NOVEL WEB Chapter 15
At a certain inn.
‘Hmm… Yummy…’
The low murmurs echo in the dim night. The three companions, long asleep, begin to stir.
A sleeping dragon wraps its tail around Keyal, nestled in his embrace.
The Gold Mine Dragon’s mouth twitches.
‘Heh heh…’
With closed eyes, the moist creature dreams of hazy memories.
*
‘Ugh…!! Get away from daddy, you damn fox…!!’
The dragon dreams. Happy memories flood back.
‘You get away from the captain..!!’
Whether it rained or snowed, the days spent clinging to each other remain vivid.
The elder sister fox, Libera, called her that. Her fluffy fur was worlds apart from the rough dragon scales.
With pointed ears and a pure white tail, she was undeniably a fox.
The crimson eye makeup leading to nine snow-white tails created a beautiful figure, reminiscent of a legendary nine-tailed fox, a mythical creature of lore.
Libera remembers her.
In the guild… they had fought countless times over their dad, the wretched fox— no, her elder sister.
‘Grrr…!’
They would tug on each other’s hair, pinch cheeks, and when things got rough, they’d throw punches.
Both bore the shape of beasts, driven by animal instincts, which often led them to bare their fangs and unsheath their claws at each other.
Even if they wanted to settle their hierarchy, their guild leader, dad, opposed it vehemently.
Eleanor, too, would watch it all with a look of disapproval.
Unlike now, she had portrayed feelings of complete reverence toward their father, acting like a submissive and selfless servant.
The Gold Mine Dragon understood.
That gaze was reminiscent of her own. Yet before instinct could take over, reason barely kept her from attacking the elf before her.
It was a love deeper than mere affection—the closeness of a revered heart.
Of course, dad wasn’t a god. Compared to that wretched mother who abandoned her at the world’s doorstep, Keyal Kralin was a benevolent and inclusive pioneer.
He extended the lifeline of hope to her, soothing the bitterness with sweet allure, the glow of salvation that emerged from malicious temptation.
However, not a single guild member disliked or shunned that lure.
*
For Libera, the past thousand years held little importance.
Having lived so long, there were things she could not shake off even if she wanted to.
Her mother, who had rejected her, her father who had abandoned her in a dreadful cave far from the Dragon Lair, following an edict from the divine and the empire, had left her there.
At first, Libera did not feel loneliness.
She hadn’t learned that emotion, and the realization of having been cast away came gradually with time.
Throughout a millennium, the weight of her forsakenness only swelled; she mourned not for her parents who rejected her.
She simply longed to meet someone who would embrace her.
When a man visited the lair, asking if she wanted to join the guild, Libera eagerly grabbed his hand.
She longed to escape that wretched cave, to truly see the world and build connections.
The radiant light that hadn’t shone outside the cave for thousand years began to walk boldly, shimmering with golden brilliance once more.
Thanks to the darkness that birthed her, she felt the warmth of the sun for the very first time.
The man, who called himself the guild leader of ‘Edric,’ seemed to have an endlessly long tongue.
‘So, whatever, I did this… because of that.’
He talked too much.
‘…….’
Libera recalled the word ‘daonnja,’ which had never been present in the memories of the Gold Mine Dragon before.
*
The reason Libera followed the man was simple.
She sought warmth and yearned for affection.
From her parents? No, she wanted warmth from someone who could be a parent to her.
Well… the fact he was rather good-looking mattered too.
Still, he would be the father of a dragon. Naturally, one had to consider looks.
When she first stepped onto the path, the scene before her was truly magnificent.
Was this a guild or a mansion? It was so luxurious and quaint it could confuse even the most astute observer.
Was this what the mage tower she read about in the books felt like?
No, it was even more beautiful than the descriptions in her books.
Every tree, every flower, every field was stunning and abundant.
Perhaps this was a paradise the heavens bestowed upon her lonely heart; she truly thought so.
As the grand doors of the kingdom opened, two women were seen waving from beyond.
Smiling gently at the man by her side, they were surely welcoming the guild master.
With each step he took forward, Libera scampered behind him, chirping like a little bird!
‘Captain, hurry!!’
‘Welcome back, my lord.’
Suddenly, the overly eager fox leapt up, swiftly taking hold of her master, shoving him into the ground.
And she literally shoved him down.
‘Ugh… this is stifling…’
Licking and nuzzling, she pinned him down, showering him with affection like a dog welcoming its owner, triggering a twinge of embarrassment for the onlookers.
‘…’
The Gold Mine Dragon frowned. Outmatching her was none other than the elf who subdued this rabid dog.
‘Come out.’
The elf’s fist struck the fox’s head with a thud!
Thwack..!
Letting out a yelp, the fox fell, rubbing her head as she glared at the elf.
‘W-Why are you hitting me..!!’
‘You’ve been worn out from your recent escapades. Plus, it’s rude to act this way in front of guests. Now get up.’
‘But the captain didn’t say anything!!’
‘Maybe that’s because you’ve been throwing such tantrums?’
The fox grew furious, her eyes turning red as the patterns of her pupils morphed menacingly.
Be that as it may, the elf stretched out her hand to help her master up.
Tap tap.
One brushed off the dust, another gritted her teeth at the elf, and one scratched her head as if to say, “What a bother.”
The dragon watched, incredulous that these fools existed, while reluctantly following the guild master, who sheepishly guided him around.
After all, she had to comply with the customs of this place.
‘Can I manage…’
*
Despite appearing younger on the surface, the juvenile dragon was very much inexperienced, and surprisingly, lived a dreadfully slow life.
Of course, even if she was a remarkably brilliant dragon transcending the norm, she was still a mere creature existing on the ground.
Even the term ‘being’ had an unclear limit for a mortal wearing the guise of transcendence.
Being an ambiguous entity, she suffered injuries, was tender, and longed for love.
That was what the young dragon gathered through a millennia.
No one would care to love an ancient dragon nor share warmth with one that appeared as a child.
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Pat pat.
‘Muhuhuh…’
Yet there was someone.
‘Feeling good?’
‘Uh-huh…’
He was different.
The warm, plump hands that gently stroked her carried love.
In the endless years, if anyone adored her, they would do so from a distance; no one treated her this way.
What had once been a cherished plea became a fleeting reality.
Did such pleasant things come so easily?
‘Hah…’
Swallowing her sighs, the dragon closed her mouth.
Could it be that she was receiving such kindness? Why had she longed for warmth all this time?
As the magic flowed in, the dragon’s brilliance slowly submerged into darkness.
Losing a sense of direction, her tail thumped on the floor, her waist swaying in a rhythm, coloring her skin with a rosy hue.
Drawing ever closer to this intoxicating warmth, she felt a longing to remain beside him, swallowing her salivating desire.
The millennium of solitude and the insurmountable barrier separating beings had begun to break, as she received warmth for the first time.
‘Hmm… just a little… a bit more…’
Unconsciously fulfilling her desires, the Gold Mine Dragon fell into ecstasy.
‘Let’s… just make sure to get along from now on.’
The guild master’s shy smile twitched her horns.
It leapt upward like a boiling geyser, then drooped down.
Nyeek!
With the sound of something snapping, another line crossed.
The line she vowed never to cross appeared before her.
—
Of course, the dragon, having already broken the golden rule, could not possibly refrain from crossing it.
But everyone has boundaries they must never breach, even when they are starving for affection.