The wedding of Litania and Orbis took place in the imperial palace’s rear garden.

A gentle breeze rippled the pond, and beyond the lush green trees and bushes, the sight of white tables set up in a wide clearing looked like a painting.

“You look so beautiful, Lady Litania!”

Snow cheered with a bright smile next to Litania, who wore a white dress and held a light pastel-colored bouquet. Litania responded with a gentle smile.

It was nice not having to wear a corset due to losing weight from being dragged around for wedding preparations, but the weight on her lower body was no joke trying to manage the layers of pannier and petticoat with her thin frame.

‘I didn’t know walking could be this difficult.’

Litania suddenly realized why bridesmaids were needed at weddings to help manage and lift the hem of the dress.

She thought it was just to keep the shape neat, but it was simply because it was heavy.

To the point where it was hard to move alone.

‘Still, it is pretty.’

A wedding dress with layers of pure white lace embroidered with gold thread. The skirt was adorned with tiny sparkling diamonds smaller than a fingernail, along with pure white roses.

Even inside the tent serving as the bride’s waiting room, it shimmered brilliantly when light hit it, making it hard to imagine how dazzlingly it would scatter colors under the sunlight.

‘So this is why they have weddings outdoors.’

Of course, that’s not the real reason, but Litania convinced herself.

“Litania.”

Turning her head at the voice calling her, she saw Orbis standing at the entrance leading to the outdoor ceremony venue.

‘Wow…’

Orbis in his white groom’s attire was dazzlingly beautiful. He often wore white clothes normally, but indeed, white suited Orbis best.

The neatly fitted tuxedo accentuating his broad shoulders was enough to elicit admiration.

‘Such a good body…’

The silk white shirt covering his firm chest almost made one feel sorry for the buttons.

The gold embroidery on the white collar had the same pattern as Litania’s dress, but unlike hers on the hem, his on the upper body shone even whiter and was finished with a black border, creating a stylish contrast.

The blue bowtie matching Orbis’s eye color neatly accentuated his neckline, and the clean lapel pin further enhanced the groom’s elegant appearance.

The trousers of the formal attire flowed in smooth lines along his long legs, well displaying his tall and slender figure, while the glossy black shoes completed his neat appearance.

“You’re beautiful, Litania.”

“That’s my line…”

Litania replied as if entranced. They say anything looks good on a good body, but seeing such a mesmerizing handsome man dressed up was truly a feast for the eyes, making it impossible to come to her senses.

His long golden hair, smoothly groomed, was tied back to prevent it from flying in the wind, and Litania learned for the first time today that a man could look so beautiful with his hair tied like that.

Like a prince of the forest, perhaps. His fair skin shone even more brightly under the sunlight, and his gentle gaze and the smile playing at his lips were truly filled with the happiness and excitement of a new groom.

‘He said we were just friends… but making such an expression will cause misunderstandings.’

Litania took a deep breath to calm her unconsciously racing heart and gripped her bouquet tighter. Whether it was due to fatigue from wedding preparations or low energy, her hands kept trembling.

“Litania, are you nervous?”

“Ah.”

Orbis approached gently and bent down to whisper in her ear. As the soft breeze touched her ear, she involuntarily shuddered and her shoulders hunched.

‘Why does this man speak like this? Is it because he’s a dragon that he has such a unique sense of distance?’

Litania put on a deliberately calm expression, said she was fine, and walked past him with slightly quicker steps.

The ceremony began with the backdrop of the rear garden where autumn leaves were starting to change color.

Following the melody created by the pianist’s fingers moving over the white piano, the two began to walk. Litania glanced up at Orbis standing beside her from beneath her veil.

They say handsome men look good doing anything, but she never imagined even just walking could look as beautiful as dancing.

“Today, to commemorate the union of the imperial family and the guardian spirit…”

The boring speech of the officiant priest continued. Having heard it so many times during preparations, Litania was almost able to recite it by heart, so she let it go in one ear and out the other, rolling her eyes under the veil to admire Orbis’s face.

He seemed to notice her gaze and occasionally responded with light eye contact, but never once did he break his posture.

To maintain such an unwavering composure even during the long and tedious officiating speech. In some sense, this dragon seemed more disciplined in human etiquette than humans themselves. Perhaps that was the true composure of a strong being.

Even with his soft lips tightly closed, Litania thought he looked as if he were singing along with the wind. Perhaps it was because of the melody echoing through the banquet hall.

By his side, all of this scenery felt as beautiful as a dream.

“This is not a dream.”

“…Pardon?”

I only imagined it. Did I accidentally say it out loud? As Litania blinked in surprise, Orbis’s gaze deepened.

“I am here with you. So.”

Please spend your life with me as well.

A gentle yet firm vow echoed through the venue. Her mind went blank as if submerged in water, then suddenly her face flushed hot and her heart began to race as if it would burst.

“Orbis…”

“Do you swear?”

Right. They were in the middle of a wedding ceremony. Litania belatedly realized what Orbis was doing. He wasn’t confessing, but making the marriage vow, a natural part of the wedding ceremony.

Litania held her breath to calm her racing heart and swallowed hard. Her heart didn’t calm down at all, but her dry mouth became moist enough to speak properly.

“I do.”

A political marriage that didn’t reflect her will at all. The Emperor’s order. Marriage to Orbis was just an excuse to gain freedom, with no obligations as a wife. They were friends.

This wedding was merely a process to help her, a friend, escape from under the Emperor’s control.

Those thoughts that she had been repeating to herself vanished completely at this moment.

Litania answered in a clear voice.

“I, Litania Beriberbium, will spend my life together with my husband Orbis.”

As if it were a vow pledging her soul, the moment those words left her lips, a tingling sensation spread throughout her body. It was a vivid sensation, as if her soul had been imprinted on a body that wasn’t hers before.

An intensely piercing light settled in Orbis’s blue eyes as he faced her. The two pupils, like blue suns, shone as if they would swallow her whole.

It was a feeling different from fear or terror.

Those were the eyes of a dragon that evoked awe.

It was the solemn gaze of a god that rendered all complex human emotions useless.

“Now we have become each other’s.”

The moment those red lips moved to speak, Litania realized that Orbis had slipped a ring onto her finger.

She had been so entranced by his gaze that she hadn’t even noticed him putting on the ring.

Of course, it was the natural order of the ceremony.

Litania nodded without having time to think properly. Orbis’s face came a little closer.

“So we don’t need such human promises.”

Saying these incomprehensible words while gently lifting her veil, he brought his face close. Litania only then realized that he was about to give the vow’s kiss.

“Ah…”

As if to calm her slight nervousness, Orbis languidly narrowed his eyes and very lightly, barely touching, pressed his nose to hers before pulling away.

Their lips didn’t meet.

Like someone trying to keep the vow of being friends, he merely pretended to kiss, just enough to look like a kiss from afar, and then immediately moved away.

The lifted veil fell back down, and applause erupted from the audience. The wedding was over.

The moment she realized this, Litania felt somehow disappointed.

No one can enter or leave a dragon’s nest without the dragon’s permission. Conversely, this means that anyone can enter or leave with the dragon’s permission.

As soon as the Emperor heard from Orbis that humans permitted by Litania would be allowed entry, the first thing he pushed for was to organize a knight order to be stationed in the dragon city.

“I formally greet you, my lady. I am Commander Bane.”

“I look forward to working with you, Bane.”

Litania was quite surprised to hear that Bane, who had been Princess Herna’s guard knight, had now become a stationed knight in the dragon city.

She was even more surprised when she heard that he had volunteered first when the Emperor was recruiting new knights to send to the dragon city.

‘Did Herna torment him a lot usually…?’

Not knowing what Bane was thinking, Litania felt a little heartache at the fact that he was giving up the honorable position of the princess’s guard knight to come to the unrecognized position of a stationed knight in the dragon city.

‘I should treat him well.’

Just as Litania looked at Bane with a sympathetic expression, Bane also felt a bit conflicted as he looked at Litania.

‘I wanted to protect her by her side, and it’s good that the opportunity came quickly, but.’

The problem was that the purpose wasn’t very good.

‘What is His Majesty trying to gain by investigating the dragon city and the dragon?’