REFDL 74

It feels like I’m dreaming.

Maybe I really am.

I grinned, then quickly shook my head. No, no, that would invite bad luck! This vividness can’t possibly be a dream!

…But it really does feel like I’m dreaming.

What happened in the past week felt several times more unreal than what I experienced right after falling into this world.

It seems Kaelus really likes me.

…Now that I say it out loud, it really is unreal.

Honestly, even experiencing it firsthand, I couldn’t believe it. Knowing what he’d been through in the past made it even harder to fathom.

He hasn’t confessed yet…

I froze. It was like getting splashed with cold water, I snapped back to reality.

Oh. Right. We did everything but never actually confessed.

The mental buffer ended. Cold sweat started forming.

He didn’t confess?!

W-what? Is this some kind of sex partner thing? Did Kaelus never plan that, and I was just getting ahead of myself?

Belatedly, I quietly replayed everything that had happened so far. Since the day we first became intimate, it wasn’t impossible that we’d just gotten swept up in the moment and ended up in this situation… it wasn’t impossible!

No. No, it’s not.

I denied it as I bit my nails. It wasn’t a completely baseless denial.

At the very least, it was certain that Kaelus had feelings for me. The way he looked at me when we made love. His gaze.

The emotions I felt in his arms and the way he held my hand weren’t something he could fake.

If it was just about the act, he wouldn’t have needed to put on a show.

That thought calmed my heart, which had been running wild like a wild boar struck by an arrow.

…Asking would make it certain, but I was afraid. Afraid that the possibility I’d dismissed as unlikely would rise up, mocking me.

It was the same back then. When I gathered the swim team members I considered friends and asked them directly.

Their eyes scanning my body bothered me, but deep down, I denied it. Yeah, they wouldn’t look at me like that, right?

What was the result again?

The sensation when trust is betrayed felt like the world turning upside down. The floor swayed, and I felt sucked in from the back of my head to somewhere far away.

I didn’t want to leave that forever-closed space.

Actually, it probably wasn’t that bad.

Was it because I was young? It felt like an excessive shock for the situation… or maybe not.

If Kaelus betrayed me like that… Hmm. It would be a similar or even greater shock.

I stroked my snout with my front paw.

As the price for awkwardly ruminating on the past, the gloom of that era engulfed me.

Giggling faces and malicious fingers pointed at me.

Not direct violence, but base accusations and petty harassment followed me daily.

Would physical violence have been preferable? I cannot say.

I wouldn’t want to experience either. It would have been better not to have experienced either.

But the time has passed, and an incurable wound remains in my soul.

And though Kaelus would never say it, my trauma pales in comparison to his. At least, that’s how I see it.

[…….]

That’s why I couldn’t believe it. That Kaelus could like me, a dragon.

If Kaelus is sincere, then even while knowing that these thoughts will hurt both him and me, I can’t help but doubt.

Knock knock.

Someone tapped on the white table where I sat curled up.

This was inside the glass greenhouse, now entirely mine. Only Kaelus and Donon could enter here, along with the gardener and a few others granted permission.

Among them, only acquaintances like the ones right before me could open the door without permission and tap on the table like this.

“Yay! Yuram! Long time no see!”

[Rotol!]

Overjoyed, I shot out like a bullet. The village chief who came with Rotol staggered and quickly grabbed the swaying table. I clung to Rotol’s arm, only to belatedly see the scene.

I tried to thank him, but no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t remember his name.

[Um… Hmm…]

“Please call me Derrick.”

Seeing me stumble, the village chief and Rotol’s father, quickly interjected with his head bowed.

Rotol froze at her father’s gesture. Feeling the awkwardness building, I quickly changed the subject.

[How have you been?]

“Of course! I’ve been great! Did you know I entered a sword tournament and won a prize?”

[Oh. Really?]

“Yes. I got second place. Runner-up. …Just so you know, that guy won first.”

Rotol couldn’t hide her displeasure, jutting her chin out in a sulky manner. I saw a tall, handsome young man standing there.

Who?

I tilted my head in confusion when I saw the unfamiliar face, he gave an awkward smile and waved.

Only then did I realize his build and eye shape resembled Mirim’s.

[……?!]

Kids do grow up fast when you’re not looking.

This is a bit much.

Mirim had always been the tallest of the three.

But back then, he was just skinny with long bones and still looked very young.

Now, he was at least two hands taller than before, his entire body packed with muscle that asserted itself, and his face had matured. In a few more years, he’d probably be as tall as Derrick.

No way. Is this possible in just one year?

Odan, standing beside Mirim, reacted similarly to Rotol. He nodded knowingly, as if he understood something.

…But why does he look like this?

Odan’s transformation was no less striking.

He pulled his hood down and wrapped a thin scarf tightly around his face, covering more than half of it. Was this some kind of mysterious concept or something?

Rotol chimed in when she saw my expression.

“Yeah. It looks absurd to you too, right? He just started acting like that out of nowhere. When you ask why, he clams up and won’t say a word. Is he going through puberty or something?”

Odan’s brow, visible through the gap, scrunched up.

[…….]

Anyway, Rotol and Odan hadn’t exactly stayed the same either.

Rotol, who’d cut her hair short, had grown taller and gained more muscle.

Odan was only slightly taller compared to the two of them, but considering his age, that was to be expected.

“Well, I’m not aiming to be a regular knight. I’m going to be a dragon knight. In that case, swordsmanship matters, but affinity with dragons and riding ability matter even more.”

[Oh. Then are you better at that, Rotol?]

“……No. He’s better at that too! It’s annoying!”

Mirim hunched his broad shoulders. His posture looked dejected.

I could roughly guess what happened.

He’d worked hard to impress Rotol, but he’d tried too hard.

In other words, he was in a situation where the one he liked saw him as a rival and started keeping him at arm’s length.

……My condolences, Mirim.

Rotol smiled brightly and said.

“But it’s okay! Because I have Yuram!”

She tried to answer cheerfully, but faltered.

Events from Anax to today flashed through my mind like a panorama. Huh… Wait a minute.

[…….]

“Yuram? Yuram? Why isn’t our cute and adorable dragon answering?”

[…….]

“Come to think of it, I heard an interesting rumor. They say the Duke rode you and defeated all the monsters in Anax. It’s so famous, the story spread like wildfire through the academy. The kids are all talking about it, you know?”

[…….]

I started sweating bullets.

Honestly, my mind went blank. I just rolled my eyes around, and Rotol grinned and slipped her hands under both my sides, lifting me up to eye level.

“Yuram. Answer. You have to.”

Unable to watch any longer, Derrick interjected.

“Um… Rotol. Put Lord Yuram down first…”

“Dad, you stay out of this.”

“……”

Village Chief. I appreciate the attempt…

Out of habit, I curled my four legs modestly in midair. Rotol’s eyes narrowed.

Mirim and Odan, tense along with me, gestured behind Rotol, as if trying to convey something to me.

That was when it happened.

“I thought I’d be late, but you’re already here.”

“…Your Grace!”

Without a sound, Kaelus appeared out of nowhere.

As always, only when he materialized before them did those around notice.

Rotol was the most startled. The hands holding me shook. But she quickly regained her composure and nonchalantly hoisted me onto her shoulder.

I stiffly balanced myself atop the small mound.

Kaelus, who had come with Nitan, approached me and Rotol without a word. I could feel Rotol’s body tense.

But after a year of training at the Academy, she could somewhat gauge her opponent’s strength. When I gave Rotol an affectionate look, pleased with her progress, I felt a piercing stare.

Kaelus was staring at me. His face was blank as usual, yet I sensed an emotion unlike his usual self.

He looked… almost hurt.

Am I losing it?

I thought, ‘Definitely not,’ but he looked at Rotol and said.

“‘It would be better to put down ‘my dragon’.'”

The emphasis on the last part was no mistake.