Clippity-clop, clippity-clop.

She gripped the reins with both hands, adjusting the direction as she had learned while increasing the running speed. The clever Sonipes was gentle yet keenly aware of the rider’s intentions.

“You’re doing well, Litania.”

“Yes!”

Responding energetically to Orbis’s words from behind, Litania also encouraged Sonipes.

“Let’s do well till the end, Sonipes.”

As if understanding her words after practicing together and becoming close, Sonipes neighed loudly and galloped across the riding ground. Litania’s brown hair fluttered in the strong wind.

‘Wow.’

Her face was filled with joy. Despite facing the cold wind head-on in the chilly winter, her body was trembling with excitement.

‘I did it!’

Litania circled the riding ground at full speed, then turned to Orbis with a bright smile on her flushed face. Seeing the full-blown smile on her reddened cheeks, Orbis also had a gentle smile on his lips.

“Litania, how do you feel?”

“It feels amazing! So refreshing!”

“Are you enjoying being with me?”

“Of course!”

Litania’s firm answer caused Orbis’s eyes to waver slightly. It was an expression that seemed more somber than happy or proud.

“I’m glad you’re making pleasant memories.”

“We’ll make many more, won’t we? I’ll learn to swim when summer comes.”

“Yes. You should also try riding on me.”

“Haha. That’s… well, I’ll think about it.”

Litania, who was about to refuse, perhaps due to the joy of successfully galloping at full speed, tilted her head slightly and rolled her eyes, giving a signal close to affirmation.

The faint sadness in Orbis’s eyes disappeared, replaced by a light full of expectation.

“We can become closer, Litania.”

The horseback riding training in the winter landscape ended. After parting with Orbis and returning to her room, Litania finished bathing and chattered about what happened at the riding ground while receiving a massage from Snow.

“It was more fun than I expected. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this enjoyment until now.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lady Litania.”

“Indeed, learning something new is exciting. Is this the joy of learning?”

“Sometimes it’s better to remain unaware, though.”

“Hm?”

As Litania craned her neck back to look at Snow, who was kneading her shoulders, the boy asked with a somewhat troubled expression.

“Does the master respect the lady?”

“Yes. Orbis is very kind. Actually, at first, I couldn’t follow properly even when he told me, so we had to repeat the same thing several times, but he never got irritated even once.”

Usually, skilled people tend to be puzzled or frustrated when less capable ones can’t keep up, but even when Litania showed clumsy and awkward movements or threw tantrums out of fear, Orbis never said a harsh word, gently coaxing her and waiting patiently until she changed her mind.

Litania was so grateful and sorry for this that she apologized to Orbis several times. When she asked if it wasn’t frustrating to teach her, he answered like this, as if trying to reassure her:

It hasn’t even been a year since they met. If he learned in just a year, wouldn’t Orbis be quite quick to learn?

Even when Litania said so, Orbis was so humble that he kept insisting he had no talent.

“Orbis seems to be much more humble than he looks… and also very patient.”

“It could be that he’s just being stubborn and not backing down.”

“Snow, aren’t you being too critical?”

Knowing that Snow had spoken disrespectfully to the crown prince without considering status even when they were in the imperial palace, Litania thought that Snow seemed to subtly not treat Orbis as a master, but she didn’t point it out specifically.

‘It’s okay if his tone is bad.’

But she didn’t like Orbis being misunderstood.

“It’s fine. Orbis always respects me.”

“…Well, if that’s really the case, then that’s good.”

This time, Snow smiled brightly too. That smile lightened Litania’s heart as well.

As winter ended, spring came to the Dragon Castle. The sun rising in the clear sky bestowed warm sunlight upon the earth, and a fresh spring breeze blew from beyond the lake surrounding the castle.

As the world that had been frozen all winter gradually thawed, a season full of life’s energy began.

Tulips blooming in vibrant colors began to decorate the central garden colorfully.

Red, yellow, pink, purple… The tulips with white petals and red tips that Litania liked were specially transplanted to a location visible from her room.

Birds awakened from sleep flew between branches just starting to sprout leaves, and butterflies also busily moved from flower to flower, fluttering their thin wings.

“Come on, move quickly!”

“It’s time for spring cleaning!”

Thanks to the warmer sunshine, the servants of the Dragon Castle seemed to have awakened from hibernation and regained their vitality.

They weren’t really hibernating, but seeing the servants’ personalities change from relatively calm and gentle during winter to more lively, Litania thought it was because spring’s vitality made them excited.

“Alright, I’m doing spring cleaning too!”

Litania confidently headed to the garden, accompanied by Snow.

“My lady?”

“Simons. Are there any areas that need repair? Let me know where. I want to assess them too.”

Simons, who saw Litania, was startled and tried to send her back inside, but Litania firmly refused.

“It’s originally the mistress’s role, right? I feel like I’ve been leaving too much to you all.”

“The master ordered us to handle it.”

“Would I be a hindrance if I’m around?”

“…How could that be?”

As Litania frowned slightly, looking a bit hurt, Simons quickly retracted his words.

‘I mustn’t upset the lady.’

If they followed Orbis’s orders due to the instinct to be drawn to the strong, trying to win Litania’s favor was due to the instinct to seek survival.

In the first place, they were so diligently maintaining and cleaning the castle to provide a comfortable life for Litania, the mistress.

Yet, to make Litania feel upset just for doing such a task?

‘…My neck feels chilly.’

It wouldn’t be strange to die crushed under the dragon’s claws at any time.

Simons led Litania to the back garden. Construction of a fountain was in full swing in the back garden.

“There’s already a fountain in the central garden, are you making another one in the back garden too?”

“We thought it would be nice to see while taking a walk in the back garden as well, so we decided on it.”

“Hmm.”

Litania nodded.

Her reaction was lukewarm. Weren’t women supposed to like water? Simons became anxious inside.

‘In the book Pepper recommended, the female protagonist was delighted to see the fountain… Was that wrong? Was it just the novelist’s fantasy?’

With Litania being the only woman in the Dragon Castle, and she being the dragon’s bride, the servants could only encounter women through books or magazines.

Therefore, their knowledge about young women was limited to stories written in gossip magazine columns or protagonists of romance novels.

“Fountain construction is quite a labor-intensive task. I feel sorry for the people working hard if it’s just for the sake of looking nice.”

Ah, so that was it.

She was the type who believed that work should be done properly, so she would especially call and praise hardworking servants and share snacks with them, but with her caring nature, she also strongly disliked seeing anyone being unfairly overworked.

Simons quickly searched for an excuse.

“To supply water to the garden, we need to do waterway construction anyway. If we let water flow through the fountain normally, it can also prevent water from stagnating and rotting.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

Litania’s expression brightened. Inwardly sighing with relief, he called for the gardener Rico and his assistants.

A chubby gardener with dark circles under his eyes like a raccoon quickly ran over and bowed to Litania.

“Rico. Explain to the lady how the new fountain works.”

“Oh my, were you curious about that! Then I must explain!”

Rico patted his chest with his plump hands and excitedly chattered away to Litania about how the fountain in the back garden differed from the one in the central garden, the shape of the water pipes, and how to change the direction of the water streams.

“And if we shoot the water diagonally from both sides, you can see a double rainbow!”

“Wow. Really?”

Litania’s eyes sparkled. Simons and Rico quickly exchanged glances.

‘The lady wants to see a rainbow.’

‘Then it’s proper and right to show her one!’

The opinions of the gray elephant and the gray raccoon rarely aligned. They say comrades who have shared life and death can read each other’s minds with just a look, and indeed, there was an understanding between comrades who had overcome crises together to avoid dying under the fierce dragon’s claws.