Chapter 01
“Duke Edward Le Tesseron is returning!”
Rumble—
At the urgent shout, the temple soldiers hurriedly cleared a path.
A moment later, someone’s sigh cut through the air.
“He’s returning far too quickly.”
“Is he suffering that much?”
Whispers filled with worry spread among the crowd.
“This is bad.”
“To think that the Guardian Dragon who remained behind to protect us…”
At those words, a piece of history everyone knew naturally came to mind.
Thousands of years ago—
Humanity multiplied excessively, upsetting the balance of the world. Monsters began to appear, and miasma spread across the entire continent.
Unable to endure it any longer, the dragons tried to return to their homeland, the Demon Realm.
But as the monsters grew stronger and more rampant, humanity begged the departing dragons to stay.
“Please, great dragons!”
“Have mercy on us!”
In the end, a small number of dragons took pity on humanity.
They remained on the continent, mingled their blood with humans, and founded noble bloodlines.
From those families, once every several generations, a Dragon Incarnation would be born.
Individuals whose physical power and magical ability were overwhelming—
Beings who seemed as though dragons themselves had been reborn.
They hunted monsters and drove the continent’s miasma away, but…
“His episodes are becoming more frequent.”
A bitter whisper drifted through the crowd.
As generations passed, the number of Dragon Incarnations steadily dwindled until only Edward remained.
And the reason he suffered such frequent attacks…
“Isn’t it because he still hasn’t found someone to purify him?”
“Even receiving temporary purification must be reaching its limit.”
“…That’s probably why his personality keeps getting worse too.”
It was because he lacked a true mate.
A Dragon Incarnation accepted only a single partner in their lifetime—one whose wavelength perfectly matched their own.
The dragons’ instinct to return to the Demon Realm, combined with the continent’s miasma, gradually corrupted them and drove them toward berserk madness.
The role of their human mate was to purify them and bind them to the land.
Which meant that an Incarnation without a mate always lived under the threat of losing control.
Those with holy power could provide temporary purification, but there was a limit to how much it could help.
“If he found a mate, maybe he wouldn’t be so temperamental.”
“When will the Duke finally…”
Clank!
The sound of armor abruptly silenced everyone.
“……”
Clank. Clank.
A moment later, the Duke’s massive figure entered the temple, radiating an overwhelming killing intent.
He’s incredible as always.
No matter how many times I see him, he doesn’t seem human…
The soldiers watched him with equal parts fear and admiration.
His entire body, including his face, was hidden beneath heavy armor, but the Duke’s blazing crimson eyes were clearly visible through the visor.
“Your Grace!”
A woman rushed forward to greet him.
“…Lady Sepina is here?”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”
The black-haired woman called Sepina took the Duke’s hand and gently led him farther inside.
“I’ll purify you. This way…”
Only in front of her did the Duke suppress his overwhelming presence and lower himself.
The soldiers immediately resumed whispering.
“Maybe the rumors are true—that Lady Sepina is his mate.”
“That would be wonderful. She’s a Saintess, after all.”
“But she doesn’t bear the Stigmata.”
“She might be hiding it…”
And while all kinds of rumors flew through the temple…
Deep inside the underground prison—
“Aaaagh!”
A small, filthy-looking woman bound in chains grabbed her hair and screamed.
“Why did I have to end up inside this novel?!”
