“Is there a gift you would like to receive?”

That day too, after treating Litania who had fallen down the stairs and broken her bones, Orbis asked.

Even when time was turned back, the wish stone in the dragon’s treasury did not return. Perhaps because the stone’s power was being used to turn back time.

Of course, even if the treasure had returned, he wouldn’t give it to her again.

‘What kind of jewel would Litania want.’

He had heard that the jewel humans prefer most is diamonds. He thought about bringing her a pink diamond that resembled the color of her eyes, but he had heard that the proper way to give a gift is to give what the other person wants.

In his previous life, he had never asked about Litania’s preferences. Perhaps that was why he couldn’t understand her.

‘I should give her a jewel she likes.’

Orbis mentally gauged the location of mines near the dragon castle as he waited for Litania’s answer.

“Please, let me go.”

“……”

It was an unexpected answer.

It wasn’t interesting at all. Rather, it was unpleasant.

“Even though you said I was your bride.”

“I was wrong….. Please let me go.”

Litania was begging while trembling.

Orbis’s expression turned grim.

He probably didn’t frown too much. His face reflected in her pupils wasn’t much different from usual.

Rather, it was Litania whose expression was becoming more distorted.

Orbis hadn’t done anything, but she sniffled as if trying to hold back tears and even started hiccuping.

Hic. Hic. Hiccup.

After choking for a while, she seemed to have trouble breathing and closed her eyes, pressing her chest before finally exhaling a wet breath.

Her small hands were full of moisture.

“Please, I want to get out of here.”

“No.”

“That’s my wish.”

“Shut your mouth.”

Orbis covered Litania’s mouth with his hand. Her face was so small it didn’t even fill his palm.

How dare she keep irritating him when she was so tiny.

If she hadn’t been one with him, he would have torn her apart long ago.

Long ago.

……Before he became unable to kill her.

“Hhngh, hic…… ugh.”

Her breathing, which had been gasping in his hand, became more rapid, then stopped altogether with a thud.

“Litania?”

The warmth that had enveloped her skin was rapidly cooling. Orbis suddenly embraced her as she stopped breathing. Her heart was not beating.

‘Why?’

He had covered her mouth but not blocked her breathing. Clearly Litania had been breathing, albeit raggedly.

Knowing she was fragile, he had even controlled his strength so as not to crush her bones. In fact, there wasn’t even a bruise on Litania’s face.

But why.

“……The wish.”

The wish stone that the previous Litania had swallowed.

The treasure that granted her wish to escape from Orbis.

When time was turned back, the treasure did not return.

Then it must still be in the process of granting Litania’s wish.

Just like Orbis’s wish.

‘Because she wanted to leave me……’

Since it was impossible to escape from him, the only dragon in this world, while existing, the only answer left was to leave this world.

The wish stone granted her wish once again in the same way.

“How dare you run away from me again.”

Orbis gritted his teeth. A strange anger arose.

He had asked her so earnestly to stay by his side, yet she dared to deceive him again.

“Next time, I won’t let you go.”

It was the second time he had taken out a heart. Orbis suddenly wondered if Litania’s heart looked like his own.

She was much smaller, so surely her heart would be smaller too. If he crushed it into pieces this size, wouldn’t it look similar?

Orbis did not hesitate to burst the heart.

As he held her in his fading consciousness, he thought that next time he should gift her a pink diamond.

The third and fourth lives repeated.

No matter how kindly Orbis treated her, Litania was still afraid of him.

The dragon castle was still an extreme region where fire and ice coexisted. The fragile Litania always suffered from burns and frostbite, and wanted to leave Orbis’s side.

And she died.

‘Is it a place where humans find it difficult to live?’

Orbis, who turned back time once again, decided to change the structure of the dragon castle.

The lava surrounding the castle began to cool. As the heat subsided, clear water slowly filled its place. The pillars of fire that had been shooting up fiercely disappeared, and a sparkling lake now surrounded the dragon castle.

When he stopped the sharp rain of ice, sprouts began to grow from the barren and desolate land, pushing through the soil.

The dry land gradually became moist, and the sprouted buds grew instantly, blooming into colorful flowers.

The air, which had been murky with dust, sand, and smoke, cleared and a sweet fragrance wafted.

Tall, lush trees stood in a row, stretching their branches towards the sky.

‘This way she won’t get burns or frostbite.’

The appearance of the dragon castle, which had looked like ruins, also gradually changed. The jagged bricks were smoothed out, and the stairs, which had been too high to climb in one go, were evened out.

He put glass in the windows to block the wind and hung curtains to prevent the outside chill from entering.

“My bride, from now on you can stay here.”

“Ah……”

Litania awkwardly nodded.

Now she didn’t cry as often as before. She still shrank and trembled when she saw Orbis, but she no longer screamed or turned pale and had seizures.

‘Changing the dragon castle was the right answer.’

Humans are animals influenced by their environment. The previous dragon castle had caused constant pain to her body, making it hard for her to endure.

‘She hadn’t been deceiving me.’

Just as a human pushed to the limit by extreme heat and cold, physical strain, would behave irrationally, she had committed the contradiction of saying she would leave him because she was in pain.

Parting from him was not what she had wanted.

‘That’s fine then.’

Now that he knew the answer, it was fine. Orbis was satisfied to keep Litania by his side, and on their first wedding anniversary, he gifted her a pink diamond that resembled her eyes.

“Do you like it?”

“……”

Litania nodded slightly. But she did not try to wear the necklace.

“Wear it always.”

When Orbis forcibly put the necklace on her, she looked a bit uncomfortable but did not take it off herself.

He was satisfied to see her wearing his gift.

“Um…… may I take a walk alone?”

It was the first time Litania had requested something. Orbis had no intention of letting her go, but he became curious about what she would do if he let her.

The dragon castle was surrounded by a vast lake, making it impossible to go outside. When Orbis gave permission, Litania thanked him in a slightly less trembling voice.

Litania, who had come out to the garden, looked up at the clear sky, then at the green trees and flowers. As if she didn’t like the artificial garden, she occasionally stopped and frowned.

Even though the dragon castle was no longer hot, she sometimes wiped sweat from her forehead. Should he adjust the weather to be cooler? Orbis watched Litania’s actions carefully from afar.

“Oh?”

Litania, who had been walking slowly through the garden, stopped when she heard something rustling in the bushes.

There was a small, white ball of fur.

“I didn’t know there was a rabbit here.”

As Litania reached out towards the white ball of fur, two ears perked up. The ball of fur didn’t run away, but twitched its ears and nose in place.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

Litania crouched down and carefully reached out towards the ball of fur. It seemed she wanted to hold it in her hands.

‘Should I give it as a gift?’

Orbis used his dragon power to make the ball of fur jump into her hands.

“Wow…… it’s so soft.”

As if she had indeed wanted to touch it, Litania carefully lifted the ball of fur and met its red eyes.

“You know, you’re the first one I’ve met since coming here.”

The ball of fur couldn’t speak human language, but she didn’t seem to know this as she continued talking to it.

“It’s beautiful here, but it was so desolate and lonely.”

Lonely.

That expression particularly struck his heart.

‘But I’m here?’

How could she say she was lonely when Orbis, her husband, was here?

He couldn’t understand her words because he had never felt lonely.

“Hey, do you want to be friends?”

The ball of fur just twitched its ears without answering.

It should be frustrating since it couldn’t communicate, but strangely, Litania became more talkative than when she was in front of Orbis.

“Well then, you need a name to be called by, what should I name you….. Hmm. Since you’re white like snow, let’s call you ‘Snow’.”

Snow.

Litania had given the ball of fur a name. And called it a friend.

It was the original Litania who had given Orbis his name. Since he had told her his name when they first met in this life, the first being Litania named in this life was not him.

And.

“A friend, you say.”

“Eek!”

Litania visibly startled at Orbis’s sudden appearance, clutching the ball of fur and backing away.

“O-Orbis.”

“You didn’t make such a request to me even after more than a year of meeting, yet you ask to be friends with that thing after just a few minutes.”

Orbis looked down at the white ball of fur squirming in Litania’s hands.

‘Such a mere thing.’

He tore apart that thing that irritated him like a thorn in his throat.

The white ball of fur instantly turned bright red.