It was time once again for the Taste and the Arts class.
As he stepped into the tiered lecture hall where the class was held, Adrian was reminded of the prince’s horrendous performance from the previous session.
“Remember, you were supposed to pick a piece of music you liked for today’s class?”
A few students nodded at the professor’s reminder. He pointed to some of them, giving them time to talk about their favorite music.
While the students were immersed in their discussions, the professor’s eyes drifted to one side of the lecture hall.
A student with bright blond hair was gazing out the window. The professor followed his line of sight briefly—only to see the same ordinary blue sky as always. Clearly, this class wasn’t holding the student’s interest.
“Well, let’s wrap up the music discussion here.”
With a faint smile, the professor let his gaze wander over the young faces seated before him.
“Now then, how about we talk about things you like?”
Professor Luke Caniere, who taught in the Faculty of Arts, enjoyed leading this class for freshmen. Of course, all students at the academy were young, but he especially loved the sparkle in the eyes of the first-years—the youngest of them all.
As the students fell silent at the abrupt change in topic, Professor Luke decided to go first.
“For me, after class on a clear day, I like taking a walk through the central garden of Basamiel. Breathing in that crisp air makes me feel like I can do anything.”
The students nodded in agreement, as if they could feel the freshness just from his words. Luke paused briefly, giving the students time to reflect.
“Anyone else want to share something they like?”
A student sitting in the front row hesitantly raised their hand.
“…I do. I like soft towels. But the important part is, they have to be sun-dried—not dried by magic.”
“I see. That’s a lovely thought. Anyone else?”
Reassured by the first student’s response, others started raising their hands one by one.
Luke smiled quietly as he watched. Though these students would be adults in just two years, to him they always looked like children.
“I like my dog at home. Going for walks with Charlie is my favorite thing.”
“How cute.”
“What the—Charlie? Don’t act all sweet with that dog story when we know you’ve got a thing for Jacqueline Linerus from Opal!”
“Oh, shut up! Don’t start with that nonsense—”
The classroom erupted into soft giggles. The students tossed playful jabs back and forth about their crushes at the academy. Typical behavior for kids their age.
Professor Luke let them chat and laugh for a while before gently reining the class back in.
“Ah, yes—talking about people we like always brings inspiration. You, back there?”
At his words, the students turned their heads. The professor’s gaze was directed to the back of the classroom—where the disinterested blond student sat.
Naturally, it was Adrian Heather.
“You in the back?”
Only then did Adrian realize the professor was calling on him. The weight of all those eyes on him felt suffocating.
“…Yes?”
He turned his face from the window to look straight ahead.
“We’re talking about people we like. What about you? Is there anyone who comes to mind?”
People I like? Adrian was thrown off by the unexpected question.
Up until now, he’d been thinking only about the assignment from the last session: talking about music he liked.
This isn’t the assignment…
If it had been about music, he could’ve gone on for three days and nights. But when it came to people he liked…
The Gold Dragon furrowed his brow slightly.
“…Well.”
For the first time since entering Basamiel Academy, Adrian felt genuinely flustered.
It was a topic he had never once considered in his entire life.
Professor Luke tilted his head gently as he stood at the lectern. All the students were now looking at Adrian, waiting for the Gold Dragon to answer. Mikhail was among them.
“Don’t overthink it. It could be your parents, or a friend. That’s the kind of person we’re talking about.”
Parents or friends?
That made it even harder to answer. Adrian’s lips parted for a moment, but no words came out.
He should’ve just said something and moved on, but out of the countless humans who had flitted past his long dragon life, not a single name came to mind.
“…”
He wanted to answer. But everything that rose in his thoughts was vague and indistinct.
However, too much time had already passed. The Gold Dragon decided to just say whatever came to mind.
Even Mikhail, who was lounging against the far wall of the lecture hall, was staring at Adrian, who had yet to utter a word.
“…Denis Banya.”
Someone I like, huh… Adrian picked a name at random from the countless humans who had flashed through his memory.
“…I was always bored every single day, but he never ran out of interesting things to say to me.”
“I see.”
“It was always fun whenever we went out together.”
Though it was more about carrying out missions and killing enemies than actually “going out,” it was still, in a sense, enjoyable.
Denis Banya. The Gold Dragon sounded the name in his mind. It had been a long time since he’d spoken it.
At last, the awkward silence that had settled over the classroom seemed to ease, and especially Professor Luke, who looked visibly relieved, responded encouragingly.
“He sounds like a good friend.”
“…Yeah.”
The professor soon moved on, guiding the students into another discussion topic.
Finally over. The Gold Dragon let out a quiet sigh.
Denis Banya? Adrian scoffed inwardly. That’s the name that popped into my head right now?
A fleeting human from long ago, so far back that the exact era was hard to place. One of many encountered during his long bouts of amusement.
He’d met countless humans over the years—even Carlo de Inehart, the man who founded this very kingdom.
And yet, the name that had just come out of his mouth belonged to a grizzled old mercenary.
Banya had no family. Even when his mercenary unit was utterly annihilated, there would have been no one to mourn him.
Adrian was certain that he was probably the only one left who remembered him.
The art professor continued the lesson as if nothing unusual had happened.
And then—
Scrape. The seat beside Adrian slid backward with a harsh sound.
Someone dropped heavily into it. Leaning an elbow on the desk, the figure leaned toward Adrian.
The Gold Dragon tried to ignore the presence beside him, keeping his eyes locked on the open book before him. But it didn’t help him focus.
“My god, Captain. The best name you could come up with… was mine? Don’t tell me there’s literally no one you like? That’s just sad. You’ve lived so long, and not a single person?”
It was Denis Banya.
Wearing that signature crooked grin, Banya smacked the desk beside Adrian Heather with a loud thwack!
It was an apparition. And the voice—clearly an auditory hallucination.
Adrian remembered his face, laughing and trading drunken jokes during their mercenary days. And then… that hill.
“Figures.”
Banya chuckled from the seat beside him.
A single streak of blood slid down his face as he smiled. It traced a slow path along his rugged jawline.
Drip. Drip. Blood pattered onto the desk, leaving behind deep red stains. Chilling—but that was all.
“To the point where you’d even name someone you killed. Isn’t that right?”
Shut up. I didn’t kill you—that’s an exaggeration. I just let you die. It was your fate, that’s all.
The Gold Dragon turned his head with a blank expression. Humans would never understand dragons anyway. Being alone was no hardship for a being who had lived through eons.
Is that so? Well, if that’s how the Captain sees it, then I guess that’s that.
Banya responded to the dragon’s thoughts. Then, the one and only human Adrian had ever managed to remember—Denis Banya—grinned at the dragon’s inner reply. And just like that, just as suddenly as he had appeared in the lecture hall, he vanished.
Adrian snapped his head back toward the window.
Me thinks he rly does like humans and feels guilty, but his nature becomes denial and his own self imposed rules a shackle… and a self protection against loss