It took a full day to arrive at the Dragon Village.

Standing in front of it, I couldn’t help but be astonished by its immense scale.

Melphis had explained the village to me on the way here, but this far exceeded my imagination.

They called it a Dragon Village, but it felt more like a futuristic city.

Several round structures were floating in the air, and I could see figures freely moving between the buildings.

They seemed to be dragons in polymorph form.

“Everyone is in human form instead of their true form?”

I turned my body to the side and looked at Melphis, who had already returned to his human form from a dragon at some point.

“There are advantages to being in our true form as it’s stronger, but it’s cumbersome to move around when you’re big. That’s why we usually maintain human form in the village.”

I was extremely interested as the Dragon Village was never mentioned in the original work.

“More importantly, Vivian, you remember what I told you before, right? You have to be careful not to reveal your identity.”

I recalled Melphis’ explanation from a few hours ago.

He warned me to be cautious, as the dragons might impose some terrifying punishment if I was caught pretending to be a companion.

‘Be careful and extra careful not to get caught as a fake companion.’

Dragons were originally a closed-off race.

If they found out I had lied to enter the village, they would surely give a severe punishment.

Imagining the kinds of punishments the dragons might impose, I shuddered. Even the thought was terrifying.

Just then, I heard someone calling Melphis’ name.

Normally I wouldn’t have been able to understand the dragon language, but thanks to the translation magic Melphis had cast beforehand, I could comprehend it.

“Oh, is that who I think it is? Melphis?”

The one who spoke to him was another dragon.

In human form, he was extremely tall.

At first when he called Melphis, I must not have been in his line of sight. Belatedly noticing me, he soon frowned.

Then he bent over to observe me from various angles.

“But… what’s this? It looks human no matter how I look at it.”

His gaze swept over me to an unpleasant degree.

Even though we just met, I could tell he was quite displeased by my presence here.

“Even if it’s you, bringing a human to the village should be prohibited. Did you forget the rules because you haven’t been to the village in a long time?”

Not taking his eyes off me, he suddenly turned his head and looked down at Melphis with a sharp gaze.

His loud voice must have attracted attention, as I felt all the dragons freely moving around now looking this way.

‘Is this okay? At this rate, we’ll just get kicked out, companion or not.’

I was about to step forward and explain that I was a companion, but I shut my mouth.

The other dragon must have noticed my intention first, as he gestured at me with a fierce expression.

Although he didn’t say anything, it wasn’t hard to understand that it meant to stay put.

Slightly intimidated, I swallowed my saliva and looked at my savior.

Fortunately, Melphis, who had been smiling and staying quiet, finally opened his mouth.

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

I blinked, not knowing what he meant.

The other dragon seemed just as clueless.

At that moment, Melphis pulled my shoulder into his arms and wrapped his arms around my neck.

His chin was now resting on top of my head.

“Say hello, my companion.”

“……?”

It wasn’t just him who was surprised, but also the other dragons watching us.

I heard murmurs from around us.

“Did Melphis just say companion?”

“No way, he brought a companion?”

“Melphis… a companion? No, really Melphis? I must have heard wrong.”

Their reactions varied, but the meaning was all the same.

They began to gather around us in disbelief.

‘Why are they so surprised?’

I wondered if bringing a companion was such an unexpected thing, but I let it slide since I didn’t know much about their culture.

Meanwhile, the dragons completely surrounded me. They openly observed me with curious eyes.

“Small…”

“How old are you? You look young.”

“Is this really a human?”

All sorts of questions poured out at me. I hesitated before answering.

“Um… I’m a real human, and I’m 21 years old.”

“21 years old? This is a total crime!”

“Are you crazy, Melphis? You’re going to make a companion with a baby that was just born?”

From a human perspective, 21 was definitely not young enough to be called a baby.

But for dragons who live for thousands of years, it seemed to be that young.

They were aghast and hurled harsh words at Melphis.

He clicked his tongue as if dumbfounded and hugged me tighter.

“21 years old is an adult in human years. No, stop staring at my companion. It’s annoying.”

The dragon standing next to us made a gesture of vomiting in disgust.

“Stop staring at my companion. It’s annoying,” someone else mockingly imitated Melphis’ words.

“Ah, Randolph! Don’t imitate me!”

Melphis frowned deeply. Then he gestured as if telling them to get lost.

However, the dragons didn’t care and kept teasing him.

Watching this, I burst out laughing.

‘So this is how Melphis is around his friends.’

He was always busy playing tricks on me, so it was refreshing to see him on the receiving end for a change.

“What, why are you laughing? Am I funny?”

“Yeah, you’re funny.”

Sighing as if frustrated, Melphis watched me laugh and eventually smiled along.

“If Vivian is happy, that’s all that matters.”

Suddenly, silence fell among the dragons who had been busy teasing him.

‘Did I make some mistake?’

Unable to understand the sudden silence, I rolled my eyes and looked at them.

Meanwhile, Melphis didn’t seem to care at all and continued saying what he wanted to say.

“Let’s stop the chatter here. Where is Lord? I’d like to pay my respects.”

“That might be difficult now. He’s asleep. He’ll wake up tomorrow.”

Melphis sighed regretfully and said to me,

“You heard them, Vivian. I guess we’ll have to just rest today. Let’s go to our place.”

On the way here, I had heard from Melphis that once a dragon falls asleep, it’s impossible to wake them up until they wake voluntarily.

I was disappointed as I wanted to meet Lord as soon as possible to ask about the temple, but there was nothing I could do.

Except wait.

‘I should rest for now to recover from the journey.’

Melphis extended his hand to me. To show off that we were lovers, I naturally took his hand.

I slightly nodded my head to say goodbye to the remaining dragons, and we left the place like that.

One of the dragons watching Melphis and his companion disappear into the distance finally broke the silence and spoke.

“Did you see that earlier?”

“How could I not have seen it?”

“I was so shocked I was at a loss for words.”

“That’s understandable… I thought it was another dragon polymorphed as Melphis.”

Randolph nodded his head as he listened to his friends.

Randolph was the dragon closest to Melphis in the Dragon Village.

‘He’s the type to hide his true feelings, so I’m not sure if he considers me the same… Well, at least that’s what I think.’

Randolph took pride in knowing Melphis better than any other dragon.

Melphis always had a carefree smile, so he seemed kind on the outside, but his personality was actually quite cold.

His lighthearted smiles were just a device to hide his frigid nature.

He was extremely indifferent to everything around him and never let anyone get close to him.

So much so that since childhood, Randolph thought Melphis would never have a companion in his lifetime.

But suddenly he had a companion without any prior signs.

Randolph wondered what had happened to cause this change of heart.

〈Stop staring at my companion!〉

Especially when he heard this statement, the shock was immense.

Because in the over 1000 years he had spent with Melphis, he had never once heard him say something like that.

‘I can’t believe he said those words…’

It was a line that made his head spin just hearing it.

However, the moment Randolph was most shocked wasn’t then, but when Melphis smiled at his companion.

〈If Vivian is happy, that’s all that matters.〉

Randolph was truly at a loss for words seeing him gently speak and brightly lift the corners of his mouth at his companion who burst out laughing looking at him.

‘So he can make an expression like that too.’

Melphis always had a cold aura in his eyes even when smiling.

But in that moment, warm affection poured out from his transparent sky-blue eyes.

His gaze as he looked at his companion with adoration was so tender that Randolph thought he might be dreaming.

That astonishment didn’t seem to be a feeling only he experienced.

Judging by the silence that fell among his friends the moment they saw that smile.

‘Still, I’m glad.’

Actually, Randolph had been worried about Melphis. That he would always be alone like that.

Dragons were creatures with extremely long lifespans.

As they lived overwhelmingly longer than other creatures, they inevitably repeated countless meetings and partings.

That’s why they needed companions.

A being who vowed to always be together. A special existence to share their hearts with until their dying moment.

Randolph was truly relieved as a friend that Melphis now had such a person too.