I Raised A Black Dragon

“I don’t have anything to say to you.”

“You should know why you’re here.” Kyle sighed and loosened his grip on Noah. His hand, which wandered near her shoulders awkwardly, eventually fell to her back, and began to pat softly.

At his embrace, Noah was somehow scared of the familiarity. There was only one person in the world who knew Park Noah other than Muell, and if Kyle didn’t take her side… Noah didn’t even want to think about it.

She didn’t even want to make such an assumption. The damn butler didn’t even know a grain of his master’s unstable state of mind.  

“I was wrong. I thought you would be alright.” Kyle sighed over Noah’s head.

Look at me, you don’t know! Noah spat out incomprehensible words, holding back tears and hiccups. “Betrayal, uh, betrayal, this. I’m just a regular… Ugh.”

“Yes, an ordinary person. I forgot for a moment. I should’ve told you beforehand, but I didn’t have the time.”

“I’ve never even been inside that Imperial Palace…” 

“Of course. How would you get in there? I just needed a statement to be sent to my superiors right now, so I made a plausible alibi. It’s okay. It’s no big deal.”

Kyle’s black shirt was soaked with tears. There were hundreds of things that swirled in Noah’s head, but there were only a few she managed to sputter. 

“Lenia, release… You’re trying to get rid of me instead, you son of a b*tch…”

Kyle managed to understand and answered right away. “It’s not like that. This is driving me crazy. Why are you so imaginative about this?”

“Then why are you putting the blame on me!”

“It’s a long story. If you stop crying, I’ll tell you. Please stop. Why did this suddenly happen to the one who came down bravely at the bottom of the ship?”

The gentle strokes on Noah’s hair pacified her emotions, her breathing gradually becoming regular. However, her temper immediately flared at Kyle’s ignorant murmur.

“I’ve put away everything that’s really dangerous… No weapons here.”

Shut up, you son of a b*tch! I’m just scared of the prison itself!

Kyle laughed as Noah punched him in the shoulder, forgetting to cry. “You’re still alive.”

“If you keep talking, the next is your stomach.” 

“No thanks.”

When her tears finally stopped, Kyle held her shoulders and leaned back slightly, looking at her face. Noah snorted and glared at him.

When she first started to cry, she was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do, but now she was laughing. Kyle  laughed along as he wiped the tears under her eyes with his thumb. “Since when have you had so many tears?”

“…Cry more? Would you like to drown in a woman’s tears today?” Noah’s nose was so stuffy that an unpleasant nasal sound came out. Kyle looked kind of pitiful, raising her chin a little and wiped her cheeks with a handkerchief.

“That’s a cute threat. But I know that was the last of it.”

“……”

“Anyway, it’s really… If you’re surprised, you should’ve told me right away. I thought it was okay because the tape recorders were turned off.”

“Do you think I’m insensitive to everything? I want you to treat me with care. You’re disqualified as a butler.”

“That’s good news. Blow your nose, too.” 

Noah looked at him, proudly blowing her nose into Kyle’s handkerchief. Since she fell into their world, Noah had shed tears only twice: when Kyle pointed a gun at her and now. 

Come to think of it, it’s both because of this guy?

Noah narrowed her eyes and warned Kyle. “Don’t make me cry again. If you surprise me one more time, I’ll treat you as the main culprit for disturbing my peace and rest. I’m going to sign you as my real butler for life.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind. Look at me. Raise your head.” As if he wasn’t satisfied yet, Kyle cupped her cheeks and scrutinized her face. In Noah’s perspective, he seemed to be assessing the messiness of her appearance. 

She opened her squished mouth and asked in a hurry. “What happened to Lenia?”

“That’s a bit of a hassle.” Kyle sat her in a chair and seated across her, after he had decided she was a little clean and presentable now.

The light expression he had a while ago disappeared, and with a slightly nervous look on his face, he gave Noah a piece of statement. It belonged to Lenia.

“Lenia Valtalere refused to confess. Somehow, when we were on the ship, she never opened her mouth. She was completely consistent.”