Chapter 17
Thump. Thump.
“Sis… I’m scared…”
Lucy slowly opened her eyes.
Hearing the whisper, she looked up.
A familiar scene spread out before her.
The tightly shut shelter door.
People huddled together at the very front, where they had been pushed.
And the powerful people inside the shelter, safely hiding behind the locked inner doors.
“What if the door really breaks this time?”
Whenever monsters appeared near the shelter, those in charge always picked the people who had no one to protect them.
They pushed them into the space between the outer and inner doors, using them as bait.
Of course, Lucy was always on that list.
So was the little child in her arms, whose parents had joined the volunteer defense group and never returned.
“It’ll be okay.”
Lucy gently rubbed the crying child’s back.
“But…”
“They attack every time, but the door has never broken before.”
That was true.
The door was so strong that even on the day the shelter fell, it wasn’t the door that broke.
‘Instead, too many people crowded inside… and that part collapsed.’
The monsters came through the opening and destroyed everything.
Ironically, the people who always hid inside after using others as bait were the first to die.
‘I wonder if this child died too.’
Lucy looked sadly at the crying child in her arms.
‘I hope they survived.’
‘If only I had protected this child before I died.’
‘If only this one child had lived.’
‘Then maybe… I would have been useful for once.’
She truly wished…
That at least one person had survived.
And if it had been because of her…
She wouldn’t have wanted anything more.
‘…That’s a selfish wish.’
Knowing the selfish people inside had died first didn’t really comfort her.
She simply wished…
No one had died.
No one had been hurt.
With a bitter smile, Lucy continued patting the trembling child’s back.
The child tried hard to hold back tears.
“What do we do…? I’m so scared, Sis.”
Actually… I’m scared too.
“I don’t want to die…”
Actually… neither did I.
The child finally burst into tears.
“…”
The people nearby stared blankly.
No one tried to comfort or stop the child.
“Sob… hic…”
Outside, the child’s cries mixed with the monsters’ shrieks.
The gloomy atmosphere became even heavier.
“It’s okay. Good child.”
“Sob…”
“We’ll be okay…”
“No one’s coming to save us!”
“No. My sisters and your parents joined the defense group. They’ll come back and save us…”
“No! Nobody’s coming!”
The child shouted in despair.
Those words made everyone around them begin crying too.
“That’s right! No one’s coming!”
“Nobody’s coming to save us!”
“We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die!”
Lucy looked around in shock as panic spread through the crowd.
BANG!
The loud crash silenced everyone.
The shelter door began to bend inward.
“Gasp!”
“The monster…!”
Boom! Boom!
Everyone trembled and crowded toward the corner where Lucy was.
Thenā
CRASH!
Instead of a monster…
Brilliant light poured through the broken doorway.
‘That’s not ordinary light…’
‘It’s… golden?’
Lucy slowly stood up.
Someone confidently walked into the shelter.
It was someone she never expected.
“…”
The platinum-haired man looked around before staring directly at Lucy.
Without thinking, she spoke.
“Your Grace?”
As if he had been waiting for her, he smiled confidently.
She had always thought that beautiful face looked annoying.
But now…
Seeing it made her chest ache with relief.
We’re saved.
He’ll save us.
Someone has come to help us.
Before she could finish the thought…
A shadow suddenly came closer.
The child in her arms disappeared.
The frightened people around her disappeared too.
Then his handsome lips slowly parted.
“So…”
“…”
“Let’s see how much more useful you can be.”
As he spoke, his fingers lightly brushed across her lips.
The place his fingertips touched felt as though it had burst into flamesā
“Gasp!”
Lucy suddenly woke up and stared at the ceiling.
‘A dream?’
A dragon dream… I guess, since it featured the Dragon Incarnation.
“Ugh!”
Still lying face down, she angrily punched her pillow.
“That scary, handsome, terrible womanizer!”
Because she had lived in a shelter for so long, she had gotten used to sleeping lightly and waking up quickly.
It had been a very long time since she’d even had a dream.
And the first dream she had…
Just had to be about the duke.
Even worse, it had ended in such a strangely romantic way.
‘If I’d known I’d dream that, I wouldn’t have gone to sleep.’
But she quickly sighed.
“…Though there wasn’t really anything else I could do.”
“Where’s the monster? Take me there.”
“Ah… Y-Yes, Your Grace!”
After Edward left with the panicking innkeeper, who was making a huge fuss…
Lucy had nothing to do.
Going outside while a monster was on the loose was obviously a bad idea.
Besides, if the people outside the inn were still gathered there…
She would instantly become the monkey in the zoo again.
‘…Though I hope everyone evacuated safely.’
She was a little worried, but since the innkeeper had rushed to get Edward, she trusted everyone had escaped.
‘So I’ll…’
Sleep.
Some people might think sleeping while a monster was attacking was far too relaxed.
But she needed to save her strength if she wanted to make it all the way to the Duke’s estate.
‘Even now…’
Wasn’t the only reason they hadn’t gone straight there because she was too weak?
If that was the case, then eating well and resting properly was her responsibility.
Worrying about the Dragon Incarnation was about as useful as worrying about a celebrity.
So she confidently picked up a blanket and pillow.
But…
‘This room feels a little awkward.’
She didn’t want to sleep in the room Edward had left her in.
After all, it was the room he had chosen for himself.
It was where he had taken off his armor…
The image of his broad chest, tightly wrapped in leather harnesses, suddenly filled her mind again.
Lucy hurriedly shook the thought away.
‘Anyway… he might come back and use this room later.’
So she went into the hallway and found a smaller, more comfortable room.
She had wondered whether she’d even be able to fall asleep.
Instead…
She had slept so deeply that she’d had that dream.
Rolling over in bed, she muttered resentfully,
“…But is this really my fault?”
If Edward hadn’t said that to her before leaving…
“You really are useful.”
He was scary.
His personality was awful.
Yet he had said exactly what she needed to hear.
“What kind of person even is he?”
If only he hadn’t been so ridiculously handsome…
Or better yetā
If he hadn’t kissed her.
Of course, Lucy understood it had been necessary.
He was about to fight, so he needed purification.
But…
Her first kiss had been far too overwhelming.
They had only touched lips.
‘He didn’t even use his tongue…’
Yet even now…
Her lips still felt hot.
“If purification always feels like this…”
…It probably would.
She tried to think positively, but she was living inside an adults-only fantasy world now.
And after they had already kissed…
There was no point pretending otherwise.
“It can’t be helped.”
She calmly gave up her original plan of keeping physical contact to a minimum.
Instead, she decided to prepare herself for whatever came next.
No matter how many kisses purification might require.
Luckily…
There was a magic phrase people in romance novels always used whenever they wanted to calm themselves down.
“It’s just purification. Just purification.”
She whispered it to herself and got out of bed.
The blue light of dawn was already shining through the window.
Quite a bit of time had passed.
Only then did something feel strange.
‘…Why is it so quiet?’
Lucy carefully stepped into the hallway.
“Hasn’t he come back yet?”
She quietly walked to the room Edward had taken earlier.
It was still empty.
There was no way defeating a single monster should have taken him this long.
“Something’s wrong…”
