“Oh, Sir Orbis.”
“Litania. What are you doing?”
Cold sweat ran down her back. She couldn’t understand why her heart was shrinking so much when it was Herna who was about to hit her and she was the one who almost got hit.
No, actually she knew. It was because of what Orbis had said before.
He was willing to kill a street vendor without hesitation just for sprinkling some spicy sauce.
If he knew that Herna tried to hit Litania, there was a high chance he wouldn’t leave her alone, princess or not.
‘Why should I save the princess who was about to hit me.’
There was no other way because seeing someone die in front of her eyes was even more terrible.
“Don’t raise your hand carelessly. You’re making other princes look ridiculous because of you.”
Grabbing Herna’s wrist and lowering it while mentioning exactly what the crown prince had said, both the princess and the crown prince’s expressions distorted at the same time.
“This is a matter of the imperial family’s dignity.”
After not forgetting to finish with a shrug of her shoulders, the crown prince’s face turned red and he turned around and left the place.
Regardless of whether her brother ran away or not, Herna was looking back and forth between Orbis and Litania with a stiff face.
“Litania.”
Orbis called Litania’s name in a low voice. Darkness slowly settled over his blue eyes.
She felt chills even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.
She thought that if she said one wrong word here, Herna’s head would fly off with blood splashing in front of her eyes.
“I just talked with my siblings for a moment, Orbis.”
A catastrophe happening before her eyes was not welcome. She almost got hit, and they weren’t even close, but how could she ignore it when someone might die? Litania tried to smile.
‘Please save me!’
Litania desperately cried out inside, but Orbis’s expression never softened.
The thin golden hair warmed by the sunlight moved with a rustling sound that sounded just like the ticking of a clock announcing death, and Litania swallowed her breath.
Rustle.
There was a moment of silence. Maybe it was a bit long. Orbis slightly turned his head and looked down at Herna and Litania’s clasped hands before opening his mouth.
“It seems like rough words were exchanged.”
“Sibling fights, I mean conversations, are usually a bit rough.”
Litania continued speaking as she turned her gaze to Herna.
“It would be better for both of us to end it here, right? I think it’s best if we don’t run into each other.”
“…Ha!”
Herna, who pulled her hand free, glared at Litania and then politely greeted Orbis.
“I greet you, Divine Dragon Orbis.”
“I don’t particularly want to see you.”
“Pardon?”
As Herna raised her head, her figure disappeared.
“O-Orbis? What did you just do?”
Surprised by Herna’s sudden disappearance, Litania looked up at Orbis, who finally softened and smiled gently.
“You said it would be better not to run into each other.”
“No, that didn’t mean make her disappear right in front of me!”
Could he have killed her?
When Litania became serious, Orbis burst into laughter.
“Don’t worry, Litania. I sent her where she should be.”
It’s also a talent to express it like that when he could have just said he sent her back to her room, making people feel creepy.
“Orbis, those kinds of jokes are not good for the heart.”
“I see. I’ll be careful.”
He understands when spoken to properly. Litania felt a little less tense and grumbled at Orbis.
“And you shouldn’t move people around like that carelessly.”
“I’ll keep that in mind from now on. In exchange.”
The hand wearing a white glove came closer and gently grasped Litania’s hand.
Long fingers lightly rubbed her fingers as if caressing them, then intertwined between her fingers and held them tightly.
“O-Orbis? What are you doing now…”
The body temperature felt through the thin glove became slightly thicker. The man’s hand, which she had felt cool before, was warm today.
Even though he was just holding her hand, Litania felt her heartbeat getting stronger as she clearly felt the unfamiliar body heat sliding up her wrist.
“This much is fine, right?”
His gentle eyes curved as his delicate lips parted.
White teeth.
Red lips.
Rich emotions settled into the expression she had always felt was a bit monotonous.
As if he had been trapped in a shell all along and was finally tasting the infinitely sweet air of the world.
“We’re friends after all.”
Friends, right. We’re friends. There’s no reason for holding hands between friends to be strange.
But why? The warmth felt beyond their clasped hands was particularly vivid.
As if a tongue was crawling on her skin, it was ticklish yet strange, making the back of her neck tingle and a subtle heat run down her spine.
“Your face has turned red, Litania.”
The blue eyes under the long eyelashes narrowed and the soft lips formed a loose arc.
Orbis’s smiling expression was as clear as if he didn’t know anything about romance between men and women. That’s why it was confusing.
‘Am I being overly conscious? Is this really an action with no intention?’
It was awkward to be serious about the feeling being strange when he had simply held her hand.
Litania discreetly rolled her eyes to look down at their clasped hands.
She saw the smooth gloves shining even whiter in the sunlight. And she also saw the large, well-shaped hand that couldn’t be hidden even by gloves, grasping her hand as if wrapping around it.
The long, elegant fingers without any sense of roughness flexibly enveloped Litania’s small hand.
If it feels like this even with gloves on, what would it feel like to hold bare hands…
‘No, what am I thinking!’
Litania hurriedly shook her head. It was absurd that she was having different thoughts just because he held her hand when she was the one who suggested being friends first.
She quickly raised her head to look up at Orbis. He narrowed his eyes slightly and tilted his head towards her. His expression seemed to say to ask if she had any questions.
Perhaps because he wasn’t human, Litania let out a small gasp of admiration at his blue eyes that seemed to contain all the light in the world, mesmerizingly beautiful.
Was it because he was a Divine Dragon that even the sunlight flowing down along his thin bangs felt sacred?
A gentle pink hue graced his smooth cheeks, and his soft, curved lips looked as if they would be moist to the touch. And…
“Would you like to look closer?”
“…Pardon? No!”
Litania, suddenly realizing how close their faces had become, quickly denied and pulled her head back.
She felt her heartbeat rapidly increase and both her ears grow hot.
‘I must be crazy. Why am I like this? It’s not like I’m some adolescent teenager…’
At that thought, she remembered that ‘Litania’ had just come of age.
Whether the age of adulthood in this world was 18 or 19, it was clear that she had been a teenager until just a few days ago.
‘That makes sense.’
Was it because she was in the prime of youth that her body reacted first just from holding hands with a man? Litania took a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
“I have a bit of an arrhythmia.”
“Oh my.”
Orbis nodded with an expression that suggested he didn’t believe her at all. Litania felt her face grow hot again, but for a different reason this time, though she pretended not to notice.
“By the way, what brings you here?”
“I wanted to see you, so I came to meet you.”
Does he mean he just came to see a friend because he was bored?
Is a Divine Dragon such a leisurely being?
If he’s that free, perhaps he should use that time to benefit society!
Litania swallowed these useless questions that rose to the tip of her tongue once again.
“Since we won’t be able to meet for a while.”
“Like that… Pardon?”
As Litania asked again, Orbis’s expression became slightly melancholic.
“I need to visit my domain. I’ve been away for a long time.”
Orbis’s domain. The edge of the empire called the Dragon’s Nest. A forbidden area where not only humans but even magical beasts dare not approach as long as the Divine Dragon resides there.
“Why go to your domain? It’s not like you have subjects to look after.”
“It would be troublesome if magical beasts set foot there.”
“Ah.”
It seems that magical beasts and humans are not so different. Usually, they’re too afraid of the dragon to approach, but if his absence is prolonged, they might think, ‘Perhaps it’s okay to cross over now?’
Magical beasts probably pose no threat to Orbis, but if they enter the borders and multiply, the people living there would suffer tremendous damage.
If that happens, the name of the Divine Dragon, the symbol and guardian dragon of the empire, would fall to the ground.
‘…He didn’t seem like the type to care about such things.’
Seeing how he maintained etiquette with the Emperor even in jest, Orbis seemed more sincere about the human world than she had thought.
It’s a good thing for a dragon to protect the borders from magical beasts. Even if she weren’t a princess, it was certainly something to be grateful for, so Litania bowed her head lightly in thanks.
“I forgot that you’re always protecting us. Thank you.”
“…”
Orbis’s expression faltered slightly. As if he had heard an unexpected answer.
For some reason, that expression seemed closer to being moved rather than surprised.
It was like the expression of a child who had never been praised by their parents hearing a compliment for the first time.
It was rather Litania who was flustered by that pure yet melancholic expression.
“Shall we go together?”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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