Chapter 17

At the servant's urgent words, Jet sighed.

"I'll go check."

The place he quickly arrived at was the dragon's private bath. Though called a bath, it was a massive bathing facility created by renovating an entire palace.

Flower petals from the surrounding flowering trees floated on the bath that was larger than a lake. On one side, a waterfall cascaded endlessly, and the terrace pillars surrounding the bath were decorated with marble, gold, and all kinds of beautiful jewels.

All dragons loved water and paid great attention to their baths. Jet thought that in this aspect, they were certainly similar to the scaled tribe. Perhaps it was because they both had scales.

'Ugh, stop with the useless thoughts.'

Where was there time for idle thoughts when every moment was precious?

"Lord Asad! I'm coming in!"

Jet strode inside and stopped upon discovering a familiar face.

"Targan! You were here?"

"Jet."

Standing like a guard dog in front of the massive steaming bath was a large man with a single horn on his forehead.

His indifferent gaze turned to Jet.

"Why ask the obvious? It's my duty to protect Lord Asad."

After answering curtly, Targan resumed staring straight ahead. Seeing this, Jet felt like his insides were burning up.

"You dimwit! Don't you know what day it is?"

"I know. Today is the start of the selection to choose Lord Asad's mate."

Targan answered with an expression that showed he couldn't understand why Jet was so agitated.

"Knowing that and still...! Never mind, forget it!"

What was the point of trying to converse with someone who knew nothing but using brute strength!

Indeed, nothing would function without him, Jet. Pushing Targan aside unnecessarily, Jet strode forward.

"Lord Asad! I know you can hear me! Lord Asad!"

"My eardrums are going to burst."

Just then, a languid voice was heard. Jet turned his head to look in the direction of the voice.

The dragon was floating naked on the water. His silver hair shimmered like light on water in the sunlight.

"Will you take responsibility if I go deaf?"

Unlike his listless tone, his body, woven with savage muscles, gave an eerie feeling just by looking at it. And equally savage size...

Jet quickly covered his eyes as if he had seen something he shouldn't.

"Lord Asad, please finish up and come out! The bride candidates will arrive soon!"

"I see."

"'I see' isn't good enough! One of them will become your mate!"

A mate held deep meaning for dragons. Only by taking a mate could a dragon become a complete adult. That was why mates were called 'the dragon's final scale.'

"A mate. Right, I should see them."

However, the dragon's tone in speaking of such an important existence was not at all favorable.

"My precious omega who will bear my children."

Splash, with the sound of water, Asad emerged from the bath. Crystal clear water droplets fell from his sculpture-like body as he walked. His attitude showed no shame at all while walking naked.

The same was true for those around the dragon. Jet followed behind the dragon while sneaking glances.

'Hmm! He seems in quite a bad mood today too!'

He had hoped for some luck on such an important day. Already he could clearly see the rough road ahead.

"I had an unpleasant dream."

So that was the reason for the dragon's poor condition.

"The same dream again?"

"Yes."

His beautiful brow furrowed as if recalling the dream's contents.

Before his mood could worsen further, Jet casually spoke up.

"You should forget about such things quickly. Thinking about it will only make you feel worse, won't it?"

The long fingers that had been pressing his brow ridge as if experiencing a headache returned to their original position.

"Right, you're correct. Thinking about it only makes me feel worse."

"Exactly. And today is such an important day too."

Meanwhile, servants had brought clean cloths and were carefully drying Asad's body. Their attitude was as careful as if they were wiping fragile glass that might break at any moment.

"Ah, Jit. What happened with that?"

"It's Jet. Which matter do you mean?"

"The omega who crept into my room at the Gold Pot."

"Ah."

Feeling his tail stand straight up, Jet observed Asad's expression. Fortunately, the dragon didn't seem to notice. Or perhaps he didn't care.

"Well... I called in the Gold Pot's manager to check, but he didn't know much. It seems they weren't actually an employee."

"Then?"

"They must have disguised themselves as an employee. I don't know why they did it, but it couldn't have been with good intentions. When we checked, they had won over five hundred gold tokens at the Gold Pot. That's impossible without some kind of trick."

Asad let out a hollow laugh.

"How greedy."

Well, with that much greed, of course they would sneak into the dragon's room. Though they ended up running away, probably out of fear.

Asad narrowed his brows as he recalled those wet black eyes looking up at him.

Since that day, that face had often come to mind for no reason. Along with the scent of those pheromones from that day.

It was certainly strange. Asad was so uninterested in others that he even called his daily servants by the wrong names.

No. Was this something to think of as special? Of course it would bother him since they had knocked him out and run away.

Asad pressed his fingertips firmly against his brow.

"Enough, just catch that bastard quickly."

"Yes."

"Wait. Jeky, you are an alpha too, right?"

It's Jet. However, since the dragon getting names wrong was a regular occurrence, Jet answered naturally.

"Yes, that's right."

"Then don't go yourself, send others. All betas."

"Only betas?"

Why? As Jet was debating whether to ask the reason, fortunately Asad soon provided it.

"Most alphas would be played by that one's pheromones."

"Could they be a dominant omega?"

"..."

No, that one was clearly a recessive omega. An unremarkable extreme recessive at that.

But why? The moment those pheromones had burst forth, he had definitely become aroused by that omega. By those insignificant pheromones.

Though Asad was an extreme dominant alpha like all dragons, he had the peculiar constitution of not feeling sexual desire from omega pheromones. Even during rut, he felt only killing intent rather than sexual desire, so unlike other alphas who took in omegas, he saw blood instead. Because of this, people whispered behind his back that Asad would someday become a mad dragon.

Yet that omega had made him feel aroused.

Whether they had used drugs or their pheromones were unusual, it was certainly not ordinary.

"Anyway, do as I said."

"Understood."

Though Jet couldn't hide his puzzlement, he readily complied with the order, knowing that continuing to ask questions would surely upset the dragon's mood.

Asad's mood improved slightly at the thought of the one who would soon be dragged before him. The nerves that had been on edge all night from the dream seemed to settle somewhat as well.

When they caught that omega.

'First I'll rip out that insolent tongue.'

After ripping out the tongue, should he end their life immediately? Or torture them until they begged for death?

No matter where they had fled, as long as they were in Solem, that omega was as good as in the palm of his hand. He would decide how to dispose of them when they were found. Of course, whatever method he chose, that omega's end would be horrific.

Asad had no intention of being swayed by any omega. Even if they were to be his mate, it was the same.

Though it was said dragons would go mad if they didn't find their mates, Asad saw it the opposite way. Just look at what happened to the previous dragon. When the previous dragon realized his mate didn't love him, he went completely mad...

Having witnessed that pitiful end, Asad had thought him very pathetic.

To Asad, a mate was nothing more or less than an omega who would bear his children. To him, even this selection was merely a duty he had to fulfill to become an adult. He had no enthusiasm for it.

"I don't like this outfit."

"This earring color is tacky."

"What are these shoes? Change them immediately."

Asad ordered around the servants who were adorning him without lifting a finger himself.

This generation's dragon particularly liked beautiful things and paid attention to appearances. In truth, caring about how one appeared to others wasn't something befitting a being in the highest position.

Jet suspected such personality traits were due to the dragon's past. Because this generation's dragon had spent his early years in the human realm rather than Solem.

The fact that the dragon greatly disliked humans was also because of that past.

Jet gestured with his chin to a servant standing nearby.

"Can't you hear Lord Asad's words? We don't have time, so move quickly."

"Yes, yes!"

The servants moved busily and finally finished the adornments.

"Hmm."

After examining his reflection in the mirror from various angles, Asad turned to Jet and Targan and asked:

"How is it?"

"Beautiful as always."

"You look magnificent."

They praised him habitually. It was convenient that they didn't need to lie to flatter him regarding his appearance.

"Good."

Asad shrugged his shoulders in satisfaction and walked toward the door.

"Then let's go meet them."

Watching Asad's retreating back, Jet prayed desperately.

'Please let these bride candidates not run away.'