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Chapter 193
“…nain.”
“…”
“Kinain!”
“Ah.”
Kinain raised his head. Illiya was glaring at him with one cheek puffed out — a clearly sulky face.
“Sorry. I was thinking about something… This tree is magnificent.”
“Now you say that?”
He grumbled, but the compliment clearly pleased him, and Illiya’s tail swished again.
It wasn’t empty flattery. The tree Illiya had personally grown was so huge it seemed to touch the sky — overwhelming by its mere presence. The Tail Clan’s territory was a vast forest, and they said they planted a tree to celebrate a birth when a child was born. Showing him this tree was a sign of affection.
Kinain breathed in deeply. He’d hoped the fresh breeze might make him feel better, but his body still felt heavy.
“Are you sick somewhere?”
“No, just a bit hot.”
“Hot? See, I knew something was wrong. You’ve looked pale for a while. Come here.” Illiya pressed his forehead to check his temperature and tilted his head.
“Hmm, you do feel hot. Are humans normally cooler than this?”
“I’m fine, I tell you. Just a bit hot and…”
Kinain rubbed his flat belly.
“I think I’m a bit hungry too.”
“What? Then let’s hurry! I’ll have the cook prepare lunch a little earlier!” Grabbing Kinain’s hand, Illiya started walking ahead. But before they’d gone a few steps, a familiar face appeared.
“Hello, Kinain.”
“Chief Hwei! What brings you here?”
Hwei, chief of the Tail Clan, winked at Kinain and Illiya. With eyes curved like crescent moons, the smiling face looked just like a fox.
“How could the chief fail to pay his respects when the mate has visited the Tail Clan’s territory? But where are you headed?”
“Ah, I was about to have a meal with Illiya.”
“A meal! I’d love to treat you. I happen to have a gift prepared too. Illiya, would you grant me the chance to treat Kinain?”
“If Kinain says it’s fine.”
And so Kinain came to dine with Hwei. Only, Hwei’s request that they dine alone was beyond Kinain’s expectations.
With his questions unanswered, Kinain arrived where Hwei led him.
“This is…”
“My masterpiece. I was inspired by what I saw in the human realm and built it.” True to Hwei’s words, the building’s style was familiar to Kinain the human. But that wasn’t the only reason it felt familiar.
“You’ve been to Gold Pot before, haven’t you?”
As Hwei said, this was the gambling house he had come to in order to earn the funds needed to enter as a bride candidate.
He’d never imagined its owner was Hwei. At the tone that suggested he already knew everything, Kinain couldn’t even think of denying it and bowed his head.
“…I was rude then.”
“Rude? Don’t say such things.”
Hwei answered lightly, as though harboring no ill feelings, and guided Kinain to the seventh floor.
As Kinain remembered, there was only one room on the seventh floor.
It was right here that he had met Asad. Not exactly a pleasant memory, but strangely, with time passed, it felt like a fond memory.
Going inside, he could see the interior that had been too dark to see then. There was a reason there was only one room per floor. Looking around the spacious interior, Kinain went and sat where Hwei guided him. Before long, staff came up pushing trays of food and set them on the table.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t Gold Pot off-limits to humans?’ He examined the staff, but they only looked tense as though greeting a high-ranking guest — no hint of dislike. Some even gazed at him with sparkling eyes.
Kinain still hadn’t quite realized it, but to the spirits of today, his existence was all but legendary. He had saved the life of the Tail Clan’s bride candidate, lifted the Wing Clan’s curse, recovered the Horn Clan’s guardian spirit, and stopped the Scale Clan’s extinction. Every clan owed this human a great debt. The spirits’ prejudice that humans were evil beings had been shattered.
When the staff left, Hwei spoke first.
“Actually, I saw you when you first visited this place, Kinain.”
“Me?”
“Yes — I was the one who opened the door for you.”
Groping through his hazy memory, Kinain’s eyes went wide with an “ah.” Hwei said with a smile.
“So our connection runs fairly deep too.”
“I had no idea. Thank you for that.”
“It’s I who should be thanking you. You saved Illiya’s life, after all. A bit late, but thank you truly for saving that child.” Kinain was a little surprised. Until now he had thought Hwei was being nice to him simply because he was the dragon’s mate. But today he learned that wasn’t it.
“In that spirit, I’d really like to be of help to you too, Kinain.”
“Help…?”
“Anything is fine. Tell me. For instance, the problem you’re worrying over right now.”
Kinain realized that Hwei had seen straight through his worries.
Kinain hesitated, then let out something like a sigh.
“Is it that obvious?”
“No, not at all. I only inferred it from various circumstances. Anyone who knows dragons well would notice, really.” Hwei lifted his teacup and continued.
“If there were no problem, the dragon and his mate would never be apart like this, just two days after the wedding. Above all, I can’t sense Asad’s pheromones on you at all, Kinain.”
Come to think of it, before losing his memories, Asad had tended to express himself through his pheromones. Sometimes to threaten, sometimes to seduce.
But since Kinain had woken, Asad had not released his pheromones before him even once. For Kinain, raised in the palace, hiding his pheromones was natural, but Asad was not like that—
Hwei studied Kinain’s complicated expression.
“I’m rather well-versed in humans compared to other spirits. I also know that, unlike spirits, humans don’t know well what a dragon is. Everyone seems to have forgotten, since you’re so quick to adapt, Kinain.”
True to Hwei’s words, Kinain knew Asad better than anyone, but knew nothing of dragons as beings. Kinain unconsciously stroked his ring.
“…The day after the wedding ended, Asad vanished.”
‘I don’t want to show Your Highness an ugly side of me.’
Asad had said that and disappeared. Kinain wanted to respect Asad’s wishes, but on the other hand, he wondered if that was right.
“He came back briefly for various reasons, but since Asad has now formally held his wedding and taken his mate, he will soon begin preparing to become an adult in earnest.”
“What exactly does becoming an adult mean?”
“To use an analogy, it’s like a snake shedding its skin. Shedding the old husk and becoming a divine body that can go to the divine realm. The reason Asad hid himself is probably that a dragon’s instincts become extremely strong in this period. His aggression, yes, but especially his desire for his mate.”
Kinain thought the description sounded familiar somehow.
“So a rut is coming.”
“Exactly.”
Kinain’s eyes wavered. He too knew well how agonizing a rut was. The stronger the trait, the worse the suffering. Until the rut ended, he had to endure heat like his whole body burning.
Only an omega could cool that heat.
Only then did Kinain realize the identity of the faint smell he had caught from Asad on their wedding night. It was the smell of suppressants holding down an alpha’s traits.
“…How effective are suppressants?”
“They’re already nearly ineffective on dragons, but at this time they’re completely useless. That’s why normally the mate stays by his side.”
Kinain said nothing.
But Hwei noticed that Kinain was angry.
Reading the mood, Hwei spoke.
“It’s natural for Asad to worry. Being together at this time is hard even for a dominant omega, and you, Kinain, have only just gotten back on your feet.”
“…But I am his mate.” After a moment’s silence, Kinain continued in a calmer tone.
“Asad tries to protect me excessively. Even from himself.” Hwei nodded.
“They say a dragon becomes an adult and gains a heart when he takes a mate. Actually that’s a somewhat abstract expression. To be precise, a dragon merely learns his mate’s emotions and behavior as they are.”
The only being a dragon cares to understand is his mate.
If his mate says a flower is beautiful, the dragon thinks it beautiful too. If his mate dislikes a flower, the dragon dislikes it too. But that’s all just his mate’s emotions projected as they are.
“So Asad’s actions to protect you, Kinain, are in fact your own way. You must have protected someone in a self-sacrificing way yourself before.”
Since it was clearly something he would do, Kinain could say nothing.
“Of course, he’s probably also afraid of being hated by his mate. Given what happened before.”
Hwei set down his teacup.
“Kinain, you are Asad’s world. Even an all-powerful dragon doesn’t want to be rejected by his own world.”
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