Chapter 67
It was the most absurd thing she had ever heard. She wanted to stop being a companion.
Chel calmly looked into Shanelica’s eyes and sent her a mental message.
“-What’s going on?”
“-I don’t want to be linked as a companion with Lord anymore. Should I just destroy the dragon heart that’s bound to him? Would that be enough?”
“-Don’t be ridiculous. How could you destroy your own dragon heart? The pain of a shattered dragon heart is unimaginable. And you want to endure that yourself? You’d be better off dying than going through that kind of agony.”
“-Even so, I hate even thinking about being connected to Lord.”
“-Calm down. Why? What happened?”
Chel gently stroked Shanelica’s head to soothe her.
“-Lord pretended to have lost his memory. And he left me to be killed by a human. No? He practically encouraged it. He tried to kill me.”
“-Ah…”
“-I couldn’t understand why he would try to kill me. But then I realized it had been that way from the moment I opened my eyes. Lord had wanted to kill me from the start.”
“-Uh…”
“-So I want to stop being a companion. Even if it’s painful, I’ll endure it, but from now on I want to live without being tied to Lord.”
Shanelica spoke to Chel in a torrent, like a runaway carriage. For the first time, Chel noticed that Shanelica could be frightening. Her sparkling mint-colored eyes now flickered with the flames of anger. She was truly angry.
Chel decided to point out the flaws in Shanelica’s reasoning.
“-Asha, calm down. If you die, Lord’s dragon heart would also stop. Do you really think he wanted to kill you? If so, wouldn’t he have done it before becoming your companion? Haha.”
“-Chel said Lord was invincible. So maybe a dragon heart or two isn’t a big deal.”
“-No… Even Lord wouldn’t enjoy pain.”
Chel sighed deeply. It was faster to explain the essential truth.
“-And the thing about pretending to have lost his memory is a misunderstanding. I saw it myself—Lord truly had no memory as a dragon.”
“-You were fooled too.”
It seemed that deep-rooted distrust had firmly taken hold in Shanelica’s mind.
“-Hmm, I don’t think so…”
“-I saw everything. The note written in dragon script telling him not to pretend to know me.”
“-A note?”
“-I found it hidden deep in the library.”
“-Really? What did Lord say?”
“-The situation only happened after I found it. There was no time to ask, and I didn’t even want to. I don’t want to face him now either.”
Watching Shanelica not bothering to hide her anger, Chel’s thoughts drifted briefly.
A dragon writes a note in dragon script and hides it? Why bother with such a thing?
Chel was curious about the note but didn’t ask further. First, he decided it was more important to comfort the bruised and battered human in front of him.
“-Anyway, it’s true that Lord really had no memory as a dragon. I barely managed to convince him to come to Spicher Island. The elders tried to forcibly解除 the Polymorph magic because he had no memory, and with his magical power, it almost killed everyone. I thought the crater would be blown away!”
“-No way.”
“-But he made the choice as a human to save you, even without his dragon memory. Lord, who said he didn’t want to lose himself as a human… he looked truly terrified. If he had remembered, would he have acted that way in front of a mere young dragon like you? You know Lord’s personality.”
“-…”
“-I don’t know why he lost his memory. But at least, I think that as a human, Lord truly cared for you.”
“-Then what was in the note?”
“-That… hmm, you should check the note again later. One thing’s clear: the reason you can even be here is thanks to Lord’s decision. You, who should have been confined on Spicher Island until fully recovered, were allowed to stay in the human world. Lord also took full responsibility for your safety. So don’t just stay angry—relax a bit. If you keep being mad, your healing will slow down.”
Only then did Shanelica realize why she could still remain in the human world. The fog of anger in her mind began to lift somewhat.
“-Lord… stayed in the human world too?”
“-Yes. To protect you. I think he remained in his polymorphed human form for a while.”
“-…”
“-I see. Coming back to the main body after a play session and then continuing to play—that’s a first. Using polymorph magic to deliberately keep the previous appearance…”
Even as Chel spoke, he remembered using similar magic himself, not to play, but to appear as Shanelica’s brother for necessity.
“-Anyway, meet Lord and talk. Don’t just think alone. Besides, as companions, you share a dragon heart.”
Seeing Shanelica’s ambiguous expression, Chel chuckled and got up.
“-I’m really going to sleep now. I couldn’t sleep waiting for you. Don’t wake me in the dragon way, and don’t wake me just because you’re bored. I know how to break off a friendship. I’ll wake up when I want to.”
“-How long will you sleep?”
“-For about 300 years.”
“-…Okay. Sleep well.”
She answered sulkily, which was cute. Chel smiled lightly and left the palace.
199 years ago. One week after Ashanervekirael and Derbishoenerf became companions.
A small white dragon rolled happily in front of a massive black dragon. Ashan, lying on the floor of the lair, kept her gaze fixed on her companion, Der.
When Der suddenly appeared and said she should be his companion, Ashan asked what a companion was. Der replied that it was a shared destiny.
Hearing that, Ashan felt “good.” From the moment she saw Der, a magnificent being, she had been captivated. He asked her, a newborn, to share her fate.
But she didn’t immediately say yes. Instead, she asked if he could introduce her to the gods of this world. Der replied that if she became his companion, he would.
That was enough. Ashan immediately became Der’s companion.
The process was simple. Der performed a ritual linking their dragon hearts, and Ashan only had to accept the magical sensation.
The feeling of their dragon hearts connecting was clear, even though Ashan had only been awake as a dragon for a week. From head to tail, she felt a floating happiness, as if she could take flight at any moment.
A week had passed since Ashan became Der’s companion.
In that time, she learned that Der was not just any black dragon, but the leader of the most powerful and prestigious clan—the “Lord.”
Ashan realized this right after becoming his companion, as countless dragons visited their lair to bless them.
Every day after that was happy. Even though Ashan, as a deity, wasn’t lonely without parents, having someone by her side made all the difference.
Ashan received a new lair, much bigger and cozier than the place where she first awoke. This became the dragons’ new home.
Der didn’t do much—he merely lay in place, not even looking at Ashan.
Still, Ashan was happy. Just having this magnificent being in the same lair was enough.
Being a newly awakened hatchling, Ashan slept a lot, waking only to eat. Each time she opened her eyes and saw Der beside her, she was so happy that she rolled and tumbled in excitement.
At first, Der didn’t pay attention to Ashan, but when she was hungry, he went out, hunted monsters, and brought back meat for her. Ashan ate and rolled about, content, while Der quietly watched.
Nothing remarkable happened. But in the safety of the lair, Ashan spent her days happily, with time seemingly flying by.
[When will I meet the gods?]
Today, Ashan spoke to Der while rolling around.
[Soon.]
[Soon? When?]
[Soon.]
Even with his casual response, Ashan’s eyes sparkled.
[Alrighty.]
There was no reason to worry if she would meet them soon. She smiled cutely and resumed rubbing her back on the floor.
[Does it tickle?]
[Yes, it does.]
[New scales are growing.]
Der moved from his usual spot. He extended a large foot, flipped Ashan over, and carefully pressed his blunt claw against her back.
[Kya! This feels amazing!]
The sensation, far better than scratching her own back, made Ashan giggle.
What expression did Lord have then? Shanelica couldn’t remember. She sighed.
It had been a week since Chel had visited in human form. The scars all over her body had faded somewhat, and the disfigured face was gradually returning to its original beauty.
Over the week, Shanelica had thought about many things.
Was it really true that Lord had lost his memory? And if so, what was the note written in dragon script that she had found?
Thinking of not only the note but also that Ferdin had tried to kill her, she still couldn’t completely trust Chel’s words.
Yet flashes of happy memories with Lord continued to surface, shaking her heart.
Even if it was just a few days, the moments spent together in the lair had been kind… perhaps calling it “kind” was an exaggeration, but she had been happy. That was why she felt more betrayed, hurt, and saddened by being left behind for 199 years without a word.
“Lady Shanelica!”
She remembered Derwin’s voice when she was trapped in the cave by Stern. The voice that had called her name desperately. Overlaid with that, she recalled the happy times she shared with human Derwin.
Shanelica realized she still didn’t understand everything. But at the very least, she hoped that, as Chel said, it was all a misunderstanding.
