Amid the frenzied noise, Dion gently grabbed Clementina’s slender wrist. Then, slightly raising one corner of his mouth, he urged:

“Stay by my side and don’t leave. This will be over soon.”

Clementina nodded and applied pressure to the hand Dion was holding.

Dion took Clementina to the very back of their formation. Clementina took small steps and stood close behind him. The direction of the harsh screams was obscured by Dion’s broad shoulders.

So Clementina raised her heels here and there, lifting her head over Dion’s back.

In the distance, countless black dots gradually took shape.

“This seems a bit strange.”

Berche spoke to Dion with curiosity.

“The red dragon is Arakan, and the purple dragon is Mago. They belong to Sir Berche and Sir Lillian. Those two don’t get along very well. They don’t fight often, but it’s not like it never happens.”

“They don’t…… get along?”

Clementina raised one eyebrow and looked up at the dragons, muttering to herself.

“That’s not what I saw……”

“Hm?”

Pretending not to have heard Dion’s words, Clementina dusted off her skirt and adjusted her posture. Since this was her first time leaving Sustain Castle alone, she had fidgeted with excitement several times, causing her once elegant dress to become disheveled.

“Aren’t there more dragons in the Gold Dragon Knight Order?”

Clementina followed the dragons playing and setting off fireworks beyond the window with an interested expression. The red dragon still seemed to be watching the purple dragon’s back.

This Gold Dragon Knight Order was precisely why the people of the Ronakia Empire showed such excessive love toward Dion. Being the Emperor’s younger brother or the wealthiest Duke in the Empire were merely additional honors by comparison.

The Ronakia Empire’s greatest enemy, the Akarti Kingdom, had six dragons, but even then, two of them belonged to the Monk Principality, which was little more than a vassal state of the Akarti Kingdom.

There was one in Umbarot, a long-standing friendly nation to the Ronakia Empire, and one in the neutral country of Leila, but otherwise, there were no dragons that resonated with human masters.

The rest were wild dragons that couldn’t be handled by human power.

So the Gold Dragon Knight Order, with its twelve dragons, was essentially the Ronakia Empire’s greatest weapon.

“The rest are on missions. Since we married in such a hurry, not all of them could come. You’ll be able to see them all soon enough.”

“Now we’re going to Ankart where the Siara Mine is located, right? Does it take about two weeks by carriage?”

“Well, wouldn’t four days be enough?”

From Sustain in the central part of the Ronakia Empire, passing through the Kingdom of Leila to Ankart in the north taking only four days seemed like an absurd calculation no matter how she thought about it.

“Four days?”

“We’ll be riding dragons. Going directly would be enough in three days, but we’ll rest at Halia on the way. Do you know Halia?”

“Halia?”

“It’s a place right below the Kingdom of Leila, which is a glacier region. There’s a place there that dragons love. You’ll be surprised when you see it. It’s a completely incongruous place. And since we’re going anyway, it would be good for us to rest for a day too. After all, we are newlyweds.”

Although the marriage was real, they weren’t actually a real couple, so there should be no reason to be embarrassed, yet Clementina’s face flushed hot for no particular reason.

“If it’s right below the Kingdom of Leila, are we passing through rather than going around? Are we using a transit permit?”

The Kingdom of Leila stretches across about half of the territory to the north of the Ronakia Empire. So to reach Ankart in the north of the Ronakia Empire, one must either go around the Kingdom of Leila or receive an entry permit to pass through.

Currently, due to the long war between the Ronakia Empire and the Akarti Kingdom, many countries had taken sides and were fighting, but uniquely, only the Kingdom of Leila maintained neutrality.

One reason was their weak military power, but above all, they were a tribe that hated fighting and had nomadic habits of wandering here and there, not tied to one place, so they had skillfully avoided the Ronakia Empire’s pressure until now.

The transit permit to pass through the Kingdom of Leila had to be received directly from the King of Leila, but since the King of Leila rarely showed himself, obtaining a transit permit was difficult in itself.

This was because the King of the Kingdom of Leila was the dragon rider who resonated with the kingdom’s only dragon.

For the Ronakia imperial family, obtaining the transit permit itself was easy, but having to search for the King of Leila made it a troublesome task.

“Once we leave Sustain, we’ll be riding dragons. Since we’re not going by land, we don’t need a transit permit. It would be a bit troublesome if we met the King of Leila in the sky, though.”

The scenery outside the window gradually changed, and the number of villagers celebrating the wedding gradually decreased. The carriage stopped just as they passed the boundary of the Sustain territory and the guard post disappeared behind a hill.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Duke.”

Someone called for Dion from outside the carriage. It was Sir Berche Ritzberry, the vice-commander of the Gold Dragon Knight Order. His brown hair was messily tangled, and his eyes were bloodshot. This was because he had spent the last four nights since arriving at Sustain Castle drinking and playing with other knights until dawn.

“Are we there?”

“We’ve just left Sustain. We should start preparing for flight now.”

“Good, I’ll be out soon.”

Dion nodded lightly.

“Yes, understood, Duke.”

Berche bowed slightly to Dion and then lifted his head to smile at Clementina. His gentle eyes gave a soft impression, but it wasn’t difficult to imagine the knight who handled swords and rode dragons, given his sturdy body and the scars scattered here and there.

“Duchess. It’s truly an honor to meet you. You’re as beautiful as I’ve heard.”

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, it would be better for you to leave now.”

Dion spoke playfully, as if scolding a childish youngest brother.

“Our Duke appears very kind on the outside, but in reality, he’s very cold-“

Clack!

Dion closed the wooden shutter of the window with a sour expression, completely blocking Berche’s face.

“He has some very cold aspects! But in truth! He really! Is a good person!”

Berche’s loud voice made the wooden shutter, which had been deliberately closed, fail to serve its purpose.

“Which is the truth? That you’re kind? Or cold?”

Clementina looked at Dion, who was leaning back on the soft cushion, with eyes full of interest.

Dion raised one eyebrow and once again leaned his upper body forward, narrowing the distance between him and Clementina.

“Which would you prefer? Kind? Cold? Which do you think would be more helpful for our relationship?”

Clementina lifted her head slightly and made a thoughtful expression. She wrinkled her straight nose once.

“Hmm. Neither.”

Dion raised both eyebrows and stared at Clementina with a curious expression.

“Then?”

Only then did Clementina look at Dion’s face and speak seriously.

“I want honesty. I sincerely hope there will be no more lies. If you can keep that promise, I’ll cooperate with you as much as needed.”

Clementina smiled widely.

Her face was quite different from the arrogant Miss of the Count’s family she was rumored to be.

“I think so too. Even though they travel in family units, aren’t there too many of them?”

“Hmm…… what should we do?”

“For now, let’s do what we always do.”

“Ah, you mean kill them first and think later?”

“Heave-ho! I’m winning this bet, you bastards!”

Clementina gently pulled on Dion’s hand that she was holding. Dion turned around. Her face showed no tension whatsoever about encountering demonic beasts.

“Is this very strange?”

“Yes. There’s no Tabopis here. If that’s the case, it means these demonic beasts grew to maturity elsewhere and came here. Unless someone released them, it’s strange for so many to come all the way here.”

Dion narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance. Countless black dots were gradually approaching them from afar.

‘Tabopis.’

An ancient plant that grows to a certain size, becomes a tree, and bears fruit. The seeds of Tabopis are indistinguishable from ordinary tree seeds to the n*ked eye. Because their shape is also inconsistent, it’s impossible to find and eliminate them when they’re still seeds.