Litania quietly looked at the man’s hand extended towards her.

It was an elegant hand composed of firm yet delicate lines. While large to match his build, it was clearly different from Bain’s sturdy hands that had long held a sword.

At first, she thought this hand was scary, and then she thought it was something to rely on.

And now.

“Don’t misunderstand, Orbis. I could escape on my own if I wanted to, you know? Because I have Lapis.”

The winged wish stone could take her anywhere she desired, just like the dragons of this world.

“But you won’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because you think you have to shoulder the responsibility of being the imperial princess.”

From the moment Litania returned to this world, she must have resolved to fulfill her duties as a member of the imperial family. Even traveling to the three neighboring countries to make agreements to eliminate conflicts was to bring peace to her homeland, Verivervium.

“You’re always someone who does your best where you are. Like caring for the servants in the dragon castle, and taking in the knights cast out from the imperial palace. And.”

His fingertips gently entwined with her soft brown hair.

“Like making me happy as my bride.”

“…I’ve received a marriage proposal.”

“So, whose bride do you intend to become this time?”

At Orbis’ question, Litania’s gaze turned to the empty table. The mountain of marriage proposals that had been there was already cleared away and taken by Snow.

‘Surely he didn’t actually burn them.’

Litania pulled her hair from Orbis’ hand and put on a prim expression.

“Snow said that I wouldn’t be satisfied with an ordinary man.”

“Rabbits are sensitive creatures. Its intuition is usually good.”

“Yes. I brushed it off then, but I realized it clearly at the masquerade ball.”

“Realized what?”

“That you’ve set my standards too high.”

When she first met the silver-haired man at the ballroom, he was so beautiful she forgot to breathe. It was the first time since Orbis that she had encountered a man who made her heart flutter just by looking at him.

If it had really been someone else, she would have stopped at realizing she was the type to reveal her face.

“When I found out it was you, I felt a sudden sense of reality.”

“A sudden sense of reality?”

“Mm. Like I suddenly cooled off.”

“Your face was so red then, it looked like it might explode at any moment.”

“Oh, come on!”

As Litania burst out, Orbis laughed with a low rumble in his throat.

“Then for my friend whose eyes are fixed on the sky, I suppose I’ll have to take you to the heavens.”

“You just said I wouldn’t run away.”

“Yes. You won’t be able to run away. So I must provide you with a justification.”

“What justification?”

“Let’s say I kidnap you.”

Orbis approached with long strides, knelt on one knee on the floor, and looked up at her. Litania tensed slightly, pulling her knees together and straightening her back.

She thought she had sorted out her feelings, but she didn’t know why she felt so nervous when Orbis came close.

“I, kidnapping is…”

“I’ve already trespassed, so adding the crime of kidnapping won’t change much, will it?”

Orbis tapped Litania’s knee with his fingertip. Her small body flinched. Her face slowly reddened as she glared at him with wide eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“You looked tense sitting so stiffly, I thought you might be getting tired.”

The finger that touched her knee traced an elegant curve down her shin before wrapping around her ankle.

The large hand loosely gripped her ankle, then gently applied pressure and lightly pulled, sending a tingling sensation up her shin and relaxing her stiff posture.

Even though she was wearing a long dress and their skin wasn’t touching, the sensation of warmth through the fabric made her ears burn.

“You, you shouldn’t touch a lady’s body without permission! How rude of you.”

“I’m a dragon, so I don’t particularly care about human etiquette.”

“I have no intention of keeping a man who isn’t a gentleman as a friend.”

“Pfft.”

Orbis chuckled softly and gently tilted his upper body. He rested his chin on her knee.

As if he were a large dog begging for food, he tilted his head and looked up at Litania.

“Is it alright if I rest my head instead of my hand?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Your neck has turned red.”

“Orbis!”

Orbis chuckled again at her scolding.

Litania pressed the back of her hand against her cheek to hide her reddened face, but realizing it was pointlessly hot, she glared at Orbis with reproachful eyes.

The beast who claimed not to know human etiquette nonchalantly ignored her glare.

“You said you wouldn’t constrain me, and yet…”

“I’m not constraining you, though.”

“You keep persisting even though I’m refusing.”

“You haven’t refused.”

“What?”

“Litania. You’ve never told me no. You always speak as if referring to a third party, saying things like ‘women don’t like it when men do this’ or ‘gentlemen don’t act rudely.'”

“Of course that means…”

“If you clearly say that my touch is unpleasant, that you don’t want to see me, I’ll back off.”

He lifted his head and raised his body slightly.

The hand that had been on the floor rose to cup her knee. The man’s body heat was vivid through the thin fabric.

His long, fine golden hair flowed down over her thigh. As if a curtain of light had been drawn.

“Do you dislike my touch?”

“I told you. We’re over, so this kind of behavior is inappropriate…”

“I’m asking about your feelings, Litania.”

His eye level, which had been lower than hers, became similar, then close enough for their breaths to mingle. With the back of the sofa blocking her, Litania had nowhere to escape.

“I’m not asking if it’s allowed or not. I’m asking if you want it or not.”

“…”

“You’re the one who told me to try to put you in the mood, aren’t you?”

Her face burned so much it hurt. Litania’s pink eyes wandered here and there.

Orbis was right. She could simply say it was unpleasant to be in close contact with a man who wasn’t her lover.

She could say it was inappropriate, that it shouldn’t be done, as much as she wanted.

Why couldn’t she say she disliked it?

Why?

“You never asked.”

“Litania?”

“You never asked about my feelings.”

Both as Han Ria living in the modern world, and as Litania living here.

What was given to her was always a choice that excluded emotions.

She had to be satisfied with kindness thrown at her like alms, and had to comply with her parents’ demands. If she didn’t want to do something, she had to find a justification to refuse.

She had never thought about what she wanted to do.

She only thought about what she was allowed to do and what she shouldn’t do.

So she hadn’t realized.

That her choice that she shouldn’t be close to Orbis privately anymore because they had broken up was missing her own feelings.

Even though her heart raced when she saw his face, and she felt wistful at the scent from his clothes, she had been ignoring her own emotions, bound by the justification that ‘we’ve broken up so I shouldn’t have lingering feelings’.

“…Let’s go out.”

“Litania.”

“You said you’d kidnap me.”

“Pardon?”

“An unexpected marriage proposal came in, I was misunderstood for not participating in the hunting festival, I’m not in a good mood today either.”

Litania put her hands on Orbis’ shoulders and looked at him.

The face reflected in his blue eyes looked like a very ripe plum.

At least today she wasn’t pickled in alcohol. Litania ended up laughing.

“I want to go out to change my mood. I want to. But I still need a justification.”

“Because you’re the imperial princess burdened with responsibility and duty?”

“Yes. I don’t want to hear that I ran away, so have Orbis kidnap me.”

As Litania tightly hugged his neck and clung to him, strong arms wrapped around the woman’s body and lifted her.

“Gladly.”

A gentle breeze blew.

Beyond the green meadow, a panorama of mountains came into view. The air was filled with the scent of spring, and newly bloomed flowers around them gave off a fresh fragrance.

“In the capital, flower carts carried spring blossoms, but here the wind is the cart instead.”

Litania reached out towards the white flower petals floating on the wind.

“Most things created by humans are imitations of nature.”

A large hand overlapped her slender fingers. As Orbis wrapped his hand around hers, her small hand was completely hidden.

“How does it feel to be kidnapped, Litania?”

“Liberating. I understand now why people deviate.”

“Then I’d like to receive a reward for improving your mood.”

“You’ve got the wrong number. You should request the ransom from the imperial palace.”

“Then may I request the condition that you no longer receive marriage proposals?”

Gentle pressure was applied to her captive hand as the man’s body pressed against her back.

Litania tilted her head back to look up at Orbis. Indeed, his face was handsome even when seen upside down.

“Orbis. Did you come looking for me because you don’t like the idea of me marrying another man?”

“Yes.”

“Then wouldn’t it be easier to go meet His Majesty instead of coming to find me? No matter how uncomfortable His Majesty is with you, if you use your position as the divine dragon, he ultimately wouldn’t be able to refuse.”

“What I want is your heart.”