Chapter 4
After throwing Rosalind out, I personally took the previously ordered light armor to find Fenris.
Walking down the corridor, clutching the garment, my chest tightened painfully.
In my previous life, I had treated this Dragon Therian abominably. Even in winter, I'd forced him into threadbare burlap just to please that fox, claiming "dragons have robust constitutions."
Looking back now, it was utterly inexcusable.
I found Fenris in the courtyard pavilion. Before I could present the armor, I noticed the heavy iron shackles still locked around his wrists—the ones I had ordered placed on him in the past.
Without hesitation, I pulled the key from my pocket and knelt beside him, unlocking each restraint. The metal clanged to the ground.
He stared at me, eyes wide with disbelief.
I held out the dark silver armor.
He stared at the snow-white fur trimming the collar for a second, then abruptly turned his head away with a harsh, bitter laugh:
"Premium snow fox fur—that fox's favorite. You went to such lengths just to use me as a pawn, to make him jealous enough to come crawling back, didn't you? Using me to humiliate myself while you win back his favor—does that amuse you?"
I froze in place.
Watching his clenched jaw, every muscle coiled tight, I suddenly understood. So this seemingly vicious dragon was actually... jealous?
Warmth bloomed in my chest. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist again.
"That worthless fox doesn't deserve anything this fine. Only you do."
I looked up, meeting his suddenly constricted dark gold pupils, my voice unwavering. "If you hate the fox scent, I'll have every piece replaced. Tonight."
Fenris went rigid for a heartbeat. He didn't shove me away as usual, but looked away with something like panic flickering across his face.
Yet I caught it—the slight upward twitch of his lips.
Before I knew it, the Starlight Palace Banquet arrived. The great hall shimmered with light.
As Crown Princess, I attended with Fenris at my side. To my surprise, Cyprian cornered me during the feast.
His sickeningly sweet scent hit me as he approached with wet eyes, reaching for my wrist.
"Your Highness, are you really abandoning me? I just made you angry—how can you throw me away like I'm nothing?"
He kept his voice soft and wounded, glancing at Fenris behind me. "Besides, what does this savage have but brute strength? How could he possibly satisfy you? Take me back—you know you need me."
Looking at the face that had orchestrated my death in my previous life, I felt nothing but revulsion. I yanked free and swung without warning.
Crack!
The slap landed hard, cutting him off.
"No." I stared coldly at his swelling face. "The only one I want is Fenris. You're nothing but a pathetic joke. What gives you the right to even speak his name?"
Cyprian clutched his face, disbelief turning to rage as he snarled:
"You're going to regret this!"
Regret? I almost laughed. The only thing I regretted was being blind enough in my previous life not to see this man for what he was.
This time, with Fenris, I would never repeat those mistakes. But to completely sever the roots of Cyprian's treachery, I needed Fenris's help.
I turned toward Fenris, standing in the shadows. Having witnessed the slap, his hard features showed rare satisfaction.
I grabbed his hand: "Fenris, I need your help with something. Come with me outside the city."
But he threw out a barb:
"Why not ask your precious fox? He's so capable, so good at wrapping you around his finger—surely he could help."
He snorted coldly, turning away. "As for me, with nothing but brute strength, Your Highness might as well send me to guard the stables. Maybe someday you'll humiliate me properly to make him smile."
Hearing these bitter words, warmth flooded through me instead of anger.
In my previous life, he would only say flatly, "Protecting Your Highness is my duty." Never this wounded probing. His current behavior meant he truly cared.
"I trust no one but you." I squeezed his palm firmly.
Fenris's Adam's apple bobbed violently. Though his words stayed sharp, his actions betrayed them. Within moments, we were in a carriage heading to the royal griffin camp.
In my previous life, Cyprian had killed me because I'd let my guard down, allowing him to plant spies in the military camp. With assassin backing, he'd trapped me.
In this life, I had to eliminate these threats first.
But we'd barely reached the camp's perimeter when dozens of dragon-slaying silver spears tore through the night, aimed at Fenris's head!
"Watch out!" I instinctively lunged to shield him.
But Fenris moved with terrifying speed.
He slammed me to the carriage floor as two sickening thunks echoed—the spears meant for his skull punched through his back instead!
Dragon scales shattered. Scalding blood splattered my cheek.
Before I could cry out, a feral roar erupted from his throat: "Stay down!"
The Dragon Therian didn't even flinch. He reached back and snapped the bloody spear shafts bare-handed.
Drawing the bone-cleaver from his belt, he kicked the door off its hinges, launching into the darkness like death itself.
Screams and bone-crunching thuds rang out in rapid succession.
Moments later, silence fell. Dozens of ambushers had been cut down.
I gasped for air and stumbled out of the carriage on shaking legs.
In the center of the carnage, Fenris had one knee planted on the chest of a half-dead assassin captain. His iron grip was locked around the man's throat.
But the assassin suddenly coughed up blood. Looking past Fenris's shoulders, he fixed his dying gaze on me:
"Your Highness! Wasn't it YOU who gave the secret order—that the moment this bloodthirsty dragon set foot in camp, we activate the dragon-slaying formation and kill him on sight?!"
