Chapter 18

The selection began.

It was customary for dragon bride candidates to enter the palace by carriage.

"A carriage is coming!"

When someone shouted, all the spirits working in the dragon's palace turned their heads to look.

"Where, where?"

"It's coming in there!"

The spirits' gazes didn't leave the carriage that had just entered the palace. Even in the spirit realm, things weren't much different from the human realm - dominant omegas were rare beings here too.

The first red carriage to enter was elaborately decorated with ivory and silk. It was pulled by a spirit beast that looked like a tiger with horns.

The horned tribe's bride candidate who stepped out of the carriage was a man with striking rose-red hair. The two horns on his forehead were beautifully adorned with flowers and vines as if they were flower branches.

His openly bright expression clearly showed his bright and cheerful personality.

After confirming the bride candidate's appearance, a servant called out in a loud voice:

"Lord Prim of the horned tribe!"

The second carriage to enter was green. The carriage decorated with leaves and flower petals was pulled by a spirit beast that looked like a deer, and it scattered the fresh scent of vegetation wherever it passed.

The tailed tribe's bride candidate was a brown-haired man with five luxuriant fox tails.

His brown eyes shone cleverly as they surveyed the surroundings.

"Lord Ilya of the tailed tribe!"

The third carriage to enter was blue. It was beautifully decorated with pearls and shimmering seashells. It was pulled by a rainbow-colored fish spirit beast that floated buoyantly through the air.

The scaled tribe's bride candidate was a man with long, flowing blue hair, and his beauty was particularly outstanding. In the center of his forehead, three scales that shimmered in rainbow colors whenever sunlight touched them were attached like ornaments.

His slight smile was dignified, and grace permeated his every step.

"Lord Biche of the scaled tribe!"

Those who saw the three bride candidates couldn't stop their admiration.

"Wow, they're all incredible beauties."

"Of course, they're dominant omegas. But they're all male-bodied?"

"I heard it's because this generation's dragon dislikes female bodies."

The spirits expressed their admiration for the bride candidates' beauty while sharing various stories they knew.

"I think the horned tribe will become the dragon's mate this time. Look at those beautiful horns. And what about that sturdy body!"

"I think it'll be the tailed tribe. Look at that cute face. And those tails! If it were me, I'd want to bury my face in them right away."

"Hey, in terms of beauty, it's clearly the scaled tribe. Though the scaled tribe is famous for being beautiful, this one is truly breathtaking. The dragon might fall in love at first sight."

As their standards of beauty differed, each had different top picks among the candidates. However, if there was one thing they all thought alike, it was that this year's bride candidates would be only three, unlike last time.

But their expectations were wrong.

"What's this?"

"What's that carriage?"

Surprisingly, one more carriage was entering.

At first, no one thought it would be a bride candidate's carriage. Unlike the carriages that had entered before, it was too ordinary.

Everyone thought it must be a carriage carrying servants for a bride candidate, when...

"Hmm?"

The servant announcing the bride candidates' names looked down at his paper once more. Soon, confusion settled on his face.

"Uh..."

Though his face showed he was unsure if what he was seeing was correct, the servant did his duty.

"L-Lord Nine of the winged tribe!"

The spirits who heard the bewildered announcement were surprised for a different reason.

"The winged tribe? Weren't they annihilated?"

"There are some survivors... but selecting bride candidates is the leader's authority. Didn't the winged tribe's leader die?"

"He wasn't dead, he was banished, right?"

No matter how quietly they whispered, when many people talked at once, it couldn't help but be loud.

Amidst the growing commotion, the carriage door opened.

Everyone watched the fourth bride candidate with eyes full of curiosity and expectation.

These spirits had just witnessed beautiful dominant omegas each showing off their own charms.

How breathtakingly beautiful would this omega be? They watched the carriage intently without blinking, clutching their pounding hearts.

"...Hmm?"

Someone's questioning moan perfectly captured the impression of seeing the bride candidate who stepped out of the carriage.

"...That's a bride candidate?"

The winged tribe's bride candidate was a black-haired man. Though he wore gold ornaments and quite fine clothes, perhaps because they had just seen others who were more elaborately adorned, he seemed merely passable.

His appearance was the same. Though not ugly, he didn't have any outstandingly attractive features like the other bride candidates.

Hmm. Honestly... isn't he rather ordinary?

For spirits, choosing the dragon's mate was a very important matter. It wouldn't be strange to say the fate of the world hung on the selection. Just look at what happened with the previous dragon. When the previous dragon neglected his guardian duties after falling into despair over his mate's betrayal, the spirit realm had fallen into chaos.

Therefore, the leaders of each tribe always chose bride candidates carefully.

Being chosen as a bride candidate was a great honor. Only the most beautiful and talented dominant omegas were put forward as bride candidates.

But this person seemed ordinary no matter how you looked at him. The spirits couldn't take their eyes off the man for a different reason. It was to figure out what was special about him.

Looking closely, he wasn't completely without redeeming qualities. For example, his clean skin or proper posture. Or his composure in walking calmly without changing expression despite surely feeling the unfavorable murmuring atmosphere surrounding him.

And... what else was there?

The spirits didn't take their eyes off the man until he disappeared into the palace. They watched intently, trying to discover what qualities had allowed this man to become a bride candidate.

Just then.

"But this bride candidate is quite strange!"

The one who spoke in a lively voice was a young spirit who had been watching the adults' behavior intently.

"Hm? What's strange about him?"

"Hmm?"

As if finding it curious that the adults didn't know something, the young spirit rolled their large eyes.

"Well, the winged tribe is called that because they have wings, right?"

"That's right... Ah!"

Only then did those who realized something open their eyes wide.

"But this bride candidate doesn't have wings!"

* * *

How long had it been since he had worn such fine clothes?

Looking down, he saw dark purple fabric with a subtle sheen. It was a color that reminded him of Kor's feathers.

Wasn't this purple the symbolic color of the winged tribe?

Until coming here, he had wondered if they really needed to match colors, but seeing how everyone else was covered in colors as if showing off their tribes, he was glad he had worn this outfit.

Kinaine walked carefully, worried the hem might drag on the ground and get dirty. His hands under the wide sleeves had unconsciously clenched into fists.

'Somehow I'm nervous.'

Though he appeared composed on the outside, he was actually quite tense.

To think he would actually see a dragon he had thought existed only in myths. Even someone like Kinaine couldn't help but tremble. And that wasn't all. This might also be the one he would marry.

"Hah."

As he deliberately exhaled to release tension, sharp voices reached him.

"What's with that guy. Why doesn't the winged tribe have wings?"

"Could it be..."

The glancing gazes of the other bride candidates were piercing.

As expected, the competitors were all extraordinary beauties. Though he had no intention of giving up since he was just as desperate, it was true that his confidence had dropped since seeing them.

"Stop."

The bride candidates all stopped at once at the servant's words.

Before them was a high dais. Without doubt, the dragon would be on that dais.

But no one dared raise their head first to look at the dragon. Even Kinaine, who had roughly heard about the procedures before coming here, kept his head bowed, waiting for the dragon to speak first.

"..."

"..."

However, even after a long while, no words came from above.

Something... didn't feel right.

His instincts, honed to near-prophetic levels from countless brushes with death, were warning him of danger. And then.

Thud.

Footsteps were heard. Judging by the distance of the sound, the dragon was clearly coming down from the dais.

Thud, thud.

The sound grew closer.

...Isn't it too close? Just as he thought something was strange.

"Ugh!"

His hair was suddenly grabbed and his head yanked upward.

What was this... Kinaine instinctively almost defended himself.

However, his hand stopped before attacking. He even forgot the pain in his scalp for a moment.

It was because of the beautiful face that filled his vision.

Kinaine knew this face.

'This man...'

There was no way he could easily forget such features. It was definitely that dominant alpha he had encountered on the seventh floor of the Gold Pot.

But Kinaine wasn't surprised because the dominant alpha from that day turned out to be the dragon.

Golden eyes that shone like the sun.

Even if he forgot all the colors in the world, if there was one color he would remember, it would definitely be that gold.

Kinaine's gaze trembled finely.

"Helio?"