What Does That Evil Dragon Live For?

“At that time, thanks to Lord Rabes who told me to wake up, I was able to remember L’Arch’s real face.”

[Real face?] 

“yes. I’m sure that he is doing that now because he has an ulterior motive. To L’Arch, I am just an asset that will be useful someday.”

Hearing this, Rabes, who was pondering something, asked abruptly.

[Perhaps, Is he the one who pushed you into my cave?] 

“The person who recommended me as a sacrifice was someone else, but it’s true that I became a sacrifice because uncle and L’Arch agreed.”

[Hah, really, I haven’t lived long, but I see all kinds of this. I’ve heard somewhere that humans treat their child as property, but he is not your uncle and you are not his child, right?] 

“Because I belonged to the Count Newt family.”

Elaine, who had answered self-deprecatingly up to that point, suddenly became angry. 

“Why am I the property of this family? why is he doing this to me?” 

‘The reality of things that I had taken for granted in my previous life now came to me clearly. Something was very wrong with this.’

Whether it was Rubaine or L’Arch, they could hardly be called her guardians. Far from being a guardian, they were the ones who abused and exploited her the most.

“As expected, I must cut ties with this family.”

[I thought you were an idiot, but your head seems to be working properly.] 

“Why am I an idiot?”

[Because you keep trying to go back the long way instead of the short way.] 

“That’s because it’s different from that.”

[What is different? Shall I catch any of these empire bastards and give them my strength? Do you want to bet what he will choose?] 

Elaine couldn’t answer that question.

As Rabes said, most people would easily fall for the dragon’s temptation, and in fact, Elaine was not immune to Rabes’ temptation.

Several times a day, she had thoughts of wanting to destroy the entire Newt mansion, and she knew that with the power she had now, it was possible.

However, whenever she was shaken by such temptation, she felt an inexplicable resistance.

The conviction that revenge to kill and destroy all would be futile, so something like a strong thought that someone should never do such a thing.

‘I don’t know if it was the effect of my long temple life or if it was because I was a coward.’

“Lord Rabes,…You’ve killed a lot of humans, haven’t you?” 

[yes.] 

“That’s…Did you feel good?”

[Rather than feeling good about killing humans, it felt good to be able to do what my contractor wanted.] 

“Did Lord Rabes’s contractor beg Rabes to kill so many people?” 

[Yes. He killed them himself.] 

A person who wished for a ‘slaughter’ that she couldn’t even think of. 

Elaine imagined that person and said categorically.

“That person must have been broken somewhere.”

Then, Rabes stared at Elaine with strangely shining eyes and asked. 

[You think so?] 

“yes. I’m sure.”

[okay? I mean…?Hmm…So where is that broken?] 

Elaine answered, placing her finger in the middle of her chest.

“Here. Maybe that person is broken here.” 

Rabes looked at Elaine without saying anything.

Elaine and Lancer, the only contractor in his entire life…

‘As Elaine affirmed herself, was Lancer really a human with a broken heart?’

‘Lancer sometimes made a terrifyingly expressionless face or stared somewhere with eyes that seemed to have drained her soul, but when she looked at me, she was always the sweetest and most lovely human being in the world…’

‘Could it be that Lancer didn’t believe in me and betrayed me because her heart was broken?’

‘But I gave her my most important thing, did you still not trust me? why? There was never a moment I didn’t trust her!’ 

The question he had been pondering for 500 years, the thought that had finally scarred him, throbbed once more.

“Rabes? Are you okay?”

Perhaps she had been looking at Elaine for too long, Elaine tilted her head and reached out to Rabes.

Her thin but warm hand wrapped around Rabes’s cheek, and Rabes closed his eyes and felt the warmth of her hand.

They hadn’t had much contact like this, as Lancer had both revered and struggled with Rabes.

‘Lancer didn’t touch me like this, so I couldn’t imagine being hugged or kissed.’

So it wasn’t until he met Elaine that he realized that this kind of contact was quite pleasant. 

‘Is it because I’m not close to Lancer, so she didn’t do this?’ 

Thinking about that made him feel sad.

‘It seems to mean that I have never been accepted by the first human I saw after waking up from an egg and the only one I had affection for…’

“Lord Rabes. You seem to be in a bad mood for some reason.”

 [Give me a hug…] 

Elaine was a little surprised by Rabes’ sudden request, but she didn’t reject him and gently hugged him.

[Stroke my head and my back.]

Elaine obediently stroked Rabes’ hair, then gently stroked the spiky, scaly spine.

The scales that had stood upright lay flat, welcoming her touch.

She couldn’t tell why Rabes was suddenly like this, but she could sense the sadness he was feeling.

[Hmm…Can you kiss me?] 

Elaine smiled slightly at Rabes, who seemed somewhat hesitant this time and kissed him on the forehead and cheek.

Rabes’ body trembled slightly, and Elaine hugged him tighter. 

[you… do you think we are close?] 

“Sure.”

[Do you do this to others? Even if they are not human. It seems that humans can do this to dogs and cats.] 

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t even allowed to own dogs or cats.” 

[So, am I the first?] 

“Well, this is the first time since my mother.”

Rabes, who had buried his face in the nape of Elaine’s neck, lifted her head. His eyes met Elaine’s, and there was a hint of desperation in them.

[Since your mother is dead, then…I’m the only one you have now, right?] 

“Yes. Lord Rabes is my favorite being in the world.” 

[Really?]

“yes! Really. You know how I lived, now you know it roughly. Is there anyone around me that I would like more than Rabes?”

Rabes’s expression, which had been wrapped in anxiety, gradually relaxed. 

‘This girl is different from Lancer. Maybe it’s because she is a bit stupid.’ 

‘In that case, it would be better to remain stupid.’ Rabes thought that. 

On the other hand, L’Arch’s changed attitude toward Elaine bothered him. 

Elaine from her previous life was the only human he had ever cared for.

‘I will not tolerate any human coveting what is mine, and this time I will make sure!’ 

Rabes’s eyes shone coldly.

* * * 

“good night.”

[okay. Good night.] 

Elaine, who had been chatting with Rabes since the sun went down, yawned and crawled into the blanket as the moon rose in the middle of the night sky.

It was a later bedtime than usual, but Rabes was still disappointed.

‘I want to know more about this girl.’

‘Even when I was with Lancers, I was always curious about Lancers. But she had few words, and she didn’t speak her mind at all.’

However, Elaine willingly talked about her life, thoughts, and feelings, it’s always interesting for Rabes to get to know her in a new way.

One of the things that became clear today was that Elaine is not as stupid as he thinks. 

‘I still didn’t understand why she refused to use my powers if she wasn’t stupid, but if we kept talking like this, maybe I’d find out why…’

‘I take back what I said about her being less interesting than Lancers.’ 

Rabes thought next to Elaine, who fell asleep quickly.

‘I don’t know how different it was from Lancer’s life, but Elaine was similar to Lancer, but also different.’

Not only was she abused in this damn family, she didn’t seem to have been treated very well in the temple, and she didn’t show a shady face like Lancer.

‘Is it because you’re repeating the life you’ve experienced once? What does it mean to say that the experience of working in a poor kitchen in your previous life is helpful? I think it’s a food service center, does it strengthen your mental strength?’ 

He doesn’t know what caused it, but Elaine was very strong.

Every time the little demons in this family harassed Elaine, Rabes burst into anger, but it was also good to see Elaine’s expression as she steadfastly fought back each time.

He might have wanted to see a Lancer with this expression 500 years ago.

‘Hmm…It still has a weird face.’ 

Rabes, who was looking at Elaine’s face while comparing Lancers and Elaine, tilted his head and turned a somersault

And in its place, a beautiful man with shiny black hair and cold blue eyes appeared.

‘Would it look less strange if it changed into the same human form?’ 

After a long time of transformation, Rabes moved his body awkwardly.

‘Humans’ bodies are unnecessarily long. I can’t even run on all fours, so I’m just slow. My fingernails are also very weak. I’m sure I won’t be able to kill a rabbit to death with this.’

‘Well, that’s why they’re making swords to use as weapons. In the first place, if their claws were strong, there would be no need to create such cumbersome things.’

While looking at his fingernails with such thoughts, Rabes turned his head and looked down at Elaine.

* * *