* * *

When I opened my eyes again, I was alone in the bedroom.

What… what on earth…! I jolted upright, breathing heavily, and Hawthorn, who must have been keeping watch over me, hurried over with a worried expression to help me up.

“Oh, my Lord Everdeen. You seem to be dizzy, so please don’t get up right away. I’ll bring you something to drink.”

I had spoken so much earlier, rebutting the nonsense I had heard upon waking, that my throat was parched.

I immediately gulped down the water Hawthorn handed me.

As the water moistened my parched throat, I began to feel a bit more alive.

“Ha… thank you.”

I realized that my speech had become a bit more casual, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Hawthorn looked up at me with concern.

“Um, if you’re feeling better, I think it would be best to have a light meal and then go meet the Duke…”

Ugh, just hearing that name, which I was relieved not to have to hear for a moment, made my shoulders tremble involuntarily.

“…Understood.”

For now… avoiding it wouldn’t solve anything, and it wasn’t something I could avoid anyway.

Honestly, it was absurd and unbelievable, but even though it was a mistake, I couldn’t say it was completely against my will to go through with it to the end with the Duke.

Although he had applied some force, it wasn’t as if I couldn’t resist at all.

There might be a difference between an Alpha and a Beta, but I was physically well-built for a Beta, so the difference in strength wasn’t so great that I was completely overpowered.

And to top it off, I was the one who got excited first.

So, if I were to judge it coldly and objectively, what happened yesterday was indeed consensual.

‘What was I thinking…?’

Was I always someone who was so easily swayed by appearances?

Even in my first life in Korea, my family was well off, so there were plenty of good-looking people around, but I never gave them a second glance because I was too focused on the family business.

‘Hmm… I didn’t think I was that weak when it came to appearances.’

So why did I act that way yesterday?

I carefully recalled the Duke’s desperate and delicate face as he cried, and clenched my fists.

Was it because he looked so pitiful…?

While there might be people who would be moved by pity…

I’m not usually that type.

Shaking my head vigorously, what came to mind was the intense sweetness and scent that lingered every time I kissed Hernan.

I knew the basic knowledge that an Alpha’s pheromones could have a drug-like effect on an Omega.

But it shouldn’t work on a Beta, right?

Then why did it feel so familiar?

I was confused about many things, but now I had to walk into an even more confusing situation.

With Hawthorn’s help, I quickly satisfied my hunger and stepped out of the bedroom.

As I exited, a familiar-looking squirrel peeked out from the door and looked up at me.

Now wasn’t the time to be distracted by it.

Ignoring the squirrel, I followed Hawthorn’s lead towards the study.

The squirrel followed closely behind, eventually jumping onto my shoulder and clinging tightly.

“What do you want?”

It gripped my collar with its tiny hands and squeezed its eyes shut, looking oddly annoyed.

I couldn’t tell what it wanted, but I didn’t have the energy to shake it off right now.

As the heavy door to the study creaked open, Hernan put down the document he had been looking at.

“How are you feeling? I moved you to the bedroom so you could rest alone.”

My back was still a bit stiff, but I felt much better now that I had warmed up a bit.

“I’m… fine.”

The Duke nodded as if he understood and continued speaking.

“Shall we continue our conversation from this morning?”

I winced at the directness of his words and closed my eyes tightly.

“As you know, I’m a Beta, right?”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Beta.”

“What?”

But didn’t you say earlier that I can’t take a concubine?

What difference does it make whether I accept or not?

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Hernan looked at me intently, raising his eyebrows as if he was teasing me.

“But didn’t you say that taking a concubine was against the rules?”

I asked, still baffled, and Hernan replied calmly, as if it was nothing.

“We don’t need to rely on the strength of another person. If you find it hard to believe, let’s move somewhere else, and I’ll explain.”

Hernan tidied up and stood.

As he stood so close, I realized the height difference wasn’t that significant, and his face loomed closer.
The thought of what had happened yesterday made me step back immediately.

“Don’t touch me.”

Hernan seemed to find my wariness amusing and let out a small laugh.

Is he laughing?

I’m in a complete crisis here!

I wanted to punch him in the face, but I was bound by an oath and couldn’t act recklessly.

“Alright. Just follow me. Even though it’s within the castle walls, it’s colder than other places, so you’ll need to stay warm.”

He said as he draped the cloak he was wearing over my shoulders.

What is this?

Where is he taking me?

I caught the squirrel, which was rustling around my neck, and tucked it into the cloak’s pocket.

The squirrel didn’t resist much, just poking its head out.

“Squeak?”

After antagonizing me so much yesterday, its sudden shift in attitude was annoyingly cute.

Following Hernan, we left the garden and entered a secluded forest behind the castle wall.

The squirrel shivered and clung tightly to me.

Annoying, but also kind of cute.

I sighed lightly and turned my head.

Before I knew it, we had pushed through the snow-covered coniferous forest to reveal a small building that looked like a cathedral or temple.

“This is the place.”

The small shrine, made entirely of an oddly glowing stone like opal, had no door.

Or rather, there was an entrance, but it wasn’t blocked by a door as we usually think of it.

The eerie, dreamlike atmosphere was reminiscent of something I had experienced before.

A sense of unease, as if I was violating a sacred place where humans should not tread, crept over me. Hernan stepped confidently into the doorway.

Unlike me, who felt increasingly uneasy, Hernan seemed completely at ease.

“This way.”

I followed his lead and entered the shrine.

Although it was late at night, the structure of the shrine was made entirely of softly glowing stone, so the interior was as bright as daylight.

It was a completely white space, like a house on a hill.

What could possibly be inside?

The squirrel buried its head, trembling.

And then, from above, a voice I had heard before echoed down.

[Hmph, foolish one. Do you think hiding your head will make you invisible?]

The voice was condescending, as if addressing someone of much lower status.

I looked up to see a figure resembling Hernan but much more intimidating, with the same presence I had encountered in a dream, glaring down at us.

The figure’s eyes burned like amber, with vertical slits for pupils. Just looking at it, I felt an overwhelming sense of intimidation.

Though it had a human shape, I could immediately sense it was something far beyond human.

“I greet the great primordial being,” Hernan said, addressing it casually as I stood frozen in place.

He nodded as if it was very familiar.

Reflexively, I alternated my gaze between Hernan and its appearance, and it burst into laughter, saying:

[I’m not like that thing; that thing is like me.]

Hernan immediately disagreed.

“Not at all.”

[Stubborn in strange ways.]

“If it doesn’t look like it, then it doesn’t look like it.”

Objectively speaking, it did resemble it.

Not in the sense that the facial features perfectly matched, but rather in the transparent, chilly aura that seemed like it would freeze if touched.

It shared the facial features of a beauty so extraordinarily pretty that it felt almost inhuman.

“This… what exactly….”

As I rubbed my eyes and looked at Hernan in disbelief at the appearance of a non-human entity sitting cross-legged in mid-air, he gave a brief explanation.

“This is a dragon.”

[Oh, you little rascal. I’ll need to start your etiquette training all over again from the dinner table.]

“Eh?”

Why is he explaining it so casually?

He’s skipped too much in between.

As I still looked puzzled, raising my eyebrows, Hernan repeated:

“He is a dragon.”

[Still rude.]

The creature narrowed its reptilian eyes and sneered.

Then, it came closer to me, spinning in the air, and explained in my place.

[I am a guardian dragon, Ryuudene.]

* * *