REFDL 36

Valita smiled, his eyes twinkling. He accepted the end.

‘It is a pity.’

His regrets were ordinary and mundane.

His regrets were ordinary and worldly. He regretted not enjoying alcohol more. He regretted holding back on sex.  He avoided anything that might harm his body. ……He did not continue to learn the sword.

Suddenly, his left leg throbbed.

Valita’s smile deepened. The statue, which had been falling as if frozen in time, was now right before his eyes.

His thoughts expanded further. The moment stretched out.

He believed he had lived without shame.

Not in the sense of being righteous, but in the sense of not having wasted it.

It had also been wretched.

And fierce.

‘But.’

So this was the end.

‘Haha. Fuck.’

How could he not laugh? Valita’s mouth slowly twisted. A stone fragment touched his eyelid.

Flutter.

His eyelids trembled, and time, which had flowed slowly as if frozen, slammed into Valita.

Boom!

An explosion.

Then vibration.

Valita fell sideways, reflexively protecting his head.

Then he felt the soft, yielding sensation resting in his hand vanish.

He panicked. He didn’t know where the dragon had gone, but he felt he had to find him.

……How am I even thinking this?

‘My head must be crushed…….’

Everything was dark. But not completely pitch black.

His senses were still there. The expected pain wasn’t present.

Slowly unwrapping the head he’d been clutching, Valita looked around, trying to figure out what had happened.

It was a massive wall.

With a glossy surface and rippling scales.

A beautiful wall.

“……!!”

It was the dragon’s belly.

Grrrrr!

Legs long and sturdy like pillars. A torso stretched out, both graceful and powerful. A massive dragon with golden-red scales had saved him.

Valita’s mouth fell open.

‘Where did a dragon this big suddenly come from?’

As Valita pondered this, he suddenly realized the appearance and color of this enormous dragon resembled the small dragon he had been holding.

“……No way.”

The moment he realized this.

“Ugh….”

Donon, who had briefly fainted, awoke. Only then did Valita notice the attendant lying below him.

“Haa! I’m alive!”

The attendant, who had expected to die or at least be seriously injured, tremblingly felt over his own body.

Then he cried out.

“Waaah! Thank you. Thank you so much, Lord Yuram!!”

‘……Yuram?’

“Your Highness. Are you unharmed?”

Just before the accident.

Kaelus had reached the immediate vicinity.

Yet, the moment he judged he couldn’t reach in time, he immediately fired his aura, aiming to strike the gargoyle statue. But even that wouldn’t prevent the Fourth Prince’s injury.

In fact, he might have been struck by flying stone fragments and ultimately died. But he had no other choice.

Just as he was about to act on the slimmest hope…

Yuram moved.

Kaelus changed the trajectory of his sword, swung with all his might, at the last instant. The aura scraped the wall, and the ligaments in his strained wrist snapped.

Yet the result was ideal.

It couldn’t have been better.

Though Kaelus flinched unconsciously when the shards struck Yuram, he immediately recalled that falling fragments like those couldn’t pierce the scales of a sub-adult dragon.

The duke quickly regained his composure.

He pressed a hand to Yuram’s midsection and bent at the waist.

He first checked the Fourth Prince’s condition.

He was unharmed.

Clench.

A fist, filled with complex emotions, tightened.

“Your high..”

Kaelus, about to call the Fourth Prince again, faltered.

Valita’s vacant eyes were fixed, mesmerized, on Yuram.

“……”

He felt strangely displeased.

‘No.’

It wasn’t strange.

The Irelion residence. Such an unsavory incident had occurred within his own domain.

It was only natural he felt annoyed.

…Though perhaps a bit more than it deserved, given what had transpired. The duke didn’t dwell on it.

He dismissed the thought and quickly gave orders.

First was the Fourth Prince.

He had the uninjured knights support the Fourth Prince and carry him to the medical ward. The knight of Denos, who had belatedly regained his senses, limped over and followed the Fourth Prince.

Kaelus called out to him. He tossed the Fourth Prince’s cane to the knight. The ebony cane was only dusty, otherwise intact.

The knight bit his lip and nodded. Then he resumed trailing behind the Fourth Prince.

He also had the injured, struck by flying stone fragments, carried to the infirmary. Most were just minor scrapes, so there seemed to be no cause for major concern.

Strong young men among the servants gathered and began cleaning up the aftermath.

Yuram had already reverted back to a small baby dragon. He wasn’t sure if he’d done well or poorly. Lacking confidence, he hung his head dejectedly.

Kaelus carefully picked up the dust-covered dragon and cradled him in his arms.

“Good job.”

[……!!]

He thought his wide, round eyes looked incredibly cute.

He didn’t even realize how strange it was for him to have such a thought.

He patted the dragon’s back, praising him for resolving the situation in the most efficient and ideal way.

Perhaps from the release of tension, Yuram simply passed out right there.

“…….”

Small. Weak.

Even though he had just witnessed his immense grandeur with his own eyes.

And even though he knew that was his true form.

Somehow, Kaelus felt that this small, fragile form nestled in his arms was his real self.

“Your… Grace…”

Had someone not called out to him in a trembling voice, Kaelus might have lost track of time, continuing to gaze down.

His mind snapped back into focus, but outwardly, the stern duke turned his head.

A face frozen in thought, a body shaking like a willow leaves.

Kaelus recognized the person.

“I’m certain I gave orders?”

It was the butler he had tasked with removing the gargoyle statue.

“I-I’m sorry. I was trying to confirm what happened……!”

“It’s already happened. Do you think that’s what’s needed right now?”

“……!!”

“Inspect the damaged area and prevent further accidents. Since the wall collapsed, prioritize repairing that section.”

“Yes. Yes, Your Grace…!”

Kaelus, holding Yuram in his arms, headed back to the mansion.

He needed a dragon healer.

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5. Midnight CinderDragon

Despite the incident’s gravity, the accident was handled smoothly.

The Fourth Prince, who had suffered scrapes from falling, didn’t make a big deal out of it. Instead, he boasted that since the Kremlis dragon had saved him from the gargoyle’s attack, he should be the one expressing gratitude.

The physicians and knights listening chuckled.

The Emperor, who received the news, and the Duke, busy with the aftermath, could not laugh.

“……That bastard isn’t the type to act like that.”

“What scheme is he plotting this time?” 

But for now, they responded conventionally.

“We are grateful for the Fourth Prince’s magnanimity. Nevertheless, as the host, I deeply feel the responsibility for this matter. I will ensure compensation for this incident is not lacking.”

The situation concluded with a lingering sense of worry.

The incident that had made many hearts skip a beat was finally concluded.

***

The day of the birthday celebration.

The capital was in a festive mood from morning.

Though the Emperor’s birthday was today, the festivities lasted three days.

During that time, night vanished from the capital.

Every building was adorned with splendid floral decorations and colorful paper flags. Bands paraded across the main streets, and stalls selling all kinds of goods filled the roadside and the edges of the squares.

The crowds surged like waves.

The daytime sky was filled with celebratory fireworks and balloons.

The night sky was filled with firecrackers and lanterns.

As if responding to the expectations of countless people, everything heightened the festive mood.

“‘Yuuuraam!”‘

Kyak!

I reunited with Rotol after a long time.

Thanks to the letter I sent via Donon, Rotol finally learned my real name.

Both Donon and I had struggled quite a bit, writing down each letter in clumsy words. When I received the reply, none of that effort felt troublesome.

Even just reading the letter conveyed Rotol’s liveliness and cheerfulness.

“It’s been so long!”

Kyaa.

Rotol pulled me into a tight hug and rubbed her cheek against mine. It had only been a month and a half since we last saw each other. She seemed to have grown a bit in that time.

“You can talk now, right? Say something, talk!”

[……Talk!]

“Wooooo!!”

“……Rotol, please. Maintain some dignity.”

“What dignity is there to maintain for a lowly commoner? Say something else, say something else!”

[Rather than a commoner. Isn’t it about maintaining the dignity one should uphold as a human being?]

“….Yuram sounds like an old man.”

Kyaak!

Mirim and Odan were still the same.

For reference, Mirim entered the same knight academy division as Rotol, and Odan said he was studying with the aim of joining the general studies division.

Apparently, despite having sufficient talent to enter the magic divion, he was insisting on the general studies, so Nitan was trying to persuade him while delivering letters back and forth.

I wanted to hear more details, but time was tight.