Chapter 4 ….
Contrary to Sweetpea’s worries when she returned to the tavern after learning Lisiansus’s name, Chris wasn’t in sight—not a single strand of hair. And judging by Lady Margo’s lack of reaction, it seemed Chris hadn’t cowardly tattled to her mother.
“Could it just pass like this…?”
Hope that Chris might just let it go gradually eased Sweetpea’s anxiety. But that was only a comforting illusion she clung to.
Lying on the attic bed, about to drift into a sleep induced by the storm, Sweetpea felt a chillingly strange sensation. She couldn’t explain it in words, but her arms went goosebumps, and instinctively, she opened her eyes. What she saw nearly made her scream.
“C-Chris… uh…!”
Accustomed to the darkness, Sweetpea recognized Chris’s face instantly. But before she could even call his name, her mouth was covered. Chris had pressed a hand over it.
“Hey.”
In the oppressive silence, Sweetpea felt fear crawling up to her toes.
Chris was grinding his teeth. He had never looked this furious before.
“Who’s that pale man?”
His grip on Sweetpea’s face tightened.
“Did you run off into the woods every chance you got, playing with that bastard?”
“……”
“So you got cocky with me because you felt protected, huh?”
With her mouth covered, she couldn’t even try to explain.
“You’re mine! You’re like a toy my mom bought me!”
Of all the dangers she had faced, this moment felt as perilous as the moment she had seen a dragon. Her body trembled as though chilled to the bone.
‘Someone… please help…!’
It was at that moment that small intruders slipped in through a slightly open window.
Scurry, scurry…
Those tiny invaders were the creatures the enormous tyrant in front of her feared the most.
“Huh? What the—Ah! Rats! Rats!”
The moment the rats crawled into Chris’s clothes, he jumped and flailed, trying to shake them off. Taking advantage of the chaos, Sweetpea painfully maneuvered her awkward leg and escaped the room, wedging a broom into the door handle to block Chris from following.
If she woke Lady Margo now, it might backfire—her overprotective mother could even allow Chris to strike her.
‘I need someone to help me…’
But who could she turn to? Outside Lady Margo’s tavern and house, she had no one to call for help. She felt utterly lost, as if she’d wandered into a maze.
“What’s your name…?”
At that moment, a thought brushed through her mind.
“You’ve already called my name once.”
The person she always told to go away, yet who had once helped her against Chris…
Lisiansus. He might be the one to help her.
Sweetpea ran along the familiar path, seeking the one person who might be her only hope.
At dawn, while everyone slept, a massive dragon descended from the sky, covering the moon. Lisiansus, usually leaning against a gravestone with eyes closed, opened them at the presence of an unauthorized intruder.
“My, what a sight.”
A red dragon, transformed into a human woman, sneered at Lisiansus’s appearance.
“First creature of the world, the original dragon, father of all dragons—”
Though she bowed politely, it was more of an insult than respect.
First creature of the world.
Original dragon.
Father of all dragons.
Once, that title had been fitting. A temple had been built for him, and all life worshiped him next only to the sky goddess who created the world. But not now. Most dragons had either hidden away or entered hibernation.
“Should I bow like in the old days?”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Akert.”
Feeling mild pain in one eye, Lisiansus met Akert’s gaze without emotion. He was long since mentally exhausted to fight aggressively against someone trespassing in his domain.
Waking from hibernation had not been his choice.
At first, he wondered if it was the little girl who always bothered him that had awakened him, but quickly concluded that it couldn’t be. No human could have awakened him against his will.
It was merely a coincidence: a girl had wandered through a broken seal and happened to meet him as he awakened.
The gods awakening him meant the promised war had finally arrived.
“To think Lisiansus still guards a mere human grave… all dragons would pity this…”
“Akert.”
Just the sound of his voice made the wind calm.
“I have no intention of playing at your level. State your business.”
Hmph, not a weak opponent despite being past their prime. Akert pouted and shrugged.
“I just felt the aura of a dragon and stopped by. But it seems you have no god-appointed companion yet.”
“I will never have one, not now, not ever.”
Akert’s gaze swept over the grave at his firm words.
Hmph, as expected.
“Then I have no business with you. I’ll be off.”
Just as Akert was about to return to her original form, she sensed a human approaching. Her scales reverted to smooth human skin, but her snake-like pupils tracked the sound.
“Lisiansus!”
Unaware that the ultimate predator was about to hunt, Sweetpea finally revealed herself. Before she could react, Akert lunged, gripping her neck.
“Ugh!”
Her claws lengthened like an eagle’s talons. As Sweetpea struggled, Akert’s hands transformed into beastly appendages. She pressed her claws toward Sweetpea’s chest with merciless force.
“Stop.”
It was Lisiansus who intervened.
“She’s not my companion.”
“Then it doesn’t matter if she dies.”
“I do not wish for an innocent life to be lost.”
Reluctantly, Akert sniffed, stared, and examined Sweetpea before concluding and letting her go.
Breathless, Sweetpea crawled toward Lisiansus. He was her only hope. And that woman was no ordinary human—she had just witnessed her hands transforming!
“Hah, a man who can’t forget his old love will not be granted another companion by the gods. Right?”
Sweetpea clutched Lisiansus’s arm. They weren’t close, but she had no one else to turn to.
Lisiansus glanced down at her tearful eyes with slight annoyance. Gods wouldn’t grant him a new companion. No matter who, he would never love again.
Blonde, wavy bob hair, clear green eyes like a summer forest, a child with cheeks not yet fully matured. Such a companion was even less desirable.
“Yes, you’re right.”
He responded almost gladly.
“I will never have a companion.”
Smiling faintly at the confused girl, he took Sweetpea’s small hand off his arm. The moment their hands touched, a light began to shine.
A holy blue light quickly engulfed the forest. Sweetpea instinctively closed her eyes, but soon opened them again. The first thing she saw was the glowing pattern on their hands.
It resembled a butterfly, etched on their skin. Flustered, she could not speak.
“Hahaha!” Akert laughed excitedly, while Sweetpea clung to Lisiansus, but her hand was coldly pushed away.
“Lisiansus…?”
She met his cold golden eye.
“Looks like the gods don’t intend to keep you out of this fight. What will you do?”
In the midst of the danger, Sweetpea reached out again, only for Lisiansus to harshly push her hand away.
“Do as you wish.”
Her last hope had abandoned her. Sweetpea’s hand, pushed into the void by Lisiansus, had nowhere to go.
“If this child dies, I will be free.”
Unlike Sweetpea, Akert laughed heartily.
“Ah, good. I didn’t want to fight you anyway.”
“Now, I can easily take the heart… Shall I enjoy the hunt for the first time in a while?”
Take the heart…?
Sweetpea realized something alarming in Akert’s words.
“Child, I’ll count to 100 seconds. Hide well.”
Scales sprouted on Akert’s skin as she grew, toppling nearby trees.
“Ah, ah…”
Terrified, Sweetpea could barely speak. Before her stood a dragon—the same one that had burned her village and taken her sister’s heart.
Though different dragons, to Sweetpea, the one who killed her sister and the one now hunting her were the same.
One… two… three…
The dragon began counting. Sweetpea remembered the earlier warning: 100 seconds to hide.
She looked once more at Lisiansus, but his eyes said: I wish you’d die too.
With nowhere else to turn, Sweetpea struggled to her feet on her injured leg. She wasn’t resentful of Lisiansus—she’d been foolish to trust him.
“I have to survive… I want to live…!”
She began running, but no matter how fast, the dark forest seemed endless.
