Chapter 28

No, not now.

His fist clenched under his sleeve.

This was absolutely not the time to show weakness.

Kinaine swallowed. The bitter taste of the painkiller still lingered in his throat.

The medicine he had taken was something banned from sale after its ingredients were found to be toxic to the body. However, mercenaries who mainly took dangerous requests all carried at least one of these pills. Since dangerous requests often led to serious injuries, it was to be comfortable even in the moment of death.

A small bottle of these pills was always in Kinaine's bag.

'Fortunate. Otherwise, I would have been bedridden, unable to move.'

One thing he had learned during his wandering mercenary days was that you should never show weakness before an enemy. Even if you were at your limit and couldn't see straight, you had to pretend nothing was wrong.

Because once your knees buckled, that was the end. You couldn't expect the luck to get up and run again.

Perhaps the one fortunate thing was that the dragon didn't seem likely to kill him immediately.

Though the dragon had made him kneel outside all night, he hadn't killed him in the end. Whether it was because he wanted to torment him more or for some other reason, it was fortunate.

He needed to stay alive. He still had things he needed to do. It didn't matter if the same torment as before continued. He had experienced far worse things hundreds of times over.

Of course, it would be a lie to say he wasn't at all worried about how the dragon would torment him next. However, there were bigger problems remaining, so he had no time to worry about that.

'No choice now. I have to win the selection tests.'

He had abandoned his initial plan to win the dragon's heart after seeing those eyes full of hatred. The dragon's hatred was beyond anything Kinaine could handle. Rather than clinging to something hopeless, it was better to spend time on other approaches.

'...Well, the other way won't be easy either.'

Asad wasn't the only owner of burning gazes. Curious about what the dragon was looking at, others naturally followed his gaze.

The bride candidates' gazes were especially intense. If looks could kill, wouldn't he have been torn into twelve pieces already?

"All the bride candidates are here."

After a long while, Asad opened his mouth. His voice was low and resonant, making everyone naturally listen without effort.

Only then freed from the gazes pouring on him, Kinaine inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then we will proceed with the first test."

As soon as he finished speaking, something moved behind Asad. It was Jet, who had been hidden by Asad's large frame.

Jet respectfully handed an elegant scroll to Asad with both hands.

"The first test is..."

The monotone voice suddenly cut off. His face, looking down at the opened scroll, was crumpled as if seeing something disagreeable.

"Hmm."

The dragon didn't endure unpleasant things for long. Without hesitation, he threw the scroll over his shoulder like someone touching dirty garbage.

"Heok!"

Jet, with a startled face, threw his whole body to catch the scroll.

"This test is to evaluate 'beauty,' one of the virtues of a bride."

As if he hadn't seen his subordinate's desperate actions, Asad spoke calmly as if nothing had happened.

"However, the beauty I think of is not how plausible one's appearance is. Being lucky enough to be born with a good shell and acting arrogant because of it can never be called a virtue."

Though it sounded like plausible preaching, Kinaine was dumbfounded.

Why was he looking at me while saying that?

Though at first glance it seemed like words meant for all bride candidates, he couldn't think that way. Because the dragon had looked at him from start to finish while speaking.

Perhaps not only Kinaine felt this way - despite the painkiller, his cheeks burned from the glancing gazes directed at him again.

Having eyes, Kinaine knew his appearance was the poorest among the bride candidates. Though Hasan's looks weren't particularly bad, they weren't enough to surpass dominant omegas.

But why give a lecture about not getting carried away with looks to him of all people?

When he strangely thought the dragon's current expression resembled his master who used to lecture him, he felt even more wronged. Of course, none of these feelings showed on his face, making observers think 'How shameless that one is!'

The dragon thought the same.

'Did that stupid human understand my words properly?'

It had been a warning to a human who had lived promiscuously relying only on their plausible appearance and pheromones, but looking at their face, they showed no sign of understanding.

Asad's eyebrows rose slightly.

'Are they confident?'

Well, since they could affect even him who hadn't reacted to other omegas, they must be overflowing with confidence. How many alphas must this arrogant omega have conquered with their seductive looks and pheromones?

A dragon's bride candidate had to be a virgin who had never been with another. But since there was essentially no way to verify virginity, it had to be left to conscience. Judging by their behavior at the Gold Pot, they must have lied about being a virgin to enter here.

Asad had a reason for being so certain.

What alpha would have left them alone when this omega was spreading their pheromones seductively?

'Wait! I'll undo it.'

'It's boring waiting so long. I might fall asleep at this rate.'

His stomach churned remembering the vulgar words the human had spoken that night.

Asad, his mood turning sharply unpleasant, looked down at Kinaine with cold eyes.

"Beauty is not something luckily obtained just by being born, but something that shines through one's own efforts and polish. Not a flower that breaks when someone tries to break it, but... strength that shatters and breaks into pieces. I think that strength is true beauty."

Asad said.

"Therefore, this test will be won by whoever catches the highest-grade magical beast."

"..."

Though no one spoke up, the bewilderment permeating the silence couldn't be hidden.

This wasn't a test to select generals or soldiers.

Magical beast hunting in a test to select bride candidates?

"What...!"

Kinaine saw the tailed tribe bride candidate standing to his left trembling around the eyes. Though he seemed to want to object, he finally kept his mouth shut, perhaps afraid of going against the mood of the dragon known for his ferocity.

Kinaine felt somewhat sorry. The original test content written on the scroll the dragon had thrown probably wasn't this. Judging by his actions just now, the dragon must have changed the test content upon discovering him.

It seemed the dragon had chosen to use magical beasts to dispose of Kinaine rather than killing him directly.

"You."

And it seemed the clever-looking tailed tribe bride candidate had noticed this fact as well.

As soon as Asad left his seat, he immediately approached Kinaine. His upturned eyes were incredibly fierce.

"The test content changed because of you, right?"

At his loud voice, the other bride candidates' gazes also turned this way. The tailed tribe bride candidate continued speaking sharply, not at all intimidated by others' gazes.

"Surely you're not shameless enough to pretend you don't know? Or do you lack even that much intelligence? The dragon hates humans. He mentioned this absurd test because he wants to get rid of you!"

So everyone already knew the dragon hated humans.

"If you understand now, give up your bride candidate qualification and leave the dragon's palace immediately! Others are being harmed because of you!"

"I apologize."

It wasn't an apology as the person who had caused the test content to change. It was an apology meaning he couldn't give up this test. Realizing this meaning, the tailed tribe bride candidate's tail fur bristled. With all five tails raised, he looked quite threatening.

"Do you think a worthless human like you can compete with us?"

The tailed tribe bride candidate reached out his hand. Though it seemed he might strike out of uncontrolled anger, that wasn't it.

The hand that suddenly approached rubbed Kinaine's cheek. The thick makeup smeared messily under the rough touch.

"No matter how thickly you apply powder, a recessive is still a recessive. You can never become a dominant omega..."

His voice, speaking while suppressing anger, gradually grew quieter.

Something was strange.

Usually, powder was applied to make skin look cleaner and whiter. But the skin where the powder had been wiped off was much whiter than where it remained.

No, not just white... wasn't this unnaturally pale? Just like makeup applied to a corpse's face.

'And are humans... normally this hot?'