A day passed. In the early afternoon, I was practicing magic in my room as usual when Dyphon suddenly dropped by and asked, “Do you like that woman?”
I turned to her with an arched brow. “What?”
“Do you like that woman?” she repeated, unhelpfully.
“Which woman?”
“You know, that singing woman.”
“Oh, Amelia? Well, of course I—”
“Do you like her? Since you’re both humans... Will you get married?”
“—like... What?!”
Between like or dislike, Amelia—my favorite songstress—obviously fell into the “like” category. It was Dyphon’s second question that caught me completely off guard. The “like” that I felt for Amelia wasn’t quite...marriage-worthy.
“Wh-Why do you ask?”
“Because if you do, then she and I need to have a little talk.”
“Huh?! H-Hang on!” This was taking a really concerning turn. “A-Amelia’s just an ordinary human. You can’t be rough with—”
“It’s just, I’d hate it if you like her yet she doesn’t like you back. I don’t mind the other way around, though.”
“Huh...?” I blinked widely. By this point, Dyphon had lost me completely. “Uh... What do you mean?”
“Well, she’d be so lucky to be liked by you. It’d really annoy me if she didn’t reciprocate.”
“Oh... Hmm? I guess I kind of get the idea...” My words came out mumbled and hesitant.
After hearing Dyphon’s explanation, I tried placing myself in her shoes. If Amelia liked someone who didn’t care for her in return... Yeah, I think I wouldn’t like that either. So, I understood what Dyphon was saying—but I still couldn’t entirely relate to her feelings.
“So?” Dyphon prompted. “Do you like her? Or love her?”
“Oh...”
Another difficult question. I definitely liked Amelia, but love? That was a quick and easy no. That being said, the boundary between “like” and “love” was a bit of a blur, so I was still a bit troubled on how to answer.
In the end, I settled for, “No, it’s not love.”
Suddenly, I heard Lardon’s stifled chuckle. She sounded more amused than ever before. “Lardon?”
“You wouldn’t like it if that girl liked someone who didn’t like her back?”
“Of course.”
“Hah!” I heard another bout of stifled laughter. “Ah, it’s nothing. Forget it.”
“Uh...” Was my answer really that funny? What was—
“Hey! Stop chatting with her! Eyes on me!” Dyphon suddenly grabbed my face and forced me to look her way. Our eyes locked, and our faces were close to touching.
Her attitude took a nosedive... Dyphon had had such a breezy and unbothered air about her while we were talking about Amelia. But now, with Lardon in the picture, she wasn’t even bothering to hide her displeasure.
I’d wondered if she started asking about Amelia out of jealousy, but that didn’t seem to be the case. This looked a lot more like jealousy.
And all over a quick conversation with Lardon... It was a testament to how much the three dragons were constantly at each other’s throats. Dyphon reacted far more strongly to them than to some measly human girl.
“Uh, sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, darling. I bet she was just amused by you again, or whatever.”
“Well...you’re right about that.”
“So, she’s the problem. I’ll definitely kill her someday.”
“N-Now, now...”
I placated her with an awkward smile but made no genuine effort to stop her. History had proven that an argument between Lardon and Dyphon was no actual cause for concern. After all, the animosity between them spanned years and was beyond human comprehension. It was a huge thing, sure, but there was no need to panic right away.
“So?” Dyphon asked again. “You don’t love that woman?”
“No, I don’t. I respect her. It’s not love.”
“It’s just respect?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. Guess I’ll try to be nice to her, then.”
“Sure. That’d be great.”
Having gotten the answer she came for, Dyphon finally left my room.
I watched her leave before my gaze turned half lidded in exasperation—ever since Dyphon grabbed my face, Lardon had been laughing hysterically in my ears. Now that Dyphon was gone, I asked her, “Okay, seriously. Did I say something weird?”
Holding back her laughter, Lardon replied, “You said that the girl’s love being unrequited is intolerable in your eyes, yes?”
“Huh? More like I just wouldn’t like it... Well, I guess it’s the same thing?” She just asked me the same thing as earlier... Well, her wording changed a bit, but my answer remained the same.
“And strength is needed to punish intolerable violations, yes?”
“Well... I guess so.”
Lardon chuckled. “Splendid... It appears you can still grow much, much, much, much, much stronger.”
“Uh...”
That was five times. Lardon wasn’t typically one to jabber like this—how unlike her. Her growing amusement contrasted starkly with the confusion swirling in my head.