Chapter 10: The Dragon’s Breath

A month since the promise.

Three days before the engagement ceremony with the Queen of Valdrova.

With a face full of disgust, Ruri pointed at the paper and quill.

“Write a vow letter for the engagement ceremony.”

“Isn’t there some standard formula for these things?”

“Of course there is, but…”

At that moment, Ruri’s throat moved. Instead of a dragon’s breath, she forcefully swallowed a sigh that nearly escaped.

“Since it will be an unofficial ceremony, she wishes to do it without unnecessary formalities.”

“And?”

“She wants to replace the recited vows from each with vows handwritten by both.”

Perda calmly nodded after hearing that.

“A bit romantic, I see.”

“Calling it romantic makes it sound nice. In reality, it’s worse than getting married in a stable. What is this? Writing vows by hand… it’s like some silly child’s game.”

Ruri grumbled, and finally let out what she’d been holding in her small chest.

“Haaaah…”

That was the breath.

A sigh of pure frustration that seemed capable of cracking the ground.

‘It was already bad enough that this is an engagement with a human, and now it’ll be private and with handwritten vows…’

Even as a dragoness who served with devotion, it was inevitable for feelings to build up. So it was understandable that she sighed like that.

‘Still, more than loyalty to a ruler, Ruri is devoted to Valdrova herself.’

If status had been her priority, Perda wouldn’t be here right now. Had she wanted, Ruri could have tried to assassinate him or set a trap to ruin him.

But she never resorted to such underhanded methods.

‘She’s actually helped me.’

Perda understood the complexity of her feelings. She wanted the engagement to fail, but at the same time longed for Valdrova’s happiness.

‘Caught in that contradiction—that’s where her anger comes from.’

A truly unfortunate situation. Perda decided to offer her, even just for a moment, a look of compassion.

“What’s that face?”

“I just thought you’re pitiful.”

At that sincere compassion, Ruri frowned.

“I don’t want to hear that from a human like you.”

“I’m still a guest, but in three days I’ll be your queen’s consort. Then what will happen to our relationship?”

“It won’t change at all. And don’t get any ideas about giving me orders.”

“Of course. That wasn’t my intent.”

“Still, if you ask me to hit you, I’ll do it without hesitation.”

“I’ll pass on that.”

“Don’t worry. I’m confident in my strength. And I can control myself.”

“No need.”

Ruri raised her small fist. That fist, seemingly harmless, had shattered a bed and the floor beneath it.

There was no way Perda would ever jokingly ask her for something like that.

“In any case, once the engagement is held, you’ll need to begin hiring servants for the estate. You’ll also have to choose the ministers who’ll manage the territory.”

“Servants and ministers? I’m in charge of that?”

“Yes. As Queen Valdrova’s consort, you’ll handle the domain and its administrative matters.”

Perda raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“You seemed to hate people in power, and now you’re asking me to take it?”

“I don’t hate those with power, only those who are blinded by it.”

The third prince of the Arken Empire had died precisely because of his obsession with power.

“Power should go to those who aren’t obsessed with it. Only then will they look out for the people. And that’s what we need now.”

Perda tilted his head.

“Isn’t the people’s life good?”

“As you probably noticed seeing the current lords, the situation is a disaster.”

Perda recalled the nobles at the assembly—fat, clumsy, trembling with fear over losing their heads, like pigs trapped in a slaughterhouse.

“Those who should be pillars only care about filling their bellies. They spend time in brothels and banquets using the excuse that, being on the frontier, they could die any day. They silence complaints with military power, but sooner or later, it will erupt into a revolt.”

“I didn’t know. I didn’t think the situation was that bad.”

Hearing the word “people” sparked a bit of curiosity in Perda.

“Doesn’t Queen Valdrova wish for the happiness of humans?”

“Yes, she does.”

“Then wouldn’t it be enough for her to say a single word and everything would be resolved?”

“It would.”

“Then why doesn’t she do it?”

“……”

Ruri fell silent. Her face hardened, and a dragon’s aura burst from her with violence, as if he had touched her most sensitive nerve.

“I prefer not to speak of it now. You’ll have a chance to find out later.”

Perda decided to back off.

“Alright. So I just have to write the vows, right?”

“Yes. With your permission, I’ll take my leave.”

Ruri bowed and left the room.

Haaaaah…

A long sigh echoed in Perda’s ears.

He took the quill, remembering Ruri’s words.

“The vows, huh…?”

They say the first part is always the hardest, and Perda got stuck on the very first line.

Should he have asked how to write it beforehand? That would’ve made everything easier.

“Maybe I’ll leave it for later…”

Instead of the vows, Perda decided to write some letters to the nobles.

At the assembly, he had told them.

— I don’t care in the slightest what you do.

But now he had to care, at least a little. That was the problem.

“If I get involved after saying I didn’t care, they’ll resist.”

He knew himself that his first impression had been bad. And now, if he lied, it would only make it worse.

He had no choice but to send each of them a letter.

In them, he made it clear that he might have to get involved in administration.

At the end, he wrote.

— If you don’t like it, don’t reply. I respect each one of you.

And all the nobles’ replies arrived that same day.

***

Perda proved his abilities and, at the same time, showed that there wasn’t a shred of falsehood in his words.

Ruri, with nothing left to object, silently accepted the engagement ceremony.

“Your epaulet is crooked. And there’s no point in ironing your trousers if you’re just going to wrinkle them like that.”

Instead of talking about the ceremony, she started the day by pointing out every flaw she could find.

“If I had your hands and your eyes in my position, this would be much easier.”

“Then why don’t you get an assistant?”

“I think you could do it.”

Ruri stepped back and hid both hands behind her back.

“I’m not going to touch you. I’m merely a loyal servant to my lady, so don’t expect too much from me.”

“Hmm, you really do seem like a dog.”

“Do you want to fight me? Just say the word. I’m ready for a serious match anytime.”

“No, I just meant that you’re very loyal.”

Ruri growled, but Perda accepted each of her critiques one by one, fixing everything she pointed out.

‘Engagement ceremony, huh…?’

He still couldn’t wrap his head around it.

When a man gets married, he’s supposed to feel one of two things — joy for getting married or sadness for being sold off.

But Perda felt neither.

‘Ever since I returned to this day, it’s always been this way.’

A heart far too calm for someone who bears the Red Circle.

‘Am I getting engaged just because I think it’s what I should do?’

He was beginning to suspect it was just mechanical — an obligation to fulfill.

The overwhelming anger and hatred were gone, and even his other emotions had faded.

‘Can I really face Valdrova with this kind of mindset?’

A vague anxiety pulsed in his chest.

‘A formless anxiety…’

Perda smiled faintly.

Vagueness is a human weakness.

‘In the end, I’m still human.’

For now, that was all that mattered.

Perda decided to hold onto just that thought.

***

The ceremony was held in front of Queen Valdrova’s den.

Inside, lit by hundreds of candles, the enormous iron gate stood barely twenty steps away.

Ruri, already prepared, softly knocked on the door.

“My lady, we are about to begin the ceremony.”

The giant iron gate opened slowly.

From between its cracks, air escaped from within, mixing with the outside air and entering Perda’s nose and mouth.

“Ugh.”

His chest tightened.

Though he didn’t sense a murderous aura from a demonic creature, the air itself radiated overwhelming fear.

If Perda had been even a bit weaker, he would’ve fainted on the spot.

Ruri looked him up and down and said.

“You must endure.”

“I… know.”

“Then I will begin the ceremony.”

Ignoring his condition, Ruri started the ritual.

It had already been agreed that things would go this way, so Perda focused solely on breathing deeply and maintaining composure.

“Today, the mortal and the immortal will be joined by a golden thread, one that neither the authority of the heavens nor the passage of time may sever.”

She placed a ceremonial cup in front of him. Ruri filled it with a clear liquor as she recited.

“The mortal will surpass the unknown and cleanse their fear, becoming one.”

As they had rehearsed, Perda took the cup and drank.

The taste was pure and crystalline, but it was still alcohol.

‘Alcohol definitely isn’t for me.’

He had never enjoyed alcohol in his life; even now, this was his first real time drinking it.

After drinking, he poured what was left into another cup and placed it in front of the iron gate.

“The immortal will erase the vanity of infinite currents and become one.”

It was Valdrova’s turn.

Huge claws, larger than Perda’s entire body, slipped through the cracks in the gate.

The same claws that had torn through countless monsters.

They lowered carefully toward the ceremonial cup and—

Clatter—!

They knocked it over.

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence took over the place.

The claws slowly withdrew into the gate.

‘Is that… how it’s supposed to go?’

Perda looked at Ruri uncertainly.

“…We’ll repeat the ceremony.”

And so, they did it again.

Oath reading, Perda drinking, and Valdrova’s turn.

Clatter—!

The claw knocked over the cup again.

The same thing happened a third time.

Perda started to feel it.

‘After a few cups… I’m getting dizzy…’

His head throbbed, and his senses dulled. He knew he couldn’t handle another round.

Crack—!

A loud snap suddenly echoed.

For a moment he feared the cave was collapsing, but realized the sound came from Ruri.

“With your permission, I’ll enter for a moment.”

Taking advantage of a gap in the gate, she slipped inside.

Perda thought she’d prepare something special, but instead he heard a shout.

“My lady, what are you doing!”

The shock sobered him up immediately.

“You were the one who insisted on marrying a mortal! You were the one who asked for this ceremony! And what did your loyal servant Ruri do? I endured!”

She had held in the dragon’s breath burning in her chest for days, and now she let it out.

“I agreed to hold the engagement in secret, when your status demanded it be public! I accepted that it be done without direct contact! But if you’re too scared to face your fiancé, if you keep hiding and ruin everything… what do you think will become of him out there?”

Ruri’s breathing was furious, and from the other side of the gate, only a heavy sigh could be heard.

Then, Ruri’s voice thundered.

“Come out with dignity and face your betrothed! And if you spill that cup again, I will not allow it!”

After shouting like that, Ruri stepped back out.

Her face, however, was cold and expressionless.

Perda stared at her in surprise, and she noticed what he was thinking.

“…You heard all that?”

“Even the lords far away probably heard it.”

“…Haa. Well, what can you do.”

She sighed deeply and explained.

“As you’ve probably figured out, my lady suffers from social anxiety.”

“Social anxiety?”

“It means she’s terrified of interacting with humans.”

“……”

“To anyone else, it’d sound ridiculous. That someone of such prestige fears mortals… but that’s how it is.”

“That’s a pretty important detail.”

“In any case, you’d have found out eventually. It’s not something that can be hidden forever.”

Her silver eyes lowered as she added.

“Now you’ll be her husband. Which means her weakness is now yours too.”

“A shared responsibility?”

“Isn’t that what marriage means?”

Perda nodded silently.

Marriage is, in the end, shared responsibility.

For some reason, it didn’t feel entirely pleasant.

The phrase shared responsibility had never carried good meaning for him.

A moment later, the closed door opened again.

He expected those huge claws to appear again, but what emerged was the silhouette of a person.

Perda turned his eyes to the one who would be his wife.

“…Huh?”

He couldn’t help but voice his surprise aloud.

‘…Armor?’

A person wearing full plate armor.

The helmet was shaped like a dragon’s head.

Though it was made of metal, it was so detailed and imposing that, for a moment, it could be mistaken for a real dragon.

It was like imagining a dragon walking upright on two legs.

What was most surprising wasn’t just the detail of the armor, but also—

‘It’s huge.’

Especially the height.

Perda, who stood at 1.80 meters and was considered tall, had to crane his neck to look up at the figure.

He estimated it to be about 2.40 meters in armor; without it, perhaps around 2.20.

‘I had heard that dragon polymorphs were astonishingly beautiful.’

If this was what was meant by beauty, then a 2.20-meter-tall human “beauty” must exist.

‘Don’t tell me it’s actually a man inside…?’

“Let us proceed with the final part of the engagement ceremony.”

Before he could dwell further on those unsettling suspicions, Ruri resumed the ritual.

Perda drank the ceremonial wine again, though he’d already had three cups.

The alcohol made his eyelids feel heavy as lead.

He feared it might spill again. But it didn’t.

Ruri held the helmet directly so it wouldn’t tip over.

And then, through that cold, hard armor, Perda saw what it had been hiding.

For the first time, he looked upon the face of the Red Dragon, Valdrova, and—

“Ah.”

Without meaning to, a murmur of awe escaped his lips.