< 3.Unexpected guests (1) >
Emperor Anais Bailey Aspen ascended the throne in the spring of the third year.
The wedding of Count Sergey Lindell, who inherited his father’s title early, and Baron Elaine Riel, a distinguished courtier, was held.
It was a lavish wedding, with the emperor personally lending a hall in the imperial palace because of her close relationship with the groom.
However, Elaine, the bride, turned pale at the sight of the crowd filling the grand hall.
“Sergey…. I didn’t expect the wedding to be like this….”
This was the result of Sergey keeping everything a secret as a surprise for Elaine after personally arranging the entire ceremony.
“I just want to give you the best in everything….”
Seeing that Elaine didn’t seem particularly pleased, Sergey started sweating nervously.
Since they were holding a simple engagement ceremony, Sergey insisted on making the wedding as grand as possible.
He even pestered the emperor into allowing a ceremony as extravagant as a royal wedding.
“I don’t think Baron Riel would have that kind of taste.”
Anais had tried to warn him, and he should have listened.
At the time, he had assumed Anais simply didn’t want to lend out the hall.
“If this is too much for you, should we just cancel it?”
“What? The guests are already here—how could we cancel it now?”
“Why not? We just need to create a situation where it has to be canceled. A flood, a typhoon… or even a monster attack.”
“N-no! Since it’s already happening, I’ll do my best. But from now on, please talk to me first before making decisions.”
“Alright….”
Sergey was a little bit depressed.
Elaine felt that all this was too much for her, but, to Sergey, it wasn’t too much at all.
‘She looks so beautiful—why wouldn’t she like it?’
He was particularly dull to human standards of beauty, but there was no doubt in his mind that Elaine looked stunning today.
Her wedding dress, which had taken a year and a half to make, was covered in lace handcrafted by a renowned artisan who had worked tirelessly for an entire year.
The tiara on her head was embedded with hundreds of carefully selected diamonds that Serge had personally chosen, dazzling under the light.
Elaine, who usually wears comfortable clothes, is beautiful, but Elaine looks even more beautiful in a wedding dress that costs two mansions and is decorated with jewels.
Sergey shook his head as he thought about that.
‘No, Elaine is right. Expensive clothes and jewels aren’t what matters. Even if she were wearing rags, she would still be beautiful.’
Of course, she would.
Today was the day she became his mate.
A six-hundred-year-old dragon’s heart pounded like that of a young hatchling.
The wedding has begun.
Sergey and Elaine walked forward together along the wedding aisle.
Everyone held their breath at the sound of the organ resonating in the high-ceilinged hall and the sight of the beautiful man and woman walking together.
“As loyal subjects of the Imperial Family and faithful servants of God Bara, may the blessings of the gods be upon your future….”
After the priest gave a blessing and prayers, Sergey placed a pea-sized diamond ring on Elaine’s finger.
Some murmured that the diamond seemed too small compared to the immense wealth of Count Lindell, but those who knew how to appreciate real gems were astonished at the quality of the diamond.
But no matter what everyone said, for Sergey and Elaine, the wedding hall, the dress, and the wedding rings weren’t important.
“I love you. Thank you for being my companion, Elaine.”
“I love you, Sergey. And thank you for taking me in as your companion, Rabes.”
After all the time and trials they went through, they were finally able to share their first kiss as a true couple.
* * *
After the noisy and extravagant wedding and reception, the two returned to the mansion, now officially husband and wife.
Their days were filled with a sense of stability and fulfillment they had never felt before in their lives, but Elaine couldn’t shake a strange sense of unease from Sergey.
“Sergey. Is something wrong?”
“Huh? No. Why?”
“If nothing’s wrong, that’s a relief….”
Sergey insisted everything was fine, but Elaine felt his recent behavior had been a bit excessive.
For example, something like this.
“Flowers?”
Not just a few. The entire room was overflowing with an unbelievable amount of flowers.
Elaine racked her brain to figure out why Sergey had done such a thing and finally found a clue.
“When spring comes, the mansion will be filled with the scent of flowers. I can’t wait.”
She had made the comment absentmindedly while looking out at the garden, where tiny buds were just beginning to sprout.
But Sergey seemed to think that Elaine was on the verge of going crazy because she wanted to smell the flowers immediately.
“Sergey, you really didn’t have to go this far….”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, it’s not that, but…”
“Then… is that good, right?”
At that, she couldn’t say anything other than “Yes.”
She didn’t want to reject her husband’s desire to give her a gift, and considering they were newlyweds, she figured Sergey was just a little too excited.
So she decided to push aside her uneasy feelings.
Then, one day, two unusual-looking individuals visited the mansion.
Although he did not look like a nobleman, his extremely calm expression when visiting Count Lindell’s house did not make him seem like a commoner.
“We’re here to see the master of this house.”
They also spoke informally to Hubert, who opened the door.
The shocking part was that, upon seeing them, Hubert turned pale and obediently led them to Sergey’s office.
“Hubert, who were they just now? I’ve never seen them before.”
“Ah, Madam… That’s—”
As Elaine asked Hubert about the identities of those people, a loud explosion was heard from Sergey’s office.
Despite the loud noise, nothing was broken, but Elaine quickly created a magical shield around the nearby servants and rushed toward the office.
But Hubert grabbed her.
“You mustn’t! Th-they’re dragons!”
“Huh? Dragons?”
“Ugh… Even stronger and older than Master Rabes…”
Hubert was trembling like a leaf, overwhelmed by his demonic instincts.
‘Just how powerful must these dragons be….’
Elaine shivered, realizing that even Hubert—who had remained composed in front of Malek—was this terrified.
“That’s all the more reason I need to go. I won’t let Rabes face them alone!”
Shaking off Hubert’s grip, Elaine dashed upstairs.
If they had come to annihilate Rabes, she would rather stand beside him and fight together.
‘Because I am his companion.’
Elaine gathered all her magic and flung open the door to the office.
“Sergey!”
But the atmosphere inside the office was a bit different from what she expected.
Although Sergey had a rather unpleasant expression on his face and some of the objects in his office were in disarray, the two visitors were sitting comfortably, looking toward Elaine.
“Ah! So you are the human who became this brat’s companion.”
A woman who appeared to be in her mid-fifties greeted her with a gentle smile.
Elaine turned to Sergey with a bewildered expression.
“A-are you okay?”
But before Sergey could answer, the other dragon—a man who looked to be in his forties—spoke instead.
“Of course he’s fine. He was about to blow up the entire house with that nasty temper of his, and we even stopped him.”
Unlike the woman, that man looked visibly irritated.
Sergey immediately approached Elaine, cast a protection spell on her, and stood in front of her as if hiding her behind his back.
“Just answer the question I asked you earlier! Why did you come here?”
“Elder, may I discipline this ill-mannered brat properly?”
“Calm down, Piquero. You’re just as hot-tempered as he is.”
Piquero’s face reddened in displeasure at being compared to Sergey, but he didn’t argue back.
The woman waved her hand in the air, and fragrant teacups appeared on the table, filling the room with a sweet aroma.
‘Didn’t they say that creating something from nothing is God’s realm?’
And as if he had noticed Elaine’s thoughts, Sergey muttered.
“It’s summoning magic. She’s not a god, after all.”
The woman smiled at Sergey before gesturing for them to sit, as though she were the master of the house.
“I didn’t come here to fight, so please sit down. Let’s have some tea and talk.”
If it had been anyone else, Sergey would not have followed those words, but with two dragons stronger than him present, it seemed he had no choice but to prioritize protecting Elaine. So he ended up sitting down, holding Elaine’s hand tightly.
Watching their interlocked hands, the woman smiled benevolently once more.
“Let me introduce myself. I am Thalia. I am an elder of the Dragon Realm. This is Piquero, the Vice Elder.”
“You dragons hate coming down to the human realm. So why are you here?”
When Sergey suddenly asked in a provocative tone, Piquero’s expression became even more grim.
Elaine decided to step in.
“Hello, I am Elaine Lindell. I am the wife of the human Sergey Lindell and the companion of the dragon Rabes. Please forgive my husband’s rudeness.”
She squeezed Sergey’s hand tightly to stop him from speaking further. Thalia watched this with amusement.
“This is truly amazing.”
“May I ask what you find amazing?”
Thalia examined the human woman before her, scrutinizing every detail.
The standards of human beauty were too subjective for her to judge, but Elaine’s aura was undeniably beautiful.
And Thalia had seen that aura before.
“Did you know that each dragon has a uniquely powerful ability?”
Elaine shook her head at her question.
“Rabes’ black flames never extinguish until completely burning its target. His special ability is ‘destruction’.”
Elaine nodded as if she knew what she was talking about, but Sergey, who was beside her, took a deep breath and glanced at Elaine.
* * *
