A considerable amount of time had passed since we entered through the rift in space.

We had been traveling for hours through a space as vast and empty as the universe.

‘Are we even going the right way?’

From my perspective, it felt like we were passing through the same place over and over again, but it didn’t seem that way to Melphis.

Without any signposts, he kept moving forward toward somewhere.

“Vivian.”

“Yes?”

Melphis, who had been focused on finding the way, finally spoke to me.

I answered joyfully.

“You must have been bored all this time, right? I’m sorry. It’s easy to get lost if you don’t concentrate at the entrance to the Dragon Realm.”

“I was curious about that too. What are you even looking at to find the way?”

Melphis leisurely explained in response to my question.

“You know that the Demon Realm is filled with dark magic, right? The Dragon Realm, on the other hand, is filled with mana. I find the way by sensing that, but Vivian, you’re not the type to be sensitive to mana, so you probably can’t feel it.”

Come to think of it, Ruby had told me before that I had no talent for magic.

“But that’s not a bad thing. Someone who is sensitive to mana might get motion sickness. Vivian, you actually have a constitution that’s advantageous for entering this place.”

To think there would come a day when my constitution, which I thought was only a weakness, would be helpful! I secretly rejoiced a little.

“Vivian, you said you need to go to the temple that exists here, right? Actually, it would be great if we could go there directly, but I’m sorry to say I don’t know where it is.”

“Then what should we do? Is there a way to find it?”

Perhaps worried that my tone sounded anxious, Melphis reassured me.

“You don’t have to worry so much. Even if I don’t know the location of the temple, I know someone who would.”

“Who is that?”

“The Dragon Lord. Our leader who has existed since the beginning. There is nothing about the Dragon Realm that he doesn’t know.”

Melphis spoke calmly, but I couldn’t help but sweat profusely.

‘It seems like… the scale of this matter has gotten bigger than I thought.’

Originally, I had simply planned to sneak into the temple and swiftly borrow the sacred sword, but now I’m suddenly going to meet the leader of the dragons?

‘Do I, a different race, even have the right to meet such a being?’

“Well… I’m not sure, but if he’s the leader of the dragons, that means he’s an incredibly high-ranking individual, right? Is it even okay for me to go with you to meet him?”

“You’re right, it would normally be impossible. In fact, Vivian, let alone meeting the Dragon Lord, you wouldn’t even be allowed to enter our village.”

As expected, his answer didn’t deviate from my expectations, and I anxiously asked him again.

“Then what should I do? Oh, what am I going to do?”

“It’s okay, Vivian. There is a way.”

“A way? What is it?”

“Well, I think Vivian might not like it…”

Not like it? That’s out of the question.

Right now, I’m not in a position to be picky. I meant that I was prepared to do anything as long as I could get the sacred sword.

Melphis kept hesitating and stalling for time. I tapped his back impatiently.

“What is it? Don’t keep me in suspense and tell me quickly.”

“Well, basically, Vivian just needs to pretend to be my lover. More precisely, my companion?”

Huh?

“What did you say?”

“Exactly what I said. You just need to act like we’re in a loving relationship in front of everyone. Ah, if you don’t like acting, you can genuinely like me too.”

I was amazed at his attempt to flirt in the middle of all this, as if it wasn’t an ill-timed joke.

“You thought I was flirting just now, didn’t you?”

“What, how did you know? Can dragons read minds too?”

“No, not that. I just thought Vivian would react that way. You always make a strange expression whenever I joke around, you know.”

“And you still joke around like that even though you know?”

“Yes, of course. I like that expression of yours. It’s cute.”

What’s with him today?

He had always been forward before, but today, the degree was much more intense than usual.

However, as I always did, I firmly cut off his nonsense.

“So what’s the real way?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the way to enter the village.”

“Ah, Vivian. That part wasn’t a joke.”

“…?”

“To enter the village and meet the Lord, you have to pretend to be my lover.”

When I looked at him with a suspicious gaze, Melphis claimed it was the truth and expressed his grievance.

Though, as someone who had been deceived by him several times before, I couldn’t quite bring myself to believe him.

In the end, he began to explain the dragon village in more detail.

According to his story, dragons were fundamentally closed off to other races.

Therefore, it was naturally impossible for other races to enter their village.

However, there were cases where individuals from other races were recognized as members of the dragons, and that was by becoming a dragon’s companion.

A companion was someone who promised eternal love through imprinting.

The moment they imprinted, the dragon’s lifespan was divided in half, and they would share life and death together.

As I listened to Melphis’s explanation, my expression hardened.

“So, you’re saying I have to imprint with you to be able to go inside?”

“Don’t show such a displeased expression, Vivian. You’re hurting my feelings.”

“It’s not that, I’m just so surprised…”

I couldn’t help but be surprised when I had just tried to find a sacred sword and was suddenly told to share my lifespan with a dragon and do this and that.

No, and in the first place, isn’t imprinting a one-time opportunity? Is Melphis saying he’s going to throw away such a precious chance for me?

Confused by the incomprehensible turn of the conversation, I furrowed my brow and lost myself in thought.

Fortunately, Melphis’s explanation didn’t last long.

“If I were an ordinary dragon, Vivian would be right. We would have to imprint for you to be allowed entry. But you see… actually, I hold a rather high position in the village.”

“Okay, and?”

“Even without a genuine imprint, if we just say that we’ve promised to become companions in the future, I should be able to bring Vivian inside.”

Now the situation was starting to make sense.

“So that’s why you told me to pretend to be lovers earlier.”

“That’s right, that’s what it is. Vivian can do at least that much, right?”

I was really relieved. For a moment, I was scared that I would suddenly become a dragon’s companion out of nowhere.

‘Right, there’s no way that would happen. Melphis may joke around all the time, but he’s not someone who lacks thought.’

I felt a bit embarrassed for panicking and making a fuss.

‘Pretending to be lovers, I can do that much.’

Honestly, with my usual personality, I would have found that repulsive too, but now wasn’t the time for me to be picky.

I just acquiesced and pondered Melphis’s words again.

Then suddenly, a question came to mind.

“By the way, you said earlier that you hold a high position in the village. What position is it that you can do that? Do dragons also have a class system or something?”

“There isn’t a separate class system, but there are a few dragons in privileged positions. I’m one of them.”

“Then why just you? Ah, if it’s difficult to answer, you don’t have to.”

I had asked out of curiosity without thinking, but seeing his delayed response, it seemed I had asked about something I shouldn’t have.

As I was about to end the conversation out of guilt, Melphis hesitated and answered.

“Actually… I’m the great-grandson of the Dragon Lord.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s exactly as Vivian heard. I didn’t want to say it because I thought you’d be surprised…”

So to sum it up, if the Lord is like the emperor of this place, then Melphis is like royalty?

Thinking that way, another question grew.

‘If he’s in an important position, why isn’t he working and instead getting kidnapped by me every single day after disguising himself?’

I knew Melphis was eccentric, but I still couldn’t understand why he had acted that way.

Well, that wasn’t really an important issue for now anyway.

‘Right now, what I need to focus on is quickly meeting the Dragon Lord and asking about the temple.’

And to accomplish that, I would have to act properly as a lover.

So that we wouldn’t get caught and kicked out midway.

“Is there anything we need to prepare? Like since when we became lovers, things like that.”

“It would definitely be good to establish that. When should we say it was?”

I pondered for a moment, humming in thought.

“Hmm… it’s difficult. But I think we should pretend to have been in a relationship for a long time.”

“Then let’s say I confessed to you a year ago.”

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind. Anything else we need to decide?”

“Since we’re lovers, it might be good to get our stories straight on why we fell for each other. Can you think of anything?”

Now that we had come this far, I actively wracked my brain.

The reason for falling in love.

Usually in novels, love was depicted as starting from some special event.

Of course, I couldn’t really relate since I didn’t have such an experience yet.

“Well, we don’t necessarily need a specific event, so I’ll just say we grew fond of each other after frequently meeting. Ah, but it might be more believable if we’re a bit more specific, right?”

“That’s enough for Vivian. I can provide the specifics.”

His attitude, as if he already had a prepared answer, piqued my curiosity.

“What are you going to say?”

“I…”

Melphis, who had been staring straight ahead the whole time, slightly turned his head to gaze at me.

His sky-blue eyes looked at me gently.

“Vivian, do you know this? When using polymorph, none of the caster’s original appearance remains at all.”

Startled by the sudden change in topic, I waited for his next words in confusion.

“So even among dragons, if the other person polymorphs into a form they’ve never seen before, it’s impossible to tell who they are. Whether it’s a longtime friend or a blood relative.”

“Okay.”

“But Vivian, you accomplished that impossible feat. Even though it should be impossible to recognize me, you alone realized who I was. Wouldn’t it be strange not to fall in love?”

“…”

What? Is he being serious right now?

Perhaps it was because of his eyes that were fully focused on me, but I couldn’t tell if he was joking or being sincere.

As I was trying to choose my words, Melphis suddenly laughed playfully.

“How was that? It’s a sufficiently specific answer, right? Don’t you think everyone will be fooled by that?”

Ah, what? So he wasn’t being sincere. I sighed in relief. Thank goodness.

“Yeah, I was about to be fooled too just now. It really seemed genuine no matter who looked at it.”

At that moment, Melphis muttered something too quietly for me to hear.

“Because it is genuine.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

He brushed it off like that and looked straight ahead again.

And after a considerable amount of time had passed, we were finally able to reach the dragon village.