“Hey.”
“Senika.”
“I called you first, didn’t I?”
“If you want to call someone, you should use their name, like I did.”
“……”
Ugh, unbelievable. This boy had an uncanny talent for rendering people speechless. He wasn’t wrong but coming from him, it was just irritating.
Except… I don’t know your name?
Most of the other noble kids introduced themselves as soon as they saw me. But not him. He just stared at me the whole time.
Sure, maybe there wasn’t exactly a good time for introductions—but still. If he wanted me to call him by name, he should’ve had the sense to introduce himself first, right?
“What’s your name, anyway?”
“Jaius Bayette.”
The name suited him perfectly.
Even darker hair than the Heukryong Head’s, eyes shaped like a cat’s with upturned corners, and long lashes framing soft crimson irises.
Earlier they’d looked blood-red, but that must’ve been the lighting. Up close, the color was more like a soft, rose-tinted red—almost pink.
It gave his features a softer edge, even if his overall presence was intense.
“Jaius.”
“Mm?”
“You’re so annoying.”
“……”
“So can you please leave me alone now? I want to be by myself.”
I crossed my arms and raised my chin defiantly. Jaius didn’t even blink, he just kept staring.
What, what! Staring at me like that—what are you gonna do about it?
I glared right back, locking eyes with those bright crimson irises.
Whoooosh—
A chilly night wind swept by. My eyes stung, but there was no way I’d close them.
If I blink, that means I lose to Jaius!
They burned. Before I knew it, unwanted tears were trailing down my cheeks. Meanwhile, Jaius looked totally unfazed.
Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore and shut my eyes. They itched so badly, it felt like I needed to take my eyeballs out and scratch them.
After struggling for a while, I finally managed to peek with one eye and only to find Jaius was gone.
The only thing left where he’d stood was a single green leaf, fluttering on the wind.
And one other thing.
“…Sweet.”
That faint, lingering scent of his pheromones.
I’d smelled it from him the first time we met. It was so unexpected that I hadn’t even realized it was his scent but now, with only the two of us there, I could be sure.
He really was full of surprises.
Not that I like him or anything! Absolutely not!
***
Hale stared blankly after Senika as she disappeared into the crowd, sulking.
How can someone look that cute when they’re upset?
He knew he should go after her, but he didn’t move. Moments like this didn’t come often, and he wanted to take it in.
But his smile didn’t last long. When he saw Jaius slip away to follow Senika, his expression darkened.
Is that kid seriously going after my daughter?
He was about to step forward when—
“You’re not even giving the kids a chance to bond?”
Vivian grabbed his sleeve. Hale tried to shake her off, but she wasn’t letting go.
“Why are you so uptight?”
“Did you not see your son chasing after my daughter? He clearly knows she’s pretty.”
“‘Chasing’—really? They’re kids. And don’t act all protective like it suits you.”
Hale clamped his mouth shut. He closed his eyes as Vivian’s relentless nagging continued.
“See? Gabi, I told you I’d end up getting scolded again.”
A male voice came from behind. Hale turned to see Khan, the Cheongryong head, standing beside Gabi, the Hwangryong head.
“Honestly, can you two not fight for once? You barely ever meet, but every time you do, it’s like this.”
Gabi sighed, scolding them both.
Vivian eventually let go of Hale’s sleeve and brushed back her black hair. Hale, looking embarrassed, turned back toward the ballroom.
Seeing their old friends acting like children again, Khan and Gabi let out resigned laughs.
“Alright, alright. It’s been ages since we were all together. Let’s just have a drink and catch up.”
Khan grabbed a bottle of champagne from a nearby table and passed glasses to each of them.
“Cheers!”
Under Khan’s lead, the four of them clinked glasses. The atmosphere began to loosen, and each started sharing how they’d been.
The four weren’t exactly close enough to share all their secrets, but neither were they distant. Their relationship sat at that delicate line between formal and friendly.
They were bonded by mutual understanding. They were people who bore the same weighty responsibilities and could show each other their unvarnished selves.
As the air warmed with laughter and talk—
“Hale. I’ve been so curious.”
Gabi, a bit tipsy after downing her champagne, leaned in.
“You waited so long to announce your heir—I kept wondering just how incredible this kid must be.”
Khan nodded in agreement. Vivian silently sipped her champagne, waiting for Gabi’s next line.
But the next to speak wasn’t Gabi—it was Khan.
“In a lot of ways, that child is incredible.”
It was a statement too vague to tell whether it was praise or concern.
Hale lowered his glass and raised a brow.
“Who would’ve thought Hale would end up doting on his heir like this?”
“……”
“Be honest, didn’t you two think the same? After what happened to Erilyn, and Hale ignoring the egg for so long—”
“Khan.”
Hale’s voice dropped, cutting Khan off.
Khan froze. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized he’d crossed a line.
Gabi pressed her fingers to her temple in frustration. This wasn’t the kind of conversation she’d been trying to start.
Hale stepped toward Khan. Despite the faint smile on his face, his now-cold voice made the air around them tighten.
Gabi tried to intervene, but Vivian held out an arm to block her.
“Vivian!”
“It’s between them. Don’t get involved.”
Gabi looked back and forth between the two. After a moment, she sighed and lowered her arm, cowed by Vivian’s firm gaze.
Hale, taller than Khan, was still staring him down.
“Is it really so strange that I care about my heir?”
“……”
“It’s true I neglected the egg for a while, and that’s why it hatched late. But do I need to be judged for that by you?”
“……”
“Didn’t your own family go generations without naming a successor?”
Khan had no response. Hale was speaking nothing but facts.
The silence between them stretched on. Just as Gabi was about to step in again, Hale placed a hand on his forehead and turned away.
It was his way of ending the confrontation. He knew if it went on, it would turn into a real fight.
Gabi breathed a sigh of relief. But then her heart dropped again.
Vivian stepped toward Hale.
She wasn’t one to let things go easily, especially if he was already in a bad mood.
“You’re still going to find out who switched the egg, right?”
Thankfully, she knew when to pick her battles. Gabi exhaled in relief—it was a question she’d been wondering herself.
After all, it was unthinkable for a human to hatch from a dragon’s egg. Unless someone deliberately swapped it.
Even so, it was hard to grasp how a human could survive inside an egg at all but that was the only logical explanation.
The three heads of the other families all shared a similar thought when they first heard the Baekryong heir was human:
They assumed Hale was searching for the real heir.
But…
“……”
Why wasn’t he answering?
Vivian’s expression hardened at his silence.
“…Don’t tell me.”
“……”
“You seriously intend to raise that human child as your heir? You weren’t just playing along for appearances?”
“……”
Vivian, who’s already running low on patience, waited. But Hale stayed quiet.
She couldn’t understand. Even if the Baekryong’s were the most human-friendly of the Four Dragon Houses, naming a human heir was an entirely different matter.
For five thousand years, dragons had led the Baekryong House. Giving it to another species was practically spitting on that legacy.
“Hale.”
“Even if she’s human, she was exposed to my pheromones in the egg. She’s half-dragon. There’s no reason she can’t inherit.”
They all knew the pheromone effect was real.
But the reason everyone still reacted negatively to Senika’s future succession was that, despite that, her true body was human.
“Still, maybe you should think it over again—”
“Vivian. I know what you’re worried about.”
“……”
“But I’ve thought through this very carefully.”
“……”
“So don’t try to force your hatred for humans onto me.”
This version of Hale—measured, grounded, and solemn—was rare.
And that made it all more unsettling.
The Baekryong family had the deepest roots and strongest influence of the Four Dragon Houses. No one dared speak lightly against them.
Even when Hale strolled around looking playful and carefree, no one underestimated him.
Now, in the lively ballroom, the corner where the Four Lords stood seemed blanketed in silence.
Gabi clapped lightly, trying to break the heavy mood.
“…Hale must have his reasons. Let’s not worry so much, alright?”
But once a mood sinks like that, it’s hard to lift again.
“…I should go. Senika’s probably waiting.”
In the end, Hale was the first to excuse himself from the uncomfortable gathering.
