TDAA Ch 65

“…Were you worried, about me?”

“That, and also… I couldn’t bear how much I missed you….”

“So you just watched from the side even when I was crying because I missed you?”

“That, was my fault….”

Eorzen apologized without a second thought. Seeing the man, who had been acting so seductively all this time, not even try to appear pitiful but instead lower his gaze in repentance without making a single excuse, softened his heart.

He even began to understand a little. If their positions were reversed, Siol might have also secretly hidden himself by Eorzen’s side. Though he would have chosen a more plausible animal than a mouse.

“…I’ll forgive you just this once.”

“Thank you, Siol.”

“Don’t think there’ll be a next time.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

To Siol, who was intentionally warning him in a stern tone, Eorzen also replied seriously. With him being so polite, Siol couldn’t bring himself to be angry any longer. In fact, it had only been about half a day since they became a couple, and he didn’t want to fight.

To change the mood, Siol asked playfully.

“By the way, why on earth did you throw peanuts at Luber?”

“…Because that son of a bitch kept sticking to you and wagging his tail.”

Siol was momentarily speechless and dumbfounded, but when Eorzen’s eyes twitched and he looked up pitifully, he started to think it was understandable. Dragons are possessive creatures, so he might not have liked seeing that stupid dog sticking to him. Come to think of it, Siol himself had sniffled with jealousy over Eorzen’s non-existent mate.

“That… I’ll make sure he doesn’t do it anymore.”

“I would be glad if you did.”

“But you do know it didn’t mean anything like that, right?”

“No.”

“…What?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t want to know.”

Giving a childish answer, Eorzen placed his hand on top of Siol’s, which was resting on his cheek. Eorzen slightly tilted his head, gave a peck on Siol’s thumb, and moved along his fingers, leaving a kiss on each one, before lightly sucking on the tip of his ring finger.

Ah. I get it. He was seducing him. He was worried he’d get angry about his strange jealousy, so he was subtly seducing and coaxing him to gloss over it. But even though he realized that, he didn’t feel like nagging him to stop.

Embarrassingly, Siol realized he was weak to Eorzen’s face.

Even knowing that he was being unreasonably stubborn and deliberately seducing him to shut him up, he couldn’t stop his cheeks from turning red. His heart pounded and he shrank back in embarrassment. As if sensing Siol’s tension, Eorzen smiled alluringly and licked his finger wetly.

“Siol, let’s go just one more time….”

“N-No!!”

Siol pulled his hand away and shot up from his seat, shouting.

“We have to go back. Everyone will be waiting. There are so many things to explain when we get back. Ah, what should I say if they ask what the two of us were doing here for a whole day? I can handle the others, but Ryufen… he’s so clueless, he’ll definitely pry.”

“Don’t worry. Ryufen may seem clueless, but he’s not that bad.”

When Siol looked back with suspicious eyes, Eorzen chuckled and picked up Siol’s outer coat.

“Shall we go back then?”

“To Arthem.”

“…I know.”

He looked like he had no idea at all. If Siol hadn’t said anything, he might have been planning to sneak off to his city.

Siol looked for a moment at Eorzen, who was putting the coat on him with a disappointed expression, then stepped into Eorzen’s embrace and hugged him tightly. Even though his cheek touched Eorzen’s bare chest, as he hadn’t buttoned his shirt yet, it didn’t hurt at all. There was no stinging sensation whatsoever. It was completely different from before, when his berserk level would just rise again the next day no matter how much he was guided.

It was another piece of evidence that he, Siol, was indeed Eorzen’s mate.

What had happened before wasn’t because he wasn’t the mate and thus couldn’t control the dragon’s berserk level. It was because of the pain and guilt the dragon harbored. Now that they had talked and held each other, resolving all misunderstandings, the dragon’s soul was completely stable.

“But when everything is over, let’s really go back together.”

When Siol soothed him, Eorzen said.

“…But, wherever you go, you must take me with you.”

“I will.”

“In that case, just this once.”

It was very dragon-like of him to agree while still adding a condition.

However, Siol was delighted by the dragon-like possessiveness Eorzen showed. The more this person revealed his inner self, the more courage Siol felt to reveal his own.

Siol looked at Eorzen as if he couldn’t help it, and before he knew it, he had stolen a kiss from the dragon’s lips. No, it’s not stealing. This is mine now. Siol smiled slyly and hung on Eorzen’s neck.

The Blue Dragon was Siol’s. This was a law of this world, with no other possibility.

⋆୨🔮୧⋆

The two headed straight out of the ruins.

Good. Now the Nathaniel problem is half-solved. All that was left was to go to Arthem and create the compass that would imprison Burdril and the shadows. Thinking that he would be able to solve a problem that had plagued him for so long, his shoulders felt light.

“Shall we go?”

Eorzen said as he draped the thoroughly dusted and cleaned coat over Siol.

Siol gazed blankly at the dragon, whose expression was completely different from how it had been until yesterday, then took a step closer. Eorzen’s face lit up as he asked, ‘Shall we go one more time?’ Hearing that, Siol burst into giggles.

This dragon is so full of desire. How hard must it have been for him to hide those feelings and desires all this time and just watch over me?

But there was no more time for that. They had already delayed quite a bit as it was.

“It’s not that, I have something to say.”

“Please speak.”

“Um… First, are you uncomfortable with the formal speech? It became this way because I told a strange lie.”

At that, Eorzen, who had become a little sullen at the “it’s not that” part, broke into a smile.

“I enjoyed it very much.”

“The lie?”

“When I went to the Meric territory pretending to have lost my memory, I was prepared to start from the very beginning. But you assured me that we had a very intimate relationship. How could I not have enjoyed it?”

“…I didn’t say we had an intimate relationship. I just said we were on formal terms, but you, Eorzen…, said you were looking forward to how close we must have been, so….”

So, while he was contemplating what level of “how much” would be appropriate, the two had ended up spending the entire day together. How happy and joyful that time spent in ambiguity was. Back then, he thought he was standing on a precarious tightrope, so he had no choice but to throw himself into that fragile happiness with all his might. Without even a moment to think about gathering courage or anything of the sort.

“Anyway, if you’re uncomfortable with the formal speech, you can speak as you used to.”

“Well… Siol, which do you prefer?”

“No, don’t mind me.”

“But I do mind.”

Eorzen tilted his head slightly and whispered, mimicking Siol’s way of speaking. The corners of his eyes curved mischievously. As Siol was momentarily captivated by that face, Eorzen nodded.

“I will continue to speak formally from now on.”

“…Did you just decide that after seeing my reaction?”

Siol asked as if he was dumbfounded, but Eorzen just smiled. Siol narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, then let out a small sigh and brushed it off. It would be ridiculous for him to nag Eorzen to think it over and decide properly when Eorzen himself had decided that he didn’t mind either way.

“If you change your mind later, it’s okay to switch.”

“Understood.”

He answered, but he didn’t seem to have much intention of changing.

Siol, careful not to be taken in by Eorzen’s mischievous face and throw his arms around his neck again, took the hand he offered.

“But, really, no?”

“No.”

Siol shot a glare at the sweet-talking Eorzen and started walking towards the outside.