As Aurina picked up the letters, she said confidently, “You should say thank you… What’s written in this letter? ‘Darling, my illness—’”
Richard felt his intelligence insulted.
“Enough!”
His roar made the canvas of the wagon tremble, and all sounds outside fell silent.
Aurina was startled, her instincts telling her that Richard was now fierce and powerful, his threat level soaring.
This was different from before.
Back then, Richard had a kind of foolish kindness, which allowed Aurina to trample over him and treat him like a beast of burden.
She even doubted her own senses for a moment.
But Aurina, the supreme king among red dragons, trusted her instincts completely.
She could smell the scent of the weak and judge the strength of her opponents.
What was wrong with this beast of burden?
Richard suddenly reached out, snatching the letter from Aurina’s hand.
“I don’t want to argue with you, nor do I want you to copy lines as punishment, because you wouldn’t listen anyway.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
Aurina slowly crouched, feeling that Richard might do anything to her, even chop off her head with a sword.
“Spank you.”
“No!”
Aurina exclaimed.
“I’m still a child!”
“Exactly because you’re a child, you need a lesson you’ll remember.”
Richard reached for her.
Aurina leaped up, pouncing toward the wagon’s canvas, spitting a burst of flame that burned a hole through it.
She slipped through the gap, her toes flipping a perfect middle finger at Richard.
“Little insect! You think you can spank this king?”
By the time Richard jumped out of the wagon, Aurina had vanished into the forest amid the crowd’s gasps, disappearing without a trace.
The caravan leader, a lanky merchant, approached and asked, “A dragon? My lord, your dragon ran away?”
“She’s not my dragon,” Richard said expressionlessly.
“If she runs, she runs. She’d better not follow her father’s path and become an evil dragon, or I’ll personally make sure she meets the same fate as him.”
His face was terrifyingly dark, and the lanky merchant didn’t dare say more.
Though Richard was a paladin of Tyr, the god of justice, ordinary people didn’t need to fear he’d kill them on a whim.
But he was also a genius warrior, his strength and skill far beyond mortal limits.
The merchant hadn’t forgotten how Richard had just cleaved three bandits in half with a single swing and then smashed another with their corpses.
“Very well, since you have it under control,” the lanky merchant said.
“I have matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”
“Go about your business.”
Richard began picking up the letters scattered from the wagon, all meant for his fiancée, Sophia.
He had written many.
Part of it was regret for not traveling with her, as the dragon-slaying adventure had visibly dulled her enthusiasm for adventuring.
The other part was worry about her worsening congenital illness.
He had been wondering which letters to filter out, as Sophia had complained before that receiving too many at once was troublesome.
Bending in plate armor wasn’t easy, so Richard knelt on the wagon, picking up the letters one by one.
The air still carried a faint scent of dragon’s breath.
As he gathered the letters meant for his childhood friend Sophia, he couldn’t help but think of the troublesome Aurina.
Though she was naively wicked, she was undeniably cute, even if she inherited her father’s arrogance and was nearly impossible to tame.
But had he gone too far, getting angry and even thinking of hurting her to hide his secrets?
Reflecting on this, Richard began to feel guilty.
How could he have such thoughts, prioritizing his pride and reputation over someone’s life, over his own private secrets?
He sighed, missing Sophia even more.
She knew his secrets and never judged him for them, instead encouraging him.
Though he could tell she had some reservations, didn’t that just prove her kindness?
After gathering the letters, Richard muttered to himself, as if justifying his actions:
“She’s just too disobedient.”
After packing his bag, Richard noticed the disciplinary lines on a wooden bucket.
The handwriting wasn’t sloppy; though clearly written in haste, it had a unique style.
He counted—exactly fifty copies, just as he’d demanded.
Aurina was mischievous, but surprisingly, she remembered some of his words.
Richard tucked his journal close and ordered the caravan to move out, riding his warhorse alongside them.
As the wind rustled the branches by the roadside, he glanced toward the forest.
When a bird darted over the treetops, he whipped his head around to look.
The sun set in the west.
The caravan stopped, and the freed slaves began setting up pots to cook.
The lanky merchant approached again.
“Will the dragon come back?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“You should probably go look for her,” the merchant said.
“Like a cat—if it runs away and you don’t search for it, it really won’t come back.”
“If she’s gone, she’s gone,” Richard said, gazing at the sunset sky, which looked like paper stained with chili oil, dyed in red and yellow.
“But that’s a dragon,” the merchant said.
“Rumor has it many people want Aurina.
You’re lucky to have her.
If it were anyone else, they’d probably be dead by now.”
“She’s not mine,” Richard replied.
“If she wants to leave, let her.
She can take care of herself.”
Today, Richard didn’t have time to cook.
The group sampled the caravan’s “gourmet” food, with sentries keeping watch and others sleeping.
Late at night, before closing his eyes, Richard scanned the surroundings but saw no flash of red.
The next morning, he sensed someone approaching and snapped his eyes open.
In his groggy state, he saw a flash of red right in front of him.
He instantly perked up.
“Lord Paladin,” said a red-haired, freckled girl, “can I adventure with you? I can endure hardship, I swear.”
“First, take your hand off my blanket. Also, I suggest you don’t wear a heart-shaped cutout dress.”
“Sorry, but this is my last piece of clothing.”
“I recall everyone was given a set of regular clothes,” Richard said, used to people’s tendency to lie.
“Are you short on travel funds to get home?”
“They gave us travel money, but… I don’t want to go home. My hometown doesn’t welcome me,” the red-haired freckled girl said.
“I want to stay with you. I’ll do anything, even if you get tired of me and send me away. Just adventuring with you, watching your heroic figure in battle from behind—that’s the greatest reward for me.”
“Sorry, I have to refuse,” Richard said.
“I already have a fiancée, and I often fight in her name.”
The red-haired freckled girl said, “Sorry for disturbing you.”
That night, Aurina still didn’t return.
The lanky merchant said to a companion, “The dragon’s probably not coming back.”
“What a pity.”
“He lost his temper with the dragon.
Lord Richard, of all people, getting mad at such a cute child.
And after losing his temper, he didn’t even chain her up, so she ran off.”
Richard said nothing, continuing to read scriptures, pray, and practice his swordsmanship.
Before sleeping, he no longer scanned the surroundings.
In the end, this would just be a memory in his life.
Perhaps when he was old, toothless, and rocking in a creaky chair, he’d tell his grandchildren about his past.
In the vivid, colorful memories, he’d recall this vibrant chapter.
At most, his grandchildren would sigh that their grandfather missed his chance to be a dragon knight.
And that would be it.
With that, Richard fell asleep, sleeping soundly.
A soft, pale foot nudged his head.
Richard woke instantly, opening his eyes.
“Hey, strongest little insect,” Aurina said, hands on her hips, leaning down to look at him.
“Stop sleeping in.
The sun’s up.
Hurry and grill some meat for this king!”
Behind her were three wild boars, piled up.
Richard sat up, grabbed Aurina’s horn without a word, and dragged her toward the forest.
“Gah! What are you doing?”
“Spanking you,” Richard said.
“As promised.”
“Gah!”
Aurina rattled off a string of little-girl curses.
“I’m still a little girl! I’m just a kid, I don’t know better, just playing around! If you spank me, I’ll get dumb!”
But Richard kept dragging her.
The entire caravan was woken by Aurina’s “little-girl curses.”