Sigmund, who had been trying to bury Heinz in the ground with his cat paw, perked up his ears. Heinz did not miss the opportunity and quickly pushed Sigmund, who was pressing down on his face, away.
As he looked at the small black kitten staring up at him intently, Heinz made a vow.
“If I ever loiter around cats again, I’m no dark wizard. I’m a white wizard—or no, a cleric. A cleric!”
At the same time, he suddenly flinched at the thought of himself walking the path of a cleric. Perhaps being oppressed by a lizard disguised as a cat had made him yearn for pure cats. He wanted to build a cat kingdom with a cat tower as grand as the Mage Tower.
“Romiya, don’t you love her?”
In any case, that was that, and now he had to pick up the spilled water. He had to pacify Sigmund to get through this crisis.
He decided to completely abandon the idea of renewing the contract with Sigmund.
Rather than endure that filthy temper and clean up his messes, it was better to become a great Cat Daddy.
“What nonsense are you spouting again?”
“Do you think Romiya loves you too, Sig?”
The yellow irises of the cat dangerously narrowed.
“Meow! (I’d rather die!)”
Sigmund tried to kill Heinz, but the kitten’s arms were too short. Heinz, who had long since secured a safe distance with his outstretched arms, quickly continued.
“Listen to what I have to say first. I know you two were married in the past! I know you were passionately in love! But what about this life?”
“Hisssss!”
“To be blunt, Romiya doesn’t have any memories of that. You’re the one who brought her to the mortal realm without her knowing anything!”
“…”
“Romiya’s preferences might have changed, don’t you think? Isn’t it unfair to not give her a chance to meet other men? She should make a proper comparison before making a decision! Ouch! My hand!”
Sigmund, who had been flailing with his short legs, now began to bite Heinz’s hand. It hurt so much he could cry, but Heinz endured.
If he let go, true hell would unfold.
On the brink of being eaten alive by a kitten, he shouted desperately.
“That’s why I’m saying to confirm it in the form of a cat! I turned you into a cat for your sake, Sigmund!”
—
In short, Heinz’s nonsense could be summarized like this:
It was true that Romiya had loved Sigmund in the past.
However, that didn’t necessarily mean she still loved him now.
Concluding that Romiya would obviously love Sigmund and dragging her to the mortal realm was a selfish choice!
Sigmund was seething with anger. If he weren’t stuck in the form of a damned cat, he would have sealed Heinz in the transcendent world forever.
But at the same time…
He hesitated at Heinz’s words.
Though he didn’t show it.
Heinz’s remarks, surprisingly, touched upon a tiny insecurity that Sigmund had secretly harbored all along.
Sigmund had loved Romiya his entire life. His love was so deep that he even turned back time to protect her descendants.
While he did not doubt Romiya’s affection, when weighing her feelings against his own, his side of the scale always seemed heavier.
It wasn’t that he felt resentful for being loved less. This was simply natural, given that a dragon’s time and a human’s time were different.
In fact, Romiya was an irreplaceable existence for him. She was the only being who had changed his long and monotonous life. On the other hand, even if she hadn’t met him, Romiya would have found a partner. She was dazzlingly lovable, after all.
Sigmund had long ago accepted the inequality of this affection with humility.
However, acknowledging it in his mind and not feeling insecure about it were two separate matters.
Romiya, who had been granted a second life and returned, seemed undeniably happy.
Even so, Sigmund sometimes wondered if he had stolen Romiya’s opportunities from her.
Of course, even if he could turn back time a hundred or a thousand times, he would make the same choice.
But he didn’t know what Romiya thought.
“Sig, your personality is really terrible, you know. What if Romiya only puts up with you because she’s walking on eggshells? That’s why I’m saying you should check in the form of a cat. It’ll only take a moment!”
Sigmund was a mighty dragon, but love was still overwhelming and difficult for him. In a lifetime of carrying that difficult love, he had learned one thing:
Love is power.
And in a relationship, the one who loves more is the weaker party. No matter how great his strength was, in front of Romiya, he could only ever be the weaker one.
Moreover, the weaker one was inevitably pitiful. Just like that moment long ago when he confessed his feelings to Romiya.
‘This is the worst. The absolute worst!’
In the end, the pathetic side of him that he had kept hidden ever since Romiya’s return came out.
Before he realized it, he was following behind the triumphant Heinz with a dejected look.
As much as he hated to admit it, Heinz had hit the nail on the head.
‘What if Romiya feels disappointed?’
With his short cat legs dragging along, Sigmund drooped his ears weakly. Trying to approach his lover in the form of a cat because he wasn’t confident in her love—what a pitiful sight. It was unthinkable for a dragon, no, even for a human, it was the height of patheticness.
‘But perhaps it is necessary to confirm it, just once. What if I really forced my choice on Romiya? What if I should have given her a chance to choose?’
After Romiya left, he spent long years among humans. He saw countless human relationships. Among them was a couple who cherished and loved each other as much as he and Romiya did.
“Do you think I’d marry this person again if I were reborn? Oh dear, who knows? I may be stuck with him in this life, but who can say about the next? Meeting the same person over and over gets dull, doesn’t it? You need to meet new people too.”
“Hah! Look who’s talking!”
The old couple laughed in perfect harmony, just as one would expect from a married pair. Sigmund, who was sure he would follow Romiya in every life, couldn’t fully understand their sentiments. He could only vaguely sense that dragons and humans were different.
‘Romiya is human too…’
The mere thought that Romiya might desire someone else caused a sharp, splitting pain in Sigmund’s heart.
It was so unbearable that he wanted to bury Heinz, who had forced him to confront his patheticness, deep in the sea forever.
“Oh! There she is!”
Oblivious to whatever plans Sigmund was forming in his head, Heinz was grinning from ear to ear. Sigmund lifted his eyes gloomily.
“Come on, let’s go. It’ll be easier for you to express your true feelings with a cat around to comfort you.”
Heinz’s plan was simple. He would transform into a child and approach Romiya to ask about Sigmund. It was an odd strategy, but not entirely unheard of.
Romiya was a famous figure in the city of Genos, largely thanks to her being known as Sigmund’s lover. She often received curious and affectionate attention from people.
Heinz intended to disguise himself as one of those admirers and ask about Sigmund—questions like what she found so appealing about him, for instance.
“Why are you just standing there? Don’t tell me you’re giving up after coming all this way?”
Heinz grinned slyly.
“Earlier, you were so confident about Romiya’s affection. I knew it—my suspicions were right. See? You should’ve listened to me from the start. Issues like these are best addressed as soon as possible. What if Romiya has been tiptoeing around you all this time…? Ack! Where are you going?!”
Sigmund couldn’t take it anymore after listening to Heinz’s words and finally snapped.
Without giving anyone a chance to stop him, he bolted toward Romiya like a shot.
‘I’m done with this madness!’
Romiya, succumbing to a dragon’s power and tiptoeing around him? Becoming his lover without any choice because of her lost memories?
‘So what?!’
Honestly, what difference did it make?
He still loved Romiya, would love her until the end of his days, and would do anything to win her love.
He’d refine macaron fillings to suit her taste and bake red velvet cakes. Let the other dragons gossip about how he was a disgrace to dragons—it didn’t matter.
He’d do anything!
He had waited so long—did they think he’d just let her go?
Not a chance!
‘Is digging your own grave a genetic trait of the Genos bloodline?’
As he wrestled with his insecurities about shrinking before love, his descendants naturally came to mind.
Julios. That impressive fool had been stuck in unrequited love for years, unable to express his feelings.
Overwhelmed, Sigmund resolved to return to his human form and give Julios an earful.
Stop digging your own grave!
Of course, that scolding was also a message to himself.
“Oh my, it’s a cat?”
Right then, Romiya spotted Sigmund.
Sigmund, who had been prepared to confess his latest bout of patheticness and plead for affection, froze.
Because on Romiya’s face was an indescribably radiant smile.
“So cute!”
The happiness in her exclamation was so vivid that Sigmund’s heart sank.
“Where’s your mom? Are you alone?”
Romiya knelt on one knee, her smile warm and gentle.
He should have told her that dragons don’t have mothers, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Hesitating, the mighty dragon finally let out a timid sound.
“…Meow.”
Then, as pathetically as possible, he reached out with his black paw and clutched the hem of Romiya’s skirt.
His golden eyes shimmered with tears, and his ears twitched delicately. To Romiya, it looked exactly like this:
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