115 — Sereina's Story

I am Sereina.

The Greatest Being in this world.

I get out of bed and rub my eyes. Waking up is always hard.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t seriously hurt.”

Outside, I heard Elena’s gentle voice. She’s a good elf. Elves are usually strict and stubborn, but I like this one.

First of all, she’s cute.

I like cute things.

“You, you’re awake!”

Elena stands up suddenly while trying to heal the child’s knee. The human child, startled by her sudden movement, looks back and forth between me and Elena with round eyes.

“Keep working. I’m going to get some sunlight.”

“Yes, Ms. Sereina!”

Elena sits back down with a relieved expression. Soon her hand glows. It’s the healing magic.

When I step outside, the sunlight is hot. It’s a good morning.

It’s probably past noon by now, but for me, it’s morning.

Morning is a time for sleeping. No dragon is active in the morning. Morning drains a dragon’s strength. That’s why it’s so hard.

One dragon even declared a law to sleep in the morning when he became an emperor for fun.

It’s already been quite a while since I settled here.

To be honest, I like it here so much that I have no intention of leaving anytime soon.

It’s much more fun than being in my lair.

El, a human who is stronger than me, the Black Dragon, and that clueless Elena always make for interesting events.

I’ve lived over 1,300 years as a dragon.

I’ve had many amusements, but I’ve never found them as fun as now.

My life was always solitary.

I thought I wasn’t alone, but in the end, I was.

I naturally hated being alone. I like a bustling life. But I never had such a life.

I once thought of having a child and living a normal life.

I was betrayed.

I almost died because of it.

I no longer have any affection for the Red clan.

Many clan members shouted for revenge as they watched me dying, but not one tried to save me.

El and Elena were the ones who saved me.

I didn’t know they would save me.

If only, from the wounds of betrayal.

I was overwhelmed with curiosity about what love is, so I came to find the foolish couple.

I never dreamed that would save my life.

The clan members probably used me for some purpose. It’s really infuriating.

That’s why I have no intention of returning to the clan.

Yes, love.

What is love?

Exploring that is the second reason I settled here.

If the first is for fun, the second is an experiment on what true love is.

I have never achieved true love. And I don’t want to.

Now it’s scary.

If I realize true love exists and how good it is, I might change, but now I don’t know.

So I’m always exploring.

“What are you doing there?”

I was sunbathing when I heard a voice. I turned around to see a human. It was El.

The man at the center of my exploration.

“I’m getting some sunlight!”

I answered lightly and turned my head.

“Sure, do as you like. Where’s Elena?”

“In the clinic.”

I answered lightly. El nodded and went to the market in front of the clinic, bowing to an old woman selling roots, and started paying her.

It’s clearly roots, but when that man cooks, it becomes delicious. That’s undeniable.

I’m a dragon who acknowledges what needs to be acknowledged.

That man is very peculiar.

He’s endlessly gentle to the weak. Even now, he’s bowing to an old human who looks like she could die with just a bit of pressure from a finger.

“The vegetables I bought yesterday were really delicious.”

“Really? Today’s will be delicious too. I’ll give you plenty.”

The old woman smiles brightly, and El smiles back. Then, as El stands up, some beggars bump into him.

But El shows no reaction. If it were me, I’d chase them down and kick them. I wouldn’t let anyone bump into my Great Self and get away with it.

“Master!”

A human boy runs towards El.

He’s called Greek. I think he’s the lord of this City.

Considering El’s abilities, he could kick aside a city lord or even the emperor like a roadside stone, but instead, he bows and greets them.

“Are you patrolling the City?”

“Yes. As you advised, I’m always watching over the people.”

But despite such humility, the young lord’s eyes are filled with endless respect for him.

He follows El with all his heart.

It’s fascinating.

He is endlessly gentle to the weak, yet he is respected. It’s not something I understand.

Moreover, he is endlessly strong against the strong.

He treats a Great Being like me as if it’s nothing.

And he’s strict with dragons.

I’ve heard that recently more dragons are becoming afraid of him. Dragons fearing a human is unprecedented in our Great History.

He blew up a dragon named Nies and doesn’t forgive those who provoke him.

“Mother, make sure to have Master examine the tea leaves that recently came from the capital.”

“Oh, is there such a thing?”

“It’s something embarrassing to show to El…”

A slightly noble-looking human who was patrolling with them answers. She’s the young lord’s mother and a noble among humans, I’ve heard.

She also looks at El with unusual eyes, though it’s not love.

It’s not that kind of gaze.

It’s a gaze of absolute trust.

Interesting humans.

“By the way, why does your side look empty? The one who should be clinging to you is missing.”

I asked because I didn’t see the Black one, and El shook his head.

“Do you think Rurin is already awake?”

The Black one. She sleeps more than me. It’s amazing. Maybe it’s because she’s young. Of course, I have no intention of admitting that in front of her.

“I guess I woke up too early then!”

“What? I was complimenting you.”

“Where are you going!”

Compliment, my foot.

Sleeping a lot is the highest compliment for a dragon. How dare he insult me.

But there’s nothing I can do. I can’t match him.

El scratches my pride again.

“Strange one.”

So I retorted immediately.

“I’m not stranger than the Black one.”

“Is that so?”

El shrugs. Then he sends off the young lord’s party and heads towards the clinic.

After the child’s treatment ends and the mother and child leave, the clinic becomes quiet. El goes inside.

I followed him inside.

Because this is my home now.

“Elena, would you like to taste this?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes!”

“What are you doing at the door?”

“Oh, the patient left, so…”

“I see. Let’s go in.”

“Yes, please come in!”

A foolish conversation ensues. Foolish, just foolish. The patient left a long time ago. They left when we parted with the young lord earlier. So it’s an absurd excuse.

Foolish Elena.

She must have been eagerly watching from outside as she heard El’s voice. With no scary dragon next to her, she was even more enthusiastic.

A smile blooms on her face. Elena is fundamentally kind. So others can’t distinguish that smile from the one she gives him.

She usually smiles at patients too.

She only doesn’t smile at human men who have sinister thoughts about her.

But now, in front of El, her smile is slightly wider.

Whenever El does something, she glances at him. Then, when their eyes meet, she gets flustered and fumbles.

To use a phrase from the human world.

She’s worse than a girl in her first love.

When we went to the Elf Forest a while ago, she sighed a lot, probably because she was sad about not seeing El for a while. So I told her I would go with her. And I arranged things so El would come too.

I’m really too kind. Haha.

But even helping with such things, Elena’s love has no chance of being realized.

El’s gaze is not on Elena. His attitude towards her is mostly friendly, but it’s not love.

Elena herself knows this very well.

It seems foolish, but I sometimes wonder if that too is a form of true love.

She just watches. And that alone makes her happy.

It seems Elena truly thinks so.

And her eyes are always filled with El.

Until his departing figure disappears.

Even after he disappears, her gaze is fixed beyond the hill.

“Stop it already. It’s been long enough to go back to the restaurant a hundred times, you elf, ugh…”

“Has it been that long?”

“Enough, let’s eat the food you got. I’m hungry.”

“Alright.”

Elena unties the food wrapped in cloth with light touches. She looks happy.

If she’s satisfied and happy with this, it’s rather fortunate.

And then night.

After the clinic closes, Elena naturally goes up to the restaurant to eat.

Then I follow her. Because of Elena’s eating habits, this is the only time I get to eat properly.

It doesn’t really matter. This body can go without eating for a week.

Unlike that Black one who acts like a starving ghost.

Just eating deliciously when I do is enough.

“No place for the Red one!”

After Elena greets and goes inside, the Black one blocks the door and crosses her arms.

“I’m a guest.”

“Don’t you know guests aren’t beggars? Beggars can’t come in.”

“About that. Isn’t there a saying that guests are kings? How can you get it so wrong? That’s why Black Dragons with nothing in their heads are no good.”

She’s truly a fool. This dragon.

“Nooo! That’s not it! I know too! Other guests may be kings, but you’re a beggar!”

“What? You wanna die?”

Despite my majestic and splendid age, I can never tolerate this Black one’s provocations.

Bam-!

Then, El always intervenes. It’s foolish. I’m foolish too.

“Hey! Why do you hit me harder!”

My head hurts.

“I punished you equally? You two great beings, if you don’t want to be kicked out, don’t cause a ruckus in the restaurant.”

El appears and drags the Black one inside.

I lost my composure because of the Black one.

After regaining my composure, I went inside.

I sat at the table Elena had taken. Foolish Elena can’t even look at El properly when the Black one is around.

“What did you order?”

“Yes, they said there’s a special dish today, so I ordered that.”

“What is it?”

“I didn’t hear what it was… but since it’s the special dish, it’ll be delicious, right?”

“Well, I guess that’s true.”

That’s a fact, so I’ll acknowledge it. I’m very familiar with this restaurant now. The humans coming here probably don’t know that the chef who cooks the food can take down dragons.

Or that they live with a dragon. It’s really funny.

I look for the problematic Black one.

The Black one is in a corner, sipping beer. She’s not interested in food, probably because she’s already eaten.

She takes a sip of beer and looks at El.

Then takes another sip and looks at El again.

Nothing else matters.

She’s actually spilling the beer.

Those eyes are filled with deep emotion. Elena doesn’t dare to intervene because she knows the Black one’s feelings for El far exceed her own.

And El.

Here’s the funny part.

He acts indifferent to the Black one, but I know. While cooking, he keeps glancing at Rurin.

El’s eyes are also filled with Rurin. Yet he won’t admit it.

He seems to scold Rurin for whatever she does.

He doesn’t know.

That every time he does, he’s smiling with endless love.

“Hey, why are you spilling beer while drinking? Are you a kid? You’re almost an adult.”

“The beer spilled itself. It wasn’t me.”

Wipe, wipe.

El wipes Rurin’s chin.

I suddenly look at Elena. She was happily watching the whole scene.

Fools.

It’s truly a fool’s paradise.

But that’s why it’s good.

I like this place.

And because it’s fun.

“The food is ready.”

Before I knew it, El brings the food to me.

I’ll watch.

Elena too.

And this foolish couple.

What true love is. Until I can confidently speak of it, I plan to observe them.