I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
The promised month.
With only three days remaining until the engagement ceremony with the Grand Duke.
Ruri, her face clouded with dissatisfaction, pointed at a sheet of paper and a pen.
“I require you to write a single copy of the vows to be used at the engagement ceremony.”
“Is there not a formal version already in use?”
“There is, of course, but…”
At that moment, Ruri’s throat bobbed.
She forcibly swallowed the sigh that threatened to emerge as a breath of fire.
“Since it is an unofficial engagement ceremony, Her Grace wishes to proceed without unnecessary formalities.”
“And?”
“She wishes to replace the standard procedure by having both parties read vows they have written themselves.”
Ferda nodded calmly upon hearing this.
“A romanticist, I see.”
“That is a generous way of putting it. It is barely better than getting married in a stable. Honestly, writing one’s own vows… it sounds like child’s play.”
Ruri grumbled.
Finally, she let out what she had been suppressing in her small chest.
“Haaaaa….”
It was a breath.
A hollow breath of air that sank as if it would punch a hole through the floor.
‘An engagement with a human, a private ceremony, and now even making each other write their own vows…’
Even as a spawn subservient to a dragon, emotions were bound to accumulate.
Thus, her sighing was understandable.
‘Still, she is loyal to Valdrova herself rather than to her status as a ruler.’
If Ruri had prioritized the latter, Ferda would not be standing here.
Had she set her mind to it, Ruri could have attempted to kill Ferda or set a trap to disgrace him.
But Ruri did not resort to such lowly methods.
‘If anything, she has been helpful.’
He could feel Ruri’s complicated state of mind.
She hoped the engagement would fail, yet at the same time, she wished for Valdrova’s happiness.
‘Being trapped in that contradiction must be why she is so irritable.’
It was truly a pity.
Ferda decided to offer her a brief look of sympathy.
“What is with that look?”
“I simply thought you were quite pitiful.”
At his sincere sympathy, Ruri’s face contorted.
“I hardly wish to hear such words from a human like you.”
“I am still a guest for now, so let that be, but I will be your master’s consort in three days. What will become of our relationship then?”
“It will not be much different from now. I hope you are not under the delusion that you will be able to give me orders.”
“Of course. I did not ask with that intention.”
“However, if you ever ask to be beaten, I will do so without hesitation.”
“I shall decline that offer.”
“There is no need to worry. I am confident in my strength. I am also quite good at controlling it.”
“? Not necessary.”
Ruri held up her dainty fist.
That dainty fist had once smashed through a bed and into the floor.
He had no intention of entertaining such thoughts, even as a joke.
“At any rate, once the engagement proceeds, you will need to bring servants into the castle. You must also select ministers to lead the territory.”
“Servants and ministers? Am I the one who must do that?”
“Yes. As the consort, you will be responsible for the territories under Grand Duke Valdrova and other administrative duties.”
Ferda looked puzzled at those words.
“You seemed to dislike the idea of me seizing power. Are you telling me to take it now?”
“It is not humans who hold power that I dislike; it is humans who are blinded by power.”
The Third Prince of the Arken Empire had been blinded by power and could not escape death.
“Power should inherently be held by those who have no interest in it. Because they do not crave greater power, they look after the welfare of the people. That is the kind of human needed right now.”
Ferda tilted his head.
“Is the welfare of the people not good?”
“As you might have seen from the current lords, it is nothing short of a mess.”
Ferda recalled the lords who had gathered in the council.
Their bodies were bloated and exceedingly dull.
Trembling in fear that their heads might roll, they looked like pigs trapped in a slaughterhouse.
“Those who should be the pillars are all busy lining their own pockets. Because they are on the front lines, they spend their time frequenting brothels and eating expensive food, claiming they never know when they might die. The current discontent is being suppressed by the military force at the front, but one day, it may explode into a massive riot.”
“I didn’t know. I had no idea the situation was like that.”
The welfare of the people.
Hearing that term, Ferda felt a certain curiosity.
“Does Grand Duke Valdrova not wish for humans to be happy?”
“She does.”
“If she stepped forward and said just one word, would almost everything not be resolved?”
“It would.”
“Then why is she unable to do so?”
“…….”
Ruri fell silent.
Her face turned cold, and she began to radiate Dragon Fear uncontrollably.
She looked like a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched.
“I shall remain silent on that matter for now. You will come to know enough about it later anyway.”
Ferda decided to take a step back at her words.
“Very well. Then I just need to write the vows?”
“Yes. Then, I shall take my leave.”
Ruri gave a polite bow and walked out the door.
Haaaaaa.
The sound of a sigh traveled along the floor and into Ferda’s ears.
Recalling the things Ruri had said, Ferda gripped his pen.
‘Vows, huh…’
They say the first step is half the battle, but Ferda was stuck on the very first line.
Should he have asked specifically what style he should write in?
It would have been much easier if he had.
‘Shall I put it off for later?’
Instead of the vows, Ferda decided to write a few letters.
He had once said to the lords:
—I haven’t the slightest interest in what you lot do.
But now was the time to have more than the slightest interest.
That was the problem.
‘I told the lords I wasn’t interested, so if I try to interfere now, there will be backlash.’
Ferda was aware that his first impression wasn’t great.
And since he would be going back on his word, his image was bound to worsen.
Out of necessity, he decided to send a letter to each of them.
The content stated that he might, perhaps, interfere in internal affairs.
He added this sentence at the end:
—If you do not like it, do not reply. For I respect you all.
And the replies from all the lords returned that very day.
The day of the engagement ceremony.
Ferda had demonstrated his abilities and, at the same time, proved that there was not a single grain of falsehood in his words.
Ruri, having nothing left to nitpick, quietly accepted the engagement ceremony.
“Your epaulette is crooked. And I went to the trouble of starching these; how can you wrinkle your trousers like this?”
Instead, she began the day by finding fault with every little thing.
“I would be truly glad if I had hands and eyes in your position.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and buy some, then?”
“I think you’ll do just fine.”
Ruri took a step back.
She tucked both her hands behind her back.
“I do not wish to touch you. I am merely a servant to the master I serve, so do not expect too much.”
“Hmm, truly like a dog.”
“Do you wish to fight me? Just say the word. I will fight you in earnest at any time.”
“No, I simply meant you are loyal.”
Ruri growled, but Ferda accepted her nitpicking and addressed her points one by one.
‘An engagement ceremony…’
It didn’t feel real.
Normally, when a man gets married, he feels one of two emotions.
The joy of getting married.
Or the sadness of being sold off.
Ferda felt neither of those emotions.
‘It has been like this ever since I returned to this day.’
A heart as calm as it was unbefitting for a possessor of the Red Circle.
‘Am I entering this engagement simply because I think I must?’
He wondered if it was merely a mechanical action, faithful only to duty.
As his overwhelming rage and hatred vanished, even his other emotions had become faint.
‘Is it alright to face Valdrova with a heart like this?’
A vague sense of anxiety hovered in a corner of his chest.
‘A vague anxiety…’
Ferda smiled slightly.
Vagueness is a human weakness.
‘In spite of everything, I am still human.’
For now, that was all that mattered.
Ferda decided to focus only on that fact.
The engagement ceremony was held in front of Valdrova’s Lair.
Inside the Lair, illuminated by hundreds of bundles of candles.
It was decided to proceed with the ceremony with a distance of only about twenty paces between them and the iron gate where Valdrova remained inside.
Ruri, having finished the preparations for the ceremony, knocked on the door.
“Master, we shall begin the ceremony.”
Then, the massive iron gate opened cautiously.
Air escaped from the gap, mixing with the outside air before flowing into Ferda’s nose and mouth.
“Ugh.”
His breath tightened.
Even though there was no killing intent like when fighting a monster, the emotion of fear was bleeding out from that alone.
Had Ferda been even slightly weaker, he was in a state where he might have fainted on the spot.
Ruri glanced at Ferda’s condition and said:
“You must endure.”
“I… know.”
“Then, we shall proceed with the engagement ceremony.”
Ruri ignored Ferda’s state and began to follow the procedure.
Since this was how it was discussed to happen, Ferda focused on sitting upright and steadying his breath.
“Mortal and Immortal shall become one this day, weaving a golden thread that neither the authority of the heavens nor the storms of time can sever.”
Ruri placed the bowl and the small table of alcohol she had prepared in front of Ferda.
Carefully holding the bottle and pouring the clear liquid, Ruri recited the lines.
“The Mortal shall become one by escaping the unknown and washing away fear.”
As instructed beforehand, Ferda took the bowl and drank the wine.
The taste was as clean and clear as its transparency.
‘As I thought, I’m not good with alcohol.’
Having never enjoyed alcohol even as he grew older, this Engagement Wine was the first in his life.
After Ferda took the first drink, he poured the remaining half into the bowl and brought it to the iron gate.
“The Immortal shall become one by erasing the futility of the infinite flow.”
Now it was Valdrova’s turn to drink.
Sssst
What emerged from between the massive iron gates was a claw larger than Ferda’s entire body.
That terrifying weapon that had torn apart the bodies of monsters.
That claw descended carefully toward the bowl containing the Engagement Wine, and—
Clatter—!
It promptly knocked it over.
“…….”
“…….”
An awkward silence followed.
The claw returned inside the iron gate along with the clattering sound.
Wondering if this was how it was supposed to be, Ferda glanced toward Ruri.
“……We shall proceed with the ceremony again.”
It literally proceeded again.
The vows were read, Ferda drank the wine first, and then it was Valdrova’s turn again.
Clatter—!
In that manner, the claw knocked over the small bowl of Engagement Wine about three times.
Ferda was starting to reach his limit.
‘I’m getting drunk after a few bowls…’
Ferda felt his head throb and the strings of his five senses gradually loosen.
He had a gut feeling that the next time would be the last.
Creeeak.
At that moment, a loud cracking sound came from somewhere.
Worrying that the cave might be collapsing would have been foolish.
Unless Ferda had misheard, the sound was unmistakably coming from Ruri’s body.
“Please excuse me for a moment.”
Ruri squeezed her body through the slightly opened gap.
Just as he was about to wait, thinking she was going to prepare something else.
“What do you think you are doing, Master!”
Suddenly, Ruri’s thunderous scolding flew out.
Ferda’s intoxication vanished instantly.
“It was you, Master, who made a fuss about marrying a mortal, and it was you who said you would get engaged. And so, what did I, your loyal servant Ruri, do?”
The breath she had been swallowing and swallowing for the past three days—
“I endured it!”
She began to vent it fervently.
“I endured it even when the engagement ceremony, which should have been rightfully made public as the Grand Duke, was made private! And I endured and endured even as we formed this engagement without meeting face-to-face!”
Her voice grew louder and louder.
He could feel that she was more furious than ever before.
“But to be afraid of meeting your fiancé! To hide like that! And interfere with the engagement! What! Does! That! Make! The! Fiancé! Out! There!?”
The sound of heavy breathing followed, and Valdrova didn’t make even a squeak.
What followed was a deep sigh and Ruri’s voice again.
“Come out with dignity and greet your fiancé! If you knock over the Engagement Wine one more time, even I will not stand for it!”
Ruri, who had been shouting in rage, came back out.
Her face was businesslike and expressionless.
Ferda reflexively stared blankly at her.
And through Ferda’s gaze, Ruri could guess what he was thinking.
“……Did you happen to hear that?”
“Probably even the lords far away heard it.”
“……Sigh. Well, what can I do?”
Ruri let out a long, troubled sigh and said:
“As you can sufficiently deduce by now, Her Grace suffers from social anxiety.”
“Social anxiety…?”
“It means she is afraid of dealing with humans.”
“…….”
“It would be a laughable matter to anyone who heard it. For the Great One who saved the world to be hiding because she is afraid of mortals.”
“You are giving me some quite important information.”
“It is something you must know eventually. I cannot hide this fact forever just because I dislike you.”
Her silver eyes looked down as she spoke.
“She is to be your partner now. That means her weakness is also your weakness.”
“Joint responsibility, is it?”
“Isn’t that what marriage is?”
Ferda quietly nodded at her words.
Joint responsibility.
For some reason, it wasn’t exactly welcome. There had never been a single time when the term ‘joint responsibility’ had been a good thing.
A moment later, the closed door opened again.
He wondered if the massive claw would emerge once more, but what appeared before his eyes was a human figure.
Ferda cast his gaze upon the person who would become his partner.
“……Eh?”
He was so surprised he let out a sound.
‘……Armor?’
It was a person clad in full plate armor.
The helmet was shaped like a dragon’s head.
Despite being made of metal, it was so sophisticated and imposing that one might mistake it for a dragon for a moment.
It looked as if this is what a dragon would look like if it walked on two legs.
What was surprising was the detail of the armor,
‘She’s incredibly tall.’
But above all, it was her height.
Even though Ferda was tall at 180cm, she was so large that he had to look far up past his own head.
Her height alone was 240cm. Excluding the armor, would she be around 220?
‘I heard a dragon’s Polymorph is wondrously beautiful.’
If that standard of beauty applied to humans, it meant there was a 220cm tall beauty…
Could the person inside actually be a man?
“We shall proceed with the final engagement ceremony.”
Just as he was making ominous guesses, Ruri resumed the ceremony.
Ferda drank the Engagement Wine again, having already downed three bowls.
His eyelids felt as heavy as lead from the alcohol.
He wondered if it would be knocked over again, but that didn’t seem likely.
Ruri had simply grabbed the helmet and held it up so it couldn’t be knocked or spilled.
Ferda saw her true self, hidden within that cold, hard shell.
And thus, the face of the Red Dragon, Valdrova, whom he saw for the first time—
“Ah.”
Made him let out an exclamation despite himself.
