Little hungry dragon, handled!

Valentina woke to a delicious aroma, only to fly into a rage at the strange sound that followed.

"Hey! What were you doing just now?"

"Teasing a dog... uh, no, let me make excuses."

???

Valentina gritted her teeth, her slit pupils fixed on the white-haired boy right in front of her.

"What did you say!!?"

This damned bastard.

You'd better explain yourself!

Or I'll tear you to pieces!

Herbert blinked and cleared his throat. "Ahem, I was trying to lure you with food... oh, that's not right either. I was waking you up nicely."

Then he gave the dangerously scowling dragon lady a bright, sunny smile.

"Good morning, my lady!"

At that moment, looking at his handsome yet extraordinarily punchable face, Valentina felt as though a blood vessel had burst in her head.

Snap.

"Good morning... my ass!"

"HER! BERT!"

The dragon lady's roar shook the entire cell, echoing endlessly and rattling Herbert's internal organs at point-blank range.

It nearly gave him internal injuries.

"Ahem, just kidding. Calm down. Don't get so worked up."

Herbert rubbed his painfully ringing ears and said helplessly, "Here, I'll apologize right now."

With that, he casually tossed the roasted chicken drumstick in his hand into the cage.

Toss-

The carefully roasted drumstick traced a perfect arc through the air, spinning as it flew.

!

Valentina, who had been roaring just a second earlier, reacted instantly. She leaped up and caught the drumstick in her mouth.

Crunch!

Although she was currently in human form, the movements ingrained in her bones were still those of a dragon. Rather than catching it with her hands, she opened her mouth and bit down.

"Mmph!!?"

Only after she had bitten down did Herbert's amused gaze make her realize something was wrong with what she had done. She turned to glare at him.

You fucking-!!?

She wanted to say something, but she couldn't bear to give up the drumstick in her mouth, so she mumbled indistinctly, "Mmph mmph mmph, you, mmph mmph mmph-" (What are you looking at!)

She finally managed to crunch up and swallow the drumstick, only for Herbert to seize the moment and shove another straight into her mouth.

"Here you go."

"Mmph!?"

As Herbert firmly pushed the drumstick into her mouth, he earnestly coaxed her, "Be good! Don't talk while you're eating."

"You!? Mmph-crunch!"

Chew, chew, chew.

Valentina was furious.

But the drumsticks were simply too delicious to resist.

Chew, chew, chew.

Valentina knew giving in so easily was wrong. It compromised her dignity as a dragon.

But it really wasn't her fault. Her mouth had a mind of its own.

Chew, chew, chew.

And so Valentina tried to speak again and again, only to have her mouth stuffed again and again.

Anger and appetite kept battling it out... and appetite won every time.

Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew-

After successfully feeding her the fourth drumstick, Herbert relaxed, knowing he had made it through this hurdle.

Little hungry dragon, handled!

His smile grew even gentler as he fed her, keeping up a steady stream of coaxing.

"Be good. Don't talk."

"That's right, brush it aside. Don't get it in your hair."

"Swallow first. Don't rush, there's more coming."

"Ah! Eat slowly. Nobody's going to steal it from you."

When he passed her the last drumstick, Valentina took it with her hand instead of catching it in her mouth.

"Oh?"

With her mouth stuffed full, she stared at Herbert for a long while, rolled her eyes quite pointedly, then gave a soft huff.

"Hmph!"

Then she turned around with the drumstick in hand, sat down with her back against the bars, and mumbled indistinctly, "...Mmph."

Herbert said, "Mmph?"

What are you mmph-ing about?

Can't you use words... oh.

Seeing Valentina lean her head back, Herbert realized she was asking him to cut her hair.

Just as they had agreed yesterday.

"So you're leaving it to me..." Herbert blinked, feeling that he and the dragon lady had grown a little closer again.

To be fair.

In other people's eyes, Valentina was a dangerous, evil dragon, a monster they had to remain highly vigilant around.

But in Herbert's eyes, she looked rather different.

She was a little hot-tempered, ate a little too much, and seemed a little dangerous.

But aside from all that, she wasn't unpleasant to be around.

She was fairly cooperative and easy to coax.

Her anger came quickly and faded just as fast.

She could hold a grudge overnight, but she could also put it behind her in no time.

Honestly... she's pretty cute.

Besides, although she looked a little unkempt right now, she actually had a healthy, shapely figure, and her features were exquisitely refined, even strikingly valiant.

Herbert got up and returned to the jailer's room, washed his hands, then brought over the tools he had prepared.

He pulled up a stool outside the bars, rolled up his sleeves, and tentatively poked her fiery red hair with a fingertip.

Once he was sure she wasn't resisting, he reached both hands into the cell, gathering her hair with one hand and gently combing it with the other.

"Valentina."

"...Mmph?" (What?)

Herbert's voice was gentle, with none of his earlier teasing as he softly asked, "Has anyone ever cut your hair before?"

"..." With her back to him, Valentina's lips twitched. She said nothing at first, then finally answered flatly, "No."

"Never?"

"Never."

As though something had come to mind, her expression shifted. Her gaze grew dark, and her voice turned unfriendly. "Why are you asking?"

But Herbert didn't react to her tone. He chuckled. "No reason. I just think I'm rather lucky."

"Lucky?"

"Yes, lucky."

Having finished combing her fiery, waist-length hair, Herbert gently rolled its ends between his fingertips, feeling rather moved.

It had looked rough and tangled, yet a few gentle strokes of the comb had made it soft and smooth with hardly any effort. Who knew how many people would envy hair like this?

So, without putting on an act, he spoke from the heart. "Miss Valentina, I'm honored to be the first person to take care of your hair."

"Mmph!!?"

Valentina's expression shifted several times at those words. For some reason, she suddenly felt an urge to stop him from touching her hair.

Why does my heart feel all ticklish?

In the end, however, she forced down the strange feeling and stayed put rather than fleeing in embarrassment.

Her lips moved, and finally she huffed in a somewhat coy, petulant tone, "...Hmph, you're right. It is an honor for you!"

Herbert answered with a rather speechless click of his tongue.

"Um... miss, tsunderes fell out of the meta ages ago. You might try being a little more honest."

?

What meta?