Chapter 5.3

Chapter5.3

"Thank you," she murmured and immediately took the iron clip, which was very plain but served its purpose. It helped her hair from falling down and tangling with the leather cage.

She had only ever seen such things on rich women, and there the clasps had often been ornate.

This one, however, was without any ornamentation. Why he owned this one at all, she couldn't say. Maybe to fix towels or clothes that had to stay in one place?

She didn't want to ask, preferring to enjoy the water. She probably wouldn't get any answers anyway.

Now that she didn't have to wet her hair, she leaned back and relaxed into the water.

Quinn had as much time as she needed. Patiently, the dragon waited by the window, glancing up at the sky every now and then to see if the messenger would arrive soon and bring the longed-for letter. It was not easy to see through the dense snowdrift. Moreover, it was just getting light, which made it even more challenging to see anything.

Although Rei's eyes were directed outside, he listened for the sounds coming from Quinn.

Just as the latter was about to get up, he caught sight of the messenger outside in the sky, bringing the letter.

The gray, powerful body almost merged with the clouds in the sky. The dragon flapped its wings vigorously in an attempt to withstand the wind. This was no easy feat, for the storm had increased and was sweeping violently over the island.

The dragon did not land but placed a large basket in front of the gate.

For a moment, Rei was inclined to leave Quinn alone to fetch it, but there was someone in charge of the mail, and he had the task of picking up every little thing. In fact, it wasn't long before Rei spotted a thickly wrapped man outside, heading over there to get the delivery and return as soon as possible.

He would probably be here in a moment to bring the letter.

Quinn rose from the tub at this time and wrapped himself in the towel. "If you start the transformation all over again, will I match your appearance?" she wanted to know, staring into the mirror above the small sink.

She thought she was ugly with that brown-gray hair. But that was because it was broken and straw-like.

"Maybe. I hope I don't have to start over," Rei replied absently. It would take a lot of time and cause her the same unnecessary pain again. He didn't want that to happen.

Quinn began to dry himself off. "Has this ever been done before?" she asked quietly. "Has a woman ever been given to another dragon who has continued the transformation?"

Slowly, Rei nodded. "Yes, once," he confirmed, listening for any footsteps from the hallway.

Quinn didn't ask further because she didn't really want to know. She'd instead give herself the illusion that this woman was fine. She would tell herself that.

"Was the transformation continued or restarted?" she inquired cautiously when there was a knock at the door.

"Resumed," Rei replied and walked to it with quick steps. He didn't want the messenger to enter, so he opened the door only enough for the man to merely catch sight of Rei.

"A letter," the latter said quietly and in a brittle voice. "I sorted the rest as usual," he explained to Rei, handing him the letter. In doing so, he did not try to look past it. After yesterday, he knew he had to be careful.

"Alright, thank you," the guard said with a nod and simply closed the door in the man's face. With quick fingers, he slit open the envelope and began to read.

What he read did not please him at all.

His fear that he would have to start all over again had come true. Still, to make matters worse, if she survived, he would also have to teach her how to use her magic, in addition to teaching her the rules about living with dragons. As if he had people here who knew about these things. It sounded like he should get her private tutor.

However, that was the most harmless thing. The worst part was the schedule that came with it, which specified exactly how much to mix and how long to take it.

Usually, a conversion took a month, sometimes a little longer. But here, it was at least half a year.

That was because her body had to change. And that wasn't done in a few weeks. Too quickly could result in catastrophic proportions.

Frustrated, he heaved a sigh and growled angrily. Couldn't something go the way it was supposed to for once? He wasn't a nanny and a dragon who was supposed to walk women, but a guardian who looked out for those who had messed up a lot in their lives!

When was he even supposed to have time for that? It had never been intended that there should be a woman on Barafu. He, as a guardian, was not entitled to have a wife. Did the Supreme even know what he was doing to him?

For the first time in his life, he felt downright overwhelmed.

With the letter in his hand, he dejectedly let himself slide down the wall.

Quinn looked at him with wide eyes and felt pity. With quick steps, she approached him and gently hugged him. She hoped it helped.

Rei lifted his head in wonder, escaped her arms, and silently held out the letter to her. Since it concerned her, he felt it was important that she knew what was coming. Keeping it from her and letting her hope it was over soon would be fundamentally wrong.

Quinn pulled back and blushed. "I can't read," she confessed sheepishly.

Again, Rei lowered the letter and leaned his head against the wall. Instead of blaming her or condescending, he took a deep breath and began to read the letter aloud. No passage did he spare, even though he knew Quinn was no more prepared than he was.

The young woman grew paler and paler. She even forgot to breathe before struggling violently to catch her breath and fight panic.

It was not lost on him that this made her feel worse. His hand reached for hers and squeezed it as he read the rest of the letter. When he finished, he leaned his head against the wall again and closed his eyes.

He could not reassure the young woman. Even if Elgatos suggested using the herbs to make her compliant, that was something he didn't want. Subjecting Quinn to torment for so long was tearing the ground from under his feet. The hope that everything would be the same in a few weeks was a distant memory.

Now it sounded more like a year. If everything went well.

Although half a year was written in the letter. But there could always be complications that would push the time back. "I'm sorry to put you through all this crap again," Rei whispered, exhausted.

All the hope had died, and it pained him to do this to Quinn and make her do it. He was really overwhelmed with this and didn't know what to do. His preference was to just let her go.

"It's not your fault," Quinn said in a strained voice, lowering his eyes. "Are we starting tomorrow?"

"According to the plan, yes," he replied unhappily. That he was in for a difficult time was evident to him. They would probably have to fight constantly to get Quinn to take the dose. In fact, the latter had no way to fight back at all.

Rei's hand clenched into a fist, and he got furious. "Why didn't they use someone else for this? Me, of all people, who wants nothing to do with it and is not entitled at all! ", he raged against the letter in his hand and was close to tearing it. However, since the plan was written there, he couldn't.

Quinn looked startled and winced violently at his remark. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. Or it is ... At least a little because you refused," he admitted honestly. But blaming her for everything getting out of hand would be wrong. Quinn couldn't guess why Rei was here. And it didn't matter to her, either.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," Rei murmured conciliatorily. Actually, he should get up and wash out the tub. But at that moment, he couldn't.

Quinn's lips trembled, and then she made a sobbing sound. Everything was getting too much for her.

Rei didn't know what to do. Women had no place in his life, which was why he couldn't handle them. Comforting her and giving her false hope was something he couldn't bring himself to do. Telling a lie that everything would be fine, Rei didn't dare do that either. No one could tell how she would react to his blood, especially over this long period.

Sighing, he stood up and ran his hand through his hair before reaching out to Quinn. It wasn't her fault that she had to go through everything all over again. All Rei could do anymore was make her as comfortable as possible and help her anytime she needed anything.

Carefully, Quinn reached for his hand and let him help her up, even though she didn't feel like it.

As she did so, she could feel his cool skin. It wasn't warm, like most men's, but cold. But still soft. However, the injuries had even left some traces. In these places, the skin seemed a bit shriveled and warm. A sign that she was not okay.

Just as her skin had been when she had shed her skin.

Somehow she found it all strange. Especially Rei's reaction. Why was she really here if, as he said, he actually had no idea?

"I'll wash out the tub, then we can go get breakfast," he said slowly, letting go of her hand once she was safely on her feet. Then she could get dressed and do her hair in peace.

Quinn nodded jerkily and then tried to distract herself by doing her hair. As she did so, she watched Rei out of the corner of her eye.

He seemed to have calmed down a bit, which was probably because he could take out his anger on the bathtub by cleaning it. His face, just as it had been the day before in the entry hall, was ice cold. It wasn't because of Quinn, though, but because of the letter.