Yuuta finally reached his apartment building.
He stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the familiar concrete structure that had been his home for years. It looked the same as always, slightly worn, slightly faded, nothing special.
But it didn't feel the same.
Nothing felt the same anymore.
He was so deeply troubled by the sudden turn of events. His mind replayed the scene over and over, Erza walking into his classroom, the cold silence, the way everyone stared, the whispers that followed.
She actually came.
To my college.
In front of everyone.
He never thought the Dragon Queen would appear like that. Never imagined she'd walk into his classroom and shatter whatever normal life he had left.
His reputation was ruined now. His classmates looked at him with disgust. Fiona looked at him with betrayal.
And for what?
Because of one night. One mistake. One moment he didn't even remember clearly.
He started climbing the stairs.
Each step felt longer. Harder. Heavier. His legs moved, but they felt like they belonged to someone else.
A sudden nervousness crawled toward his heart. Wrapped around it like cold fingers. Squeezed until he could feel every beat pounding in his chest.
What if she's angry?
What if she decides today is the day?
What if I walk in and she just... ends it?
Even though this was his home, his only home, he felt like a burden walking toward it. Like he didn't belong here anymore. Like he was just a guest in a space that was no longer his.
He couldn't run.
He had nowhere else to go.
No relatives. No family. No one who would take him in.
Just this apartment.
Just them.
Yuuta stood now in front of his apartment door, keys in hand.
A strange feeling settled in his chest.
This door had always led to silence. To darkness. To an empty space that echoed when he walked inside.
He slowly unlocked it.
The door creaked open.
Light spilled out.
Yuuta froze.
The living room was illuminated.
He distinctly remembered turning off the lights before leaving for college. He always did. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for him at home.
Or at least
That used to be true.
Before he could process the thought.
"Papa!"
A small, bright voice rang out.
Yuuta barely had time to look up before a tiny figure rushed toward him. Elena wrapped her arms around his leg, nearly knocking him off balance.
"Papa, welcome back!" she said, her voice bubbling with excitement. "Papa, welcome back!"
She giggled as she clung to him like he had been gone for years instead of just a day.
Yuuta stood still.
For a long second, he didn't move.
He didn't speak.
He didn't even breathe properly.
What is this feeling?
It wasn't guilt.
It wasn't fear.
It wasn't anger.
It was warm.
Unfamiliar.
Overwhelming.
Family.
Slowly, almost hesitantly, Yuuta bent down and wrapped his arms around her small body. She was warm. Real. Alive.
"I'm back," he whispered, his voice softer than usual. "I'm back home, my daughter."
Elena beamed up at him like he had just given her the world.
In that small apartment once silent and empty, something had changed.
And for the first time, Yuuta didn't feel alone when he stepped inside.
Yuuta smiled softly as he brushed Elena's hair away from her face.
"Did you wait for me, my princess?"
Elena nodded eagerly, her eyes sparkling like she had been holding onto a secret treasure all day.
"You know, Papa," she began, fidgeting slightly with the hem of her dress, "Elena wanted to say 'welcome back' properly… but Elena wasn't sure if Papa would like it or not."
Yuuta's chest tightened.
"I like it a lot," he said gently, pulling her closer. "In fact… I think I needed it."
Elena blinked, then broke into laughter, her small hands wrapping around his neck.
"Papa, carry me!" she demanded playfully.
Without hesitation, Yuuta lifted her onto his shoulders. She squealed in delight, grabbing onto his hair like reins.
"Left! Left! No, right!" she giggled, pretending to steer him as if he were some kind of horse.
Yuuta exaggerated his steps, swaying slightly to make her laugh louder. The sound filled the apartment, bouncing off walls that once knew nothing but silence.
From the living room, Erza lay stretched across the sofa, the television casting flickering light across her face.
She appeared relaxed, almost lazily so, but her posture carried an undeniable dominance. One arm rested along the back of the couch, her legs crossed with natural authority, as though the entire room belonged to her.
Technically, it did.
Her eyes were on the television.
But not really.
Every laugh. Every word exchanged between father and daughter reached her ears clearly. She did not turn her head, yet she missed nothing.
A strange feeling stirred in her chest.
It wasn't irritation.
It wasn't anger.
It was something unfamiliar. Subtle. Quiet.
Yuuta slowly walked into the living hall, Elena still perched proudly on his shoulders. He finally noticed Erza.
She looked like a queen resting after conquest.
Calm.
Untouchable.
Yuuta cleared his throat lightly, suddenly aware of her presence.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Erza did not smile.
But she did not look away either.
The atmosphere shifted just slightly.
Between the warmth of Elena's laughter and the silent intensity of the dragon queen watching from the sofa, Yuuta stood in the middle.
Yuuta stood there for a moment after setting Elena down, watching Erza from across the living room.
The television light flickered against her White-Sliver hair, turning it almost violet in the dim evening glow. She lay across the sofa as if it were a throne, one leg crossed over the other, posture relaxed yet commanding. Even in silence, she dominated the space.
The laughter Elena had filled the room with moments ago still lingered faintly in the air.
Yuuta swallowed.
He had meant to let it go.
He had meant to enjoy the small warmth of coming home to someone who waited for him.
But the image of her standing in his college classroom refused to leave his mind. How she ruined his image.
The whispers.
The humiliation.
The fear.
He finally broke the silence. Still, he forced himself to speak.
"Why did you come to my college... Your Highness?"
His voice wasn't loud. Not yet. It carried something heavier than anger, exhaustion.
Erza did not turn.
She remained reclined against the sofa, one arm resting lazily along the backrest, her posture composed and effortless. The glow from the television flickered against her red hair, painting shifting shadows across her face.
If she heard him, she gave no sign.
He took a step closer.
The floorboard creaked beneath his weight.
"I'm talking to you, my Queen."
Nothing.
The narrator calmly described the fall of a forgotten dynasty, something about Rome, about emperors who thought they would rule forever, about how even the mighty crumble eventually.
Erza's eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Unblinking.
Unmoved.
Uncaring.
Yuuta let out a breath through his teeth, the sound sharp in the quiet room.
"Stop ignoring me."
His voice hardened.
"Do you even know what you've done to me?"
Erza adjusted slightly on the sofa, crossing her legs with deliberate elegance. The movement was graceful, controlled, utterly dismissive. She might as well have been alone in the room. Her eyes never left the screen.
The indifference cut deeper than any insult.
"Because of you," he continued, taking another step closer, his voice tight with restrained anger, "they look at me differently now."
He paused, waiting for a reaction.
Nothing.
He let out a short, humorless laugh that held no joy whatsoever, just bitterness, just exhaustion, just the weight of everything pressing down on his chest.
"They think I assaulted you." The words came out flat, dead. "They think I got someone pregnant and ran away. They think I have children at this age, children, when I can barely take care of myself."
His jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached.
"Some of them whisper that I'm some kind of playboy. Married to a beautiful woman and still chasing others. Like I'm some kind of predator." His voice cracked slightly. "Others just think I'm a freak. A weirdo who should be avoided."
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to steady himself, trying to find some anchor in the storm of his emotions.
"My career…" The words barely escaped. "My peaceful college life… it's gone. Everything I worked for. Every late night studying. Every early morning practice. Every sacrifice I made to get where I am, gone. In one day. Because of you."
He hesitated.
The next name hung in the air like smoke, threatening to wound him simply by being spoken.
"And Fiona…" His voice dropped. "She's gone too."
The room seemed to grow still around that confession.
"You saw how she looked at me. You saw her face. The girl who was kind to me, who helped me, who actually treated me like a human being, she looked at me like I was a stranger. Like I was someone she didn't know. Like everything between us was just... nothing."
He swallowed hard.
"I lost everything I struggled for."
For a fleeting second, he hoped she might respond.
Even a cold remark would have been something. Even an insult would have acknowledged that he existed, that his pain mattered, that she heard him.
But Erza remained silent.
Watching the screen.
Listening to his words.
Ignoring his existence.
The quiet became unbearable.
"Are you listening to me?" His voice rose despite himself, cracking with frustration. "Stop pretending you don't hear me!"
Still no reaction.
The television continued its steady narration. The documentary had moved on, something about Egyptian pharaohs now, about tombs and treasures and rulers who thought death couldn't touch them.
The sound of his own heartbeat filled his ears, loud and desperate.
"FUCK!"
The word tore from his throat, raw and broken.
"IT'S SO IRRITATING! STOP IGNORING ME! JUST FUCKING ANSWER ME FOR ONCE!"
He was breathing hard now.
Chest heaving.
Hands shaking.
Every ounce of frustration, every drop of anger, every moment of fear and confusion and helplessness that had built up since she appeared in his life, it all surged forward, demanding release.
And then.
He said it.
The words he never meant to say.
The words that slipped past every filter, every survival instinct, every warning screaming in his brain.
"You LIZARD QUEEN! Stop ignoring me already and ANSWER ME!"
His voice rang sharply through the living room.
Too loud to be ignored now.
Too clear to be dismissed.
The television continued its narration for one more second, two, before the weight of what he'd said settled into the air.
The narrator's voice seemed to fade, to retreat, as if even the documentary sensed that something far more dangerous was about to unfold.
And then.
The air shifted.
It wasn't sudden like thunder.
It was slow.
Heavy.
Like the deep ocean beginning to stir far beneath the surface, where light never reaches and pressure crushes everything.
Erza's eyes narrowed.
Just slightly.
Just enough.
The temperature in the room dropped by degrees, five, ten, fifteen, until Yuuta could see his own breath misting before him in soft white clouds.
A faint, dark violet aura began to rise from her.
Almost invisible at first.
Like heat distortion above fire.
Then it thickened.
The lights flickered once.
The television screen glitched, static, then picture, then static again.
Yuuta felt it before he fully understood what was happening.
Pressure.
Not physical pressure, not at first.
Something deeper.
Something existential.
His lungs tightened.
His spine stiffened instinctively.
Every survival instinct in his body screamed at him to lower his gaze, to kneel, to beg, to do whatever it took to survive this moment.
It felt like standing at the edge of a cliff while something ancient rose from the depths below, something that had been sleeping, something that should never be woken.
Erza slowly turned her head.
The movement was deliberate.
Measured.
Terrible.
Her white hair slid over her shoulder like flowing embers, catching the dim light in ways that made it seem alive, seem burning, seem like something that could consume worlds.
When she looked at him, it was no longer as a woman.
Not even as a dragon.
It was as something older.
Higher.
Primordial.
Something that had existed before humanity crawled from the mud, before the first cell divided, before the earth itself cooled.
"How dare you."
Her voice was quiet.
Calm.
Deadly.
But beneath it was something vast and cold, something like the crushing weight of the ocean floor pressing down on a drowning man, something like the absolute zero of space where nothing can survive.
"How dare you call me Lizard Queen."
Each word was precise.
Surgical.
Final.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Yuuta remained on one knee.
His fingers slowly curled against the frozen floor.
He wanted to stand.
Every part of his pride screamed at him to stand, to look her in the eyes and prove that he would not bow simply because she was stronger.
But his body refused.
That realization hurt more than the pressure crushing his lungs.
Yuuta lowered his head.
"So that's it...?"
His voice came out quieter than he intended.
Erza's eyes narrowed.
Yuuta swallowed painfully before forcing himself to look up at her. His crimson eyes were no longer filled only with fear. There was confusion now. Hurt. The expression of someone who had just discovered he had been hated for a crime he never knew he had committed.
"That's what you've been thinking this entire time?"
Erza said nothing.
"That I destroyed your chance at becoming something greater?"
His fingers tightened against the frost.
"That I humiliated you?"
His voice trembled slightly.
"That your own people started looking down on you because of me?"
Still, Erza remained silent.
Yuuta stared at her.
He remembered every argument between them. Every insult. Every cold glance. Every moment she had treated his existence like an inconvenience.
Until now, he had believed it was simply her personality.
Now he understood there had been something underneath it all.
Resentment.
And somehow, that realization hurt.
"But..."
Yuuta's expression tightened.
"How was I supposed to know?"
For the first time, anger entered his voice—not the reckless anger from before, but something quieter and far more wounded.
"You never told me any of this."
Erza's gaze shifted almost imperceptibly.
Yuuta looked directly into her eyes.
"If you hated me for what happened... if my existence really cost you that much..."
His voice softened.
"...then why didn't you just tell me?"
For the first time since her aura had filled the room—
Erza's expression shifted.
But instead of answering him, the pressure surrounding her suddenly intensified.
Yuuta's eyes widened.
His body was forced lower, his trembling hand slamming against the frozen floor as an invisible weight crushed him from above. The little air remaining in his lungs was squeezed out, and no matter how desperately he tried to breathe, his chest refused to expand.
His other knee struck the ground.
Then his palms.
The pressure kept increasing.
Yuuta gritted his teeth, desperately fighting to keep his face from being forced against the floor, but his strength was disappearing rapidly.
For the first time, a terrifying thought entered his mind.
*I'm going to die.*
Erza wasn't merely intimidating him anymore.
Her aura was beginning to crush his body.
"Mama!"
Elena's voice cut through the room with enough force to shatter the tension.
"Papa fighting is bad!"
Erza's aura vanished instantly. The crushing pressure disappeared so suddenly that Yuuta nearly collapsed forward from the absence of it. Warmth slowly returned to the room while frost remained scattered across the furniture and floor, the only evidence of what had happened moments earlier.
Erza looked toward Elena. Her expression remained cold, but the murderous weight behind her violet eyes faded. No matter how furious she became, there was one line she refused to cross. She would not allow Elena to witness the full extent of her cruelty.
"Next time," Erza said, returning her attention to Yuuta, "think carefully before opening your mouth in front of me, worthless mortal."
Yuuta coughed as air finally entered his lungs properly. His chest burned with every breath, yet he forced himself to look at her.
"I'll remember that," he said hoarsely. "My Queen."
Elena hurried in front of him and spread her tiny arms as though her four-year-old body could protect him from the Dragon Queen standing only a few steps away.
Erza clicked her tongue.
"How can someone be this weak?" Her gaze passed over Yuuta without sympathy. "I genuinely don't understand how you've survived this long. Even more ridiculous is the fact that I am expected to remain beside someone like you."
Those words hurt more than the pressure had.
Yuuta slowly lifted his head.
Fear remained somewhere deep inside him, but humiliation had begun giving way to something else. He had spent his entire life knowing he was weak. He didn't need a Dragon Queen reminding him of it.
"You wouldn't understand," he said quietly. "Someone like you could never understand what it means to survive while being weak."
Erza's eyes narrowed.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me."
The air tightened again, but before Erza could release even a fraction of her aura, Elena stomped her foot.
Then.
"Mama!"
Both of them looked at her.
Elena puffed her cheeks angrily and pointed at Erza.
"Mama bullying Papa is bad! If Mama keeps being mean, Elena won't talk to Mama anymore!"
Erza froze.
Of all the threats she had heard throughout her life, this one should have meant nothing.
Yet somehow it worked.
Something almost vulnerable flickered across her face before disappearing behind her usual cold expression. She turned away sharply and crossed her arms.
"Tch."
Without another word, Erza returned to the sofa.
The documentary resumed its calm narration about ancient human civilizations and the lost empire of Alexander, creating an almost absurd contrast with what had just happened.
Yuuta remained on one knee for several seconds, slowly recovering his breathing.
Elena immediately wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Papa okay?"
Yuuta looked at her worried little face and forced a faint smile.
"Papa's okay."
"Really?"
"Really."
He pulled her closer for a moment. Then, almost unconsciously, he muttered, "Sorry you had to see your father like this. Must be embarrassing having someone this weak as your papa."
Elena immediately pulled away.
"No!"
Yuuta blinked.
She grabbed his hand with both of hers.
"Papa isn't weak."
Her expression was completely serious.
"It's just Mama is super, super strong."
For several seconds, Yuuta stared at her.
Then a quiet laugh escaped him.
"Ah... I suppose that's one way of looking at it."
Elena nodded proudly as though she had solved one of the greatest mysteries in existence.
Yuuta looked toward the sofa again.
Erza sat with her back partially turned toward them, apparently absorbed in the documentary.
But Yuuta knew better now.
Something about everything she had said continued bothering him.
Because of you, I lost my only opportunity to become divine.
Because of you, they called me weak.
Because of you, rumors spread throughout my kingdom.
Fuck... I should have killed you.
Yuuta lowered his gaze.
If that was truly how she felt...
Why hadn't she?
Why was he still alive?
Why had she protected Elena?
Why had she appeared at his college?
Why did she tolerate his insults when, according to Elena, she would kill others for speaking to her with even a fraction of his disrespect?
None of it made sense.
"Papa?"
Elena's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
She followed his gaze toward Erza.
"Are you angry with Mama?"
Yuuta hesitated.
"I don't know."
Elena tilted her head.
"Mama isn't bad."
Yuuta looked down at her.
Elena lowered her voice as though sharing something secret.
"Papa is the first person who talks to Mama like that."
Yuuta frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Mama doesn't let people shout at her." Elena's expression became unusually serious. "Sometimes people don't even look at Mama properly because they're scared."
She glanced toward the sofa.
"But Mama lets Papa talk."
Yuuta's expression slowly changed.
Elena continued innocently.
"I think Mama is sad sometimes."
Those words settled inside him.
Sad?
Erza?
The woman who had nearly forced him unconscious only moments ago?
It sounded ridiculous.
Yet something wouldn't allow him to dismiss it.
Yuuta slowly stood. His legs were still unsteady, but he ignored them and walked toward the sofa.
Erza didn't acknowledge him.
He stopped beside her.
For several seconds, he remained silent.
Then he lowered his head slightly.
"I'm sorry."
No response.
Yuuta continued.
"I shouldn't have called you that. I was angry, and I crossed a line. Whatever happened between us, you're still the ruler of an entire kingdom. I shouldn't have deliberately insulted you."
Erza's eyes remained on the television.
Yuuta took a breath.
"And... I didn't know what my existence had cost you."
That finally caused the smallest movement in her eyes.
Yuuta noticed.
"You lost your opportunity to become divine because of me."
Silence.
"Your people started questioning you because of me."
Still nothing.
Yuuta's fingers tightened slightly.
"So I understand why you hate me."
Erza finally spoke.
"You understand nothing."
Yuuta looked at her.
Her voice remained cold.
"You ruined my image in my kingdom. I ruined your image at your college. Consider the matter settled."
Yuuta stared at her.
Erza continued watching the television.
"And I never promised that I wouldn't interfere in your life."
A few seconds passed.
Yuuta almost turned away.
Almost.
Then he remembered her words.
I should have killed you.
His gaze hardened.
"Then why didn't you?"
Erza's eyes shifted toward him.
Yuuta didn't move.
"If I ruined everything for you, why didn't you kill me?"
Silence.
"If I cost you your chance at divinity, damaged your reputation, and made your own people call you weak..."
He took another step toward her.
"...why am I still standing here?"
Erza's expression became unreadable.
Yuuta continued before fear could stop him.
"You said you've killed people for less."
His voice lowered.
"So why am I different?"
For the first time, the television seemed impossibly loud.
Erza said nothing.
Yuuta looked toward Elena.
"Why did you protect her?"
His eyes returned to Erza.
"Why did you come to my college?"
Still nothing.
"Why do you keep showing up whenever something happens to me?"
Erza's fingers tightened against the edge of the sofa.
Yuuta noticed.
His heartbeat quickened.
"I don't understand you."
That was the truth.
There was no accusation in his voice anymore.
Only exhaustion.
"You talk like you wish I never existed. Then you act like you can't leave me alone."
Erza's violet eyes finally met his.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she answered.
"You think too highly of yourself, mortal."
The words were cold.
But something about them felt different now.
Too quick.
Too defensive.
Yuuta stared at her for another moment before slowly stepping away.
"Maybe."
He turned.
"But at least now I know I'm not the only one who doesn't understand what's happening between us."
Erza's eyes widened by the smallest fraction.
Then they immediately hardened.
"Do not misunderstand anything, mortal."
Her voice returned to its usual coldness.
"Nothing between us has changed."
She turned her gaze back toward the television as though the conversation no longer deserved her attention.
"When your so-called one year is over, I will still kill you."
A brief silence followed.
"So spend whatever time remains preparing yourself."
Her violet eyes shifted toward him once more.
"Because when that day comes, I will not show you mercy."
Her violet eyes shifted toward him once more.
"Because when that day comes, I will not show you mercy."
Yuuta held her gaze for a moment.
Then he simply nodded.
"I know."
There was nothing more to say.
He turned away and walked back toward Elena, who had been watching the two of them with worried eyes.
Yuuta never looked back.
Because if he had, perhaps he would have noticed something strange.
Erza's gaze remained on him long after he turned away.
Slowly, she lowered her eyes toward her own hand.
Her fingers were trembling.
Barely.
So faintly that anyone else would have missed it.
Erza immediately curled them into a fist.
One year.
She had said those words so easily.
She had reminded him that she would kill him when their promised time ended.
Yet for reasons she refused to examine, imagining that day no longer brought her the satisfaction it once had.
Her fingers tightened.
"Tch."
How irritating.
She turned back toward the television, forcing the thought from her mind.
But the documentary's words passed through her ears without meaning.
For the first time, the Dragon Queen found herself wondering whether the threat she had repeated so many times was still something she truly intended to fulfill.
Elena looked between them, completely confused by whatever strange battle had just taken place.
Then she sighed dramatically.
"Grown-ups are weird."
Yuuta nearly laughed.
Erza's eyebrow twitched.
And for the first time that evening, the suffocating tension inside the apartment cracked.
Not completely.
Not enough to heal anything.
But enough for both of them to realize that something far more complicated than hatred had begun growing between them.
To be continued...