“Still, it feels good to hear you say I’m beautiful.”

“I never said such a thing?”

“Oh, wasn’t that what you meant?”

When asked if she liked his appearance, she replied that she doesn’t judge people by their looks, which ultimately meant she liked him.

“…It’s hard to dislike a beautiful person. Unless there’s a problem with their personality.”

She meant to say ‘Your dangerousness can’t be covered by your appearance,’ but Orbis responded from an unexpected angle.

“Yes, I like beautiful things too. Just like you.”

“Pardon?”

Ritania reflexively denied it, but then quickly closed her mouth, wondering if she had overreacted to what might have been a polite remark.

‘Even so, that’s not right.’

Compared to Orbis’s overwhelming beauty, Ritania’s appearance was just ordinary. Except for her pink eye color, it was almost identical to her real-life appearance.

‘Of course, I’ve never been dissatisfied with my looks in my life.’

Being complimented on her appearance by a stunningly handsome man didn’t make her happy, but rather embarrassed and ticklish.

Ritania tried to change the subject and gently pushed Orbis’s shoulder.

“You can put me down now. I can stand.”

“No, you said your leg was injured.”

“…”

It was hard to argue against what she had said. Orbis grinned and changed the surroundings again.

‘This time it’s a waterfall.’

A huge waterfall in a deep valley could be seen falling with tremendous noise. Even though the scenery changed so quickly that it might feel unreal, one can’t help but be overwhelmed when faced with such a magnificent view and sound.

“Do you like it?”

Orbis’s voice had softened.

“It’s a view you can’t see if you stay in the capital.”

“…Have you always been looking at scenery like this?”

“Until I met you.”

Ritania looked down at the rainbow forming in the mist and realized the common point of the sceneries Orbis was showing.

‘These are places inaccessible by human feet.’

Not the scenery seen by people in the capital, but the scenery seen by Orbis, the divine dragon.

It’s certainly beautiful, but he probably didn’t bring her here just to show her nice scenery.

She suddenly wondered if he wanted to share his favorite scenery.

When their eyes met, Orbis smiled as if he had read her thoughts.

“I wanted to come here with you.”

“…”

“Indeed, I prefer this.”

A mountain that seems to touch the sky, a vast valley spread out like a carpet at their feet.

A marvelous scenery in a place inaccessible to humans. If one always sees things like this, wouldn’t the human-built capital look like a miniature toy? Ritania couldn’t understand why he would want to enjoy games in the human world.

“If you need someone to sightsee with, couldn’t you come with someone else?”

“I’m not particularly interested in other humans.”

“Weren’t you in the midst of your games because you’re interested in humans?”

“Haha.”

The soft laughter in his blue eyes subsided. Feeling a slight chill, Ritania tried to move away, but his strong arm held her tighter.

“I originally had no interest in humans.”

“What?”

“It changed when I met you.”

Ritania couldn’t understand. Hadn’t the divine dragon become the symbol of the empire long ago?

The order doesn’t match from the beginning. They met because Orbis attended the Spring Ball.

“A dragon’s time is different from human time. It would be difficult for you to understand.”

“I, I see.”

Does he mean it’s impossible to understand even if she tried? Ritania nodded, and Orbis smiled, his eyes crinkling.

The brief coldness had quickly disappeared.

It was unclear whether she should feel relieved or not, but looking at that smiling face made her heart flutter and feel excited, ridiculously enough.

Feeling as if she was being enchanted, Ritania quickly turned her head away.

“There’s a big rock over there.”

“Shall we go up?”

“What? Aah!”

A light breeze brushed her face and her hair fluttered in the air. Orbis lightly slung Ritania over his shoulder, like a father carrying a child, and leapt up.

Through his golden hair, she could see his short white cape draped over one shoulder fluttering like a dance.

The movement of the firm arm muscles holding her could be clearly felt even through his clothes, making Ritania feel her face heating up.

“Are you alright?”

A soft voice near her ear startled Ritania. Perhaps due to the imbalance from jumping, Ritania’s arms were wrapped around Orbis’s neck.

Realizing she was clinging to him, Ritania quickly pushed against Orbis’s shoulders.

“Y-you should say something before moving!”

“I did tell you.”

“You didn’t give me time to answer!”

“I see. Did I seem ill-mannered?”

Orbis tilted his head with a grin.

“Too much to be forgiven even by my beautiful appearance?”

“…”

Ritania felt a bit dumbfounded. Is this how he uses that face?

“…I’m embarrassed.”

“Is it embarrassing to leap onto a rock without giving you time to answer?”

“No, I’m saying I’m embarrassed.”

Ritania made a groaning sound and covered her face with both hands.

“Please put me down now.”

“But your leg…”

“I’m sorry. The injured leg was a lie. I just didn’t want to come out far.”

Ritania finally decided to be honest. The last part omitted ‘with you, Orbis’ at the beginning.

“Is that so? I’m glad you’re not hurt. I was actually worried.”

“Ugh… So please put me down.”

“I don’t want to.”

“What?”

Could he be trying to get revenge for her lie?

Considering her experience of being dunked in water at the hunting grounds after rejecting his proposal, it’s quite possible. As Ritania looked at him with a stiff face, Orbis softened his eyes a little and let out a light sigh.

“If I put you down here, you’ll really get hurt. I’ll let you down in a safe place.”

Then he raised his gloved hand and snapped his fingers.

The surrounding scenery changed once again.

The aroma of delicious food wafted from somewhere.

In place of the majestic valley scenery, modest buildings with colorful signs appeared.

Instead of the large rock, the two were surrounded by trees adorned with colorful garlands and strings of twinkling lights.

“Orbis, this is…”

“I thought you might not have been to a village before.”

While the imperial palace holds festivals every season, I heard that in commoner areas, besides the capital’s big festivals, small events like this are held once or twice a month.

As if it was that time now, various food stalls selling delicious treats were lined up opposite shops with unique signs.

In the distance, people could be seen gathered, perhaps for a street performer’s show.

“Now, I’ll let you down.”

After being carried for so long, it felt awkward to have my feet touch the ground. As Ritania stepped back, hiding her awkwardness, Orbis lightly took her hand.

“Ritania, aren’t you hungry?”

Come to think of it, the sun was already setting, with purple darkness creeping in from the reddened sky. Being in Orbis’s arms, I hadn’t noticed how much time had passed.

After magically teleporting here and there, it felt as if time had fast-forwarded like magic too.

Ritania pondered for a moment.

She had forgotten while sightseeing, but now that she was aware, she started feeling hungry. At the tea party, she was too nervous to even touch the desserts, so she probably should eat something.

‘Anyway, Orbis did go through the trouble of taking me around.’

From a dragon’s perspective, teleporting or carrying a person around probably wasn’t particularly tiring, but it seemed odd to keep pushing him away when Orbis was being so friendly.

‘Perhaps the reason the original Orbis became tyrannical was that the real Ritania kept pushing him away too much.’

After becoming tyrannical, he drove her to ruin no matter what, but maybe if she started taming him gently from now while he’s still kind, it might be okay?

Having experienced so much at once, her mind seemed to be overloaded, as Ritania no longer felt the suffocating fear when looking at Orbis. If so, getting along might be good for both of them now.

“It would be good to eat here before we go.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Shall we walk together then?”

As Orbis grinned and lightly tugged on their joined hands, Ritania quickly grasped his hand with both of hers.

“Wait a moment. Won’t we stand out too much in a crowded place?”

“The appearance of a divine dragon isn’t recognizable to anyone except the imperial family anyway.”

“No, even without that, you stand out too much, you know?”

Even if they don’t know he’s a divine dragon, or rather, because they don’t know, everyone will pay attention.

Not only is his face beautiful, but his physique is also quite extraordinary, standing a head taller than the crowd. Who wouldn’t look at this man?

With such a notable appearance that’s hard to forget once seen, it seemed unreasonable to blend into the crowd of this street.

“Then let’s make it so we don’t stand out.”