Little Pink Starfish

“Sir Yanu, didn’t you say you hadn’t seen the Lord?”

The steward of the castle questioned with a voice full of betrayal, but Yanu half-listened, half-ignored. Instead, he leaned back on the sofa with a rather arrogant posture.

The antidote wasn’t entirely ineffective, so Eira, with a dragon’s eyes, could barely make out a faint shape if he stared closely for a long while. Ordinary humans couldn’t see it, so Eira’s attendants roughly estimated the Lord’s location through spirits.

“He’s transparent.”

At the looks that seemed to ask how he could be seen if he was transparent, Ginas moved his lips as if he had a lot to say. But recalling that the being in front of him was a dragon, he simply let out a deep sigh.

“Yes……”

“What? If you’ve got a complaint, say it.”

“No, nothing.”

“Why? You look like you’ve got one.”

Showing off his white teeth with a grin, the face of the already tired human grew even paler. After taking Eira as his mate, Yanu had become more expressive than before, and he sometimes found amusement in scaring and teasing humans other than Eira.

“Don’t bully my vassal.”

Eira, still transparent, lightly scolded Yanu. Then, turning to Ginas, whose face had darkened even further, he said,

“Don’t worry. Even if it’s just a little at a time, the antidote is working, so eventually, I’ll return.”

“My Lord, if you really need test subjects, shall we try gathering resources from the territory’s people?”

“I’ve told you multiple times, Ginas. Even if they volunteer, as long as they’re people of Solar’s domain, I won’t use them for research.”

As if trying to solve the situation through magic, Eira occasionally sparked prismatic lights and answered firmly. The spirit, following its master’s body and the frequent bursts of light, moved a bit away.

“Then what about criminals?”

“Sir Ginas, would I do here what I didn’t even do in the Labyrinth? This place might be one without human rights, but still.”

“Human rights? What are those?”

Sometimes, Eira used words that were completely incomprehensible. Probably a term used in the Labyrinth, Yanu thought, yet he couldn’t shake off the odd feeling. Eira sometimes behaved as if he were from an entirely different world.

“Anyway, such a thing exists. But it’s troubling. For some reason, illusion magic isn’t working well. There’s a magical backlash.”

“That means…”

Understanding Eira’s words, Ginas trailed off. Trying illusion magic once more, Eira neatly gave up.

“For the time being, you’ll have to handle my duties in my place.”

Perhaps expecting this, Ginas wasn’t too surprised, but the shadows around his eyes deepened.

“Yes, understood. By the way, in a few days, a lord is scheduled to visit from Logistaka for the subordination process. What shall we do?”

“Hmm, that’s something I’ll have to handle myself. Try stalling for time however you can, for now.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The steward continued to discuss various business matters for a while. Then, after casting one more worried glance, he quickly left the room.

Click, the door shut, and with a faint aroma of tea wafting through the air, Eira sipped to moisten his throat. Yanu stared fixedly at him. Eira, slightly flustered, set down the teacup with a clink. As it left his hand, the previously transparent teacup returned to its original state.

“Not now.”

“I heard that last time too. But I think I’ve waited more than long enough, even past the five minutes you mentioned.”

Yanu spoke while sweeping his eyes over where Eira’s face ought to be. His mate’s odd behaviour while transparent was somewhat amusing, though not entirely pleasant.

When Eira was too busy, Yanu would spend his time enjoying the human-made entertainment and culture. Some of Eira’s vassals, knowing he was a dragon, boldly tried to interact with him, and when he went down to the city, there were plenty of humans unaware of his identity. Since the region was always covered in ice and snow, Solar was quite a comfortable city for Yanu to stay in.

Still, Yanu was always aware that his joy stemmed from Eira. No amusement or human could compare to the delight and fascination he felt with his dearest one. Whether before or after finding a mate, a dragon’s life revolved around their mate.

In short, Yanu was starting to want to indulge in Eira’s presence. He had exercised patience and consideration for his mate’s busy life. But this time, that patience had gone on particularly long…

Feeling Eira suddenly rise and subtly evade, Yanu approached with a prowling gait, like a beast hunting prey. His steps were so silent they made no sound.

“It’s a bit weird, though. I’ll look like I’m doing something strange to the air.”

“I don’t care.”

Yanu replied with excessive ease. Thinking about it, something different might be even better, but Eira didn’t seem to agree.

“I do care. It’s too funny—I don’t think I could get aroused.”

“I’m confident I can make you stop laughing. Shall I try?”

At those words, Eira went completely silent, even the faint rustle ceased. Yanu spoke in a voice with a slightly sinister edge.

“And you like pervy stuff.”

“What are you talking about? You’re the one who likes that stuff.”

Eira rebutted, but Yanu generously decided to understand. Humans often weren’t very honest. He lifted his foot and kicked the table. Thud! The table, striking the sofa, tilted and effectively trapped Eira between the sofa and table.

Soon, a sound was heard of Eira springing up onto the sofa. Predicting his mate’s movements, Yanu caught him, and with a startled cry, Eira fell over the sofa. Feeling with practiced fingers, Yanu traced down the familiar form. As he brushed past a sensitive spot, he didn’t miss the faint moan.

To his hot body, Eira always felt cool. Yanu grinned, pinning his mate down roughly and climbing atop him. He could hear the quickening heartbeat. The scent he liked thickened.

He always preferred cold things to hot, and cool ones to warm. The best among all cold and cool things, of course, was his mate.

❄

“Maybe… my constitution has changed.”

While carrying a heavy sack inside, Yanu overheard Eira muttering in thought as he flipped through research notes. It was a reversal of the conclusion he had made years ago.

Once the territory had regained some stability, the magician with an obsession-level interest in dragons and other magical beasts hadn’t left the dragon alone. He scoured Yanu’s body with a magnifying glass, applied countless reagents, practically picking, biting, and licking him.

So, naturally, Eira’s subject of study also included his own body, now mated to a dragon.

Once, the beautiful magician who had said he wanted to dissect a dragon alive occasionally sent slightly eerie looks his way, but maintained courtesy as a lover. Affection had won over research desire. Yanu found this a bit disappointing and tried to persuade him, but Eira only said strange things like, “I’m not into gore snuff, okay?” Instead, he devoted himself to research removing the side effects of the potion that made one invisible. His resolve to at least peer inside, if he couldn’t dissect, was clear.

Meanwhile, perhaps due to old habits from the Labyrinth, he had no hesitation in using his own body as a test subject. At least once a month, Yanu witnessed Eira collecting a bowl of his own blood to perform various experiments, only to sigh in disappointment when the results remained unchanged.

“Yanu, you’re back?”

Eira, belatedly noticing his return, welcomed him with a pleased voice. Though he’d been consistently taking the antidote, Eira was still only faintly visible. Even that had improved enough for humans to now see him. Out of concern for the people who mistook him for a ghost and suffered heart problems, Eira refrained from going out.

The real problem came when he lost consciousness. When asleep, Eira exhibited sleepwalking symptoms, roaming the city or castle. But as a mage, restraint or confinement was useless. Even if his body was bound, the ropes would slip off, and no lock could hold him. On top of that, when unconscious, his body would become fully transparent, and even the spirit would vanish from sight, making it hard to track him.

Most of all, when the Lord disappeared, the vassals would come pester Yanu. They would whine endlessly about the Lord going missing, and lately, it had started to become annoying.

“Here.”

Yanu dropped the sack with a thud in front of Eira. Inside were two magical beasts, curled up and wary. They bared their teeth as if ready to attack the human in front of them but fell silent under Yanu’s gaze.

“Thanks.”

Eira gave his thanks and levitated the beasts with magic. Their jaws opened, and a juice extracted from mashed safflower flowed into them. The beasts blinked slowly and soon fell asleep. The same happened with the other.

“…So magical beasts fall asleep after eating safflower? I didn’t know that.”

With great curiosity, Eira dipped his pinky in the diluted safflower juice and tasted it. The effect was immediate—his body flickered and turned transparent before returning to normal. Drowsiness hit him fast, and as he dozed off briefly, Yanu picked up some safflower petals and ate them. It didn’t affect him much, but he did feel slightly sleepy afterward.

“That’s interesting.”

To a dragon—specifically, a magical beast—safflower had always been a non-concern, so Yanu had never known. He examined the flower closely. Is this really a flower? The question flickered through his mind, but it was a fleeting curiosity, soon forgotten. Eira, waking from his short nap, murmured with a hoarse voice,

“But it’s strange. Ten years ago, when the dragons held a party in our territory, they ate safflower too, didn’t they? But they didn’t get sleepy then.”

“Maybe it didn’t have an effect because we hadn’t fully become mates yet.”

“That could be it. But when I drink safflower tea, it’s fine too… What kind of tea is that?”

As he jotted down hypotheses, Eira tilted his head. Somehow, Yanu read the question that crossed Eira’s faint face. Probably something like: Then… have I become a magical beast?