~ Chapter 25: A kiss under the rain ~

[Seryanna’s point of view]

 The door behind me was slammed shut, the key turned, locking it, and I dropped on my knees on the floor. Tears welled up in my eyes, the result of my emotions spilling out.

I was angry, frustrated, and mad at that idiotic human! Of all the things he could have said, those were the only words I didn’t wish to hear!

Why couldn’t he have said that he came all this way for me?! I shouted in my mind as I clenched my fists, nearly poking holes in my palms with my nails.

At least, I left before everyone else saw me crying. As a Knight, I had to always keep my chin up, standing strong and proud in front of anyone, a symbol of my master’s might. Nothing was supposed to move me, to disturb my flow, yet here I was, crying because of some words spoken by a stupid human.

I was a disgrace…

Knock! Knock!

“Who is it?” I asked after wiping off my tears.

“Not Alkelios.” a woman replied.

I recognized her voice immediately.

“Kataryna?”

“Yes. Open up. I’m alone. The moron is downstairs with your sister.” she told me.

“How can I trust you speak the truth?” I asked while I got up from the floor.

“Really, girl? Open up before I bust this door open and make you eat your own tail!” she threatened me.

With a gulp, I turned the key in the lock and pressed on the handle. The door squeaked, and I peeked outside. There, I saw the silver-scaled dragoness looking back at me with a raised eyebrow and her arms crossed at her chest.

“Are you going to let me in, or what?” she asked.

I nodded and then moved out of her way. After she entered, I locked the door and looked back at her.

“The boy really made you cry, didn’t he?” she smirked.

“That’s not true.” I glared, unwilling to admit the truth.

“Your eyes are red and tearing up as we speak.” she pointed out.

I wiped off my tears again, trying to get rid of the proof, but what was the use? They didn’t stop and kept flowing one after another.

With my face red and cheeks wet, I gave up and sat down on the bed. Kataryna took a seat next to me, but she didn’t say a word, she remained quiet and looked out the window.

“How was the journey?” I asked while trying hard not to let go of a single whimper.

“Pretty fun. We ended up traveling on top of a Royal Rooster instead of flying all the way over here. We got lost in an abandoned mine, almost drowned in the river, got chased by monsters. You know, the usual.” she shrugged, but there was nothing usual about this adventure of theirs.

Most adventurers or travelers would usually take the safe route, traveling on paths most of us knew of. Monsters usually avoided them, and bandits had a harder time picking a suitable prey. For me, it was a rather boring journey without any kind of attackers. I was well prepared just in case, but from the dragoness’ words, there was only one part that piqued my curiosity.

“Royal Rooster?” I asked.

Even I knew the name of that mount. My master had one as well, and it was terrifyingly possessive of her as well as strong and proud.

“Yes, he summoned one using his skill. It was quite strange, indeed.” she nodded.

“His skill?” I then remembered the fact that Alkelios was a human brought here from another world by a god.

If I hadn’t already witnessed his skills and Luck at first hand, I might have thought of him as a simple madman, but too many things about him didn’t add up when I was comparing him with the humans from my grandfather’s tales. One of them was the fact that he found me attractive. From what I was told, humans instinctively despised all other species except themselves, even more so when it came to the enemies of their kingdoms. Alkelios never showed hate or despise towards me, it was actually the opposite, yet that was more of a reason why I couldn’t understand why he said those words to me.

Did he change his mind after we rescued Kleo? I wondered while looking down at the floor.

“He is the strangest and the most interesting human I have ever met!” said Kataryna with a grin.

“For me, he is the only human I have ever met…” I said with a barely audible voice.

“Hm?”

I let out a sigh and looked back at the silver-scaled dragoness.

“Did you mean it when you said those words?” I asked, but there was a tremble in my voice.

“What words?” she tilted her head to the left, and her tail tip waved left and right like an upside-down pendulum.

“A-About wishing to mate with him and have his egg?”

“Yes.” she nodded without showing even the smallest doubt in her eyes.

“Is that so…” I let out another sigh and looked down.

“Oh? Do you like him? You do, don’t you?” the dragoness smirked.

“I-I…” blushing, I turned my head to the left and looked at the floor.

I was embarrassed and even though I knew there was no way to hide it anymore, I still couldn’t say those words.

“My poor child, you don’t have to worry about me!” she patted me on the head.

“What do you mean? You clearly said that you wanted to m-mate with him!” I retorted and glared at her.

“You are blushing like a young girl after being confessed to by the boy she likes.” Kataryna showed me a big wide grin.

I fell right into her trap.

“Um…” I looked down embarrassed and closed my eyes.

“As I said, I only want him to give me a child, I don’t wish to be his lover. I think you are better suited for that role.” she said as she patted me on the shoulder.

“Isn’t… Isn’t that cheating?” I asked and slowly peeked at her.

“For humans maybe.” she shrugged.

“Why isn’t it the same for us?” I questioned her.

The dragoness grinned and then all of a sudden pushed me back on the bed, laying on top of me and looking into my eyes.

“Because we are dragons, foolish child, and I have achieved Awakened Breakthrough. Once you reach this point, you realize that all of your past beliefs aren’t the same anymore. There’s no wrong in me wishing to carry the child of a man I found worthy. Besides, I doubt there will ever be another opportunity for me for a very very VERY long time… However, while I only get one part of him, you get the rest and more. But for me, it’s enough because I don’t wish for more. If the gods have other plans for me, only time will tell. Besides, I thought polygamy was allowed in Albeyater, wasn’t it?” she shrugged.

I listened to her words carefully. The gaze in her eyes was that of a dragoness who spoke the truth and of someone who wasn’t afraid to assume the path they have chosen. After all, carrying the egg of a man who wasn’t even her mate’s was not something any woman could agree to with such an ease and unwavering determination. At the same time, I was feeling as though if I let her do this, I would lose Alkelios for good.

What if he finds her better than me? She is already an Awakened… She is more beautiful and stronger than me. I am a Knight, so I’m not even sure if I will ever be together with him. I began to think, but every word that flowed through my mind brought a sharp pain to my heart.

“Why don’t you want him as your mate?” I asked and gulped.

A soft smile appeared on the tip of her lips. She looked at me with caring eyes for a rather long moment before answering.

“Because I’m not seen by his heart the same way you are. With me, he’s only a friend, and I respect that. Other dragons wouldn’t have hesitated to jump into my arms, but not him… Even throughout this entire journey, he never stopped talking or thinking about you. We all slept together, but he never touched me like he wished to touch you…” she then closed her eyes for a moment “Yet, for me,… it’s not painful to see him like this.” she opened her eyes “On the contrary, I sort of admire this side of him… As I said, few dragons can do it. As for why I wish him to offer me an egg, well… it’s just that I never had a family before, and I don’t think I will have the chance any time too soon. That’s why I can only ask him as a friend to help me out. And you… you don’t see him as just a friend. You don’t want to be just a friend to him, you want more, you greedy dragoness.” she showed me a teasing smile.

Even though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew she was telling the truth about me. I didn’t want to be just friends with him, but there were so many things working against us, so many shadows cast down upon us and threatening to break the little bit of string tying us together. I was afraid of how we might end up, of where this path would lead us, and of our imminent breakup.

Wouldn’t that be too painful for me? But then again, Kataryna only wants him to offer her an egg, while I could have him entirely even if it’s going to be just for a little while. But can I do it? I thought while I looked in the dragoness’ eyes.

“Yes, I want more… but how can I tell him this?” I closed my eyes and let go of a few tears.

If she was right, then the words he said to me were because he didn’t know how I felt. Basically, he stumbled in his own feelings and pulled the wrong strings.

“Well…” she pulled back, but just then, there was a loud crack heard coming from the door.

“Oops! Erm… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know you and Kataryna are like this… I mean… I’m sorry… And for the door… Goodbye.” Alkelios said flustered as he let go of the broken knob and dashed away.

“What’s he on about?” asked the silver-scaled dragoness a bit confused.

Looking back, we both noticed at the same time the weird position we were in.

That idiot misunderstood! No, wait! HOW can he misunderstand something like this in the first place?! I screamed in my mind while blushing strongly.

“Well, I do swing that way from time to time. A threesome isn’t so bad with the right dragons, you know?” Kataryna winked at me.

“Please stop with the dirty jokes!” I pushed her off me and then ran after Alkelios.

I had to stop that idiot.

[Alkelios’ point of view. Before he went up to her room]

 Letting out a long, depressed sigh, I bumped my head on the table. The mead was sticky, but I was too annoyed to go wash it off now. Well, one thing was clear, I made a mistake, and my one and only redhead dragoness ran away from me… again.

“I’m an idiot…” I grumbled.

“Well, I usually don’t see my sister that mad unless I do something very very stupid. Like stealing her panties and using them as a flag to conquer unknown lands.” the black-scaled dragoness said something absurd as she sat down in front of me.

She wore a black, slightly ripped, and completely drenched Gothic Lolita dress similar to the armors of the Summoner class in the MMORPG I used to play back on Earth. Well, my daily quests were probably expired by now, and so was my 7 days boost.

I let out another sigh as I remembered that I haven’t touched a computer in a month now. Well, there was no way to get an internet connection in the middle of a dragon kingdom on another planet in another Universe… right?

“Hello! Are you listening to me?” Kleo poked my cheek.

Chomp!

I bit her.

“HYAN~! H-Hey! W-What are you doing?!” she screamed in a weird way and quickly pulled back her hand, blushing strongly.

“Leave me alone…” I grumbled.

“No!” she replied shaking her head.

“Why?” I asked as I turned my head away.

“Because you don’t look too… energetic?”

“I ran out of batteries… Go buy me some. There’s a shop on the other side of the planet.” I grumbled.

“I don’t know what those are, but I’m pretty certain I can’t use them for anything perverted. Also! Why are you trying to get rid of your friend like that?! You are mean!” she said grinding and twisting her fist on my head.

“Ouch! Stop that!” I said slapping her hand away and rubbing the sore spot.

She showed me a big grin.

“What?” I asked her.

“Huhuhu! You really like my sister, don’t you?!” she showed me a mischievous smirk.

“Nooo… yes.” I let out a defeated sigh.

“So? Why can’t you just tell her that?” she shrugged.

“Erm… If I wasn’t thinking of it seriously, I could. I would just take it as a joke, a game, but I can’t do that.” I slumped back on my chair.

“So, to be clear, you are just afraid to say THOSE words?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah… I mean, what if she says no?” I asked.

“Weren’t you in this exact same situation since you met her? What’s with the drama?”

“Erm…” I scratched the back of my head.

I technically ran all the way over here because I wanted to be together with her. I knew I held more feelings towards her than I did for anyone else at the moment. Even so, I didn’t feel ready for this step. There was also the matter of our species… Could I make her happy? Would I be able to satisfy her? And not in that kind of way… well, maybe in that kind of way too.

“What if I’m not the one?” I asked.

“Does it matter?” she shrugged.

“It does… doesn’t it?” I tilted my head.

Putting a foot on the table and glaring at me like a yakuza at a bar, she asked me “Are you an idiot? How will you ever know if she’s the one or not if you don’t even have the guts to go and try?”

“But…”

“NO BUTS!” she cut me off, showed me her palm, and shook her head. “Listen! When you feel that you like someone, you go with it, you don’t run away from them. You go and confess! And no matter what happens, you know that you at least tried. She might not be the one, or you might end up in a two-days relationship. It doesn’t matter! You at least tried, and you can move on!” she said proudly and smirked.

“But she’s a Knight.” I added.

“Yeah, that might make things complicated, but…” she raised a finger up “this didn’t stop you until now to flirt with her. Tsk! Tsk!” she shook her head left and right.

I looked down and sighed.

Yes… it didn’t stop me… so why am I hesitating now? I wondered.

Even though it was Kleo the prankster who was lecturing me about love, her words were indeed true, and deep inside, I agreed with them. Maybe I was only a fool who looked at things from the point of view of fear rather than simply letting everything be as I did until then.

Am I afraid to lose Seryanna? Even though she’s not a human, I’m afraid to lose her? I thought and looked at the empty tankard she dumped on me.

“Listen…” Kleo said, and I raised my eyes up to meet hers “I think you are just being a bit of a coward now. So listen to me and go to her now and confess! Worst-case scenario, you get Kataryna. She’s already into you.” she grinned.

I only raised an eyebrow at her last remark. The age difference was a bit too much for me to handle it right now. Then again… Seryanna was an ancient granny by human standards too.

“Ugh… yeah… Nothing to lose. Maybe I am just being a coward.” I nodded and got up from the table.

“Two silvers he gets dumped.” said one of the dragons who overheard us.

“Oh? Bets? I’m betting five!” said Kleo.

“Why are you betting against me?!” I asked the black-scaled dragoness.

“Ehehe!” she merely laughed and rubbed the back of her head.

Letting out a sigh, I turned around and made my way to the bar.

Is this really going to be alright? I wondered.

“Excuse me, can you…” I tried to ask the bartender.

“Third room on the right. Go get her, kid. I’m betting two silvers on you!” he grinned.

“You too, huh?” I sighed and went up.

I guess, one way or another, people found something interesting to do when everyone was bored as hell thanks to the weather.

Should I have placed a bet as well? I wondered as I climbed the stairs.

Once I was in front of the door, I took a deep breath and turned the knob. Unfortunately, I forgot about my strength and ripped it right out of the door.

“Oops!” I said and then noticed Kataryna laying on top of Seryanna on the bed in a very suggestive position. “Erm… I didn’t mean to…” I took a step back as I began to mumble something. “I didn’t know you and Kataryna are like this… I mean… I’m sorry… And for the door… Goodbye.” I dropped the knob and ran away.

Why am I running? What the heck?! I thought as I climbed down and flew past Kleo.

“What happened? Where are you going?” she asked from behind, but I just went out the door.

It was still raining, and my mind was going left and right, up and down, in circles, everywhere. I honestly didn’t know what to think, and as a man, I wanted to punch myself in the face for the stunt I just pulled.

Why did I run? Damn it! I shouted in my mind as I stopped outside of the town, breathing hard and letting the rain soak me to the bone.

The sky was split apart by a lightning, and a loud thunder soon followed. I clenched my jaws and wondered if I was crying, but this was really stupid.

Why the hell do I feel like I lost? What the heck? I’m a man! I tried to force myself not to feel like a piece of crap, but even I didn’t know why I felt like that.

Normally, wasn’t the girl supposed to be the one to run away, and I to follow her? That was the normal way of how things worked! I could have gotten mad at her or something, not run away like this!

“Crap…” I cursed and punched the tree.

It broke like a toothpick and fell down.

“Alkelios!” Seryanna called out.

I didn’t turn around. I didn’t answer.

Why is she here? I wondered.

“It wasn’t what it looked like! I swear! Me and Kataryna aren’t like that…” she said.

Oh god, please just kill me now… Actually, I have weird luck, so cancel that and please don’t? I thought and then let out a sigh.

I closed my eyes and let a moment pass as I cleared my mind of all the unnecessary thoughts gathered in my skull.

Without a care, I turned around and looked straight into her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I confessed “I love you.”

“What?” she asked with big eyes.

“I love you.” I said it again and blushed.

“That’s… erm… I don’t know what to say…” she avoided my gaze and looked down.

I let out a sigh and looked up.

“Today’s been a real roller-coaster ride.”

“A what?” she asked confused.

“Emotions going up and down, left and right… It was a mess; a strange, barely understandable mess. I probably made a fool of myself by running off like that and even thinking you and Kataryna are an item already…” I sighed.

“Me and Kataryna aren’t like that!” she retorted strongly.

“Yeah, I know… It was only me thinking stupid things…” I laughed, but maybe I was crying too?

I couldn’t tell, it was raining too hard.

“Then your words just now?” she asked a bit quietly.

“That’s the truth… I didn’t come all this way just to tell you that we are friends. Yes, we are friends, but I came all this way because I didn’t want to let you go. Because maybe, somewhere deep inside, I want to be with you.” I answered her truthfully.

Seryanna looked at me without sketching a single gesture. Thanks to the rain, I couldn’t even tell if she was crying or not. All this time, the sky kept getting lit up by lightning strikes now and then, while the ensuing thunders tried to cover our voices.

“But I’m a dragon.”

“And I’m a human.”

“I’m a Knight.”

“And I’m technically a Hero.” I smiled.

“If my master tells me to choose between you and the kingdom… I…” she stopped herself and clenched a fist at her chest.

“You will do the right thing.” but what I wanted to say was ‘You will choose me.’

“Alkelios… I…” she approached me and stopped when she was just a step away from me.

“Seryanna…”

“If we can be together… I want us to be together. I love you too…” she told me with a soft smile.

In reply to her words, I stepped forward and embraced her. Our kiss was the most pleasant one I had ever experienced in my entire and rather short life. The rain wasn’t calming down at all, and the skies kept rumbling above us. It wasn’t exactly the most romantic place we could be, but that kiss was simply divine. It made everything around us seem insignificant, including the downpour, which washed away all the fear and worries from our hearts.

[Kataryna’s point of view]

 After Seryanna rushed out, I got up from the bed and looked at the broken door.

“I’m not paying for this.” I muttered and went down.

“Hey! Hey! What happened?” Kleo asked.

“Long story short, the idiot thought me and the redhead were together.” I told her.

“What?! You and sis were in a relationship? Why didn’t you call me?!” she complained.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at her dumbfounded.

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” I asked.

“Nothing… I’m a cute, normal dragoness. Tehe!” she poked out her tongue.

“In what kingdom?!” I retorted.

“Anyway, are you going to be for or against Alkelios? Huhu! Everyone placed a bet already!” she grinned.

Looking around, I saw the other people here smirking.

“Alright, 20 gold coins on Alkelios winning Seryanna’s heart.” I smirked.

“What?” Kleo blinked surprised.

“No point pulling back now.” I grinned.

“Hey! Hey! Not fair! That’s too much!” she complained.

“Fine… 5 silver coins then.” I told her.

“Huhu! That’s much better! Now all bets are closed!” she grinned.

Well, I already knew what was going to happen, there was no point in me betting against Alkelios. If the human didn’t say or do something incredibly stupid, then there was no way they wouldn’t even try to be in a relationship at this point. Then again, the threesome idea still stuck around in my head for a while.

Maybe we should actually give it a try? I wondered as I sat down in front of the bar and paid for my drink.

Alkelios and Seryanna would return soaking wet and holding hands. I won a hefty sum, which I used to pay for more drinks. The boy paid for the door he broke, and it was repaired by the time dinner was ready. Still, some of the dragons there congratulated Alkelios, but if they knew he was a human, things might have been a bit differently. Even Seryanna looked like one with all of that armor on her.

After we ate, we decided to call it a night, but due to the lack of renting space, we all got crammed up in the same room. The two lovers slept together in the bed, while me and Kleo used our outdoor camping bags.