"Hah.." Rose sighed as the carriage stopped. Finally they arrived at their destination.
Rose opened the carriage door and was greeted by a handsome man holding out his hand. The fairy accepted the outstretched hand firmly.
"Thank you Mr. Teo." Rose was a little awkward when she called the man by his nickname.
"No need to be so polite Miss Rose." Theodhor smiled gently.
"We must hurry to the hall of the throne. His Majesty the King must be waiting." the man still used the same gentle tone when talking to Rose.
After the sudden fight at the inn, Rose had never seen the two guards that always crossed her eyes. Teodhore replaces their duties to oversee the security in the neighborhood and keep her safe.
She had asked where the two of them had gone, but the man who was the right-hand man of the dragon race king just gave him an innocent smile and said that they had other tasks that they had not finished.
She didn't want to ask what other tasks they were doing. Or verifying the authenticity of the words of the man who had an appearance as warm as the morning sun. She even slightly regretted that those words just came out because her habit.
During the rest of the trip, Rose gradually had suspicions about the gentle-looking man. Not without reason. Even though the man really did his job well and always displayed a civilized demeanor that matched his elegant appearance, it made her feel uncomfortable. She always felt like she was being watched by a snake.
On Teodhore's first day taking the role of the missing guard, he advised the two of them to stop being so formal. The tough has decided, then what can the weak do.
She could only obey the man's words even though she could not fully put her trust in him. Not intending to discriminate against the Dragon Race. But her feelings kept telling her to try to interact as little as possible with the man.
"Teodhore Vanjicke salutes Your Majesty." The second strongest person in the Dragon Race lowered his head. Another girl with the golden hair followed.
"I thought you forgot your way back." the man who was sitting with his chin on the comfortable throne chair said sarcastically.
"We must put the welfare of our guests, Your Majesty. So the trip has been delayed a bit." Teodhor skillfully replied to the dragon race ruler's rebuke.
"Go!" the red-eyed man said in a bored tone.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." replied Teodhore carelessly. Like a sly fox, he left after saying a few flattering words to his king.
Throughout their interaction, Rose did not dare to raise her head. The pretty fairy always kept her little head down. Staring at the granite floor below which is made of red marble. Her gaze even traced the abstract pattern created where she was standing.
"I heard your race can revive near-dead vitality." Stefan stated knowledge that is already known by the wider community.
"That's right Your Majesty. As long as there is life energy, we can help those who are dying to regain their lives. Even to a certain extent, the recovery we do can strengthen one's body." Rose explained in detail. To think that the dragon race king would ask her to trade her life for someone.
Healing a dying person was tantamount to telling the fairy race to sacrifice one's own vitality to someone else.
"What about anything else?" Stefan's voice sounded tired as he asked.
"What other things does Your Majesty mean?" Rose slightly raised her head as she asked not understanding.
Her gaze accidentally collided with the king dragon intimidating red eyes. She hastily lowered her head to avoid being in the man's sight.
She might have seen it wrong. After days of watching the flawless and captivating performances of Teodhor which she thought did not match his true personality, Rose felt that behind the intimidation by the dragon race ruler, all she saw was exhaustion and frustration. Not the cruelty and bloodlust as she had previously thought.
"What about living things like plants or mineral materials like water. Can you refine them?" Stefan said dryly as if he wanted to end their conversation immediately.
"Of course Your Majesty. It's always been what we do." Rose replied humbly.
"Within one year, you must restore this territory." Stefan gave the order smoothly. His voice was still as calm as running water.
"How about after that, Your Majesty."
"Can I return after completing the orders from His Majesty?" Rose ventured to ask the king.
"That depends on the results you achieve. But before that, remember not to run away."
"Go." Stefan chased the beautiful fairy away using a flat tone.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." said Rose before leaving the room where the king ruled.
Behind the door, there was already a woman waiting. Bowing her head, the woman introduced herself as Zizi who would be Rose's servant during her time in the dragon race kingdom.
Zizi led Rose down a long winding hallway. Anyone who wasn't used to it would definitely get lost in the maze-like path.
"Please ring the bell on the table if the princess needs anything." said the maid before leaving the beautiful fairy alone in the room that became her room.
Rose sprinkled magic powder on her face after she finished cleaning her body. Finally after being tortured for weeks on the train, she was able to rest her body properly.
Her soft body lay comfortably on a large bed with a finely carved headboard. The gold color coats every ornament in the room.
It seems that the owner of the palace really likes carving. Since she entered the palace gates, she has passed various kinds of artistic carvings.
As if to blind the eyes, the color that dominates the palace is gold. There were a few other colors she saw along the way to her room, but they were not as prominent as the gleaming gold.
"Have we misjudged?" Rose thought as she buried herself in the soft silk blanket.
The first time she met the ruler of the Dragon Race, she was as frightened as the others. She didn't really feel what the other races were facing at that time, but she did feel a very oppressive dark energy.
But in their second meeting, she could take a closer look at the handsome man who had blood red eyes. This intimidation seems to have become a habit. In those red eyes, she saw no hidden depravity or malice.
All she saw was tiredness and boredom, as if the person had no purpose in life. Don't mean to be arrogant. But as the Fairy Race, she has more sensitive feelings than other creatures.
Rose fell asleep because her body was exhausted. She still had many unanswered questions about the man when she lost consciousness due to extreme drowsiness.