The towers of Diasomnia rose high above the mist, dark spires glowing faintly with green light. The dorm was quiet — almost sacred — as if the very air held its breath in reverence for the one who ruled it.

Malleus Draconia. The heir to the Valley of Thorns. Descendant of dragons and fae. A being of power and grace so immense that his mere presence made magic hum in the air.

Most students feared him. His stoic expression, his commanding aura, his piercing emerald gaze — all of it made him seem untouchable. But beyond the fear and admiration, there was something else in his heart. Something unexpected.

You.

The only female student in the history of Night Raven College. A presence that should have been insignificant to someone like him — yet somehow, you had his full attention.

At first, it was curiosity. You approached him without trembling, spoke without hesitation, and smiled at him as though he weren’t a prince or a fae lord, but simply… Malleus. It intrigued him. Then it charmed him. And before long, it changed him.

The dorm began to notice the shift.

Lilia, ever playful and perceptive, caught on first. He’d chuckle softly whenever Malleus’s usual lectures to Sebek trailed off the moment you entered the room. Hanging upside down from the ceiling, he’d whisper to Silver, “Ah… our dear Malleus has finally found someone who can make even a dragon lose his composure.”

Silver, loyal and gentle, observed quietly. He saw the way Malleus’s expression softened when your name was mentioned, the way his magic pulsed with calm instead of command when you were near. He said nothing, only smiled in quiet understanding.

And Sebek—loud, loyal, and utterly unaware of subtlety—was completely baffled. “W-Why does the Young Master allow her to speak to him so casually?!” he would exclaim, cheeks red with outrage. Yet even he began to sense something sacred about the way Malleus looked at you — protective, patient, and powerful all at once.

To Malleus, you weren’t just a curiosity. You were warmth. A spark in the long, cold centuries of his existence. Your laughter felt like sunlight. Your presence like the first spring breeze after endless winter.

He found himself seeking your company — in the gardens under the moonlight, in the shadowed courtyards where fae fireflies drifted lazily. And for the first time in his long life, the great Malleus Draconia felt something beyond duty, beyond power… something achingly human.

The world whispered that dragons only loved once. If that were true, then his heart — ancient, patient, and eternal — had already chosen its flame.