Chapter 2

Luciana—Lucy’s realization came the previous evening.

“C-Cough! Cough!”

“I told you not to wolf it down, you idiot!”

After starving for three straight days, she had finally received a piece of moldy bread.

She had been devouring it so desperately that she nearly choked to death.

And then…

As her life flashed before her eyes, the memories of her previous life returned.

I’m screwed.

That was how she realized where she had transmigrated.

The Last Dragon’s Bride was a tragic love story between the last Dragon Incarnation and the heroine.

To summarize it in one sentence…

It was a trainwreck novel where both the male and female leads suffered endlessly until the very end.

The male lead was the only remaining Dragon Incarnation in the story, but he spent years suffering because he could not find the mate destined to purify him.

Eventually, he met Sepina at the temple and found relief from his pain.

Believing her to be his true mate, he even spent nights with her…

But—

It was all a lie.

As was common in romance fantasy novels, the temple in this world was secretly one of the villains.

The power Sepina used to purify the male lead was actually…

“What? She choked?”

“Be careful! Do you know how hard it is to replace one when they die?”

“Children born with holy power are becoming rarer these days!”

The result of squeezing holy power out of countless children, including Lucy.

The month before last it was Lena. Last month it was John. Last week it was Cecil…

With bitter eyes, Lucy looked around the empty prison cells surrounding her.

Fragments of memory from the body she now inhabited surfaced.

In those memories, the empty cells belonged to “consumables” who had been brought here like her and then disappeared.

Purifying a Dragon Incarnation required an enormous amount of holy power.

As a result, the temple kidnapped any child with even the slightest trace of holy power and used them as fuel for Sepina.

And eventually…

They even stole the true mate.

Once a destined mate reached adulthood, a wound known as a Stigmata would appear on their body.

The mark resembled a dragon’s wing, though its location differed from person to person.

This time, however, the mate’s Stigmata happened to appear somewhere highly visible.

On the back of her hand, I think?

Because of that, the temple’s High Priest found the mate before the male lead ever could.

He happened to notice the newly manifested Stigmata on her hand while she was drawing water from a well.

The woman was kidnapped and imprisoned underground just like Lucy.

She suffered while waiting for the male lead to rescue her…

And died after having her Stigmata stolen.

After cutting the Stigmata from the true mate’s body and grafting it onto herself, Sepina began fully impersonating the destined mate.

But even then she couldn’t perform proper purification, so eventually everyone discovered she was a fake.

And in the end, the male lead failed to overcome his berserk state.

The world was destroyed.

…Despite having such a dark setting—

“There were way too many scenes of Sepina and the male lead doing that all the time.”

After all, the setting itself stated that Dragon Incarnations could only be purified through physical contact.

It was a setting made by, for, and entirely dedicated to adult romance.

As a result, the comment section was always at war.

Was Sepina—the woman who shared intimate moments with the male lead—the real heroine?

Or was it the true mate, who barely even got to meet him?

Watching that dumpster fire used to be entertaining.

But now that she was living it herself, it felt nothing but tragic.

“What exactly did I do wrong?”

She had already died an unfortunate, ridiculous death in her previous life.

And after being granted a new life, this was the result?

If I had to transmigrate, couldn’t I at least have become some background noble lady?

Why a disposable extra like this?

The name Luciana never even appeared in the original story.

She was probably just one of the insignificant children who would have her holy power drained dry by Sepina before dying.

Accept such a fate—

Like hell I will!

And there was another thing she hated.

“Ugh, it’s hot!”

Whenever Sepina used holy power to purify the male lead, Lucy’s body heated up as well.

Which meant the Duke was definitely at the temple right now.

When the other children were still alive, it wasn’t this noticeable.

Now that they were all dead, the backlash from using holy power seemed to be falling entirely on her.

Heat surged through her body, concentrating in her hands.

I never wanted to know details about someone else’s bedroom life!

And for some reason, the Duke seemed to have an obsession with hands.

Her hands always became absurdly hot.

“Seriously, is he some kind of pervert?”

Feeling as though she might suffer burns, Lucy rubbed her palms against the cold stone floor.

Then she forced herself to think rationally.

What should I do now?

Now that she remembered her previous life, she couldn’t continue living like this.

“…Alright.”

After staring at the floor for a long time, Lucy finally reached a conclusion.

* * *

“Ah, Duke Edward…”

An excited feminine voice whispered near his ear.

“Come closer…”

Sepina blinked her long eyelashes and reached toward him.

The subtle curve of her lips and the excitement gradually spreading through her body were carefully hidden behind a composed facade.

“Today, at last…”

Her soft white hand was about to brush against his armored chest.

Thud.

“…Your Grace?”

Without a word, the man caught her wrist.

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Forcing a smile, Sepina spoke.

“Are you embarrassed again? There’s no need to—”

“Holding hands is sufficient.”

The low voice emerging from beneath the armor was chilling.

Suppressing the thrill that ran through her, Sepina gently caressed the large hand gripping her wrist.

“You always stop at holding hands.”

“……”

“Is it because I’m not your true mate?”

Edward did not answer the sorrowful question.

Instead, Sepina quietly removed his glove.

The back of his hand was revealed, veins standing out beneath pale skin.

No matter how many times she saw it, his strong, masculine hands were strikingly attractive.

Trying not to stare too greedily, she spoke gently.

“Please don’t worry, Your Grace.”

“……”

“As you wish, there will be no violation of either of our chastity. I know you’re preserving that for your true mate.”

“……”

“I’m simply happy that the temporary purification I provide can be of some help—”

“Could you hurry?”

“…Pardon?”

“I need to return and hunt monsters.”

At those words, Sepina fell silent.

Edward was always like this.

Cold. Businesslike.

Even during purification, the most he allowed was holding hands.

Sometimes his attitude felt cruel.

Still, compared to how he treated everyone else, he was remarkably gentlemanly toward her.

And besides…

Your days of rejecting me are numbered, Duke.

She had heard that the temple would soon send a marriage proposal to the ducal estate.

This time, they intended to formally establish Sepina as his mate.

They promised they’d secure the Stigmata somehow.

There was a very high chance the marriage arrangement would succeed.

The most valuable man in the Empire would soon belong to her.

So for now, she simply needed to hide her true feelings and continue purifying him obediently.

Shhhh.

A soft white light gathered at Sepina’s fingertips.

Hm?

A slight frown crossed her face.

Perhaps because all the children supplying holy power had died, she felt weaker than usual.

Still, if she tried a little harder—

Crackle!

“Ah!”

The next instant, Sepina jerked her hand back in surprise.

What was that?

The moment she grasped the Duke’s hand and purified even the tiniest trace of miasma—

The holy power that had always flowed through the connection abruptly vanished.

Huh?

She barely had time to process it.

The Duke had already withdrawn his hand.

“Is that all for today’s purification?”

“W-Well, that’s…”

“Then I’ll be leaving.”

“Wait! Your Grace!”

Sepina scrambled to her feet, but Edward was already walking out of the room.

“Your Grace!”

Even her desperate cry failed to stop him.

In truth, Edward was too busy suppressing the raging miasma within his own body and preventing himself from losing control.

“…Damn it.”

A brief curse escaped him as a pounding headache struck.

At the same time, the priests’ familiar whispers surfaced in his mind.

“Please do not worry, Your Grace. Lady Sepina will soon awaken as your true mate. Once that happens, your berserk episodes will cease.”

“Everything will be fine once you take her as your mate.”

“…Bullshit.”

A savage smile appeared beneath his helmet.

A true mate?

Such nonsense…

Cough.

He had no time to think further.

The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.