At the soft but pointed prodding, Egenhart pressed his lips together.

At present, Anais was in a rather ambiguous situation.

Princess Anais Aldesberg.

She was the collateral for the oath between the Platinum Dragon Egenhart and King Linus, and at the same time, Egenhart’s tacit fiancée.

The alliance had begun with the declaration that a princess of House Aldesberg would be offered as a sacrifice.

Therefore, it would be natural for Anais to suffer as Egenhart’s possession…

But Egenhart kept his distance and acted indifferent toward her.

It was as if the invasion demanding the princess had never happened.

As a result, Anais spent her marriageable years in limbo, unable to move forward or back.

Anais leaned her face in close to Egenhart’s.

“How much longer do you plan to make me wait?”

At Anais’s reproach, full of disappointment, Egenhart merely gave her an indifferent glance.

「A mere royal princess? I’ll make her my sacrifice!」

That was how he had boldly declared his arrival.

But the princess in question had only been a little girl of seven.

Naturally, she hadn’t been a subject of his interest. He had no taste for such grotesque things.

However, it seemed the bold little girl who had volunteered to be his sacrifice had other thoughts.

「Look, I’m finally an adult now. I can marry you, Egenhart.」

The moment she saw Egenhart return to the palace after ten years, Anais had declared it proudly.

「Who said I’d marry a little brat like you?!」

Horrified, Egenhart had since done his best to avoid meeting Anais. But the princess was persistent.

“Of course, I don’t really care about things like ‘marriageable age.’ I just got bored of waiting. As you probably noticed from my brother, our family tends to be quite impatient.”

Egenhart silently stared at Anais, who looked as though she might grab his hand and drag him to the altar that very moment. Then, at last, he opened his mouth.

“I’m not an ordinary human. That’s why I can’t marry a princess.”

At Egenhart’s unusually serious response, Anais clamped her lips shut for a moment, then asked boldly:

“Am I that unattractive?”

The question made Egenhart flinch involuntarily.

Anais looked genuinely hurt.

Egenhart’s lips trembled as if to speak, but no words came out.

Moments later, Anais forced a cheerful tone into her voice.

“Maybe it’s the red hair after all. I heard there are dyes that can completely change your hair color. Should I ask my maid to find one?”

“…”

“If I’m going to change it, blonde might be best, right? No—maybe black would make me look more mature?”

“I object. Absolutely do not change your hair color!”

Egenhart’s voice came out in a rare tone of command.

“Why would you want to change your natural hair color?”

“Well, you have beautiful platinum hair, Egenhart, so you wouldn’t understand the sorrow of being a redhead.”

“What does that have to do with anything?! Your red hair is the most beautiful!”

Egenhart suddenly shouted.

A moment of silence fell between them.

“Ugh.”

Egenhart groaned and covered his face with his hand, realizing he’d just let his true feelings slip.

‘Oh ho, is that so?’

With a sly look, Anais latched onto his tail.

“Then that means you’re not avoiding proposing to me because of my red hair, or because I lack charm, right?”

At her pointed question, Egenhart was once again speechless.

The bold little girl who had once made him speechless was now doing it again—but in a far more effective way.

“My brother always says I’m the prettiest one in the palace….”

“What a hopelessly doting fool he is….”

“Oh my! That’s harsh. Though, to be fair, he is a bit of a fool for me.”

Anais answered with a bright smile, and Egenhart could find no words to refute her.

The first time he saw Anais as a grown woman, Egenhart had felt his heart drop.

A decade had turned the bold little girl into a refined lady.

In all his long life, he had never seen a human so beautiful, so desirable.

But….

“I’m 368 years old this year.”

Egenhart reminded her of one undeniable truth.

“And you’re 27.”

This was the reason he delayed marrying the princess.

He, a dragon, and Anais, a normal human, lived on entirely different timelines.

To take a woman who wouldn’t even live half of half his lifespan as a mate—Egenhart still had enough conscience left to hesitate.

“That’s true. So we’re about… 340 years apart in age, huh?”

“…”

“Wow. If you weren’t a dragon, Egenhart, people would definitely call you a ‘creep.’”

“!”

At the unexpected jab, Egenhart’s mouth dropped open.

“Creep?! How dare you call me that!”

Flustered, Egenhart snapped, and Anais simply smiled sweetly.

“What’s more important is that I’m a fully grown adult now. I can handle a 340-year age gap.”

“…”

At her unwavering tone, Egenhart let out a small sigh.

“Besides, I made up my mind when I was seven years old that I would marry you, Egenhart.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the most handsome and strongest man I know. And how could I not love the man who saved my homeland?”

Her voice, unshaken by doubt or hesitation, left Egenhart unable to stop the small laugh that escaped him.

“But still, if you truly don’t wish to marry me, Egenhart, then I suppose there’s nothing I can do.”

“?”

“Actually, the eldest son of Baron Berge formally sent me a marriage proposal. I’m thinking of giving it serious consideration.”

At her calm explanation, sparks flared in Egenhart’s eyes.

“I’m quite popular, you know?”

“…”

“Since you haven’t proposed to me, everyone thinks you’ve rejected me, so they’re all lining up to propose instead.”

“I’ll eliminate them all.”

Growling in earnest, the dragon turned to Anais and declared:

“No one—no one—can dare take the princess from me.”

The words came out with such finality, they might as well have been a confession.

Egenhart had decided he would no longer deceive himself.

And so…

“Egenhart?”

He cupped Anais’s cheek and kissed her small lips.

The lips that were always chattering away were, for once, still.

And after a long moment…

“So… um, should I take that as your proposal?”

To such an obvious question, he couldn’t give an answer.

***

“The ruby you gave me last time—I had it cut and sold, and I used the leftover pieces to make a hair ornament.”

“…”

“You’re not upset I sold it, are you? Surely not you, the great Platinum Dragon?”

At Anais’s cautious glance, Egenhart laughed inwardly.

She had sold the massive ruby and only kept a tiny hair ornament.

She’d done exactly as she pleased and was still acting like she needed to explain herself….

“But now that I think about it, I regret it a little. I should’ve saved a bigger piece and made it into an engagement ring! I completely forgot!”

Muttering with genuine regret, Anais suddenly lit up and turned to Egenhart.

“So for the wedding ring—I’d like a diamond. A really big one, if possible!”

The princess… the little girl Egenhart loved so dearly, was now boldly making her demands.

And there was no way Egenhart could deny such an endearing request.

But things didn’t unfold the way the two of them wished.

“The size of the rift is growing. We need a fundamental solution.”

At the king’s gravest tone yet, Egenhart realized what he must do.

***

“You must return safely.”

To restore the collapsing rift and defeat the monsters emerging from it, Egenhart set off once again on a long journey.

Anais, forcing herself to ignore the weight in her chest, spoke bravely.

“You must take care of yourself too, Princess.”

“Of course. Do you think I’d stop eating and cry just because I don’t have a fiancé?”

“…Ha.”

Egenhart took Anais’s hand in his, unfazed by her usual cheeky tone.

Like any proper knight, he bowed deeply and kissed the princess’s hand.

“This time, I’ll bring back the largest diamond.”

“Oh my, really?”

And with that jewel, he would craft a wedding ring and make a proper proposal.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

As if she already knew the vow he couldn’t say aloud, Anais smiled gently.

Leaving that smile behind, Egenhart departed the castle.

Until he left, he hadn’t known.

That the journey he thought would last only a month… would stretch on for twenty years.

Nor did he know that when he returned to the surface, Anais would already be another man’s wife.

Twenty years.

To a dragon like Egenhart, it was but the blink of an eye.

But to a human like Anais, it was not.

When Egenhart finally returned, he could only stare silently at the death of the one woman he ever loved.

Even for a dragon who had lived for centuries, the pain was unforgettable.

***

And then a thousand years passed.

“Anais…”

From the dragon steeped in darkness, a soft voice escaped.

A time so long that even the memory of her face began to fade.

Yet Egenhart remained certain he would meet his princess again.

“Anais…”

His voice, filled with unmistakable longing, echoed through the endless void.

And time passed once more.

The king’s wish to protect his bloodline was granted, and the evil witch’s scheme failed completely.

As if to bless the peace that came after a thousand years, a new life was born into House Egenhart.

A girl with blue eyes like her father and skin as fair as snow. Most of all, she had inherited the red hair of her mother, Duchess Evelyn.

A precious daughter, born after centuries into the noble ducal family where children were rare.

The Imperial Family, in honor of the girl’s noble blood, bestowed upon her the name Anais, taken from the name of the empire’s very first princess—wishing her happiness and good health.