Happiness Even in Failure
“What? Heart?”
“Ung—! Derke’s heart……!”
Hearing Derke’s answer made my heart sink like a stone. Handing over more than half of her heart? Not even a human’s, but a dragon’s? Just imagining it was horrifying. It wasn’t some organ transplant, after all. Picturing a still-beating heart made my stomach churn. I already had trouble with liver or tripe, so……
“Ugh……”
“Oppa—? Are you okay, desu-yong…?”
“Cough—! Ah, it’s nothing. I just got a little dizzy for a second.”
I soothed myself while rubbing my queasy stomach. I usually enjoyed cooking for myself, but I had a weak stomach when it came to offal or raw food.
“It might be a side effect of the pact…! Derke can pat your back if it helps, desu-yong—?”
Seeing my poor complexion, Derke paced around me with an anxious expression, just like a worried puppy fretting over its owner. Her restless circling only made my dizziness worse.
“No, I’m really fine.”
“But still……”
—Grab!
I caught Derke by the waist as she scurried around me. It was my way of saying “stay still and just talk.”
“Kerrk—♪ Caught, desu-yong—!”
Derke dangled in the air, kicking her legs and laughing as if she had been tagged in a game of chase.
“That aside, Derke? What’s this about a heart all of a sudden? What do you mean?”
“Ung…! Heart! Normally the Dragon Heart should have transferred, desu-yong—!”
“Ah, Dragon Heart?”
She should have said that from the start. I got startled for nothing. Now I understood. Even though it meant the same thing, calling it a “heart” made it feel strangely eerie. But a Dragon Heart, huh……
I had seen the term in old novels or movies. Usually, a Dragon Heart held the essence of a dragon’s power. Just like the contract we had just made by offering our hearts. Depending on the original setting, a dragon’s heart could be used in countless ways.
‘Surely it doesn’t literally mean a still-beating heart as some kind of twist?’
The thought alone made nausea rise again.
“Hwet—? As expected, Oppa, your face still looks bad, desu-yong…!”
Derke met my eyes at my reaction. Still, watching her adorable response quickly calmed my stomach. Even if it really was a heart, Derke’s would probably be small, heart-shaped, and cute.
“Haha, I’m really okay now.”
“You look especially tired today, desu-yong……”
“Seeing your face made me feel better, really. By the way, that pact… did it form properly? You said the Dragon Heart didn’t transfer.”
“Derke doesn’t really know either, yap…! Didn’t Oppa feel anything special, desu-yong—?”
Derke landed on the ground and asked, her face filled with genuine worry since earlier.
“Hmm, I don’t know…? Like you said, I didn’t feel a heart transferring, but I’m sure the promise we made is properly in place.”
“That’s enough, desu-yong—! Maybe Derke is still too young for the heart to transfer, e-yap…!”
“Really? So it doesn’t matter much after all?”
“It’s fine, yap—! Derke just feels closer to Oppa now! That alone is enough, desu-yong—!”
Derke patted my shoulder reassuringly. Despite her small size, she felt surprisingly dependable at times. At the same time, the sight only made her look cuter.
“Yeah, you’re right. If that’s how you feel, then it’s fine.”
“Ungung…! Still, a pact is an important promise, so we have to keep it, desu-yong—!”
“Of course. Even without the pact, I would have kept any promise I made with you. So don’t worry too much.”
“Kyaha—♬ Oppa’s like that and Derke loves it so much—♡”
“Huh? Derke……?”
—Whoosh……!
Derke suddenly cheered and dove straight into my arms. For a moment I thought she had used some lightning-fast technique.
—Thud!
Her headbutt-like charge knocked me right back onto the floor. Watching her like this reminded me of a friendly golden retriever.
“Hehe—♪ It feels like Mom’s embrace, so nice, desu-yong! If Dad had been around, it probably would have felt like this, e-yap……”
“Derke……”
She clung to me like a koala, rubbing her cheek against mine. Just yesterday she had been sobbing in this same position, but now she wore a bright smile. How could she brighten up so much in just one day……?
A warm sense of pride filled my chest. All thanks to Gourmet Feeding. At first I had made desserts out of obligation, but now I felt a small sense of fulfillment. That was why I could keep making them with sincerity.
‘That said, something feels off according to what Derke said……?’
I couldn’t just bask in pride. Now that I had formed a pact with Derke, I needed to clarify anything that didn’t add up. If the Dragon Heart had to be transferred for the pact to complete, then the system message shouldn’t have appeared earlier. Yet it clearly said the pact had been established?
‘Check Pact.’
On impulse, I spoke the command. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I said it anyway. Come to think of it, this was the first time since checking the list of communion targets.
—Flash!
Contrary to my worries, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.
A contract possible with a communion target of worship stage or higher. A pledge made by handing over half of the Dragon Heart, the source of immense power, to the contractor. This promise remains valid until the contractor’s death. If the contract is broken or violated, both the contractor and the dragon cannot escape a terrible end.
Current Pact Target — Derke (Lv.201 / None)
Pact Details: The contractor Breeder and the Death Dragon Derke swear to keep each other’s secrets and do their best for one another until their fates are fulfilled.
‘Ooh……’
A fairly detailed explanation appeared. The actual content of the pact wasn’t much. It felt like a secrecy agreement. Anyway, the fact that the status window responded confirmed the pact had formed normally.
‘But why didn’t the Dragon Heart transfer?’
The status window clearly stated it: “A pledge made by handing over half of the Dragon Heart, the source of immense power, to the contractor.” Yet nothing had actually come to me.
“Ah, maybe?”
A sudden possibility occurred to me. This body… was it really a dragon? Maybe that was why, because we were the same species? Otherwise it wouldn’t make sense……
Just as I was starting to lean toward the idea that Breeder was a dragon, one fundamental contradiction nagged at me.
—Mom said it’s a very important promise you only make with someone precious, e-yap—! It’s a special promise that can only be made with someone who isn’t a dragon, desu-yong…!
Derke’s earlier words came back to me. She had said the pact could only be made with a different race. If that was true, the pact itself shouldn’t have been possible in the first place. A contradiction. A paradox. Unless… Breeder really wasn’t human after all? Then what about the Dragon Heart……?
‘Ah, I don’t know. My head hurts.’
My brain was overheating. My body was already tired, and now my mind was a mess too. I needed to stop thinking for a moment and cool my head.
“Sniff sniff…! Huh? But what’s this smell?”
While I was racking my brain, a sharp, acrid odor made my already foggy head spin even more. For a second I wondered if the smell was coming from my own overloaded brain.
“Uwek—? Where’s that burning smell coming from, e-yap…!”
“Burning smell? Ah, right! The cake……!”
—Leap!
I set Derke down and rushed straight to the oven. That was where the acrid smell originated. The cake, which had a small amount of expensive chocolate mixed in, was practically screaming to be taken out.
—Creaaak…!
When I yanked the oven door open in a hurry, sure enough……
—Puff puff puff……!
Black smoke billowed out. This was bad. It was completely burnt. Pulling open the iron door revealed a “twisted hellfire purgatory roasted cake” proudly displaying its pitch-black form inside. I had completely missed the timing to take it out while making the pact with Derke.
—Clatter, plop…!
After hurriedly removing what used to be a cake from the pan, it was nothing but a lump of charcoal. I wanted to believe the blackness came from the chocolate, but the state of the cake was too miserable to deny reality. It was almost impressive that it still somewhat retained its original shape.
“Haat—?! D-Don’t tell me Derke made you burn it, desu-yong……?”
Derke lowered her voice, looking guilty. Then she came closer and studied my expression, her emerald eyes trembling as if afraid I might get angry.
“No, it’s not because of you. You didn’t do it on purpose, right?”
“B-But……”
“I was just testing the recipe today anyway, so it’s fine. And maybe the inside is still okay.”
“Heet…?”
—Saw, slice!
I grabbed a bread knife right away and sawed the cake in half. The surface was so burnt that it felt like cutting stone. Still, the inside was……
“Hm? Look at this, Derke. The inside looks pretty decent, doesn’t it?”
“Heeet—? Really, desu-yong—!”
The inside of the cake was relatively fine. It had baked up nice and fluffy. Steam rose gently from the two halves.
—Swoosh, swish…!
I carefully cut out only the good parts, as delicately as if I were filleting sashimi. In the end, I only managed to salvage a piece the size of a fist. The yield loss was no joke—it wasn’t like deboning meat at a butcher shop.
“Here, you eat half.”
“E-Even though Derke made it burn……? Is it really okay to eat, desu-yong—?”
“Of course. You helped clean up and did a lot for me today, right? Besides, we’re bound by a pact now.”
“Hoaah…! I-If you say so, then thank you, Derke will eat it gratefully, e-yap—!”
Convinced by my words, Derke answered with a bright smile blooming across her face. Her simple, innocent reaction naturally brought a smile to my own lips.
“Yeah, it’s still hot so be careful when you eat—”
“Hap, munch munch munch…!”
Ignoring my warning, she immediately popped a piece of cake into her mouth. Ah, right—Derke was a dragon. Something this hot was probably nothing to her. Even as a hatchling, she was still a dragon, so she could breathe fire and……
“Huaaaaaak…?! H-Hot—!”
“Huh? Derke……?”
“Mmmph…! Water or milk, please, desu-yong!!”
“Pfft, that’s why I told you to be careful.”
“W-What’s so funny, desu-yong—? Hurry and give Derke some w… water……!!”
Honestly, her constant ability to exceed expectations with cuteness was going to be the death of me.