By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, rain was falling. The midsummer downpour had come out of nowhere, soaking Leon and Fio to the skin.

“There’s a tree over there where we can take shelter. Let’s run for it.”

Leon pointed to a towering tree. Fio nodded, and the two of them hurried over together.

They squeezed into a corner beneath the tree. Big raindrops hammered the branches overhead, setting up a rattling, rushing tune.

Fio made her dislike of the situation perfectly clear, turning her head so she wouldn’t have to look Leon’s way.

She thought about how much trouble she’d be in later. With the slave collar controlling her, she could no longer transform into a dragon at will, and her strength had taken a serious hit.

“Ahem…” Leon suddenly coughed.

Fio glanced over and saw that Leon looked rather strange. He kept sneaking looks at her.

What’s he looking at? Is there something weird about me?

Fio lowered her head and looked at herself. Her little face instantly flushed crimson.

Her clothes were soaked through, leaving her feeling exposed and uncomfortable.

Leon’s gaze drifted lower, and Fio realized he’d been staring at her.

“What are you looking at—?” Fio hugged her arms around herself and let out a distressed cry.

No wonder Leon had kept staring. Fio might be a girl now, but she still thought of herself as male, and being stared at by another man made her skin crawl.

“The rain’s stopped. Let’s go.”

Leon acted as if nothing had happened and walked out from under the tree first.

Fio was both furious and mortified. Her murderous intent surged, and she decided she was going to kill that jerk.

As she walked beside Leon, Fio felt more and more that something was off. Before long, something even more unfortunate was bound to happen.

……

The downpour had made the path through the forest incredibly difficult to walk after they came down the mountain.

So Fio and Leon had no choice but to spend the night in the forest. Leon gathered a pile of wood that wasn’t too wet, arranged it, and struck flint to light it.

“Let’s spend the night here.”

As Leon went through the motions, he spoke to Fio.

Fio startled and felt a little uneasy. Weren’t they a man and a woman spending the night alone together? Something awkward might happen.

“We can’t keep going?” Fio asked.

“It’s too late. Let’s leave it for now. I’m tired after fighting you today, and I want to rest.”

Leon glanced at Fio a few times, as if he’d thought of something, then added:

"Fio, take off your clothes, I'll help you—"

“No need! I’m not cold. I’m from the Ice Dragon Clan.”

“Oh. What a shame…”

Fio guessed that whatever Leon found so unfortunate couldn’t be good. If she let her guard down, who knew what he might do to her?

She’d have to dry off by the fire. Too bad she didn’t know any fire magic.

Fio scooted her little bottom closer to the fire. As she watched the wood burn, she gradually forgot how miserable her situation was. She swayed her head and relaxed.

Time passed slowly, and Fio forgot Leon was even there.

The Ice Dragon King was good at shutting herself away from the world and escaping every worry. In this brief moment of happiness, she enjoyed a world all to herself.

“Blue…”

“—!!”

Leon’s barely audible mutter dragged Fio straight back to the cold, cruel reality.

The strange, unsettling remark made her realize at once what Leon was talking about.

Fio suddenly realized that Leon had a clear view of her from where he was sitting. He’d been staring at her the whole time!

“What are you looking at, you jerk?!”

Fio pressed her legs together and tugged her skirt down to cover herself.

“……”

But that only made things worse. Her embarrassed scolding seemed to make Leon act even stranger.

He looked almost spellbound, his eyes unusually red.

There was no doubt about it: Leon was getting worked up.

A chill crept up Fio’s spine. She felt like a frog under a snake’s gaze, unable to move.

—D-don’t! Even though I’ve been reincarnated as a girl, I’m not mentally prepared for anything like this!

Fio’s silver eyes grew misty, and her teeth wouldn’t stop chattering. She was afraid Leon might suddenly lunge at her.

“I need to take care of something. I’ll be back in a bit.”

After saying that, Leon headed into the darkness of the forest.

……

Fio had a pretty good idea why Leon had gone off alone. Men at that age got worked up, and then they had to deal with it somehow.

Though after being reincarnated as a girl, she’d barely done anything like that herself.

He’d gone off to take care of something private. That had to be it!

“I’m going to teach Leon a lesson!”

Thinking Leon might even be using her as material for his private business, Fio lost her temper and began drawing a magic circle on the ground.

She couldn’t turn back into the Dragon King, but even in human form, Fio was still an ice mage.

If she set up a spell trap here while Leon was gone, she could blast him to pieces when he came back and finally free herself.

“I’ll put an Absolute Zero Cage here.”

“A Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Coffin here.”

“And an Ice Dragon King’s Shackles here. Let’s see you escape that!”

“Finally, my strongest spell: Song of All Things’ Deathly Silence.”

As she pictured Leon falling for the trap, crying and begging at her feet before meeting a ridiculous end, the silver-haired girl couldn’t help grinning smugly.

“Heh heh heh. Leon, you’re done for this time!”