Seth stood frozen in place, a chilling sensation coursing through his veins.

"What's going on? Didn't I survive being attacked by the demon before I passed out?"

A red sea stretched limitlessly under a darkened sky, with the moon casting an eerie glow, intensifying the surreal atmosphere. Despite the eerie surroundings, the silhouette of a man remained visible before him.

The world around them seemed to hold its breath as if even nature recognized the presence of something profoundly unsettling.

The man exuded an overwhelming presence that felt like a physical weight, forcing him to his knees. Seth gasped for breath and struggled against the oppressive force.

The man seemed to be speaking, but his voice was like a cacophony of a thousand screams, assaulting his senses. Seth felt an excruciating headache that throbbed through his skull. Blood trickled from his nose and ears. Every vein in his body felt like it was about to burst.

‘Did that demon girl drag me into her realm?’

Certain demons could invade people's dreams and kill them inside. Anyone who died in the dream would also die in real life.

‘Is this it? I’m going to die?’

Suddenly, Seth felt a dull, throbbing pain in his right eye. The discomfort pulled him out of the haze of unconsciousness, and with a gasp, he struggled to open his other eye. As he did, a pair of deep crimson eyes with a slit in the middle stared back at him.

Before Seth could fully comprehend the situation, the pain in his eye intensified. He winced and tried to pull away, but the weight on top of him was too heavy for him to move.

A low voice whispered from the cat's mouth, "Your eyes are like the gold found in the Golden Mountain."

‘What's wrong with this animal now?’ Seth furrowed his eyebrows and glared at him.

"Krytys," he said.

Just then, the door of his bedroom swung open, and a dagger swiftly embedded itself into the mattress beside him. Krytys leaped away, settling on a table near his bed.

Karles said with a frown, "An intruder? Young master, I'll throw this beast away immediately."

When he tried to pick Krytys up, Krytys moved away from the table and jumped to the silk window. He laid back down, his chin resting on crossed palms as he slowly moved his tail.

“Hm?”

The dragon seemed to have piqued Karles’ interest. His eyes narrowed as he observed the creature before him. The air in the room thickened with an unspoken tension, as though a battle were about to unfold.

"Where did this unsightly beast come from?" Karles inquired with a mix of curiosity and disapproval.

"Who are you calling unsightly?" Krytys bared his fangs with a feline hiss.

The dragon was dirty and unkempt, like a real abandoned cat.

"Oh, it can talk? It must be a high-ranking beast, then." Karles's lips curled into a disdainful smile. "What kind of beast is this?"

Despite Karles’ extensive knowledge, Seth knew that meeting an actual dragon was very unlikely for him. Besides, the dragon had shapeshifted into a cat with horns.

"You smell."

"A beast who never gets a proper bath has no right to say that."

"Enough, both of you!" Seth said sternly while rubbing his temples.

Karles hid the dagger in his coat while Krytys looked away from him in disinterest.

"Your nose is bleeding." Karles handed him a handkerchief.

Seth wiped his nose, feeling a mix of confusion at the abrupt series of events. Not only was his eyeball hurting, but even the back of his head was hurting because Krytys pounced on him until he knocked his head on the ground yesterday.

The two of them were giving him a headache.

"It's a creature that I met a while back," Seth explained.

“You’ve been picking up a lot more and more interesting things,” Karles said in amusement.

It kind of gave Seth a bad feeling. ‘What does he mean by interesting things?’

“But you could’ve just told me if you want a pet. I can get you an intelligent beast that will always keep you entertained.”

“I don't need it.”

Karles was someone who liked to feed Seth’s vanity. The animal that he would get Seth would probably be something that Seth would enjoy abusing.

“Alright. If you say so,” he said in disappointment.

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“He’s passed out for one whole day, young master.”

“Excuse me?”

Seth looked out the window. The lighting outside seemed to show that it was afternoon.

As if on cue, three heads popped out from behind the door of Seth's bedroom. It was Celia and the twins.

“Can we come inside?”

“Yeah, sure,” Seth said before he turned to talk to Karles. “Karles, why don't you prepare his meal first? He’ll be eating here.”

Seth didn't want Karles to see how he interacted with Celia and the twins. He was still the haughty person in Karles' eyes.

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Karles raised his eyebrows but opted not to comment. “Of course, young master.”

He then exited the room, shutting the door perfunctorily.

"Your nose is bleeding?" Celia asked with concern all over her face.

“It's fine. It'll stop bleeding soon.”

“Besides that, how are you feeling?”

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Seth replied, trying to reassure her. “What about you and Isaac?”

“I didn't get too badly injured, so I’m fine. As for Sir Isaac, he refused to get healed by me at first, but I insisted until he agreed.” Celia said with a ‘hehe’, as though she were proud of herself.

Noel and Leon were standing near Seth's bed.

Leon looked at Seth suspiciously before saying, "Was that demon really hard to kill? If it were me, I would have killed the demon with only one stab. You know how I’m going to do it? Like this!"

He proceeded to pretend to hold a dagger and swing his arm in the air.

Had his personality been like this? Seth remembered that Leon was cursing him and full of distrust the first time they met. But Seth was glad that he was comfortable enough to joke around with him.

“The demon must be difficult for you, Mister,” Noel spoke up and stood up for Seth. “Mr. Richard said that you can’t use magic, that you constantly attack stronger monsters carelessly, and that you always return home after you get beaten up."

‘Richard, what did you say to them?’ Seth lampooned.

"Eh, but Seth did use magic, though? When he fought with that huge monster."

All three pairs of eyes stared back at Seth.

"I have only used magic recently," Seth explained.

Leon, noticing Krytys through the silk window, approached and examined him closely.

"When did you have a pet?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Krytys frowned. "What are you looking at?"

"Ah, it can speak our language!" Noel exclaimed from beside Leon. "I think it's the dragon that we saved. The color of his fur is similar to that of the dragon."

Krytys moved his furry tail slowly.

"That's right," Seth confirmed.

Celia, concerned, asked him, "Why did he jump on you, Seth?"

Seth hesitated, grappling with the truth. ‘I lied, and he found out. Dragons with keen intuition can detect whether someone is lying or not. He’s willing to be deceived by Lord Malgerius, but he immediately knocked me out when I lied to him.’

Just then, a knock echoed at the door.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"It's me," a familiar low voice responded.

"Come inside," Seth invited.

Isaac entered the room, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings. When his eyes landed on Krytys, a visible frown etched across his face.

Krytys opened his mouth and spoke, casually brushing his fur. "You've gotten weak, Isaac."

Isaac flinched, a subtle twitch in his expression evident as he clenched his fist. “I don’t want to hear that from you.”

"Such a measly demon... you could've easily killed it."

The greetings they exchanged were strange. Seth couldn't help but be concerned about both of them. Though he was unaware of their background, it was clear that there was some unresolved tension between them.

Wanting to diffuse the tension, he changed the subject. "What happened after I fainted yesterday?"

Celia turned her attention back to him as she explained, "We had to call the royal army for the incident, and we got investigated yesterday. Your sister was also involved. Morne received immediate treatment along with the rest. Priestess Sera also thanked us for our help."

"That's a relief. What about our mana stones?"

"Ah, of course, we brought them back safely."

Seth was glad that the matter was resolved without any more incidents.

"They didn't see Krytys?"

"No, they didn't."

Krytys listened quietly, not intervening in the conversation.

Seth explained to everyone in the room, "No one should know that a dragon is with us right now. Dragons are extremely rare creatures. It'll be a whole big uproar if it happens. Do you guys understand?"

"I don't want more humans to bother me," said Krytys.

Everyone agreed with what he said.

The door to his bedroom swung open once again. Agnes entered, accompanied by Karles, who carried a plate of food. Additionally, someone silently peeked their head from behind the door—Elliot, their brother.

Agnes was still dressed in her knight armor and looked tired, indicating that she had just come from duty. Dark circles were visible beneath her eyes.

She was surprised to see a lot of people in her brother's room when he usually hates it.

"There's a lot of people here," Agnes commented as she gazed at all of them.

Celia greeted her with a simple ‘hello’, while the rest remained silent.

Agnes’s eyes landed on her brother, who was sitting on the bed. She approached him and asked gently, “Are you feeling any better? I heard that it was a demon that attacked you.”

"I'm fine," Seth replied awkwardly.

"I'm glad to hear that." Agnes smiled. "I don't know how the demon got inside. Even if that man, Natsukida Ryu, was it? Even if he is a hero and considers her a party member, there's no excuse for a demon to be allowed in the kingdom," she sighed wearily.

Celia remembered that she momentarily thought that there was nothing wrong with the demon and felt ashamed of it.

Karles interjected as he placed the plate on the table, "Lady Agnes stayed up all night taking care of you, young master."

‘Huh?’ Seth looked at Agnes, whose face flushed in embarrassment.

"It's only normal for me to take care of my little brother," she said, giving Seth a careful look, perhaps to gauge his reaction.

‘No wonder she looked tired.’ he thought.

"Thank you," he said politely.

Her eyes brightened as she smiled.

"But you don’t have to do that. I have Karles with me."

As much as he disliked Karles, he still didn’t want Agnes to get this tired just to take care of him.

Her countenance swiftly shifted, conveying a sense of sadness.

‘What happened?’ Seth did not know the emotions going on in Agnes, so he did not ask any further. He changed the topic instead. "Have you guys eaten?"

Karles appeared confused by Seth's sudden shift in persona, as Seth wasn't typically someone who showed concern for others.

"Yes." Everyone else in the room agreed, except for Krytys, who opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the piece of meat on the plate Karles had brought inside. Krytys continued staring at it, seemingly captivated.

“Do you want it?” Seth asked.

“I don’t want it,” Krytys replied, his eyes still fixed on the plate.

“Are you sure?”

Yet Krytys's eyes remained locked on the plate, showing no signs of wavering.

“Just eat it. It’s a thank-you gift from me.” Seth urged.

Krytys then jumped onto the table and sniffed the meat before finally indulging in it.

‘He’s playing hard to get.’ Seth thought in amusement.

“What’s this? Has human food always tasted like this?” Krytys asked, his brown nose twitching. “The last time I ate a meal cooked by a human was a long time ago.”

He devoured the meat with increased speed, clearly enjoying it.

“Slow down,” Seth cautioned.

Seth was pleased that Krytys seemed to be enjoying the food.

“Young master, Mrs. Lowther is waiting outside,” the servant informed.

‘Ah,’ Seth thought, ‘wasn't the plan to go to the black market today?’