I couldn’t help but yell urgently when I saw her spitting blood.

“H-Hands off! You bastards!”

I reacted furiously because Dialugia looked like she was about to die, and my shouting must have sent the troops surrounding her in a panic because they quickly looked at me. They seemed curious, but I didn’t have time to explain.

“Return to the front line immediately. I’ll take her into custody myself,” I ordered.

“Understood!”

These soldiers could do nothing other than leave.

I wasn’t sure if she could recover with the potion I brought with me, but to treat the woman who looked like she was on the brink of death while crying for her baby, there was only one thing I could do. When I approached her while carrying her baby, she kept reaching her hand out, and even though I was worried about her attacking me, I didn’t think there would be a problem when I saw her status window.

‘I was tricked.’

Setting aside the fact that she could transform into a human form, I had never imagined that she had the ability to connect my life with hers. I had no choice but to acknowledge that Dialugia had made a smart move. She must have thought that her baby would most likely die after she died, so she tried to save her life by selecting me as her spouse while I was holding her baby hostage and ordering the soldiers with voice amplification magic. I wasn’t sure if she discovered I wasn’t the type of person to sacrifice myself for mankind, but her bet was a success. After all, I didn’t want to make a noble sacrifice.

Dialugia realized that her survival meant her baby would survive, and the most reasonable method was to hold me hostage. She couldn’t harm me, as that would put her baby in danger, so her best option was to make me her spouse, which meant that we would live and die together.

‘I didn’t have enough data...’

Even though I lacked information on dragons, there were four things I had figured out. This didn’t apply to the entire dragon race, but it did apply to Dialugia.

1. A female dragon could have a baby on their own.

Gender could be meaningless to them, and considering their population, there was a high chance my assumption was correct.

2. Dragons had the ability to change into human form.

It wasn’t magic. It could be an ability unique to the race.

3. I wasn’t sure if it was a contract, magic, or the race’s unique ability, but a dragon had the ability to choose its spouse.

I had no idea if I could resist it, but since my resistance was low, it was meaningless to even talk about it.

4. The couple lived and died together.

I didn’t know how to explain it, but this was an undeniable fact.

‘My body was proof of that.’

I couldn’t understand, but I knew they weren’t simple monsters. They were intelligent beings that had their own culture and way of life. They were the kind of creatures that had evolved differently from humans.

‘I guess they could be called higher-level beings?’

I had a lot of research to do, but saving Dialugia was a priority, so when I poured the potion over her injuries, I noticed her slowly recovering. However, it wasn’t very effective. Since she had an enormous body, there must’ve been a limit to how fast she could recover while being in her human form. If a bottle of potion was enough to treat an ordinary human, treating this dragon had to take at least a few hundred bottles. She seemed like she was losing consciousness, but the small potion must’ve helped her because it seemed that she was regaining consciousness. Dialugia instantly turned her attention to the baby I was holding.

“M-My baby!”

“Kyaaaaah…”

I thought about reuniting them during this touching moment, but I wasn’t sure how she would act, so I had no choice but to keep my distance from her. It was then that I heard her sad voice.

“P-Please give my baby back. Give… my child… back, please.”

‘Shit…’

“I beg you! Please, give me back my child. Please…” She begged once again.

‘Stop crying…’

“Please…”

Dialugia’s eyes overflowed with tears, which made me look like a piece of shit. I expected her to charge at me like what Cha Hee-Ra had done, but she must’ve realized her place because she was kneeling on the ground. I thought that she might use her life to threaten me, but it was the opposite. Selecting me as her spouse must have been her last resort.

‘Is this her actual personality?’

My assumption was most likely correct since her nature was a gentle mother. Since she had never invaded Castle Rock even once during the 4,000 years that she had been alive made me think that she was actually here for her child.

‘Song Jung-Wook, you shitty bastard.’

I could only blame Song Jung-Wook so that I could feel less guilty.

While I had no idea what to do, a member of the Red Mercenary Guild started talking.

“Is she…”

“It’s the monster we saw just now. I guess she can transform into a human form,” I answered.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing…” they commented.

“I don’t believe it either. I never knew this was even possible. I’m sure this child is the reason why she invaded Castle Rock,” I explained.

“I-I see…” they said.

“We’re currently in the middle of defending the castle. I’ll first take that monster; no, that woman into custody. How’s the defense looking?” I asked.

“It looks like the majority of the monsters have been taken care of,” they answered.

“That’s a relief…”

Dialugia kept talking to me even while I was talking with the Red Mercenary Guild member. Honestly, it was difficult to ignore her. I felt bad even when she was still in her monster form, and now that she was in her human form, I felt even worse. I started to think about a sad scenario, and seeing it from her point of view made me feel the absurdity of this situation. In addition to her egg being stolen, her baby was taken hostage as soon as it hatched, and she was even almost beaten to death.

“P-Please give me back my baby…” Dialugia begged.

“...”

“Baby… I’m your mom. Your mom…” she said to her child.

“...”

“Everything will be fine. Don’t worry. Don’t worry about anything… child,” she added.

“...”

“My child…”

“Kyaaah…”

I honestly wanted to avoid giving her baby back, but I couldn’t ignore the sight before me, as she looked like a mess. I thought about the possibility of her turning back into her dragon form and backstabbing us after giving her child back, but…

‘It’s unlikely...’

Dialugia had almost lost all her ability to fight, and even though I had poured my potion over her, it was nothing more than first aid.

Since she knew that her baby would follow her in death, I knew nothing would happen even if I gave her baby back to her. I had to maintain a good relationship with her for the future, so it wouldn’t be bad to let her hold her baby. When I slowly handed her baby back to her, she immediately snatched and hugged her baby despite her injuries.

“My baby… my child!” Dialugia yelled.

“Kyah!”

One of the Red Mercenary Guild members couldn’t help but ask, “Will it be okay?”

“There won’t be any problems. She has almost lost all her ability to fight, and nothing would change just because she’s holding her baby. It’ll actually help her mentally,” I replied.

“I see…” they said, nodding.

Dialugia’s mental state was starting to stabilize. After holding her baby, she became wary that her child might be taken away again, but she showed no signs of doing anything else. She was being more reasonable than I had imagined, so I thought it wouldn’t be bad to exchange a few words with her. When I cautiously talked, she looked at me. The horns on her head and her eyes proved that she wasn’t human.

“Can you understand me?” I asked her.

“...”

“Hello?” I asked again.

I heard her answer a few moments later.

“I can understand…”

“That’s a relief. We should introduce ourselves first. My name is Lee Ki-Young,” said.

“Dialugia…” she mumbled.

“I think there has been a misunderstanding. I’d like to explain everything, but this isn’t the best time for that, so please follow the protocol for now,” I told her.

“...”

“You may not believe me, but we’re not the ones who stole your child. From our point of view, ahem… you attacked us first.” I pointed out.

“...”

“If you don’t follow our rules, we may have to resort to violence. Of course, that’s under the condition that your child will be safe during the entire process. I promise that no harm will come to your child,” I explained.

“I-I can’t trust a human’s promise…” she said.

“You don’t have a choice in that matter. You have to follow my orders,” I added.

“Oh…”

It was natural for her to keep being suspicious of me because if I were her, I would be suspicious of everyone around me. I used Mind’s Eye again, as I thought it would be easier to talk to her if I knew more about her.

[Checking Legendary-Ranked Monster, Dialugia’s Unique Habit.]

[The Giving Tree]

‘Huh?’

Since Dialugia’s existence was dangerous, I was worried that she was like Jung Ha-Yan or Cha Hee-Ra, but I was surprised by her ordinary habit.

‘Not bad…’

I couldn’t really figure out the situation just now, but when I saw her habit, different ideas started to pop into my head. She was a gentle mother and a giving tree. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw someone with a normal personality and nature, so I couldn’t help but think how great she was.

When I remembered the dragon’s stats and her abilities, I felt reassured. The fact that we were sharing a life could be a big advantage for me, and even though I wasn’t sure whether I would live a longer life or not, Dialugia had to live for her child. If I died, her precious child would be in danger, so she might care for my life more than I did.

Dialugia had the ability to create a monster wave. In addition, she possessed an enormous amount of magic, and she was even able to break through the west wall in an instant with her steel horns and tail. Moreover, she was intelligent.

‘The dragon’s spouse!’

Magic was a difficult stat to raise on my own, but I had just acquired five points.

‘Moreover…’

There wasn’t an alchemist lucky enough to conduct research on a living dragon. If she cooperated, then I could acquire her scale and horns for free. A living test subject was more difficult to acquire than a corpse. I probably wouldn’t be able to do anything violent to her, as we were sharing a life, but I couldn’t deny that she would be very helpful.

It only took a moment for my frown to turn into a smile. Dialugia looked at me with slight confusion about my sudden change of mood. When I cautiously helped her up and gently grabbed her shoulder, she flinched, but she stood up all the way.

“I’ll keep my promise,” I told her.

“Okay…” she mumbled.

“So many of us died, too,” I added.

“...”

“I understand the situation, but there wasn’t anything both of us could do,” I said.

“I… understand,” she mumbled.

“We’ll put you in custody for now. For us, it’ll be like burying our heads in the sand, but we have to do it for formalities sake. I hope you understand that we’re trying to be as considerate as possible,” I explained.

“And the child…”

“You don’t have to worry about your child’s safety, hahaha…” I said with a low laugh.

“...”

“Since it’s technically my child, too. Hehehe…” I chuckled.

The situation had been chaotic, but I was sure Dialugia knew what she had done because I saw her face turning pale. Of course, we had to keep this a secret, as there was no reason for the others to know about it. However, the love I had for the child blooming inside me was real, so the one who had suffered a loss was Dialugia, not me.

‘I’ll do my best as your dad!’