Chapter 05.
This Isn’t Right
199 years ago, on Spicher Island—one month after the White Dragon Asha Nerbekirael opened her eyes.
‘Chel. Why isn’t the Lord coming?’
Asha, a small hatchling with pure white scales, peeked her head up and asked. The tiny white dragon, no bigger than her own paw, looked up with sincere curiosity in her innocent eyes.
Cherpinebaesys, a green dragon who had just outgrown the hatchling stage, awkwardly averted her gaze.
‘W-Well… He must be really busy.’
‘He was busy yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that too.’
‘…What kind of dragon counts days like a human? You even sleep in hours like them.’
‘I told you—I’m special.’
Asha was the first White Dragon ever born among the dragonkind. No one knew her parents, and strangely, there had been no traces of an eggshell when she was found. What’s more, unlike other hatchlings, she could think and speak from the moment she was born. Chel knew very well that Asha was no ordinary dragon.
‘I sit in the lair and watch the sun rise and set. When the sun sets and it gets dark, I sleep. When it rises and gets bright, I wake up. That’s how I live.’
‘That’s what humans do. Can’t you just go by meal times? How can you sleep daily like a human when you only eat once a week?’
‘So, where’s the Lord?’
‘…….’
Asha asked Chel this question every single day without fail.
She was like a baby bird searching for its mother. Chel just couldn’t bring herself to tell this small, pure-hearted being—who waited for the Lord all day long, eyes sparkling with joy whenever he was mentioned—that her bondmate had abandoned her to enjoy leisure elsewhere.
‘He’ll come when he’s not busy. I come every day in his place, don’t I? I brought lots of meat today too. Come on, eat up and get some sleep.’
‘Then will he come tomorrow?’
‘…I hope so. Right?’
That was all Chel, her friend and 500-year senior, could say to the slightly downcast little hatchling.
***
“Am I really supposed to eat all this?”
Shanellica followed the maid Marie to the dining room for dinner. Looking down at the table, she asked seriously.
“…Is it not enough?”
“No, it’s too much! How am I supposed to eat all this?”
Shanellica blinked in disbelief. Pumpkin soup, green salad with seasonal fruits, a juicy red steak… Dishes of all colors and shapes were beautifully arranged on multiple plates.
“You don’t have to finish everything.”
How can anyone not want to eat it all?!
She screamed internally. The feast before her made memories flash through her mind—199 long years of eating nothing but raw meat from nameless monsters.
Even though she had a god’s soul, she was now a dragon, with a dragon’s appetite. She’d eaten without complaint. But now, seeing this luxurious human meal, she felt like she’d been smacked in the back of the head.
It wasn’t just the uncooked, barbaric food—it was the fact that she had forgotten the existence of such rich, diverse flavors in the world.
“Can I really eat all this by myself?”
Still unsure, she asked again. She was also curious if such a tiny human body could even hold that much food.
“Yes.”
Her eyes immediately landed on the thick steak. She instinctively reached for it with her hand—but stopped herself.
She was human now. She had to follow human etiquette.
Use a fork and knife!
She had learned all about human knowledge and culture over the past 199 years. So she knew exactly how to use eating utensils.
Slice, slice. Chew, chew.
“Wow…”
One bite, and it melted in her mouth. The tender texture, the sweet seasoning, the juicy meat, the pleasant charred scent—it overwhelmed her senses.
Her eyes widened as she made a firm resolution: I’m going to come out for fun more often—just for this food!
“Here’s some water. Please eat slowly.”
Marie gently slid a water pitcher toward her, noticing that Shanellica’s pace was speeding up with every bite.
To Marie, Shanellica looked like someone tasting this kind of food for the first time. It was a strange contradiction. Her table manners were like those of a noble lady, but her reaction and eating speed were like a commoner experiencing gourmet food for the first time.
“Thank you.”
She felt a strange sympathy for her. The rumor was that she was pretending to be the master’s fiancée—but if that was true, how hungry must she have been? Marie recalled her own difficult past job hunting and couldn’t help but feel some compassion.
“But… where is my fiancé? I mean, the owner of this house?”
Suddenly, Shanellica looked up mid-meal and asked.
That was a good point. She had come for dinner, but she was eating alone.
Marie found it awkward to answer. This woman was shamelessly calling her master her fiancé while freeloading meals. Whatever pity she felt earlier quickly evaporated.
“He’s in his room.”
Marie replied tersely.
“Is he not having dinner?”
“He usually skips it.”
“What?!”
Shanellica jumped up, eyes wide.
“This amazing food! And he just skips dinner?!”
“As I said—”
“There’s no usually about it! This can’t go on. I’m taking some of this to him.”
She immediately began transferring the food onto empty plates. With a fresh fork and knife, she carefully moved each item as if worried a drop of sauce might spill or a single leaf fall off.
Marie found herself thinking that this pitiful woman was… somehow cute.
***
“What is this?”
Derwin asked grimly as he stared at the unexpected guest.
“Food!”
“…Why is it here?”
“There was too much for me, so I brought some to share.”
Shanellica looked around his room, spotted a table by the window, and trotted over to place the dishes she’d brought.
She wished she had more hands to arrange them more nicely.
But Derwin’s eyes turned icy as he looked past her at the butler, Kuddles, standing in the doorway.
No one enters his room uninvited.
But this time, she had just knocked—and the door had opened immediately. Kuddles had clearly let her in. The same Kuddles who always nagged him about skipping dinner. Had he switched sides?
“…It’s for the lady.”
“That’s what he said. And he expected me to eat all of this alone! Can you believe it?!”
“If you can’t finish it, leave it.”
“What?! How can I waste this? It’s an insult to the food!”
“….”
Maybe it was the full belly, but Shanellica seemed much livelier than when she’d first arrived.
Her voice is twice as loud now.
“I don’t want to—”
“Isn’t the smell amazing? Human food is incredible, right? I admit it!”
She cut him off mid-sentence, oblivious. She was completely hyped.
“I get it now—why you keep playing around and not returning to Spicher Island. Who would want to leave food like this behind?”
She popped a few fruits into her mouth, chewing happily, her words startling Derwin.
“So eat up while you’re human! It’s seriously delicious!”
She then held out a piece of steak to him with her fork.
“….”
Her mint-green eyes sparkled like glass shards in the sunlight, Derwin thought.
He normally only ate one meal a day, so he didn’t need dinner. But somehow, her words left no room for argument. Without thinking, he accepted the fork from her.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
Her lips glistened from the meat juices, drawing his gaze again and again.
This isn’t right.
Derwin couldn’t help feeling like he was being swept along by her rhythm—as if she had some kind of hold on him.
“I’ll admit… you were kind of frustrating earlier. But now everything feels… better.”
She wasn’t wrong. Their first meeting had been uncomfortable, but now she seemed so full of life, like she might fly away if he let her go.
“What did you usually eat?”
“Hmm?”
“On Spicher Island.”
Still chewing, Shanellica tilted her head.
“Don’t you remember hatchling days? Of course we ate monster meat.”
“Monster…”
Hatchlings needed food to grow their dragon hearts, but adult dragons could generate energy through magical training. It was a unique trait of dragonkind—they didn’t need food to survive.
“Of course. But… yeah, it’s kind of gross, isn’t it? Thinking about raw meat dripping with blood while looking at this amazing food…”
“…Please, eat as much as you like.”
“You too!”
Before he knew it, Derwin was sitting across from her, eating bite after bite. He hadn’t even realized it—he was eating.
“This is so good! I’m already looking forward to what kind of food I’ll get tomorrow.”
Shanellica beamed with a bright smile.
And at that moment, Derwin learned something he’d never known before—
that a heart could feel like it had been struck by lightning.
