“I’m sorry.”
– Beep…
Raynous, settling on the bedspread, looked at me with reproachful eyes. However, the moment our eyes met, he flinched and lowered his gaze.
Judging by his slightly red cheeks, he seemed to be feeling shy. It was fascinating that I could see his cheeks turning red even though his entire body was covered in black scales.
Suddenly, I had the urge to poke that part.
But given the atmosphere, if I just poked him, he might run away immediately-
“Your Highness.”
– Beep?
“Can I touch you?”
I tapped my cheek gently, meaning I wanted to touch his cheek.
Raynous blinked his round red eyes a few times, then nodded in agreement.
With permission granted, I gently stroked Raynous’s reddened cheek with my index finger.
The smooth, glossy black scales were hard but not cold. Rather, they were warm as if he had been sitting in front of a fireplace.
The sleek texture felt oddly pleasant. Just touching him felt healing.
Without realizing it, I kept stroking Raynous’s cheek. Then Raynous, who had been stiffly watching my reaction, started to rub his cheek against my finger as if being affectionate.
How cute.
“Did you fly here like this?”
– Beep.
“How did you carry your clothes?”
– Beep.
Raynous, who chirped shortly, gathered his clothes and pretended to bite them. Hmm, I’m not sure how strong he is, but the clothes seemed too big for his body, making it look difficult.
As if reading my thoughts, Raynous made an expression saying it was okay, then bit the clothes and spread his tiny wings, flapping them to fly.
‘Look, I can fly well.’ It seemed like he wanted to show something like that.
Hmm.
In the original story, it was said that every time the evil dragon flapped its wings, dozens of people lost their lives from the shockwave, but now it seemed like dozens of people would lose their minds.
That’s how cute he was.
While I enjoyed watching, I felt conflicted due to the discrepancy with the original story. How did I end up having such a dream?
I’m sorry, Your Highness in reality. I really didn’t think of you this way.
Oh, right. Come to think of it.
‘At this size, you could really say Our Evil Dragon Doesn’t Bite.’
Unlike that title, in the original story, the evil dragon really appeared as a mass of calamity.
That’s why readers even said, ‘Why is the title so cute? Shouldn’t it be changed to Our Evil Dragon Eats People?’
Thinking of the original evil dragon reminded me of its special abilities. I immediately asked Raynous.
“Can you breathe fire too?”
– Beep.
Raynous nodded and flew into empty space. Then, whoosh, he breathed fire.
Although small in size, the heat could be felt even from here, suggesting it wasn’t ordinary fire. It seemed like lava, as mentioned in the original story.
Ooh, how fascinating.
“Then, ice too?”
– Beep.
Raynous stopped breathing fire and closed his mouth. He mumbled something, then began to breathe an ice breath.
Like the fire, it was small in size, but the cold could be felt even here, suggesting it was made with quite powerful magic.
Wow.
“Can you use acid breath too?”
– Beeep.
Mumbling like before breathing ice, Raynous exhaled black energy into the air.
Ooh, well done. Even if small in size, an evil dragon is still an evil dragon.
Too weak to clap, I tapped the bed with one hand to show my approval.
Then, mumbling, the mini-sized evil dragon who had finished his breath flew gently to my side.
And as if being affectionate, he gently rubbed his cheek against the back of my hand. His tail was wagging like a dog’s, ah, it’s too cute.
“Should I just keep him?”
– Beep…
Raynous flinched and fluttered away, as if he heard my muttering to myself.
With his cheeks still red, he hesitated for a moment before coming closer, flailing his short arms as he earnestly tried to explain something.
– Beep, beeeep, beeeep, beep-!
“I’m sorry, but I can’t understand you.”
– Beep…
Raynous drooped his wings and tail, looking dejected.
It seemed like he couldn’t return to human form because when he transformed into an evil dragon, his clothes came off, leaving him naked.
“Since it’s a dream, it should be fine.”
After all, this is all based on my imagination, so it shouldn’t matter.
While I liked the cute evil dragon Raynous, I wanted to have a proper conversation, so I focused on imagining the clothed human Raynous while concentrating on the evil dragon Raynous.
As a bonus, I kept repeating ‘This is a dream. This is a dream.’ to recognize it as a lucid dream.
“Return. Raynous, return.”
– Beep?
However, the evil dragon Raynous only tilted his head and didn’t return to human form.
Every time I said ‘This is a dream.’ out loud, he flinched.
Oh well, let’s give up.
“Yawn…”
Maybe it was because I had a staring contest with the evil dragon Raynous for too long.
A heavy sense of fatigue washed over me, and I yawned with my eyes almost closed.
It was surprising to feel such fatigue even in a dream.
‘It must mean my body isn’t in good shape.’
– Beep!
Raynous, who had approached my face at some point, tapped my cheek with his tiny paw. Was he trying to tell me to sleep if I was sleepy?
Reluctant to let the evil dragon Raynous go, I moved my lips even as my vision blurred.
“Don’t leave, Your Highness. You have to be here in the morning too.”
– Beep…
Raynous mumbled uncertainly and fluttered to my bedside.
There, he lay down with his tail tucked under him and started humming a melody, ‘Beep, beep, beeeep-‘.
Oh my.
“Are you singing a lullaby?”
– Beep.
Raynous chirped shortly as if to say yes, then continued humming, beep beep.
It could have been noisy, but it wasn’t bothersome at all. Instead, it was very sweet.
With that lullaby as the background, I fell into a deep sleep. It was a very comfortable sleep without nightmares or body aches.
And when I woke up and opened my eyes in the real world.
My bed was empty.
*** *** *** *** ***
After dreaming of Raynous, my body recovered rapidly. It seemed to be because I saw something cute in the dream.
As soon as I got better, the first thing I did was visit Aria.
Aria had been staying at an inn in the capital, and she said she left the Labyrinth estate because she couldn’t impose any longer while I was sick.
“Are you feeling better?”
As soon as Aria saw me, she teared up and held my hands tightly.
“You overexerted yourself because of me.”
“No, it was all for my own good.”
I overexerted myself to replace Count Valentine as quickly as possible.
Then Aria wiped her tears, saying.
“You really are a good person, just like the rumors say.”
Oh dear.
Having only ever heard the reputation of being a ‘cruel guild master,’ receiving such pure praise felt awkward and embarrassing. My palms were sweating.
I awkwardly rubbed my hands on my dress and changed the subject.
“Did you receive a lot of alimony?”
“Yes.”
Aria shyly smiled and leaned in to whisper. Even though we were the only ones in the inn room, she seemed worried someone might hear because it was such a large amount.
“…I received gold.”
“……!”
I was wide-eyed at the amount, which was more than I expected.
Wow, with that much, she could live a life of luxury without working. The empire must have really decided to crack down on infidelity.
“Oh, and.”
After a brief pause, Aria straightened her posture and spoke in a cautious, guarded voice.
“I told the guild master, but since you’re working part-time, I’ll tell you too. Be careful. It seems like Essite is suspicious of Sielle Romance Manipulation Guild.”
Ah, they suspect us as the source of the evidence that cornered Layla.
“Count Essite visited me recently and asked which guild I commissioned. I said I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he didn’t seem convinced.”
“That would be expected.”
This is why the guild operates in the shadows, even when the empire is determined to catch infidelity.
The nobles caught in infidelity can’t touch the empire, so they would try to attack our guild.
I hated the idea of things getting complicated.
“Knowing Duval’s personality, he’ll probably keep coming until he gets an answer, so if it gets too hard, you can just tell him.”
“No.”
Aria shook her head, saying she couldn’t betray the benefactor of her life.
She firmly said she would keep it a secret no matter what, so I shouldn’t say such things.
Then, cautiously watching my reaction, she broached the subject.
“Um, I have a favor to ask. Is the business proposal you mentioned still valid?”
It seemed she was referring to the idea of starting a business together that I had mentioned before.
I nodded in surprise, and Aria gave the brightest smile I had ever seen.
“Actually, I don’t want to live in the East anymore… If it’s okay with you, I was thinking of getting a house in the capital and trying what you mentioned. Though I’m not sure how much help I can be-“
“Of course!”
I grabbed Aria’s hands excitedly, my eyes sparkling.
I hadn’t expected much since she received a large alimony, but if she was willing to join me, I was grateful.
Surprised by my enthusiastic reaction, Aria shyly asked.
“Have you thought about what kind of business to start?”
“Um, no. Honestly, I haven’t seriously thought about starting a business until recently.”
I started thinking about it after extracting money from Duval- Oh, right.
“Could you sign here?”
I took out the annulment document from my briefcase and handed it to Aria.
I heard that the succession ceremony was completed while I was unconscious. Now Aria was Count Valentine.
Unlike Nyx, who hesitated, Aria readily signed the notary section.
She also said that if I hadn’t thought about what business to start, she would conduct market research.
“I’ll bring several candidates, so you can choose the one you like.”
To have such a capable person from the start. I shook hands with Aria, meaning to do well together.
Then I went straight home and sent the annulment document along with the magic tool that recorded Duval’s voice saying he wanted to annul the engagement to the government office.
Exactly one week later,
I received a call from the government office.
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