DMHS 31

Kian could not hold back and he answered.

“Can you please stop saying strange things? I am not some woman of stunning beauty. Nobody falls in love out of nowhere with a man who just looks decent.”

“I did fall in love.”

Kian was at a loss for words.

“So……”

What was wrong with a dragon’s sense of beauty.

But it was too much to blame the entire race, because Hellenos had never once called Kian pretty. This had to be Lucien’s personal issue.

“Why do you like me, Lord Lucien?”

“I like you because you are pretty.”

Lucien’s bad mood seemed to have eased, and he left short kisses on Kian’s face. Kian received kisses scattered all over his eyes, nose tip, cheeks, and jaw.

“There must be many people prettier than me. I heard even the most beautiful woman in the capital once entered a beauty contest.”

“I don’t even remember how she looked. But now that I think about it, there is this. You have a unique atmosphere. If I had to describe it with a color, it would be black.”

“Black……”

“Yes. Like you absorb the light around you.”

“……”

His mana was pitiful, he could not return to his original body, and people called him half a dragon, but at least his natural senses did not seem inferior.

‘What a bizarre dragon.’

Kian was silent for a moment and then he spoke.

“Did you tell that to others too?”

“I did. They only sneered and asked if there was something wrong with my eyes.”

“That is a relief. Well, it is not the kind of thing anyone would take seriously anyway.”

“Don’t tease me.”

Lucien suddenly bit Kian’s cheek. He did not use his teeth, so it did not hurt, but it felt strange.

“Does it taste good when you eat like that?”

“Yes.”

Lucien then bit down on Kian’s nose bridge and eyelid.

Lucien’s upper body leaned closer and closer to Kian. After covering his face with kisses, he touched his ear and kissed it.

Their lips pressed together and pulled apart playfully several times. Then Lucien’s lips parted and the kiss deepened.

“Ughh……”

A moan slipped out between his teeth. When Lucien’s thick tongue scraped down his palate, stars flashed inside his eyes.

He recalled the contents of the data he had received from Ibrahim.

‘It said dragon body fluids have an aphrodisiac effect.’

That explained why the kiss with a stranger last night had not disgusted him, but instead heated his body.

The design had evolved to minimize the pain of forming a womb for carrying eggs. But the report had not said anything about how to form a womb.

But one thing was certain. You did not conceive eggs through kissing. It said that relationships with dragons, when they were in human form, happened the same way as with humans.

‘I… don’t feel bad.’

At some point Kian was lying on the bed. The large body bent over him bit and sucked his lips slowly.

Chup. The kiss made shameless wet sounds as it deepened.

Each time Lucien’s saliva flowed into him, Kian felt a shiver. His mind grew hazy and dull.

The paradoxical feeling of arousal and comfort coming together was pleasant.

‘It has also been a long time since I had physical contact.’

When you starve for a long time, you don’t even realize you are hungry. But when good food finally enters your stomach, you can’t help but feel good.

Kian justified himself with such ridiculous thoughts.

‘Nothing will happen just from rubbing lips.’

It was the arrogance of someone who had lived far too long.

Time usually grants wisdom, but it can also make one foolish. Because of that, even long-lived beings ended up regretting.

Kian would later regret the choice he made this day, but that was only after everything had already happened.

Unaware of what lay ahead, Kian reached out and wrapped his hand around Lucien’s nape. At his mate’s urging gesture, Lucien growled.

“Open your mouth wider.”

Lucien tilted his head to the side and made their joining deeper.

At the same time…

Tak.

The lights that had been brightening the bedroom all went out with a sound. As if they had been waiting, the silhouettes of the two overlapped into one.

They were indeed as close as the rumors in the palace said.

***

A week passed. The daily routine flowed in a similar way. Kian and Lucien listened to Gavin’s history lessons every day, and when night came they pressed their lips together.

During that time, preparations for Lucien’s coming-of-age ceremony also progressed step by step.

Walter’s help was a big reason things moved quickly.

‘I must reduce the luggage they carry to the minimum. I packed enough water and food in the subspace pouch, so there will be no problem.’

From the day he discovered Lucien in love, Walter had prepared the follow-up exactly as written in his father’s journal.

That follow-up was this.

A dragon who found his mate held a wedding, then went with the mate to the Hero’s Tomb. There the dragon held another wedding and returned to the palace. This whole process was called the dragon-style “coming-of-age ceremony.”

According to old stories, originally when a dragon found a mate he returned to the cave where he was born. Like his parents before him, he laid eggs there and then set out on a new path.

That dragon tradition had changed to fit the kingdom’s situation, becoming the current form of the coming-of-age ceremony.

‘I didn’t forget anything else, right?’

On the morning of departure, Walter was busy. He had to pack the luggage of Lucien and his mate, and also the luggage of the witnesses who would take part in the ceremony.

That was why a normal coming-of-age ceremony was very large in scale. When the dragon and mate, family and friends who would witness the marriage, and even the escorts were added together, the procession became as splendid as the king’s progress.

But this time there was a special order from the king. He declared that they would leave for the ceremony accompanied only by two people who would serve as both witnesses and escorts.

As a result,

“Hello. We are supposed to gather here this morning, right?”

A knight wearing armor polished bright and glossy arrived at the entrance of the Freesia Palace.

Walter confirmed the red-haired person who had tied their hair back in one knot.

“Are you Lady Daisy Bernstein. If you wait a little, the master and his spouse will also come down.”

“I came early on purpose. Since we are going on a long journey, my eyes opened wide in the morning.”

Daisy smiled in a simple way and admired the garden.

“You arranged the garden beautifully. Is it true that you even raise strange animals in the back garden?”

“It is not something great. I only tried it thinking it might be a small pleasure for Lord Lucien, who always stays in the palace.”

“It is not something small. When Lord Lucien leaves, you will feel lonely for a while, Steward. And you will also be worried.”

Walter could not speak for a moment.

‘It is true that I worry about Lord Lucien.’

His father, who had served the previous dragon, might have been only proud that his master had grown up and found a mate. But to Walter, Lucien still looked like a boy.

‘And the Hero’s Tomb is too far.’

The tomb was located in the far west of the kingdom. Near the border close to the Delia tribe’s garrison, large and small conflicts never stopped. They might get swept into trouble.

Walter forced himself to suppress his anxiety.

“The coming-of-age ceremony is a process the master must naturally go through. He met a good mate and leaves together, so I can only feel happy.”

Just then, the second companion entered through the entrance.

“This is the departure place, right?”

The owner of the annoyed voice was Frederick.

Frederick pushed back the hood covering his head and confirmed Daisy standing at the entrance. At the same time his face crumpled.

“……Daisy Bernstein.”

“I also don’t feel happy to see your face. But since things turned out this way, let’s make a temporary truce.”

“I agree.”

Daisy changed the subject when she got his weak answer.

“But Sir Frederick, why do you speak down to me?”

“……? You should know too. I am older than you.”

“But your academy class is below mine. I am swordsmanship class, 312th class, and Sir Frederick, you are magic class, 313th class.”

In the kingdom’s academy, class rank by year was strict.

That was why Frederick, who already knew Daisy, had avoided her openly throughout his academy years. Because of his petty pride, he had decided never to use honorifics to someone younger than himself.

When that fact was pointed out, Frederick’s face crumpled again.

“We graduated from the academy now, so do as you want.”

“Then I will also speak down to you, Frederick.”

Frederick waved his hand quickly.

“Did you ever listen to me anyway. What an annoying knight.”

“You are the one who doesn’t listen. Stupid mage.”

“What? What did you just say?”

“I said stupid mage. Why? Are the ears of stupid mages also blocked?”

Walter fell into serious thought.

‘Will it be alright to take such people along?’

He wondered if it would be better to find different companions even now.

At that moment the door inside the entrance opened, and Kian and Lucien came out wearing light travel clothes.

Kian looked around at those gathered and smiled as he spoke.

“You are all here. I heard that Sir Frederick would come as representative of the South Party, and Sir Daisy as representative of the North Party. You must be busy, but thank you for giving us your valuable time.”

What was surprising was Daisy and Frederick’s reaction.

The people who had been fighting childishly until just now were gone. Daisy answered seriously.

“Since His Majesty the King entrusted us with the task. I hope our escort will help your journey.”

“……I think the same.”

He still grumbled, but compared to earlier Frederick’s attitude was polite to a degree that could not even be compared.