The Golden Dragon Heart
“Shh. What I wanted to do with you… was more action than words.”
“My lady…?”
Sofia’s voice echoed in my ears. Her moist tone held me captive, as though her sticky saliva had bound my entire body.
—Swoosh…!
Declaring that she preferred action over words, Sofia suddenly pressed herself against me.
“So, would you please stay quiet? This is something no one must see or overhear. Just stay still.”
She urged me into silence, emphasizing that we must not be discovered. Sofia began carrying out her own secret plan.
‘She’s a vessel who serves the Primordial Dragon like a god—surely she wouldn’t attempt something like that right beside the temple?’
Clearly, the Sofia before me was different from usual. Her half-lidded eyes and softened gaze, even the expression that suggested she had set aside a bit of her reason.
—Rustle…!
Sofia’s hair brushed against my cheek. We were that close. A refreshing mint fragrance drifted from her radiant golden locks.
“……”
Had I become intoxicated by Sofia’s scent? My body refused to move as I wished. Even my lips wouldn’t budge. Tension had long since locked my limbs in place.
Come to think of it, something similar had happened at dawn. No—almost exactly the same thing.
‘Back then, too, I got swept up in the atmosphere and ended up pressing my lips to hers…’
—Hum…! Hum…!
The halo illuminating Sofia’s temples shifted from brilliant gold to a deep crimson. She must be excited right now as well. The color had changed at dawn, too.
More importantly, was she really about to kiss me again? At dawn she had claimed she was passing on her Dragon Heart and overlapped our lips for a long time. Back then there had been the pretext of the Dragon Heart—what excuse did she have now?
Perhaps her goal had simply been my lips all along.
“Ufu, are you nervous now? Even though you kissed me so deeply at dawn?”
“S-Sofia? Don’t tell me that ‘something to say’ was just an excuse—”
“No, it isn’t an excuse. There is still one more way to look into your past.”
Sofia, who had been staring intently at my chest, finally lifted her head and offered me a gentle smile—as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
“Oh? Is that true? What method is it?”
“It’s closely related to the act I tried to perform yesterday.”
“Huh…?”
Yet the answer that followed from Sofia was shocking. In the end, it required physical contact.
“But before that……”
Sofia, who had looked ready to shower me with a deep kiss at any moment, suddenly pulled back and glared sharply behind my back. The tender light in her eyes had vanished in an instant, replaced by a face full of wariness—even her halo had turned a vivid red.
Meeting Sofia’s gaze head-on right now might make me faint.
“Um, Sofia…?”
“Breeder, please stay exactly where you are.”
—Swoosh…!
With those words, Sofia suddenly yanked her right arm backward and raised it high, as though she were about to deliver a powerful smash.
—Smack!!!
Before I could even finish the thought, her arm shot forward with tremendous force. I thought she might strike my face, but of course that didn’t happen. Her arm brushed past my left cheek and slammed against the temple wall right behind my head.
A classic wall-slam, I suppose.
“…We had an uninvited guest.”
“What? An uninvited guest?”
Sofia muttered quietly, her expression still displeased. And for good reason.
—Nyoorurung……
When she withdrew her right arm from behind the wall, a pale wraith came along with it—squished into the shape of a cushion.
“M-My wraith?!”
“Nyorong… Nyururung……”
Somehow, Sofia was holding the wraith in her hand. It was probably thanks to the divine power passed down through her clan. Derke’s wraith looked thoroughly displeased by Sofia’s touch, its face all scrunched up.
“It seems Derke likes you quite a lot. To eavesdrop on her senior like this… That’s a bad habit.”
Sofia lifted the wraith with both hands like a cushion and muttered in amusement, then playfully poked its soft cheeks.
By the way, when had she attached that thing? One had still been clinging during dishwashing—had she stuck another one on me right before we returned? Judging by how wary she had been earlier, my guess was probably correct. She had attached it to me like a surveillance camera and GPS.
‘So that’s how she was able to find me instantly during the afternoon break.’
A Dragon Heart from Sofia around my neck, and Derke’s wraith on my back? I was being monitored by dragons in real time…?
“Now, be free from the bonds of fate and rest in peace.”
—Fwoooooosh!
Just as a slight chill ran down my spine at the thought of their obsessive attachment, Sofia radiated light from her palm while holding the wraith.
“—Nyororong…?!”
The wraith’s form gradually faded, as though it were being exorcised by the power of light. The already translucent spirit soon became completely transparent.
“Huh? What are you doing? Why the wraith from Derke…?”
“What do you mean? I simply used the Primordial Dragon’s authority to help a wandering spirit ascend to the afterlife.”
“Ascend to the afterlife?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to Derke, who governs death and souls, but being watched like that doesn’t feel very pleasant.”
Huh? Wasn’t that supposed to be my line?
“…Anyway, now that the uninvited guest is gone, shall we continue what we were doing?”
“Wait, before that, could you at least explain what you’re trying to—”
—Whoosh…!
“Huh? My lady…?!”
As if no explanation were necessary, Sofia suddenly pulled me into an embrace. Her spirit-filled chest pressed against me.
“Haa…♡ Breeder? I’ll keep it simple. If you accept my Dragon Heart, you’ll be able to share memories with me.”
She explained the details while pressing the remaining half of her beating heart against me.
“Share memories?”
“Yes. I might be able to remind you of the past you’ve completely forgotten. After all, I’m in a special relationship with you—we made a pact.”
“But Sofia? You saw it at dawn. I can’t accept a Dragon Heart.”
“No. That’s why I offered a solution, didn’t I?”
—Slide…!
With a firm voice, Sofia slipped her slender fingers inside my clothes.
“Haaht…?!”
The moment her soft touch traced up my abdomen, an embarrassing sound escaped my lips before I could stop it. It tickled. I was far too sensitive. Her gentle fingers continued upward, and I never expected them to stop at my solar plexus.
—Grab!
I watched to see what she would do next, and she seized the Dragon Heart hanging around my neck. I had assumed this was all preparation for that sort of thing.
Anyway……
—Snap…!
Sofia easily severed the tough stem of the Indragos attached to the Dragon Heart. She lifted her own Dragon Heart up to my eye level.
“…Yesterday I asked you to tell me if I matched your ideal type. I’m taking that back.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I spent the entire day avoiding you and only watching from afar, yet my chest hurt so much. It felt like the remaining half of my heart was being stabbed with a dagger. I never knew being apart for even a short while could hurt this badly.”
“Sofia? I actually have something to say about that—”
“No. If you’re going to push me away, please don’t say anything.”
—Slide……
Sofia pressed her index finger against my lips to stop any unnecessary concern. I hadn’t been planning to refuse her at all—in fact, I had wanted to convey my own feelings—but with her like this, I couldn’t open my mouth. Besides, it seemed she still had more to say.
“While I was praying today, I realized something. My feelings for you, Breeder, aren’t just consideration for others… They’re love mixed with personal desire.”
“……!”
Sofia’s sudden confession. She must have made up her mind during the day. She hadn’t been able to focus properly on her prayers, after all. Yesterday she had run away saying she didn’t understand her own heart, but now she stood facing me directly, looking straight into my eyes while holding her Dragon Heart in her palm.
“So please tell me now. What do you think of me, Breeder?”
“……”
“If you don’t truly care for me, I’ll pretend the Dragon Heart never existed. I can’t force it upon someone who doesn’t have genuine feelings for me……”
With those final words, Sofia removed her finger from my lips.
“S-Sofia?”
“Still, don’t worry too much. Even if we don’t form a love pact, the pact we already made won’t become void.”
After blurting out her confession, Sofia kept adding explanations, looking anxious—as though she feared rejection. Her head gradually lowered. The courage she had mustered was slowly evaporating.
I understood Sofia’s feelings clearly now. The only thing left was my decision. Hearing such a sincere confession only made my own resolve stronger.
—Lift…!
“Haaht…? B-Breeder?!”
To answer the sincerity Sofia had shown me, I hooked my finger under her chin and lifted it. Then……
—Chu……
Without another word, I pressed my lips to Sofia’s, the golden Dragon Heart cradled between them.