Chapter: 05
When was the last time he had seen her?
He couldn’t remember exactly, but the princess he recalled was a woman in a lavish dress, fluttering a jeweled fan.
“Me? As the owner of this tower, I brought you soup so you wouldn’t starve. Oh, and sorry, but until I’m sure about you, I can’t untie the rope. It’s bound tight with magic, so you won’t be able to undo it easily.”
The princess looked far more at ease than she ever did at the banquets where he used to see her.
Tap.
She even switched on the magic stone lamp with the practiced tap of her high heel—it didn’t seem like a lie when she said she was the master of this tower.
A faint smile tugged at Velix’s lips.
Right now, the Lydia Kingdom was in chaos over the princess’s disappearance.
From the king to the nobles—whenever people gathered, all they did was talk about Princess Angela’s whereabouts.
And yet, far from being kidnapped, she had chosen to settle down here of her own accord.
And… she was raising a dragon?
“You’re imprisoning the duke who came to rescue you?”
“I never asked you to come save me. And who was it that smashed my front door without permission? Do you know how startled Lulu was?”
“You… even gave that monster a name? Your Highness, you are the daughter of His Majesty the King, God’s representative. Please, come to your senses!”
“This is the North, and Northerners don’t believe in God. Well, you’re from the capital, so I’m sure you believe with all your heart… Is that religion of yours also the reason you hate dragons?”
I hate dragons?
He was dumbfounded.
“Your Highness, not just me—everyone hates dragons.”
Velix’s hatred for dragons was no different from that of the common folk.
As Duke of Lydia, he had managed to protect his people, but not his own family.
Rian.
Having lost his parents early, Velix became duke at a young age—and Rian, his only younger brother, was all he had.
When the boy was only eight years old, a dragon had snatched him right before Velix’s eyes.
Even now, whenever he closed his eyes, the memory returned vividly—
The sight of huge, razor-sharp claws wrapping around Rian’s small body and lifting him high into the sky.
“Brother! Help me! This dragon’s going to eat me! Aaaah—!”
And Rian’s tear-streaked, struggling face.
“Duke.”
A low voice suddenly brought Velix back to his senses.
“Are you alright?”
He was drenched in cold sweat, forgetting even to breathe.
When he focused again, the princess was kneeling in front of him, her expression concerned.
“You haven’t been eating or sleeping properly. Here, eat. You probably haven’t had a decent meal since you came all the way here.”
A spoonful of soup came into his blurry vision.
“…And with that kind of talk, you think I’ll eat?”
“You won’t? This is a royal command.”
She had run away, and yet she was still acting like a princess.
…Ha. Then again, she was a princess—that’s the only reason he came this far.
Without realizing it, he sighed.
“Royalty… every last one of them is—”
“I can hear you, you know.”
“I meant for you to hear.”
Velix was probably the only person in the kingdom who would openly insult royalty right to their face.
But his small act of defiance ended there.
It was true that he hadn’t had a proper meal in days.
Though he felt conflicted about the situation, Velix decided to turn off his brain for a while and opened his mouth.
“Good boy.”
The princess smiled in satisfaction, blew on the spoon to cool it, and fed him the soup.
And then—
“Mister Knight, your little brother’s not dead.”
A young voice came from behind her.
Through the crack of the open door, Lulu entered, proudly holding up a jewel.
“This jewel says your brother’s still alive.”
“Damn monster—!”
“Wuuuungniiii!”
Bang!
Angela dashed out of the storage room with a frightened Lulu in her arms.
Velix had finally lost his temper.
“What is that dragon brat trying to pull?! Spouting nonsense like that? Or is it that you know the dragon who killed Rian?!”
Even though Lulu knew she was safe in her sister’s arms, her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might scream.
It wasn’t the first time the knight had gotten angry at her, but this time was nothing like the first—his fury was overwhelming.
No, maybe… he didn’t just seem angry. He seemed a little sad, too.
“…Lulu. No matter how much you want to play, there are some things you mustn’t joke about. Did you want to make the knight angry on purpose?”
Her sister hurried into the kitchen and sat her down on a chair.
But this wasn’t what Lulu had expected at all.
I thought he’d be happy if I told him Rian was alive…
Hic!
Still frightened, Lulu hiccupped.
“…Unni, the jewel told me. It’s true.”
“The jewel told you?”
“Yeah. It said Rian’s alive and asked me to find him.”
“…I see.”
Her sister’s gentle hand patted her back, but her expression looked troubled.
“Lulu, even if the jewel told you something, unless you’re absolutely sure, you shouldn’t go around telling people.”
“Then we can all look for him together—you, me, and the knight.”
“Lulu.”
A long finger pressed against her lips—a warning that if she kept pushing, her sister would get angry.
Hing… but it’s true.
In the end, Lulu was sent back to her room barely a minute after she had entered the storage room.
“Jewel, what do I do? I don’t think I’ll be able to find Rian…”
Here was the whole story.
Rian is Duke Velix’s only younger brother! I was dangling from the dragon’s neck and saw the whole thing happen in real time!
The jewel—who had suddenly asked for a favor—began to recount the so-called “Dragon Raid” from four years ago like a picture-book tale.
First, it explained that it was a “dragon’s jewel.”
During the battle, it had fallen from the dragon’s neck, and Velix had kept it as proof, swearing vengeance.
A dragon’s possession…
The thought that it belonged to a dragon other than herself felt strange.
Whose jewel had it been?
She decided to ask later.
Because that wasn’t the main point.
The dragon didn’t snatch Rian to harm him. The wall behind Rian was about to collapse, so the dragon grabbed him quickly to save him. But people misunderstood and started firing arrows, so the dragon had no choice but to leave!
While dodging hundreds of arrows, the dragon couldn’t go back into the city.
So what to do with the young boy?
The dragon chose what it thought was a safe place—closest to its own home.
It left Rian in the village of Shadowm, near the Shadow Forest.
Meaning… if the jewel was telling the truth, Rian was practically right next door!
But how do I find him?
“Hmm…”
C’mon brain, work!
Pyaaak!
Lulu scrunched up her face and grabbed at her hair with her tiny hands.
For the first time in her four-year-old dragon life—where she’d only ever thought about food—she was trying to think hard for someone else.
And then, a pretty good idea popped into her head.
Velix had been refusing to eat for days.
Ever since Lulu’s claim that “Rian is alive,” things had gone downhill.
“…Your Highness, please reconsider. Because of dragons, hundreds of innocent people have died. What’s more important to you—humans or monsters?”
Instead, he began trying to persuade Angela with a sunken look.
In the end, Angela gave up—on trying to force food into him, that is.
What am I even doing, enduring all sorts of rumors and insults toward Lulu, just to make this grown man eat?
It wasn’t like he’d starve to death.
Fortunately, her foresight proved right—after she treated him like a complete invisible man for several days, Velix finally began sipping soup.
And he stopped directing accusations toward Lulu.
People said if someone changed suddenly, they were either dying or had made some strange decision.
Angela felt a little uneasy, but she concluded that Velix had given up trying to escape.
So now, what was left to do?
“Unni’s going grocery shopping.”
They were out of bread and milk, and Lulu’s favorite—eggs—was gone too, so she needed to hurry.
She decided to at least peek in and say hello before leaving, but—
The bed where Lulu should have been was empty.
Thud.
It felt like her heart had dropped.
“Lulu…? Lulu-ya?”
“Unni!”
Panicked, she looked around—and luckily, that young voice called out from below.
Lulu had been standing right in front of the door, where Angela couldn’t see her.
But something about the child’s state seemed… suspicious.
