“Hhk—”
The sound of someone sucking in a breath could be heard.
It was not even that loud.
And yet, the sound rang out as though it represented the feelings of everyone present here.
Among them, Contanias—
“???”
—was taking all of this in with trembling eyes, as though he simply could not understand it.
‘What...... is this situation?’
As far as Contanias knew, the Empire’s guardian dragon, Arculainysis, called Alon “Father,” and the moment she saw him, she had indeed called him that.
Up to that point, it had been shocking to witness, but not particularly strange.
However, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not understand what came after that.
‘......Concubines?’
Contanias looked at the two women standing behind Alon with shaking eyes.
Of course, it was not particularly strange for royalty to keep several concubines.
But the source of the discomfort was not that.
It was the fact that the guardian dragon had said it.
While hugging Alon as though he belonged to her, tears gathered in her eyes and yet a smile rested on her lips as the guardian dragon had clearly said—
‘Good to see you, concubines!’
......Of course, it was not something that could never be said.
But even so, it was not the kind of thing someone should say in a situation like this, smiling proudly as though she were some triumphant victor.
‘Wait—what exactly is going on here?’
Blankly, Contanias began reorganizing the web of relationships in his head.
The Empire’s guardian dragon, Arculainysis, and Alon were in a father-daughter relationship.
According to the guardian dragon, the two women who came with him were concubines.
But the guardian dragon was looking at her father’s concubines and calling them “concubines” with a provocative smile.
Not as a daughter speaking—
but like a “wife” speaking.
And the moment that thought reached him, Contanias unconsciously shook his head.
‘No way—’
No matter how he thought about it, it felt like too much of a leap, so Contanias shook his head repeatedly.
He knew very well that even thinking such a thing was rude.
So the moment Contanias ended his thoughts there—
—his gaze drifted toward Alon’s waist.
More precisely, toward the guardian dragon’s tail wrapped around Alon’s waist.
‘Please remember this well, Your Highness. If the great guardian dragon wraps its tail around someone’s waist, it means that person has become the guardian dragon’s mate.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. Dragons only do that to their mates as a rule.’
‘I see—’
Contanias recalled something his teacher had told him long ago when he was young, and his expression instantly began to stiffen.
But only for a moment.
“Hoo—”
Contanias endured it once more.
His teacher certainly had told him that, but in the end, the man had not truly known dragons himself. He had only repeated what he had found in old texts.
In other words, his teacher’s information might not even have been reliable.
Just as Contanias was still trying to turn his thoughts away from it—
“So what exactly do you mean by that, Ar?”
Rine, who until just moments ago had practically had question marks floating over her head, finally spoke.
At that, the guardian dragon—
no, Ar—
while still shedding tears from the joy of meeting Alon again—
“Do not worry, Father. From now on, this body, the rightful wife, shall attend to you.”
answered like that.
“......What?”
“Ah?”
Low exclamations escaped Rine and Penia.
“......”
And the gazes of the soldiers, including Contanias, who had been standing there with mouths hanging open from the situation itself, all turned toward Alon at once.
Naturally so.
The guardian dragon called Alon “Father.”
But at the same time, she referred to herself as the “rightful wife.”
Which meant there was only one possible conclusion.
““......””
The soldiers forgot even that the guardian dragon was beside them and stared at Alon with expressions as though looking at filth.
“......Uh, Lord Alon. This is a bit......”
“......Hm.”
Even Evan and Deus looked at Alon with strange expressions.
And Alon—
“Wait—this is a misunderstanding!”
—for once, shouted loudly before trying to understand the situation first.
Right afterward.
By the time Alon’s desperate explanation finally restored the soldiers’ and Contanias’s eyes to normal—
after sending Contanias and the soldiers out, Alon—
“I believed in you.”
“Mhm.”
—glared slightly at Evan and Deus as though reproaching them, then soon let out a sigh and looked toward Ar.
Her eyes were still swollen from crying now that she had finally cried everything out, and her tail was still wrapped around Alon’s waist.
Yet she wore a bright smile.
“My dear—!”
The moment Alon looked at her, Ar spread both arms wide and smiled.
Anyone could tell she was asking for a hug.
Without realizing it, Alon hugged her.
If she had looked like a fully grown woman, it might have felt somewhat burdensome, but Ar’s human polymorphed appearance was closer to that of a young girl in the first place.
‘Then again, thinking about fantasy dragons......’
And then, suddenly, Alon realized something.
“......Your form of address changed.”
“Hm? Ah—you mean calling you that?”
“Yes.”
At Alon’s nod, she laughed.
“Hehehe—this too is all for your sake!”
“......For my sake?”
“Yes! Entirely for your sake—!”
What part of this was supposedly for his sake? Alon wondered for only a moment—
“Mm—this is about what happened after you disappeared—”
—and soon, Ar naturally began speaking about what happened after Alon vanished.
Alon quietly listened to her story.
He wanted to know how she had become the Empire’s guardian dragon as well.
So he focused silently on Ar’s words.
And after some time had passed—
“And that is how it happened—”
“......So, you became the Empire’s guardian dragon for my sake?”
That was how Ar finished her story.
A story on a scale far larger than he had expected.
“Yes! For your sake!”
At Ar proudly shouting that with a smile, Alon briefly recalled what she had told him.
Apparently, after he disappeared, Ar had lived alone.
In truth, for an ordinary dragonkin, living alone would have been impossible.
And yet the reason she had been able to survive alone was because she was not “dragonkin,” but an actual “dragon.”
Honestly, this part shocked even Alon.
Because when he saved Ar, he had absolutely believed she was dragonkin.
To begin with, she had not been particularly strong for a dragon, and she had nearly died far too helplessly at the hands of the soldiers led by Baarma, which made it even harder to believe.
But thinking back on it, Ar had never actually called herself dragonkin.
In other words, because Ar had been so weak at the time, Alon, Penia, and Rine had simply misunderstood.
And come to think of it, it seemed Ar had referred to herself as a dragon before as well.
Anyway—
while living as a dragon like that, she met a human.
And that human made her a proposal.
A proposal to become the guardian dragon protecting the Empire.
It had come from the first emperor of the Empire.
And Ar accepted the emperor’s proposal.
Because of the condition the emperor offered.
Hundreds of years ago, the emperor who had devoured half the continent offered Ar the remains and hearts of dragons that had been swept away by sins and blackness.
And Ar accepted that condition.
Because she needed dragon hearts.
More precisely, she wanted power.
Absolute power to protect what was precious to her.
That was why Ar became the Empire’s guardian dragon.
And she absorbed dozens of dragon hearts scattered throughout the Empire.
“My dear! Now I shall protect you!”
So that she could protect Alon when they met again someday.
“......Thank you for thinking of me.”
“Hehehe, is it not only natural for me to think of you—!”
Ar smiled happily at Alon’s gratitude.
Even while wrapped around his waist, her swaying tail openly displayed her mood.
“......Even so, there was no °• N o v e l i g h t •° need to bind yourself to the Empire because of me—”
Looking at her like that, Alon carefully said those words.
He truly was grateful that she had done all this for him.
But separate from that, he did not want to see her give up her freedom for his sake.
However—
“Mm, you do not need to worry about that either, my dear.”
“......Is that so?”
“Yes! In the first place, one reason I became the Empire’s guardian dragon was to gift this Empire to you! That is also why I called you Father!”
“......Because of that?”
“Yes! There is no one in this Empire above me! Then if you are the guardian dragon’s father, it means there is no one in the Empire above you!”
Watching Ar wear an expression that clearly said, See? Aren’t I amazing? Alon finally understood why she had called him Father in official settings.
“......A woman bringing an Empire as a dowry. Yeah, you can’t beat that.”
“I agree.”
After hearing Ar’s words, Evan and Deus added those comments with serious expressions.
However, they soon had no choice but to turn their gazes elsewhere.
Because Penia and Rine were staring at them with murderous expressions.
“Ahem—Deus, should we step outside too?”
“I believe that would be a wise decision.”
At their stares, Evan and Deus exchanged only those two lines before immediately leaving without hesitation.
And the moment the two of them left—
Rine, who had not said a single word until now, finally spoke.
“Ar?”
“What is it, concubine?”
Creeeak—!
At Ar’s words, a somewhat chilling sound could be heard from somewhere.
But paying no attention to it, Rine spoke.
“And why exactly are you calling us concubines?”
“I’m curious about that too.”
Penia smiled beside her as though agreeing with Rine’s words.
At that, Ar pointed at herself as though asking something obvious.
“Me. Rightful wife.”
Her finger pointed toward the two of them.
“Concubines.”
Ar wore an expression that said, OK?
Penia’s and Rine’s smiles deepened slightly.
......Their smiles definitely deepened slightly, and yet strangely enough, the laughter was slowly disappearing from their eyes.
“So then, may I ask exactly what kind of logic produced those titles?”
Ar pointed at herself again.
“Me. Dragon.”
Then she pointed at the two of them once more.
“Humans.”
Again, Ar wore an expression that said, OK?
At that indescribable expression—something that might seem merely baffling to ordinary people, but utterly infuriating to Rine and Penia—the two looked at each other.
What the hell is this brat saying right now?
No idea.
Should we kill her?
Shall we?
Watching the two of them somehow communicate naturally without saying a single word aloud, Alon hurriedly stepped in to correct things.
“Ar. First of all, I have no intention of getting married yet, and above all, I especially have no intention of marrying you.”
“Eh?”
For a moment, Ar looked shocked by Alon’s words.
Alon quickly added,
“Did you not introduce me as your father?”
“......Is that strange, my dear?”
“......Do you think a father and daughter can marry?”
Alon’s words.
At that, Ar finally returned to her normal expression.
“They cannot?”
“......Is that not obvious?”
“Mmm—”
Ar seemed to think for a moment before speaking again.
“But it is still fine!”
“Why?”
“Among dragons, marriages between relatives are common! I think I heard long ago that even my great-grandmother and great-grandfather were father and daughter!”
“......That is information I truly did not need to know.”
For a brief moment, Alon seriously wondered whether dragons were really a race of intelligence after all.
But he quickly regained his composure.
“And Ar, those two are not concubines.”
“Hm? They are not?”
“No.”
“Huuuh—?”
Ar tilted her head.
Seeing her tilt it back and forth as though she genuinely could not understand—
“......Why?”
Alon asked.
And Ar—
“Well, because they are blatantly giving off pheromones that say they like you?”
—answered so casually.

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