Maybe the dragon got sent somewhere other than the heroine’s residence, and that was why it came back to me. But even with the fastest shipping available, it would take at least five days from this isolated town of Sorent to the capital city, Tezeva, and back. So how could the dragon have possibly returned to me?
The cage had definitely been securely locked, and I made sure it wouldn’t open even if the lock broke along the way. I glanced at the dragon’s trembling, paper-thin wings and weak legs. It wouldn’t have been easy for the small creature to walk, let alone fly, all the way back.
There had to have been a mistake. Something must have happened before it reached the capital city, causing it to be sent back.
How did it get inside the house, though? Whatever, maybe the door was open.
Instead of thinking too deeply about it, I patted the dragon’s head affectionately. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get back to your destined mother.”
I rummaged through my repository and pulled out a larger, higher-quality cage than the first one I used. It was lined with softer, stronger leather and built for holding wild animals. Then, I cleaned a spare feeding bottle and filled it with warm milk so the dragon wouldn’t get hungry on its long trip.
“Hi, is this the post office?” I twirled the video sphere in my hand. “I would like to schedule a delivery, please.”
After calling the post office and paying twice as much for premium express shipping, I made sure to double-check this time that the address was correct.
To: Renia Voltaire
The Voltaire Family Residence, 35 Isette District, Tezeva
A knock at the door announced the arrival of the postman. As I made my way to answer, the baby dragon seemed to sense what was about to happen. It started writhing, rattling the cage, and letting out distressed cries.
“Sweetie! Wait just a little bit!” I shouted over the clattering noises. When the dragon stopped and its eyes widened, I added, “Just two days! You’ll be there in two days, so try to get some sleep on the way, okay?”
Tears welled up in its big, burgundy eyes, turning my heart to mush again. After some serious deliberation, I opened the cage door slightly.
“This is very precious to me, but I’ll let you have it,” I said, putting my sleeping cap on the baby dragon, then placing the bottle in its mouth and shutting the cage.
Goodbye, my limited-edition sleeping cap. And bye, sweet dragon that nearly interrupted my peaceful life. May you find the heroine and be nurtured by all her love!
I went about the rest of my day serenely, content with the knowledge that the creature was well on its way to its proper home. The continuation of my peaceful days was just within my grasp, and I went to sleep dreaming of stress-free afternoons.
However, the very next morning, my illusion of a normal life was shattered as I caught the baby dragon sneaking in through the window of my house. Again.
* * *
Every time the baby dragon came back, I wrapped it up and sent it off again. After four tries, I realized the damn creature had no intention of leaving me alone. It was making me start to wonder if it even wanted to find the heroine at all.
Also, I wasn’t sure how, but I was certain it broke all of my cages to fly back here! By this point, my annoyance was overtaking any sympathy I felt toward the dragon.
“Hey, you. Dragon,” I demanded, pointing a finger at the dragon. The creature was curled up, making itself at home in front of my fireplace. It turned a deaf ear as if it knew I would tie it up and put it in a cage again.
The cursed thing grew so fast over the last few days that its body, which was initially the size of my two hands combined, was now as big as my forearm. Its thin, membranous wings had become as sturdy as steel.
Do all dragons grow that fast? I became increasingly anxious. According to the original novel, dragons formed attachments with humans they encountered while still in their incubation period. The dragons then imprinted on the human they liked the most. Imprinting was an essential part of a dragon’s existence in this realm.
From what I read, the heroine, Renia, took an oath of imprinting only a month after the dragon hatched. That was when the dragon began taking on the form of a human boy. So, whatever I decided to do, a month would be enough time to figure it out. At least, I was supposed to have a month.
So why was I still anxious? Because for some inexplicable reason, today, things decided to change significantly from the last five days.
Instead of the small, winged creature I’d grown used to seeing loitering around my house, there was a child with black, curly hair and burgundy eyes waddling toward me, letting out small cries and gurgles. The little kid looked maybe two or three years old.
I buried my face in my hands. How could the baby dragon have already adopted a human form? A terrible thought struck me. The only way it could be possible was if the creature had already imprinted on me without my consent.
“Please tell me you didn’t!” I shouted desperately as the baby, who still wore my sleeping cap, clung to my calf. “Say that you didn’t, you darn little dragon!”
A series of incomprehensible baby prattle was all I got in return. Damn it. Unable to ignore him, I picked him up and gave him a bottle. As the baby began sucking the warm milk, I racked my brain to find a reasonable explanation for this absurd situation.
Looking objectively, it didn’t really make much sense to find a dragon egg simply sitting in plain sight at a market. I had been too blinded by greed at the moment to realize how strange it was. There was the possibility that someone placed it there intentionally, hoping that I would notice it. However, when I wracked my brain for suspects, I kept coming up empty. No one in this universe knew the real me, Noa Park, of course. But some people surely knew Eleanora. The problem was that I didn’t know who they could be.
Since I couldn’t figure out who was behind all this, I asked the baby dragon for a hint. “Hey, do you remember who left you here in Sorent?”
He tilted his head and gurgled.
“Yes, I do realize you were inside an egg, but you’re still a dragon. Didn’t you hear anything strange happening outside of your shell?”
The child blinked his big, round eyes and began giggling. It was the innocent, heart-melting laughter that only a young baby could make.
Meanwhile, my mind melted with frustration, “Do you think this is funny?”
I could never take this kid in. He had a crucial role to fulfill in the novel as the heroine’s pet dragon. The legendary egg had been passed down through generations of the imperial family of the Laurent Empire. The ancient dragon Liza-something, who helped Laurent’s founding monarch build his empire, had left it as a token of friendship.
After showing no sign of hatching for more than a thousand years, the egg was cracked purely by chance. The heroine, Renia, had accidentally dropped it during a visit to the palace. Just like that, a dragon was born for the first time in a whopping five hundred years.
Naturally, the entire world became interested in who the baby dragon would choose as his master. Instead of imprinting on a member of the imperial family, however, the dragon chose Renia. It wasn’t surprising, in a sense. Dragons preferred imprinting on the first human they came into contact with when they hatched.
Renia garnered everyone’s attention by taking the dragon under her wing. Born as the daughter of a powerless count, the heroine now had a world of opportunities before her, with a staggering number of invitations flooding in from all corners of the land. She became as influential as the continent’s most powerful families.
In the midst of all this activity, Eleanora, an evil force coveting the power of the dragon, attacked Renia, prompting her to form an alliance with the male protagonist.
This was where the story really began. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no intention of joining such a crazy plot, nor was I interested in stepping into the glittering spotlight. Dying once under a heavy workload was more than enough. I didn’t want to bid an eternal farewell to my peaceful life by getting tangled up in the main characters’ anticlimactic drama. Besides, the capital was likely being turned upside down by now, with the egg missing from the palace.
Determined, I looked down at the kid, snuggled up to me and contentedly drinking his milk. The point is, I have to find a way to send him back to the heroine!
Naming the dragon was the final step of imprinting. Fortunately, I hadn’t named him or given him my name yet. So, the imprinting couldn’t have been completed. I still had a chance to set things right.
Suddenly, the baby stopped sucking on the bottle. I figured maybe he was full—childcare was never one of my special skills. He even burped a little when I patted his back. His burgundy eyes blinked slowly, then closed, and he relaxed further into my arms as he dozed off.
The dragon’s human form amplified my guilt somehow. He was a perfect baby cherub, sleeping soundly and clutching my robe with his cute little hands.
I began swaying him lightly in my arms. With a deep sigh, I whispered, “I’m not abandoning you, sweetie. I’m just trying to get you to your mother.” This dragon would be much happier with the heroine than with a lazy, unmotivated girl like me. He and Renia were inseparable in the novel, after all.
I left the house, holding him carefully so he wouldn’t wake up.
* * *
Sorent, a southern rural village far from Tezeva, was surrounded by sheer coastal cliffs to the south, dense woodlands to the east, and the lake of the fairies to the west. The town didn’t often receive visitors, making the following events quite out of place for the sleepy village.
A few hours ago, a mysterious man had arrived in town, knocking on the door of the Sorent Police Department. Finding the door open, he let himself into the admittedly small precinct, finding one lone figure slumped in a chair.
Clearing his throat, the man introduced himself. “Hello, I am a detective from Tezeva.”
Tezeva? Laurent’s capital? The Commissioner of the Sorent Police Department jerked awake with a gasp, “Wh-Who are you? Did you say you came from Tezeva? What district do you belong to?”
“Isette,” the man responded.
Isette, the first district of Tezeva, was home to the residences of high-ranking nobles as well as the Imperial Palace of the Laurent Empire.
There’s no way a detective from such a place would get dispatched here! The commissioner fumbled around his desk for his glasses.
Meanwhile, the tall, black-haired man looked down at him impassively with crossed arms. He resembled a sleek black panther and exuded qualities of steadfast righteousness.
“What is your ranking?” asked the commissioner.
“Chief of the Investigation and Security Bureau.”
“Sorry?” The commissioner finally found his glasses and put them on, convinced that this was a joke. But as soon as he got a clear view of the man, he shrieked, “O-Oh! Chief Leonard?”
The man before him was adorned in a black uniform with a golden pin attached to the left breast. His eyes, piercing and purple, appeared to look right through whoever was so unlucky to be in his crosshairs. On his belt laid a leather holster—inside it, undoubtedly, rested a revolver. That was enough to identify the man.
Standing in the Sorent Police Department was the Chief of the Investigation and Security Bureau.