Dragons do not understand human hearts.
Dragons cannot feel emotions like humans do.
Dragons cannot love like humans do.
However, that does not mean dragons are incapable of ‘love’.
Perhaps that was the beginning of the tragedy.
“I, I am your bride!”
In the earliest memory, the woman said to the cold divine dragon who reached out as if to tear her body to pieces.
“So?”
“In the Beriberbium Empire, husband and wife are considered one body. Spouses are lifelong companions who share life and death, a community of fate.”
She argued desperately, even as she trembled.
“As long as I am your bride, you must not kill me. Killing me is the same as taking your own life!”
“…But I never took you as my bride.”
“The marriage of royalty depends entirely on the will of His Majesty the Emperor. Even if the parties do not want it, if His Majesty wills it, the marriage is valid under imperial law.”
She had not willingly accepted this marriage either. She had no choice.
And it was the same for the dragon.
“Whether we want it or not, we are clearly husband and wife under imperial law. So unless you’re trying to commit suicide, you can’t kill me!”
It was a preposterous argument.
The dragon had no obligation to follow imperial law.
The dragon was merely taking human form for amusement. There was no need to follow the rules of the human world.
By chance, the dragon’s lair was located on the border protecting the Beriberbium Empire from monsters, and simply following the instinct to protect its lair, it drove away monsters and foreign tribes that approached the dragon fortress, and was given some strange title.
After reading a few letters left by the emperor’s messenger who couldn’t enter the dragon fortress and circled around, and visiting the imperial palace a few times out of curiosity, it became the guardian divine dragon of the imperial family.
It merely acquiesced to their calling it a guardian deity and divine dragon. It never agreed.
The dragon had no intention of protecting the empire or granting the emperor’s requests.
But.
‘It’s a whim.’
The dragon was capricious.
And so the dragon chose to keep the woman alive rather than tear her to death. Because that was more interesting.
“If we are one body, we should not be apart.”
The dragon kept the woman by its side. Just kept her by its side.
The woman was too frail to endure in the dragon fortress where lightning struck and ice rain fell. She would get burns and frostbite, fall ill with high fevers, and faint from being unable to withstand the heat and cold.
Each time, the dragon saved her life.
As long as she didn’t die, it was simple to heal her body. The dragon, ruler of all things, kept the woman by its side, healing her over and over as she nearly died.
Like the minions of other dragons, the dragon intended to keep the woman alive far beyond a human lifespan.
To the dragon, the woman was like a living piece of clothing or shoes.
A slightly unusual, interesting piece of clothing or shoes.
That could be repaired when broken.
“Respect me!”
It granted that laughable request for the same reason. Because granting the request was more interesting than ignoring it, to see what would happen.
“Is this sufficient?”
“…Treat me more gently.”
“Gently?”
“Affectionately, like a real married couple.”
The dragon’s mind contained all the knowledge in the world. It knew what human couples did, but did not understand how their acts differed from animal mating.
The actions looked the same, so what was so different that they made such a fuss?
“Call my name.”
“Name?”
“Litania. That’s my name.”
Litania. Prayer or supplication.
Her mother said she named her child that, praying for the child to survive safely in this harsh world.
True to that name, she prayed to the dragon for her own survival and was able to live.
“What’s your name?”
“I don’t have one.”
The world called it the divine dragon. But divine dragon was not appropriate to call a name.
“Then can I give you one?”
“Go ahead.”
It was the supreme dragon, so it was not bound by names given by humans.
It did not want a name. It was merely curious what name she would give it.
That’s why it allowed it.
“Orbis.”
She repeated it in her mouth a few times, then called the name while looking into its eyes.
“Since you are the divine dragon ruling this world, I’ll name you ‘Orbis’, meaning world.”
It was a strange feeling.
It had never asked the opinion of the clothes or shoes it wore. It was natural to replace or repair them when worn out, and it had never even considered how they might think of it.
But the moment the name was called, for the first time, it became curious how the other person thought of it.
“Orbis, look at me. We are husband and wife.”
Litania said she was one body with him.
She said she was an equal companion, not an ornament to be carried around.
It was the first experience of connection.
“The mating of beasts and the relationship of human spouses are different. Spouses enter into a relationship with noble duties… and it’s an act imbued with love.”
“Love?”
“Yes. Love.”
Love. It was an incomprehensible emotion.
Since the dragon had no equals to begin with, it did not understand what it meant to respect someone like humans do and care for another.
So it had simply imitated the human behaviors it had seen and heard until now.
Just by using honorifics, gently stroking her face, treating her when she was hurt, and giving gifts, Orbis thought it was doing quite a good job of imitating humans.
‘Human love is nothing special.’
They just repeat a few inconvenient actions and words and call it love. Is it a human characteristic to share emotions in such unnecessary detail?
Orbis thought it was practicing love as it healed Litania each time she was burned by the fires of the dragon fortress.
But Litania cried every time she received treatment from Orbis, saying the dragon fortress was too hot and cold to bear.
“Please, Orbis. It’s too painful…”
“That’s why I’m treating you.”
If it hurts, just treat it. If the skin festers from burns, make new skin grow. If limbs rot from frostbite, revive dead nerves and make blood flow through the vessels.
Orbis had sometimes seen husbands carrying their uncomfortable wives across bridges while out for amusement, or wives nursing their sick husbands.
Perhaps it was perfectly reenacting what it wanted to imitate as it treated the suffering Litania.
‘Humans give commemorative gifts on special days.’
Four seasons passing is considered one year. Humans would celebrate birthdays or wedding anniversaries as special days, exchanging prepared gifts when those days came around each year.
‘Wedding anniversary.’
Orbis recalled the day Litania came to this dragon fortress. Adopting the human concept of dates, it would soon be time to commemorate their marriage.
“Orbis, where are you going?”
“I have something to give you.”
Orbis took Litania up the stone stairs of the dragon fortress. The stairs were so large and steep that Litania stumbled and fell several times.
After healing her scraped and bleeding knees, Orbis lifted her body like a bundle and entered the dragon’s treasury.
There lay the dragon’s treasure.
“Hic, this is…?”
“The Wishing Stone.”
The Wishing Stone.
Containing the essence of the dragon’s power, it was a magical stone said to grant the user’s desired wish.
But it was unnecessary for Orbis.
Even without such a stone, Orbis could achieve anything it wanted with its divine dragon powers.
Whether roaming through nature, changing form to hide among humans, or instantly moving to distant places and creating clothes or jewels at will, there was nothing in this world that it could not do.
At least until then, that’s what it thought.
“I have no need for it, so I will give it to you.”
“…You’re giving it to me because you don’t need it?”
“Humans give shiny minerals as gifts on special days, and this is my only treasure.”
Orbis brought Litania before the altar. She gazed blankly at the Wishing Stone for a while, then smiled.
“Thank you, Orbis. It’s such a wonderful gift.”
That was the first and last time Litania showed a smiling face.
[This is the timeline separator]That night, Litania carefully slipped away from Orbis’s side as he slept.
The divine dragon may rest its body briefly, but does not sleep deeply. However, Litania had told him that humans sleep deeply at night, and during that time they enter an unconscious state where they usually do not wake even if roused.
So Orbis slept deeply at night as Litania said. It was not difficult for a dragon to pretend to lose consciousness and sleep.
‘Where is she going?’
Orbis felt Litania slip out of its embrace but did not hold her back.
It judged that watching to see where she was going would be more interesting than reaching out to pull her back into its arms.
Orbis opened its eyes after Litania quietly left the room. It could see everything happening in the dragon fortress as clearly as looking at its own palm.
Litania was heading somewhere in the dragon fortress.
‘To the treasure room.’
Fire pillars rose from the lava pond surrounding the dragon fortress and hailstones fell from the sky. Even moving inside the dragon fortress was a life-threatening act for a human.
Litania climbed the stairs, gritting her teeth and crying from the pain of her burning soles, and headed to the dragon’s treasury.
By the time she reached the altar after opening the heavy door, Litania’s body was already in tatters.
“Perhaps it’s fate that this stone shares my name.”
She barely grasped the Wishing Stone with hands whose fingers had fused together as her skin melted.
“Grant my wish.”
She who had screamed to be saved before him now pleaded in a voice about to cry.
“I, I am so afraid of Orbis.”
…It was completely unexpected.
“Being with him is so terrible.”
It was a strange feeling.
It thought hearing unexpected words would be interesting, but something felt like it was piercing its chest.
“Life here is too painful. Please… let me escape from him.”
After saying those words, Litania swallowed the Wishing Stone. Though her throat felt like it would tear, she covered her mouth and barely managed to swallow it.
Orbis rose from its place. It moved to the dragon’s treasury in an instant.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
