Mr. Dragon Knight, the dragon girls are chasing you!

Eluvia hovered in mid-air, her dragon wings flapping gently. Her golden vertical pupils stared intently at Luo Ye, then she tilted her head as if she had remembered something.

"Of course it's because the more I think about it, the more something seems off."

She leaned forward half a foot, her nose almost touching his forehead, her dark purple nostrils twitching slightly, as if sniffing for some lingering scent.

"What did Serafina mean by that? It sounds like she's eaten your cooking before."

Luo Ye felt a tightness in her back.

"Tell me the truth," Eluvia's vertical pupils narrowed slightly, her voice low and carrying a dangerous seriousness.

"Do you know her? Could she be your ex-girlfriend, Long?"

Luo Ye almost choked to death on his own mouthful of herbal tea.

He put down his cup, placed his palm against his chest, and his expression was so sincere that he could play the role of the Dragon's Nest's annual moral exemplar: "Your Majesty, I swear, absolutely not. She is definitely not my ex-lover."

He paused, his heart pounding, and added, "I swear this oath on my honor as a dragon knight. If I lie, may I be hunted down by many dragon kings from now on!"

Luo Ye secretly added in her heart: This vow only applies to my ex-boyfriend, not to people I knew before.

If there really is a GM, please don't strike me with lightning!

Eluvia's vertical pupils narrowed slightly, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment, as if scanning his expression with some undisclosed lie detection technique.

Luo Ye's smile remained perfectly still, the curve of his lips precise, his entire demeanor as steady as if carved from a stone slab.

After a few seconds, Eluvia withdrew her gaze, flicked her tail in the air, and said with a hint of reluctant compromise, "...Hmph, fine, I'll believe you this once. Anyway, if you dare to lie to me, I'll hang you up and let you dry before we even leave this dragon's nest."

"Your Majesty is wise and would never lie to you." Luo Ye breathed a sigh of relief and smiled even more sincerely.

Eluvia landed on his shoulder and stood still, habitually curling her tail around his neck, her warm dragon body pressed against his neck.

But this time she didn't bury her head and fall asleep as usual. Instead, she remained quiet for a while before speaking in a soft voice, much gentler than before: "...Actually, I had a dream."

"I dreamt that you were gone. I searched the dragon's nest, the back mountain, the valley, all the places you used to go, but I couldn't find you anywhere. I called your name but no one answered."

Her tail tip gently brushed against his neck: "I thought I'd come see if you were here when I woke up. But when I saw you standing by the window in the middle of the night, lost in thought, and smiling so strangely, I felt something was off."

Luo Ye opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but felt that anything he said would seem inadequate.

He could only raise his hand and gently cover her hand resting on his shoulder, tugging at it: "I'm right here, aren't I? I haven't gone anywhere."

"Yes, I'm safe and sound here." Eluvia repeated softly, as if reassuring herself or confirming reality.

She gently flapped her wings, her small body slowly descending, landing steadily on the edge of the solid wood desk in front of Luo Ye. Her gilded vertical pupils locked onto Luo Ye:

"Then what are you doing standing by the window in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Staring blankly at the moon?"

"I can't sleep at night, so I might as well stand here and sort out my training plan for tomorrow."

Eluvia stared at him silently for a few moments, then tapped the table lightly twice with the tip of her tail before suddenly speaking:

"You stupid dragon knight, you're behaving strangely tonight."

Luo Ye's heart tightened, but his expression remained unchanged: "What's strange?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it." Eluvia tilted her small head slightly, her clear, golden pupils reflecting Luo Ye's figure like a flawless mirror, revealing every subtle emotion he held.

"But your smile is a little strange; I always feel like you're hiding something from me."

Luo Ye's heart felt as if it had been gently squeezed by something.

He never expected that his supposedly flawless acting skills and smile would be seen through at a glance by a little black dragon who only thought about eating all day long.

This Black Dragon King usually appears arrogant, naive, and loves to eat and make a fuss, but his mind is frighteningly delicate and perceptive.

Without waiting for his reply, Eluvia fluttered her wings and landed on his shoulder, her warm dragon body pressed against his neck, her tail curling around his neck, as always, encircling her own body.

But this time, instead of burying her head in his neck and dozing off as usual, she leaned close to his ear, her voice low and unusually earnest:

"Let me tell you, no matter what you're hiding or what you're planning to do—don't even think about carrying this on alone."

"You are my dragon knight."

"Your life is mine, and you are completely mine."

The night was as dark as ink, and moonlight streamed in through the window, spreading a thin layer of silver frost on the stone ground.

By the dim light, Luo Ye met Eluvia's pair of golden vertical pupils—they were staring at him unblinkingly, like two pieces of amber that had just emerged from the abyss, bright and stubborn.

Of course he knew what to say.

At times like these, any hesitation is fatal.

So he raised his hand, palm against his chest, feeling the warmth emanating from the contract patterns beneath his clothing, and spoke with unusual sincerity:

"Your Majesty, of course I will always be your dragon knight. Our souls are bound together, and we will share life and death; that has never changed."

Every word of this statement comes from the heart.

He deliberately omitted that fatal detail that could have ignited all the conflicts—

During Eluvia's seclusion, he forged a second dragon knight contract with Serafina on the distant Silvermoon Peak.

Strictly speaking, they are two documents that are inextricably linked, certified by the system, genuine, and of the highest quality.

But Eluvia didn't ask, "Have you signed any other contracts?" She said, "You are my dragon knight."

This is selective answering, not lying.

Eluvia was clearly pleased with the answer.

She gave a soft hum, her small dragon head slightly raised, the scales at the base of her neck shimmering with a faint dark purple light under the moonlight, and even the dragon tail wrapped around her neck tightened a little.

But she didn't stop there. Instead, she leaned forward, her gilded vertical pupils staring directly into his eyes, her voice carrying a stubborn seriousness:

"That's more like it. Say it again—you will never leave me."

"Okay, I will never leave you," Luo Ye replied crisply.

This was also his honest opinion.

At least for now, before the plan to break the curse is completed, he has never thought of leaving her.

In his overall plan, "leaving" was never an option.

He simply wanted to keep it a secret from her, secretly gather the Silver Moon Heart and the Shadow Core, complete all the steps of the sacrifice to break the curse, and help her completely break free from the shackles of the thousand-year curse.

Once everything has settled down and she is safe and sound, he will then complete the main quest, defeat the imperial princess, unlock the exit privilege, and begin his free life.

Therefore, this definitely doesn't count as "leaving," it can only be considered "temporarily keeping it a secret from her to do some things."

Having received a satisfactory answer, Eluvia's dragon tail instantly rose high in joy, its soft tip drawing a lively and playful arc in mid-air.

She turned her face away haughtily, maintaining her usual arrogant demeanor, but the overflowing smile in her eyes and her relaxed posture had already revealed her true feelings completely.

"Hmph, at least you're being obedient."

Looking at her contradictory expression, Luo Ye felt a warm and tender feeling well up in his heart, but at the same time, he also felt a little guilty.

But the warm atmosphere in the room only lasted for a few breaths.

Suddenly, a figure swept past the heavy stone door—the deep hum of dragon wings cutting through the air pierced the door panel.

Immediately afterwards, Salta's voice, clearly just awakened, drifted in:

"Your Majesty, you're awake?"

"During the time you were in seclusion, Lord Dragon Knight said he would often go to the back mountain to cultivate. But later, when I patrolled the mountain, there were a few times when I searched all the streams, valleys and forests in the back mountain, but I didn't see him at all in a whole day."

"I'm not sure if he changed locations to level up, or—"

"Or it wasn't even within the Eternal Night Territory."

Luo Ye suddenly looked towards the door, his face filled with horror: "It's not my buddy, he's just playing me?"