Chzzz.
The sound of emptying a drink echoed, and Arthur, unable to bear the silence, burst into laughter first.
“I, I’m fine! Yeah! Both of you stop fighting.”
“Fighting? What are you talking about?”
“Yeah. Do we look like we’re fighting?”
At Arthur’s words, both Bellion and I tilted our heads, wondering what she was talking about, and looked at her.
Seeing that, Arthur stared blankly at the two of us with her mouth open, then pointed out what had just happened.
“A, no! You two were glaring at each other without saying anything just now!”
“That’s because we had nothing to say.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t get upset over something so trivial. It’s not like I’m some girl.”
At our words, Arthur was greatly shocked, wondering how we could be like that. Maybe it was because she was disguising herself as a man, but deep down, she worried too much like a woman.
I crunched on the ice in my drink glass while looking at Bellion.
“So, did you find out everything you wanted to know?”
“Hmm. Yeah…”
Bellion wore an expression that seemed rather unsatisfied. I didn’t know why he made such a face, but soon he shook his head as if it were nothing and smirked.
If the results were obtained, the process didn’t matter. All questionable parts were swallowed whole.
That was the demeanor an emperor should show.
“Well, whatever.”
Bellion acted according to what he had learned all his life. Though he still had more questions for Arthur, he didn’t dig any deeper.
Watching Bellion, Arthur silently began crunching on the ice. The sound of her biting on the ice filled the private room.
“Shall we go? Ah, go ahead first. I’ll settle the bill and catch up.”
“Uh, okay.”
I left the café with the uneasy Arthur.
After finishing paying the bill, Bellion finally appeared.
* * *
“That will be 150,000 cash.”
“Here.”
“Thank you. We look forward to your next visit.”
For just three drinks, the price was excessively high. As Bellion stood there motionless after paying, the staff started to gaze at him, wondering if something was wrong.
Bellion briefly locked eyes with the staff, then quietly smiled with his eyes and walked away.
‘To think there was such a secret.’
The fact that Arthur had a dragon’s heart embedded in her was completely unexpected. Still, it wasn’t exactly shocking news.
Everyone has secrets, and I wasn’t so fragile as to have my feelings hurt over someone hiding something trivial.
The only problem, though…
‘Merlin implanted the dragon’s heart, right…’
I couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it. The cause-and-effect relationship didn’t add up.
Having been raised in a position where receiving something meant repaying it equally, Bellion couldn’t fathom why Merlin would give Arthur a dragon’s heart as a gift.
And not just any dragon’s heart — a precious treasure not even found in the Empire’s vaults. To bestow such a thing without any cost? And not only that, but successfully embed it into her heart?
‘Why?’
Was Arthur Merlin’s child? Or did he have some sort of hold over her? Or perhaps he owed her a favor?
Why, why, why, why.
Why did Merlin show such goodwill?
“Hey, why are you coming out now?”
“—Sorry, let’s go.”
As Kail grumbled at him waiting outside the shop, Bellion cautiously watched Kail’s back.
It was plausible for him and Kail to become friends. He was the prince of the Empire, and Kail was an Aura Master.
But at the same time — Kail also got along well with Arthur. Despite their vastly different skills and abilities.
‘Kail, why do you…’
How could he be so kind to others?
How could he be kind to others without expecting anything in return?
Why didn’t I ever have someone like that around me?
Why, why.
* * *
After the meeting with Bellion ended, Kail returned home to hear some dreadful news from the butler.
“Welcome back, Young Master. The young lady is waiting for you.”
“Young lady?”
“Yes, the noble lady.”
The news that Yuri was at his house. Only then did Kail remember he hadn’t seen her since returning from his mission. With a slightly trembling heart, he headed to his room.
Inside the room, Yuri was reading a book under the brightly lit magical lamp. Fortunately—or unfortunately—she was so engrossed in the book that she didn’t notice Kail entering.
Silently suppressing his presence, Kail moved behind Yuri to spy on what she was reading that had her so absorbed.
[‘My lady, you mustn’t do that. Ahhh-! Th, that place…’ The seductive moans of the young lord spilled out, and the noble lady happily laughed as she touched his—]
“Wow.”
Thud-! Flap flap!
The moment Kail’s voice slipped out involuntarily, Yuri slammed the book shut with teleportation-like speed and leaped onto the bed.
Covering herself with the blanket, she peeked her face out as if nothing had happened and lightly greeted him.
“Hello, Kail. Welcome back.”
“Yeah. What were you doing?”
“Noth, nothing…”
Despite her efforts to act nonchalant, Kail’s sharp eyes caught her ears turning bright red.
Chuckling softly, Kail nodded knowingly and lightly kissed her lips as she lay on the bedding.
Yuri, who had been caught reading smut and was still dazed, stared blankly at Kail for a moment before realizing she’d been kissed. She then furiously swung her fists at him.
“……!!”
“A, ah- sorry, sorry!”
Kail gently subdued the embarrassed Yuri, naturally taking a seat beside her, and they began a long conversation.
They talked about trivial things like icebreakers—whether anything interesting happened at the Academy while he was gone, whether she was bored, or how she spent her days. Then Yuri cautiously extended her hand.
Tilting his head curiously, Kail noticed Yuri instead looked puzzled, as if wondering why he wasn’t offering anything.
“…You went all the way to the Imperial Capital and didn’t bring me a gift?”
“Ah. I forgot.”
“Forgot…?”
As Yuri glared fiercely at him, Kail awkwardly scratched his cheek and picked up the demon sword he had placed by the bed.
The demon sword, perfectly sealed with Merlin’s seal in its custom scabbard.
Though Yuri didn’t realize it was a demon sword, she recognized the level of magic imbued in the scabbard.
“This… Let me see it for a moment.”
“Uh, sure.”
“…Where did you get this? Hmm… I see. So this can be used like this…”
Yuri, a natural-born magician who relied on talent and research rather than shortcuts like Sera, realized the sealing formula on the scabbard was a spell beyond the reach of even most master-level magicians.
The fact that she could study something like this up close for hours was a dream come true for any mage.
“Hey, Yuri?”
“…Yeah, like this.”
“How long are you going to keep staring at the sword—”
“Quiet.”
“…Okay.”
Kail, who had hoped for some sweet moments with Yuri, was ultimately pushed aside by the demon sword he brought.
Judging by her expression, it didn’t look like this issue would be resolved anytime soon. In other words, she had been stolen away by the sword for the day.
‘Is this what NTR feels like?’
Having lost his lover’s attention to his own sword, Kail gave a bitter smile and pulled the blanket over himself. Since there was nothing else to do, he figured he might as well sleep and recover from his fatigue.
Even after he fell asleep, Yuri kept fiddling with the demon sword for a long time. After quite a while passed:
“Is this… how it’s done?”
Her magic broke the seal on the demon sword.
* * *
I dream.
A dream of Earth in the 21st century, a place I can no longer return to.
Before my eyes were mountains of hamburgers, pizza, pork cutlets, cola, and other delicacies. Beside them stood rows of celebrities one would only see in games, movies, computers, and TV.
I was certain that if I wished, all of these things would fall into my grasp.
Not only that, but I could enjoy this amusement forever. If I desired, delicious food would pile up like mountains, rotting away. If I wanted, I could endlessly enjoy games, movies, and manga. Celebrities would crawl naked before me.
As long as I desired it.
“What is this?”
Frowning at the realization, I grimaced.
This peaceful utopia. If I were still on Earth, maybe I would have wished for it.
But Kail Meyer, accustomed to swords and war, was different.
Comfort and ease weren’t necessary. Endless struggle and unceasing growth were what thrilled me.
“Get rid of this.”
Thinking that, I drew a single sword.
The sword always present in my heart. The Aura Blade.
And I swung it.
Crash-! Effortlessly shattering objects fell apart, revealing a crimson-horned demon beyond them.
—Aaah! What a waste! What are you even doing!?
“…Yuri?”
—You! Just eat what’s given to you! How can a human lack greed like this!?
And the demon took the form of Yuri Grace.
