to dwell on trivial happenings.

At that moment.

Yuram, who had slipped away from the scene using the chameleon gait, breathed a sigh of relief.

It… it worked!

He was worried that guy with his keen intuition might catch him!

‘I’ll, I’ll just endure somehow.’

Until he become close enough to Kaelus to share his innermost thoughts, until their relationship deepens enough that Kaelus can casually tell him about his own dark past…

…Huh?

‘Wait a minute.’

Just how deep does that relationship need to get?

* * *

Time passed without incident.

The day of Emperor’s birthday celebration.

Kaelus took me to the greenhouse from dawn.

A clean, perfectly maintained glass dome. A vine-covered terrace. I momentarily lost myself gazing at the glass doors that seemed to lead to a fairy kingdom.

The interior was fantastic.

Spring and summer flowers bloomed in full, oblivious to the season, while grass and trees maintained their vibrant green.

Kaelus walked to a small fountain in the greenhouse’s center. He placed a cage on a white table that had been prepared beforehand and opened the door wide.

Then, stepping back a couple of paces, he looked down at me and said this.

“Stay here for a few days.”

……Huh?

“Don’t ever leave the greenhouse. I’ve left food inside; find it and eat.”

That was all.

No explanation.

Kaelus immediately exited the greenhouse. His hurried pace made him look anxious.

The kind of impatience unique to someone pressed for time.

…This feels off.

This isn’t right!

I followed quickly. And what I saw was…

Clank.

Clank.

Kaelus, wrapping a thick iron chain around the only entrance and locking it.

‘…??’

For a moment, I couldn’t process the situation.

So, right now.

I’m locked in the greenhouse?

After finishing, Kaelus opened his mouth once and looked back.

That was all.

Without a second thought, he turned and retreated the way he came.

Huh?!

Hey, if you’re going to lock me up, at least give me an explanation!

* * *

Haa.

Haa.

Every attempt to escape the greenhouse failed.

If I made myself big enough, getting out would be a piece of cake.

That method is unusable from the start, so dismissed.

In the end, it was like a beaver whose home was swept away by a typhoon, I was left bewildered, abandoned in the greenhouse.

Lying on the velvet bed inside the open cage, I pondered the transience of life.

“Hmm. Is this the place?”

“Yes.”

Suddenly, I sensed movement near the door.

What is it?

The confusion lasted only a moment.

“It’s locked…I suppose I’ll have no choice but to cut the lock and chain.”

“Do it.”

“Your Highness.”

“Do it. I’ll take responsibility.”

“……”

Clang!

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal.

Then came the sound of heavy chains clattering to the floor. Beyond the lush foliage, the glass greenhouse door slowly opened.

I tiptoed out of the cage.

Those who entered like that couldn’t possibly be normal guests.

Think later!

I spread my wings and glided toward the hydrangea field across the way.

I tried to hide among the blooming hydrangeas, but decided a higher vantage point would be better for assessing the situation, so I climbed a tree.

It was a tree characterized by red leaves. Similar to my own scales, it seemed like it could provide adequate camouflage.

Just as I reached the middle of a thick branch.

Thud.

The intruders reached the center of the greenhouse where my cage had been.

“Oh. There’s even a fountain.”

Click.

Limp.

A man with bright blond hair and deep blue eyes, looking like a nobleman straight out of a painting, appeared, leaning on a jet-black, antique-looking cane.

Click.

Limp.

He limped on his left leg.

….What is this?

It felt like every hair on my body stood on end.

An instinctive revulsion, like seeing something that shouldn’t be here. More precisely, it felt like that feeling was suppressed to its limit, made as faint as possible… Even as I say it, I don’t know what I’m talking about.

Anyway.

That feeling emanated from the man.

More precisely, from his left leg.

The flame shaped like a human had a companion. A tall knight with broad shoulders. Large scars marked his cheeks and forehead, his jaw was stubbornly set, and his eyes looked older than his years.

I’m sure he said “Your Highness.”

If the information gathered from the servants wasn’t wrong, there was no one in Firmus worthy of that title.

My mind raced, it pieced together the situation and arrived at the most likely answer.