Chapter 34
“If it’s too hard for you, I could adjust that rule a little.”
“I’m fine. I’m not overdoing it.”
“No need to pretend. I saw you leaving the party out of jealousy.”
“Oh… maybe it looked like that,” Damia said, nodding slowly.
“Why are you paying so much attention to me today?” she asked.
“I’m not. Everything’s normal,” Cassian replied.
“Did you like someone at the party?”
“What?”
“Don’t feel guilty. I’m on your side. I can even give dating advice.”
Cassian laughed.
“Dating advice? Are you serious?”
“Yes!” Damia said confidently. “The rule doesn’t need changing. It’s fine as it is.”
Cassian had considered adjusting the rule to make things easier for her, but she refused firmly. She didn’t seem interested in his personal matters at all. Cassian felt a twist of frustration.
“…Since this engagement was your idea, don’t interfere until I die.”
He blurted it out in a flash of anger, then worried immediately. But he thought this would make Damia honest.
“Enough! I understand. I can do it,” Damia said firmly.
“Just don’t die too soon, Marquis,” she added, half-teasing.
“…You…”
“Really, why are you like this today?” she muttered, noticing his serious expression.
“…Just checking. Does it bother you that I won’t interfere?” she asked hesitantly.
“Don’t say silly things,” Cassian replied, though his red eyes flickered, feeling struck by her words.
“I’m really hurting inside, but I hold back so I don’t make things uncomfortable,” Damia explained.
Cassian felt a rush of relief, hearing her honesty.
“…Really?” he asked.
“Yes, do you need confirmation?” Damia’s voice trembled slightly.
Cassian quickly turned away, hiding the smile threatening to break through his lips.
They returned to the tea party in the garden.
“Marquis!” Cassian was surrounded by other young nobles but glanced subtly at Damia.
‘He said not to interfere, yet he still worries about me,’ Damia thought, gripping her juice glass.
Cassian calmly answered questions about her health, impressing the other young nobles. The conversation shifted to the engagement, and one girl whispered that it seemed decided without Cassian’s consent.
Cassian’s voice cut sharply through the whisper.
“Who says it was without my consent?”
He tilted a faint, teasing smile but spoke firmly. Damia shook her head slightly, unsure what to think.
Meanwhile, at the Marquess of Soro’s house, Drury knelt on the cold marble floor, shivering in humiliation.
“I swear! I truly didn’t know!” he pleaded.
The Marquess beside him shouted desperately.
A young man with vertical slit pupils and blood-red eyes sat at the head of the room. Even the Soro family, strong in dragon blood, felt crushed by his presence.
The man was the strongest, most cunning dragon alive—the ruler of all dragons.
“You tried to kidnap a human girl and failed,” he said.
“Forgive me, Master! I didn’t know she had that much power,” Drury stammered.
The man had tried to abduct Damia Ponti alone, but she fought back so fiercely that even he got scarred.
“Haha, you’re not even ashamed to admit your incompetence?”
“It’s my fault. I should have investigated her better…”
“And your treatment was sloppy,” the man snapped, running a hand over his scarred face.
Drury couldn’t believe it—Damia, a fragile human, had left marks on the strongest dragon.
“I should have brought her to my nest already!” the man roared, slamming the desk. The entire room shook.
The snakes around them hissed in fear. Drury shrank further.
He was notorious for his dragon blood—powerful and short-tempered.
“If I had known, she’d already be under my control!” he shouted.
“Master… we couldn’t catch her safely. The Duke’s estate is heavily guarded.”
“Haha. Let her feel fear,” he said, stroking a snake on his arm.
“And if her last parent interferes, so be it,” he added, smiling darkly in the shadows.
