Cedar’s voice jolted me awake as if I had been doused with cold water.

I pushed away Grisha’s chest, which had gotten too close, with both hands and answered.

“I made a magic potion. Grisha was a big help.”

Grisha stared blankly at Cedar, then sighed.

Then he lowered his head and kissed the ends of my hair that he had been holding until then.

Startled, I stared at Grisha with wide eyes.

‘Why?’

Isn’t this an expression of affection only done between very close people? I couldn’t understand why he was doing it to me now.

But I wasn’t given a chance to ask. Because Cedar intervened between us.

“What are you doing?”

“I don’t think it’s your place to question. The person involved isn’t saying anything.”

To be precise, I didn’t have a chance to speak.

I wanted to correct him like that, but since Cedar hid me behind his back and wouldn’t let me out, I lost the chance to speak again.

Grisha smiled with his eyes and greeted.

“Since the intruder has arrived, I’ll be going now, Nelly. Give me your answer next time.”

“Get out of here.”

Cedar chased Grisha away fiercely.

All I could see beyond Cedar’s broad back was the long arc of Grisha’s hair.

Though I couldn’t say goodbye, a strange sense of relief lingered in a corner of my heart.

It was all because of Grisha’s appearance that I had never seen before.

‘It was the first time Grisha felt scary.’

A face without a smile, a gaze that seemed like it wouldn’t leave until he got the answer he wanted.

I was bothered by the ends of my hair where his lips had last touched.

Without realizing it, I fiddled with that part with my fingers.

After Grisha had completely left, Cedar, who strode into the kitchen, frowned and asked.

“What answer?”

Can I say this honestly? I tilted my head, then shook it.

People’s words tend to get tangled when they hesitate. Especially for someone as slow and inarticulate as me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“He said if you want to set me free, get a divorce.”

As soon as my words fell, Cedar’s face crumpled. Cedar growled like a lion and asked.

“What? Who does he think he is to talk about my freedom and divorce? Why is he asking you that?”

“I don’t know what that means either.”

“So? Did you flatly say you have no intention? Ah, since you didn’t answer, he must have said something like that.”

Cedar’s eyes were much lighter in color than Grisha’s.

The silver-sparkling eyes had a blue mist swirling at the edges, which was as mysterious as the dawn sky.

‘His eyes really look like a dragon’s.’

Not a descendant of dragons, but a real dragon flying in the high sky.

‘Ah, is that why the name of the knights is the Sky Dragon Knights?’

I suddenly learned one more thing about Cedar.

I stared at Cedar’s eyes as if entranced.

At that moment, it felt like my body was floating as if I had become a ghost.

The boundary between reality and the world of imagination was lost.

I felt as if I had become a dragon myself.

‘If you go up to the high sky, the world and humans will surely look like tiny ants.’

The edges of the blue sky and sea would blur and everything would become distant.

To the point of transcending even the flow of time that all living beings in the world are subject to.

Such a great being stopped flying in the high sky and faced me. More precisely, not me, but the cavity in my heart.

{You have transcended the realm of humans.}

An auditory hallucination that couldn’t possibly be heard rang in my mind. The distant being laughed as it looked at me.

{I’ve been waiting for someone like you to appear.}

It was an utterly alien scene, but I wasn’t scared or distant. I was just thinking, so that’s how it is.

My reflection in the silver-gray eyes felt more comfortable than ever.

It was at that very moment.

“Nelly.”

Cedar, who must have been frustrated by my silence, lowered his head to meet my eyes exactly and said clearly.

“Answer clearly. Say you have no intention of divorcing.”

The eyes of the same color as the great being were reflecting me like a mirror.

But the words flowing from the lips of that great being were not about the laws or secrets of the world, but really insignificant human stories.

Thanks to that, I was able to snap out of my daze as if I had been enchanted by those eyes for a moment.

I realized that the being I was facing was not a dragon, but Cedar.

‘Ah, did I just have a dream for a moment?’

It was disconcerting because it was the first time I had been lost in thought while facing someone like this.

As I shook my head from side to side, Cedar frowned.

“Nelly.”

Cedar’s face, calling my name as if urging me, was full of impatience that didn’t suit him.

What on earth is he so anxious about?

It was amusing to see such a big man at a loss, so I smiled.

“I already answered that.”

“…Really?”

At my answer, the corners of Cedar’s mouth awkwardly curved into a smile. I blinked and asked.

“Why are you smiling?”

As soon as he heard my question, Cedar made a sullen expression.

“Who’s smiling? Then what answer did he want?”

“When I said I won’t divorce, he said divorce could really set you free. So he told me to think about it.”

“What nonsense is that? Why would divorce…?”

The muttering trailed off for a moment.

Cedar, with a hardened face, looked even more displeased than before. As if he had realized the meaning of Grisha’s words.

Then he chewed on his lips and muttered in a voice too low for me to hear.

Judging by the strong pronunciation, he was clearly swearing.

‘They really don’t get along well.’

That was all I could guess.

Cedar, who had vented his complaints alone to his heart’s content, grabbed my hand that was fiddling with my hair and pulled it towards him.

My hair unraveled with a soft sound.

He advised in a stern tone.

“Everything Grisha said is useless talk. Forget it.”

“Grisha doesn’t say useless things.”

“Does he?”

“How would you know? You met Grisha after such a long time.”

“I know everything. I know better than you.”

Cedar’s tone, which seemed to dismiss my relationship with Grisha, provoked my stubbornness.

I grumbled, puffing up my cheeks like a goldfish.

“Grisha and I are very close.”

“Anyway, that closeness was from years ago, right? Doesn’t he feel like a stranger now?”

“That…”

Coincidentally, there was an image that came to mind the moment I heard those words.

Eyes as blue as the sea, staring at me without blinking.

“…No.”

As a result, my answer came out a beat late.

Cedar stared at me as if he knew exactly why my answer was delayed, then pulled my hand.

“More importantly, I bought new clothes.”

“Wow, thank you.”

“There’s something to do before you change.”

“What?”

No, I wasn’t thinking about changing.

Right then, Cedar kissed the tip of my hand.

Following Grisha, now Cedar doing this made my body stiffen in embarrassment.

What is this? Is there a law that the Granite family greets like this? To me, who was bewildered, Cedar whispered with a smirk.

“Let’s cut your hair.”

I haven’t cut my hair since entering the academy.

That means I haven’t cut my hair since I was seven years old.

‘They said the split ends were because I didn’t cut it. The frizziness too.’

But it was strange to cut my own hair, and I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable with long hair, so I just left it alone.

It’s absolutely not that I saved it for today. Nor because I was afraid of cutting my hair.

‘But I never thought I’d entrust my hair to my husband!’

Should I even call him my husband? I guess I should call him husband since there’s a contract or whatever?

It’s not like his profession is a hairdresser, he was a Swordmaster.

I became the first woman to hand a Swordmaster a shovel and hoe, and now I’ve become the woman who handed him hair scissors.

It wasn’t particularly honorable.

Sitting in the chair with a wide cloth draped like a cape from my neck, my heart was pounding.

To suppress my nervousness, I sat up straight with strength in my waist.

“I’m not the type to care much about appearance, so even if you make a big patch on my head…”

Snip.

“Oh, God.”

No sooner had I spoken than a lock of hair fell off with a thud.

I thought he would be gentle and careful since it was his first time, but the strand of hair that fell to the floor was quite long.

‘No! Did you plan how to cut my hair before you started cutting?!’

Is it less anxious if I watch this with my own eyes, or if I don’t watch?

As I was fidgeting, unable to do either, a small, insignificant laugh like bread crumbs rained down on my head.

“I didn’t know you were the type to believe in God.”

Is it funny that I’m nervous! It’s natural to be anxious when entrusting hair I’ve grown my whole life to a novice hairdresser.

Cedar’s constant laughter was annoying, but apart from that, the discourse he uttered to tease me was interesting. I shrugged my shoulders.

“I think they exist. If you ask if I’m devout, that’s not the case. There are priests at the academy too.”

“There’s a theology department.”

“Yes. Since they sometimes show actual miracles, it’s not rational to not believe in their existence.”

Snip.

“Oh my.”

As soon as my attention was diverted, the scissors cut off another handful of hair.

Seeing the long strands of hair scattered on the floor like thread, I couldn’t help but groan.

While combing through my remaining hair roughly with a hand comb, Cedar said in a light tone.

“You were more attached to your hair than I thought.”

“It’s not attachment, it’s doubting your skills! Have you ever cut hair before?”

“No.”

The man who probably doesn’t even shave his own beard added in a boastful tone.

“But I’m good at cutting and slicing anything. I guarantee I’ll do much better than you.”

“How can you guarantee that so confidently?”

“Because it’s true.”

Right, he’s a Swordmaster, so he must be good at everything.