Chapter 21
“Please wait here for a moment.”
Director Grace asked for their understanding, saying she had something else to check, and scurried away.
“……”
Silence filled the room.
Perhaps it was because a dragon was visiting. The director’s office, which had always been dark and gloomy, now had its curtains drawn back.
Sitting on the sofa dyed by the afternoon sun with her hands politely folded, Leoni looked down at the bouquet of tulips in her arms.
Then, she quietly whispered, just loud enough for the person- no, the dragon- next to her to hear.
“Sir.”
“Hm?”
“Sir Claude.”
“I’m listening, dear.”
Even when she looked up to glare at him, Claude didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow.
Instead, he tilted his head slightly with a sly smile. How infuriating.
Does he think he looks cute when he does that?
Leoni, narrowing her eyes, asked with a pouty face.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be able to see your face in the morning and evening too.”
Is this dragon for real?
Ever since she told him her address, he had been grinning from ear to ear, the smile never leaving his lips.
“They say that when you’re physically apart, your hearts grow distant too.”
“I don’t think we need to be this close.”
“It’s good for newlyweds to live together.”
His shamelessness was getting more and more out of hand.
‘Wait, what about the jewel?’
Leoni paid her respects to his jewel, which had been pushed to the back of her mind.
In fact, his claim that he had lent the jewel to Theo might have been a complete lie. There was no way to confirm the truth with a dead person, after all! Seeing how he was acting now, it seemed highly likely.
Noticing her fierce gaze, Claude finally whispered into Leoni’s ear, seemingly conscious of the few people standing guard in the distance.
“And for public appearances, wouldn’t it be better for the officer-in-charge to have quick communication? This is much better than you having to come all the way to the hotel where I’m staying.”
Though it sounded logical, it was clearly fabricated on the spot. Flabbergasted, Leoni looked around again and narrowed her eyes.
“Ah, you’ve thought that far ahead…?”
“Why, it’s nice, isn’t it.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Why not?”
Claude tilted his head.
“Living with you, Sir, would make me feel like I’m still at work even when I get home.”
“But now you won’t have to worry about cleaning or laundry when you get home, will you?”
Leoni fell silent.
“Because I’ll do it all.”
Hmm.
“I’ll do the cooking too.”
Oho?
“For breakfast tomorrow, which would you prefer, bacon toast or hash browns.”
“Toast, please.”
“I shall prepare it.”
He said with a slight smile.
She was almost won over by that smile for a moment, but she couldn’t just let this slide.
There was still a very important issue remaining.
Leoni stared straight ahead and said firmly.
“I’m going to charge you rent.”
“Go ahead.”
“I’ll be more ruthless than Mrs. Clavery.”
“Good. That’s my partner, my officer-in-charge.”
He was about to say partner! Leoni glared.
“Please remove the possessive pronoun from that sentence.”
A low, soft laugh filled the room.
What could possibly be so funny?
‘Good grief.’
Watching him laugh so foolishly, she found it so ridiculous that a laugh burst out of her as well.
Creeak- .
Just as the two of them were laughing for a good while, the door finally opened.
“Ah, Henricks.”
The person who appeared through the doorway was a cold-faced Henricks.
For some reason, he looked unusually pale today. His usually flawless skin seemed a bit rough.
“……”
He saw the smile on Leoni’s lips and his already stiff expression hardened even more menacingly.
His face was one of blatant displeasure.
Henricks strode up to the front of the sofa and stopped not in front of Leoni, but in front of Claude.
‘Is that man not going to manage his expression in front of a dragon?’
Although he wasn’t the type to grovel before a mythical creature, to be so defiant in front of a dragon, of all things.
What’s more, his blue eyes were growing darker, as if the blood had rushed to them. The way he looked at Claude was also unusual.
He’s scaring me to death…….
“Ahem.”
To clear the air, Leoni let out a dry cough.
In that instant, the blue gaze turned to her.
“……”
What, what do you want from me.
She thought he might say something, but perhaps because he was in front of a dragon, Henricks said nothing at all.
He merely shot her a glare before turning his head back towards Claude, pretending to be nonchalant.
“Sir Claude.”
“Yes. What is it?”
Though his tone was gentle, his voice was surprisingly chilly.
It was a voice so impassive that it was hard to believe it belonged to the being who had been sitting next to her just moments ago.
Henricks must have sensed it too, as he announced the message in a slightly more polite tone.
“……There are some remaining procedures related to the title being conferred. It may be a bother, but I must ask you to accompany me.”
“Very well.”
“Ah, then I’ll go too.”
At Henricks’s words, Leoni was about to get up from her seat when,
“You can stay here.”
Henricks cut her off sharply. His voice was as bitchy as usual, but she could tell.
‘Why is he in such a bad mood?’
His voice was two tones lower than when he’d stabbed an employee with the remark that if they made the same mistake a third time, their head wouldn’t even fetch a decent price if sold at the fish market.
Of course, she had a pretty good idea of the reason.
‘Even if he hated the employee, shouldn’t he at least smile on the outside if they got a promotion?’
Didn’t you see how even the elders who had looked down on me as Winkelhild’s daughter were now being so friendly?
Leoni grumbled inwardly.
A supervisor who showed his bad mood so openly all over his body.
Claude stood up quietly, as if unaware of this entire war of nerves.
“So they say. I’ll go alone.”
“Ah, yes……”
Leoni nodded reluctantly. Claude smiled brightly and asked her suggestively.
“Leoni, what time do you get off work? Let’s go home together later.”
A shower of smiling eyes filled with charm rained down. As if to show someone.
Leoni brushed it off, thinking, “Ah, he’s at it again,” but Henricks, who was watching the scene, had his face crumple again.
“……Follow me.”
Turning his back irritably, Henricks led the way out of the room.
“Hmm.”
Claude, who had been staring at his back, murmured in a meaningful voice.
“It seems they’ve mixed.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. You’ll be alright on your own?”
Claude’s expression changed completely, as if he hadn’t said a thing. Leoni, who was looking at him suspiciously, retorted bluntly.
“Am I a child?”
“You’re my partner.”
Ah, seriously.
When Leoni pushed Claude’s back, he let himself be pushed gently and left the room.
⊹ ࣪🍰˚⊹♡
‘First, I should put the flowers in a vase.’
After sending Claude off, Leoni decided to stop by her desk first.
The reason was the unexpected gift.
‘They shouldn’t wilt.’
She had heard that there was an old lady who had been selling flowers for a long time in front of the Bureau of Cooperation. She had even looked while passing by.
She usually aimed for big events like the recruitment exam, the day of joining the bureau, or the officer appointment ceremony to sell her flowers. This was the first time Leoni had received them as a gift.
‘I didn’t even get flowers when I joined as the top recruit.’
Someone else had stood on the podium. And there was no family to congratulate her. It was only natural.
Quincy, who had been too busy that day, had congratulated her with a delicious dinner, and she had thought that was enough. But…….
‘I thought I didn’t need things like flowers.’
It felt better than she expected.
She even started to worry. She thought they were too pretty to be kept at home right now. She even thought they didn’t match; that said it all.
“Hey, Leoni? I heard you got the officer position? Congratulations!”
“Guess I have to be on your good side now, huh? When are you free? We should have a celebration party.”
“You’re absolutely glowing.”
She had resolved not to show it, but it seemed her feelings were showing in her expression or her walk, contrary to her intentions.
Still, she felt good. She found herself subconsciously nibbling on her lips.
She could even happily accept the heartless congratulations from other employees passing by.
‘The position of officer-in-charge is a good one, indeed.’
Leoni glanced at the brooch pinned to the pocket of her uniform.
A shining golden star.
The Bureau of Cooperation’s officers-in-charge wear a star-shaped brooch on their front pocket according to their rank.
One star for being in charge of a mythical creature.
The brooches increase each time they achieve a feat that benefits the empire.
From three stars onwards, one can enter various restricted areas.
Such areas mainly stored materials and items related to various mythical creatures, and since many were dangerous, only ‘trustworthy’ personnel were allowed access.
‘There are even places you can only enter when accompanied by a dragon, so it’ll be good for looking things up from now on.’
Ultimately, the quality and quantity of information one could access differed significantly depending on which mythical creature one was in charge of.
This was also the reason why Leoni had been obsessed with becoming an officer for a mythical creature.
‘Now that I’m an officer-in-charge, I should be able to access the list of mythical creatures that can use magic.’
Until now, information had been restricted so she couldn’t look it up, but now things were different.
This meant she might be able to disable the magic circle in her house.
‘But… just how skilled does one have to be to cast such magic?’
Just as Leoni was mentally sifting through the creatures that came to mind.
“Gasp!”
“……!”
The people loitering in the hallway all recoiled in fright.
One person who had been walking in the same direction spun around and darted away down another path.
Those who couldn’t leave in time pressed themselves flat against the hallway wall, as if to make way for someone.
From a distance, the sound of rhythmic, heavy footsteps could be heard.
A heavy tension rolled in from the end of the hallway. Goosebumps pricked her skin.
‘Ah……’
Leoni’s grip on the bouquet in her arms tightened.
Like the others, Leoni took a step aside and pressed her body close to the hallway wall. Her body instinctively cowered.
It was best not to be noticed right now. Leoni bowed her head.
Thud, thud. The arrogant footsteps, identifiable by sound alone, brushed past her.
No, they were about to brush past her but stopped dead in their tracks right in front of her.
“Oh?”
A voice tinged with amusement came from above her deeply bowed head.
Tap, tap.
The tip of a shoe tapped Leoni’s toes.
“Lift your head.”
‘Damn it.’
An indifferent expression, an indifferent expression.
Leoni slowly raised her head.
As her gaze traveled up from the floor, the presence of the person before her became distinct.
A body that looked wickedly solid. A shirt unbuttoned more than halfway despite the chilly weather, as if to show it off better. The firm, bronze skin visible through it.
A sneering upturn of the lips and long, fiery red hair. And utterly cruel-looking red eyes.
“……Hello, Sir Ivan.”
“Kid.”
His grin was nothing short of ferocious.
“Long time no see. You were so out of sight, I thought you might have croaked somewhere, huh?”
Ivan.
The dragon who had stayed in the empire the longest.
“Ugh!”
He grabbed Leoni’s chin with his hand. Then he brought his face close.
“I heard something strange just now.”
The red eyes scanned her from head to toe.
Others said they were like a blazing fire, but to Leoni, they looked like a different color.
A murky, blood-red.
“They say a dragon is attached to you?”
“……It’s the other way around. I’ve become the dragon’s officer-in-charge.”
“Still never letting a single word slide. How impudent.”
He tilted his head, one hand still gripping her chin and the other in his pocket.
“After rejecting my offer.”
With a look of extreme displeasure.
