The stiff atmosphere had gradually softened.
[Hmm….]Yerpi, who had been quietly laughing, suddenly held her breath.
Cautiously checking inside her arms, she found Dante frowning and groaning.
Worried that the child might wake up, she gently soothed the young dragon with careful hands. Fortunately, it seemed to work—the child soon drifted back into sleep.
Once again, they were alone together. But this time, she found the courage to face him.
“I’m sorry for making you misunderstand. It’s just that I had something to think about.”
“Are you troubled?”
“A little.”
“So you don’t intend to tell me, then.”
A soft smile accompanied their quiet, flowing conversation. The silent chuckle left Raymond momentarily quiet.
He could have pressed her. Instead, after briefly closing and reopening his eyes, he said:
“As long as it wasn’t because of me that you avoided me, then it’s fine.”
“Really.”
He accepted her imperfect apology. Just that alone made her feel relieved.
“I’ll wait. Until the day you can tell me.”
Unaware that his following words would stir her heart.
Somewhere along the way, she had grown fond of meeting his sharp golden eyes whenever they spoke.
Raymond, for all his coldness, had an honest side—and because of that, his kindness was never false.
Perhaps that was why. Why his presence, that mutual understanding between them, felt as comforting as a steady breath.
“I was afraid I might mistake you for the person from my past life. That’s why.”
The recovered memories of her previous life brought back not just events, but emotions and happiness she had once felt.
As the lost pieces resurfaced, emotions turned to pain, and sorrow became inevitable.
Projecting her past life onto someone else was not just disrespectful—it would also lead her to misery.
But only now did she realize:
That she had never mistaken Raymond for her past-life lover.
“I was drawn to Raymond himself all along.”
It wasn’t merely because he resembled her past lover.
It was his thoughtfulness, the way his hand reached out to Dante, the slight blush at the tip of his ear when flustered, and his delicate care for her even in such situations—these were what moved her.
“I wish you could trust me a little more.”
Admitting one’s own fault wasn’t easy. Especially not for someone in the position of a Grand Duke.
Yet this was the trust he offered—and an opportunity for Yerpi to take a step toward him.
‘So, just a little longer.’
Could she allow herself to be greedy, just until the true heroine appeared?
She had begun with the mindset of being ready to let go from the start. Even knowing how this path would end, she still wanted to reach out.
Dante nestled against her was warm. The two dragon-blooded beings warmed the bed with Yerpi at its center. Their body heat melted the stiffness in her body and heart.
‘It feels like I’ve gained a family.’
As she relaxed into the comfortable bed, sleep soon overcame her. At some point, she thought she heard Raymond mutter something.
“…Sleeping might be better after all.”
Oddly, his voice sounded slightly pained. But overwhelmed by drowsiness, she didn’t ask why. She simply fell asleep.
That night.
Yerpi didn’t dream at all. It was the most peaceful, restful sleep she’d had in all the time she had lived through Yerpi’s body.
***
That morning, Dante woke first and diligently roused Raymond and Yerpi.
For the first time, the two dragon-bloods and the spice shared lunch together. The castle servants, too, seemed astonished, their surprise evident as they watched the unusual scene.
After that day, Yerpi no longer avoided Raymond. And Dante underwent another change as well.
Late afternoon. The castle lobby.
Raymond was introducing a visitor from outside the castle.
“He’s a mage from the Mage Tower of Growen.”
“Hello, Your Grace. I’m Merkadi Obterius.”
The mage with thick-rimmed glasses bowed deeply to Yerpi.
The glasses, heavy and unbalanced, nearly slid off his face with the slightest movement. Merkadi hastily caught them mid-fall.
His face, now revealed from behind the lenses, belonged to a beautiful young man—long silver hair reaching beneath his brows, paired with striking red eyes.
But only for a moment. Once he put the thick glasses back on, the previous beauty vanished completely, as if replaced by someone entirely different.
“The glasses are a bit heavy, you see.”
Merkadi laughed heartily, unconcerned about how others saw him now that he had regained his “second sight.”
‘So he was one of the mages from the investigation team.’
She recalled the mages who had gone ahead to the Forest of Discovery to analyze the scene. Though not formally introduced then, she vaguely remembered seeing a mage wearing similar glasses.
“It’s my first time speaking with a mage from Growen. I’m glad to meet you.”
“Oh, the pleasure is mine. To meet a noble spice in person—this is an honor for the Mage Tower indeed. I truly wish to observe you closely…”
“Merkadi.”
At Raymond’s low, warning tone, the mage snapped his mouth shut and stepped back. This wasn’t the first time he had rushed forward like a startled rare creature.
Raymond sighed and spoke on the mage’s behalf.
“He means no harm. It’s just that everyone from the Mage Tower is a little twisted.”
“Oh dear, why say such a disheartening thing?”
Raymond and the mage had known each other for over a decade. Their bond, formed before Raymond became Grand Duke, continued to this day.
Merkadi was a young, brilliant mage of the Growen Mage Tower, particularly gifted in handling and investigating magical energy.
Despite their long acquaintance, the fact that he dared to challenge even a Grand Duke suggested he had a bold nerve and an unusual personality.
“Oh, and how have you been, young master?”
At the sudden greeting, the young dragon in Yerpi’s arms lifted his head—and immediately scowled.
[Urgh. Mad magician!]“Well now, we’ve known each other quite a long time, haven’t we?”
As Merkadi swayed his body dejectedly, his navy-blue robe swished heavily with each motion.
After the late Grand Duke and Duchess passed away, Raymond had hired mages from the Mage Tower to monitor Dante.
The exiled former nursemaid had only properly fed and dressed Dante on the days when a mage visited the castle.
As the mage and Dante growled at each other, Raymond stepped in to guide the way.
“Let’s move to another location.”
“Where are we going?”
“Ublietet. A place to control a dragon’s power.”
Ublietet? Had such a place existed within the castle?
At the farthest end of branching corridors,
where even servants rarely passed, stood an ancient-looking door.
Beneath the foundation of Growen Castle,
deeper and more hidden, lay Ublietet.
Ublietet was a place designed to suppress the magical power of dragon-bloods, primarily used by underage dragon-bloods to restrain their outbursts.
It was said that entering here allowed them to find a small measure of stability.
This was also why dragon-bloods didn’t go mad before taking a spice as their wife.
‘I’ve never seen this place before.’
Ublietet didn’t appear in Yerpi’s memories at all.
Then why—
‘Why does it feel so unsettling?’
As Yerpi hesitated, gripped by instinctive resistance, Raymond pulled out a key and opened the door leading underground.
“Watch your step.”
The stairs descending to Ublietet carried a faint scent of dust, damp air, and an endless darkness that seemed eternal.
The mage conjured light with magic, floating it in the air. Only then could the descending steps be barely seen.
Yerpi suppressed her unease and followed behind.
Dante, who had been hiding his face in Yerpi’s arms due to his dislike of the mage, lifted his head.
[I like it here.]“Have you been here before?”
[Yeah. Sometimes when I came, I didn’t want to leave.]She didn’t know how Ublietet worked, but it was clearly a place that helped dragon-bloods regain calm.
How far down had they gone?
At last, she set foot on what could be called solid ground.
Before her eyes lay a vast hall—an impregnable fortress allowing not even the faintest light.
‘Something is drawn here.’
As flickering lamplight illuminated the area, layered patterns of intricate lines became visible.
The mage walked to the center of the formation and clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention.
“Now then, today’s experiment—no, investigation—is the young master’s magical energy examination.”
“Exactly what does that involve?”
“Well, everyone carries magical energy within. Since the young master has a unique appearance, we’ll check whether there’s any tangled energy within his body.”
This was the first time an investigation into the magical energy inherent in Dante’s body had been conducted.
Forced probing could cause imbalances, leading to inaccurate results—so it was better not to attempt it at all.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
