Chapter 47

“Besides your runaway friends, the beings you played with there. Were they all in favor of you?”

Not everyone. There were some Durahans that Popo was very afraid of.

Thanks to them, we had to go to the dragon cub’s abode…

Damn it, I should’ve asked him this earlier. I’d forgotten.

“Are Poporis natural enemies with Durahan?”

When I asked carefully, his silver eyebrows wriggled for a moment, but soon straightened as if he understood.

“From what you’re saying, a Durahan must have given you quite the hard time..”

“T-That’s….”

“Was it fun?”

“…No.”

“So, what happened?”

I wasn’t responsible for it! And that was how I blew my own whistle again.

I told him about the things I encountered there, including the part about Durahan.

Regarding the monsters, I did not know their names, so I only described their appearance.

My husband listened silently with a look I couldn’t recognise, and finally said, “I see.”

“Including the ice dragon, all were Gold b*stards.”

Gold what?

“Even if the Durahan is a monster, it doesn’t get along with monsters that look like animals. Anyway, you didn’t see any S-ranked ones, right? Trolls, ogres, undeads.”

What, gold b*stards? But his talk made sense. All the friendly ones I encountered there were animal-like species. Mammals or reptiles.

Durahan, who pursued us horribly, was a man warrior.

“But on the first day I came here….”

I cut off my words, hesitating to bring up the monster which had entered while the torch was extinguished.

“Yes, that was a specter. And the other time, it was a pesiboat in the palace pond.”

A pesiboat.

Why was the love monster from the Amazon here? I didn’t know it was a real love monster.

(T/N: The natives of Amazon called this animal a love monster. The Pesiboat was a beautiful, pale pink animal with a body length of about 2 meters. The love monster was a demon that captivated people’s minds. — source: random site on the internet, could not find any english links)

“I don’t know how…”

“I’ve also never seen this before, but it’s concluded that this is just between us for now. You shouldn’t rush into contact with the monsters until you’re sure of it. Your runaway friends are fine, but the rest.. you don’t even know exactly what they want from you.”

My eyes widened unknowingly at the kind, detailed answer. It was unexpected.

I thought he might be considering the possibility that I was a witch, or the suspicion that I was conspiring with my family while hiding my evil abilities.….

Or maybe he was plotting to turn me into some secret weapon.

Though, it was a reasonable theory.

I hadn’t met all the monsters yet, so I couldn’t conclude that they’ll all be friendly to me, and most of all, this was an unknown affinity. It was even more difficult to understand because this phenomenon did not exist at all in the original story.

Did it have anything to do with the fact that I was a soul from another world? Did my yearly sickness have anything to do with it?

Damn it, why does it feel like it’s getting harder? I feel like I’m getting extra missions in a simple survival game.

“Do you want to let your family know?”

I came to my senses at the question that suddenly rang in my ears.

“My family?”

“Any member of your family. Do you want to tell them what happened in the frost forest?”

Was he testing me? Rather, if it would be normal to stop me from doing so.

It was not like my family members were all married, and I didn’t know what the consequences would be if I handed over these hidden cards recklessly.

Of course, even if such a problem was considered out of the question, I did not have the slightest desire to let them know.

“No.”

“That’s an unhesitating answer.”

I was a little embarrassed because he thought so. I expected him to pry more, but Izek seemed surprisingly light-hearted and only raised his body.

“Okay, so it’s gonna be our secret for a while.”

“What about your colleagues..”

“It’s rude to talk about other people’s wives’ secrets.”

“…….”

“They’re surprisingly faithful, so their mouths are zipped. There’s nothing to worry about.”

His warm grip on my hand gave me strength.

No, why do you keep saying weird things like this? It sounds like you’re trying to reassure me. I’m tempted to relax.

“But because of me, the dragon….”

“The ice dragon doesn’t wake up just because someone forces him to wake up. His place has always been a mess, so nothing changes even if someone invades it.”

Even though he was not the type to wake up by that, I was sure he woke up because of me. If it was like in the original, he wouldn’t have woken up.

Why was he acting so strange? Was it the side effect of cocoa that he drank in one shot?

“Really?”

“…Really.”

“You believe me?”

“What could you even fool me about…?”

“Well, I was actually very worried that you might misunderstand. That’s what I thought from the beginning… I’m so glad… You came looking for me.”

When I smiled while hiding my suspicions, he stared at me.

Why are you staring at me like that again? You’re not satisfied? You’re such a hard nut to crack. Do you want me to write you a letter of apology again?

“I won’t run away from home again.”

As soon as I clenched my fists and expressed my firm will, I immediately heard a heartbreaking reply.

“Wasn’t it kidnapping, and not running away from home?”

“I won’t get kidnapped either.”

“I think you’ll get going with Popori and the obese lizard if they come and coax you to go out.”

Am I a child? Besides, calling him an obese lizard is a little too much. How cute is my dragon cub! He’s a bit violent, but really nice. He’s still young, so still a bit rebellious…

“Then, you can come with me.”

“…That’s not bad.”

Hey, don’t nod your head so seriously!

I was just kidding! Of course, he’d take my joke seriously–

He knew what they were, and that was why he was still dreaming of being a dragon slayer, right?!

“Still, you should avoid contact for the time being. It’ll be difficult if you get seen by people.”

“Yes, yes.”

As soon as I nodded my head, my cold-hearted husband looked doubtful, but he didn’t say much.

We walked a little more in the sunlit garden without saying a word.

I felt this every time I saw it, but this garden was really not much different from a forest.

Also, I didn’t want the silence to continue, so I talked as much as I could.

“The garden is wonderful.”

“That’s unexpected.”

“It’s a different feeling from the Southern part, but it has a unique roughness.”

“Really? What about a Southern garden?”

I thought he was being sarcastic, but fortunately, he seemed to be asking because he was really curious.

“Well, there are more flowers than trees, especially roses. And there’s always a cage and a fountain. Especially, the fancier the fountain is, the better it is. Some places make them like cascades. The cage is also decorated with splendor for rare imported birds.”

“It sounds like an amusement park, not a garden.”

“Yes, but it’s still nice to see. If you make it well, it’s just as good. Of course, it’s good here, too. Just like a forest.”

“It is a forest. A forest all over.”

Rather than seeming sarcastic, Izek responded in an unexpectedly honest manner.

He was acting strangely nice. It would be great if every day was like today.

Haa, such a bipolar guy.

The next morning, I was astonished to see the scene of workers busy building a glass greenhouse, making changes to the garden.