“An assassin?” Alice couldn’t help but hiss. Aldrynte visibly rolled her eyes, not happy that I had just told her almost everything. “That’s really bad, isn’t it?” she said.

“Yes, it’s very bad. Mostly because so many adventurers are already dead and nobody still has any idea who’s the culprit. All of this makes it really worrisome,” Aldrynte followed up.

We were all walking slowly away from the palace towards the exit of the castle. Our business was concluded, and to be honest, I just wanted to snooze off. The day was already too long.

“You need guards by your side, Hiro!” Alice said, looking at me, eyes showing worry.

I frowned. “None of the attacks has happened during the day,” I said it out. “So I feel rather safe during that time. I’ll be fine!”

“You mean any of the attacks you know of,” Aldrynte said, rolling her eyes once more. “You should have some kind of guards at least during the night.”

“Why are you so worried about me in the first place?” I asked, looking at Aldrynte. I was slightly irritated. Recently everything that I took part in really tried to screw with me.

“Excuse me?” Aldrynte said, stopping immediately. I stood still as well, looking back at her. “Are you saying that I can’t be worried? You’re being targeted by an assassin, dammit!”

“Well, you can, but why do you care?” I mumbled. “You’re only supposed to be an-” I stopped talking. It was something that Alice wasn’t supposed to know. But Aldrynte understood very well what I was about to say.

Aldrynte took one step closer to me. “Hiro… You’re my patron. You’re a fresh hero, who is a symbol to many. And you’re my friend?” She stepped even closer. “Maybe even more than a friend,” she whispered. She released a sigh. “And right now, you’re my party member. Isn’t it natural to be worried about you?”

Alice looked at us, slightly worried. She occasionally wanted to say something but didn’t know what to say. “Aldrynte has a point, you know?” she muttered.

“I can’t be protected at every moment, Aldrynte. I can’t hide, not forever,” I said. I leaned slightly forward. “Unless you’re planning to sleep in the same bed as me, I’m not going to be safe all the time,” I whispered jokingly.

Aldrynte sighed. “We’ll figure it out,” she said, walking past me. I looked at her for a moment and followed her.

For the remaining day, we went back to the campus and began to talk with the other teachers. We learned about the campus itself and discussed what my role as a teacher would be. For once, I was very aggressive with my wishes, making my lessons as special. The idea was that others were already teaching the more basic stuff, so I could choose what to teach. The truth, however, was a lot simpler than that; I really had no idea what to teach, so I needed some time.

So, finally, after a long day, I was going to my room which was separated from all the others. I had been there several times already. As I saw the door leading to my room, I was surprised. There were no guards in front of it. Immediately, my hand touched my sword’s belt, pulling the sword out, just slightly. I was now in full alert.

Sweat began to gather. Were the guards killed? There were supposed to be some guards. Why was it so quiet? Should I leave while I can? Was the assassin in there, waiting? No. An assassin wouldn’t make a mistake like that.

Slowly I walked towards my room, every step being as quiet as possible. I could feel my heart beating faster than normal. As I reached the door, I put my hand on the handle, slowly and quietly pulling the door open. My other hand still rested on the handle, not that it mattered that much. I would die either way.

“Hello there,” a sweet voice echoed throughout the room, straight from my bed. I recognized that voice immediately, which made me even more annoyed. I pushed my sword back into the sheath and stepped in, closing the door behind me, and locking it just in case.

I stopped in front of the bed, looking down at the person lying on it. “Aldrynte,” I said, trying to smile. She was under the blanket, seemingly all naked. “I feel weird asking this… but…”

“For my defense, it was all your idea,” she mumbled, slightly biting her finger. Never I would’ve imagined that I would find myself in such a situation like this; A dragon naked in my bed, waiting for my arrival. “Come on, I won’t bite!”

“Really?” I said, visibly facepalming. “You know that I was joking, right?”

“I know. But it was a great idea. Getting guards in front of your door is a straight giveaway. So, instead, I’ll keep the guard. With my senses, I’ll notice immediately if someone would try to assassinate you during your sleep.”

I opened my mouth a few times, then closed. I was speechless. One thing was certain, she used the situation for her advantage. “Aldrynte…”

“Come on. Are you really saying that you aren’t enjoying this?”

“Your cockiness is really annoying sometimes,” I said immediately, crossing my hands. She was, of course, absolutely right. I was enjoying this view.

“Come on. If I want to write poems and songs about you, I need to explore… every… part… of… you,” Aldrynte said slowly, pushing under the blanket one of her legs over the other. She then pulled her tongue over her lips, giving me a wink. “You know that I won’t leave! Not now that there aren’t any guards.”

“What are you trying to do here? Why are you like this?” I just asked the question.

She sighed. “I want you to see me. Lately, all your eyes have been on Alice. A small dragon can get jealous, Hiro,” she said, hiding her face slightly as if she was shy.

“Eeeeh?” I made a really weak sound, looking away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said in a way that even I didn’t believe myself.

Aldrynte began to giggle. “You’re so cute when you’re shy.” She finally pulled the blanket away, revealing a nightgown on her. For a moment, I was ready to see a lot more of her skin. Of course, nightgown made her still look very hot.

“I’m not that evil, Hiro.” She stood up, walking in front of me. I was still frozen. “I want our first time to be consensual,” she whispered into my ear.

“It’s very tempting,” I whispered back. Aldrynte slowly pushed her two arms around my neck, resting them there, looking into my eyes with her beautiful red dragon eyes. “But I don’t think that’s wise,” I said after a short pause.

“Wise?” Aldrynte asked, removing her arms and slowly unbuttoning my shirt. “I doubt it’s that. Is it because we are… very… very different?”

“You are a dragon, after all,” I whispered. “I’m merely a human that dies very soon.”

Aldrynte smirked. “I’m sorry to disappoint you then. But so am I… Kinda.”

“Ooh?” I whispered, raising my eyebrow.

“I’m a half-dragon and a half-human,” Aldrynte whispered, looking at me. I could read it from her face that it was a huge secret she normally wouldn’t share “Not that it matters in your perspective. I’ll still live at least a five to ten hundred years or more,” she said, sighing.

“That’s a lot less than most dragons, right?” I said.

“A lot,” she said, nodding. It made sense. She had been a kid a mere hundred years ago, and now she was an adult. In dragon years, would one grow that much in a mere century?

“So, your father…?”

“The previous hero,” she whispered. “We weren’t kidding when we said that we like heroes… a lot.” She chuckled. “But it was a secret. I was a secret.”

My eyes had widened a bit. This was surprising. I hadn’t expected any of that. “That’s… intriguing.”

Aldrynte finally unbuttoned the last button on my shirt, almost like avoiding my stare. “Long time ago it would’ve been treason to dirty the dragon’s bloodline like that.”

“It isn’t anymore?” I asked, slowly pushing some of her bangs away from her eyes, so she could look at me. And she did look at me.

“Our tribe got banished for making the contract with the four other races. We believed that we could work with others, while the other elder dragons did not. So, now we have to hide in societies so the other dragons wouldn’t kill us. So, it really doesn’t matter what my tribe did.”

“That’s awful,” I said, slowly pushing my hand against her cheek. It was a weird situation.

She nodded. “It’s very awful.” Then a slight giggle appeared on her face. “So we have to make sure that we won’t go extinct.”

I nodded, very slowly.

“And as a hero, isn’t that your responsibility to make sure there’s always an observer in the council?” she asked, slowly pulling my shirt away.

“Maybe,” I whispered, letting her remove my shirt. As she had finished doing so, my hand landed on her cheek once more, moving slowly on her neck. Her skin was soft but slightly warmer than I had expected. Her eyes were fixed on mine.

I moved my face slightly closer to Aldrynte’s, as her body leaned against mine. Her look was fixated on my stare. Now that we were close like that, she was slightly shorter than me, but not too short.

Elbert’s whispers echoed in my ear once more, reminding me that it was fine to have fun and enjoy life. It was fine. In the end, I’m only a human with some needs? In the end, she also wants me, right?

I leaned even more forward, lips almost touching hers. I could feel her breath touching my skin. I wanted her. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to do a lot more than just kiss her.

Even closer. Almost there.

And then I pushed my lips against hers. They were soft. They were sweet. They were addicting. But it would only last for a moment, only for a second, before she pulled her lips away, smiling at me.

“You’re scary,” I whispered, looking at her. I found one of my arms around her waist, while my other hand was holding her other waist. “It feels like I’m a string around your finger. Whenever you’re around, I feel attached to you. Why? Tell me why! I need to know why!”

Aldrynte leaned even more against me, her hands raising, resting behind my neck. Her red eyes were looking at mine.

“I could ask you the same,” she mumbled.

And then she pushed her lips on mine once more. I could only respond and kiss her back. It was nice in every way. It was as we had wanted to do it for a long time, but were forcefully holding it back. I wanted to do it forever.

And yet I didn’t feel like it was something final, or that I was tied to her. It was just a moment where I couldn’t resist her beauty. It was just something we had both wanted. And why should I resist, when someone is like that, inviting?

We stopped kissing once more. It was she who pulled away once more, taking also a few steps back, giving me her perfect smile. “Now, let’s go to sleep. We have still a lot to do,” she whispered, giving me a wink and walking towards her bedside.

I could still feel her lips on mine. I could still feel her burning tongue. Was it burning because she was a dragon, or was it because it was just that… great? I only know that it was great.

But I wasn’t sure since it was my first. It was weird to think that my first kiss was with a dragon. It didn’t make any sense. But I began to remove most of my clothing, walking straight towards the other side of the bed. And for now, I didn’t mind her sleeping next to me at all. I mean, why would I mind?