"Whimper?"

Coal Ball didn’t even have a chance to react. His entire head was shoved deep into the soft velvet quilt, leaving only his four stubby legs flailing in the air.

Raylo’s attempt to guide the contract came to an abrupt halt. He froze awkwardly, slowly raising his head.

Moonlight had, at some point, stopped moving and was now sitting upright on the bed.

Her streamlined body was slightly arched, like a Longbow drawn and ready to fire.

Her once lazy and enchanting pale gold vertical pupils were now fixed on him with an icy stare.

She just watched Raylo in silence.

The temperature in the bedroom seemed to drop by several degrees.

Raylo could clearly feel an invisible, immense Dragon Mighty enveloping the entire room.

This Dragon Mighty wasn’t aimed at him, yet it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

’He...’

’...seemed to have overlooked the most crucial problem.’

’To form a contract with Coal Ball, it wasn’t enough for the little fool to agree. He also needed the approval of Moonlight, the matriarch.’

Raylo watched as Moonlight’s eyes grew increasingly dangerous, a cold sweat beading on his forehead.

’Well, his first Giant Dragon partner, the matriarch of Black Stone Territory, Her Majesty... was angry.’

’And by the looks of it, she was furious.’

When the great Moonlight is angry, the consequences are severe.

That morning, after Raylo finished handling several important territorial affairs and returned to his bedroom, he found that Moonlight was gone.

He knew Her Majesty had already made her stance clear through her actions.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Raylo to find her on the walls of Black Stone Castle.

Moonlight clearly had no intention of hiding. She was lying on the cold stone battlements, her body stretched out like a statue.

She wasn’t looking at the castle, nor at the territory. She was just quietly gazing at the rolling Black Stone Mountain Range in the distance, the reflection of the peaks in her pale gold eyes deep and distant.

The wind blew over her streamlined body, but it couldn’t disperse the oppressive, unapproachable aura around her.

Raylo felt a chill run down the back of his neck.

He waved his hand, and the servants, who were already on standby, immediately brought up the prepared "apology feast."

"Leave it there."

A mountain of roasted geese, cooked with a Secret Technique until their skin was golden-brown, crispy, and sizzling with oil, was piled high.

A whole steaming rack of Tier Four Magical Beast Meat ribs, drizzled with a thick, sweet glaze.

A huge silver platter held a crystal-clear silver fish soup, its aroma a mix of the fish’s savory freshness and the mushrooms’ delicate fragrance.

Roasted goose had always been Moonlight’s favorite. The ribs were cooked from the highest Tier Four Magical Beast Meat the territory could offer. The silver fish soup was Moonlight’s favorite new addition to her menu.

This was the most extravagant apology Raylo could offer.

However, the Silver Dragon on the wall didn’t even twitch an eyelid.

It was as if she had turned into a true statue, completely ignoring the feast that would make any Magical Beast drool.

Only the aroma of the food drifted awkwardly through the air.

"Whimper?"

A small, black figure came trotting up from the stairwell.

Coal Ball had clearly been drawn by the scent. When he saw the mountain of roasted geese, a satisfied rumble immediately came from his throat.

But he didn’t pounce on the food. Instead, he skillfully and somewhat fawningly sidled up to Moonlight, trying to nuzzle her enormous silver foreclaw with his small head, just as he had done countless times before.

This was his daily expression of affection.

But today, he was not met with gentle acceptance.

"SWISH!"

A white afterimage sliced through the air as the tip of Moonlight’s long, powerful tail whipped out.

"BAM!" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Like a black leather ball struck by a bat, Coal Ball sailed through the air in a parabola, letting out a wronged "Awooo!" as he flew right off the rampart and landed in the thick lawn below.

The lawn was soft; a fall like that wouldn’t hurt a dragon.

But a moment later, the little black fellow persistently scrambled out of the grass, shook off the blades, and huffed and puffed his way back up the wall, once again approaching her full of hope.

"SWISH! BAM!"

Another precise "home run."

"Awooo..."

Raylo watched as Coal Ball was sent flying again and again, only to stubbornly climb back each time, his usually silly face filled with confusion and determination.

He suddenly felt that, as far as Moonlight was concerned, his treatment wasn’t much different from the little guy’s.

For the rest of the day, the guards of Black Stone Castle witnessed a bizarre, repeating spectacle.

The little black fellow tirelessly charged up the wall, only to be sent flying by Moonlight from all sorts of angles and in all sorts of positions.

And their Lord stood not far away, watching from dawn till dusk.

At dinnertime, Moonlight finally moved.

With a single leap, she jumped over Raylo and straight back into the master bedroom.

She didn’t even glance at the "mountain of roasted geese," which had barely cooled.

Night fell.

Raylo returned to the bedroom, where the soft glow of the Magic Lamp filled the room.

Instead of occupying the most comfortable spot on the large bed as usual, Moonlight was curled up before the wide-open, floor-to-ceiling window. Her body was bathed in the bright moonlight from outside, her silver scales reflecting its cold brilliance, making her look like a proud and lonely Moon Goddess.

She gazed at the moon, leaving Raylo with nothing but her cold, distant back.

Even Coal Ball sensed that the atmosphere was extremely tense.

The slow-witted little fellow finally gave up on getting smacked around by Moonlight and lay pitifully at the foot of the bed. His large, obsidian-like eyes darted between Moonlight by the window and Raylo on the bed, and he let out a wronged whimper from time to time, like a child frightened by his parents’ silent treatment.

Raylo turned off the Magic Lamp.

Darkness enveloped the room, leaving only the bright moonlight to outline her lonely, proud silhouette.

In the silence, Raylo’s thoughts became clearer than ever before.

’There are really two ways to solve this predicament.’

’The first option is also the one with the highest chance of success.’

’While Moonlight is still sulking, I can take Coal Ball out of the castle first thing tomorrow morning, to a place where she can’t see us.’

’I can use food, treasures, and the promise of "going out to play" to trick the simple-minded little guy into signing the contract.’

When it came to dealing with Coal Ball, Raylo was completely confident.

’Once the contract is complete, what’s done is done. There’s no turning back.’

’No matter how angry Moonlight gets, she won’t be able to change that fact.’

’I can slowly coax her around afterward. Time heals all wounds.’

The moment this idea surfaced, it grew wildly like a weed.

Raylo could even imagine it: once the contract was successful, he would have a Space Dragon partner with limitless potential—a walking, bottomless treasure chest.

It would be an incredibly important asset for the future of Black Stone Territory.

The temptation was immense.

’But...’

Raylo turned over, his gaze falling on the figure bathed in moonlight by the window.

’...in a way, wouldn’t that be a betrayal?’