Chapter 5

Outside the window, darkness had fallen.

Kinaine lay in bed dressed as a woman, pretending to be asleep. The blanket touching his back was soft and fluffy as if woven from baby bird feathers. On the bedside table, a beautifully crafted glass vase was filled with fresh flowers. Thanks to them, the room was filled with a fragrant scent.

Once, Kinaine had enjoyed even better things than this, but now it felt uncomfortable, like wearing ill-fitting clothes.

He had lived as a prince for over twenty years. The time he had spent as a mercenary wasn't even half that. Yet these comfortable and beautiful things felt uncomfortable because he believed he had no right to enjoy them.

Because of this, even lying on the soft bed, rather than relaxing, his nerves were on edge like needles.

Well, it would be stranger to relax when he might have to fight something that could be either a spirit or a magical beast.

How long had he waited like that, gripping the sword hidden under the blanket?

Flap! There was a great sound of wings, as if dozens of birds were fluttering at once. The veil Kinaine wore fluttered in the strong wind before settling back in place.

It had come.

Kinaine opened his eyes slightly to assess the situation. A black shadow was cast on the floor.

"I've come to take my bride."

The owner of the shadow spoke. It was an adult male's voice.

Kinaine didn't react and continued pretending to sleep.

"Bride, open your eyes and welcome me!"

The presence drew closer. Either because the room was dark, or because his female disguise was quite convincing, the creature still hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Kinaine checked the identity of the uninvited guest from the corner of his eye.

The back of his neck tingled.

It was a giant crow with purple eyes.

Crows are surprisingly large birds when seen in person. But this crow was so enormous it couldn't be considered the same species as those birds. When it spread its wings, their length must have been twice the height of an adult man. Its jet-black feathers were like armor, and its beak looked as sharp as a spear.

It definitely wasn't a magical beast. Magical beasts were beings born from evil energy. They inspired fear and revulsion just by looking at them.

This crow wasn't like that. However, it also wasn't like the beautiful spirits he had read about and imagined in the records.

Originally, he had planned to disguise himself as the daughter and attack after catching it off guard. However, Kinaine could easily predict that this plan wouldn't succeed.

'If I rush in recklessly, I'll die.'

Kinaine's instincts were remarkably accurate about such things. Wasn't that how he had managed to stay alive until now?

If it wasn't an opponent he could defeat in combat, he needed to change his plan.

"I said get up!"

Finally, the giant crow approached the bedside and commanded...

"Cough, cough!"

Kinaine broke into a coughing fit.

"What, what is this!"

The crow seemed flustered by the unexpected response. It had dropped its pretense of speaking elegantly and was startled.

Kinaine stopped pretending to sleep and slowly sat up in bed. Of course, his hand hidden under the blanket still gripped the sword.

"Cough, cough! You've come. I was sleeping so deeply I didn't notice your arrival."

"What's wrong with your voice?"

It was a strangely hoarse voice, as if someone were strangling him. It clearly hadn't been this voice before. The crow cast a confused look.

"Cough! It's because of my illness. I've coughed so much that it's become like this and won't return to normal. It doesn't sound very pleasant, does it? Cough, cough! Khaack!"

The crow flinched at the loud noise.

"...Illness? What illness do you speak of?"

This was exactly the question he had been waiting for. However, Kinaine didn't answer immediately, pretending to hesitate to make his next words more dramatic.

"Well..."

"Speak quickly!"

Fortunately, the crow responded exactly as he wanted. Only then did Kinaine answer.

"They say it's an incurable disease of unknown cause. Actually... the reason I'm wearing this veil now is because my entire body is covered in boils and oozing pus..."

Kinaine trailed off as if unable to continue speaking and began to sob. In truth, he was only making crying sounds with his mouth while his eyes remained dry as dust. Thankfully, the veil covering his face hid the truth.

"Uhuhuung, huhuung!"

Kinaine made sorrowful crying sounds while observing the crow's reaction.

How would it respond now?

A human wouldn't have been fooled, but if the crow was truly a spirit, it would have fallen for Kinaine's lie. In stories, humans had always taken advantage of spirits' nature to deceive them.

Kinaine had been thinking hard about why this crow would say it wanted a human bride.

The daughter in the portrait hanging in the hallway was lovely enough to make anyone fall in love. The spotless white face, red lips, and delicate body were familiar characteristics. The daughter was probably an omega. And fortunately, she didn't resemble her father at all.

Throughout long history, there had been spirits who had done strange things after falling for humans. Though there had also been cases of the opposite, they said.

Anyway, neither humans nor spirits would want their bride to be an invalid oozing pus from their entire body.

The spirit remained speechless for a while.

At this, Kinaine believed his guess was correct.

"Sniff, how could I become anyone's bride with such an unsightly appearance. Though I promised to become Crow-nim's bride, now that things have turned out this way, it simply cannot be! I've left the diamond you gave me on the table, so please take it back, and let's consider our promise void!"

The client's daughter was ill because she had tried to break the promise. That was how magical mysteries worked. But if both parties were willing to break the promise, the magic's effect would disappear and the client's daughter would regain her health.

Then the crow spoke.

"Who said anything about becoming whose bride?"

What? Why is it suddenly playing dumb? Kinaine answered, inwardly flustered.

"...Me, becoming Crow-nim's bride?"

"Nonsense! Did you think I would take a mere human as my bride?"

But the crow burst out in anger.

'Not its bride?'

"As expected, humans don't know their place. Ha, illness? You say you're ill? This is why humans are worthless! You don't even realize what a great opportunity you've lost!"

As it continued speaking, anger gradually frosted the crow's voice. Kinaine gripped the sword handle tightly.

"Where have you been wandering to catch such a strange disease! Damn it, you fool! If you had just stayed put, you could have achieved everything you wanted!"

Achieve everything you wanted.

Though it seemed like an insignificant phrase, it stuck in his ear strangely. Because it didn't sound like mere exaggeration or bluster.

Kinaine asked reflexively:

"You mean if one becomes the spirit's bride, they can achieve anything?"

"Why do you keep saying such stupid things? Do you think I, Lord Kor, would take a mere human as my bride!"

"Then whose bride am I supposed to become?"

"Who else? The dragon's!"

He was stunned by the unexpected word. Dragon?

"By dragon... do you mean the being said to protect the two worlds?"

He spoke in his normal voice out of surprise, but fortunately the enraged spirit didn't notice anything strange.

"Yes. I, Lord Kor, tried to give a mere human the chance to become the dragon's bride. But you kicked that chance away!"

Was he saying dragons really existed?

It was unbelievable.

This world was divided into the Divine Realm where gods lived, the Human Realm where humans lived, the Spirit Realm where spirits lived, and the Demon Realm where dark beings existed.

According to legend, the gods of the Divine Realm favored dragons and gifted them magic, tasking them with the role of protecting the Spirit Realm and Human Realm from the Demon Realm. That was why dragons were called the source of magic and guardians of the two worlds.

This myth was common throughout the continent, so many countries used dragon imagery as a symbol of protection. Kinaine's country, the Kingdom of Hairak, was no exception.

However, Kinaine hadn't thought dragons actually existed. Unlike magical beasts and spirits, there were no records left in documents, so he had considered them merely symbolic figures used to explain the mysterious power of magic.

But dragons really existed?

"You're saying I could have become a dragon's bride?"

"You could have, if you had become a bride candidate and participated in the selection. But with that condition, it's all over!"

Kinaine wasn't really listening. What he really wanted to ask was something else.

"If one becomes a dragon's bride, can they achieve what they want? No matter what it is?"

He didn't even have to try to make his voice hoarse anymore - it came out sounding strangled.

That's how desperate he was. His heart was beating so hard it wouldn't have been strange if it jumped out.

So desperate he could give that jumping heart away immediately if asked.

Kinaine had something he wanted that desperately.

"Dragons are craz... no, blindly devoted beings who would give even the world to their mates if they desired it."

Whether reading his desperation or simply having a personality that liked answering questions, the crow answered readily.

"That's why when it's time for a new dragon to take a mate, they hold the selection. It would be disastrous if an evil person became their mate."

Give even the world.

Of course, anyone would want to give their lover what they wanted, but shouldn't there be limits? Was this just an exaggeration like 'I'll get you the stars if you want them'?

Kinaine asked:

"So if the bride asked for the world to be destroyed, it would happen?"

"That would be the end of the world that very day."