I Almost Got Eaten Alive
Isaac Havertz blinked hard as the terrifying green eyes of Tiamat, the Green Dragon, locked onto him. It was no joke. He had nearly been devoured—swallowed whole—by those predatory slitted pupils that had narrowed to slits the moment he stepped into the greenhouse.
“……Hoo.”
He managed to calm her down just enough to steer her onto the bench. Dabbing sweat from his brow, he repeated the warning with the calm precision of a man who knew better.
“Do you understand, Tia? As I said before, I have no intention of sharing a bed with you. So please, don’t attempt to climb on me again.”
“Hah, but Isaac……”
“Hah.”
Isaac cut her off sharply before she could finish the sentence, her lips still trembling with the remnants of that clingy persistence.
Tiamat shuddered at the low, commanding tone of his voice, yet her eyes still burned with refusal. He deliberately averted his gaze from that stubborn spark.
……This was dangerous.
It had been dangerous—dangerous enough that he could barely think straight. The moment she had pressed herself against him, his own composure had nearly shattered. Physical union might have been recoverable with Charlotte, but this… this was something else entirely.
Her purpose was not desire. It was reproduction. A certain level of affection was there, yes, but the transaction was clear: intimacy and the offspring that would follow from it. If he gave in to lust and they conceived a half-dragon child…
Both the dark fate of Lotte and the responsibility of a child he was not yet ready to face stared him down. He had no time for that. He had too much at stake.
Just a plausible excuse was all he needed. Beyond the marriage refusal, he required something more.
“……Tia.”
He chose his words carefully, voice still formal, and delivered the lie he had just invented.
“I do not share a bed with women who do not have affection for me.”
“E-Eh……?”
“Do you see? A woman who approaches with ulterior motives like you would be awkward to share a room with, even for me.”
Tiamat looked utterly stunned. It was not mere embarrassment; it was a stunned, almost bewildered reaction that made her tilt her head. She opened and closed her mouth several times before finally extending a single finger and pointing straight at his face.
“But……! You yourself said that young people these days live such a wild and free sexual life, didn’t you?”
“……”
Isaac’s mind blanked for a second.
“Ah.”
“You’re telling me you’re not included in that group? Then what? Why did you ask me to serve you with my mouth?”
“……”
“You…… surely you wouldn’t mean……”
He watched the exact moment her eyes widened, already wondering if he had tricked her. He cut her off before the question could leave her lips.
“That was not the case. Every noble lady I have shared a bed with before you has done so because she felt genuine affection for me.”
“……Eh?”
“They all clung to me because they wanted me. Naturally, there was affection involved.”
Affection or not, the only noble lady he had ever shared a bed with had been Charlotte Havertz, but that detail was irrelevant right now. He used the flush that spread across Tiamat’s cheeks to press the advantage.
“You are not like that. From the very beginning, your goal was reproduction. How could I possibly accept that?”
“E-Eh…….”
Tiamat stammered, her voice faltering. Her lips quivered, but she found no words to protest. Instead, she puffed out her cheeks in a way that looked almost ready to cry, muttering something small and petulant under her breath.
“I never once told you I disliked you…….”
“……”
“Rather than that… rather than that… heh.”
She fiddled with the hem of her sleeve, unable to finish the sentence. Isaac guessed the rest well enough and kept quiet.
For a moment, the heat of her gaze made his heart stir, but he forced it down. He regained his composure in an instant and drove the nail home one final time.
“……In any case, I have made myself perfectly clear. Do not try to climb on me again.”
“Hmph……”
“Hmph? What kind of hmph is that from someone who is old enough to know better?”
“D-Don’t tease me about my age……!”
Tiamat raised her voice just a little, then immediately pouted and let out a long sigh.
“Fine. I get it. I understand your intention perfectly. So can you stop being so cautious? After all, we’ve already shared flesh… there’s no need to keep so much distance between us.”
“……Mm.”
Isaac scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward. He could hardly continue the wary stance after she had said something so forward.
Still, she had said it. She would not try to force herself on him again.
He nodded. “Understood, Tia. I apologize.”
“……Hmph.”
With his apology delivered, Tiamat crossed her arms and turned her head away with a sharp huff. Isaac had to fight hard to keep the twitch from his lips.
Don’t think you’re cute. Don’t think you’re cute…
He repeated the mantra in his mind. Above all, do not think that green lizard is cute, Isaac Havertz.
If he did, the relationship would only grow more complicated. He had to suppress those thoughts and keep his patience intact.
“……For now, I’ll head back. My companions are waiting.”
He made a cautious yet firm exit from the greenhouse, glancing back only once. Tiamat’s displeased expression followed him.
“Must you leave so quickly? We hadn’t even had a single cup of tea yet.”
“……”
Isaac gave her an incredulous look. Tiamat, reading the emotion on his face, embarrassedly twisted a strand of her hair.
“Fine. Whatever. Anyway, I’ll head back for now.”
“……Yes, I’ll leave right away.”
The moment permission was given, he turned on his heel and left. He had to avoid any sudden change of heart.
“……”
Yet Tiamat stared at his back with a strangely satisfied glint as he walked away from the greenhouse……
“Wait a moment, Isaac.”
Her voice dropped low as she called his name.
Isaac sighed inwardly.
I knew this would happen.
But what could he do? She was the one in the superior position, and he carried a debt for how violently he had behaved earlier.
“Why do you call for me, Tia?”
He turned back and answered.
Tiamat asked him with apparent indifference.
“Douglas.”
“……”
“How…… did he die at the very end?”
Isaac did not answer immediately. He turned his body back toward the door and faced her again, meeting her gaze head-on. He wanted to see her true intent, to pierce straight through her hidden agenda.
“……Why are you asking that? Tia.”
If even one word that could not be forgiven passed between them right now, their relationship would become irreparable.
He hoped nothing like that would happen. After all, he had already shared flesh with her once. The last thing he wanted was to add mutual, inescapable hatred to that bond.
Yet Tiamat looked at him with a strangely bitter expression and answered.
“You don’t have to be so rigid. I’m simply curious about the last moments of that man…… Douglas Havertz.”
Isaac frowned. “What do you mean……”
“That man actually attended the academy too.”
“……”
“He was my student.”
Tiamat neatly straightened her clothes and looked up at the hazy glass ceiling. Blue sky streamed through the translucent panels, bright and clear.
“I did teach him magic for a short while…… but I’m not defending him. He had clearly gone astray a lot after growing up.”
“……I see.”
“Yes. As his former teacher, I was simply curious about his final days. If you don’t want to tell me, I will respect that wish.”
“He died horribly.”
“……”
Isaac answered at once, and Tiamat’s bitter expression deepened further.
“……I made it that way with my own hands. He committed a sin he should never have committed.”
“……I see.”
Tiamat nodded. Her light-green eyes, fixed on him, held a trace of sorrow somewhere in their depths, yet Isaac understood that it was not directed at Douglas.
She only gave him two words.
“You worked hard, Isaac.”
“……”
“You must have had it tough all alone.”
……For some reason, a sharp pain pierced his chest.
Isaac ruffled his hair and replied.
“Indeed. I’ll see you again at the academy, Principal.”
“Call me Tia.”
“When it’s just the two of us, I do.”
He wasn’t sure it would happen again, but for now, he smiled faintly and left the greenhouse.
When he finally stepped out of the academy and returned to the bustling city of Haendel……
“……What?”
Isaac stared at the scene of a wooden building blazing fiercely.
Right in front of the familiar blue-roofed structure, on the third floor……
—North, behind the blue roof, on the third floor of a building.
—There seems to be a single mouse.
—Can it be dealt with unnaturally?
“……Mm.”
Isaac instinctively touched his forehead. He remembered. Even though much of the building had burned down, he still recognized it instantly. The very building that had caused the commotion.
He had hoped nothing would happen……
“Hah.”
It seemed his disciple had once again turned things up to eleven.
WHOOOOSH……!
A surge of mana rippled through the air. In his palm, a whip of water-like light had already materialized.
Chastisement was clearly in order.