Around dusk, at the villa where Tiran and the others were staying in the mountain estate.

Rain pattered outside the windows, punctuated by the occasional rumble of thunder. By comparison, the atmosphere indoors was exceptionally cozy.

The dining room glowed with warm yellow light. The table was covered in all kinds of seafood: the main courses featured fish from both deep and shallow waters, along with shrimp, crab, and shellfish; there was chilled seaweed salad for an appetizer, thick kelp soup for the day’s special, and seafood rice baked with millet, shellfish, and shrimp for the main dish. There was a bit of everything.

“Aya, want to try one of these crab-roe soup dumplings?”

“No... I don’t really have an appetite.” Aya didn’t look well. She covered her mouth, looking close to gagging. “Tell me, what exactly happened earlier? Why does my stomach feel so awful? And, Miss, why are you suddenly being so nice to me? It’s kind of suspicious.”

“Nothing, nothing happened.”

Tiran waved her hands repeatedly and gave a dry little laugh.

Well, something important had happened. While chasing after Doris, Tiran had accidentally planted a foot right on Aya’s stomach. Aya had passed out from the side effects of the charm spell, and the impact had nearly made her throw up everything she’d eaten at last night’s festival...

“Aya-senpai! These soup dumplings are so good!”

While Aya was still puzzling over what had happened, the little Angel was already devouring the food on the table. Her cheeks bulged like a hamster’s with its mouth stuffed full of nuts.

They’d bought plenty of food, knowing that most of the people here weren’t ordinary, but judging by the little Angel’s appetite, it still might not be enough.

“Honey, how about you make another trip to the beach?” Miss Luko asked, cradling a bowl of thick kelp soup and taking small sips. Beside her, Anticas was just as determined, wolfing down a piece of butter-fried fish.

“Huh? It’s pouring outside right now!” Anticas paused, still chewing a piece of sea cucumber.

With Anticas’s abilities, the rain couldn’t touch him if he didn’t want it to. But it was a stormy night. Was there anything happier than enjoying a good meal in a quiet, cozy room while listening to the rain?

“But you’re the one who promised everyone a seafood feast, honey. And this rain is happening because you drew all that water up from the sea... Besides, is going to the beach really such a hardship when it’s your apology for hurting Aya?”

“That brat was the one who challenged me...”

“Hmm?”

“Yes, ma’am! I’m on it!” Anticas stood at attention, saluted, then turned and ran for the door.

“More importantly, have you learned your lesson?”

Tiran glared fiercely at Doris, who sat across the dining table.

“Bleh! Doris didn’t do anything wrong!”

“You little...”

That wasn’t what she’d said when Tiran caught her earlier and got right in her face. Tch. Was Doris one of those people who apologized with her mouth but never changed her ways?

During Anticas’s battle, he’d drawn a huge amount of seawater into the sky using his Laws. Now that the Laws had been undone, all that water had lost its control and fallen back down as rain, drenching the entire Godcoast region in a downpour.

Because of the tsunami, most seafood markets along the coast and all the fishing boats had shut down. Everything on the table had been gathered by Anticas himself. He’d gone to the beach and picked up seafood that the waves had swept ashore and left behind when the tsunami receded, then handed it over to the estate’s cooks.

“That damn old man really does whatever he wants.”

Aya sighed, feeling a little exasperated.

That said, she could understand. The Dragon were the Dragon, after all. It was hard enough for them to put themselves in human shoes. The fact that her dad had at least tried to avoid causing any actual casualties was already a rare kindness.

“Little Aya, don’t be too hard on your dad. He already apologized properly, didn’t he?”

“That’s not why...”

“Oh, right.” As if something had just occurred to her, Luko’s gaze began to shift between Aya and Tiran. “Is Aya little Tiran’s mount now?”

“Cough, cough!”

The two of them choked almost at the same time. In perfect sync, they grabbed the teacups beside them, took a gulp, and let out a long breath before denying it in unison. “I’m not! That’s not true! Don’t make things up!”

“Oh, really?”

Luko smiled teasingly, wearing an expression that clearly said, Keep pretending.

“Hey! What’s going on, Lady Tiran?! Didn’t you say you hadn’t told her?”

“How should I know...? Oh! Wait, did she hear us back then?”

The princess looked a little guilty. When her eyes met Miss Luko’s, her mother-in-law’s gaze plainly said, “Come on, girl. Stop pretending.”

“A mount? What’s that?”

Doris looked confused. She really was just a child, and had no idea about things like Dragon Rider contracts.

“Well, a long time ago, during The Age of Legendary War, humans and the Dragon developed a kind of soul contract together. It allowed humans and the Dragon to fight as a team and unleash tremendous power. When they formed the contract, the knight had to ride the giant Dragon who served as their mount...”

Miss Luko explained it all to Doris with a smile.

“Mom, come here for a second! Doris, be good and keep eating for now!”

“Mm-hmm! Doris will listen to her big brother!”

Aya kicked her chair aside and hurried over to her mother. She dragged the petite Miss Luko away to the landing at the turn of the second-floor stairs, with Tiran quickly following after them.

With a thud, Aya planted both hands against the wall on either side of the mother she’d dragged upstairs, trapping her in the corner. Still shaken by how close Luko had come to letting the secret slip, Aya panted and pleaded in a low voice.

“At least don’t let Doris find out about this...”

If that kid found out she and Lady Tiran had already been physically intimate, wouldn’t she go crazy all over again? Especially now that they were living in the same house—if Doris started giving her a good-morning bite every other day, the police station would probably lock Aya up directly...

“Well... Little Aya, if your dad saw this, he’d get jealous, you know.”

Miss Luko didn’t answer Aya’s request at all. Instead, she covered her chest with both hands and put on a bashful expression... To be fair, if you didn’t know her real age, Mom’s human form looked about the same age as Doris. To anyone watching, this scene would look pretty incriminating.

Aya quickly pulled back and took two steps away, then coughed twice. Her face felt hot, too. “Anyway! Mom, don’t go saying weird things!”

“So the Dragon Rider contract is real, then?”

Luko clasped her hands together and asked with delight.

“Well...”

Aya and Tiran exchanged glances and frantically tried to signal each other, but in the end, they couldn’t think of any way to talk their way out of it.

“Y-yes.”

Things had come this far. They had no choice but to admit it.