Chapter 21
The Dragon Lord had encountered a total of thirty-two possessed individuals so far.
They all claimed that the world they found themselves in was a place inside a book and rambled on about the contents of the book they had read before entering this world.
The Dragon Lord had summarized their tales into three categories.
First, marrying the crown prince who can’t forget his first love.
In the books they had read, the male protagonist, the crown prince, kept postponing his marriage because he couldn’t forget his first love.
The possessed individuals insisted they were the crown prince’s destined partner. Apparently, the crown prince’s first love was a beautiful blonde girl.
The main plot of the book revolves around the crown prince meeting his first love and eventually marrying her after overcoming numerous trials and hardships.
Second, the successful contract marriage with the Northern Duke.
Other possessed individuals claimed to be the contract marriage partner of the Northern Duke.
The Dragon Lord summed up that particular book’s contents as “The Northern Duke enters a contract marriage, falls in love with his partner after enduring trials and hardships, and finds happiness.”
Third, defeating the evil dragon.
The remaining possessed individuals approached Elliot, claiming, “You must kill the evil dragon, become a dragon slayer, and take the princess as your wife.”
Naturally, Elliot dismissed these claims.
“First of all, there are no dragons in this world, except for the Dragon Lord…”
Anais interjected.
“Could the Dragon Lord possibly be… an evil dragon?”
She trailed off, noticing the sideways glance Elliot shot her. Anais rolled her eyes, and Elliot replied,
“But there’s one crucial thing that doesn’t add up.”
“What is it?”
“There isn’t a single princess of marriageable age in any kingdom on the continent right now.”
Ah, so that was the issue…
Anais’s gaze grew distant. But thinking about it, it made sense. Elliot lightly drummed his fingers on the desk.
“The Empire has a princess beside the crown prince, but she’s already married with three children.”
“You know quite a lot?”
“It’s part of the Dragon Knight Order’s duties.”
Both of their gazes shifted to the map in the commander’s office. Fortuna in the Vidna Mountains and Castle Quisac, positioned directly in the continent’s center.
Surrounding them, were the large Brosuhart Empire and about seventeen other kingdoms and duchies.
Anais’s eyes drifted toward Belfast in the southernmost region.
Ah, I want to go home.
“Among the remaining seventeen kingdoms, only three royal families have unmarried princesses. One recently ascended to become queen, and another is quite elderly.”
“How old is she?”
“Sixty-five years old.”
“…How old is His Majesty then?”
“As far as I know, he’s still a sprightly ninety.”
Elliot continued to provide information about the seventeen kingdoms with ease. Anais couldn’t help but feel secretly impressed, as though she were watching a performance.
“What about the last one?”
“She was born two years ago.”
“…”
A two-year-old baby. Long after the possessed individuals had appeared. There was no need to say more.
“The Dragon Lord dismissed it, saying they must have been confused since there are so many books featuring evil dragons.”
“That’s true. Even I grew up hearing stories about knights who vanquished dragons.”
Anais tilted her head. From myths to fairy tales about dragon slaying, there were too many stories created about dragons, despite the Dragon Lord actually existing on the continent. Other worlds must be similar.
“Then we should start with His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“…So suddenly?”
Anais blinked in surprise at Elliot’s words.
“You mean His Highness the Crown Prince of Brosuhart?”
“Is there another crown prince somewhere? There’s only one empire on the continent.”
“But you speak about His Highness the Crown Prince so casually, it surprised me.”
The man tilted his head slightly, his gaze fixed on the Dragon Knight Order’s flag, which displayed a dragon ascending.
Ah, yes. It was the Dragon Knight Order, after all. Meeting the Empire’s Crown Prince must be no big deal?
Anais felt somewhat petty.
“Well, if the Dragon Knight Order is so impressive, couldn’t the Dragon Lord handle this directly?”
“I told you he cannot leave Fortuna because of the rift.”
“But you know what? Couldn’t the Dragon Lord just send a letter to the Empire saying, ‘Hey, get married!’ and His Highness the Crown Prince would have no choice but to sob and say, ‘Yes’?”
Elliot looked at Anais with clouded eyes. Anais pouted.
“Right? Since the Dragon Knight Order and the Dragon Lord are so amazing and all.”
“There are several problems, but let me start with the biggest one.”
“Yes?”
“Nobody knows who the first love is.”
“…”
That’s true. Anais pressed her forehead firmly.
“Well, since Brosuhart is the closest, let’s start there.”
Elliot’s tone was so casual as if suggesting they should eat at a nice restaurant nearby. That made Anais even more irritated.
For the people of Belfast, going to the Empire was truly a big deal.
Even Anais, who was practically a princess of Belfast, needed to make major decisions to go to the Empire. The Empire was far away, it cost a lot of money to get there, and besides, she wouldn’t know anyone there, so there’d be nothing to do.
Although Anais was at the center of Belfast’s social circle, in the Empire she’d be lucky if she weren’t treated like a country bumpkin.
She had always wanted to visit someday, but to go for something like this…
Anais was feeling dejected when suddenly it hit her.
‘I can’t go to the Empire looking like this!’
Even dressing up nicely wouldn’t be enough—she couldn’t possibly meet the Imperial Crown Prince with no eyebrows and hair as messy as a boy’s.
No matter how casually Elliot spoke about it, Anais would have to introduce herself before the Crown Prince.
After considering how many eyes would be on her on that occasion, Anais rose indignantly from her seat.
“Lord Resaloniki, I’ll follow your suggestion. But please grant me one favor.”
“What is it? If you’re requesting a cushion for your horse, that’s not possible.”
This was Elliot’s response, dismissing Anais’s earlier request when she had cried about her sore bottom from two days of unfamiliar horseback riding to Quirsack.
Anais’s eyes narrowed. But Elliot continued speaking, unconcerned.
“We won’t be riding horses anyway since there’s a separate gate to the capital at Quisac Castle.”
“It’s something else.”
“The request to have pannacotta at every meal is also denied.”
Anais wrinkled her nose.
Who does he take me for, an absolute fool?
True, that had also been one of her requests. But since every place they passed through the gate was a major city, surely they could have bought just one pannacotta!
Elliot stared at her blankly, either aware or unaware of her inner thoughts. He seemed to be waiting for her to speak.
Anais took a deep breath before speaking.
“You said you didn’t want to be involved in any scandals with Anais, right? Anais feels the same way.”
“I was under the impression that our mutual lack of fondness for each other was already an agreed-upon matter.”
“Oh, that’s not what I mean!”
Anais put her hands on her hips and said,
“I don’t want to go to the Imperial Palace looking like this!”
Elliot’s brow furrowed slightly. Anais’s face remained as it had been since Elliot had treated it, with faint burn marks still visible here and there.
Anais thrust her face toward Elliot as if to emphasize the point.
“I’ll have to introduce myself to the Crown Prince, won’t I? Though I ended up going with you by chance, debuting in Imperial society has always been Anais’s dream!”
“…”
“And if Anais is going to enter Imperial society, Anais must look absolutely perfect!”
“…You look perfect now?”
“Your tone makes it sound like a question, my lord!”
At Anais’s words, Elliot rubbed between his brows.
“I don’t know much about ladies’ grooming.”
“There’s a limit to not knowing! Anais doesn’t even have eyebrows right now!”
“This is the first time I’ve heard that entry to the Imperial Palace depends on the presence or absence of eyebrows…”
Anais glared at him. The man sighed.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what Anais was saying.
After all, Elliot also knew that the deportment required of noble ladies was quite different from what was expected of men.
“However, we cannot use the Dragon Lord’s healing power anymore.”
Even using the healing power on Anais should be considered an exception among exceptions.
The dragon was old, and any artificial use of its life force was directly linked to the Dragon Lord’s survival.
But Anais waved her hand dismissively.
“I’m not asking you to use your powers. Anais has enough sense not to ask for that.”
“Then what is it you want to request?”
Anais gently removed the bonnet from her head as she spoke.
“There’s something Anais has always wanted to try.”
