Anyone could tell from the man’s appearance and demeanor that he was a high-ranking official. The chief clicked his tongue. “You have absolutely no discipline at all. How dare you doze off during working hours?”
“Forgive me, sir!” The commissioner cleared his cluttered desk in a hurry.
Meanwhile, the man studied the cramped room. The tables were piled so high with all manners of paperwork and old dishes that they seemed to be on the verge of collapse. His brows furrowed as he resisted the urge to ask for a broom and a mop; he had not come all the way down here to clean.
Sorent was a small, quiet rural town. It was also where the imperial court was currently pouring all of its attention, as Eleanora Aiselle, the witch of Laurent, had cooped herself up here for the last few years.
She was currently the prime suspect in a critical case at the imperial palace: the mysterious disappearance of the dragon egg, which had been safeguarded there for over five hundred years.
Kyle Leonard, the Chief of the Investigation and Security Bureau of the Laurent Empire who was in charge of overseeing the capital of Tezeva, had traveled this long distance to Sorent to find the thief himself.
The imperial court had good reason to suspect Eleanora Aiselle. She was the only one in Laurent capable of getting past the palace’s tight security and stealing the egg without a trace.
She’s been keeping a low profile for the last two years, though. In the past, Eleanora had been notorious for illegally distributing her magical devices to the criminal underworld of Laurent. In response, Kyle had been the one forced to spend his time hunting down and recovering those magical artifacts to keep peace and balance in the empire. Just the thought of her was enough to make his blood boil.
“Have there been any notable incidents in Sorent? I’d like to see the case log for the Baroness Eleanora Aiselle,” Kyle asked the commissioner.
“Oh? But the Baroness hasn’t done anything to cause trouble. She doesn’t even leave her home very often. Sorent is always tranquil.”
It can’t be. Suspicious, Kyle studied the commissioner’s face. The middle-aged man had gunk in his eyes, but there was no hint of lying in his expression. He merely came across as naïve and extremely untrustworthy but still honest.
“All right.” Kyle decided to go see her himself. He already had a warrant in hand—after all, he had to be prepared for anything when dealing with the unrivaled witch of Laurent. “Clean this place up. And don’t doze off during working hours.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Well, then, as you were.” Kyle left the crumbling police department without a second thought.
He intended to visit Eleanora’s house, which stood in the mountains just outside of Sorent, but his plans were derailed when he spotted her strutting down the street in the center of the village with a child in her arms.
Her apricot hair, occasionally tinged red or deep pink under the sunlight, fluttered as if to tempt him. A bizarre mask covered half of her face, but the conspicuous hair color was enough to give her away. Kyle’s eyes flashed like a predator on the hunt.
Eleanora was walking nervously, her eyes scanning ahead. Immediately, Kyle dropped his original plan and started to follow her. He witnessed her surreptitiously handing the baby over to the butcher in a scene akin to a trafficking scheme.
* * *
Abandoned again. The child crouched on the ground sullenly, drawing meaningless lines in the dirt with a twig. He was a little taller now than he was the day before. While dragons naturally grew fast, it was not common for them to grow an inch or two in a day like he did. All this growth was possible thanks to the child’s master.
But I don’t think she likes me. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have abandoned me five times already. During the last five days, his master had repeatedly lulled him to sleep with cozy blankets and warm milk, only to send him away again in a dreadful cage. Yesterday, she had even taken him to a scary place that was cramped, dark, and smelled of blood. She had spoken with someone for a while, then returned to give him a final big hug. “The butcher will take you to the Voltaire family residence in Isette in Tezeva, okay? Someone will be waiting for you.”
He hadn’t understood a thing that she had said. All he had been able to do was desperately cling to the hem of her clothes, but his master had heartlessly pulled him off and walked away. Even worse, she had handed him to a huge, vicious-looking man with a bushy beard.
The imposing man had grinned suspiciously and tried to lift him up. Frightened, the child had wriggled from his grasp and run away. He had switched into dragon form and flown back to his master’s home. But a thick barrier had already been cast around the cliffside cottage. It had been too powerful a spell to break for a baby dragon that hadn’t imprinted on its master yet.
“She’s so mean,” the child sniffled, tears welling up in his large eyes. He resented her for abandoning him like this, but he had nowhere else to go.
The toddler’s rapid growth proved that he had begun imprinting as soon as he first made contact with the outside world during his incubation period. He could not be too far away from his master anymore but was afraid she might be furious this time if he returned to her against her will.
So, I’ve been abandoned. The child sniffled as his heart filled with sadness. His instincts pulled him to the cottage, reminding him of a dragon’s inevitable fate when abandoned by its imprinted master. The knowledge caused the tears to break free from his eyes, and he started sobbing. I’m already destined to die less than a week after I hatched.
Through the haze of tears that had been streaming down his face for a while, the young dragon noticed the ends of someone’s black trousers. Looking up, the child wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. The sun made it hard to make out any facial features, but he could tell it was a human man. He stammered, “Wh-Who are you?”
The man’s face became visible as he stooped down and stepped out of the backlight. He had black hair and pretty violet eyes.
“Are you lost?” he asked.
“No.” The child flinched, sensing the man’s intimidating presence.
Noticing this, the man thought for a moment, then lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile. Just the slackening of his lips was enough to soften his cold, impersonal appearance, and the child relaxed in response.
Then, the man asked sweetly, “Did you lose your mommy?”
The child hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. Holding out his hand, the man asked, “Do you want to go find her with me?”
* * *
Someone was knocking at my door. This was highly unusual for a couple of reasons, foremost being that very few people knew of Eleanora’s country house. It was located in the most remote part of the already remote town of Sorent. And no one would visit at such an early hour.
“Wait a minute,” I wondered aloud, “could it be the dragon?”
I quickly waved that speculation away. Yesterday, I had left him with Walter, the owner of my favorite butcher shop. Since Walter was the largest butcher in Sorent, he often supplied meat to Tezeva. In a lucky coincidence, he happened to be departing for the capital city that day at dawn. So, I had asked him to take the kid home on the way.
With Walter as his guardian and surveillant, the dragon couldn’t have escaped as easily as he had in the past. Besides, I had also activated Eleanora’s bug-repelling barrier around the house, just in case. Content with my reassurances, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Right then, whoever was outside knocked again.
Who would knock on someone’s door at the crack of dawn?
They knocked a little harder.
“I’m coming,” I called.
This time, they rapped on the door louder.
“I’m coming right now!”
The knocking transformed into an incessant banging that obviously wouldn’t stop until I opened the door.
“Jeez. I’m coming! Stop knocking on my door!” Wrapped in a blanket, I made my way down the spiral staircase. The unwelcome visitor pounded relentlessly the entire time. Clearly, somebody needed lessons on knocking manners and etiquette.
“I’m so sleepy,” I grumbled, rubbing my puffy eyes as I approached the door. It had been a while since I had a good night’s sleep because of the kid, so I was exhausted.
Resting my forehead against the door, I pressed my eye against the peephole. “Huh?”
A pair of disproportionately large, burgundy eyes were floating behind the rounded convex lens. The kid blinked, the distorted view making him look more like an alien than a human child.
Stunned by the sight of something I didn’t want to see again, I screamed, then stumbled backward, holding my racing heart.
It was him! The baby dragon I left with Walter yesterday!
“But how?” At this point, I was choking with rage. Why are you disturbing my peaceful haven, you little brat?! I’ve been trying so hard to return you to your mother!
In the original novel, the dragon literally roasted Eleanora for harassing the heroine he was dearly obsessed with! So, why was it here and not with Renia?! My low blood pressure was already making life difficult for me as it is!
I gritted my teeth and rolled up my sleeves. Taking a deep breath, I flung the door open and screamed, “Hey! Why are you—”
My eyes immediately locked with a grown man.
“…back again? Wh-Who in the world are you?” The way my voice trembled as I finished the question sounded ridiculous, even to me.
The dragon kid wasn’t by himself today. Puzzled, I looked back and forth between the tall man standing at my door and the child in his arms. Huh?
The kid, who seemed to have grown a bit since yesterday, whimpered as he looked at me and contorted his face. His lips, glued shut, quivered. Beady tears started to pool in his eyes. The sadness rising up inside him was far too apparent.
At the same time, panic grew inside me, too.
The more he became agitated, the more my mouth gaped open stupidly.
Finally, when his frustration peaked, he burst into tears.