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Chapter 12
But seeing him thrashing about like that, it didn’t seem like a Transparent Dragon…
It seemed the Transparent Dragon was merely a former obsession of his, a deep and dark part of his past.
“Who else saw it? Besides you? Don’t tell me you showed it to the others too!”
It felt as if a novel he wrote during the stormy, rebellious middle-school days had suddenly been discovered.
Normally, it would have been a Black Flame Dragon.
A Transparent Dragon—well, that was unusual, even remarkable.
Looking at it this way, whether dragon or human, thinking about past shame while kicking the blankets and throwing punches into the air didn’t seem much different.
I pressed my twitching lips into a serious expression and replied solemnly:
“Ha… ahem. No one else knows besides me.”
“…I can see you’re trying not to laugh.”
“Ah—no, it’s not like that. Everyone goes through a period where they harbor their own darkness within as they grow.”
Saying that, I gave a thumbs-up in empathy.
The man in front of me, as if that made him even angrier, buried his face in his hands and spoke through clenched teeth:
“…Might as well just laugh. That’s less humiliating…”
“Puhaha!”
“…”
“S-Sorry…”
He told me to laugh openly, but if I had, I feared he might actually tear me in half.
I closed my mouth and lowered my head, and a deep sigh came from across from me.
“Ha… where are they now?”
“Huh? Which…”
“The silver cup, probably here.”
He picked up the silver cup lying by my feet and waved his hand in the air.
Following the tips of his fingers, the air split open like a zipper, creating a space. He placed the silver cup inside it.
“Gasp.”
So he really is a dragon!
It was a scene that made me truly feel we were in a fantasy world.
“What…? First time seeing an extra-dimensional space?”
“…Of course. I’m just a mere human…”
As he casually closed the space, his hand paused.
His gaze naturally met mine.
Then, he stood still, as if nailed in place, and scanned me from head to toe.
His narrowed eyes were full of curiosity.
“A human?”
“Seems like it…”
“You don’t seem to understand yourself very well.”
Well, of course.
It’s been less than a month since I possessed him.
I don’t even know what kind of story this is.
This house is quite something…
Unaware of my inner thoughts, the man smiled as if he had realized something on his own.
“You… are a ‘Fragment,’ aren’t you?”
As expected, I had no idea what he meant.
“Am I? I see.”
“…You didn’t understand what I just said, did you?”
“No.”
Honestly, no one in this world would understand the author’s words if they heard them.
He let out a slight, incredulous chuckle at my confident response and shook his head.
“Alright. Well, it’s not immediately important to me. First, show me around.”
“Where to?”
“The… place with the books.”
He said this through clenched teeth, as if ready to tear the books apart.
I couldn’t hide my discomfort.
“That’s not mine.”
“Exactly! It’s mine! Of course it’s not yours.”
“It’s not that… it has an owner.”
Though it had been left unattended, the book had originally come from the Grand Duke’s library.
I had borrowed it in my mind, so handing it over to this green-haired reptilian man without permission felt… unsettling.
“So, you mean the owner is the Duke?”
“And how would you believe that? Would you trust the word of some unknown man appearing in a cave in silk pajamas, shouting all of a sudden?”
“This guy’s really funny.”
“I hear that quite often.”
Brazen. Confident. Incredible.
Those three phrases floated across his face.
As if astonished that such a child existed, one of his eyebrows rose in disbelief.
Then a mischievous smile appeared.
“Fine… As you said, I really am a dragon.”
Snap.
“?!”
The moment he finished speaking and snapped his fingers, my vision wobbled and blurred, and my body lifted slightly into the air before settling back down.
And… with just one snap of his fingers, we were suddenly standing in front of my cabin!
“W-what?!”
“What do you mean, what? It’s the great magic of a dragon.”
And that wasn’t all.
In his hand now was a book, surely his autobiography: The Empire’s Most Powerful Transparent Dragon Roared.
“How… how did that—”
“I’ll handle this ugly thing.”
He seemed intoxicated with victory.
‘He’s like an elementary school boy…’
I didn’t know his age, but from his first appearance until now, his childish behavior made it clear he hadn’t quite outgrown his Transparent Dragon phase.
I muttered reluctantly,
“If anyone asks where the owner is, I’ll just say the green-haired reptile stole it.”
“Go ahead~”
Ugh! That made me angry.
I was just about to bare my teeth in a low growl, as Betty had taught me.
“Well, I’ll be off then. See you next time?”
He smiled broadly, perhaps in good spirits, and vanished just as suddenly as he had appeared.
It seemed he used teleportation magic again.
“…I absolutely refuse.”
Somehow, I felt things were getting more complicated.
I just wanted to chop firewood in my country cabin…
The life of a simple strongman from some drama suddenly seemed enviable.
“Sigh…”
Something feels wrong… but it’s probably just my imagination.
Yes. Just my imagination.
Desperately rationalizing myself, I hurried inside the cabin, hoping no more issues would arise.
“!”
A little earlier, someone had witnessed the two figures arguing in front of the cabin.
‘What on earth did I just see?’
Katarina had come to find René, squeezing herself into layers of clothing despite her long dress.
She hid behind a tree, clutching her wildly beating heart.
René’s haughty maids didn’t visit the cabin today, so curiosity drew her there.
The path to the annex was muddy, ruining her beautiful dress.
But that was nothing compared to what she had witnessed!
‘Who’s that man? Could he be her secret lover?’
They were far enough that she couldn’t hear their voices clearly.
Still, it was clear that René Blanche was with another man.
When she cautiously looked again, the man had already disappeared…
‘Ha! That sly girl. She dared bring a man in secretly?’
Katarina’s expression shifted from shock to a triumphant smirk.
She saw this as her chance to turn the situation in her favor.
Her mind flashed to Genos, who always ignored her.
Habitually biting her lip, she stopped herself.
Before him, she had to always appear perfectly beautiful; any flaw could be disastrous.
‘Genos… you’ll see soon enough. The person fit to be Grand Duchess is me!’
A few days later,
Katarina called together the maids assigned by Count Hugo and dressed in her most treasured outfit, fixing her appearance.
As soon as she witnessed the scene at the cabin, she rushed to see Genos, but he had postponed the meeting for a few days, claiming to be busy.
Only after pestering the head butler and crying about the matter’s importance was the meeting finally allowed.
‘Frustrating…’
Why won’t he listen to me?
Katarina tried to cry but held it back.
Smudged makeup would have been disastrous.
At that moment, a maid offered a jewelry box.
“What gemstone would you like for the necklace? Sapphire, like you, Lady Katarina?”
“…I’ll choose ruby.”
It wasn’t to imitate anyone.
I was simply drawn to the ruby’s blazing, brilliant red today.
Exaggerating slightly, Katarina put on a ruby necklace the size of a baby’s fist and examined herself in the mirror from every angle.
‘Perfect. No way he can ignore my beauty now.’
Confident, she approached Genos… only to be met with:
“Stop talking nonsense and go back.”
What returned was a cold, utterly indifferent command.
