Chapter 18: A Dragon Maid’s Dilemma

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Eileen placed her hand on Setia’s, her touch reassuring. “Thank you for your concern. I just ran into a bit of trouble, and Lady Faltis resolved it quite easily for me.”

“Mhm, Lady Faltis told me to have you find her once you woke up. But, seeing you like this, perhaps you should rest a while longer?”

‘Faltis wants to see me?’

‘Of course, after such a major incident.’

However, Eileen now found herself unsure how to face her.

‘Should I completely forget my identity as a dragon slayer and pretend everything is as it was?’

No. Eileen shook her head resolutely. No matter what had transpired, she would never choose to forget her memories.

Besides, she had lost; becoming a dragon maid was now an undeniable fact. Yet, who could guarantee that a dragon maid wouldn’t make a few small mistakes?

Setia helped Eileen to her feet.

With every step, the pain shooting through her body made Eileen wince, drawing a sharp breath.

“Perhaps… you should rest a little longer?” Setia suggested softly.

“No, I’m fine.”

‘Probably.’

Dragonkind possessed incredibly strong regenerative abilities. It was no exaggeration to say that as long as their hearts and brains remained intact, they could recover at an astonishing speed.

Eileen’s situation, however, was somewhat different, for her opponent had been Faltis. Surviving at all, without being bedridden for a year or two, was already testament to her physical fortitude. To expect her to be bounding about as if nothing had happened after such a duel was simply unrealistic.

Setia supported Eileen as they walked for a distance, stopping when they were roughly two hundred meters from Faltis’s room.

Indeed, for anyone other than Eileen, entering this area was a luxury. Only with a direct command could one step into this restricted zone.

“I can manage the rest of the way alone.” Though walking by herself now was a struggle, she could at least still move.

Eileen arrived at Faltis’s door and reached out to knock.

There was no response from inside the room. Eileen patiently waited, standing before the door. After about ten minutes, she knocked again.

Another ten minutes passed, and still, no sound came from within.

“Lady… Faltis.” Eileen called out, a hint of reluctance in her voice.

Though she had almost accepted her new reality as a dragon maid, years of dragon-slaying memories and experience made serving a dragon somewhat difficult to reconcile. Thankfully, Faltis didn’t seem to favor the title of ‘master.’ If Eileen had been forced to use that term, she would have wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.

Yet, strangely, no matter how Eileen knocked or called Faltis’s name, there was no sign of movement.

‘Could she be out? No, that’s impossible…’ Eileen mused, standing at the door.

Meanwhile, inside the room, Faltis lay sprawled on her desk, feigning sleep. She had heard Eileen’s knocking and calls perfectly well.

She simply wanted to pretend to be asleep, to see how Eileen would react.

‘Normally, after ten minutes of unanswered knocking, wouldn’t she just use the key to open the door?’

‘Could I have accidentally made my cute little maid stupid?!’

‘Ugh, my arm’s going numb from lying here. Why hasn’t she come in yet?’

‘I miss Eileen’s tail. So soft, so cool…’

Faltis yawned.

Approximately an hour later, Eileen removed a necklace from her neck. It was a golden scale, intricately carved with strange patterns, its purpose unknown to Eileen. It still carried Eileen’s warmth and a faint, subtle scent.

She placed the key against the door, and Faltis’s door slowly opened.

“?”

As Eileen stepped inside, she saw Faltis asleep at her desk, head resting on her arms.

This was a rare sight—no, it had never happened before. Typically, if Faltis intended to sleep, Eileen would usually serve as her  body pillow.

Eileen approached Faltis. “Faltis?”

Stare—

Eileen simply stared at Faltis for ten full minutes, yet the dragon showed no reaction. Had she truly fallen asleep?

Eileen then noticed the documents Faltis had been working on, still pinned beneath her, untouched. These were miscellaneous affairs concerning other races within the Dragon Domain.

Though powerful, dragons did not completely ostracize other races. On the contrary, they were quite willing to protect weaker communities, provided, of course, that these communities were sufficiently devout and offered a certain tribute of treasures. In simpler terms, it was protection money.

These treasures came in many forms: literal valuables, or even acting as a neutral party, providing intelligence before other races entered the Dragon Domain.

Eileen had once asked Faltis, “Why do you personally handle these trivial matters? Wouldn’t it be easier to delegate them to others?”

Faltis had replied, “The weaker they are, the more loyal they become. The stronger they are, the more they desire to usurp me and take my position.

These vassal races might be far more loyal than even the guards of the Golden Dragon Sanctuary. This is also why I only have you by my side. The fewer people accompanying me, the better. Only by maintaining a certain distance will they fear me. I don’t trust them, and besides, these matters aren’t particularly troublesome to handle.”

At the time, Eileen hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of those words, and even now, she only understood them partially. However, she did recall uttering a phrase back then that earned her a ‘facial cleanser’ treatment.

“I want to help Lady Faltis too, but if I don’t grow stronger, I can’t help her. But if I do grow stronger, will Lady Faltis distance herself from me? In that case, I’d rather not get stronger at all…”

Ah… damn it.

Recalling those words now, Eileen felt a cloud of steam rise from her head, an urge to burrow into a hole and vanish. ‘World, please forget me.’

However, after five years of living together, Eileen had discovered that Faltis was not at all like the empire’s rumors portrayed her—a brutal, bloodthirsty evil dragon who indiscriminately slaughtered the innocent. Though some of her peculiar interests were truly baffling, such as transforming Eileen into a dragon maid…

Yet, gazing at Faltis’s sleeping face, Eileen felt a profound sense of peace.

But as Eileen’s eyes fell upon Faltis’s soft, pink lips, a ripple stirred within her calm heart. She touched her own lips, remembering the kiss, the sensation, the taste, with vivid clarity. Slowly, she leaned closer…