It had been a month since the day Esmond returned and learnt that he was to become engaged to the baron's daughter. The passage of time had been so swift that it nearly gave him whiplash. During this time, he spent most of it alone. Apart from visiting Dionaea, the air around him and his parents became sour, and just like his brother does, Esmond chose to eat alone. In truth, he had nothing against the baron and his family, but he never thought himself to marry. He liked having the freedom to choose what he wanted to do in life. His parents rarely ever decided what he should do, especially since he's the youngest, but it seemed they had just let him play around for longer than his two older siblings, who had married younger than he was. In the end, though Esmond knows better than anyone to disobey his parents, that doesn't mean he can't show his displeasure to the situation.

Gazing out of the window of his carriage, he was slightly surprised to discover that the Ainsworth house was larger than he had anticipated, despite still being smaller than his family's home. The house was older and looked like it needed some much-needed repairs. The house was surrounded by numerous fields, farming buildings, and houses. On his way over here, Esmond also saw a little village nearby; it seemed like the whole area was a farming community. A multitude of holly bushes encircled the house, so abundant that they served as fencing in some of the fields. Esmond found his own country house monotonous, let alone a place as remote as this one. He wonders if, like his family, they also had some houses in the cities for the times they needed to be there or on vacation. The sudden stop of the carriage and opening of the door interrupted Esmond's thoughts, and the footman appeared to guide him out. Esmond quickly exited the carriage, stepping out with a sigh and glancing towards his parents' carriage in front of him. Although he could have ridden with them, he was still annoyed with them, so he decided to ride alone.

When Esmond looks towards the house properly for the first time, he sees an older couple, whom he assumes to be the baron and his wife, hurrying down the stairs to greet their guests. They immediately go up to his parents to greet them before greeting him, but he basically ignores them apart from a nod of the head, but they go right back to talking with his parents without caring for his rude behaviour. However, observing them, it was evident that they were struggling; while their clothes appeared somewhat clean, they were worn out, a stark contrast to the attire Esmond's family was wearing. By looking at his parents, he could tell they were uncomfortable, but they pretended not to be.

Esmond hears a roar from Dionaea above him as she starts descending from the sky, circling around trying to find a space to land. Determined not to stay behind like all the other dragons, she relentlessly pursued the carriages from above, never losing sight. Eventually she lands in a little empty field in front of the house. It was likely used for their horses, given its well-worn appearance, but Dionaea showed no concern for its condition. Dionaea hears another dragon nearby as she lands, and she responds with a greeting that, for once, is not aggressive.

The Ainsworths appeared somewhat taken aback at the sight of Dionaea, but they remained unfazed, as nothing would have changed even if they had complained. "Ah, she looks very mighty, Esmond. What a lucky man you are." Todd Ainsworth speaks in a dry tone, to which Esmond simply responds with a smile. In an attempt to shift the conversation, Todd begins guiding everyone into the house, and everyone follows suit. Though the inside of the house looked better than the outside, it still appeared somewhat rundown; it looked like an inn or a rich farmer's house. Suddenly Todd's wife, Patricia, comes over to Esmond. From what Esmond knew about her, she was originally a commoner that Todd fell in love with and married, so she was without a dragon. She lacked the ability to comprehend the responsibilities of being a proper noble.

"You don't seem that interested in our talks, which I understand. How about you go meet Jeanna? She is in the backyard with her dragon."

"Does she even want to see me? If she did, she wouldn't be rude by not being here, would she?"

"I feel like if you two got talking, you would get along, you both seem pretty similar."

"Fine, I guess I would have to meet her at some point."

"Let me guide you to the yard."

Patricia walks in front of Esmond and starts guiding him through the house, away from the others, who have paid no attention to their departure. They then quickly get to the back of the house and find an old wooden door with noticeable gaps. It probably leaked when it rained, even a little bit, judging by the damage on and around the door. Patricia opens the door, steps aside to allow Esmond to pass, and gestures in a specific direction. "She is just over there. You can see her already." Once Esmond leaves, she closes the door behind him.

Esmond gazed across the garden, which resembled a field, and spotted a light brown dragon with darker stripes in the distance. He recognised this dragon as the same one a young woman had claimed on Dragon Island. Therefore, the woman who accompanied him that day was the same one he was supposed to marry. The dragon was lying down. It seemed to be sleeping as Jeanna was leaning up against it, reading a book. It reminded Esmond how he would do the same, but with drawing, he guessed that Patricia was somewhat right already.

He is only about 20 meters away from Jeanna when her dragon suddenly awakens and hisses angrily towards Esmond. He stops in his tracks and sighs as Jeanna flips a page in her book and puts a bookmark between the pages before closing it. She gives her dragon a pat on the neck before saying, "It's fine, Sweet Pea; he means no harm." But before Esmond could say anything, Dionaea comes crashing down near him, skidding across the grass, leaving deep marks in the ground while angrily screeching. As she comes to a stop, she walks closer to Esmond, putting herself between him, Sweet Pea, and Jeanna. Esmond reassures Dionaea he is alright.

"See, Sweet Pea, look at the trouble you have caused now." Jeanna says as she gets up and dusts herself off, she tries to start walking towards Esmond, but Dionaea lets out a low growl, which sets of Sweet Pea again.

"Sweet Pea, huh, not acting very sweet now though." Esmond replies, and Jeanna laughs.

"She's a very sweet girl. Just nervous of strangers is all; she is quite a young dragon, you see."

"Well, she is quite brave for a youngster." This was indeed true; despite her nervousness, she bravely faced Dionaea, who was approximately three times her size.

"So, you must be Esmond? I would say it's nice to meet you, but it seems we have already met, at least somewhat."

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"You are Jeanna, the only child of the Ainsworths."

"Yes, that makes me the heir to this house, though you might not think much of it."

"You're the heir? No one said anything to me. I thought that it might be passed on to some other family member."

"Yes, my father doesn't actually have any other alive family members, and well, my mother is a commoner, so no one in her family can inherit. Not that it matters. My father is very happy for me to have it. But that also means you will be living here eventually. How unfortunate for you."

"Definitely not what I'm used to, but I guess I have to adjust."

"Then, it appears that we both had no say in this." Jeanna laughs before carrying on. "Talking is boring. How about we get to know each other in a different way? There's a lake just over that hill over there that has the lone tree atop it. It's got an island in the middle of it. Let's see who can land there first."

It felt childish, but Esmond wasn't going to refuse a challenge. "You better start mounting then." Esmond says he grabs a hold of Dionaea's horn, and she lifts him up off the ground and swings him over her shoulder so he lands in the saddle. Jeanna is quick to get on. Her dragon only being small makes it easy for her to get on. When Sweet Pea spreads her wings, Esmond notices that her body and wings are designed for speed, leading him to question if he will truly emerge victorious. While Dionaea is bigger, she would be able to cover more ground, but her size slows her down.

Both dragons set off at the same time, running across the short garden and taking off into the air. Esmond encourages Dionaea to accelerate, pushing past Sweet Pea to take the lead. While Edward was feeling confident, he noticed how Sweet Pea was always the same length away from Dioneae and didn't look to be struggling at all. At times it even looked like she was calmly gliding through the air. It didn't take long for them both to reach the hill with the lone tree, and once over that, the lake with the island was in sight, just down the hill, meaning Esmond would need to start flying downwards. Looking behind him, he could see that Jeanna and Sweet Pea were still the same distance away they always were, so he tries to throw them off by making a dive for the lake. Looking behind him, Esmond could see that his plan was initially successful, until Sweet Pea began her own dive. She takes a few big flaps of her wings before tucking them in to dive, and she starts rapidly catching up to Dionaea and Esmond. Before they both hit the water, they pull up, facing right towards the island. Esmond tries to push Dionaea to go faster, but suddenly he sees Sweet Pea zooming past him. Sweet Pea's wings were beating so fast that she easily past Dionaea, and just as fast as she sped up, she effortlessly slowed down, making for a perfect landing on the island. The island was too small to have two dragons sitting on it, so Esmond had to land partially in the lake as Dionaea grumbled with annoyance at his choice.

"Wow, she's quite fast. I don't think I have seen a dragon fly that fast before."

"At the moment, she can move at a faster pace, but if she grows significantly larger, it will likely slow her down." But good race. While your dragon isn't as fast, I can tell she is strong."

"She saved my life. She doesn't have to be strong or fast for me."

"So sweet. Let us fly back, but steadily this time. I can show you around a bit, though there isn't much to see here."

Esmond nods as he pats Dionaea's neck. Sweet Pea is quick to take off into the air, but Dionaea needs more time to lift up. On their way back, they flew around for a bit. Jeanna would show Esmond different places and tell him various historical facts about them. Esmond discovered that, despite being in the countryside, it was very beautiful. The rolling hills and numerous lakes and ponds scattered throughout the farmland gave it a unique beauty. He thought this place was from another country despite being close to home.

It didn't take long for them to return to the Ainsworth house, landing exactly where they had taken off. The deep marks left by Dionaea on the ground filled Esmond with a slight sense of embarrassment. His emotions also affected her, causing damage to their property, and he was determined to make up for his mistake. Esmond unfastened his harness from the saddle, following the common practice of leaving harnesses on the saddle for convenience, a habit Jeanna also adopted. After dismounting, they embarked on their journey towards the house. As they neared, the ancient wooden door swung open, revealing their smiling parents. However, they exchanged no words. Esmond faces towards Todd before saying, "My dragon caused damage to your grounds before. I will pay for the damages she has caused," but Todd only laughed and told him not to worry as this back area was meant for the dragons and that if he looked closer, there were many lumps and bumps from his and Jeanna's dragon being on it. Todd was correct; upon closer inspection, Esmond noticed numerous marks that the grass had largely obscured, with the exception of a few recent ones. However, he couldn't help but wonder where Todd's dragon was, given the absence of any other dragons in the vicinity. Just before Esmond could even ask, he noticed Sweet Pea trying to get closer to Dionaea, but she would snap at her every time she got too close. It makes him laugh, but he hopes Dionaea can come to like Sweet Pea one day, as she was a sweet dragon.

Esmond and his parents were scheduled to stay at this location for a few days to discuss their options and determine if they should proceed with the wedding. Esmond would have preferred to return home the same day because, in his mind, the room he was staying in was worse than sleeping outside. Despite his efforts to remain objective, he couldn't help but notice that, despite being clean, the room was in a state of disarray. While his parents were fortunate to have a better room, he couldn't help but feel that they were complaining more to themselves than he was. Esmond will need to adjust to this situation, as it's likely that he will eventually reside in this house full-time. The room felt cold and lifeless, but he got into bed and tried his best to keep warm as he tried to fall asleep, and though it did take him a while, he did end up falling asleep.

After a few days, Esmond and his parents prepared to return home. During those days, Esmond deepened his understanding of Jeanna and the land, and following a collaborative discussion, they decided to proceed with the marriage. Despite the lack of urgency, they agreed to hold the wedding at the Briar House within a month. Esmond was still unsure about the marriage, but at least he knew he could get along with Jeanna. There was a lot to plan, making it a very busy time for everyone, but it was something that had to be done. Instead of taking the carriage home like his parents, he decided to get back faster on Dionaea because she was already here anyway. Buckling himself up into the saddle, he gives a last wave to the Ainsworth resident as they wave back to him. He takes off on Dionaea from the residence, and he can see Sweet Pea watching them as they get further away in the sky. Dragons of opposite genders are known to form bonds and may even nest if their riders are together, but since Dionaea and Sweet Pea were both female, they would only form a close bond. But it seemed Dionaea wasn't interested in Sweet Pea. Even after being together for a few days, she wanted nothing to do with her. Esmond only hopes that eventually she will come to tolerate her.