Chapter 63

Since it wasn't the first time a spirit had disliked him for being human, Kinaine wasn't particularly hurt by it.

What was surprising, however, was that Ilya took Kinaine's side.

"Enough! If you're going to talk like that, then leave!"

"L-Lord Ilya!"

Though the guard looked shocked, Ilya snorted and pushed him out, even closing the door. Then, as if making excuses to Kinaine who was looking at him with surprised eyes, he muttered.

"He didn't mean those words with bad intentions. Well, if you're offended, take it out on these."

Ilya jerked his chin toward the boxes on the floor. They were items brought by the servants he had brought in droves.

"What are these?"

"Medicinal ingredients. I added various other things while I was at it. They should be worth money even in the human realm."

"Why are you giving these to me...?"

Kinaine couldn't understand why Ilya would give him gifts, no matter how much he thought about it.

Would bugs jump out if he opened the boxes? When he looked suspiciously at the stacked boxes, Ilya flared up.

"What? It's not like I brought these because I like you! This pays for your broken fingers. Got it?"

Ah, so that was it. It seemed Ilya had felt indebted because Kinaine had been injured in his place during the first test.

Kinaine, who had quickly forgotten such a trivial matter, belatedly understood the situation and nodded.

"Ah, if that's the case. Thank you."

"Hmph, no need to thank me. I just didn't want to be indebted to a competitor."

Despite his prim tone, his five fox tails swayed gently. The tailed tribe clearly had characteristics that made it disadvantageous to hide their emotions.

Perhaps because he felt he had received help, Kinaine no longer sensed hostility from the other party and didn't guard against Ilya. He looked at Ilya and asked.

"Ilya, are you alright? You were attacked by the magical beast."

"...I wasn't particularly hurt. I just lost consciousness. The palace guards moved me to the palace while I was unconscious."

Ilya began explaining what had happened to him that day.

He had been hit by the magical beast and lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes, he was in the palace assigned to him.

As it turned out, the dragon palace had secretly assigned guards not only to Ilya but to other bride candidates as well. They had prepared means other than the transportation orbs to intervene if the bride candidates seemed to be in danger.

'It seems this test didn't neglect the bride candidates' safety as I had thought.'

Though he was certainly excluded. From what he heard, Kinaine was the only one who had been injured that badly by the magical beast. It was a natural result since the dragon had intentionally neglected him.

Kinaine swallowed a bitter smile. Ilya, not noticing Kinaine's complex emotions, continued speaking.

"But when I woke up, they said you came in first in the first test. Everyone was surprised, but honestly, who could have been more surprised than me who was there? To think you caught that magical beast alone."

"I was lucky."

Though in reality he hadn't caught the magical beast and had accidentally become first... looking at the result, saying he was lucky wasn't wrong.

Ilya narrowed his eyes as he looked at Kinaine.

What's this? Why is he even being modest?

If he had caught such a terrifying magical beast, he would have been showing off everywhere. No, would it just be him? The horned tribe member who loved to boast would certainly do so, and even the scaled tribe member who was busy pretending to be elegant would have done the same.

Yet this human only said "I was lucky" after doing such an amazing thing. Honestly, it was cool.

'That's why it's annoying!'

Perhaps the shock was greater because his first impression had been so poor. If anyone else had seen the human at that time, it would have left a deep impression.

Ilya was greedy and coveted things he couldn't have. And clearly, this human had something he didn't. In other words, if he weren't human, no, at the very least if he weren't a competitor, he would have been someone Ilya wanted to befriend.

But unfortunately, the human before him was a competitor. Annoyed at not being able to do as he wished, Ilya pouted.

"Fortunately, I caught a magical beast the next day and avoided disqualification. Well, that must be disappointing for you."

"No, I think it's fortunate that you weren't disqualified."

"What?"

Ilya's eyes widened as if he had heard an unexpected answer.

But Kinaine was sincere. Though it was more for Asad's sake than Ilya's.

'The first test was changed to magical beast hunting because of me. Not to assess the qualities of a bride candidate, but just to torment me. So it would be unfortunate if Ilya was eliminated here.'

Since the first test had been corrupted because of him, he hoped the others would be properly evaluated through different tests. Because Asad needed to find a good mate.

Of course, it would be a lie to say he felt no jealousy or sadness while thinking such thoughts... but what did that matter?

Even the most intense emotions disappear with death. He wouldn't hold Asad back because of emotions that wouldn't even last 1 or 2 years.

"Hmph! Such flattery!"

After staring blankly at Kinaine for a moment, Ilya soon came to his senses and snorted needlessly.

"...But are you really staying here? I heard rumors that the dragon hates humans, but how do you live in a place like this? If I were treated like this, I would have gone home long ago."

"I see. I have nowhere to go back to."

"..."

Though it was said deliberately, the effect was better than expected.

Ilya couldn't continue speaking for a while and just opened and closed his mouth.

Though somewhat willful and selfish, he wasn't a bad person at heart. Well, if he were, he wouldn't have been chosen as a dragon's bride candidate.

"Ramu, I'll help."

Kinaine left Ilya and helped Ramu organize the gifts. Though he had naturally thought Ilya would leave by then, strangely enough, far from leaving, he kept hovering around Kinaine. He had delivered the gifts and cleared his conscience, so he had thought Ilya would leave now.

"Lord Nine, it's not polite to keep a guest standing. I'll take care of organizing the gifts, so please sit down."

Ramu, who had been watching the situation, whispered in a small voice. Since there was nothing wrong with the servant's words, Kinaine had no choice but to sit down across from Ilya at the small table.

"Hmm, there's nothing particularly good to drink. I'm sorry I can't properly serve a guest."

"I wasn't expecting anything anyway? There are tea leaves in the gifts I brought, so serve those next time."

Does that mean he's planning to come again?

"More importantly, I definitely saw your fingers break, but they're fine now. Human healing couldn't possibly be that good."

"You seem to know a lot about humans."

"Our leader is very interested in them. I picked up a few things while being caught nearby. But don't change the subject. How did you heal so quickly?"

When asked so directly, he could no longer avoid the topic. When Kinaine answered that he had received good medicine as a gift, Ilya's pointed ears twitched.

"That medicine, Lord Asad gave it to you, didn't he?"

He was indeed quick-witted. No, more than any other reason, he must have been able to deduce it immediately because he could smell Asad's pheromones on him. Kinaine nodded calmly, showing no signs of being flustered.

"He was considerate enough to give it since my injury might affect the next test. He is merciful."

He deliberately praised the dragon. After all, the person before him could become Asad's mate... For some reason, he felt a bit queasy, but Kinaine maintained his pretense of composure until the end.

However, making his efforts futile, Ilya frowned his delicate brows as if he had heard something absurd.

"Merciful? ...Of course, the dragon is stronger and more beautiful than anyone. But merciful? Could there be a word less suited to the dragon?"

When Ilya seriously denied it, Kinaine felt awkward.

Come to think of it, when they first met, Kor had also talked about the dragon's poor temperament. It seemed that applied to all dragons, not just Asad.

"Is it because you're human that you don't know about dragons? Or was he only merciful to you? ...Because you're his bride?"

"No, I can guess what you're thinking, but that's not it."

Kinaine answered firmly. The reason Ilya was saying such things must be because he could smell Asad's pheromones on him. But it was all a misunderstanding.

"Then you're saying nothing happened with Lord Asad?"

"It's not that nothing happened, but..."

Unlike words, pheromones couldn't lie, so saying nothing happened would be too obvious a lie. So he answered honestly.

"It was just casual interest, and it won't happen again."

"Oh, really?"

Though Kinaine had only spoken the truth, Ilya's face showed he didn't believe it at all. There was no way he could.

"Then why is Lord Asad standing outside the window?"