Show Me Your Stats!-Chapter 71

The house she’d been to a few times before was, once again, filled with a bleak and chilly atmosphere. It was a place she had picked purely for sleeping, so the only furniture inside consisted of a worn-out bed, an uneven table, and two unstable chairs. As Ayra shivered while taking food out onto the table, Janus tossed a mana stone each into the fireplace and brazier—both of which had rarely been used.

“It snowed yesterday, so the streets were slippery. It’s been too cold lately.”

“Really? I actually like how crisp it feels. Then again, you’re a lot more delicate than most people.”

While Janus quickly sparked the fire and lit the mana stones all at once with kindling, Ayra subtly sprinkled a mysterious powder over the venison dish. By the time Janus turned around after getting the fire going, Ayra was acting completely nonchalant, slicing the food into bite-sized pieces. The powder had no color or scent, but when Janus—now seated—twitched his nose, Ayra tensed up inwardly.

“Smells good. Was there a place around here that sold something like this?”

“I got it from the Lord’s Castle kitchen during lunch. Do you like venison? The smoked chicken’s pretty good too.”

Acting casually, Ayra placed a chicken leg and a slice of venison haunch on Janus’s plate. After tasting both meats, Janus devoured the food in an instant, apparently enjoying it. His plate was wiped clean and a smile had spread across his face—clearly, a satisfying meal.

Well, there wasn’t much tasty food around here. While Janus was cleaning up the dishes, Ayra quickly pulled a small notebook from her subspace and scribbled something down.

After a satisfying meal, it was only natural that they moved to the bed and lay down side by side. Ayra rested her head on Janus’s chest and let her body relax. Listening to the calm, rhythmic beating of a heart under her ear—thump, thump, thump—she yawned without thinking. The heart of a dragon wasn’t all that different from a human’s. The gentle warmth from the fireplace and brazier, the quiet mood, and the heat of another body made everything feel peaceful and serene.

If only this man she was resting on didn’t have plans to destroy Solar, it would’ve been the perfect moment. These days, she barely slept more than three hours a night, so drowsiness crept in quickly. Still, Ayra held back and asked,

“Janus, I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?” Janus asked lazily, placing a kiss on her cheek. His hand, tucking back a lock of hair that had fallen over her forehead, was endlessly tender. His warm lips trailed from her cheek to softly nibble her earlobe. The sound of him sucking on her skin—smack—made her flinch involuntarily.

“What’s your type?”

No matter how she thought about it, the only way to stop Janus from destroying Solar was to help him find his mate. It wasn’t for no reason that Nilma Argan mistakenly thought he was the dragon’s lover and treated her favorably. After all, once a dragon found their mate, they ceased massacring humans. So she had to persuade Janus through that bond. It was a completely rational deduction—but it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She imagined for a brief second—what if she was his mate? Then quickly erased the thought. Hoping for something like that would only damage her mental health.

“Hm, my type...”

His large hand gently stroked her chest, and his handsome eyebrows furrowed as if in contemplation.

“Well, first of all, she has to be a beautiful woman.”

A beautiful woman, huh. So he’s into looks. Ayra thought, half-convinced. That must be why he jumped into a relationship with her so easily.

“Fair skin would be nice. Silver hair, gray eyes.”

Huh? Ayra tilted her head. Fair skin, silver hair, and gray eyes—half the people in Solar had those features. But for some reason, his description felt oddly specific. No way...

“Smart, good at magic. A mage who’s crazy about ma-beasts is my ideal type.”

Ayra opened her mouth, then shut it tightly with a strange expression. Ha. Seriously now... he must’ve been in a lot of relationships. Even though the sweet talk made her feel good, it also made her feel vaguely irritated. She wondered if he’d said the same things to his past lovers, then asked the question that had been weighing most on her mind.

“How do dragons choose their mates? Is there some kind of standard? Or do they just fall in love out of nowhere?”

She had always been curious about dragon mates. Without exception, the moment a dragon found their mate, they ceased their senseless slaughter and destruction. They never betrayed or abandoned them, even as one side neared death. In fact, there were rare stories of humans betraying the dragon instead. Every record, legend, and tale related to dragons seemed °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° to depict it as a fated, eternal love for one single person...

“A mate, huh. Now that you mention it, humans did call it that.”

Janus’s hand, which had been gently caressing Ayra, stopped. The way he said it, it was like it wasn’t really something as romantic as a “mate.” His red eyes drifted into the air, as if chasing a fleeting vision.

“There’s no particular standard. It’s decided the moment we’re born. No matter how angry you get, or how much you try to avoid or change it, it’s impossible. Yeah... it’s definitely not some romantic ‘mate’ kind of thing...”

Listening to the raw, first-hand information pouring from the dragon’s mouth, Ayra held her breath, her heart pounding. Janus let out a faint chuckle and abruptly sat up.

“But I don’t really want to talk about mates or whatever in front of a lover I haven’t seen in a while.”

A soft creak came from the bed, and before she could blink, Ayra found herself pinned beneath Janus. His forearm, made of muscle and bone tougher than any human’s, was planted beside her ear. With eyes gleaming in anticipation of what was to come, he looked down at her as if savoring the view.

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“You’re still cold. Want me to warm you up?”

Just that gaze alone sent a tingling sensation surging up from Ayra’s lower belly. Because she knew all too well what kind of intense pleasure Janus could bring. Her mind flashed to that secret moment in the dark alley of Bolni. She’d regretted deeply not taking it all the way that time.

As his hot palm slipped under her clothes and ran down her waist, Ayra hesitated.

What do I do? I’ve got a lot of work today. I really only carved out a bit of time to come see him.

Since starting the quarry business, her administrative duties had naturally increased. But the number of staff hadn’t changed, so once again, she was grinding herself down working alongside Jinas. Before any time with Janus, her stamina was already running low.

But if I turn him down... what if his favorability drops?

Now that it was clear Janus was a dragon, a low favorability score wasn’t just about feeling hurt because she liked him more. It wasn’t even 4 right now—she couldn’t afford to let it drop further. If they broke up and she lost the advantages of being his lover...

Her fingertips went cold. The words “No, I can’t” died on her lips, replaced with a smile, and Ayra pulled the dragon into her arms. His burning lips trailed along her neck before softly sucking on it. At some point, his hand slid through the half-opened hem of her clothes and began to graze her skin. His touch grew slower, more deliberate.

Janus, who had been tracing her chest and waistline over and over, let out a small “hm,” then sat up straight. He slid his hand under Ayra’s armpits and suddenly lifted her up. As her body rose abruptly, Ayra instinctively clung to his forearms and asked, bewildered,

“What are you doing?”

“Aren’t you overworking yourself lately? You’ve gotten thinner. Look, definitely lighter.”

He set her upright, then ran his hand from her armpit down to her hip in one smooth motion. Ayra flinched and squirmed slightly at the ticklish touch. Janus paused at her reaction, his eyes glinting. Ayra immediately straightened up, tense. She never knew when this pervert might get turned on.

“I’ve just got a lot of work right now. It can’t be helped. A new lord’s arrived, so there’s a lot to take care of.”

“Still, working someone to the bone like this—sounds like a tyrant of a lord.”

Though he spoke with a smile, something in his expression was slightly off-kilter. He clearly didn’t like seeing his lover overworked, and Ayra broke into a nervous sweat. She quickly tried to defend herself.

“A tyrant? Come on, our lord is a wonderful person.”

Seizing the opportunity, she made a conscious effort to plant a positive impression of Solar’s lord in Janus’s mind. Come to think of it, she was curious too.

If he sees me and Solar’s lord as separate people, how is favorability calculated? Is it combined?

If Janus came to think well of the lord, maybe he’d delay his plan to wipe out Solar. So she rattled off everything she could.

“Our lord is young and handsome. Did you hear about when Bolni’s army came and he sent them back with just one commanding sentence? He’s so capable, he handles any crisis with ease. And he’s always kind and thoughtful to me. Really, a person of outstanding character.”

She went on about how well he got along with the retainers, how efficiently he managed administrative tasks, and so on... until her voice trailed off.

At some point, Janus had started staring at her expressionlessly.

Why was he looking at her like that? As she grew tense, Janus curled one corner of his mouth into a crooked smile.

“Yeah, sounds like a really great lord.”

Outwardly, it looked like he’d taken a liking to Solar’s lord, but for some reason—

Ding! A new notification appeared.

[Janus Rehzedet’s Favorability has decreased by 3!]

[Currently recalculating Favorability...]