A tremendous roar echoed through the air. The dust raised when Yustia’s sword struck the ground was incomparable to before.

Instinctively, Khalif, covering his face with his cloak, anxiously surveyed his surroundings as the roar subsided.

Yustia was nowhere to be seen. Only an unbelievable figure appeared above his head.

“Hey, are you okay?”

A dragon covered entirely in blue scales spoke, looking at him. The voice he heard was unmistakably Felix’s, but seeing him in the form of a dragon was a first.

Startled, Khalif couldn’t respond immediately. Without needing to hear the reason, Felix chuckled briefly, as if understanding.

“Why, is it just now sinking in that I’m an extraordinary being?”

“…What about Evelia?”

Although still shocked, Khalif prioritized Evelia’s safety. At that moment, Felix circled around Khalif’s head. Then, he positioned himself to make the head more visible.

“Ha.”

The moment Khalif saw Felix’s head in the form of a dragon, he couldn’t help but exhale sharply.

It was Evelia. She was sitting stably on Felix’s head.

“Khal, are you okay?”

After sleeping for several days, she had worried about his well-being. Khalif’s heart pounded fiercely, overwhelmed with intense emotions.

Finally, she woke up, bringing joy but also a sense of unpleasantness at the fact that she regained consciousness at this moment.

He wanted to restore peace to the empire before she woke up somehow.

While immersed in complex thoughts, Felix, who had been floating in the air, suddenly stuck closely to the ground. At that moment, as if waiting, Evelia descended from Felix’s head.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she approached Khalif. Checking his unanswered questions by tearing apart his gaze here and there, her hands, which undoubtedly examined for injuries, felt like electric currents spreading all over Khalif’s body.

Then, it finally felt real. The fact that she had awakened. And his heart became heavy, realizing that he could not show her any other situation.

“…I held your hand and talked to you. I guess you still didn’t hear my story, huh?”

“What story?”

In a somewhat pitiful tone, Khalif’s words were followed by Evelia, who sharpened her gaze like a scolding. He knew what his words meant, but deliberately asked like that.

“Just.”

As expected, he nodded as if it was nothing. That gesture continuously swelled up the emotions that had been stuck in his throat.

“Well, did I tell you to sleep comfortably, whether you were hurt or not?”

At her words, precisely hitting the point, Khalif’s pupils flickered roughly. Although he hoped that his story would be conveyed, his face showed no expectation that it would be heard at all.
Watching him quietly, Evelia felt a tightening in her throat. He had always been like this, persistent and charming, and she wished he would express his anger towards her even if it was just a little.

Nevertheless, he had always supported every choice she made. Even if it contradicted his thoughts, there were no exceptions.

It was the same now. Even if what she whispered contained desperate feelings, it was an absurd thing to believe that the story would be conveyed to someone deeply asleep.

But if he truly wished to hear it, even if he didn’t remember, she hoped he would at least show some signs of disappointment rather than anger.

However, he still maintained an attitude that it didn’t matter if he didn’t hear. When it was revealed that he had heard accurately, he had a surprised expression.

He was a man you couldn’t bring yourself to hate no matter how hard you tried. He was a man you couldn’t help but love even if you tried not to.

So Evelia couldn’t help but step forward in defiance of Felix’s opposition.

“You are here. It’s too dangerous to attract attention from Yustia.”

“But if I stay here, I won’t be able to fully help Felix or Khalif when they need my power.”

“Still, that may not be what Khalif wants. He left for a place that might become his grave, and you are just staying here. Stay here. When your power is needed, I will find you. Help then.”

“If it’s such a critical situation, what if Khalif gets hurt while Felix finds me? During that time?”

Felix tightly sealed his lips in response to Khalif’s plea only for him. Only the last words seemed to resonate with him, and he appeared to sympathize with her plea.

She had to seize this opportunity. Evelia pleaded once again.

“I’ll be careful. I’ll stay near the two of them but hide my presence as much as possible. So, please let me help too. I’m begging you.”

In response to her words, Felix eventually let out a heavy sigh. Then, after several promises prioritizing her safety over assisting Felix and Khalif, he finally agreed to carry her on his back.

This was the position she had hoped for. However, now that she faced Khalif, whom she had been so worried about, she couldn’t think of anything but that it was the right decision to come here.