“This is a space that can only be entered by riding dragons. It wouldn’t have been easy to discover.”

Clementina, who had been sitting down, narrowed her eyes and stared behind Dion, then rose and began walking forward as if entranced.

Dion followed her with a puzzled expression. She suddenly stopped.

As warmth filled one side of her chest, a savory smell came from somewhere. It was like freshly baked bread, or perhaps the smell of a puppy. An unknown, comforting scent was intensely present.

“This.”

Clementina pointed at something with her finger. Dion approached her side and looked at what she was pointing to.

It was a black, round rock that came up to Clementina’s waist. Clementina looked up at Dion with sparkling eyes.

“It’s a dragon egg, isn’t it?”

Unlike Clementina, whose eyes were full of life, Dion frowned deeply and twisted his lower lip.

“Eh? This is a dragon egg? Hehehe! It’s obviously just a rock. I guess you don’t know much yet—”

Vance shook his index finger from side to side with a crumpled face. Always expressing his emotions blatantly, he failed to notice Dion’s darkening expression.

Lillian grabbed Vance’s hair and pulled him back.

“Duke, what do you think? It looks like just a stone to me as well.”

Berche quickly took Vance’s place after Lillian removed him. His manner of observing Dion’s expression was extremely cautious.

Clementina glanced back and forth between Berche and Dion. She placed the back of her hand against her flushed cheeks. She felt embarrassed for pretending to know something.

“It’s not? I thought it was a dragon egg.”

“Duchess, dragons love flashy things. They like decorating, and they are flashy in appearance too. Look at Arakan here.”

Berche tapped Arakan’s neck.

“These gleaming scales aren’t natural. They’re brushed, cleaned, and combed daily. Dragons love to show off. Dragon eggs, in particular, are even more magnificent. I’ve never seen such a black egg. Right, Duke?”

“No.”

“Right? It’s not a dragon.”

“No, I mean your statement.”

“What? Whaat?”

Berche, despite his rugged appearance, had been a knight who had impressed Clementina with his consistently calm behavior. Now, this same Berche was showing a rare surprise.

“This is indeed a dragon egg.”

“Huh! This rock?”

Vance, whose hair was still in Lillian’s grip, approached, flailing his arms and legs. His flaring nostrils looked as if they might emit white smoke like Arakan’s.

Dion sighed deeply and slowly caressed the black rock. As he muttered again in a low voice, light leaked from his left arm. It was the same blinding golden light as before.

The piercing bright light disappeared instantly at Dion’s command.

“This is definitely a dragon egg. Ah, d*mn it.”

Dion exhaled deeply. The muscle in his clenched jaw appeared and disappeared. Frustration filled his eyes.

It was the first time Dion, who always wore a smiling face in front of her, revealed such raw emotion.

Clementina observed his reaction and took one more step toward the black rock before asking.

“Is there a problem?”

“It’s dead.”

“What?”

“It’s a dead egg. D*mn it, d*mn it.”

Dion pressed his ear against the black rock with desperate hope. He wanted to find some deeply hidden hope. He held his breath and listened, then tightly closed his eyes and raised his upper body.

“Couldn’t there be more?”

Berche approached with a calm voice.

“As far as I know, this is Leon’s last egg.”

Clementina finally understood why Dion had fabricated that ridiculous love story to marry her.

Her heart turned cold. It felt as if impure particles were floating through her blood before disappearing through her fingertips. Clementina stepped backward one step at a time, moving away from Dion.

Good heavens.

Darkness fell before Clementina’s eyes. Her head spun.

In the end, Dion failed to obtain what he so desperately wanted. What would happen to her living arrangements now?

After causing such a commotion throughout the Ronakia Empire with their marriage, they might cancel it overnight and create another uproar in the Empire.

Would she end up returning to Sustain?

They had made a contract, but would it still be valid? Would the contract remain valid when the dragon egg was dead? No, the dragon egg wasn’t even mentioned in the contract to begin with. Did that mean the contract would continue?

Even if Dion said it was fine, could she shamelessly remain in the position of Duchess when he hadn’t achieved what he wanted from this marriage?

While everyone watched Dion cautiously as he stood there frustrated, Clementina remained consumed by her own thoughts.

No one blamed her. Yet she felt as if she had been confined once again to her small room in Sustain.

‘What should I do?’

“Hoo—”

Dion let out a long sigh as if expressing his frustration, then straightened his body. The knights remained tense. His other temperament—sensitive and sharp—might emerge at any moment.

Dion looked back. His mouth wore the same smile as usual, and his eyes were laughing as always.

“Dimint, Jeremiah, stay behind and check if there are any Tabopis in this area. The Makuro’s movements are strange. Don’t think about coming home without finding out something.”

Jeremiah, with short black hair and a body like thick armor, and Dimint, of moderate height with a nimble physique and long blonde hair reaching his waist, nodded.

“Vance, Hamon, have Bun and Ailie load Leon’s egg. We need to find out what happened.”

Vance and Hamon, with his black hair and masculine face marked by a scar over his eye, bowed their heads.

“It must be quite heavy.”

Berche scratched under his chin and stroked the black rock. His expression was clearly one of regret. Everyone felt the same.

They all wore sad expressions. Like people in mourning. As if a loved one had died.

They had come here to welcome Dion’s new dragon. They had even gone through an unwanted marriage to welcome the dragon that would hatch from the last egg of Leon, Dion’s dragon.

Clementina quietly bowed her head and opened her hands, which had been clenched so tightly that her skirt was completely wrinkled. Her hands felt numb. Her palms bore nail marks that resembled natural wrinkles.

His broad back somehow looked thinner. His once-strong arms had lost their strength. The man who had everything now appeared lonely.

He had lost family once again.

Clementina had thought she entered a deceitful marriage, but that wasn’t the case. Dion was the one at a disadvantage.

Her heart grew noisy. She felt suffocated, as if a stone was pressing on her chest.

Just then, she heard footsteps approaching her. A hand suddenly appeared before Clementina, who had been looking down. She forcibly held back her rising tears and slowly raised her head.

Dion’s gentle eyes looked at her. There was no sign of resentment anywhere on his face. Yet he must surely resent her.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

“Are you okay?”

“Me? No. I’m a bit upset.”

Clementina’s eyes wavered. She raised her trembling hand to take Dion’s, but lowered it before he could notice.

Clementina had no right to comfort him.

She felt sorry for the person scratching his head in front of her. But unfortunately, Clementina pitied herself more.

She hardly knew what to do.

“What will you do now?”

“Our business here is finished. It’s time to leave.”

“Where…… to?”

Clementina murmured in a small voice. Dion stroked her cheek with his finger and lifted her chin.

His face had shone even among everyone whose bodies gleamed from the reflected gold. But now his golden eyes had lost focus. She found this appearance even more jewel-like.

A dead stone, yet a sparkling jewel.

“Where else? Home.”

Dion tousled her lemon-colored hair, now covered in dirt and dust, with a gentle smile. The experienced knight showed no outward sign of his demoralized state.

“Home? Will I…… return to Sustain?”

“What are you saying? Do you want to go back to Sustain?”

“No.”

Clementina grabbed Dion’s arm with determination in her eyes.

“I’ll give you all the gold here. I’ll pay you with this, so please don’t send me back to Sustain.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“You said the dragon egg is dead, right? Then there’s absolutely no reason for you to marry me.”

Dion finally understood why Clementina’s eyes had lost their vitality. He grasped her hands that were holding his arm.

“The gold belongs to you. I have no intention of breaking our marriage just because Leon’s egg is dead.”

Clementina’s eyes trembled as she looked at Dion. Disbelief was plainly visible on her face.

“A contract is a contract. I received the dowry. It’s not your fault that Leon’s egg died. Drasia will be your home for at least a year.”

Her eyes, filled with emptiness, met Dion’s deep sea. Confusion clouded her once-sharp judgment. That’s why Clementina failed to notice that the special scent she had been sensing earlier was still present.