Monsters Wag Their Tails Only at Me

Varen was truly strange. Even without any real skill with words, just a few sentences were enough to put me at ease.

Those brief words carried all the memories we had built together. The version of me that Varen knew was laid out clearly.

He often made me feel like this. Whenever I felt like I was drifting, unable to anchor myself in this world, he became a powerful gravity that pulled me back down.

And every time, I could stand on the ground again. I could rise again, leaning on Varen.

I reached out and caught his cheek as he started to pull away, chasing after him. He let himself be caught easily, and I pressed a light kiss to his lips.

Varen immediately pressed his lips down firmly. It felt like he was stamping something onto me, as if to confirm my existence.

Feeling that warmth and softness, I let out a quiet laugh through the gap between our lips. Varen pulled back slightly and stared down at me.

“Why are you smiling, Ceryl?”

“I was just wondering if there’s anyone else besides me who’s kissed a dragon.”

“As far as I know, there’s no dragon who has taken a human as a mate. I’m the only one.”

“...Then this is something only I can do.”

The me from my previous world, and even the original Ceryl—

Neither of them could do what I was doing now.

Loving a dragon with a human body was something only I, as I am now, could do.

I did not know where the courage came from, but I lightly pushed Varen’s shoulder and laid him down on the bed. With clumsy movements, I climbed on top of him and pushed my way deeper into his mouth.

Varen wrapped his thick, swollen forearms around my body. Sweet saliva slid down my throat.

My human body, already accustomed to a dragon’s presence, welcomed it eagerly. Today, especially, the sweetness seemed to soak through my entire body.

After ending the kiss that never felt long enough no matter how many times we shared it, I lifted my head. His damp, heated gaze looked up at me.

Another layer of certainty surfaced in Varen’s expression. From just a breath away, our lips almost touching, I spoke in a low voice.

“Loving you is something only I can do right now.”

At my firmer voice, Varen smiled in satisfaction. Then, like rewarding a child, he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“That’s the right answer.”

“Yeah. It’s me. Only me, here right now.”

“Yes. Only you.”

It felt like we whispered and kissed for a long time after that, but everything that followed became hazy.

All I could remember was the heat of his body, binding me tightly through the night without letting go.

***

The next day, I did not get out of bed until the sun was already high.

Margon and I had a simple meal on the first floor of the inn, while Varen waited nearby wearing his transparent cloak.

Guided by Margon, we headed toward the Aylos family.

More precisely, it was a journey toward the Lavier family, who merely used the name Aylos outwardly.

Flying alongside a dragon had become familiar now. I had slept well after waking late.

And yet, my body intermittently heaved with nausea and dizziness.

Each time, we had to stop in the forest and rest for over an hour. Whether Margon was watching or not, Varen would kiss me and push strength into me.

It gave me a temporary burst of energy, but it did not last long. I was nothing more than a sick bird drifting in the wind as I floated through the air.

It had only been three days since we left the rebels’ base, but it felt more exhausting than wandering the forest for a month.

Varen grew frustrated at my sudden and inexplicable condition. Margon worried and suggested we rest another night.

But we could not.

The letter from my uncle, which I had seen in Varen’s memories, weighed heavily on my mind.

Varen’s uncle, Phiren Lavier, had said the scarecrow was about to begin the game.

Jade in the facility had also referred to the king as a scarecrow. Putting the pieces together, the “game” in that letter likely meant war.

My heart was impatient, but my body would not keep up. Still, I could not afford to delay even a single day.

As we flew quickly, Varen glanced at me. Right then, another wave of headache hit, and I pressed my forehead, frowning.

“Ceryl, let’s rest for a bit—”

“I’m fine. Let’s just go.”

Our goal was to arrive before nightfall. I clenched my teeth and suppressed the nausea rising up.

Varen was frustrated because he did not understand, but I knew exactly what was happening inside my body.

Two souls were crammed into one body, and it was overloading. If I let my guard down even slightly, I would lose myself and be swept away by Ceryl’s storm of memories.

On top of that, Ceryl’s awakened abilities had made my hearing even more sensitive, constantly breaking my concentration.

Even the wind passing through the forest sounded like someone’s voice. Every tree we passed seemed to speak to me.

In a world that had become unbearably loud, I had to focus every ounce of my mind just to stay sane.

***

We barely managed to reach the Aylos family before the sun set.

Stopping a few hundred meters away, I told Varen to put on his cloak and wait.

“He’s the kind of man who would do anything to get his hands on a Dravergh’s heart. I can’t take you into a place like that.”

“For something like those humans...”

“Varen, trust me and leave this to me.”

Phiren Aylos was obsessed with obtaining a dragon’s heart. To do that, he had killed his own brother and adopted his nephew, raising him as a tool.

Bringing Varen into the den of someone that insane would be no different from offering up a dragon’s heart on a platter.

When I refused to back down and spoke firmly, Varen finally relented.

Leaving him concealed within the forest, Margon and I headed toward the main gate.

I looked up at the Aylos family’s house. It looked more worn than it had in Ceryl’s memories.

It was a remote place, far from the capital, with even the nearest village requiring three hours by carriage.

Despite living in hiding, they were still nobles. Servants stayed in the annex. They were divided between those who handled household duties and those who served as guards.

“Wow... to think I’d come back here. When I left, I thought I’d never return.”

Margon, who had once been a guard for the Aylos family, spoke with a hollow laugh.

I glanced at him and smirked.

“Why did you think you wouldn’t come back?”

“I figured I’d die in the magical creature management facility.”

“Why?”

“Because you went there prepared to die, Ceryl. Naturally, I thought I’d die with you.”

Margon answered as if it were nothing.

I abruptly stopped walking and stared at his broad back.

“Why the hell would you...?”

I wanted to scold him for staking his life on mine, but I could not finish the sentence.

Because now I knew everything about him and Leobin.

The two of them had been nothing more than common war orphans. Children sold off cheaply in the market as servants.

They had drifted from one noble household to another until, by chance, Phiren noticed them. He laughed, saying they looked sturdy, and bought them for a higher price.

But the two, stubborn and rough by nature, caused trouble constantly. Eventually, they broke one of Phiren’s prized ceramics.

Enraged, Phiren beat them like a way to vent his anger. They could not even properly resist, and afterward, they were denied both food and treatment.

That was when Ceryl stepped in, offering all his hidden savings to buy them. It was not long after he had arrived at Phiren’s household.

Perhaps out of a trace of guilt toward his nephew, Phiren allowed it.

There was only one reason why twelve-year-old Ceryl spent everything he had to buy them.

He had already sensed, faintly, that his uncle had killed his parents. Every day in that house felt like walking on thin ice.

Every servant he passed frightened him. He could not sleep peacefully, always afraid someone might harm him.

He needed people of his own in that house. Not his uncle’s people, but truly his own.

“Be on my side in this house. That’s all I need.”

Leobin and Margon had not understood the words of someone younger than them.

But they could tell that their young master was as fragile as a candle in the wind.

There was only one reason the two boys had chosen, of their own will, to learn the sword.

To protect Ceryl.

“Ceryl, why did you stop? Are you not feeling well again?”

As I stood there, lost in Ceryl’s memories, Margon came straight toward me. Now he was a fully grown man, even with a thick beard.

But in my eyes, I could still see the boy who had once been locked in a dark storage room, collapsed and covered in blood.

When I had entered with medicine and food, the two of them had looked at me like I was a miracle.

Staring silently at Margon’s face, I let out a small sigh. Then I waved him off and walked past him.

“Worry about yourself, Margon. And for once, don’t get hurt.”

“Huh? I’m not injured anywhere.”

“And don’t go around starving either.”

“How did you know? I was just starting to get hungry.”

Margon, who still did not know that Ceryl’s memories had returned to me, rubbed his stomach as he spoke.

Exchanging such pointless conversation, we soon arrived at the front gate.

I swallowed dryly, then lifted my chin at the guard standing watch.

“Tell Phiren. Ceryl Aylos has returned.”

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