"Are you sure you will live with me? I'm asking you if you're confident you won't regret choosing me as your owner."
The baby dragon, whose head was drooped, immediately raised his head to confirm if he had understood the words correctly. The deep red eyes blinked repeatedly, not able to believe what Park Noah had just offered.
"I'm not confident." Park Noah mumbled, her voice faint. She bit her bottom lip hard.
The dragon cooed.
"I'm really not confident I can do it. It's more so that I know exactly what's coming to me when I'm with you. I might regret it. And I can't guarantee you won't regret it."
The baby dragon tilted his head, wriggling his front legs as if he understood. Previously, the child had always said he wanted to live with her, but when he was actually given the chance, he was torn.
The same goes with Park Noah. But at this moment, there was only one thing she was certain. Taking a deep breath, she uttered, "But I can still be responsible for my choice."
Desiring a peaceful life, Park Noah has never made such an impulsive decision ever. But, however reckless her words may seem, she said it with every ounce of sincerity.
"I won't blame you for anything and I won't abandon you halfway. It's my choice. I'm responsible for my choice. That is, if you want." She continued.
The deep red eyes widened a little, its long pupils shook. Park Noah held out one hand to the baby dragon, determined to repress the deafening doubts in her mind. Not long, she spoke into existence the bravest and most daring decision she could ever make.
"Imprint with me."
Across her, the dragon's mouth hung open like never before, revealing his tiny sharp teeth. Somehow, Park Noah relates to the child's expression had she been in his place, causing her lips to curl.
What a crazy b*tch. You are going to die of overwork in this life. But the word "responsible" is real. I, Park Noah, would never betray my own word that I would do it.
The dragon looked at Park Noah's face and her outstretched hand alternately.
"The opportunity is only until now. If you don't hold my hand now, I don't know when my heart will turn upside down again." She waves her hand.
"Uh…" Still, the baby dragon stood frozen, unable to comprehend all that was happening at the moment.
"Are you going to take it or not?"
Finally, the dragon took a step forward with his little feet despite doubting whether Park Noah was being serious or not. The distance between the most powerful creature to ever exist and the witch who is despised by men, whose destinies were supposedly poles apart, draws near.
Upon reaching her, the dragon tapped Park Noah's hand with its mouth. She grabbed the dragon's black foot with clumpy claws and waved it up and down twice. Park Noah smiled at the clueless dragon that didn't know the meaning of shaking hands.
Soon, the dragon's deep red eyes glowed. Tears finally gushed like a river from Noah's eyes and embraced the baby dragon in her arms.
Imprinting wasn't a complicated process. Park Noah had read in the original plot the scene wherein Lenia gave this child a name, and the child accepted the name, and the two beings perfectly resonated.
Hence, the most essential in the process is the name—a name that binds the dragon to its master. The heroine named the black dragon "the darkest night", depicting its color that resembles the dark night sky.
However, Park Noah did not want to give the child the same name. Besides, it's awful to give such a gloomy name to someone who resonates with her, she muses.
Isn't there a saying that people's lives follow their names?
Park Noah believes that if she imprints with the dragon instead of the heroine, and gives it a name carrying a more hopeful meaning, her story might not end up as gruesome as it did originally. But, it was only wishful thinking.
The dragon has already transformed back into its human form. The child sat on his knees in front of her, looking up at her master with beaming eyes. Park Noah mumbled a name that crossed her mind, brushing his curly hair.
"Mu."
After a few pronunciations of the name in her mind, she made a decision.
"Muell, that would be good."
It was a combination of the few ancient words that she knew with the brightest meanings: "eheleu," which means blue, and "myui," which means clear water underneath.
Park Noah pronounced the repeatedly a few times. The child's face brightened when she nodded.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes!" Excitement erupted from the child's voice. "Muell…"
As soon as the child muttered his name, something rang in Park Noah's body.
"Muell." The child uttered the name again. Suddenly, the air changed. There was a delusion as if the wind were blowing. Something began to twirl around Park Noah and the child. Muell grabbed her master's hand. At the next moment, a gust of wind lashed around the room.
"….!"
Red, blue, yellow, green, gold, black. Countless streams of light began to sweep around along the violent storm. Park Noah managed to keep her eyes open, still seated at her spot, and looked down at the child who was holding her hand.
"Mu, what's happening…"
"It's imprinted."
Only then did Park Noah realize that all the brilliant colors that shone in the room were the magic of this dragon. All of a sudden, her wrist began to tingle. She lowered her eyes to glance at her wrist and saw a geometric pattern being carved.
"….!"
Written in the novel was the process of imprinting: when Lenia imprinted with the dragon, a mark, similar to Park Noah's, was carved on her wrist, symbolizing ownership of the dragon.
Park Noah felt a raging energy in her wrist. She looked up to her surroundings and beheld the spectacular sight of the fast, intensely rotating mana enveloping them.
"Noah is my real owner from now on." The child declared, his pronunciation crystal clear.