Aurina stared directly at Sophia, her eyes wide open, scrutinizing her.
There was no doubt—Sophia’s submission to her wasn’t deep enough; deep down, she resisted fully betraying Richard.
Gah gah gah, the more she resists, the more excited this king gets!
Aurina straightened her back, making herself slightly taller than Sophia, who sat on the bed.
She locked eyes with her, feeling her dragon majesty surge from the depths of her gaze, carrying supreme dominance and authority, crashing into Sophia’s eyes.
Sophia looked at Aurina, whose large, round golden eyes shimmered with innocent light.
In that moment, Sophia felt ashamed of her jealousy.
She had actually thought this innocent child, Aurina, was trying to steal her fiancé.
It must just be a child’s curiosity.
With this thought, Sophia’s face lit up with a smile again. “It’s about love.”
“Love?” Aurina asked, puzzled.
“Didn’t you say you haven’t mated with Richard?”
“Don’t be so blunt,” Sophia said, her face slightly red. “It’s about romantic love.”
“How long have you known each other?”
“Twelve years,” Sophia said, quietly adding a year.
Twelve years without enjoying the pleasures of mating, and she can still use the fiancée spell.
Aurina increasingly felt the fiancée spell was tailor-made for her.
She leaned forward eagerly and asked, “What happened in between?”
Sophia said, “When he was at his smallest and weakest, I became his friend, guiding him, playing with him… In the knight’s order, I recognized and affirmed his talent, never minding the patches on his clothes, even though the servants kept watching. I still climbed walls for him…”
Sounds so simple.
Is the hard part coming later?
Aurina’s ears perked up.
“And then?”
“That’s the good friend stage,” Sophia said, pressing down a finger, feeling more and more that Richard was lucky to have met her. “It’s still far from being lovers.”
“Friends…” Aurina asked, “Does Richard think I’m his friend?”
“Uh…” Sophia faltered.
“He thinks you’re still a child.”
“Is that a friend or not?”
“He… he says you’re a mischievous sprite, uh, meaning you’re very lively and cute,” Sophia said, racking her brain to make it sound nicer.
After all, phrases like “the little demon who rushes at gold coins every chance she gets” or “the naughty kid who never learns to behave no matter how many times she’s scolded and definitely steals,” were complaints and judgments too harsh to voice.
Sophia thought of something else.
“He also said sometimes you really understand him.”
“Then that’s a friend, gah,” Aurina nodded.
“What’s the next stage?”
“Stage?”
“After good friends.”
Sophia was certain Aurina knew nothing about this and continued:
“After that comes the lover stage. To prove he’s worthy of me, he’d slay monsters wreaking havoc in my name. He tied my handkerchief to his old lance, rode his warhorse, and pierced a troll. After that, I didn’t have to hide from my family anymore and could openly meet him…”
“What’s the cost?”
“Richard shed blood and sweat, I suppose.”
“I’m asking about the spell’s cost.”
“What spell cost?”
Aurina’s heart thumped wildly.
She had thought Sophia was talking about the spell’s effects, something that could directly command Richard.
She, too, would do things for females—like destroying every beast in a forest that could fight, then granting the female dragon seed.
Aurina asked, “I mean… what did you give up?”
“A lot. I gave him many gifts,” Sophia said.
“My prayers, my shield, my divine arts, my youth. I stayed by his side, adventuring time and again.”
“Did he share the spoils with you?”
“Of course.”
Aurina asked skeptically, “That’s the cost?”
Sophia, thinking Aurina was backing off, said, “Of course. My judgment is pretty good, isn’t it?”
Aurina nodded deeply, agreeing that finding a fool—especially a fool who could fight—was quite impressive.
“Then what?”
Aurina asked.
“Blood? Flesh? Life? Or gold?”
“What are you talking about?”
Sophia mumbled.
“After that, he proposed to me, and I agreed that after he slays the dragon, we’d be betrothed.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Aurina shot up from the bed, leapt down, and ran with big strides, pushing open the door and rushing out.
“Aurina, where are you going?”
Aurina answered Sophia with action, lifting her soft white foot and kicking open Richard’s door with a bang.
She rushed in, shouting, “Richard! I’m your fiancée, gah!”
In that moment, Sophia began to doubt her ears, wondering if she’d misheard.
Even the battle-hardened Richard froze on the spot.
He looked at the petite Aurina with her golden eyes and red hair, standing before him, slowly lowering her raised soft foot.
Her foot was so small it could fit in one hand, with toes perfect for pinching.
“What did you say?”
Aurina, brimming with momentum, hands on her hips, head tilted back, commanded:
“Fiancée! This king is now your fiancée! The kind you don’t sleep with. Now, you must obey my commands. First, we’ll go together and take all the gold coins from that exploding gold coin fat pig captain. Then we’ll sail this ship to the little bug capital, gah the treasure guardian, and load all the gold coins onto the ship!”
Aurina knew what fiancée meant.
For the Dread Dragon to do such a thing, if other dragons—especially her sister—found out, she’d lose half her face.
But since the fiancée spell was so powerful over the strongest little bug, sacrificing a tiny bit of her majesty was worth it.
She so desperately wanted to roll in a pile of gold coins.
After all, she had plenty of majesty to spare.
She was the Dread Dragon, after all.
But something felt wrong.
Richard put on his iron gauntlet and approached Aurina.
The fiancée spell isn’t working?
Aurina immediately escalated to the “wife spell,” shouting, “Yes, this king is now your wife, your wife, gah! Stop right there!”
Richard threw a punch: “Thud!”
“Gah!” Aurina’s head rattled.
Her steps faltered, and she stumbled back a few paces, crashing into the stunned Sophia’s arms.
Why didn’t the spell work?
Does it require really, really big breasts?
“Sophia,” Aurina looked up, eyes brimming with tears. “It hurts, gah.”
With that, she stuck out her tongue, tilted her head, and went limp.
“Richard,” Sophia said, unable to bear it. “She’s still a child.”
“Exactly because she’s a child, she needs to learn she can’t say things like that.”
“She doesn’t even know what a wife is,” Sophia said. “You might as well have killed her.”
“She’s a dragon. She only understands violence, and I’m—”
“Are you feeling guilty?”
Sophia said, holding Aurina and closing the door.
Richard was left speechless, staring at the shut door.
From behind it came Sophia’s voice:
“Aurina, does it still hurt?”
“No, a true dragon feels pain but doesn’t cry out,” Aurina said.
“Tonight, this king will sleep with you, gah. The wound feels so bad.”
“I’ll rub it for you…”