As I lay down to sleep, a streak of golden light shot from the house into the sky, landing on the mountain behind us.

“Aefina, you’re here.” Nia found Aefina curled in the cave. The dragon lifted her head, her tail-tip sweeping softly against the stone floor.

“Mm. How are you holding up here alone? Bored?” Nia asked. “If you are, I’ll send Sacrifice to keep you company.”

“It’s… fine. Not too boring. Though time felt strangely fast lately…” Aefina fell silent, then hesitated. “Is… he doing okay?”

“Hmm? Who?” Nia feigned ignorance.

“Luo Sa. Is he alright?” A trace of maidenly uncertainty flickered across the fearsome dragon’s face. Her stern vertical pupils softened with hesitation.

“He’s just… him. If you’re worried, why not see for yourself?”

“No need. This distance is better. My presence only troubles Luo Sa.” Aefina’s voice dipped, a hint of disappointment coloring her words. “Lately, whenever we’re together… he seems restless. Staying away is best.”

Nia sighed, exasperated. “Why would you think that?”

“Because… it’s true, isn’t it…?” Aefina’s confidence wavered under Nia’s tone.

“Aefina,” Nia pressed, “why did you move to this cave? To avoid Luo Sa?”

“I…”

“If you truly wanted distance,” Nia jabbed a tentacle toward the sky outside, “you’d leave entirely. Not coil here asking how he is.”

“…”

“You moved out *only* because you’re preparing to shed your scales,” Nia stressed the word sharply. “Taking human form makes you uncomfortable. Your true form won’t fit in the house. That’s all. That’s what you told me. Remember?”

“But Luo Sa *is* restless around me. And lately… he’s been avoiding me.” Aefina’s voice trembled slightly.

“Did you ever ask him if that’s true?”

“…No. But—”

“You two. Both of you.” Nia rubbed her temples, weary. “Such a simple thing to clarify, yet neither of you speaks plainly. He’s even denser than you.”

“Denser…? Like how I never understood why Mother cared so much for that human?”

“Mother?” Nia froze. If she recalled correctly, Aefina had been abandoned.

“It’s… complicated. Long ago, when I was still weak.”

“…Your past?”

Aefina nodded, her eyes clouding with old pain. She began her tale—

I hatched alone in a vast cave. For days, I cowered inside, terrified. Hunger finally drove me out. I survived on wild fruits, small prey, and later fish from the nearby sea.

Life was dull. Sleep when tired. Hunt when hungry. Absorb the instincts blooming in my mind as I grew. Nothing more.

Most intelligent Monstrous Beasts avoid conflict unless territories are breached. Some even coexist peacefully. But I was an outcast—an “abomination.” I could only roam a small patch near my cave. Stray farther, and they’d attack.

Decades passed like this. Until a blue Spirit-Tailed Cat arrived—different from the rest. My mother. The most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. She taught me the meaning of “beauty.”

She was far stronger than me. Had she wished harm, I couldn’t have escaped. But she didn’t.

“Another dragon here?” she’d asked gently. “Such a small one. Where are your parents?”

I told her I had none. I’d always been alone.

“Poor little one. Abandoned?” Her voice wrapped around me like warmth. “I have no child either. Let me care for you.”

I agreed. I couldn’t bear solitude any longer.

She raised me as her own. Taught me wisdom. Scared off beasts who tormented me.

From her, I learned I was a “Great Dragon”—a being of immense power, revered by others. I asked if I’d ever be that strong, that respected. “Of course you will,” she promised, her voice tender. I dreamed of becoming that dragon.

Mother had been raised by a human. She called him “Master” and loved him deeply. “He was so gentle,” she’d say. “His smile could light the darkest cave.” Through her stories, I learned of humans. She painted them all with his kindness. I longed to meet them.

I asked why she’d left such a wonderful human.

Her eyes held sorrow, but she smiled. “Master has urgent matters. He asked me to wait here—in the forest where I was born—until he returns. Then we’ll go to the human cities together. Their dried fish treats are delicious, meow~”

Thirty years passed. She still told those stories, over and over. Each time, her voice turned soft, as if reliving yesterday. I couldn’t grasp that tenderness then. But deep down, I sensed he might never come.

One day, as she recounted a familiar tale, word spread: humans had invaded the forest.

“Is it him?” I asked hopefully.

She shook her head, smiling sadly. “No. Stay here. I’ll check. Wait for me.”

She returned broken. Blood dripped from wounds all over her body. Her long, elegant tail was severed, leaving only a stump. Seeing this powerful, graceful creature reduced to a trembling rabbit filled me with terror and grief.

“We’ll hide elsewhere for now,” she whispered. “They’ll leave soon.”

“Will we come back?”

“Of course. I must wait for Master. If I go… he won’t find me.”

As we fled, humans tracked her blood trail. She shoved me behind her. “Run. I’ll catch up.”

Her calm aura soothed my panic. I believed her.

“Daughter,” she said softly, “I read in Master’s books that dragons crave freedom. They soar through skies, race across lands, dive into oceans. Don’t hide here. You’re grown now. The world is your stage—so many beautiful places to see. Go. Experience life as a dragon should. And somewhere out there… someone waits for you. Someone who’ll make your heart sing.”

“What about you? I don’t want to leave you.”

“I’ll be with you. Go now. I’ll drive them off and follow.”

“You’ll… find me?”

“I promise. When Master comes, I’ll have him cook his famous roast meat for you. Meow~”

As I turned to flee, I caught her whisper: “If I run… how will he ever find me?”

Those were her last words. She charged at the humans. I ran—only stopping at the sea’s edge.

I hid there until dawn. Mother never came. So I crept back, hoping to find her waiting at the cave.

She wasn’t there.

I searched the forest for two days. Nothing.

Other beasts told me: humans killed her. Took her body.

I refused to believe it. How could the gentle humans from Mother’s stories do this?

But they all agreed—humans were deceitful, evil, greedy. Nothing like she described.

*Why?*

If humans were monsters, why did Mother cherish them?

Why did she praise them even as they attacked?

Why wait for the one who ordered her death?

Why love the hands that killed her?

Why did her face glow when she spoke of them?

*Why…? I didn’t understand.*

Mother had told me to see the world. With her gone, I had no reason to stay. For the first time in decades, I left my birth forest. I wandered without purpose.

Hating humans for killing her, I avoided their settlements—sticking to remote mountains, deep forests, and the sea. Yet sometimes, I’d take human form. I’d linger near villages, watching.

I needed to understand. Why did Mother love them even in death? I never found the answer.

Until over a century ago. On a mountain in another continent, I met a human Sage. She didn’t recoil at my dragon form. Instead, her face lit with the same wonder and warmth I’d seen in Mother’s eyes that first day.

Her presence felt safe. Calm. I didn’t flee.

Just as I was hesitating whether to leave, she took the initiative to speak to me, and that’s how I got to know her.

She changed my impression of humans. If not for her, I might never have met Luo Sa.

Years of observing humans had steadily lowered my fondness for them, until I even began doubting whether the kind of humans my mother described truly existed. That person told me, “Humans vary immensely as individuals. Each person’s thoughts are unique, so don’t reject everyone because of one person, or reject one person because of a group. Your mother must have met an exceptionally outstanding human—one worth waiting thirty years for, and whom she cherished until her death.”

“Later, she burned her life force to stop the Demon Realm’s invasion. It was because of her that I changed my view of the human race.” Aefina’s story was nearly over. Then she put on that slightly strange, icy expression again. “After that, I met Luo Sa, and we’ve traveled together ever since. Luo Sa is a very odd person. He radiates a comforting aura that draws you in. His gaze warms me, and he cares deeply for me. But he isn’t kind—he lies sometimes and stays cold to others…”

“This is all love…” Nia muttered, feeling force-fed with romance. “See? This is exactly how you see Luo Sa. Why say it would trouble him?”

“But now…” Aefina tried to continue, but her voice was barely a whisper, lacking confidence.

“It’s just a tiny problem between you. First times are always messy—it’s normal. Like your mother thinking of that human, you’re thinking of Luo Sa now too.” Nia paused, smiled, and asked, “Does Luo Sa know any of this?”

Aefina shook her head. Nia pressed on, “Tell him yourself when you can. Don’t you want to share your feelings?”

“But Luo Sa lately… he’s been avoiding me…” Aefina said dejectedly, head lowered.

“You already know his feelings for you. You understand better than I do. It’ll be fine.” Nia hopped to the cave entrance as she spoke. “I’m heading back today. Let’s go out together tomorrow afternoon~”

“Mm… good night,” Aefina nodded.

After parting with Aefina, Nia returned to the house.

“How’d it go?” Lilith asked from the doorway, where she’d been waiting. Mo Mo watched silently beside her.

“Idiot number one’s handled. Next up: idiot number two and a whole army more,” Nia said, glancing in a certain direction and pursing her lips.