IPTD 15

Chapter 15

From somewhere, a mocking laugh pierced my ears clearly.

“So you think that’s going to build any muscle?”

Then came the sneering tone that followed.

‘This voice…’

It was someone familiar.

I bared my teeth without hesitation and turned around.

It was the expression I learned from Betty, the so-called “Cerberus Growl Face.”

“Well, aren’t you scary? Seriously.”

And there he was.

Transparent… no, since he seemed to treat it as an embarrassing past, not a “transparent dragon.” Just a dragon, standing there plainly.

I couldn’t hide my irritation.

“What is it? Did you come here to pick a fight?”

“Exactly~”

But my attack didn’t even make a dent.

He was a formidable opponent.

I narrowed my eyes and tried again.

“You’re a dragon, right? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Nope. That’s why I was taking a nap, and then you woke me up.”

“I didn’t wake you. You just happened to get up then.”

“You shined a light in my eyes. Eye-blinding stuff. I think my eyesight still hasn’t fully recovered.”

“Eye-blinding? Light attack? Dragons even know words like that? What is this world?”

Slightly baffled, I decided to pretend I didn’t hear and just get on with what I needed to do.

“Ugh.”

I tried to start jumping again, but the dragon had quickly taken the spot under the tree where I was sitting, scratching his belly and staring at me.

I suddenly felt uneasy.

“What are you looking at?”

“Oh? Talking casually now?”

“…What are you looking at?”

Damn it. I hadn’t done anything wrong—why was I getting scared?

I just pouted.

This weak body of mine was full of frustration.

‘Should I ask Betty to beat him up for me?’

Even though Betty had strong arms, a human against a dragon…

Even if the Ganada maids all joined in, they’d still lose.

A reasonable assumption, of course…

“Tch…”

I felt a little deflated…

But the carefree dragon laughed it off.

“Hey, jump a little more. It’s funny.”

“…I’m not jumping to entertain you.”

“You’re jumping anyway, so why not make it fun? Hey, are you tone-deaf? None of your moves match the chant at all.”

“….”

I really wanted to hit him…

I swear, I had never craved strength this much in my life!

Was it because that transparent dragon had provoked me?

The black flame dragon inside me surged.

It felt like a lazy uncle who teases his niece every holiday, scratching his belly, eventually making her cry.

And of course, I was the niece getting riled up—it was infuriating.

“Better not say anything.”

No matter how angry I was, by words or strength, I couldn’t match him.

At times like this, ignoring him was the only solution.

I spun around and headed inside the house.

I’ll play alone! I’ll read a book!

But…

“‘The History of the Rembrandt Empire’? Wow. This has come out too?”

The dragon, who had been behind me when I opened the cabin door, was now inside, sitting at the table.

He had even claimed the book I was about to read.

‘Cheating…’

Cheating skill! Cheating magic! Cheating dragon!

Unaware of my boiling rage, the dragon flipped through the pages.

“Mind leaving while I’m being nice? Otherwise, I’ll report you for illegal trespassing.”

“Illegal… what? What’s that?”

…A dragon that knows about blinding light but not illegal trespassing?

I gaped in disbelief, but he continued, clearly absorbed in the book, without even glancing at me.

“By the way, why are you reading this? Transparent… hmph. And besides, your taste is weird.”

Him? He wrote it himself, and now he complains?

And it’s just a regular history book.

I pressed down the urge to sneer and answered,

“What did you say?”

…Honestly, I couldn’t fully hold it back.

But perhaps distracted by the book, the dragon fell silent for a moment.

Finally, peace returned to my ears… though I wished he’d leave.

As I glared at him silently, he closed the book with no hesitation and chuckled.

“Ah, that’s funny. Really?”

“If it’s that interesting, I’ll lend it to you. Take it and read it.”

And just go away! Hide in a cave and read it!

I swallowed the rest of my words.

But the dragon shook his head.

“No need. Nothing interesting anyway. I already know how it ends.”

Yet he had been reading so intently, enjoying it.

I sat across from him, glaring.

By now, I had given up.

I accepted my fate as his “entertainment vending machine.”

“Albert wasn’t the kind to be gilded like this. He was just a snot-nosed crybaby we barely shaped into a person. More interesting is Lucas… hmm, well, it’s pointless to weigh it now anyway.”

“Huh? Albert? The first emperor, Albert Rembrandt?”

“Yeah.”

Saying it like he was just a kid next door…

But it was an intriguing story.

I recalled the half-read book, The History of the Rembrandt Empire.

The Rembrandt Empire.

It was founded by the first emperor, Albert Rembrandt, with his loyal supporter Lucas Celeste and the help of a dragon.

Amid fierce power struggles, the emperor and the dragon made a powerful pact.

The details of the pact were a closely guarded secret, but thanks to it, Albert Rembrandt gained the tremendous backing of a dragon.

With the dragon’s blessing, the empire prospered, and the lineage continued to the present day… that’s the gist.

Wait a minute—dragon?

I stared at the man sitting in front of me, blinking.

“By the way, you…”

“Call me properly. What’s with ‘you’?”

“But I don’t even know your name. Then let’s choose one. Mister, uncle, hey, Transparent Dra…”

“Terrnox! Just call me Nox, easy.”

Well, that was fast.

I held back my urge to bicker and continued.

“Anyway, Nox. You’re a dragon, right?”

“Yep.”

“Could it be…”

“That ‘could be’ is right.”

He seemed to know what I was about to say.

“I’m the dragon in that book.”

Terrnox grinned confidently.

I widened my eyes in shock.

“So you weren’t really the transparent dragon?”

“Watch your words…”

“Yep. Wow. Then how old are you? You must be ancient.”

“You little thing, always making me annoyed, huh?”

Haha. Was that me? Then mission accomplished!

I smiled triumphantly, and Nox’s expression soured.

I felt a bit pleased at scoring a hit.

Then…

“Milady! We’re here! Can we come in?”

“Huh!”

Unexpected voices came from beyond the gate.

Clack, clack.

The doorknob turned halfway with the call.

My heart sank along with it.

“Oh? The door’s locked.”

“Really? Strange. Maybe the knob’s broken?”

The first voice was definitely Garnet’s.

And from the murmurs beside her, some of the Ganada maids were surely at the door.

I hurriedly looked out the window.

The sun hung over the mountains… time for a meal.

The problem was that the dragon sitting upright at the table showed no sign of leaving.

I gritted my teeth and whispered.

“Go back quickly! We’ll get caught.”

“Why? Is it bad if we get caught? What did we do?”

“We? Being implicated with us is awful enough.”

“You’re really speaking recklessly now?”

Terrnox said, clearly bewildered.

But I was serious.

My husband might be absent and only occasionally seen since the wedding… but I was still a proper duchess.

Meaning? I’m married!

Even if the dragon is old enough to be a grandfather, he looks like a handsome young man.

I wasn’t distrustful of the Ganada maids, but they were still staff at the duchy.

Above all, creating misunderstandings was burdensome.

Terrnox had no intention of moving, and the maids bringing warm food didn’t hesitate either.

Why are you so desperate to feed me when you’re not even Korean?!

“Milady~ You’re inside, right? The soup is getting cold.”

I bared my teeth at Nox.

But the dragon just shrugged, still wearing a playful grin.

“Life’s short. Being mistaken for a lover would be fun.”

Living multiples of a normal human lifespan and still shameless!

Then…

“Not here?”

“Could she be in danger?! Milady!”

Crack—Bang!

With a terrifying sound, the door opened… no, it broke…