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Chapter 209
But it was difficult precisely because he couldn’t tell what Leto was thinking. In that regard, he did seem to take after Kinain.
“Lord Leto, where are you?”
He’d searched the entire first floor, but Leto was nowhere to be seen.
‘On the second floor again?’
Just as he’d finished climbing the stairs, what he heard was a strange sound — deurureuk.
At the unfamiliar sound, heard here for the first time, the fur on his tail stood on end.
“Lo-Lord Leto?”
He called once more, looking around, but there wasn’t even a shadow of Leto. Jet swallowed dryly at the inexplicable tension and slowly approached where the sound had come from.
Then a strong force yanked Jet backward.
Startled, he turned his head and saw Leto holding the hem of his clothes.
With an expressionless face that gave no hint of what he was thinking staring up at Jet, at last his small lips moved.
“No.”
It was the first time hearing Leto’s voice — clear and pure like a child’s, yet somehow with an eerie feeling to it.
Even after following Leto down to the first floor as if enchanted, the tension didn’t ease for a long time.
‘What was that just now?’
Jet shook his head, stroking his still-bristling tail.
‘No, no. Let’s not think about it any further.’
He was curious what the sound on the second floor had been and why Leto had stopped him, but it felt like something he shouldn’t dig into.
The Tail Clan’s instincts shone in dangerous situations. It was thanks to that inborn sense that he’d managed to stay by Asad’s side with all his limbs intact.
So whatever had happened on the second floor, it was none of his business.
***
After that day, days passed peacefully as usual, without any particular commotion.
“…”
Leto, who had been reading quietly, suddenly raised his head and stared intently at the door. Someone must have come. Since Leto only reacted to two people, it wasn’t hard to guess.
“Leto, you were here.” ‘This time it’s Lord Kinain.’
Spotting Kinain, Leto set down his book for the first time today and trotted over.
Kinain knelt on one knee to meet Leto’s eye level.
“What were you reading?” Leto whispered something into Kinain’s ear.
“Hmm, I see.”
Whether what Leto had been reading was different from what he’d expected, Kinain’s face briefly showed fluster, but he quickly returned to his usual expression and asked.
“Asad and I are going to the human realm. Want to come with us, Leto?”
Jet naturally thought Leto would say yes. He’d assumed Leto was interested in the human realm, since he read so many books from there.
But contrary to expectation, Leto shook his head.
“You’re really not coming?”
“All right, I understand.”
Kinain looked disappointed but didn’t press further. Probably because he already knew pressing multiple times wouldn’t work.
Before rising, Kinain bent down and kissed Leto’s soft cheek.
“Then I’ll be back.”
Jet watched with fascination as Leto mimicked Kinain, kissing his cheek back.
Jet ended up seeing Kinain off as far as the bridge connected to the human realm. The send-off had been Kinain’s request, and Jet sensed that Kinain wanted to say something to him.
Sure enough, Kinain soon spoke.
“Jet, how is looking after Leto?”
“Lord Leto is as docile as ever. There’s nothing for me to worry about. You knew that when you assigned me, didn’t you?”
“You saw through me.”
“Of course. Wait, was the story about the attendant suddenly quitting a lie too?”
“No, that wasn’t a lie. I was in a bind when they suddenly said they were quitting. I’m glad you were here, Jet. You know dragons well, so you’re someone I can trust with him.” Jet shook his head.
“I’ve served Lord Asad for a long time, but I still don’t know dragons well. Lord Leto is different from Lord Asad, too.”
“I understand.”
Kinain smiled faintly. Kinain was surely the one who’d gone through the most trial and error since Leto was born. It was his first time raising a child, and on top of that, a dragon who wasn’t even the same species.
“Still, it seems to have worked. Your face looks better.”
“Does it?”
Jet stroked his cheek. It did feel like he’d put on some weight.
“It’s true I’ve been eating and sleeping well lately. I don’t know when I last took a nap.” At first resting felt nothing but uncomfortable, but idling along leisurely, he’d come to think it wasn’t bad.
“Now that I have time, I’ve even thought about what I’ll do after Lord Asad and Lord Kinain leave for the divine realm.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I’ve only thought about it. I don’t know for sure yet.”
“It’s all right. There’s still time.”
Kinain apparently had no intention of leaving for the divine realm right away. Jet thought that was fortunate. He still felt a bit uneasy leaving Leto alone.
But this reprieve wouldn’t be that long either. When a new dragon was born, the previous dragon had to leave for the divine realm. Otherwise the balance of the mortal world would collapse.
So before leaving, the previous dragon passed on his knowledge so the new dragon could stand on his own. As far as he knew, Asad had been doing just that since Leto was born.
Once that was completely finished, Asad and Kinain would leave for the divine realm.
Thinking of the parting, his feelings were strange. It felt refreshing, like a long, long journey had ended, and also sad.
Jet changed the subject to shake off the complicated feelings.
“By the way, what business do you have in the human realm?”
“I’m going to meet someone I need. Though I don’t know if I’ll be able to meet them.” Someone the dragon and his mate wanted but might not be able to meet? He was curious, but didn’t ask who. He figured they wouldn’t answer anyway.
Quick perception was essential for a dragon’s retainer. Though there were those, unlike Jet, with no tact at all.
“Targen!”
On the way back from the send-off, Jet ran toward the familiar face in the distance.
“You were nowhere to be seen all day; where have you been until now?”
“I went outside the dragon palace and just returned.”
“You went out? Why?”
“Because of the disappearance case.”
A disappearance case? At the unexpected answer, Jet stopped.
What he heard through Targen was quite serious.
The first disappearance was three months ago, and the one who vanished was a Wing Clan member.
Since the Wing Clan were mostly free-spirited, they often left suddenly and came back, so at first no one paid attention. But when they hadn’t returned even after a month, one or two started to think it strange, and in the end Kor personally stepped in, but hadn’t found the missing person yet.
The problem was that in the meantime, one person each from the Tail Clan, the Horn Clan, and the Scale Clan had also gone missing.
“The victims have one thing in common: they’re all omegas.” ‘So someone is targeting only omegas to commit crimes.’
“Probably. We can’t find them no matter what, so in the end the great spirits asked Lord Asad for help.” Surely Lord Asad’s magic could find the missing. But there was a problem.
“This is bad. Lord Asad just left for the human realm, and I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
Targen’s expression darkened.
“…It can’t be helped. All we can do is hope nothing happens to the missing until Lord Asad returns—”
Jet was just as worried about the missing, but if even the great spirits couldn’t find them, waiting for Asad’s return was, as Targen said, the best option.
‘A disappearance case. Who on earth would do such a thing?’ The long peace had made him lax; tension returned to his heart.
With complicated feelings, Jet returned to the library where Leto was.
“I’m back… Lord Leto?” The library was as quiet as if empty.
‘Did he go out?’
Jet thought about where Leto might go. Leto spent a long time in the library, but he wasn’t always there. When he wasn’t in the library, he could usually be found in the main palace where Kinain was, or near the water.
But since Lord Kinain had just left for the human realm, he wouldn’t have gone to the main palace… Then was he by the water? Both Lord Asad and Lord Leto liked floating on the water, after all.
As he was about to leave the library, guessing where Leto might be—
Deurureuk.
He heard the familiar sound.
“…”
When he came to, Jet found himself already up on the second floor.
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