‘The events of last night weren’t just a dream, were they?’

Adelheit desperately looked around the room. She needed to find evidence that yesterday’s events weren’t a dream. Or, find something that would prove it was all a terrible joke or lie from the beginning. Of course, the latter would be overwhelmingly preferable.

Adelheit thoroughly searched the nightstand, under the bed, and even the place where she had thrown the knife last night.

She felt she would be satisfied if she could find even one piece of evidence. However, there was no trace left in the room. It was just empty and quiet.

Not only the dagger, but even the green glass bottle containing the potion that Father had given her was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the thin nightgown that should have been slightly torn from yesterday’s struggle was as it was when first worn, and the sheets that should have been stained with blood were clean.

Adelheit lowered her hands blankly.

‘Really… was all of this just a dream?’

She slowly retraced her memories. Valentin had confessed to her that he was a dragon, she had heard something about a terrible contract from him, the lives of the people of Ansgar had been held as collateral, and she had made a contract to prevent it.

Under the midday sun, it seemed too absurd and preposterous to think about seriously.

And, of course, as proof that she had made that contract…….

‘That’s right, proof!’

Adelheit hurriedly got out of bed and stood in front of the large mirror. Suddenly, Adelheit felt a strange sense of déjà vu about the mirror’s position. It certainly wasn’t in this position when she last saw it last night…….

‘It doesn’t matter.’

She looked at the mirror once with uneasy eyes before pulling down her nightgown to below her shoulders. The proof that the contract had been made, she said some kind of pattern would be engraved somewhere on her body. If that really existed, then last night’s events couldn’t have been a dream.

She turned this way and that in front of the mirror, looking for the pattern. It was not easily visible, so she had spun around several times when.

“What are you… doing? Adelheit.”

Hiccup. She was startled and hurriedly pulled up her nightgown. Valentin, who had somehow approached nearby, was staring at her with strange eyes.

Adelheit’s entire body turned as red as the setting sun.

“Wh-when did you get there?”

“From… the beginning. Since you woke… up. I’ve been… watching the whole time.”

He blinked languidly, and when their eyes met, he smiled broadly. As if he knew nothing of life’s worries or shadows, it was truly an innocent face that could captivate anyone. However, Adelheit made a tearful face and widened the distance between herself and Valentin a little more.

He said he’d been there from the beginning? She hadn’t seen him at all. He was said to be a monster, so what kind of trick did he use? Or was it really due to her own carelessness? Whatever it was, he should have made his presence known. Not like this, staying quiet…….

“Adelheit.”

His voice had already grown closer. When Adelheit raised her head with a start, Valentin was reflected in the mirror, having come close. Her husband, seen in the midday sunlight, looked several times more handsome. Even his pupils, which had narrowed like a beast’s last night, had changed to something closer to a human’s round shape.

Adelheit’s expression clouded as she recalled last night. Valentin approached and turned her body towards him, then lightly brushed her cheek with his finger. When Adelheit reflexively averted her gaze, a tense, locked voice flowed from him.

“Look… at me.”

“……”

“I don’t… understand why… you’re suddenly… like this. As if… you’re wary.”

“……”

“Hm?”

Adelheit unknowingly tightened her expression that was about to crumble. She removed Valentin’s hand from herself and turned her head sharply. She repeated dozens of times in her mind that no matter how affectionate he acted towards her, a monster was still a monster.

‘I must never give my heart.’

She had grown up learning to fear monsters all her life. Creatures that look terrible, are cruel by nature, impious, and eat away at God’s holiness. She had been taught that even going near them was like getting dirty filth on oneself.

Whether it was true or not didn’t matter. Once established, prejudice was this solid. Adelheit blurted out the words she had been rolling around in her mouth with dissatisfaction.

“You can speak like you did yesterday. There’s no need to speak so inarticulately….. The content of what you’re saying could be distorted too.”

“No… can’t.”

“Why?”

“Adelheit… is scared… of me.”

“……”

“If I act… like a fool… like this… not scary… Right?”

Adelheit looked at him with dumbfounded eyes.

“Are you saying you’ve been speaking like this on purpose all along?”

“N-no….. No.”

He waved his hands urgently, but Adelheit was already staring at him with narrowed eyes of suspicion. Valentin stammered an excuse.

“Didn’t… need human… language…”

“……”

“Understood… everything, but… first time… using tongue…”

He slightly stuck out his tongue like a boy. Then he glanced at Adelheit and grinned. The sight of his sharp, clean-cut eyes curving pleasantly was amazing no matter how many times she saw it.

Men, that is, the noble men she knew, didn’t smile so broadly like that.

‘I can tell there’s a terrifying monster inside, but at times like this, he seems just like an ordinary person.’

It didn’t make sense from the start that such a large figure would look like a boy. Now it even seemed a little… cute.

‘Cute? I must be crazy.’

Adelheit blinked in surprise at her own thought. Why did she suddenly feel that way?

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere surrounding Valentin had changed subtly since yesterday. She couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but now when she looked at him, she clearly felt a soft warmth.

“It’s because… of the… contract.”

Seeing just the change in her expression, Valentin seemed to guess all her thoughts now and answered.

“The contract?”

“Received Adelheit’s… energy… and Adelheit received… my energy… so we became… similar.”

“Similar……”

“You smell… like me.”

He blushed and brought his lips to her plump ear, then whispered as if embarrassed.

“I… smell like… you.”

“……”

“I’m happy……”

The warm sensation spreading on her ear was one thing, but the overwhelming joy conveyed in Valentin’s voice was just bewildering. Sometimes she wondered what meaning she had to him. She just couldn’t understand why he was so desperate for a mere human woman.

If she had to guess at the source of those emotions, perhaps her ‘husband’ before he died had liked her, and the dragon who took over his body and soul was influenced….. Adelheit, who had been thinking vaguely, shook her head coldly.

‘This really doesn’t make any sense at all.’

Rather than that, it was more convincing to think that his true nature was that of a monster, and he was instinctively targeting her weaknesses. Could it be his intention to overwhelm her by showering her with affection, noticing that she craved human warmth?

“……”

Adelheit glanced at Valentin, who had become a little sullen. Though he looked harmless on the outside, as if he were God’s most beloved creation, in reality he was an unparalleled terrifying dragon.

Adelheit struggled to compose herself, fighting against her softening heart.

“You said yesterday that until you fulfill the contract with my husband, you’re as good as trapped in that body. And the content of the contract is to raise the name of the Grand Duke of Ansgar to be recorded in history.”

“Y-yes……”

“What should I do from now on?”

She asked, fidgeting with her hands clasped together.

Of course, this issue should have been carefully confirmed before and after making the contract. But yesterday, right after making the contract, she fell asleep as if fainting from exhaustion. It was because she didn’t realize that making the contract would consume so much energy.

Valentin looked at Adelheit and answered calmly.

“The contract… must be… fulfilled unconditionally.”

“You’ve already told me that.”

“Then? What are… you curious about?”

“I don’t know how I should help Your Highness from now on.”

“Adelheit can help… me if she wants, or… not. If it’s uncomfortable… I can erase… your memories.”

Erase her memories. Tempted by the proposal, Adelheit pondered for a moment, then eventually shook her head. If her memories were erased, she wouldn’t be able to persuade Father.

Unless Father gave up as things were, if he continued to dig into this case alone, he would eventually reach the truth that ‘Valentin’ was the dragon of Biethlehem. Then Valentin would try to kill Father by any means necessary.

‘He said he would lose all his power if the contract made on his name wasn’t fulfilled. The dragon must be desperate too.’

Even if she persuaded Father and then had her memories erased, she didn’t want to live like a fool, not knowing what kind of contract she had made.

Adelheit clenched her fists and raised her head.

“My contract conditions yesterday were two. One was to save the people of Ansgar Castle that I received as compensation, and the other was to return that body to my husband as much as possible when the contract with my husband ends.”

“……That’s… right.”

“In return for that, um, Your Shadow……”

“Call me… Valentin.”

“But.”

“If you don’t mind… people being very suspicious, I’m… fine with it.”

It was a strangely cold response. As Adelheit hesitated, he smiled coldly and opened his mouth. His bright yellow eyes flashed cruelly.

“I’ll… ask one thing too. Adelheit. You said… to return that man’s soul… when it ends, right?”

“……”

“Is it because you love him?”