My Mate Thinks He’s Human ~I Crossed Worlds to Find Him, and He Told Me to Go Home.~

“Money.”

“In the inner pocket.”

“Traveling cloak.”

“Folded at the very bottom. It takes up too much room if I put it on top.”

“The documents I gave you.”

Elaria opened the small leather bag in front of her and pulled out a brown paper envelope without even having to search for it.

“Right here.”

Maeryn looked at the envelope, then at the young woman sitting in front of her.

“And if someone asks where you came from?”

“I’ll say I came from the north.”

“If they ask where in the north?”

“I don’t need to give them details.”

“If someone asks about Eryndra?”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“If someone sees you transform?”

Elaria fell silent for a moment.

“Then I chose a bad place to transform.”

Maeryn closed her eyes.

The answer was not wrong.

That was precisely what made it so difficult to argue with.

The morning of Elaria’s departure had begun before the sun had even risen above the mountains, and her luggage had already been inspected three times.

The first time by Elaria herself.

The second time by Maeryn.

And the third time was also by Maeryn.

Elaria did not object. She sat on the thick rug in the middle of the room and let her caretaker unpack everything she had already arranged, one item at a time, before putting it all back with a grave expression.

Over the past two years, Maeryn had taught her enough about human lands that Elaria was certain she was ready.

At least, Elaria had been certain she was ready two years ago.

Maeryn was the one who had not been convinced.

When Elaria turned one thousand and announced that, since Vaelor still had not returned, she would simply go find him herself, her caretaker had gone very still for a very long time before finally saying,

“Fine.”

Elaria had been happy for approximately three breaths.

Then Maeryn continued.

“In two years.”

And so Elaria had waited another two years.

For a dragon, two years was hardly a long time.

But for a dragon who had already spent several centuries waiting for someone to come home, two years was still two years.

“Do you remember what I told you about clothing?”

Maeryn’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.

Elaria looked down at the dress she was wearing. The pale blue skirt fell softly around her legs, made from fabric much lighter than the clothes dragons usually wore in human form. White lace layered the ends of the sleeves, and the thin ribbon around her waist was her favorite part.

The clothes had come from a dragon who had once traveled to Avelorne and brought them back. When the dragon learned that Elaria was about to visit a human city, she had happily given Elaria the entire collection.

Elaria had asked only one question.

Are these dresses still cute?

Once she was assured that they were, she saw no other problem.

“I remember,” Elaria said. “Human fashions change quickly. These may not be the most fashionable styles anymore, but they’re still perfectly wearable.”

Maeryn nodded in satisfaction.

“Good.”

“I really do remember.”

“I know.”

“You asked me this yesterday.”

“I know that too.”

Elaria studied her for a moment, then decided not to ask any further questions.

Over the past two years, she had learned that sometimes when Maeryn repeated a question, it did not mean she thought Elaria had forgotten the answer.

It simply meant Maeryn wanted to ask it again.

Elaria did not entirely understand the reason for that, but allowing her caretaker to repeat herself seemed to make Maeryn feel better.

Maeryn closed the final bag, fastened the straps securely, and sat down across from her.

“Now for the most important part.”

Elaria listened attentively.

“Do not transform in front of humans.”

“All right.”

“Do not use your power unless necessary.”

“All right.”

“Do not tell anyone where Eryndra is.”

“All right.”

“Do not tell anyone it is the land of dragons.”

“All right.”

“Do not attract unnecessary attention.”

Elaria nodded again.

That last rule was slightly less precise than the others, but Maeryn had already explained it. Whenever Elaria was uncertain whether she should do something, she should first look around and see whether other humans were doing it.

If no one else was, then she should think carefully before doing it herself.

It did not sound difficult.

“And once you find Vaelor—”

“I let him handle everything from there.”

The answer came immediately.

Maeryn went quiet.

Elaria tilted her head slightly. “Was that right?”

“Yes.”

That was the easiest rule of all.

All she had to do was reach Avelorne, find Vaelor, and after that, he would know what to do.

Vaelor understood humans far better than she did.

He had been living among them for a long time.

So long, in fact, that Elaria could no longer remember the last time she had seen him.

When she was younger, she used to ask Maeryn almost every day.

Will he come home today?

If he doesn’t come home today, what about tomorrow?

And if not tomorrow, then the day after that?

Maeryn had answered those questions for hundreds of years.

Sometimes she said she did not know.

Sometimes she said he had work to do.

Sometimes she said he would return before long.

And Elaria waited.

Waiting was nothing unusual for dragons. Their lives were long, and human seasons passed so quickly that sometimes they barely noticed them. A few decades was hardly an alarming amount of time, and even a disappearance lasting longer than that did not necessarily mean someone would never come home.

But once Elaria reached adulthood, she realized there was a much simpler solution than continuing to ask the same question.

If he still had not come back—

she could simply go find him herself.

And so this day had finally arrived.

Maeryn reached forward to straighten Elaria’s collar, even though it was already perfectly neat.

“If something goes wrong, don’t try to handle everything by yourself.”

“All right.”

“Find Vaelor first.”

“I was already planning to find him.”

“I mean if you encounter something you don’t understand.”

“I can ask him.”

“Yes.”

Maeryn’s hands paused.

Her expression softened slightly.

“There are some things I don’t know how to teach you, either.”

Elaria thought about that.

“Things about marriage?”

Maeryn’s hand went still.

Elaria remembered asking about human relationships several years ago and being told to wait until she was older. Even after she grew up, there were still several things Maeryn had said Vaelor would probably be better at explaining himself.

“That too.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have to ask him the moment you see him.”

Elaria nodded in understanding.

“Then I’ll wait until after I greet him.”

Maeryn stared at her.

Long enough that Elaria began to wonder whether she had answered incorrectly.

But in the end, her caretaker merely sighed.

“Never mind.”

Her luggage was carried out first.

Elaria followed Maeryn outside. The morning air was colder than it had been indoors, and the breeze carried the scent of damp stone and trees down from the mountainside.

Eryndra stretched out before her.

Layer upon layer of mountains disappeared into a sea of mist. Morning light touched the rocky peaks in faint silver, and far in the distance, the shadow of a dragon crossed the sky before descending behind a cliff.

It was a view Elaria had known all her life.

Today would be the first time she left it behind.

Not forever.

She was only going to bring someone home.

“I’ll come back,” she said.

“I know.”

“With Vaelor.”

Maeryn was quiet for a moment before answering.

“I hope so.”

Elaria smiled.

As far as she was concerned, there was nothing to hope for.

Vaelor was in Avelorne.

She was going to find him.

Once she found him, they could come home together.

That was all there was to it.

Her human form broke apart into pale silver light.

In the next instant, a silver-white dragon stood where the young woman had been. Her scales gleamed like pearls beneath the morning sun. Enormous wings spread wide, stirring the air around her into restless currents.

Maeryn stepped back slightly to avoid the gust but remained where she was, watching.

Elaria lowered her head toward her one last time.

“Go.”

Elaria spread her wings.

The stone beneath her fell away rapidly.

Eryndra grew smaller below her wings. Mountains became gray lines, forests became dark green patches, and before long, the clouds swallowed everything beneath her.

Elaria climbed higher.

Above the clouds, there were no roads.

No checkpoints.

No cities.

And no humans looking up to see the shadow of a dragon crossing the sky.

There was only sunlight, wind, and a white sea stretching all the way to the horizon.

She turned toward Avelorne.

And kept flying.

The carriage wheel struck another seam in the stone road.

Elaria opened her eyes.

Flying was much more comfortable than this.

She did not complain.

Maeryn had told her that traveling like a human would help her blend in, and after landing in the hidden valley dragons had long used as a passage point, Elaria had done everything exactly as they had prepared.

Change form.

Change clothes.

Arrange her luggage.

Continue traveling like a human.

And now, at last, the carriage was carrying her into Aster.

Elaria pulled the window curtain aside slightly.

The human capital was far more different from everything she knew than the illustrations in books had made it seem.

Stone buildings stood close together along the streets, their rooftops rising at different heights. Metal chimneys released trails of white steam into the sky. Horse-drawn carriages moved among strange vehicles that made soft mechanical noises as they passed. Iron rails ran along the main roads, and somewhere in the distance, a deep whistle sounded before a trail of smoke moved between the buildings.

There were also people.

So many people.

Elaria watched them for a while, then let the curtain fall back into place.

Interesting.

She could look around properly later.

There was something more important to do first.

The carriage turned away from the main road.

The noise outside gradually faded. Buildings became farther apart until shops gave way to stone walls and iron fences surrounding large private estates.

Elaria sat a little straighter.

She could not sense Vaelor’s thoughts.

She could not hear his voice.

There were no words appearing inside her mind to tell her which direction to take.

But as the carriage turned again, something deeper than that became unmistakably clear.

It was like knowing where the sun was even with her eyes closed.

Like knowing her wings were part of her body without needing to look at them.

He was close.

Elaria immediately turned toward the window.

The carriage slowed.

Then came to a complete stop.

The driver called from the front.

“We’ve arrived, miss.”

Elaria opened the door.

A large mansion stood beyond the iron gates. Its pale stone façade stretched across a carefully maintained garden, everything unmistakably human, from the tall windows to the family crest above the entrance.

She had never seen this place before.

She had not even known its name before coming to Avelorne.

And she did not need anyone to tell her whether she had come to the right place.

Elaria stepped down from the carriage and looked up at the mansion again.

The feeling was so clear that there was no room for doubt.

Vaelor was here.

After waiting for hundreds of years, she had finally found him.

Elaria smiled.

Things should be much easier from here.