Although the knights did not know yet, the servants of the dragon castle were gradually noticing that Orbis and Litania had never shared a bed.

They didn’t particularly try to facilitate the consummation of their masters’ marriage, but they would smile contentedly when they saw Orbis and Litania being affectionate towards each other.

“Um… Would it be strange to match the dress color to my eye color?”

“It wouldn’t be strange at all. In fact, matching clothing to eye color rather than hair color gives a much more sophisticated impression. They say that the eyes are the first facial feature one notices when looking at someone. They’re clear, sparkly, and even delicious.”

“Huh?”

Something odd was added at the end there?

As Litania looked at her quizzically, Raven excitedly rambled on, unclear whether it was an explanation, a rant, or a monologue.

“One cannot be considered a true gourmet without tasting eyeballs. So half of the dragon’s minions are tasteless fools. Only refined birds enjoy eyeballs as a delicacy. Chef Pepper, despite being a bear, must have become head chef due to his culinary excellence in appreciating the taste of eyeballs…”

“Raven.”

As Snow interjected, Raven blinked and abruptly shut his mouth. He had been sharply kicked in the shin from an angle Litania couldn’t see.

‘Snow, you little rat!’

Raven suppressed his twitching lips and calmly offered words of apology.

“Oh my, I got excited and talked about things unrelated to the dress. When a topic I like comes up, I tend to suddenly become quite talkative.”

“Please understand, Lady Litania. It’s a characteristic of socially maladjusted individuals, they say.”

“Tsk. Where else can you find such an idealistic romantic as myself?”

Raven glared at Snow, then immediately turned to Litania with clear eyes shining like pure water and smiled brightly.

“Then how about using royal blue as a base and embroidering spring flower patterns with gold thread?”

“That sounds lovely. But would it suit me?”

“Of course. If we combine your refined taste, the master’s beauty, and my skilled craftsmanship and passion, we’ll create a masterpiece that will attract all the crows in the world.”

“No, having crows swarm the ballroom would be troublesome…”

“I spoke nothing but the truth, though it was purely metaphorical.”

Snow, standing beside them, made a slight gesture of curling his fingers while going “Ugh,” though it didn’t seem to be doubting Raven’s skills.

Litania nodded.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you, Raven. Make us into a matching pair, me and Orbis.”

“I will do my utmost.”

Raven skillfully gathered the scattered catalogs on the table, neatly arranged them, tucked them under his left arm, and bowed to Litania.

They say crows are birds that know manners, and Raven, named after a crow, was indeed very polite.

After Raven finished his courteous bow and left the room, when Litania mentioned this to Snow, the boy made a strange sound, “Ughh,” and grimaced as if truly disgusted this time.

Raven gathered his fellow craftsmen in his crow workshop and began creating a special dress for Litania. Even in the middle of the night, twinkling lights could be seen flowing from his workshop.

Other servants decorated the dragon castle with bright colors to match the spring atmosphere, while the knights continued their harsh training in the practice grounds, screaming death throes as they had during the bitter winter.

Perhaps because it was spring, the number of people loitering around the main castle on the pretext of viewing flowers after training had increased. Butler Simons, busy with spring cleaning, glared at the knights but didn’t chase them away.

It was a warm spring.

“Litania.”

“Orbis, welcome.”

Since spring arrived, Orbis had been visiting Litania’s room much more frequently.

In the past, he would come to have tea or share snacks and talk, but lately he had been making short visits just to see her face even when he had no particular business.

The knights were relieved that their training intensity had decreased as a result.

Though the connection was unclear, seeing Orbis’s face often was also good for Litania, so she always welcomed him gladly.

“You seem busier these days. Are there many monsters around the dragon castle?”

“Not around here. But since we’ll be away from the dragon castle for a long time during the spring festival in the capital, we needed to drive the monsters living far away even further to prevent them from approaching this area.”

“Even further?”

“Yes. Very far away.”

To the other world.

…Of course, he decided to keep that part to himself.

“Still, thank you for visiting me despite being so busy. It’s nice to see your face every morning and evening these days.”

“We’ll be together all day when we go to the imperial palace, so you should get used to it quickly.”

“…All day?”

“Yes. All day.”

At dawn and at night too.

Hearing those words, Litania suddenly remembered a fact she had forgotten.

Previously, the Emperor had bestowed a separate palace to Litania. However, it had been nearly half a year since she married Orbis and came to the dragon castle. It was hard to think they would have kept the palace empty after its owner left.

Originally, facing the divine dragon was a privilege given only to the Emperor, so when Orbis visited the imperial palace, he stayed in a special room in the Emperor’s palace.

Of course, the special room given to the divine dragon would be a very spacious and comfortable room, but no matter how large the room was, unless they gave him an entire palace, there could only be one bedroom.

So Litania would probably stay with Orbis in the special room of the Emperor’s palace, not in the separate palace the Emperor had given her before.

It meant they would be sharing a bed.

‘Oh my.’

Litania trembled with her eyes wide open, her neck flushed red. Orbis’s gaze as he looked down at her was full of fascination, like a child who had discovered the most interesting toy in the world.

“If you think it might be awkward to sleep together at the imperial palace, should we start practicing sharing a bed from today?”

“Orbis, stop joking!”

“You always seem to think my sincerity is a joke, my dear friend. How regrettable.”

“Ah, n-no, I’m not saying…”

“Of course, I won’t do anything you don’t want.”

Orbis’s face looked bewitchingly beautiful as he said this while curving his eyes.

“Litania, not unless you want it.”

“…”

At that gaze, as if prophesying that she would come to want it, Litania blushed to the tips of her ears and pushed Orbis’s shoulder away.

“W-well, we can’t let monsters enter while the dragon castle is empty. Hurry and go on patrol.”

“You’re not even going to cheer me on? How cold of you.”

“Alright. Do your best.”

“I think I’d feel more energized if you said you’d decided to fly through the sky with me.”

“I told you I’d think about that after I finish learning how to swim.”

“Haha. I understand.”

Orbis’s laughter rang out clearly. Lately, his laugh had somehow become similar to Litania’s. They say people who like each other grow alike, so do even laughs become similar?

Watching Orbis wave lightly and turn away, Litania felt both regret at his leaving and embarrassment at the thought of soon sharing a bed with him, not knowing how to handle these conflicting emotions.

It was the day of the spring festival in the capital.

Litania and Orbis were receiving farewell greetings from the servants and knights at the main gate of the castle before departing for the imperial palace.

“Have a good trip, my lady. My lord.”

“Take care of your health.”

“Hey, anyone watching would think we’re moving away for good.”

The servants seemed to regret parting, while the knights looked regretful seeing Litania leave but somehow relieved looking at Orbis.

“Orbis, did we pack everything?”

“We sent the luggage carriage ahead two days ago, remember?”

“That’s why I’m asking if we forgot anything.”

“Simons would have packed everything well. If anything is missing, it’s his responsibility.”

As Orbis glanced at Butler Simons, the bespectacled butler lowered his eyes.

‘I checked thoroughly two, three, four times. It’s perfect.’

His life would be spared. Butler Simons bowed to Litania with a much relieved expression.

“It’s regrettable that I cannot serve you there.”

“You spent more time in the imperial palace before. It’ll be fine.”

Litania checked the distant crow workshop. After the lights had been twinkling nonstop for ten days, Raven and his team had barely finished the dress two days ago and loaded it onto the luggage carriage. They seemed to still be passed out from exhaustion.

Litania had given instructions to provide Raven and his assistant colleagues with reward money and a rich diet.

“Well then, we’ll be going, Snow. Take good care of the house while I’m gone.”

“Am I some house-guarding rabbit?”

“You’re my cute little bunny.”

As Litania hugged Snow tightly, Snow flinched but hugged her back. It was a warm spring day, but strangely, it felt like the temperature around them had dropped.

“Lady Litania, be careful of rude people.”

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

“And be careful not to run into that pervert crown prince.”

“…”

She knew he spoke rudely about the crown prince, but when had the title fallen to “pervert”? While he was a bit of an odd person, the crown prince surely wasn’t a pervert.