Master, I Swear I Didn’t Mean To! - Chapter 28

She used to think that he simply didn’t show his private side because he was a prickly man. But now that she knew his true identity, her assumption had naturally shifted.

“What?”

Eki still had her nose buried in the blanket. Perhaps because she was mumbling, Cassius came closer, bracing himself on the desk beside her and lowering his head.

“What about sleep?”

“I mean… mmm… do you not sleep or eat at all?”

“What nonsense. Do I look like a fairy to you?”

A fairy? Eki let out a sleepy giggle. She’d never imagined Cassius would say something like that himself.

“Well, you do look like one.”

Cassius didn’t reply.

Battling her heavy eyelids, she blinked slowly, then tilted her head to gauge his expression. But Cassius pressed her head back down into the blanket.

“Ugh.”

“Stop spouting nonsense and sleep.”

“W…Wait.”

As she struggled, her eyes widened at the magic circle that filled her vision. That surprise only lasted a moment. Soon, her shoulders slackened, and she drifted into sleep almost instantly.

❖ ❖ ❖

“……”

Cassius, who had cast the sleep spell, rubbed his fatigue-stained eyes. He glanced at the softly breathing Eki, then carefully pulled the fallen blanket over her before walking away.

“Never even seen a real fairy…”

Cassius had lived many times longer than Eki. Though now, like dragons, fairies were extinct and could no longer be found, he had seen one as a child.

Fairies were born from human dreams and hopes, never ate, and roamed the world seeking new dreams until they died. When the dream they were born from shattered, their life ended.

During the Dark Era, when countless humans perished, fairies went extinct. That was about 400 years ago… no, maybe not that long. Was it 300? Either way, it was so far back that Eki wouldn’t know what kind of creatures they were.

She probably wouldn’t even know what they looked like. Even centuries ago, fairies were so rarely seen by humans that there weren’t even books about them.

“And she says I look like a fairy…”

Cassius stared intently at Eki, who was softly snoring.

Her face twitched with a frown, then broke into a faint smile as her lips pursed gently.

Watching her mouth so closely, Cassius suddenly felt a warmth bloom in his chest and instinctively stepped back.

“……”

Was he losing his mind?

He splashed his face with his hands and returned to where the magic circles were laid out. But even as he tried to focus on the inscriptions, his eyes kept drifting toward Eki’s small head.

Dragons were known for having little s****l desire, but that was only half true. In truth, they barely possessed reproductive urges. The two drives were similar but not the same, and Cassius knew that well.

Even so, he was a dragon so consumed by magic that he’d never done anything carnal. Not even holding hands with a woman or engaging in close contact, much less self-pleasure. He’d never even been truly aware of what hung between his legs.

…Until Eki grabbed it.

With a face mixed with embarrassment and fatigue, Cassius stared out the window.

The black dawn sky was studded with stars and a bright moon. In the remote, untouched Pinon Forest, the night sky was dazzling. It was a truly breathtaking view, yet all Cassius could recall was Eki’s bright, eager eyes sparkling as she watched him get sucked off by a slime.

Those golden eyes had glimmered with hunger, like stars scattered across the heavens. She instinctively knew how to devour a person with just a gaze.

He blushed deeply for a long while, then irritably turned his attention back to the magic circle. Yet his eyes still drifted toward her.

After making sure Eki was fast asleep, Cassius snapped his fingers, tossing more firewood into the hearth to keep her warm.

At last, he let out a heavy sigh.