[The recent news showed a man being dragged away by police officers, wearing what they commonly call "silver bracelets"—handcuffs.

So that man was the terrorist who attacked the court...

*Then that bomb that went off outside back then was because of that man.*

I slowly blinked and carefully examined the face of the man getting out of the police car, but I couldn't recognize him at all.

It's not because I have memory problems—I just couldn't recognize him because it was a face I'd never seen before.

...Right, that can't be it.

Back then, No. 445 clearly told me:

"I just detonated the bomb that Chameleon Unnie prepared."

I don't know who Chameleon Unnie is, but at least it's not a man.

It might be foolish to believe what an enemy says, but I was certain that man wasn't the real culprit.

He must have been used too. Or maybe he's one of those artificial monster things Hyun told me about.

Either way, I don't like it.

"We're going to make sure you have no choice but to become like us."

I clicked my tongue at the unpleasant memory that suddenly surfaced.

No choice but to become like them? These people are truly fucking vicious...

"Haah..."

I was lying on the sofa watching the news when I sighed deeply and turned to lie straight.

One of my wings was uncomfortably pressed, but the sofa was wide enough that it wasn't unbearable.

"...Still the same."

A week ago, as Ha-Young Noona told me, my protective observation was canceled.

But I'm still at Hyun's house, doing nothing and not going outside.

Hyun was a bit worried, but I told him it was fine since I wasn't particularly uncomfortable and didn't feel like going out.

Part of it is fear of Harmageddon, but recently, the desire to go outside has completely disappeared.

Until quite recently, I wanted to go outside, but I still don't understand why my feelings suddenly changed.

If there's any reason... I think it might be because I have too much to think about.

I slowly blinked while looking up at the ceiling.

"An alliance... huh."

I thought I'd already been through a lot.

Too many things for an ordinary person to experience—perhaps a lifetime's worth of worldly troubles all at once.

I woke up to find my gender had changed and I'd become a monster.

Not only that, but this monster was one of the worst monsters who had killed family, friends, and 5 million people.

I thought this was already absurd enough, but then an evil organization called Harmageddon started targeting me.

They even came to try to recruit me once.

When I refused, they brought out a monster to try to make me a murderer.

Thanks to that, I had to stand trial, and now they've even gone so far as to bomb the courthouse, showing they're not just ordinary lunatics.

Even this was enough to make my head spin, but what I heard a week ago was even more outrageous.

"Haah..."

I sighed deeply, recalling what Hyun had told me in the car on the way back from the health checkup that day.

"I've agreed to cooperate with the Light Dragon."

When I first heard those words, I thought for a moment that Hyun had eaten something bad and gone crazy.

So I twirled my finger around my temple.

But Hyun explained the reasons with a bitter smile.

And those reasons were all outrageous.

The Light Dragon sleeping inside me was actually just being controlled, and the one controlling it was the leader of Harmageddon.

The Light Dragon was quite displeased with this fact and promised unconditional cooperation to kill the leader of Harmageddon... or so he said.

*An alliance with the Light Dragon.*

Looking at it objectively, it's a good thing. An enemy becoming an ally... if that's the right way to put it.

Well, that kind of cliché exists.

"Don't talk nonsense..."

...Why on earth would anyone believe such a thing?

Why would anyone believe the words of a monster that killed 5 million people?

The Giman Catastrophe?

What's "giman"? Doesn't it mean deception? And you believe this?

I want to believe what Hyun says, but it's not as easy as I'd like.

"Hah..."

"I made him swear an oath. I think we can trust him at least once."

"What's with that oath? Isn't that exactly how he caused something like the Giman Catastrophe?"

"Maybe so."

When Hyun said that, he clearly had an expression like he was hiding something.

I wanted to ask what he was hiding, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Because...

[It seems you don't understand how significant it is for a dragon to make an oath on its reverse scale.]

...This guy was listening to everything.

I frowned deeply at the low laughter echoing in my head.

*Were you eavesdropping again?*

[Hmm, do you consider hearing someone talking loudly next to you as eavesdropping?]

*If you're paying attention to that conversation, it's the same as eavesdropping.*

[In a space with only two people, one can't help but hear.]

*I already have enough on my plate. Won't you leave?*

[Unfortunately, that seems difficult.]

I made a sullen face at the Light Dragon's voice that wouldn't back down from any argument, then lay on my side.

...I don't like this.

[I agree.]

"I told you not to read my thoughts!"

I shouted as I jumped up, and only then did the Light Dragon's voice disappear.

I got annoyed imagining the Light Dragon shrugging in my head with a "can't be helped" expression.

...Getting angry only tires me out anyway.

Right, it's not like we've only been bickering for a day or two. I should just endure it...

"Hah..."

I sighed deeply and slumped my body.

Lately, it's been difficult to control my emotions.

...Actually, it's been that way for quite some time, but it seems to have peaked recently.

I get irritated all the time and frown at the slightest things...

"Am I... having my period...?"

I gently rubbed my stomach, but it didn't particularly hurt.

No, even before that, I hadn't even bled.

The day before yesterday, I was so anxious that I sat on the toilet for three hours straight, but nothing happened.

Even when I woke up after sleeping, there was no blood, not even sweat.

*What's really going on with me...*

Is this because of the Light Dragon too?

...Does being honest with my emotions mean becoming hysterical?

Thinking about it that way, this is also because of the Light Dragon.

I sighed deeply and rubbed my itchy arm with the back of my hand.

I felt something catching on the scales on the back of my hand with a tick, tick sound, so I rubbed harder, and with a stinging sensation, the skin peeled off.

No... it didn't peel, it sloughed off.

[Hmm? What's this? You're molting.]

"What?"

[Molting, I said. Don't tell me you didn't know?]

Molting...

What suddenly came to mind was my skin that Hyun had peeled off while washing me a week ago.

"I saw Hyun removing something from my back last time... Don't tell me that was really molting?"

[Hmm. One week... It's a bit early, but if I'm right, you'll start shedding your skin tomorrow.]

"No, seriously, molting?!"

[What an incredibly stupid question. If what a dragon does isn't molting, then what is it?]

I knew that my skin was peeling off.

I just didn't want to accept that it was molting.

Skin peeling can happen when you get a bad sunburn in summer, but if it becomes molting, it feels like I've truly ceased being human.

[You're being childish. You're already not human.]

*Shut up. This is the one thing I can't give up...*

Hyun told me. He said I am human, that I am his childhood friend Yu Sia.

So no matter what else, I absolutely cannot give this up.

[What a stubborn fool.]

*I don't mind being stubborn if it means I can remain human.*

I smirked and got up to stand in front of the mirror.

The claim about molting wasn't a lie—my face, which had been fine until Hyun left this morning, was now cracked all over like a dried-up rice paddy.

"...Isn't this too fast, even so?"

Is he lying to me again?

[Indeed, perhaps because your dragon blood is thin, the molting is happening much faster than expected. If we're not careful, it might start today.]

"What do you mean start—"

As soon as I heard those words, my body began to shiver.

It felt like I had a severe case of the flu.

"Ah? What, why... why am I so c-cold...?"

[Of course. Even adult dragons become vulnerable during molting, so how much more so for a hatchling experiencing its first molt.]

"What does that—"

[Enough, just get up and go to your room to rest. Don't do anything.]

I had a mountain of questions I wanted to ask, but for now, I got up as instructed.

If I hadn't had any symptoms, I might have ignored it, but my body really was starting to hurt.

I staggered to my feet and checked the mirror.

My face in the mirror already had skin turning white, and my eyes were unfocused, unable to focus properly.

How did I know? Because I could see my pupils contracting and dilating.

Anyone could tell I wasn't in a normal state.

*It really does seem serious...*

I thought it was a lie...

As I absentmindedly touched my face, I heard a voice mixed with a sigh.

[If you have time to look, hurry and go to your room. If you're not careful, you might die for some trivial reason.]

Dying for such a trivial reason would tarnish the name of dragons.

After saying that, the Light Dragon continued to give me advice after I entered my room.

He told me what posture to maintain, where to place my wings, and even how to breathe.

*Is how I breathe important too...?*

[If you want to become kindling along with your shed skin by accidentally breathing fire during molting, I won't stop you.]

At those chilling words, I quietly breathed as instructed.

And so my first molting began.