Chapter 61

After returning from the temple, Kinaine slept for almost an entire day before waking up the next morning. It was closer to passing out than sleeping. Though all his wounds had healed thanks to the mysterious medicine the dragon had brought, he needed separate time to recover from the mental shock.

"..."

When Kinaine opened his eyes, bright sunlight was streaming through the curtainless window. Under such bright light, other things tend to look faded. The same was true for last night's worries.

Being human, how could he not feel desire? Upon learning that Helio was alive, he wanted to restore his memories. He felt the desire to apologize for past events and become lovers again.

But he would never hurt Helio because of his own desires again. Making that pledge before the gods was to strengthen his resolve.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice was heard from below, as if someone had come to visit.

'Who could it be?'

Going down the stairs, he saw a tailed tribe man wearing the clothes of a servant from the main palace.

"Ah, you were awake."

The small and slight servant recognized Kinaine first and gave a half-hearted greeting. His small, somewhat cunning-looking eyes kept glancing at Kinaine.

"What brings you here?"

Though it wasn't pleasant to be stared at like some strange animal, Kinaine asked politely. Only then did the servant finally speak.

"Ah! Lord Asad's message is that the second test will begin in three days, and until then, the bride candidate should rest both body and mind."

It seemed this servant had come to deliver information about the second test to him.

Three days... Kinaine stroked his chin. He thought it was rather fortunate to have more time than expected. If he were to face Helio, no, Asad right now, his resolution might crumble immediately despite his determination.

As he was inwardly feeling relieved, he felt a stare boring into him.

'...Is a human that fascinating?'

Since the staring was so intense that it was hard to ignore, he turned his head toward the direction of the gaze, and their eyes met immediately.

"Do you have something else to say?"

"No, that's all for the message, but... may I ask a few questions?"

Without waiting for Kinaine's response, the servant began pouring out questions one-sidedly.

"How did you end up becoming the winged tribe's bride candidate? Did you really get some leverage over the winged tribe leader? Or is the rumor true that you're actually from the winged tribe but cut off your wings to pretend to be human to attract Lord Asad's interest?"

The stories the servant brought up were all absurd, regardless of how the rumors had spread in the main palace. If these rumors had anything in common, it was that none of them were favorable to Kinaine. Such negative rumors would be difficult to bring up in front of the person concerned, but the servant had no hesitation in mentioning them.

It wasn't that he lacked tact. Rather, the opposite was true. The servant had assessed the current positions of Kinaine and the tailed tribe, and judged Kinaine as someone who didn't need to be shown consideration.

There was nothing to gain by seriously answering such questions. Whatever answer he gave wouldn't be believed and would only add to new rumors, so ignoring them was the best strategy.

The problem was that the servant showed no intention of leaving...

"If you become the dragon's bride, will you really sell all the spirits as slaves to the human realm?"

"My, you talk too much!"

Just then, Ramu, who had been standing nearby, began sweeping frantically under the servant's feet with her broom.

"Ugh, what are you doing, raising all this dust!"

Though the floor was gleaming from Ramu's daily cleaning and sweeping, the servant frowned and waved his hands wildly. Ramu retorted gruffly to the servant.

"Hey, stop saying such nonsense and please leave! Can't you see I can't clean because you're standing there?"

"Hah, how absurd! No wonder the winged tribe fell!"

For all winged tribe members, talk about their tribe was a sore spot. The moment she heard this, Ramu threw down her broom and glared.

"What did you just say? Say it again!"

Though she was charging at a man a head taller than her, she didn't back down in spirit at all. Though usually gentle, true to being twins, Ramu's temperament was no less fierce than Rahu's.

"I said say it again! I'll pull out one tooth for each word!"

"Y-you little!"

The servant, who had flinched momentarily at Ramu's force, seemed to feel his pride hurt and threatened her by showing his sharp fangs.

"If you act like this, your master won't fare well either! One word from me and you'll be starving until the selection ends, do you still want to act up?"

It wasn't just an empty threat. This servant was in charge of supplying daily necessities to the winged tribe bride candidate at the main palace, so one word from him could make their situation even worse than it already was.

In normal circumstances, it would have been difficult to use such authority carelessly, but this generation's dragon showed little interest in the selection, and above all, had shown strong hostility toward the human bride candidate in front of everyone, which allowed the servant to make such threats.

"Hmph, I heard other bride candidates gave expensive jewelry as gifts to their attending servants, but here I am, receiving nothing and being treated like this!"

"...Ugh."

Sure enough, when threatened using her master, the winged tribe girl became docile as if she had never acted up, and lowered her head. The servant became even more arrogant.

"But since I don't want to cause a commotion either, I'll let it slide this time if you kneel and apologize."

Looking satisfactorily at the bowing Ramu, the servant laughed inwardly. Though he spoke as if feeling wronged, his assignment to the winged tribe bride candidate had been his own choice. Seeing this now, it had been worth volunteering.

In truth, the servant didn't care about not receiving expensive jewelry like others. He preferred having power over others and looking down on them more than such things. That's why he had deliberately chosen someone he could toy with as much as he wanted.

Look. Even when his servant was being insulted, the master couldn't say a word.

The servant glanced at Kinaine and deliberately scolded harshly.

"Don't want to apologize? Then don't! Just remember that I gave you a chance. Later when you regret it, I won't accept..."

When there was still no reaction from Kinaine, the servant was raising his voice with growing confidence.

"Enough."

A low voice cut off the servant's words.

When he turned his head toward the voice, he saw the human standing on the stairs, looking exactly as he had first seen him. Pitch-black eyes like a moonless night were quietly fixed on him.

Just earlier he had been able to look at him normally, but why? Now just being under the gaze of those eyes sent chills down his spine.

Belatedly, he recalled recent news he had heard.

'Come to think of it, didn't they say this human caught a magical beast and came in first in the first test?'

His surprise at the different result from what he had expected - that the combat-proficient horned tribe would naturally come first - was brief, and he had thought the human must have manipulated the results through some underhanded scheme. The vile humans were certainly capable of such things.

But at this moment, he suddenly thought that perhaps those results hadn't been manipulated after all.

"What's your name?"

"...It's Neil, sir."

Overwhelmed by the pressure, the servant found himself answering obediently without realizing it.

"How one treats those beneath them shows how they treat those they serve. Neil, I will remember all of your rudeness today, without forgetting any of it."

It was an icy command. The servant wanted to object, but from the moment their eyes had met, his half-frozen lips wouldn't move properly. When the human called his name, it felt like being struck by lightning, making every hair on his body stand on end.

Was this really the same man who couldn't even respond to the rude questions being thrown at him until now?

The servant, who had spent almost his entire life safely in the dragon palace, was completely intimidated by the killing intent that Kinaine had deliberately allowed to leak out slightly. The tailed tribe in particular had excellent instincts for detecting danger, making them even more sensitive to it.

"B-but it was your servant who was rude! I was just trying to receive an apology. ...Anyway, if there's been a misunderstanding, I hope you'll clear it up, and I have urgent business to attend to, so I'll be going now!"

The servant, after rattling off words like a machine gun, fled the scene. His tail was completely curled up, looking as if it had become one with his back.

'Everyone picks a fight.'

Thanks to this, he learned how others in the palace viewed him, but it wasn't pleasant. Kinaine quickly looked away from the servant's retreating figure. While he could let comments directed at himself go in one ear and out the other, he couldn't stand by and watch Ramu being treated carelessly.

"Are you alright?"

Kinaine asked Ramu worriedly.

"Lord Nine...!"

There was no need to worry about whether she had been hurt. Ramu's eyes, looking up at Kinaine, were sparkling more brightly than ever.