“Wanna touch it?”
Janus asked offhandedly. Ayra had fully intended to say she had a ton of things to do and no ti to waste on that sort of nonsense—but before she knew it, she was nodding. By the ti she ca to her senses, she’d crawled right back to where she’d been. And worse, the hand that should’ve been pushing him away was now carefully tracing the edge of his chest.
Ayra had always liked gemstones and minerals. She’d seen plenty of gems before. Even so, to her eyes, a dragon’s scales looked more beautiful than any jewel in the world.
She studied the pattern with an entranced expression. They looked like flower petals—layered one by one—but at the sa ti, not quite. They were nothing like fish scales either. If they didn’t crumble into dust the mont they detached from the body, she’d have liked to pluck one off and examine it under a magnifying glass.
“M-My lord...”
It wasn’t until Bloom cautiously called out that Ayra snapped back to reality. She found herself straddling Janus, his shirt ripped clean down the middle, her nose buried in his chest as she breathed heavily.
Bloom had clearly been caught off guard by the totally unexpected sight of his lord and stood frozen in place, unable to attack or react—awkwardly averting his eyes. The pebble, flustered, finally popped up a belated system window.
5. Tear the dragon’s clothes apart. (Beast-lover’s Satisfaction Ending)
What the hell is this...! But... honestly, it really couldn’t be helped...
She hadn’t been swayed by the chiseled body or handso face—but against the scales, she had absolutely no defense. Ayra couldn’t even bring herself to co up with an excuse and stiffly turned her head.
And then her eyes widened.
She’d expected Janus to be smirking or sneering or grinning mockingly. But unexpectedly, not a trace of amusent could be found on his dirt-smudged face. Janus was simply gazing at her intently—like a magician carefully inspecting a single dragon scale, or soone studying each individual hair on a piece of down.
Then their eyes t, and his sharp gaze softened.
For the first ti since she’d t him, Ayra saw sothing faint and unfamiliar in Janus’s blood-red eyes—affection. Shocked to the core, she scrambled up off him in a panic.
❄
After finally completing the enchantnts on the wall, Ayra imdiately returned to the castle. The mont the lemon-scented dirt-covered group of two humans and one dragon arrived, Jinas—who had rushed out upon hearing of the lord’s return—stopped in his tracks, startled. Since he’d been concentrating on Janus’s stats per Ayra’s prior command, the pebble belatedly popped up a system window.
[Territory Alert: Jinas has an urgent report to deliver.]
“My lord, I have sothing to report urgently, but...”
Jinas trailed off, eyes sweeping over the three of them—completely covered in dirt. His gaze especially lingered on Janus’s ripped shirt, prompting Ayra to cough lightly.
“Mm, I’ll wash up and co back. et in the study.”
Jinas nodded—“Yes, my lord”—then flicked his eyes toward Bloom, clearly intending to ask him what the hell had happened. Ayra found herself curious about how Bloom would explain it... and at the sa ti, really didn’t want to know.
Seeing his lord and their esteed guest looking like that, Botello chuckled warmly and promptly prepared a hot bath. However, the very first thing Ayra did upon entering her chambers was to record in detail the appearance of those scales.
Unlike how much ti she usually spent writing about dragons, she rushed through the bath and used magic to summon a warm wind to dry her damp hair. As she dried off, her thoughts drifted back to what she’d seen in Janus’s eyes.
‘His Favorability is over 40 now. So there must be so kind of affection there. But...’
Could it really be called “affection”? What if she’d misread it? The emotion Janus directed at her felt too heavy, too sticky to be pure affection. It didn’t seem sweet—it felt toxic. Not warm, but bubbling like molten lava.
She wondered if he was faking it—but could a cold-blooded, near-psychopathic dragon even fake an emotion like that? Thinking about Janus’s Favorability and his emotions left her flustered, and her chest tingled oddly, so Ayra rubbed at it with her hand. Her lips involuntarily twitched upward and she cleared her throat.
‘Sigh... Even if I can read minds, I still don’t understand a damn thing.’
When she looked over at her spirit AI, the pebble puffed itself up shyly. She narrowed her eyes. Just like last ti, when it had hidden Janus’s identity, she suspected it was keeping sothing from her again. Staring it down, the pebble sheepishly projected a window.
[Spirit GM is always working hard to maximize the user’s benefit! XD♡]
Ayra didn’t exactly not understand why it might hide certain info from her. Still, the ssage was just cute enough that she picked up the pebble and gave it a tight squeeze. A pathetic little shower of pixelated heart fragnts fluttered out.
She must’ve gotten lost in thought for too long, because by the ti she changed and erged from the bath, a fair amount of ti had passed. Thinking Jinas had probably been waiting, she quickly made her way to the study—only for Janus to tag along again.
She walked as calmly as she could, but his persistent gaze crawling over her was hard to ignore. She ended up opening the study door a little more forcefully than usual. Jinas, who had been sorting official docunts at the desk, imdiately stood and stepped aside.
“Sir Jinas, did I keep you waiting?”
“Not at all, my lord.”
Hoping Janus wouldn’t start poking around her display cabinet again, Ayra took her seat. Even after all this ti, the empty space in that cabinet still stung to look at. Fortunately, Janus simply sprawled lazily on the sofa.
Out of habit, Ayra picked up a docunt from the pile and spread it in front of her, asking,
“What’s this urgent report?”
“Please read this first. It’s a letter from Sobletz and Bolni.”
“...A letter from both territories?”
Frowning, Ayra accepted the letters. She couldn’t imdiately guess the reason. Rustling, she unfolded the paper and read. Though the senders, letterheads, writing styles, and length varied, the contents were the sa.
‘The lords of Sobletz and Bolni wish to hold a summit in Solar.’
Ayra recalled the geopolitical tensions near Solar. Unlike Solar, Sobletz and Bolni had relatively balanced power, leading to frequent conflicts. Skirmishes, battles, territorial grabs, and trade disputes were nothing new.
It seed so new issue had sparked a conflict again. However, since both territories had just recently finished a war, neither side could easily take the initiative. As tensions dragged on, Sobletz proposed a eting between the lords. Bolni readily agreed.
The new issue was: where to hold the summit? Neither lord wanted to set foot in enemy territory, and eting right on the border could easily turn into open warfare. So eventually, they settled on Solar.
‘Now that the cave route is open and I have no real military power, my weak little territory probably looked like an easy target. They can even pressure to repay the 10,000 sel debt...’
Ayra debated whether to accept the unpleasant proposal. Limiting military forces and charging a usage fee wasn’t necessarily a bad deal. Soon she wrote a reply accepting the offer in exchange for food and essential goods, and handed it to Jinas.
“Looks like we’ll be hosting guests soon. Prepare in advance—and make sure the retainers are inford.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Jinas accepted the letters with care, tucking them into his coat. Then, after a slight hesitation—which was rare for him—he continued with a second report.
“The Ran family ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ departed the city at dawn. Shall I begin recruiting a new administrator?”
“No, leave it be for now. Sir Gretel might return.”
“...Understood.”
Jinas nodded, though his expression was doubtful. Ayra, unlike him, believed that Gretel would almost certainly return. Not because she trusted him—but because of the information she’d read through the pebble...
After issuing a few more instructions, Jinas exited the study, and Ayra turned to look at Janus. Just thinking about the lords of Sobletz and Bolni arriving was already a headache—but the real problem was the dragon sitting across from her. What would the visiting lords think, seeing Janus glued to her side like this? And worse, how would he behave?
She could already feel the migraine forming. If anything happened, she’d be the one cleaning it up. So Ayra decided to try coaxing him a bit.
“Janus, would you consider... staying sowhere else for a little while?”
“Why?”
Janus, still lounging sideways on the sofa, asked lazily. He seed to like the couch quite a bit—it was the sa one Ayra occasionally napped on during late-night paperwork sessions.
“Sobletz and Bolni’s lords will be visiting soon. If you keep following around all day, it’ll cause problems. What do you expect to introduce you as? I an, I can’t exactly call you my lover.”
She tried to sound as soft and diplomatic as possible. Especially with Nilma Argan knowing full well that Janus was a dragon, it would be a disaster if Janus showed up near her during the summit. The estate’s internal affairs were still fragile, and if Sobletz or Bolni tried to interfere, it’d be a nightmare. Now that the cave was open, there weren’t even physical barriers left.
Ayra had expected Janus to act disinterested—he usually treated humans like insignificant ants. But to her surprise, he suddenly sat upright. With a deep frown, he stared off into space for a mont, then turned and asked her.
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