For the first time in her life, Litania froze as she faced a fierce beast.

She wanted to shake her past self who thought only tigers or bears could be considered fierce beasts. Why hadn’t she realized that even a leopard would be more than threatening enough for an ordinary person?

In the dark forest, the black-furred beast looked much larger. Despite feeling a chilling sensation like needles pricking her fingertips, she couldn’t move.

‘Run, I need to run. But my feet won’t move…’

The pounding of her heart struck her ears. If only she knew how to ride a horse, she could have forced herself to mount it. Then she could have escaped somehow.

Regret was useless now; the white horse had already left. Gasping for breath that wouldn’t come easily, Litania belatedly realized that one of the black leopard’s eyes was oddly narrow.

‘There’s an arrow lodged above its eye.’

The red feather attached to the arrow’s end was the symbol of the imperial family. Then perhaps this black leopard had escaped from one of her brothers who was hunting it and came all the way here.

Judging by how faint the horn sounds were, it seemed no one had yet noticed the black leopard was here.

Plop. A drop of the beast’s blood fell onto the broken leaves. The growling sound finally snapped her back to her senses, allowing her to put strength into her fingertips.

Since it was wounded, wouldn’t it be a bit slower?

Could she escape?

Litania clenched her trembling hands into fists and swallowed hard.

She pushed her heel back ever so slightly.

Grrrr.

The fierce beast bared its sharp teeth, its golden eyes flashing fiercely.

Litania ran without looking back.

She didn’t even feel the twigs breaking and scratching her cheeks or tearing her sleeves. As if time had slowed down, the beast’s footsteps echoed heavily. Her breath caught in her throat as if she were being strangled.

‘I have to run faster.’

The fact that the forest was dark and dense, making it difficult to find her way, wasn’t important right now. All she could think about was escaping from the danger ferociously chasing her from behind.

‘Trying to avoid a dragon only to meet a leopard, am I really destined to die no matter what?’

Please, someone help me.

It was at that moment she wished for it. Like light illuminating the darkness, the trees that had densely filled the black forest parted, and bright light poured in.

However, what awaited Litania was not the light of salvation.

What appeared before her eyes was not a clearing where people had gathered, but a valley below a cliff and a massive mountain beyond it.

‘Oh no.’

A cliff ahead. A black leopard behind. There was no time to think. Feeling the hot breath on the nape of her neck, Litania screamed and jumped right off.

One cliché of genre novels: people who fall off cliffs don’t die.

She didn’t know why such a random thought came to mind. She saw the leopard’s shining eyes and wind-swaying branches turning upside down.

She must be falling, but her body felt strangely buoyant, as if floating in the air.

A feeling as if her heart was pulling her. The scenery flowed by quickly, like smearing wet paint with a brush.

“Litania!”

Strong arms forcefully pulled at her waist, and her body, which had felt weightless, suddenly became heavy, followed by a dull impact. Her blurry vision went black for a moment, then light returned.

Gold.

But it wasn’t the fierce golden eyes of the black leopard, but gently sparkling golden hair.

“…Orbis.”

“So you remembered my name.”

Blue eyes peeking through the golden hair narrowed. Litania blinked, momentarily unable to grasp the situation. The man shining like sunlight asked her:

“Shall I escort you back like this?”

“What? Oh, no!”

Belatedly coming to her senses, Litania floundered, trying to escape Orbis’s embrace. Fortunately, he soon released her.

Standing unsteadily on legs that hadn’t yet regained their strength, Litania realized her situation and despaired. No sooner had she escaped the leopard than she encountered the dragon again.

‘Destined to die either way, please, anything but that!’

She awkwardly greeted him without meeting Orbis’s eyes.

“Um, thank you for saving me.”

“It’s nothing.”

Orbis replied gently.

Despite being almost twice Litania’s size, he didn’t appear threatening, probably due to his delicate face and neat appearance.

If she hadn’t known his true identity, or rather, if she hadn’t known the content of the original work, Litania wouldn’t have feared Orbis either.

If only she hadn’t witnessed him tearing apart human bodies with a bright smile, singing mournfully of love while burning down castles, and piling up mountains of corpses.

“Do you need the black leopard’s hide?”

“Ah, no.”

“Or perhaps you want to decorate your room with a taxidermy?”

“No, I don’t!”

“If you’re trying to win first place in the hunting festival…”

“You misunderstand! I didn’t come here to hunt!”

“Is that so? Seeing you enter the forest without even making eye contact with me, I thought you were quite enthusiastic about hunting.”

Litania felt cold sweat running down her back at Orbis’s words, spoken without much emotion.

He had indeed recognized her.

It was truly inhuman how he didn’t think she was running away from him, but instead happily assumed she was just focused on hunting.

“Then, what shall we do with that black leopard?”

His white-gloved finger pointed upwards. Looking up, she could see the black leopard dangling from the edge of the cliff, its limbs flailing weakly.

To think she had jumped from such a height; if Orbis hadn’t saved her, she would have been on her way to the afterlife. Litania, turning pale, shouted:

“You don’t need to do anything!”

“Is that so?”

With a flick of Orbis’s finger, the black leopard that had been hanging from the cliff’s edge plunged into the underbrush. As the beast’s death cry echoed, Litania reflexively squeezed her eyes shut and shrank back.

Although it was a beast that had tried to harm her, the feeling of witnessing the moment a life ended was not pleasant at all.

Her cold, numb fingertips trembling, Litania bowed her head deeply. A slightly lowered voice settled over the crown of her head.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Somehow, it felt like something bad would happen if she answered, “No.”

He might cause some incident until she came up with something she needed. That’s how unpredictable and incomprehensible beings are.

Feeling dizzy, Litania barely managed to open her mouth.

“Me, if you could. Take me to, the hunting grounds, no, I mean, the square.”

In her heart, she wanted to ask him to teleport her to her room in the annex palace. But she couldn’t say that, as it would mean letting Orbis into her room.

“The square.”

“Y-yes.”

“I refuse.”

“…Pardon?”

Surprised by the unexpected answer, Litania raised her head and met Orbis’s eyes. His gentle smile made him look so kind that one wouldn’t think he had just refused her request.

“You, you said to tell you what I needed.”

“Indeed I did. But upon reflection, it seems I have no reason to grant it.”

While his expression appeared benevolent, as if he would grant any request, his words were entirely different.

Litania, a bit confused, asked:

“You’re a divine dragon… so you can do it, can’t you?”

“It would be easy.”

“Then why…”

“Just because I can doesn’t mean I must. Just as you were able to marry me, yet chose to refuse.”

“…Good heavens.”

Litania was so dumbfounded that she forgot to manage her expression and stared at Orbis with an incredulous face.

‘Does he really think that’s the same thing? How can someone be like this?’

Well, he wasn’t human.

‘Even so, isn’t this going too far?’

A proposal between strangers – surely the man who proposed was the problem. The woman who refused was not at fault.

Anyone would find it suspicious if a man proposed right after meeting them. After refusing, she was even more terrified to find out he wasn’t just suspicious, but a lunatic divine dragon.

“You refused my request, so I have the right to refuse yours. Isn’t that right? Litania.”

She couldn’t understand why he had asked in the first place.

Litania couldn’t tell if the enormous reptile before her was teasing her or seriously retaliating.

If it were the latter and he was giving up on her to find someone else, she would welcome it with open arms.

“How ungentlemanly of you.”

When people are too dumbfounded, they tend to become honest. Litania ended up voicing her thoughts out loud.

“A gentleman?”

As Orbis tilted his head slightly and asked, Litania felt a pang of regret.

‘Oh no, I misspoke!’

But what’s said is said. Litania clenched her fists and took a deep breath. Fortunately, Orbis seemed puzzled by her words rather than angry.

After all, wasn’t he the man who claimed to love someone while ruining their world and hurting them? Even if she tried to get on his good side, a dead end awaited her. Wouldn’t it be better to speak her mind?

“It’s a gentleman’s duty to help a lady in distress. Putting me in such a difficult situation because I refused your proposal is not gentlemanly behavior, and I’d rather not speak further with someone who isn’t a gentleman.”

“My, my.”

Orbis let out a small sigh.