Chapter 62

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kinaine asked as he came down the stairs. His embarrassed face no longer showed any trace of the intimidating presence he had displayed when driving away the servant.

What a strange human. Ramu thought anew.

When they first met, Kinaine had been in danger, and that initial image had become fixed, making Ramu think he was fragile like most omegas.

However, Kinaine's subsequent actions were far from the word fragile.

Not only had he made such a resolution to participate in the first test, but he had actually managed to catch a magical beast alone. When she had heard about the test content, she had thought it would be fortunate if he just avoided disqualification, let alone coming in first...

'Lord Kor's choice wasn't made out of desperation.'

Ramu inwardly repented for doubting Kor's choice. Perhaps the winged tribe leader had recognized this human's potential early on and chosen him as a bride candidate?

It was a thought that would make Kor, who had chosen Kinaine out of necessity, feel guilty, but there was no one here who could correct that thought.

"It's nothing. Please sit here. The meal is ready."

As Kinaine sat down, Ramu placed a bowl of soup on the table. Then she put her hand on Kinaine's forehead to check his temperature.

"I told you I'm fine now."

"You really are. To think all your injuries healed in just one day after being hurt so badly. The dragon truly gave you something precious."

"It's something to be grateful for."

"Though it was his fault you were injured in the first place."

Instead of answering, Kinaine spooned some of the soup in front of him into his mouth. The watery soup tasted little different from salted water. This was because they were still not receiving proper ingredients from the main palace.

'...Was it right to chase away that servant like that?'

Though he felt a slight regret belatedly, what was done was done. Even if he could go back to that moment, he would act the same way upon seeing the servant treating Ramu carelessly, so regret was pointless.

Kinaine stared at Ramu, who also had the same watery soup in front of her. ...But they couldn't continue like this. While he could eat tree bark if hungry, he couldn't ask others to do the same.

What should he do? As he pondered, Kinaine put down his spoon and drank the soup straight from the bowl.

"Goodness! Lord Nine, you must maintain your dignity!"

Having had royal etiquette ingrained in him since his prince days, Kinaine was generally well-mannered. Even Ramu, who didn't know the details, suspected that Kinaine must have been born into a good family. The only problem was his occasionally emerging free-spirited behavior.

When Ramu reproached him with a prim look, Kinaine shrugged.

"What does it matter when there's no one watching? More importantly, we'll starve to death if we keep eating only this. Should I go catch some fish again at night?"

"Those weren't fish, they were spirit beasts. And after getting caught and causing that trouble last time, do you want to do the same thing again?"

"Kneeling as punishment isn't so bad."

"Punishment?"

Ramu asked back, dumbfounded.

"Who faints while being punished? No, while others make a huge fuss even over getting a splinter as if they've been stabbed by a sword, why are you the complete opposite?"

As she spoke, her voice grew stronger as if remembering accumulated grievances.

"Come to think of it, I really have a lot to say! Even that thing you called medicine, you told me it was just a painkiller. Do you know how shocked the doctor was? Why do you carry around such things?"

Why am I about to get scolded suddenly? Seeing Ramu's eyes starting to narrow upward, Kinaine quickly changed the subject.

"Ah, speaking of which, I saw Rahu in the forest last time..."

"Rahu?"

Fortunately, the new topic was effective. Ramu forgot about scolding Kinaine and became curious about her twin's whereabouts.

Inwardly relieved, Kinaine explained to Ramu about his encounter with her twin.

"...That was the last time. Has Rahu not come here? I haven't had the chance to check until now because I've been out of it."

"I haven't seen him except for the first day. I was wondering what that fool was doing and where, but I'm glad he's alive and well."

Ramu replied gruffly. But judging by how she was just stirring her soup without eating it, she seemed concerned.

Kinaine tilted his head.

'He hasn't come here. Then where did he go?'

Though he didn't seem to have left the dragon palace, they couldn't let him keep wandering around everywhere.

"I'll try looking for him. Since you and Rahu are the only winged tribe members here, surely someone must have seen him."

The wings of the winged tribe couldn't be hidden, so they inevitably stood out. It shouldn't be difficult to find him if he asked around.

Half the reason he hadn't searched until now was because he thought Rahu would return on his own, and the other half was because incidents had occurred before he could spare attention for Rahu. Fortunately, with three days until the second test began, it seemed enough time to find Rahu.

Just then, an unfamiliar voice interrupted Kinaine's thoughts.

"Lord Nine, are you here?"

Who could it be? Kinaine and Ramu exchanged glances. It was a voice neither had heard before. Ramu quickly got up and opened the door.

"Oh my?"

Ramu's eyes widened. It was because the visitor at the door was someone completely unexpected.

And it seemed it wasn't just Ramu who was surprised. The visitors also looked at the interior with expressions not much different from Ramu's. Among them, the expression of a beautifully dressed handsome man particularly stood out.

"What is this... Did we really come to the right place?"

A disgruntled voice came from the handsome man as he looked around the interior, turning his head this way and that.

By then, Kinaine had also realized who the visitors were and moved forward.

"You're safe, Ilya."

"You...!"

The handsome man, Ilya, raised his head as if to argue about something, but when his eyes met Kinaine's, he flinched and stepped back.

What's this? As Kinaine looked at him questioningly, Ilya's lips moved with a hesitant expression.

"You... No, never mind. More importantly, what is this place?"

Though he was clearly changing the subject, Kinaine wasn't the type to probe into things others didn't want to talk about, so he pretended not to notice and answered.

"What do you mean, what is it? It's where I'm staying."

"...Ah! So this is a storage room? Now show me the palace you've been assigned!"

Ilya clapped his hands together, smiling as if he finally understood. But his smile quickly faded at Kinaine's next words.

"This is indeed where I'm staying."

"You're saying this is a palace? Don't lie!"

Ilya cried out as if he couldn't believe it at all.

Of course, he had ears and had heard rumors that the human bride candidate had been assigned a terrible palace. But he hadn't expected it to be this dilapidated and cramped, worse than a storage room. Why did such a place even exist within the dragon palace to begin with?

To Ilya, who had lived his entire life in good environments surrounded by expensive things, the crumbling abandoned palace was as terrible as a magical beast.

"I heard humans are good at lying, but you're really lying without even blinking! Do you think I'm foolish enough to believe such words?"

"Why do you think I'm lying?"

"Because I can smell Lord Asad's pheromones on you...!"

Ilya covered his mouth with a "hup." His large eyes quickly scanned his servants, but fortunately, they had only been startled by the dragon's name suddenly coming up and didn't seem to guess what Ilya had been about to say.

The only one who could guess what the interrupted words meant was Kinaine, the only other trait-bearer there besides Ilya.

Kinaine could finally understand why Ilya had been surprised when he first saw him. It must have been because of Asad's pheromones clinging to him.

Can the smell still be detected? Kinaine unconsciously lowered his head to smell himself but stopped, thinking it might look strange to others. Well, it was obvious that Ilya, a dominant omega, would be more sensitive to pheromones than himself, a recessive omega.

"F-fine! I have something to discuss with this person, so the rest of you put those things down and go back!"

When Ilya ordered the servants who had come with him, the tailed tribe guard standing closest to him protested.

"Lord Ilya, even if you dismiss the other servants, please keep me by your side. We don't know what might happen."

"What could possibly happen? How could I even breathe in this cramped place if you stay too?"

Ilya had dismissed the servants for exactly that simple reason. Besides, they would be right outside, so what was there to worry about?

But despite Ilya's words, the tailed tribe guard, who appeared to be of the feline predator type, glared at Kinaine with sharp eyes.

"What if he harms Lord Ilya? Humans cannot be trusted."