-Time ago...
Pov Illios:
Here I was, standing on top of countless goblin corpses that I accidentally summoned, and with the last goblin in my hand clutched around his neck.
The battlefield, which was a plain, was littered with ice and fire marks, denoting the incredible battle that took place moments ago.
"Feel my greatness, you ugly little bastard," I said to the goblin, who was desperately trying to escape my grip.
BOMMM!
When I closed my hand, his entire being turned to slag from the force I applied.
"Yuck, how dirty I feel," I said as I looked at my physical state.
In this battle, I tested my warfare capabilities and got a pleasant surprise, because even though there was a time when I couldn't use my elemental abilities, my stamina lasted long enough to annihilate half of the enemies.
Considering that I killed 5000 with fire and ice on a battlefield where I could easily have been surrounded, this is a great achievement.
When I could no longer launch elemental attacks, I had to employ my physical prowess, which was exceptional, of course, as I could kill a goblin in one hit if I aimed for the head.
But when you're facing a wave of 5000 other goblins, there will inevitably be times when you don't aim well and get hurt.
Although my body could regenerate and was immune to some poisons, my clothes were not, and irredeemably my formal attire was left in tatters and in combination with the debris that stuck to my body, I really did look like a savage or a madman.
Ironically, the hard mode of the custom training tries to very faithfully simulate a real battle, so much so that I could feel the pain of hundreds of knives stabbing my body every second that passed in the fight, and likewise, the corpses and their remains did not magically disappear as they were removed in life.
"Time to get out of here," I thought and manipulated the bracelet to leave this disgusting place.
When I emerged from the custom training, I appeared in the main room, with everything intact and no trace of my legendary fight against 10,000 goblins.
"I feel dirty still," I mused, as my brain had become accustomed to feeling my entire body full of scum, and I was still experiencing those sensations even after leaving the place.
"I'm going to take a bath," I said, and prepared to spend at least 2 hours in the bath.
After bathing and feeling completely clean, I headed to the dining room for breakfast, as it was time, and I was feeling a little hungry.
When I arrived, I found Lila, already awake and eating awkwardly but elegantly.
"I guess she's learning from Mery," I surmised.
Examining her more closely, I could see that her aura was quite unstable, denoting her lack of control and inexperience in cultivation.
As I made my appearance, Lila tried to get up and greet me, but I stopped her with a wave of my hand to not worry.
Sitting down in the main seat, I turned to Lila, who awaited my next words.
"How are you feeling, Lila, are you uncomfortable or something?", I asked.
"I feel a little full, my prince, like I'm going to explode," she said, making a nervous face.
I guess it's a little more serious than I imagined.
"When we finish breakfast, we'll go to the tower in the courtyard so you can learn how to stabilize your cultivation," I said.
Hearing these words, she made a puzzled face. Well, that's because she hadn't seen the tower I set up while she was sleeping.
Ignoring her look, I set about eating what Mery had prepared, as usual it was delicious.
After breakfast, I headed to the tower and taught Lila the basic exercises I was taught at the imperial palace.
They weren't top secret exercises or anything, so I don't think the emperor would mind if I taught them to one or two people.
However, Lila's reaction to seeing the tower and entering one of its specially prepared rooms to contain her aura was a complete surprise.
Firstly, because she had not seen this tower in the days she has been accompanying us.
Secondly, because she had never been in a place like that, surrounded by practice tools and a relatively quiet atmosphere.
"You will train here until dinner time. I already told Mery to bring you lunch when it's time. Got it?" I told Lila her schedule in case she had any questions.
"Thank you very much, my prince. I won't let you down," Lila said with determination.
When I saw that face, I felt she was putting all her effort to please me. So, placing a hand on her chin, I told her:
"Don't try too hard, Lila. Go at your own pace, for you have already proven yourself to be a worthy wife."
Hearing what I said, Lila's face turned as red as a tomato, but surprisingly she didn't run away from my gaze as on previous occasions.
"I see you're growing up," I thought.
"I'll see you later, Lila," I said and prepared to leave so as not to interrupt her mental concentration time, which she desperately needed.
"Yes, I'll see you later, my prince."
Hearing those words, I left the tower and went to the office to check if there was any work piling up.
---
Four hours later.
Surprisingly, there was work piling up. Things like bandits, diseases brought by merchants and a few others were being a nuisance in the county, but it was nothing that couldn't be solved by giving administrative orders.
"I need to relax." When I had that thought, Mery's special "relaxation sessions" immediately popped into my mind, but I dismissed them because I wasn't in the mood today.
I was feeling pretty tense.
Was it because of that battle with the goblins? I didn't know, but that feeling was getting bigger, and I was feeling more and more overwhelmed as time went on, so I decided to take a walk around town to get some fresh air.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll run into another woman like Lila," I thought.
Without realizing it, I would meet someone very different from the concept I had of Lila.
---
-Present.
Pov Meilin:
"First, let's see how and where this young man lives," I mused. Anyway, I still had time before someone from the Dragon Empire would find my whereabouts.
"What is your name?", I asked the young man I would probably mark as my property.
"Illios, this young man's name is Illios, your highness," he replied rather politely.
Further, examining his clothing, posture and manner of speech, I realized that this young man was educated by some human nobility. Normally, we dragons are not so respectful, even when we feel a royal aura.
"Well, Illios, this princess has traveled from far away and is a bit tired, so I would like you to guide me to your home," I said and used blunt words so that he could not refuse or avoid my request.
"This… follow me, your highness," he said, and began to lead me to his home.
I could see that he felt like refusing or, more likely, creating an excuse to evade me, but it was resolved when I increased my aura a bit and thus let him know who is in charge.
"I should do this more often so he learns who's in charge in our future husband and wife relationship," I thought, as I followed him.
The courtship methods we dragons handle are different depending on which clan you belong to. In the case of the Azure clan, to which I belong, there is a fight in which the male must defeat the female in order to marry her.
But this method is quite difficult, as only a few dragons who are greedy for power or confident enough to defeat a female will request a duel. The reason it is difficult is because we females are physically stronger, generally speaking.
In the event that it is the female that wants to court the male, she should mark him with her aura first to warn the other females that the male is busy and that if any of them try anything, there could be conflict.
After marking him, depending on how strong the male is, you can convince him with your wealth and strength or kidnap him and convince him over time.
In my case, my mother taught me a special technique, which stimulates the Draconian bloodline, making it impossible for the male to resist the call of his mating instincts.
This is in order to create a kind of addiction in the male. Of course, this will only work if you stick with him while the technique takes effect on the male. Depending on the willpower of the aforementioned, the technique is more effective or vice versa.
According to my mother, this technique works on all individuals who boast a Draconian aura, so I'm sure it will work on this young Illios, even if he belongs to an unknown clan. Furthermore, it can also be used to awaken his Draconian abilities. So I would be doing him a favor by employing that ability on him.
Back to the current situation, we left the park we were in and moved forward until I could see that we were approaching a rather large mansion for just a young man.
I then asked the obvious question, remembering that this young man was also a dragon:
"Do you live with anyone?"
"..." Illios hesitated to answer, so I increased my aura a bit to let him know I wanted answers.
"I live with my sister, my wife, my daughter and two maids," he finally answered.
As I listened to his answer, I thought carefully about what I would do with those people, especially Illios' wife and daughter.