Fortunately, the dragon egg's timing was perfect.
I was at a loss for how to respond to Isaac, and while I was fumbling for words, the egg I had set down by a tall palm tree began to tremble with a soft, rhythmic thrum. The dragon inside was preparing to hatch.
Isaac and I leaned against the unusually tall palm tree, our eyes fixed on the egg. After a few tense seconds, a crisp cracking sound echoed, and a baby, who looked to be about two or three years old, majestically emerged. A bib was tied around the baby's neck. He scowled at us.
"You forgot me! Both of you! With a cute dragon like me right here!"
The baby pouted, his bright blue hair swaying. Despite his feigned disappointment, his small hand was already clutching the collar of my dress.
"We didn't forget you," I said gently. "Look, we brought you home."
He glanced around, a smile briefly touching his lips, but he quickly hardened his expression. Then, he glared at me with his piercing blue eyes.
"You... you're very wicked!"
I quickly wrapped my arms around his small torso, preventing him from flying away. "Wait, listen to me!"
"What is it?" he huffed.
I decided it was best to get straight to the point before the child vanished right before my eyes. "I have something to say, just for you."
"Hmph! What?"
"Let's make a bond, you and I."
"…Huh?"
At the word "bond," the little dragon's anger melted away.
"I want to form a wonderful contract with you. Will you accept this as a first step?" I offered him a fresh peach. This was a reference to an old text that said dragons love fragrant fruits.
Just as I expected, the baby dragon's lips curled into a smile. He put his hands to his mouth, trying to suppress a delighted squeal. He clearly felt he was giving in too easily.
"That's not enough! A dragon can't be bought with just a peach!"
White eggshell fragments began to sprout around his body. I quickly pressed my hand against his cheek and said, "I'll love you the most."
At my words, the sprouting shell stopped. His clenched fist loosened, and his blue eyes widened. The true key to winning over a dragon was affection. I stroked his head tenderly.
"I'll love you dearly, as if I were your real mother."
The baby dragon, whose nostrils were flaring, held out a trembling hand toward me. I slid my hands under his armpits and lifted him. He excitedly stomped his little feet.
"…Promise?" he asked.
"Yes, I promise."
Satisfied, the little dragon snuggled into my arms and gave a bashful smile. "You're mine now!" He stared at me with big, half-squinting eyes.
"Mine!" he shrieked, as if he couldn't be happier about it.
Seeing his immediate possessiveness, I smiled and stroked his blue hair.
"But..."
The baby dragon looked at me expectantly, a sparkle in his eyes. I knew what he was waiting for from my reading of the ancient texts. I touched the baby's forehead and kissed it gently.
"I'll give you a name."
The dragon's eyes lit up. The bond between a dragon and their imprinter was special, but the most affectionate act was naming them. My prediction wasn't wrong; this little dragon had been hoping for a name from the bottom of his heart.
"What, what name?" the blushing dragon asked.
"Danny. Let's call you Danny."
"Hmph! I don't like it! I don't like that name at all!"
"Then how about someth—"
"But I'll let you do it, Danny Ruha!"
Danny, now with a human-sounding name, was overjoyed and wiggled his feet. He rubbed his plump cheeks against my dress. "I'm Danny! I'm Danny!"
Humming with excitement, Danny tilted his head. "Are you going to give Danny some good ideas?"
"Do you know what the Catechism is?"
As soon as a dragon is born, it gains all the knowledge of the world. It is the fate of a dragon, being the being closest to God. Danny must know everything. He looked at me silently for a long moment, then finally nodded.
"Ah," he said.
"What is it?"
My hands were sweaty with tension. Danny pursed his lips. He was enjoying the undivided attention. He clung to me and declared with a confident voice, "It's a book about God's will! You don't know that?"
Isaac and I exchanged a glance. It seemed we had asked the wrong question.
"Well, thank you, Danny, but that's not exactly what we were asking about," I said, and then I explained everything that had happened: how the Pope showed me a small catechism and how my name had appeared in it.
"I've never heard of such a thing, Mel," Isaac said, his expression darkening when he heard the detailed story for the first time.
Danny, however, simply scratched his head with a lively face. Seeing the two serious adults, he smiled mischievously.
"Whether he wants to drive it or not, I know about it."
Danny stroked the bridge of my nose with his small hand and said in a firm voice, no longer using a lisp. "The Pope of men inherits the records. Records of the past, present, and future."
"..."
"The Pope is a person who serves God in silence, even though he knows the future. But the current Pope is different. He wants to bring all the records of the past, present, and future to himself."
"He is too greedy and ambitious."
"Yes, but the people of this world, including him, can never change the future, even if they know it." Danny brought his plump face to my ear. It was a whisper so quiet that even Isaac, standing next to us, couldn't hear it. "But it's different if you're a human from another world who has nothing to do with the records of this world."
Danny whispered secretly. "So, if I have to guess, what about us..." He continued in a low voice. "You're from another world, aren't you? You're not a human of this world, so you can change the future."
My heart pounded. The arm holding the child stiffened. Fortunately, Isaac didn't seem to have heard anything about another world. Danny just shrugged as if it were no big deal.
"Think about it. Haven't you already changed a future that had been decided?" Danny chuckled.
I knew exactly what he was talking about. If there was one future that had been decided, it was the plot of the original novel, "Enchanted Lover," which I had possessed. The original story ended with me dying miserably and the adulterous couple, Sheria and Lennox, living happily ever after.
'I've been changing the plot of the novel at will until now.'
As Danny said, I was able to change the future without the original story compelling me to follow its plot. I looked into the watery blue eyes of the dragon, and it was as if the little dragon had all the answers.
"That's why he covets something." Danny, who had been smiling like a child, bit his lip tightly and muttered, "To be precise, the ability to know the future and change it."
Danny's short hand squeezed my fingers tightly. "I will never let you go."
The child's possessive gaze was fixed on me. I gave a slight, awkward smile, hugging Danny tightly before pulling him away a bit.
"Yes, I'm not going anywhere. But if we don't want to go, we need help."
Danny, who had been clinging to me so as not to fall, his eyes flashed.
"I'll lend you my strength."
Danny's blue, sea-like eyes turned as cold as the sea on a winter night. "But there's a condition."
"A condition? What is it?" I was confused by his seriousness. He clenched his fists, and his eyes grew even bluer.
"Do it again."
"Do what?"
"I don't know, so I'm asking?"
I really don't know... I was worried it might be some kind of great and difficult task.
Danny poked my plump cheek with one hand and puffed out his lips. "Kiss. Kiss me again."
A kiss? Before I could even wonder, the child closed his eyes tightly and headbutted my lips with his own.
After a triumphant kiss, Danny turned his head and played with his hands at Isaac. "Are you jealous, Daddy?"
Isaac, who had strode in front of us, took the little dragon from me. He gave a short kiss to the spot on the baby's lips that had just touched mine.
"Yes, I am jealous."
"Mom and Dad kissed twice? Hehe," Danny giggled, putting his hands on my cheeks.
Isaac hugged Danny tightly. "Would you like me to kiss you again?"
Danny's voice trembled. He was so excited the corners of his mouth were practically touching his ears. The dragon, who was squirming like a child, snuggled into Isaac's arms. "Yes!"
Watching Isaac and Danny having a pleasant conversation, I thought to myself.
My ideal type has never changed. I still like beautiful boys with a pure look. But Isaac was different. With his thick shoulders, dark skin, and even a decadent atmosphere, he wasn't my type in many ways. Still, there were parts of him that I liked, and those parts were becoming considerable.
He's really getting better and better.
I smiled. I had no intention of denying my current feelings. Being with him made me feel at ease, as if I were in a safe harbor. And I liked mature adults who had overcome the pain of the past. I liked that he was kind to young people.
I looked at Danny and Isaac and frowned. "This is not the time for that."
"Huh?"
"We have to have a strategy meeting."
At my words, Danny clapped his hands. "Yes! Let's overthrow him!"
And so, a meeting between the dragon and two humans began, with the goal of stopping the Pope.