Orbis rubbed the corner of his own eye with his fingertip, then lightly touched the corner of Litania’s eye.

“This should be fine.”

“What’s different now?”

“I cast a spell that lowers others’ perception. Now people who don’t know us will find it hard to notice us, and even if they do, they’ll forget soon after.”

Without chanting a spell, or any light or smoke appearing, could just rubbing the corner of the eye with a finger really do that?

…Despite such doubts, the two naturally blended into the crowd.

‘It actually works.’

Although people startled and made way due to Orbis’s exceptionally tall stature, the lack of people marveling at his beauty or making a fuss seemed to confirm the spell’s effectiveness.

It was Litania’s first time seeing a village festival too.

When she was suddenly dragged outside, she thought she was going to die, but after overcoming a few crises, she had become quite accustomed to this situation now. Litania was a bit surprised to find that Orbis was unexpectedly well-versed in street festivals.

‘Just looking at his face, I thought he wouldn’t touch anything less than an imperial banquet…’

He said he wasn’t interested in humans, but it seemed one shouldn’t readily believe the words of a dragon who came out to enjoy the human world. She thought he would be unfamiliar with such things, only showing grand natural scenery.

“But Orbis, I don’t have any money.”

“I have some, so it’s fine.”

“You know street vendors don’t deal with jewels or gold coins, right?”

“Of course.”

Litania was taken aback to see that he even knew how to order food and pay at street stalls.

‘He’s really enjoying life as a dragon, huh?’

Litania accepted the piece of meat pie Orbis handed her. As she peeled off the thin paper wrapping the pie and put it in her mouth, she tasted the strong scent characteristic of street food along with salty spices.

‘Ah, a nostalgic taste.’

Even as a neglected princess, she was still part of the imperial palace and provided with high-quality meals, but it was difficult to taste the strong flavors and aromas unique to cheap food.

Litania was a bit moved by the fantastic combination of the rich taste of meat and the buttery pastry.

She suddenly realized why people seek out foods that aren’t good for their bodies. It would be difficult to resist the temptation of such flavors.

“This is delicious, Orbis.”

“Because it’s food you like.”

“Pardon?”

Had she ever told Orbis about her food preferences? When Litania asked curiously, Orbis shrugged.

“I just had that feeling.”

Could dragons read people’s minds too?

“You like it, don’t you? Meat pie.”

“…I like it because it’s delicious. But I think it would be bad for my health if I ate it often.”

“It’s not like you live particularly longer just by eating only healthy things. It’s better to do what you want.”

From a dragon’s perspective, there probably isn’t much difference between humans who live long and those who die early.

‘Actually, it’s not wrong.’

In reality, there are people who live long doing everything they’re told not to do, while there are those who die early despite taking such good care of themselves.

‘Still, people want to live healthily and for as long as possible.’

Without becoming disabled, without being killed by a dragon’s hand.

“How nice. Orbis, you can do anything.”

Living long, using powerful magic. Having the status of a divine dragon, he can do whatever he wants in the human world.

It must be a kind of leisure of the privileged. It’s the opposite of Litania’s situation, who can’t even go out without the Emperor’s permission.

‘…It should be fine that I left the castle today, since Orbis practically kidnapped me, right?’

Litania swallowed the last piece of pie and looked at Orbis’s hand. It was empty.

‘I’m sure I didn’t see him eat, when did he eat it?’

When Litania looked up with wide eyes, he smiled slightly.

“One isn’t enough, right? What would you like next?”

“Huh? Um… then, that one.”

Litania pointed to the skewer grill stall across the street in a fluster.

The stall with a red awning had a sign that seemed hand-drawn saying ‘Explosive Tropical Flavor’.

The skewers of grilled meat and vegetables drizzled with thick sauce were a common form seen in any world, so the low challenge level also played a part.

“Here you go, Litania.”

“Thank you.”

For a moment, she felt like a child who came out with her parents and was begging for snacks, but her stomach was honest.

Litania quickly bit into the skewer.

And a moment later, she screamed internally.

‘It’s spicy!’

The explosive tropical flavor must have meant an explosion in her mouth.

Litania trembled, unable to spit out what she was eating, biting her lips tightly.

“Litania? What’s wrong?”

“…!”

They say peace is fleeting because it breaks quickly. A war was raging in her mouth between the meat, vegetables, and sauce.

Litania swallowed it with the determination to get rid of it by eating it.

The burning sensation in her throat soon disappeared, but her lips and tongue stung, bringing tears to her eyes.

“Too…”

“Litania?”

“Too, spicy.”

It said tropical flavor, but it really felt like the surroundings had become a tropical climate. As Litania tried to wipe the sweat from her forehead, a gloved hand gently covered her forehead.

Either Orbis’s body temperature was low, or her forehead cooled down, reducing the spicy sensation a bit.

“Orbis, thank…”

“Shall I kill him?”

Litania almost bit her tongue, suddenly hiccuping.

“What?”

“That guy made you suffer.”

By ‘that guy’, he must have meant the vendor who just sold the skewer.

“No, no! Are you crazy?”

While it couldn’t be inferred from just the words ‘explosive tropical flavor’ that it would be this spicy, so it might be considered false advertising, that’s no reason to kill someone.

“How can you kill someone over something like this?”

“But he made you suffer.”

“No, this is, well… an accident! It’s not that person’s fault.”

Litania felt her heart pounding. It seemed like she was getting even hotter than when she swallowed the spicy sauce.

“You shouldn’t try to kill people so easily.”

Litania’s voice trembled. Orbis closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and sighed. His expression softened slightly.

“Did I seem ill-tempered?”

“…”

Rather than ill-tempered, he was simply frightening.

“I’m… not sure.”

Not sure. Really not sure.

Why would such a dangerous and beautiful dragon be so fixated on a single human? Why would he be kind only to Litania, with whom he had barely spoken a few times?

Litania was scared of Orbis, but her desire to know him was even greater.

She couldn’t understand what this higher-dimensional being, seemingly imitating humans, wanted.

No, she couldn’t understand why he acted as if he was trying to accommodate her when he could do anything he wanted.

“Why are you trying to look good to me?”

“Because I want to marry you.”

“No, I mean… why are you proposing to me?”

As Orbis said, it’s common to fall in love at first sight.

While it might not be common for that to lead directly to a proposal, he’s not a person but a dragon, so it might not be impossible.

But there’s an even more fundamental reason.

‘Why me, of all people?’

She couldn’t understand that. Is it because the original content is blurry?

“I thought that since you and I live in different worlds, there was no other way but to be bound by marriage.”

A divine dragon and a despised fake princess. Among humans, it might be equivalent to the status difference between a noble and a maid.

It’s not incomprehensible if one thinks it’s a relationship that would be difficult to gain recognition from others without being bound by an institution like marriage.

If Orbis wanted, he could decide her treatment as he pleased, but it’s understandable that he came to ask for a date and tried to win her favor.

‘Still.’

That alone wasn’t satisfactory. The reason was far too insufficient.

“I’d like to ask you something too, Litania.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you dislike me so much?”

Litania was startled by Orbis’s words.

‘Was it that obvious?’

It was indeed obvious. From her panicked rejection of his proposal, to her serious reaction to his jokes, to how she’s pushing him away even now.

Litania is pushing him away because she knows that the Orbis in the original work was tyrannical.

But from Orbis’s perspective, it must seem strange that she’s rejecting him so much when he hasn’t done anything.

“Um, I… I don’t dislike you.”

That was true. She doesn’t dislike Orbis. She’s afraid of him.

“You hate the idea of marrying me more than death, don’t you?”

“What? No, it’s not that extreme!”

If she had to choose between dying right now or marrying and living for now but dying in the future, she would obviously choose the latter. Even if the options are bleak.

‘Surely he’s not trying to kill me because I rejected his proposal?’

Even for a tragedy, that kind of male lead would be going too far.

“Really, Orbis.”

“Then why did you reject me so strongly?”

Because you’re a madman who will cripple and kill me later.

…She couldn’t say that, so Litania carefully chose her words before answering.

“I’m human, you know. I’ll die… much earlier than you.”