Was she angry?

The dagger had struck her, and Gladys only shuddered. She didn’t do anything drastic. Her long, pale arms still held Erika gently, her cheek resting beside Erika’s ear.

Erika’s little face was tense, her eyes squeezed shut. She could clearly feel Gladys’s warm breath by her ear.

She’s going to bite me again!

Her small body curled up slightly. Right now, Erika was like a child about to get a shot, absolutely terrified.

……

……

Huh?

After a while, Erika realized her shoulder hadn’t started to sting. She cracked her eyes open and saw only blood running down the other woman’s shoulder.

What was she trying to do?

With their faces almost touching, Erika didn’t know what to do. She started pushing at Gladys’s shoulder with her little hands, but with the strength she had now, she couldn’t budge her at all. It was like trying to move a mountain.

“Hiss—!”

Suddenly drawing in a sharp breath, Erika's eyes widened in shock, and all the fear and panic in her heart vanished like smoke.

Her entire body went rigid as if an electric current had surged through her, and the little tail behind her straightened from a curve into a stiff line, as though she'd been struck by a high-voltage shock.

She's nibbling on my ear!

For some reason, Erika felt the other person's lips gently envelop her ear—not biting, just holding it softly.

It was like the way a certain animal greets another.

But this gentle hold seemed to trigger some sensitive spot in her body, sending a thrilling jolt through her, followed by a wave of tingling weakness that made her go limp and slump softly against Gladys’s chest.

"What did you... do to me?"

Erika's body felt somewhat weak, and her voice trembled.

Gladys looked down at the little girl in her arms. A trace of softness appeared in her eyes, and she seemed not to care at all about the cut she’d just gotten.

She gently stroked Erika’s gray-white hair with her delicate hand. “I was saying hello.”

“How is that saying hello…?”

“That’s how dragons do it.”

“I’m a dragon?”

“Mm-hmm. What else would you be?”

At that, Erika looked over Gladys.

The horns on her head… her huge wings… her long tail.

Then she looked at herself. She had all those things too, only… hers were a size smaller.

Maybe that really was it…

Remembering how she’d just hatched from an egg, Erika finally asked the question on her mind.

“Who are you?”

“Gladys Tiamar.”

“No… I mean…”

As she spoke, Erika raised a little hand and pointed at Gladys’s rosy nose. “What are you to me? Are you my mother?”

“No,” Gladys answered calmly.

“Then how did I come out of an egg?”

“I found you.”

“……”

So she’d been picked up off the street. Erika was at a loss for words.

It felt just like when her parents in her previous life used to tell her she’d come free with the phone plan.

Before Erika could ask anything else, Gladys suddenly moved.

She kept Erika cradled in her arms and walked toward the door, moving as gently as a mother carrying her daughter.

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”

Gladys answered quietly.

It wasn’t until Erika was carried out of the underground trading house that she got a proper look at the world.

It was already the middle of the night. The streets were empty, lit by torch-like streetlamps, and no one noticed the two of them leaving the underground trading house.

The surroundings were nothing like the high-rises where she’d once lived. The buildings here had a Western medieval style, with pointed roofs and rounded arches.

The setting made it easy to get swept up in a sense of nostalgia for the past.

Whoosh!

Before Erika could take it all in, Gladys suddenly spread her huge wings. The batlike wings beat up a fierce gale.

They were flying!

The cold wind in the sky stirred Erika’s gray-white hair. As the ground grew farther and farther away, her little hands clutched Gladys’s collar, and she nervously buried her face against Gladys’s chest.

Oh my gosh, this is my first time flying! What if I fall?

But Erika’s worries were unnecessary. Gladys held her tightly and did her best to shield her face with one hand so the cold wind wouldn’t hit her.

Before long, Erika realized Gladys had taken her to a barren mountain not far from town.

Beneath the clear moonlight, she could just make out the mountain’s shape.

Two enormous peaks jutted up from its summit. Their tips were slender, and together they looked like a pair of ivory tusks.

Below the peaks, everything was pitch-black. The forest had the stillness you’d expect of the mountains, and in a place this remote, wild beasts were bound to roam.

“You… live here?”

“Don’t you like it?” Gladys asked.

“Not really.”

Erika pouted. She’d been human in her previous life, and even though she was a dragon now, she still didn’t like places like this.

“Where would you like to live, then?”

“That town we just passed through seemed nice,” Erika answered honestly.

“Then we’ll move.”

Huh?

She agreed?

Erika had only said it offhand. Was it really that simple?

She couldn’t believe it.

Under the night sky, she blinked and looked up at Gladys, who was holding her. A strange expression crossed her face.

At first glance, Gladys had seemed so cool and aloof, like someone who wouldn’t let anyone get close.

So why did she seem so gentle now? Even the coldness in her eyes had completely disappeared.

Hadn’t she said Erika was someone she’d picked up?

But she was so beautiful…

“Is there something on my face?”

“Ah… no.”

Gladys’s sudden question made Erika quickly look away. A blush spread across her little face, and she lowered her head again.

Even Erika didn’t know why she was blushing.

The seemingly cute gesture brought a faint smile to Gladys’s otherwise impassive face.

Gladys gently shielded the top of Erika’s head with one hand and, braving the cold night wind, brought her down onto the summit of Ivory Mountain.

A vast cave lay here. It was Gladys’s temporary lair.

It was pitch-black inside.

Snap.

At the sound of Gladys snapping her fingers, a wave of energy rippled out from her.

Then, without warning, a white light appeared throughout the cave, as if a lightbulb had been hung from the ceiling. The darkness gave way to a bright, clear view of the cave.

The inside came into view. The cave was enormous, nothing like the simple beast’s den Erika had imagined.

It was furnished with all sorts of things like the furniture in a human home: a huge bed made of straw in the middle, an old-looking bookshelf nearby, and even something like a clothes rack, holding a pile of adult women’s clothes.

Most striking of all was a stream cascading down nearby, like a mountain spring.

The rushing water filled the cave, a perfect touch to the place.

It was a cave, but Erika still felt a little warmth here.

“Let’s wash up first.”

“Huh?”

While Erika was still dazed, Gladys had already shed her clothes. The draconic features had receded, revealing the body of a mature woman with a devilishly alluring figure.

The curves of that female form could only be described as perfect, and now Erika even began to doubt—was she really a dragon?

Before Erika could even speak, Gladys lifted her up like a doll and gently sank with her into the spring.