“Why would we ever be separated?”

Elise’s smiling face instantly turned stern and cold, and Naya hurriedly took back what she’d just said.

“It was just a what-if. We’ll definitely stay together forever. Come on, eat up. Eliya’s still waiting for us.”

“Ah...”

Elise opened her mouth and waited for Naya to feed her.

Seriously, she was getting more and more like a child.

After finishing the last sandwich, Naya tidied up the kitchen and got ready to head back to Elise’s palace to keep Eliya company.

Then suddenly, warmth pressed up against her from behind.

A breath carrying the sweet scent of cream brushed across her face. Elise kissed her earlobe, then turned her body around.

Without meeting any resistance, she breached Naya’s fortress.

“Mmh... ha... d-don’t, not here.”

Naya grabbed Elise’s hand.

What was with this horny dragon, getting in heat anytime, anywhere? She never used to be like this.

“From today on, come live with me in the royal palace, okay? I’ll let every Dragonkin in the palace know that you’re my queen.”

“Okay.” Naya bit her lower lip and carefully played with Elise’s fingers. “This should’ve happened a long time ago.”

“This kitchen will be our private kitchen from now on. If the maids and chefs want one, they can make another.”

Elise lowered her head toward Naya’s neck, but Naya firmly pushed her away. She also pulled out the hand that had slipped beneath her skirt.

“Don’t do this. We just did it last night, and besides, Eliya’s still waiting for us.”

“Alright.”

Giving up on teasing Naya, Elise took her hand and left the kitchen with her.

As she got to know Naya little by little, and touched her little by little, Elise realized that after recovering her memories, Naya had completely accepted the fact that she was Dragonkin.

She naturally shared intimacy with her, willingly danced the Dance of the Dragon Princess with her, and even when they rubbed against each other in dragon form, she never showed the slightest trace of disgust.

Still, did Naya actually have the ability to turn back into a human?

Naya had never said anything about it, and Elise had never dared to ask.

Was it that Naya didn’t want to change back?

Or was this transformation irreversible?

That still needed to be examined.

But she believed in Naya’s sincerity.

...

“The former Chosen Hero has awakened?”

When the Chosen Hero Zelan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a yellow magic crystal lamp.

After waking from deep sleep, blurry eyes were always especially sensitive to light.

Only then did he remember that someone had just greeted him.

This seemed to be an underground cavern.

The magic crystal lamp hung from stone. There was dirt on the ground, on the walls, in many places.

His line of sight had become higher.

He remembered turning into a dragon before he passed out.

He lowered his head and looked at the purple-haired Dragonkin in front of him. There were several traces of amusement and contempt in her eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zelan saw the black scales covering his body. Terrifying dragon-scale patterns crawled all over him.

[System, can you tell me what’s going on right now?]

[Unfortunately, Host has become Dragonkin. But please remain calm. There is still room to recover the situation.]

“I... I turned into Dragonkin...”

The black dragon let out a low murmur.

His pitch-black slit pupils were filled with disbelief.

“That’s right. You’ve become Dragonkin. Once, you were a human boy. Once, you were the Chosen Hero. But now, you are a genuine Dragonkin. A black giant dragon.”

Zelan’s limbs were bound by iron chains. The chains rose from underground, and as he shifted his body, he found a huge circular magic sigil beneath him.

[This is a Dragonkin binding curse. My apologies. This System is not familiar with Dragonkin magical structures, and cannot free Host for now.]

[Leo has considerable knowledge of Dragonkin magic. He should know how.]

Seeing that the black dragon wasn’t as agitated as she had expected, Veltia frowned slightly.

“You’re pretty calm. Thinking of a way to escape? Looking like this, even if you did get away, where could you possibly run to? Do you still expect the human race to accept you?”

“When I became the Chosen Hero, I never expected anyone to accept me. As long as I can kill the Dragon Sovereign, then even if I die disgraced, I’ll have no regrets.”

The moment she heard this black dragon say he wanted to kill the Dragon Sovereign, Veltia’s anger surged up. She raised her hand and punched the air.

After a brief delay—

“BOOM!!!”

A violent blast exploded beneath the black dragon’s jaw.

His upper body was hurled high into the air, then yanked back by the chains. When his head reached its highest point, it crashed down hard. His jaw slammed into the ground, his teeth clashed with a shrill, grating sound, and Zelan felt like his skull was about to split apart.

Veltia gave a cold snort and stared at the black dragon.

“If you didn’t have experimental value, you wouldn’t still be alive. Boy, I’ll give you a few days to calm down and think. Either become Dragonkin and work for Dragonkin, or stay here and suffer torment for eternity. I’ll come see you once every day. If there’s anything you want to ask me, ask.”

Enduring the near tearing pain in his mouth, Zelan raised his head and looked down at Veltia with the absolute height advantage of his dragon form.

His gaze carried the same arrogance Dragonkin used when looking down on humans.

He was looking down on Veltia too.

“I... will not submit.”

“Kneel.”

Veltia raised her hand again. Chains as thick as arms surged out of the magic circle, dragging harsh clanking sounds as they tightly wrapped around the black dragon’s neck.

The chains rapidly retracted into the ground, and once again forced the black dragon’s head down to the floor, making him meet Veltia’s eyes at the level of her humanoid form.

“Listen, defeated Chosen Hero. You are no longer human. You are Dragonkin now. This process is irreversible, so stop thinking about turning back into a human. Your ability is very important to us. That is your capital for regaining freedom.”

“What ability?”

“The ability that guided you all the way here. The ability to specially sense Leyline Energy.”

Did she mean... the System?

Zelan silently looked at Veltia.

For now, it seemed she didn’t know exactly what his special ability was. She only knew roughly what it did.

Why did this purple-haired Dragonkin know he had such an ability?

Could it be that someone had betrayed the System and told the Dragonkin about it?

“I’m giving you a chance to think it over carefully. I’ll come see you once every day. For now, stay here and think.”

Veltia snapped her fingers, and the chains binding Zelan loosened.

Then four mirrors suddenly rose around him. Every direction reflected his Dragonkin form. Front, side, back—Zelan could see himself clearly from all angles.

Veltia cast Zelan a cold glance, as if thinking, let’s see how long you can stay calm, then turned and left the cavern without another look.

Leaving Zelan alone to examine his dragon body.

“How disgusting... these scales.”

Zelan closed his eyes and tried not to look at these symbols of humanity’s sworn enemy.

[System, can you contact Leo? He should still be alive, right?]

Back when they were treasure hunting, he and Leo had found a treasure artifact that allowed long-distance communication. If it was stored in the System’s interdimensional inventory, it could be taken out anytime to establish a private voice link with Leo and communicate through thought.

[Connecting to Leo... Connection successful...]

It really worked!

Zelan immediately sent his thoughts to the other end.

[Hello? Leo, it’s me, Zelan.]

[Zelan? You’re still alive?!]

That familiar voice echoed in his mind. Ripples shimmered in Zelan’s eyes, and he couldn’t hide his excitement.

He had seen the first glimmer of hope.