WCMP 36

chapter 36

I quickly shook my head to get rid of strange thoughts.

Yullen would be with Arvan, so it wasn’t my responsibility to take care of him.

I patted the now calm Yullen and silently continued climbing the stairs.

When we finally reached the top, Yullen slipped out of my arms.

He landed lightly on the ground, stretched his wings, and shot off like a bullet.

If he wanted to fly anyway, he could have just gone ahead instead of riding in my arms…

“I don’t know why he insisted on being carried.”

He flew so fast that he quickly reached several hundred meters above.

I looked up to see where Yullen was, but the sunlight was too bright to see clearly.

I figured he’d come down on his own eventually, so I looked around. Arvan was still nowhere in sight.

To avoid accidentally getting separated, I sat down on the stone stairs I had just climbed, feeling the cold wind and warm sunlight at the same time.

Suddenly, I felt weight on my shoulder.

Startled, I looked and saw Yullen softly flapping his wings, his mouth wide open.

“You scared me! Please announce yourself next time… haah.”

I sighed in relief—at least he wasn’t a monster.

Yullen rolled his large eyes and spoke.

“Scared? Sorry, next time I’ll call your name before sitting. I just saw you coming and wanted to let you know…”

He looked like a tiny, wide-eyed cat making excuses. I couldn’t stay mad and closed my mouth.

Yeah, getting angry wouldn’t change anything.

I tapped Yullen’s closed mouth with my finger as a warning and looked in the direction Arvan might come from.

But there was nothing in sight.

“You said your master is coming. I don’t see him.”

“He’s riding a horse down there. From up here, it’ll take a little longer for him to arrive.”

“Hm. Then why are you on my shoulder? Come down, I’ll hold you.”

“I like it here. Can’t I stay? Being on you isn’t bad, but I can’t spread my wings, so it feels tight.”

I looked at his wings.

They were bigger than his body, so I understood.

“I’m light. Right? Can’t I stay here?”

“Hmm…”

He was light indeed.

Though small, his tail was longer than his body, and with wings attached, he looked heavier than a cat or small dog.

But the weight I felt was less than it looked.

If he were truly heavy, I wouldn’t have even dared to carry him up the stairs.

“By the way, dragons are lighter than they look for their size?”

“Huh? No. I can control my weight with magic. I’d normally be heavy even at this size. Want me to return to my original weight?”

“…No. You can stay like this.”

“Okay.”

“But isn’t it a little unsafe on my shoulder? I won’t mind if you don’t fall, but are you okay?”

“As long as you don’t stand on your hands, I won’t fall!”

“…Really?”

Yullen said it in such a confident way.

While we talked, I heard the sound of hooves from far away.

I looked and saw Arvan riding a black horse, approaching fast.

“Your master is finally here. Let’s go.”

“Okay!”

We ran toward him, and soon we were reunited.

Even though it had only been a few dozen minutes apart, seeing Arvan in person made me smile.

“You came quickly.”

“I can’t keep a princess waiting. Let’s ride.”

He focused on me as he got off his horse and offered his hand.

I took it and mounted, and Arvan immediately got on behind me.

Yullen had curled up between my legs, somehow managing to come down from my shoulder.

One horse, two people, and a dragon. I felt a little worried—there was no second horse to switch to.

Before I could voice my concern, Arvan spoke.

“Yullen, can you use divine power?”

“Yes. But as I said earlier, I can’t heal serious wounds…”

“That’s fine. Just restore the horse’s stamina if it’s tired.”

“Understood.”

Yullen nodded energetically, though Arvan probably didn’t see it.

Arvan guided the horse in a different direction.

“To avoid knights, we should take a different route. Going straight would be faster but we’d pass through many monsters. Which do you prefer?”

“Better to avoid monsters, I think.”

“Understood.”

Just then, Yullen interrupted.

“With me here, no monsters will come near.”

“…What do you mean?”

Yullen spoke calmly, but I got excited and asked.

“I’m a dragon. Just because I have no magic doesn’t mean my presence disappears. Monsters won’t come near me.”

“Really? Wow!”

Even without holding him, I was so happy I could have hugged him.

“No need to face those awful creatures…!”

Arvan, surprised by Yullen’s power, immediately changed course.

We left the open path and entered the dense forest.

Despite the trees being irregular obstacles, Arvan’s riding skill kept our speed steady.

The ride was so stable that I wasn’t scared at all. Even the wind on my face felt refreshing.

This must be the fun of horseback riding.

After riding for a while, my waist and thighs ached, but I didn’t ask him to slow down, not wanting to ruin the mood.

Whenever Yullen restored the horse’s stamina, I got healed too.

Finally, as the sun was setting, we reached the ground.

I collapsed onto a blanket and mechanically chewed the food Arvan gave me before lying down completely.

“From now on, you and I must take the night watch. I’ll sleep first.”

I pulled the blanket over my neck. Yullen, curled next to me, complained in a sharp little voice.

“I’m here too! If you keep forgetting, I’ll get mad!”

“Ah… sorry. Will you keep watch too?”

“I don’t need sleep, so I’ll stay awake. You and your master sleep.”

“Dragons don’t need sleep?”

Yullen nodded at Arvan.

“Not really. Sleep if I want, stay awake if I don’t. I just sleep to pass the time. I slept a lot this time, so I don’t want to for now.”

Makes sense—if I had slept for hundreds of years, I wouldn’t want to sleep either.

I gestured to Arvan’s blanket, inviting him to lie down.

“You should lie down too. No monsters or strangers will come this far, and Yullen will watch us.”

Yullen tilted his head and asked curiously,

“But Rieli, why do you sometimes call your master ‘Your Highness’ and other times by name? You call me by name.”

I was startled.

‘I can’t say that! When he’s not here, I can choose how to address him!’

I couldn’t say it out loud and couldn’t deny it, leaving me flustered.

I closed my eyes tightly, pretending to rest, silently apologizing:

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’ll call you that in my thoughts too. Please forgive me just this once.”

Even with my eyes closed, I felt Arvan’s gaze.

‘This is maddening…’

Sweating nervously, I braced for a scolding, but Arvan’s calm voice surprised me.

“You may call me however you’re comfortable. If your name feels better, call me that.”

I opened my eyes wide, shocked.

“Really? You’re serious?”

I threw off the blanket and sat up.

“Of course. I wouldn’t joke about that.”

“Really? I can call you by name? Arvan?”

“Yes, whichever is easier for you.”

“Then I won’t refuse. I’ll call you Rieli! Or Elli, that’s even better.”

I couldn’t stop smiling.

Even with Seirin, we didn’t call each other by name yet—so calling Arvan by name felt unexpectedly wonderful.