The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 11 Part 10 - Memory

When she asked if it hadn’t been dangerous to do something like that inside the palace, he replied that it had been an unavoidable choice—letting a dragon attack the city from the sky would have been far more dangerous.

‘That’s true. If it attacked from the air and just unleashed fire or magic before leaving, it would be almost impossible to stop.’

At least large cities had mage corps for defence, but in smaller cities, it was rare to even see a mage. Even among major cities, only a handful had proper magical defences—there was no way they could withstand a dragon.

“Dragons are cunning. We had to consider every possibility. If my knights or mages had been weaker, I wouldn’t have used this method.”

If there had been a safer option, he would have chosen it. But this time, he believed a bold, decisive strike without delay was necessary.

If it had failed, it would have been a disaster.

But it was still better than letting a dragon with a grudge against the Empire roam free and cause destruction. It was a risk that had to be taken.

“…I’m just glad no one died.”

Rahil felt relieved. He had been worried she might scold him.

Even if his intentions had been good, he had still kept it from her—and that, too, could be considered a kind of deception.

“Then… the way you kept bothering me all day yesterday… was because you thought I might go to the ball, right? If I showed up, you wouldn’t have been able to carry out the plan.”

Rahil, momentarily distracted by the sight of Anais’s slightly flushed face as she asked the question, snapped back to his senses and hurriedly answered.

“I did think about telling you in advance, but since we were planning to catch the dragon inside the palace… I thought you might be frightened. N-not that I’m underestimating you. You’ve been through something that would make anyone afraid.”

“……”

Anais fell silent, her face growing even redder.

Despite being the one under questioning, Rahil found himself thinking she looked cute, his heart starting to race.

“I understand that, but… then why yesterday? If that was the case, when we were in the bedroom all day, instead of… that, shouldn’t you have just told me the truth?”

Rahil, who had been staring at her, quickly turned his head away.

He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he had taken advantage of the situation to indulge his own desires.

“Uh… well… I thought you might oppose my plan?”

“That wouldn’t have happened. I don’t really know anything about monsters or military strategy.”

When she was younger, she had tried reading strategy books by imitating Francis, but she had lost interest as she grew older. What interested her more was administration.

As the daughter of a marquis, she was expected to marry into another household and manage it, so she had focused her studies in that direction.

“I didn’t know that. I’ll make sure to tell you next time.”

Rahil brushed it off like that and pulled Anais tightly into his arms. Internally, he let out a sigh of relief, thinking he had gotten away with it, and quietly looked into her eyes.

“But I’m not taking back what you promised earlier, so even if you complain, it won’t help.”

With a grin, he said it teasingly, and Anais’s already flushed cheeks grew even warmer.

As she protested, he gently brushed her warm cheek with his thumb.

It felt like it would be a pleasant Harvest Festival day.

***

Emilio, who had returned from the imperial palace, entered his own mansion. He had come accompanied by the mage and the priest he had asked to keep watch over him. Since it had been a long time since the master of the mansion had returned, the butler was delighted and moved busily to receive the guests.

Emilio, as if everything was bothersome, left the people to the butler and went up to the second floor, where his bedroom was.

‘There’s nowhere that hurts, but I’m sleepy.’

It was probably because he had used his strength in the battle with the dragon and then stayed up all night dealing with the aftermath. Emilio thought of the dragon that was being dismantled, except for its head.

‘Did they say the head would be displayed as soon as the Harvest Festival ends?’

For the survivor of the ancient dragon race that had reigned over the continent, ruling and abusing humans, it could only be called a miserable end.

‘Considering what dragons did to humans, that much is probably nothing.’

History recorded that thousands, tens of thousands of humans had died in dragon flames, and even more humans than that had disappeared as slaves or playthings of dragons.

The empire could only be founded after humans drove out such dragons.

His bedroom had been maintained so that it could be used whenever its owner came. Even though he had not visited this house for several years, it was still the same.

“I’ll have to reward the butler someday.”

Emilio muttered that and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He threw off his cloak, shoes, and the rest of his outer clothes one by one like shedding a skin, then dove straight onto the bed.

Even that was a habit he had fixed after being nagged by the butler before.

‘It’s not like I climbed into bed still dressed in dirty clothes from outside, so it should be fine.’

The blanket was underneath him, but he did not even feel like crawling under it. When he closed his eyes, he felt as if his consciousness was sinking beneath unconsciousness. While his whole body was heavy as if soaked with water, the feeling of his mind slowly being pulled into a dream was a special experience even for him, the Master of the Magic Tower.

He did not simply entrust his body to sleep like that, but tried to keep his consciousness awake. He was also human, so there were times when he remembered his dreams, but no dream had ever taken a form like this one.

This experience was something special. That was why he suspected it might be related to the dragon’s last magic.