I Raised A Black Dragon

“I can hear your head talking.” Kyle’s voice disrupted Noah’s train of thoughts. As she snapped back into reality, she was met with a pair of purple eyes that immediately evaded her gaze.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but… you can take your hands off now, Miss Noah.” Kyle muttered.

It wasn’t until she heard his words that she realized her hands were still on his face. Startled, Noah lifted her hands off his cheeks hastily. “Oh, I’m sorry. Why were we doing this?”

Kyle frowned at her question, a crease forming on his forehead. “With all due respect…”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Kyle, who somehow looked at her with subtle displease, grabbed her shoulders, and flipped her around. “You must be full of energy after imprinting. I think we’ll be arriving at Tezeba Port in about thirty minutes at this speed, so please call Mu first. If he gets there in that state, he’ll smash the harbor.”

“That’s right.” 

As Noah approached the window, she glanced at Kyle’s reflection on the window. As soon as he turned her around, the tip of his ears somehow seemed a little red. 

What, why…? You’ve been hugging me well until now. What’s the matter with you?

Noah looked down at her hands that had been tending his wound and rubbed it against each other because strangely, the heat seemed to rise at her fingertips.

But the warmth didn’t subside, so she pushed the window open and stretched her hand out into the air, feeling the cool breeze of the ocean.

“Mu, come here now.” The black dragon, who was drenched in the waters far away, immediately recognized her gesture and spread its wings wide, flying onto the air.

The creature’s huge body, which was flying at a tremendous speed towards Noah, disappeared within a blink. The next moment, a three-year-old boy with black curls ran to Noah.

“The sea is so cool, Noah!”

Noah glimpsed several ships with the size of a fingernail behind the beaming child. The ship galloping across the sea at high speed was gradually approaching land.

After a whole three weeks since Noah had left Sorrent, the capital city of Laurent, Tezeba, was right before her eyes — the city she once returned to two years after she fell into this world.

*

The capital, Tezeba, was located in the northwest of the Laurent Empire.

The headquarters of the Imperial City, called the Ruby of Laurent, which enjoyed a noble and elegant culture as it was composed with the original houses of the aristocracy, was adjacent to the industrial city of Arral, where new inventions poured out from day to day.

The port, which would have been normally crowded with cargo ships trading with large and small countries alike in the central and northern parts of the continent, and ferries carrying hundreds of passengers, was as quiet as a mouse today. There wasn’t a single ship at the harbor, owing to Kyle, who had sent a message in advance to clear the port.

Noah looked down at a group of magistrates and investigators in black uniforms, arm in arm on the ship’s railing. Half of them were helping passengers on the ferry get off safely, and the other half…

Was staring at her side.

“I’m going to have four holes or more in my body. Why are they looking at me in such a scary way?” Noah grumbled, pulling her wide-brimmed hat down to cover her face.

“Your reappearance means overtime for them. At least a month.”

“Then… I have nothing else to say.”

When Noah was an office worker, she had once thought that if she were to be granted with a wish, she would wish for a kind, considerate employer, who wouldn’t let her work overtime. She straightened her back, sending her condolences to the employees who were burdened to work overtime.

“Acting like Eleonora. I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You’re doing great. Sometimes, you have a scary look on your face that’s similar to that woman.”

Noah frowned at Kyle’s statement. Similar to Eleonora… She then remembered when Adrian looked at her and said the same thing. When did I look like her? When I pushed him away in annoyance?

Fortunately, such expression had no need for Noah’s acting since she was almost always wearing the same hostile look. She was a lazy woman after all, and her peace had been disrupted too much.

Kyle glanced down and looked at Noah. “Go down. I can’t hold your hand from now on. Watch your step. Watch your step…”

“Yes, nagging investigator.”

The feeble man, who got embarrassed when a woman had touched his face earlier, had gone away, and the strict investigator had returned. Noah passed by him and descended to the bridge connected to the land.

“Captain!”

On the other side of the bridge were investigators, who wore a uniform similar to Kyle, on standby. The person at the forefront was blocking Noah’s way. She looked at the investigator’s shoes underneath her hat.

“Penelope.”

Whether it was Kyle’s subordinate, Noah heard him answer behind her back. It was a beauty, who sported short black hair, that hampered her movements. She was a little shorter than Noah, but her short hair, rounded eyes, and slim figure reminded Noah of a lioness.

You’re so pretty.

She stared at her briefly, complimenting her appearance inwardly, and attempted to pass by her. However, the investigator’s finger hung on the trigger of her revolver, forcing Noah to freeze on her steps. 

Then, Penelope demanded with an adamant voice. “For a moment, Lady Asil. I’d like to ask you to disarm.”