Chapter 145
▷ SS-II. By Your Side
Outside the window, the sky was blue, and the sun hung high, pouring down warm light on a leisurely afternoon.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Cassius.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Eki. That you’re a famous archmage.”
Cassius, who would normally be stuck in the association headquarters buried in paperwork, was seated in the reception room of the Provanet Barony’s estate, gazing down at the smooth surface of his tea. Sweat seeped from his palms, and the formal uniform he had dressed up in for once felt stifling, as if chains were binding his body. After fiddling with the button fastened all the way up to his throat, Cassius glanced sidelong at Baroness Provanet.
Eki’s mother, Hera Provanet, was wearing a kind smile.
“Is there anything uncomfortable for you?”
“N-No. There isn’t.”
And seated beside her was Randy Provanet, whose face seemed to shout that he was Eki’s father at a glance.
“Ah, the tea’s gone cold. Shall I bring out a fresh cup?”
“It’s f-fine.”
After that, a terribly awkward silence fell. Hera only smiled, while Randy scrutinized Cassius carefully. Cassius felt like he was suffocating.
“Oh my. You haven’t even touched the refreshments?”
At that moment, Eki appeared as she opened the reception room door.
Cassius unconsciously brightened, but when he caught Hera’s gaze, he stiffened his expression again. Until Eki approached and sat down beside him, he kept both fists placed on his knees, maintaining an unprecedentedly polite posture. Perhaps finding her master unfamiliar like this, Eki poked Cassius in the side and whispered.
“Master, are you okay? Did my parents give you a hard time?”
“No.”
“Then why are you like this. You haven’t eaten anything, even though the tea’s gone cold.”
In a situation like this, how could anything go down?
Cassius wanted to flee immediately, but after letting out a deep sigh, he lifted his head. Eki, who had stepped away briefly to take care of something else, had returned, so he needed to explain why he had come all this way.
“…I’m sorry.”
Cassius suddenly apologized and bowed his head. A head he had never bowed even once in his life, to anyone. This arrogant, cold, prickly, and sensitive dragon.
Eki’s mouth fell open, and the Provanet couple’s eyes widened. Even as they made a fuss saying he didn’t need to apologize, Cassius did not lift his head. Because he truly had done wrong.
‘I never expected to meet Eki’s parents like this.’
Cassius, the world’s only dragon nearing four hundred years of age, had come all this way to apologize for spending several nights with their daughter without receiving her parents’ permission.
Of course, this was not what Cassius had intended. It was true that Eki had stayed at his house for about three days, but the reason had been because she was nursing him.
‘These damn documents never end, no matter how much I look at them.’
After becoming acting Association Head, Cassius had been drowning in overwork. He had put on airs in front of Ikelid, but in truth, he was on the verge of collapse every single day from the endless flood of tasks.
‘What? You haven’t slept for two whole months already?’
‘Master, even if you’re a dragon, you still need to sleep!’
‘M-Master? Why are you staggering?’
‘Master!’
Finish this, then that. Finish that, then back to this again. On top of that, he had to continue his magical research and oversee Eki’s training. After days like that, where even having ten bodies wouldn’t have been enough, he finally broke down.
‘Damn it…’
A top tier monster, a dragon, collapsing just because he couldn’t handle his workload properly.
It was shameful. Embarrassing. And he was even ashamed to face Eki. He had already been feeling anxious lately as her lover, and after showing such a ridiculous appearance, what would she think of him now.
Knowing that Eki’s preference was ‘a flawless handsome man’, Cassius wanted to present a perfect image not just in looks, but also in body and stamina. He had already given up on personality, and Eki surely knew that too. Grinding his teeth, he stewed over it.
And then, while he was lying sprawled in his estate on leave, Eki came to see him.
‘If you were that exhausted, you should’ve told me!’
‘Eki? What about work…’
‘Is work really the problem right now?’
After sleeping for two days, he would be fine. Wasn’t he a dragon. Go back. Even when he said that, Eki didn’t listen. Instead, she replied that ‘even dragons aren’t all-powerful’, and proceeded to nurse him.
She cooked porridge and fed him, made cool compresses and placed them on his forehead. Cassius, receiving care for the first time in his life, felt so dazed it was as if he were dreaming.
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