Warm sunlight filtered through the leaves above, casting dappled patterns across my face as I slowly blinked awake. The first thing I saw was Len’s face. Her golden eyes sparkled like sunlit honey, and her gentle smile made my heart skip a beat. My head still rested in her lap, and from this angle, I couldn’t help but notice the soft curve of her chest rising and falling with every breath, the delicate fabric of her shirt slightly rumpled from hours of sitting still.
“Mmm? You’re awake, darling?” she whispered, brushing a few strands of navy hair from my forehead. Her voice was like silk, it soft, soothing, and a little playful.
"Uh… yeah,” I murmured groggily, rubbing my eyes as I sat up slightly. “Sorry. I didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep. How long was I out?”
She tilted her head, gazing at the sky as she pressed a finger to her lips, thinking.
“Hmm… It’s past lunchti, so… maybe five hours?”
“F-Five hours?!” I shot up, blinking in disbelief. “Seriously?!”
The sudden movent made her giggle softly, and I quickly scrambled off her lap, guilt washing over .
“Ugh… I didn’t an to use your legs as a pillow for half a day. You must be sore from sitting so long.”
She stretched her arms overhead with a lazy yawn.
“Fufu~ I don’t mind. I’d do it all day if it ans holding you like that.”
“You didn’t deny that it made you sore…”
“Haha, maybe a little,” she teased, rubbing her thigh. “But I didn’t want to wake you. You looked too cute.”
A soft sigh escaped . My cheeks ward, and I scratched my head, a little embarrassed.
“Still… I feel bad.”
“Well, while you were busy snoring away,” she said with a smirk, “Aza and the others chatted with . I even had ti to practice with my new elents and so chaos energy.”
Len leaned forward and gently tapped my nose. “Besides… I enjoyed watching you sleep. It felt nice. Like everything was finally calm and safe.”
Her words tugged at sothing in . I looked at her, for a mont, it seed ti had slowed. Her ssy strands of blonde hair danced with the breeze, and the glow in her eyes made the world seem a little brighter.
I smiled faintly. “You’re too sweet.”
“Only for you.”
Then she stood up, brushing off the grass from her shorts.
“Anyway! I’ll get lunch ready. Just sit tight and don’t fall asleep again, okay?”
Just as I was about to follow her—
*Whiiiiiirrrrr!*
As Len turned to head inside the house, a sudden gust of wind howled through the clearing, stirring the grass and tugging at her dress. I instinctively looked up, just as the sky darkened.
Shadows stretched across the field, cast by three massive forms soaring above us. Their presence was overwhelming. My heart pounded in my chest as their wings beat against the air with a thunderous rhythm, stirring the ground below.
“D-Dragons…?” I muttered, wide-eyed.
No… Not just one.
Three.
They were magnificent.
The smallest of the trio, though still easily larger than the drake Len had slain years ago, glimred with polished crimson scales that caught the light like molten rubies.
The other two dwarfed even him, their scales deep blue and fiery red, radiating an ancient, almost divine aura. Each flap of their wings sent ripples through the air, their majestic bodies slicing through the sky like ancient rulers reclaiming their throne.
I couldn’t look away. The sheer pressure from their presence pressed against my chest, but it wasn’t fear, but awe.
Then, without warning, the crimson one tilted its wings and dove.
It was too fast!
Before I could react, the dragon shimred midair, its form distorting in a swirl of red light. Within seconds, a humanoid figure descended with flaming red wings bursting from his back, trailing embers as he shouted with a voice that echoed like a blazing storm.
“Sis Selenaaaaa!!”
Wait. Did he just say—
Len!?
My eyes darted between her and the incoming figure, but it was too late. He barreled toward her with zero intention of stopping. And before I could step in—
*Thud!*
They tumbled to the ground, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
“Hey! Ig! That’s dangerous!”
Len’s voice was stern.
For a mont, I saw her face revealing a hurt expression. But she wasn’t angry. She knew him.
“I was so worried! The Voice of the World whispered your na, I thought sothing happened! Are you okay, sis?!” he asked frantically, cupping her face, scanning her features.
I was stunned, my chest twisting with unease.
Jealousy hit like a blade to the ribs.
Before I could pull him off, two more shadows descended, exuding a graceful yet commanding presence. The towering red and blue dragons landed with a surprising elegance that defied their massive forms. In a flash of light, they too transford, wings folding behind them as they stepped forward in human form, their dragon pupils still gleaming with primal intensity.
“Ig! She can’t breathe if you crush her like that!” snapped the red-haired man.
The resemblance to the crimson dragon was clear.
“Ah… Sorry, Sis Selena. Sorry, Father…”
The red-winged youth, Ig, quickly released her and stood up, scratching his head sheepishly.
I glanced at the woman who approached next. Her long, flowing hair shimred like liquid sapphire, her presence as gentle as it was powerful.
“Selena, are you alright?” she asked softly, reaching down to help Len up.
“I’m fine, Marina,” Len replied with a soft smile, brushing herself off.
Despite the dramatic landing, she didn’t seem shaken. Still, I couldn’t ignore the way she flinched slightly earlier.
I stepped closer, my voice more concerned than I intended.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
Her eyes t mine, glowing with warmth. “Thank you for worrying, darling. I’m truly fine.”
A beat of silence passed. Then the dragons’ eyes widened in unison.
““Huh?””
“W-What did you just call him…?”
Ig stamred, his voice cracking.
“D-Darling…?”
“Yes,” Len said clearly, tightening her arm around my shoulders. “This is Freed Calytrix. He’s my darling.”
But it wasn’t just the words.
The way she leaned into , resting her head gently against mine as if it were the most natural thing in the world… The subtle, affectionate rub of her thumb along my collarbone… The soft hum in her throat, almost like a purr of comfort just from standing next to …
She wasn’t making a point. She was making a statent, or perhaps, a declaration.
Ig’s expression cracked.
“N-No way…”
He mumbled, his wings drooping like wilted petals.
I could feel his heartbreak, and I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry.
Len knew exactly what she was doing. Her hand slid down from my shoulder, curling around my arm, clutching it tightly like she had no intention of letting go.
I could feel the burn of jealousy from Ig even without looking directly at him. And for so reason, it thrilled . Not because I enjoyed his pain, but because she chose , in front of them, without hesitation.
“And who might they be, sweetheart?” I asked her, my voice calm, but layered with the sa possessive warmth.
Her laughter was soft, lodic.
“Sweetheart…” she repeated, stealing a glance at Ig.
Her smile turned teasing. She was like twisting the knife, but in the most elegant way.
“These are the dragons I ntioned before, darling,” she said, tilting her head toward them but not stepping away from .
“That’s Ragnava Draconistream, the Dragon King,” she said, nodding toward the tall, stern figure who stood with regal composure.
“His wife, the Dragon Queen, Marina Draconistream.”
Marina offered a gentle nod, though her eyes flickered with curiosity at our closeness.
“And that’s their son, Ignava Draconistream. My master and I saved him centuries ago.”
Ah. That explains everything.
I looked at Ig again, now standing awkwardly with a forced smile, eyes flicking between and Len.
So he was the dragon she once saved. The clingy one. The emotional one. The one who clearly didn’t know when to back off.
I t his eyes with a smile that said it all: “she chose .”
And she wanted the world to know it.
But still, I released her arms and stepped forward.
“It's an honor to et you,” I said with a respectful nod, placing a hand over my chest as I bowed slightly. “Len’s told a lot about how much you’ve cared for her. I’m truly grateful.”
Marina’s eyes widened a little, her hand gently lifting to her lips in surprise. “Oh my… how courteous,” she said, her voice soft and graceful. “Such manners are rare.”
Ragnava let out a booming laugh that shook the air. “Hah! A brave one, aren’t you? Most humans would be groveling just standing before us. But you… you speak with steady eyes. I like that. You truly are worthy of standing at Selena’s side.”
“Of course he is!” Len chid in proudly, her voice almost glowing with affection. “He’s my darling, after all!”
She said it with such confidence, it was impossible to mistake it for anything less than sincere devotion.
Then she continued, her tone shifting slightly to sothing more formal but still warm.
“You probably heard from the Voice already, both Freed and I have undergone a transformation. He’s no longer human and I’m no longer a half-elf, we’ve beco a new race called Aethralunian.”
Ragnava nodded, the amusent in his eyes giving way to sothing more solemn. “Indeed. That’s part of the reason we ca, to see it with our own eyes. Congratulations, Selena… and you as well, Freed.”
“Truly, congratulations to you both,” Marina added gently, smiling.
“Thank you,” Len and I replied together, our voices in quiet harmony.
Ignava, who had just rebooted whatever thoughts were scrambling in his head, suddenly shouted in disbelief,
“Y-You’re lying, Sis! Look at yourself! I can feel how weak you’ve beco! What did he do to you!?”
His voice cracked with both panic and rage. Before Len could even respond, he whirled toward , his fiery red eyes blazing.
“You, brat! What the hell did you do to her!? Did you brainwash her or sothing!? There’s no way soone like you could be her partner—!”
*Whiiiirrrrr!*
His crimson aura exploded around him like a storm of burning winds, heat shimring in the air. He strode toward , tall and broad, looking down on with both fury and disbelief. The pressure from his aura was suffocating as if it clawed at my lungs, trying to crush my resolve. Every instinct scread at to step back.
But I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
Backing down now… would an giving him a sliver of a chance to take Len from .
Then—
Steel flashed.
Len stood between us, her sword unsheathed in a heartbeat. The silver edge of her blade hovered just below Ignava’s chin, the glint of its runes flickering like frozen lightning.
“If you lay even a finger on him, Ig… I won’t forgive you.”
Her voice was cold and serious. The weight behind her words stunned even .
At that mont, Len wasn’t just protecting , but she was claiming .
Her grip on the sword never wavered, and yet I sensed the tension in her shoulders. She was ready to strike.
I reached out to her with Unified Voices, uneasy at the thought of crossing a line.
(“It’s fine.”)
She answered firmly.
(“They’re dragons. They respect strength more than words. They won’t interfere if their son’s in the wrong.”)
A quick glance confird it, Ragnava and Marina remained still, neither shocked nor displeased. If anything, there was quiet approval in their eyes.
Ignava staggered slightly, his aura flickering, no longer a steady blaze of power, but a storm of confusion.
“Sis…?” he murmured, his voice softer now, laced with disbelief. “You’d really draw your sword… for him?”
He stepped forward, eyes wide, hands trembling, not in fear, but desperation.
“Are you being forced?”
He gripped Len’s shoulders tightly, trying to shake the answers from her.
“Tell the truth! Did he threaten you!?”
He didn’t an to hurt her, but his strength wasn’t sothing he could hide, not even from himself. His draconic aura flared with each breath, and though Len stood firm, I saw it, the smallest twitch in her brow, a falter in her stance.
She was in pain.
My chest tightened.
She was hurting… and it was his fault.
That was the mont I snapped.
My arm lifted on instinct.
A pulse of violet energy shimred from my palm, shaped like a small sphere of nothingness. It humd through the air in eerie silence, distorting the space around it.
In an instant, it passed cleanly through Ignava’s wrists.
There was neither blast nor noise.
*Psh!*
Blood burst into the air like red mist.
His hands vanished without a trace.
“H-Huh…?” Ignava stared at where his hands had been, blinking in utter disbelief.
And then—
“A-AaaAAAHHH!! My hands! What—What did you do to !?”
Ignava scread, writhing in agony on the ground as crimson pooled beneath him.
*WHIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRR!*
My hellfire aura erupted like a beast unchained, laced with raw chaos energy. It surged around in waves, boiling the air as it collided with his own unstable fire aura. The resulting shockwave crackled with violent force, igniting the space between us in a clash of red and violet.
Gasps broke out around us, Marina and Ragnava narrowed their eyes, and even Len flinched, montarily stunned by the torrent of fury I unleashed.
I took a step forward, hellfire dancing around my shoulders like a living entity.
“I let it go the first ti,” I said, voice low, cold, like ice forged in fla. “When you scared her. When you yelled. I held back.”
“But now…”
I looked down at him, bleeding and screaming on the ground.
“You knew she was weak. You felt it. And yet you still let your strength lash out. You hurt her.”
My aura surged higher. Chaos energy spiraled upward, flickering like violet lightning around my eyes.
“If you ever lay a hand on her again—”
Flas licked the edges of my vision, the world narrowing to the trembling figure below .
“—I’ll erase your head the sa way I erased your hands.”
For a breathless second, no one moved.
Only the crackle of clashing auras filled the space between us. The scent of scorched earth and blood hung thick in the air. Ignava’s screams echoed, but even that seed distant beneath the pressure weighing down the clearing.
Then—
“Ig!!” Marina finally broke her composure and rushed to her son, her voice trembling with maternal panic.
Len, anwhile, stepped silently to my side. Her eyes lingered on the writhing and bloodied Ignava, but only for a mont. Then they turned to .
What she saw made her expression soften… and then fill with worry.
“Haa… You really did it, huh?” she whispered, not scolding, not disappointed, just… gentle.
She reached out and cupped my cheek, her fingers trembling slightly. I felt the warmth in her touch, the weight of her concern.
And before I could react—
“Mmmph!?!”
【Ahn–!?】
Her lips captured mine.
In front of everyone, she kissed like I was the only one that mattered. Her lips were soft but insistent, her hand sliding to the back of my neck, pulling deeper into her warmth.
It wasn’t just a kiss, it was her pleading with .
Telling , without words: “I’m here. Co back to . Don’t drown in your anger.”
As our tongues t and Aza gasped in my mind, the chaos in began to unravel and the black flas quieted.
When she finally pulled back, my breathing was ragged, not from rage, but from sothing else entirely.
Her forehead pressed against mine.
“Are you okay now… darling?” she asked gently.
I blinked, dazed, the haze of fury fully gone.
“…Yeah. I’m okay,” I said, voice low.
Len smiled warmly, brushing my cheek with her thumb, clearly relieved.
The warmth lingered between us for a few heartbeats, until a dry cough broke the silence.
“Ahem.”
We turned.
Ragnava stood with his arms casually crossed, a faintly amused smile playing on his lips. His presence alone radiated the calm authority of a king, but right now, he looked more like a patient father dealing with mischievous children.
“Sorry to interrupt your… touching mont,” he said with a knowing glance. “But… could you kindly return my son’s hands?”
Of course. As expected of the Dragon King. He'd recognized what happened imdiately.
That wasn’t an offensive spell. It wasn’t an Elental Ball designed to damage.
It was just a simple Elent Manipulation, with my new elent, a space elent.
A compressed void in the form of a ball like Elental Ball, capable of shifting physical matter into another dinsion. His hands weren’t destroyed. They were simply moved elsewhere. A bypass through the seams of reality, and more importantly, through his magical defenses as it wasn’t ant for offensive.
In fact, he could easily defend it. But at that mont, his focus had been entirely on Len.
Len touched my arm lightly, drawing back from my thoughts.
“Darling… I know you were protecting . But could you please heal him?”
“…Haa. Alright.”
I raised my hand again.
With a faint ripple in the air, a glowing violet rift opened nearby. A pair of severed, cleanly sliced hands dropped from the portal, hitting the ground softly.
“Thank you, darling! I love you!”
Len said brightly, and then, to my surprise, kissed again. Just a quick peck this ti.
Then she turned to Ignava, casting Great Heal. Light enveloped the wounds. Flesh and sinew reattached seamlessly, and within seconds, his screaming ceased.
“I apologize for my actions,” I said, bowing low to the Dragon King and Queen. “I lost control.”
But…
“Hahahaha!”
Ragnava roared with laughter.
“No need to apologize, Freed! He brought it upon himself. He’s still learning how to control his strength and aura, that one. You acted faster than I expected.”
Marina nodded, kneeling beside her son.
“Yes. Don’t worry, dear. If anything, this was a valuable lesson for Ignava. Thank you for protecting our Selena.”
“…Thank you for understanding,” I said, heart slowly settling as the tension ebbed.
And yet, a part of burned with quiet rage, vowing never to let anyone hurt her again.
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