It was strange. Though he had only yearned for magic for a few years, he felt like an old man who had wasted his entire life.

“Why didn’t you appear and tell me sooner?”

Resentment kept surging up. You can use magic if you learn the dragon language? He wasn’t happy at all.

He just felt bitter about the past years. He was clearly only 14 years old, but the emptiness he felt was too much for a 14-year-old.

Siod kept making excuses.

“I’m sorry. Really, honestly, I didn’t know a hybrid between a dragon and a human could be born. I…”

“Did Mother know too?”

“Guinevere only found out I was a dragon recently. She probably tried to find me during her pregnancy. Vera did nothing wrong. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry.”

Siod grabbed William’s shoulder as he bowed his head and tried to hold back tears, muttering excuses.

“I thought it was right for me to leave if she found someone else. I didn’t think a hybrid between a dragon and a human could be born. Only after seeing you in person did I realize it might be possible. You have a dragon’s magical power. So…”

“Not knowing that, all this time, I… magic… my whole life… I’ve been clinging…”

Siod stopped what he was about to say and embraced the crying William. William wasn’t just shocked that his father was a dragon.

He was resenting the past years he had suffered from feelings of inferiority for not being able to become a mage.

William doesn’t remember the 50 years that disappeared. Yet the pain from that time must have remained in his subconscious. Siod apologized again.

“It’s all my fault.”

William just cried silently.

“…Vera cried a lot too. When she found out why you couldn’t use magic, she deeply regretted pushing you.”

“Mother did?”

“Yes.”

William’s tears suddenly dried up. Pushing Siod away, William roughly wiped his tears with one arm.

“William, are you okay?”

William checked his wristwatch with an expressionless face. Then he casually said to Siod.

“Teleport to the Sun Hall. Quickly.”

It was already curfew time. Siod grabbed William’s arm and teleported as he wished.

As soon as they arrived in front of the Sun Hall, William headed straight to the dormitory without looking back.

“William, you’ll come home on the weekend, right?”

“I’m not going.”

The dormitory door closed. Siod sighed and turned around. A gust of wind blew and circled around Siod. Siod waved his hand and said.

“Hurry and follow him. Let me know if anything happens.”

It was Sylph, the wind spirit. Sylph messed up Siod’s hair as if annoyed, then followed William.

Thanks to Sylph telling him, he knew William didn’t want to come home on the weekend. He had rushed over, but there was no time to persuade him.

“I’ll have to come again tomorrow.”

He was worried about Guinevere, worried about Larisa, and also worried about how the two would react if William wasn’t there on the weekend.

*

That night, William had a dream.

The reason he realized this was a dream was simple. William usually doesn’t dream, and in the dream, he was already an adult.

William awkwardly looked down at his grown hands and flexed them. The sensation was too vivid for a dream.

“What is this…?”

The messy room was familiar to William. It was Guinevere’s laboratory. However, Guinevere was nowhere to be seen.

William slowly looked around the room and suddenly noticed a large glass tube in the center.

He had an ominous feeling. As he cautiously approached step by step, he saw a woman lying inside the glass tube with a face as pale as a corpse.

He was sure it wasn’t a corpse because her purple lips were moving slightly. She was saying something.

“What? I can’t hear you well.”

William leaned in closer to hear better. Then he heard a small voice.

“…want to.”

“Pardon?”

“I want to get out. Let me out, William.”

William felt his heart sink. Only then did he notice the woman’s pink hair.

“Larisa?”

“I want… to see… wildflowers.”

Just as William was about to touch the glass tube to open it, a blue magic circle began to glow above the tube.

William quickly withdrew his hand, feeling uneasy that something might go wrong, and said.

“It’s Mother’s magic.”

“William, you can do it. You…”

“I can’t break Mother’s magic.”

“You can, William.”

Larisa said with difficulty. William took another step towards the glass tube, feeling helpless.

“Why did this happen? Why are you in here…?”

Then, red tears of blood began to flow down Larisa’s pale face.

“…know…”

“What?”

“It’s your fault, isn’t it!”

At that moment, William woke up with a gasp. After barely collecting himself, his whole body was covered in goosebumps. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and checked the clock; it was still dawn.

William clutched his pounding chest and lay back down on the bed, but he couldn’t fall asleep at all.

When morning came, James, who got up yawning lazily, saw William’s face and asked with a start.

“Why do you look so haggard this early in the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why?”

“I had a nightmare.”

“Oh my, did our young lord have a nightmare after fighting with his mom?”

William didn’t have the energy to argue. He washed up roughly, threw on some clothes, and went to morning training, still feeling like he hadn’t escaped from last night’s dream.

“It was an unpleasantly vivid dream.”

“What kind of dream?”

As William hesitated, James thumped his own chest and said.

“I’m a master at interpreting dreams, you know. Come on, tell me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Don’t keep it bottled up, spill it. Big brother here will interpret it all for you.”

William hesitated for a moment, then decided to share, figuring he had nothing to lose.

“In the dream, there was a glass tube, and someone inside was asking to be let out.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“…Hah.”

William sighed in disappointment. He was seriously pondering it, but to be told it’s nonsense…

“Hey, why are you worrying? Dreams are all nonsense. Forget about it.”

Well, dreams are just dreams. William tried to shake off the nightmare all day as he finished his classes.

And on the way to the library, in a secluded place, Siod came to find him again.

“William, just a moment.”

“I’m busy.”

“Let’s talk for a bit.”

“Didn’t we say everything yesterday?”

“You’re still angry, aren’t you?”

William replied irritably.

“I’m not angry.”

“Then why did you say you’re not coming home this weekend?”

“I made plans to go to a friend’s house. Am I not allowed to do that?”

“You are, but why this weekend of all times?”

“Ah, because I want to go this weekend!”

William shouted and was about to leave quickly when.

It was that strange sound again. As soon as he heard the voice like wind blowing in a cave, supposedly dragon language or something, his feet froze in place.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m really sorry, but can’t you help me out? How am I supposed to handle it alone on the weekend without you, huh?”

“You said you were wrong, Professor. Figure it out yourself.”

“Ah, that’s why I’ve been groveling and begging Guinevere to do as she says. But what have I done wrong to Larisa? Let’s each take care of our own women.”

William tried to turn around at the ridiculous words, but his feet were stuck to the ground and wouldn’t move.

“Damn it, can’t you remove this? And who said she’s my woman!”

“Then make her your sister. Anyway, if you’re not there on the weekend, what do you think Larisa will think alone? She’ll probably cry, blaming herself for ruining everything!”

That didn’t seem likely. She wasn’t just an ordinary cunning kid. But Siod continued to provoke William’s guilt.

“I’ll be busy trying to please Guinevere, so I won’t be around. Poor Larisa, she’ll be so lonely by herself, what should we do?”

“…”

“If you’re not there and I’m not there, she might think we’re angry and abandoning her again. Poor Larisa, it hasn’t even been half a year since she became an orphan, and there’s not a single person around who understands her…”

William recalled Larisa resenting him in his dream and shouted like he was having a fit.

“Argh! I get it! I get it, so let me move!”

Siod wore a dubious expression.

“You’ll come home on the weekend, right?”

“I will! I will!”

“Good.”

As soon as his feet were freed, William sprinted at full speed towards where there were more people.

And that night, William had another dream. On a hill covered in wildflowers, someone was lying with their head on his lap. It definitely felt like a woman.

William creaked his neck as he looked down. Red eyes met his and curved like crescent moons.

Larisa, who had grown beautifully to the point of being dazzling, was lying with her head on his lap. She whispered sweetly.

“William, kiss me.”

“Huh?”

“I said, kiss me.”

“Huh? Huh?”

As the broken William stared blankly, something wrapped around his neck. And then.

Smooch.

As soon as he realized something had brushed his lips, William screamed.

“Ahhh!”

“Kyaa!”

When William jumped up, Larisa had to roll on the grass. William, who had inadvertently had his first kiss, no, first peck stolen, blushed.

“What are you doing!”

“Ow ow ow…”

William, red to his ears, approached Larisa, who was groaning in pain, and stammered.

“That’s what you get for suddenly, uh, doing that… Are you okay?”

“It hurts.”

“Sorry…”

William crouched down in front of Larisa. Larisa sat up, brushing off her dress, and said.

“What’s wrong with a little kiss when no one’s watching?”