Erza stood with her arms crossed, her expression unreadable, her mind racing through possibilities that she didn't want to consider.
Someone is watching us.
The thought had been nagging at her for days now. The presence she had felt at the zoo. The demonic aura that had tried to take Yuuta's blood. The watcher on the rooftop that she had destroyed without a second thought.
Whoever they were, whatever they wanted, they were still out there.
And they were interested in Yuuta.
If she sent Elena to a human school, she would be vulnerable. Separated from her mother's protection. Exposed to whatever dark forces were circling.
But if she kept Elena trapped in this apartment, isolated and alone, she would be robbing her daughter of something precious. Something that Yuuta—foolish, kind, infuriating Yuuta—had seen before she did.
She made a decision.
"Fine."
The word came out flat, emotionless.
Yuuta and Elena both froze.
"I agree." Erza's voice was cold, controlled. "To whatever human education system you have. To school. To all of it."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then—
"REALLY?!" Elena's face transformed. The tears vanished. The sorrow evaporated. In their place was pure, radiant, blinding joy. "MAMA SAID YES! MAMA SAID YES! ELENA CAN GO TO SCHOOL!"
She launched herself at Erza.
Wrapped her tiny arms around her mother's legs.
"Thank you, Mama! Thank you thank you thank you!"
Yuuta's face broke into the biggest smile he had worn in days.
"Thank you, Erza." His voice was soft, genuine, filled with gratitude. "Really. This means everything to her. And to me."
Erza looked away.
Couldn't meet his eyes.
"However."
Yuuta's smile faltered.
"I need your blood."
The color drained from his face.
"My... my BLOOD?!" He took a step back, hands raised defensively.
"Erza, I'm not tasty at all! Trust me! You would sick your stomach! I probably taste terrible! Like instant noodles and regret!"
"YOU IDIOT!" Erza's voice exploded across the balcony with enough force to make the windows rattle. "Do I look like a MANEATER to you?! Do you think I'm going to DRINK you like some kind of monster?!"
Yuuta cowered, arms still raised.
"I—no—I mean—you're a dragon—and dragons eat things—and—"
"I need a SMALL amount." She held up her thumb and forefinger, pinching them together to demonstrate exactly how minuscule the required quantity was. "To verify something. That's all. Not to consume. Not to taste. Not to add you to some imaginary menu."
Yuuta blinked.
"Oh." He straightened slightly, some of the color returning to his face. "Well... when you put it that way..."
"What other way is there to put it?! Who in their right mind would think—" She stopped herself, took a deep breath, and visibly composed her chaotic emotions. "Never mind. Just... give me your hand."
Yuuta hesitated for only a moment.
Then he stepped forward.
Held out his hand.
"Okay." His voice was steady now. Resolute. "For Elena, I'd do anything."
Erza stared at him.
At this impossible man who feared her one moment and trusted her the next.
At the father of her child who would give his blood without hesitation for his daughter's happiness.
At the mortal who made her heart do things she couldn't control.
She took his hand.
Raised his finger to her mouth.
And bit down.
---
Yuuta's heart exploded.
Ba-DUMP. Ba-DUMP. Ba-DUMP.
It pounded against his ribs so hard he was certain she could hear it.
Erza's lips were wrapped around his finger. Her tongue pressed against the tiny wound, drawing out blood. Her eyes were closed, focused, concentrating on something he couldn't see.
She was drinking his blood.
And somehow—
Somehow, he wasn't afraid.
He was looking at her.
Really looking.
At the way her eyelashes rested against her cheeks. At the concentration furrowing her brow. At the impossible reality that this woman—this terrifying, powerful, world-ending queen—was holding his hand so gently.
His heart kept pounding.
Ba-DUMP. Ba-DUMP. Ba-DUMP.
---
Erza tasted.
The blood flowed across her tongue, warm and vital, carrying information that no human could perceive.
Not pure human.
The thought came immediately.
Mixed. But not half-breed. Something else. Something...
She searched her memory, centuries of knowledge, countless encounters with countless beings.
Elf.
The recognition hit her like lightning.
It tastes like elf blood. But not just elf. There's more. Nightmare Creature? No. Something else. Something older. Something I don't recognize.
She opened her eyes.
And found Yuuta staring at her.
His face was crimson.
His eyes were wide.
His heart—she could hear it now, even without trying—was pounding in perfect sync with her own.
Ba-DUMP. Ba-DUMP. Ba-DUMP.
Their hearts.
Beating together.
Erza's face went red.
She released his finger.
Stepped back.
Her heart raced. Her cheeks burned. Her mind refused to process what had just happened.
Why is my heart beating like this?
Why am I looking at him like that?
Why—
"Mama? Papa?"
Elena's voice cut through the moment like a blade.
She stood a few feet away, head tilted, eyes curious, completely oblivious to the tension she had just interrupted.
"What are you both doing?"
Yuuta looked away.
Looked anywhere but at Erza.
"Well!" His voice was too high, too fast, too obviously trying to change the subject. "Elena! Let's go inside! We have so much work to do! So much planning! For school! Yes! School planning!"
He grabbed Elena's hand.
Practically fled into the apartment.
Leaving Erza alone on the balcony.
---
She stood there for a long moment.
Staring at nothing.
Touching her own lips without realizing it.
His blood is wrong, she thought, forcing her mind back to practical matters. Not human. Mixed with something. Elven, definitely. But more. Layers I can't identify.
She sighed.
"If this planet had a mana core, I wouldn't be struggling like this." She shook her head. "But since this shitty world has nothing but trouble, I suppose I'll just wait out the year and kill him."
She nodded to herself.
"Yes. That's the logical choice. The smart choice. The—"
Her heart was still pounding.
Still beating in rhythm with his.
She pressed a hand to her chest.
"I'll kill him," she whispered. "Eventually."
But even she didn't believe it anymore.
Minutes passed.
The apartment settled into a strange, fragile peace. Elena was in the bedroom, carefully arranging her dinosaur stickers in a pattern that only she could understand, her earlier tears completely forgotten in the excitement of actually, finally, really going to school.
Yuuta sat on the sofa.
A telephone number in his hand.
A list of schools he had researched during rare free moments, now reduced to a single name written in his careful handwriting.
Kinder Academy.
He had heard good things. Excellent things. The kind of school where children learned and grew and made friends that lasted a lifetime. The kind of school where a little girl with silver hair and hidden wings might actually fit in.
He picked up his phone.
Dialed.
"Hello, Kinder Academy. How may I help you?"
The voice on the other end was professional, polished, exactly what he expected from a prestigious institution.
"Yes, hello." Yuuta sat up straighter, as if the person on the phone could see him. "I'm calling about enrollment. For my daughter."
"Of course, sir. May I ask her age?"
"She's four. Almost five."
"Lovely. We have an excellent early childhood program. Are you aware of our admission requirements and fee structure?"
Yuuta took a breath.
"Yes. I've done my research. I know about the interviews, the placement assessments, and..." he paused, "the costs."
"Wonderful. We like parents who come prepared." There was a rustle of papers on the other end. "We do have availability in the preschool program. We would need to schedule an interview—both for you and for your daughter—to ensure she would be a good fit for our community."
"Of course. That makes sense."
"Shall I put you down for a preliminary interview? Next week, perhaps?"
Yuuta's heart raced.
This was happening.
Actually happening.
"Yes. Please. Next week would be perfect."
They arranged the details. Date. Time. Documents required. All the practical things that turned a dream into a plan.
When he hung up, he sat in silence for a long moment.
The fees were ridiculous.
Absolutely, completely, eye-wateringly ridiculous.
Kinder Academy was one of the best schools in the city, and it charged accordingly. The tuition alone would eat through most of his savings. Add in uniforms, supplies, field trips, and all the other hidden costs of raising a child—
His bank account would be decimated.
But Yuuta didn't hesitate.
Didn't even consider saying no.
I'm going to die in one year.
The thought came without bitterness now. Just fact. Just reality.
Erza will kill me. That's the deal. That's always been the deal.
So in this one year—this single, precious year—I want to give them everything.
He thought of Elena's face when she learned about school. The joy. The hope. The pure, radiant happiness that only children could feel.
He thought of Erza. Cold, distant, impossible Erza. She wouldn't care about money spent or schools chosen or any of the things humans valued. But maybe—just maybe—she would remember that he tried.
That he cared.
That in the end, despite everything, he loved them.
"I want to leave wonderful memories behind," he whispered to the empty room. "So that when I'm gone, at least... at least she'll remember me."
He didn't specify which "she" he meant.
Maybe both.
In the Balcony, Erza stood alone.
Her eyes were closed. Her hands were raised slightly, palms facing outward. Her lips moved in words that no human could understand—ancient syllables, dragon tongue, the language of power that had existed long before this world was born.
She looked toward the sky.
Not at anything specific.
Just... upward.
Toward the vastness.
Toward the unknown.
Toward whatever forces might be watching.
"Let the world obey me." Her voice was low, intense, carrying the weight of centuries. "I am the descendant of the great Dragon Bloodline Seraphina. Our ancestors gave my family protection to fight off all enemies. I claim that protection now."
Her feet began to glow.
Beneath them, unseen by human eyes, ancient runes blazed to life—spreading across the floor, up the walls, over the ceiling. They pulsed once, twice, three times, building power with each heartbeat.
Then—
A massive light erupted.
Visible only to her.
It expanded in every direction, filling the entire apartment, wrapping around every corner, seeping into every crack. It flowed toward Yuuta and Elena like water finding its level.
And settled over them.
Protecting them.
Marking them.
Erza took a heavy breath.
Her knees nearly buckled.
"Again," she muttered, steadying herself against the wall. "I wasted my mana on stupid things again. First healing him, now this. At this rate, I'll be useless in a real fight."
She shook her head.
Pushed off the wall.
Walked into the living room.
---
Yuuta was on the sofa.
Her sofa.
The one she had claimed as her territory since arriving in this miserable apartment. The one she sat on every day to read her books and ignore his existence. The one that was hers.
He didn't even look up.
Just kept scribbling notes about school requirements, completely oblivious to the violation he was committing.
Erza moved behind him.
Grabbed his collar.
Lifted.
"Hey—what—"
THUMP.
Yuuta hit the floor.
"How dare you sit in my area?" Erza settled onto the now-vacant sofa, crossing her legs with the grace of a queen reclaiming her throne.
"OW!" Yuuta rubbed his backside, glaring up at her from the floor. "I was doing my WORK! How can you just throw me like that?! It's not fair, It's Injustice...!"
Erza raised an eyebrow.
"You seek justice?" Her voice was cold, amused. "Shall I help you find it?"
Yuuta's bravado evaporated instantly.
"I—actually—I think justice is just an imagination! A myth! A beautiful dream that doesn't exist!" He scrambled to his feet, hands raised in surrender. "I'm fine on the floor! The floor is comfortable! I've always loved the floor! You sit on the sofa, my queen! Please! Enjoy!"
Erza's lips twitched.
Just slightly.
Just enough.
Stupid, she thought, hiding the smile. He gives up so easily.
"SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL!"
Elena's voice erupted from the bedroom doorway.
She came bouncing out like a tiny silver-haired ball of pure energy, her dinosaur stickers now arranged in a pattern across her dress, her wings fluttering with excitement.
"Papa! Mama! Elena is going to SCHOOL! Elena is going to learn THINGS! Elena is going to make FRIENDS!"
She spun in a circle.
Fell down.
Got up.
Kept spinning.
Yuuta laughed.
Erza watched.
Then Elena stopped.
Her head tilted.
Her eyes—those huge, curious, innocent eyes—fixed on Yuuta with a question he hadn't anticipated.
"Papa?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"What is school?"
Yuuta froze.
His brain screeched to a halt.
She doesn't know.
She's been excited about something she doesn't understand.
She just wanted to be like the children she saw from the balcony.
His eyes darted to Erza.
A silent plea.
Help me.
Erza met his gaze.
Raised an eyebrow.
"Don't look at me." Her voice was flat. "In our world, we have academies for adult dragons. Combat training. Magic study. Political maneuvering. Not..." she waved a hand vaguely, "...whatever this is."
Yuuta sighed.
Of course.
Of course he would have to explain the concept of school to a dragon child who had never experienced anything like it.
He turned back to Elena.
Took a breath.
"Okay, sweetheart. School is..."
He stopped.
Where did you even begin?
To be continued…
[End of chapter]
[Special Thanks from the Chaos Family]
Elena: Hiiiiiii, everyone~!
Guess what?! We hit 200 collections! Elena jumps with joy and throws invisible sparkles Thank you, thank you! Elena is sooo happy! Winks with both eyes
Yuuta: Wow… Just 19 days? That's insane. I thought I was the only one who liked this chaos. Guess not!
Grins You guys are incredible. Seriously, thank you!
Erza: Flips hair coldly Hmph. Obviously… it's because of my unmatched beauty. The story is just… background music fades into dramatic silence an extra.
Yuuta: Chuckles Oh come on, Miss Ice Queen. Did you forget you're No. 3 in the fandom ranking? People clearly love your frozen attitude.
Erza: Eyes glowing blue Yuuta… come here. I swear, I'll freeze your annoying tongue and shatter it into glittering ice dust.
Yuuta: Backs away quickly I-I was just joking! Calm down, Elsa—I mean, Erza!
Elena: Sighs like a tired mom Ugh… Mama and Papa are fighting again. Anyway! Thank you so much, lovely readers! You're the best! Throws air kisses
Okay byeeee~ Love you lots!
Yuuta & Elena: BYE-BYE!!