TRHD 16

Chapter 16

I stared at Werner in surprise, then soon nodded in understanding.

Come to think of it, mages revered dragons.

All living beings looked up to dragons, but among them, mages admired them the most.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say dragons stood at the pinnacle of magic, so it was only natural for people obsessed with magic to become obsessed with dragons as well.

From that perspective, Werner’s reaction was actually fairly restrained.

If the person standing here right now had been a mage from the Magic Tower…

Yeah. Better not imagine it.

Several horrifying images flashed through my mind, and I hurriedly shook them away.

Anyway, since Father already knew Isid’s true identity, that was one less thing to explain.

Now the only thing left was how Isid and I had come to know each other.

…Did I make a mistake introducing him as a friend?

No, not really. It’s not like I could treat Isid any differently.

As I rolled my eyes around in thought, Father once again turned his sharpened gaze toward Isid.

“Since you have revealed your identity yourself, allow me to ask. What is your relationship with Rowena?”

Should I be relieved or worried that Father asked Isid instead of me?

Normally Isid was much better at talking than I was anyway…

And Isid lived up to my expectations.

“For now, let’s say I’m something like her contractor.”

“A contractor… you say?”

“That’s right. She’s a child favored by me, so it’s nothing unusual.”

At that moment, Father froze slightly, while Kizef and Werner sucked in sharp breaths.

A dragon’s contractor—in other words, someone favored by a dragon—was an astonishing thing.

Even Kyle, who had likely made some sort of contract with Isid, probably hadn’t earned the title of the dragon’s contractor.

Of course, to me, it didn’t really mean much.

Instead of being surprised, I glanced sideways at Isid.

A contractor? That excuse had never even crossed my mind. Though naturally, I hadn’t expected Father to know Isid’s identity in the first place.

No wonder he looked so calm…

If I’d known he planned to smooth things over like that, I would’ve been far less nervous.

As I shot him a resentful look, Isid slowly met my gaze and smiled lazily. His gently curved eyes made my cheeks puff out unconsciously.

…Does he think being pretty when he smiles solves everything?

Still, he had resolved the situation, so the tension quickly drained from my eyes.

Honestly, I was a little weak against Isid when he smiled like that.

And now that he was smaller… he looked even cuter.

Just then, Father—who seemed deep in thought—spoke again.

“…Guardian Dragon. There is one more thing I wish to ask.”

“What is it?”

“As far as I know, you have been asleep all this time.”

As if telling him to continue, Isid tilted his head slightly.

Father glanced at me with complicated eyes before continuing.

“…Then how did you come to know my daughter? It doesn’t seem like you met only today.”

The moment I understood the implication behind the question, I flinched inwardly.

Father was asking how Isid could have become friends with me if he had supposedly been asleep all this time.

Father’s intuition is terrifying…

I avoided Father’s gaze as much as possible, silently leaving the answer to Isid once again.

Fortunately, Isid seemed prepared for this too. He didn’t waver in the slightest.

“What a ridiculous question.”

“…Could you explain why?”

Father’s voice carried a strangely persistent edge, making me nervous for a moment.

Then a crooked gleam entered Isid’s eyes.

“I already knew you people were using my scales to track me. Did you really think I couldn’t avoid your pursuit?”

There was a certain arrogance in his words.

But the terms that stuck in my ears first were scales and tracking.

Apparently Isid had done quite a lot while I wasn’t around. Well, considering five hundred years had passed, that made sense.

So when he said earlier that the Imperial Palace and the Temple likely already knew he had awakened, this was what he meant?

“…Then why reveal yourself now?”

“Because it’s annoying.”

Father, who had fallen silent, questioned him again, and Isid answered indifferently.

“Besides, those scales are useless now anyway.”

Father stiffened at those words. But only briefly.

“I see.”

At that calm response, Isid looked at Father for the first time and smirked.

Once Isid’s identity was confirmed, he decided to stay at the Valentine Ducal House.

That had been the reason I invited him along in the first place, but honestly, I hadn’t expected Father to allow it so easily.

I’d even been prepared to go on a hunger strike to convince him…

Is it because Isid is the Guardian Dragon?

But that didn’t quite fit either, since Father had clearly been wary of him despite knowing who he was.

After pondering the reason for a while, I shook the thoughts away.

Whatever the reason, Father had allowed Isid to stay, and that alone fulfilled my wish. That was enough.

“Thank you!”

“…Mm.”

After giving Father an enthusiastic hug, I grabbed Isid’s hand and left the drawing room.

I turned around, intending to show him around the mansion, only to find him suppressing laughter.

“…What? Why are you laughing?”

When I asked quietly, Isid straightened his expression.

But he couldn’t completely hide the amusement.

Instinctively, I knew. He was laughing because of me.

That intuition came from years of being teased by him.

At the same time, I gave up on asking further. Whatever the reason was, it would definitely be something ridiculous.

Usually he barely smiled, yet the moment I so much as stumbled, he’d burst out laughing.

“Anyway, I’ll show you around the house first.”

It would be difficult to tour the entire ducal estate, so I planned to just introduce him to the main building today.

But Isid immediately shut that plan down.

“Later.”

“Why?”

I blinked at him, and Isid let out another breathy laugh.

Then he poked my cheek gently.

“Children should be asleep.”

“Child…”

I repeated the word before closing my mouth.

It was true that this body was still a child, and I’d accepted that years ago. So why did I suddenly feel the urge to argue? Was it because it was Isid saying it?

Still, regardless of my strange feelings, the moment I became aware of it, exhaustion crashed over me all at once.

The limits of a child’s body.

“I wasn’t sleepy until you said that…”

“If I hadn’t, you probably would’ve collapsed out of nowhere.”

“…Mm. That’s true.”

Judging from how limp my body already felt, there was a good chance I would’ve fallen asleep while walking before I could even show him around.

Unable to resist the natural urge, I let out a huge yawn, and Isid laughed softly.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he turned his back toward me.

“Get on. I’ll carry you.”

Naturally, I didn’t refuse.

Showing him my exhausted state and riding on his back were both completely normal between us.

“You’re light.”

“Because I’m a child…”

“…Right.”

Murmuring quietly, Isid adjusted me securely on his back and stood up.

“This feels like old times…”

“…It does.”

“I’m glad we met again. …You too?”

“What kind of obvious question is that? Was what you saw earlier not enough?”

Earlier…

Forcing my heavy mind to work, I remembered Isid trembling as he clung tightly to me.

Ugh, idiot. Why did I ask that?

I tightened my arms around his neck a little more.

At the touch, Isid chuckled softly.

“I carried you on my back, and now you’re strangling me.”

“…I’m hugging you.”

“Ah, I was wondering why I couldn’t breathe.”

His teasing tone slowly washed away my regret as drowsiness pulled me under.

The peace that came from this familiar situation also made my eyelids grow unbearably heavy.

“Do you know where my room is?”

“You told me earlier.”

“That was outside, haaam… You only told me where it was from outside.”

“I memorized the location.”

“Ugh, mages are… no, wait. You’re a… dragon mage?”

Half-asleep, I rambled nonsense without even realizing it.

I could only feel Isid laughing.

“Sleep with me in my room… The bed’s really huge. Big enough for dragon Isid too…”

“…Maybe try forgetting that phrase.”

“Hehe.”

“And if I return to my true form, your entire house will collapse.”

“Pig.”

“What?”

“Sorry… our dragon’s just a little big…”

“…What are you even talking about?”

I heard Isid grumble.

In that absurdly peaceful moment, even with my mind half-asleep, laughter kept slipping out of me.

I mumbled a little longer before eventually drifting into a deep, comfortable sleep.

Perhaps it was the most peaceful sleep I had experienced since gaining this new life.